Luke 19:29–22:39

For they were in the village, and the colt was tied with its mother, nor could it be loosed except by the command of the Lord. The apostle's hand looses it. Such was the act, such the life, such the grace. Be such, that thou mayest be able to loose those that are bound. In the ass indeed Matthew represented the mother of error, but in the colt Luke has described the general character of the Gentile people. And rightly, whereon yet never man sat, for none before Christ called the nations of the Gentiles into the Church. But this people was tied and bound by the chains of iniquity, being subject to an unjust master, the servant of error, and could not claim to itself authority whom not nature but crime had made guilty. Since the Lord is spoken of, one master is recognised. O wretched bondage under a doubtful mastery! For he has many masters who has not one. Others bind that they may possess, Christ looses that he may keep, for He knew that gifts are more powerful than chains.

(de con. Ev. lib. ii. cap. 66.) Nor matters it that Matthew speaks of an ass and its foal, while the others say nothing of the ass; for when both may be conceived, there is no variance even though one relate one thing, and another another, much less where one relates one thing, another both.

Entering there, you will find a colt tied, on which no man has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. And if anyone asks you why you are untying it, you shall say this to him: Because the Lord has need of it. Entering the world, the preachers found the people of the nations entangled in the bonds of perfidy. For each one was constrained by the cords of their sins, not only of the nations, but also of the Jews. For all have sinned and are in need of the glory of God (Rom. III). Hence it is fittingly noted in Matthew that a donkey is also found tied with the colt. Indeed, the donkey, which was domesticated and had borne the yoke of the law, signifies the synagogue: the unruly and free colt of the donkey represents the people of the nations. On whom no man has ever sat, that is, no rational teacher had ever imposed the restraints of correction, by which either their tongue could be kept from evil or they could be forced onto the narrow path of life; none had contributed the garments of salvation by useful teaching, by which they could be spiritually warmed. A man would have sat upon it if anyone using reason had corrected its foolishness by repression. Hence two disciples are fittingly delegated to present the animals to the Lord, just as in the example of the previous parable, the two orders of preachers, one directed to the nations, the other to the circumcision, can be understood. And it should be noted that the three evangelists who wrote in Greek only mention the colt; but Matthew alone, who wrote his Gospel to the Hebrews and in the Hebrew language, also reports the donkey being untied and brought to the Lord, to show that the salvation of the Hebrew nation should not be despaired of if it repents. Untie, he says, and bring. For whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven (Matt. XVIII).

And therefore he adds: He sent two of his disciples, saying: Go into the village which is over against you. By the two disciples sent is understood the universality of disciples sent to convert the world and especially the people of the Gentiles. Whence Chrysostom says that these two disciples were Peter and Philip, who first preached to the Gentiles: Philip in Samaria, Acts eight; and Peter in Caesarea, Acts ten. Moreover they are two to commend the bond of charity, or on account of the twofold order of preachers, according to the duality of peoples to be converted. Whence the Gloss: "He sends two on account of the knowledge of truth and purity of work, or the sacrament of twofold love to be preached throughout the whole world, or on account of two orders of preachers, one among the circumcision and another among the Gentiles." In designation of which it is also said above in the tenth chapter: "He sent them two by two before his face"; whence also Ecclesiastes four: "It is better for two to be together than one."

By that village which is against Christ's disciples, is understood the world, concerning which John fifteen says: "If the world hates you, know that it hated me before you"; and yet into this world he sent the disciples to preach. Whence the Gloss: "He sends the disciples to preach in the village, which is against them, so that through them he might penetrate the fortifications of the whole world set against him." In this therefore is prefigured the mission of the disciples for converting the world, which was accomplished after the passion and resurrection, according to that passage in Mark, last chapter: "He said to them: Going into the whole world, preach the Gospel to every creature."

Second, as to the provident command through the spirit of prophecy, he adds: Entering into which, you will find a colt of an ass tied up, which indeed he could not say with certitude unless because he had foreknowledge of future things; nevertheless even this itself cannot be without mystery, that the King of heaven and earth seeks a colt and not just any, but an untamed one.

Whence he adds: On which no man has ever sat; nor in any ordinary way, but tied up; on account of which he adds: Loose him and bring him to me. From which it manifestly appears that this cannot be without a mystery. On account of which it must be understood that just as by the she-ass the synagogue is understood, so by the colt the gentile world is designated. Whence the Gloss: "The three Evangelists who wrote in Greek mention only the colt; Matthew, who wrote in Hebrew, reports that the she-ass too was loosed and brought, so as to show that salvation is not to be despaired of even for the Hebrew nation, if it should repent." Whence Matthew twenty-one: "You will find a she-ass tied and a colt with her." Now the gentile people is called an ass's colt on account of the stupidity of ignorance: Job eleven: "A vain man is lifted up into pride and thinks himself born free like a wild ass's colt"; but he is said to be tied with the cords of sins, according to that of Proverbs five: "Each one is bound by the cords of his sins." And by these cords not only was the people of the gentiles bound, but also the synagogue: whence above, thirteen: "But ought not this daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound, lo, these eighteen years, to be loosed from this bond?" And he is also said to be untamed, because he lacked all governance of the discipline of God. Whence the Gloss: "Entering into the world, the preachers found the people of the nations ensnared by the bonds of unbelief, free and wanton, on which no man had ever sat, that is, no rational teacher had imposed the bridle of correction." Concerning this, therefore, he commands the disciples to loose, according to that of Matthew eighteen: "Amen I say to you: Whatever you shall loose upon earth shall be loosed also in heaven." But this is not by human power, but by divine; on account of which Job thirty-nine: "Who has set the wild ass free, and who has loosed his bonds?" And then he who is loosed is brought to Jesus; Isaiah sixty: "Your gates shall be opened continually, that the strength of the gentiles may be brought to you, and their kings may be led to you."

What then was the sign? He sat on a colt, as we have just heard the blessed Evangelist clearly telling us. Perhaps someone will say, "When he traveled all Judea—for he taught in their synagogues and added the working of miracles to his words—he did not ask for an animal on which to ride. When Christ could have purchased one, he would not, although he often was wearied by his long journeys on the way. When passing through Samaria, he was wearied with his journey, as it is written. Who can make us believe that when he was going from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem, places separated from one another by so short an interval, that he would require a colt? Since the mother accompanied the colt, why did he not take the mother instead of choosing the colt? The donkey that bore the colt was brought to him also. We learn this from the words of Matthew, who says that he sent the disciples to a village opposite them. He said to them, "You will find a donkey tied and a colt with her. Untie and bring them to me." "They brought," it says, "the donkey and the colt with her." We must consider, therefore, what are the explanations and the benefits that we derive from this occurrence and how we make Christ riding on the colt a type of the calling of the Gentiles. The colt of a donkey is mounted on which none has sat, because no one before Christ called the peoples of the nations to the church.

"Untie the donkey and bring it to me." He began with a manger and finished with a donkey, in Bethlehem with a manger, in Jerusalem with a donkey.

(Hom. 66. in Matt.) At the beginning of His ministry our Lord showed Himself indifferent to the Jews, but when He had given sufficient token of His power, He transacts every thing with the highest authority. Many are the miracles which then took place. He foretold to them, ye shall find an unbroken colt. He foretels also that no one should hinder them, but as soon as they heard it, should hold their peace.

And the prophecy, "He shall be the expectation of the nations," signified that there would be some of all nations who should look for Him to come again. And this indeed you can see for yourselves, and be convinced of by fact. For of all races of men there are some who look for Him who was crucified in Judaea, and after whose crucifixion the land was straightway surrendered to you as spoil of war. And the prophecy, "binding His foal to the vine, and washing His robe in the blood of the grape," was a significant symbol of the things that were to happen to Christ, and of what He was to do. For the foal of an ass stood bound to a vine at the entrance of a village, and He ordered His acquaintances to bring it to Him then; and when it was brought, He mounted and sat upon it, and entered Jerusalem, where was the vast temple of the Jews which was afterwards destroyed by you.

(sup. Joan. tom. ii.) Now I think this place is not without reason said to be a small village. For as if it were a village without any further name, in comparison of the whole earth the whole heavenly country is despised.

The colt was tied up and had many masters, but by those who were sent, that is, the apostles, it is untied. They bring the colt from a certain "village," so that we may know that the Gentile people were in great simplicity and ignorance. For they had never submitted to either the teaching of Moses or the prophets, but were an untrained colt. And if, as another evangelist said (Matt. 21:15), children also cried out, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they too can signify that same new people who, believing in Jesus who appeared in the flesh from the seed of David, sent up glory to God, as it is written: "The generation to come shall praise the Lord" (Ps. 102:19).

But they bring the colt from a certain village, that it may be known to us that this people was rude and unlearned.

Thirdly, as regards the authoritative command through the summit of supreme authority, there is added: And if anyone asks you: Why are you loosing it? namely, handling another's property; you shall say thus to him: Because the Lord desires its service, so that he may use it as his own property. Here, according to the literal sense, he shows that Christ was Lord of all, because, by the same reason he was lord of the ass, he was also lord of all things. And to signify that he is Lord of all, he generally calls himself Lord. Whence he says of himself in John 13: "You call me Master and Lord, and you say well, for so I am." For "he it is who has written on his garment and on his thigh: King of kings and Lord of lords." Whence also that word of Esther 13 is addressed to him: "O Lord God almighty, all things are placed in your dominion, and there is none who can resist your will." "You are the Lord of all things." According to the mystical sense, however, this ought to be the response of those who preach and absolve, who do this for no other purpose than to draw souls to Christ as to the true Lord, who has desire for souls. For he himself says in Proverbs 8: "My delights are to be with the children of men." For he desires to hold sovereignty over the heart, because he alone is Lord. Whence, even though the devil is permitted to bind through sins, he nevertheless does not claim for himself true dominion over the rational spirit. And this is what Ambrose says: "He could not, he says, claim dominion for himself, he whom not nature but fault had made lord. And therefore, when Lord is said, one is recognized. For even though there are many gods and many lords, yet generally there is one God and one Lord"; whence in 1 Corinthians 8: "For although there are those who are called gods whether in heaven or on earth — indeed there are many gods and many lords — yet for us there is one God and one Lord Jesus." This Lord needs nothing, according to that word of the Psalm: "I said to the Lord: You are my God, for you have no need of my goods"; and yet he desires the work of our salvation; 1 Timothy 2: "He wills all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." "For this is the will of God, your sanctification."

And so the "colt of the donkey", once untied, is led to Jesus, and in sending his disciples to untie it he had said: "If anyone asks you: why do you untie the colt? say to him: because the Lord has need of it". There were many masters of this colt before the Savior had need of it; but after he began to be its "master", they ceased to be many masters; for no one "can serve God and mammon". When we serve wickedness, we are subject to many passions and vices. The colt, therefore, is untied, "because the Lord has need of it". And now the Lord "has need" of the colt. You are the colt of the donkey. What does the Son of God "have need" of that is yours? What does he seek from you? He "has need" of your salvation, he desires that you be loosed from the chains of sins.

There were then many masters of this colt, before that the Saviour had need of him. But as soon as He began to be the master, there ceased to be any other. For no one can serve God and mammon. (Matt. 6:24.) When we are the servants of wickedness we are subject to many vices and passions, but the Lord has need of the colt, because He would have us loosed from the chain of our sins.

To whom He Himself says: I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would cry out. All His acquaintances stood at a distance when the Lord was crucified, fearing to confess God whom they saw fixed to the wood, but while these were silent, the stones and rocks with a great voice proclaimed the King who comes in the name of the Lord. For when He gave up the spirit, behold, the earth shook, and the rocks were split, and the tombs were opened: what humans hesitate to confess either out of fear or treachery, even the hardest elements of creation openly proclaim as the God and Lord of the world. Truly, in a higher mystery, He indicates the unbelieving and hard-hearted nations of the Gentiles under the name of stones, to whom, having removed the heart of stone, He gave a heart of flesh (Ezek. XI), that is, sensible and human, by which they could believe in, praise, and see their God and Creator. Therefore, even if the crowds of men should keep silent, the stones will cry out, because blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, and thus all Israel shall be saved (Rom. III).

And so at the crucifixion of our Lord, when His kinsfolk were silent from fear, the stones and rocks sang forth, while after that He gave up the ghost, the earth was moved, and the rocks were rent, and the graves opened.

Second, regarding the approbation of those who praised, it is added: To whom he said: I tell you, that if these shall be silent, the stones will cry out, as if to say that it is the will of God that they should praise, according to that of Matthew twenty-one: "But he said: Have you never read, that out of the mouth of infants and sucklings you have perfected praise"? For this is written in the Psalm: which the Lord willed to do for the confusion of the Pharisees, whence it is immediately added: "Because of your enemies, that you might destroy the enemy and the avenger." Here, moreover, he says more, namely that it is the will of God, such that it cannot be impeded by the Pharisees.

Now the Lord willed that it happen thus, with the Passion approaching, both on account of the example and on account of the mystery: on account of the example, so that the ignominy of the subsequent Passion would be more grievous by reason of the magnitude of the preceding glory, according to that passage in Job 16: "I, who was once wealthy, have suddenly been crushed." In this it is also shown what the joy of this world is like, because it passes away most swiftly: Proverbs 14: "Laughter shall be mingled with sorrow, and mourning occupies the end of joy." And through this it is shown that worldly joy and the acclaim of praise and glory of this kind are to be despised; and that through good repute and ill repute must he pass who wishes to go to the heavenly Jerusalem, according to that passage in Second Corinthians 6: "By the armor of justice on the right hand and on the left, through glory and dishonor, through infamy and good repute, as deceivers yet truthful, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as having nothing yet possessing all things."

He also willed this on account of the mystery, because the praise of the little ones signifies His praise in the Church of the Gentiles. Therefore He says that the stones will cry out, that is, the Gentiles, who are called stones because they had hard and stony hearts. Therefore as a figure of this, above in chapter three: "I say to you that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham," namely by taking away the hardness of hearts, according to that passage in Ezekiel 36: "I will take away from you the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." But their hard heart was softened through the power of the Cross, which converts rock into water. As a figure of this it is said in Matthew 27 that at the death of Christ "the rocks were split, and the tombs were opened." Whence the Gloss: "If blindness has befallen Israel, so that it falls silent from the praise of God, the people of the Gentiles, their stony heart having been softened, will believe in and proclaim their Creator"; according to that passage in Romans 11: "Blindness in part has happened in Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles should enter in, and so all Israel should be saved." Whence as an express designation of this, it is said in John 12, immediately after the murmuring of the Pharisees: "Now there were certain Gentiles who had come up to the feast day. And they came to Philip, saying: Lord, we wish to see Jesus"; and it follows there that "Philip and Andrew said to Jesus"; "But Jesus said: Father, the hour has come: glorify Your Son."

From which it manifestly appears that these things were done to manifest the name of Christ and to prefigure the calling of the Christian people, the Jews having been blinded, concerning whose imminent overthrow He treats in what follows, lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem, the royal city.

For this reason the divine rebuke does not cease to chastise us night nor day. For besides the visions of the night, by day also, the innocent age of boys is among us filled with the Holy Spirit, seeing in an ecstasy with their eyes, and hearing and speaking those things whereby the Lord condescends to warn and instruct us. And you shall hear all things when the Lord, who bade me withdraw, shall bring me back again to you. In the meanwhile, let those certain ones among you who are rash and incautious and boastful, and who do not regard man, at least fear God, knowing that, if they shall persevere still in the same course, I shall use that power of admonition which the Lord bids me use; so that they may meanwhile be withheld from offering, and have to plead their cause both before me and before the confessors themselves and before the whole people, when, with God's permission, we begin to be gathered together once more into the bosom of the Church, our Mother. Concerning this matter, I have written to the martyrs and confessors, and to the people, letters; both of which I have bidden to be read to you. I wish you, dearly beloved brethren and earnestly longed-for, ever heartily farewell in the Lord; and have me in remembrance.

What does Christ answer to these things? "I tell you that if these be silent, the stones will cry out."It is impossible for God not to be glorified, although those of the race of Israel refuse to do so. The worshipers of idols were once as stones and hardened, but they have been delivered from their former error and rescued from the hand of the enemy. They have escaped from devilish darkness. They have been called to the light of truth. They have awakened as from drunkenness. They have acknowledged the Creator. They do not praise him secretly, in concealment, in a hidden way and silently, but with freedom of speech and a loud voice. They praise him diligently, as it were, calling out to one another and saying, "Come, let us praise the Lord and sing psalms to God our Savior." They acknowledged Christ the Savior of all.

But the Lord forbade not them that glorified Him as God, but rather forbade those that blamed them, so bearing witness to Himself concerning the glory of the Godhead. Hence it follows, He answered and said unto them, I tell you, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.

Christianity is savage, in the sense that it is primeval; there is in it a touch of the nigger hymn. I remember a debate in which I had praised militant music in ritual, and some one asked me if I could imagine Christ walking down the street before a brass band. I said I could imagine it with the greatest ease; for Christ definitely approved a natural noisiness at a great moment. When the street children shouted too loud, certain priggish disciples did begin to rebuke them in the name of good taste. He said: "If these were silent the very stones would cry out." With these words He called up all the wealth of artistic creation that has been founded on this creed. With those words He founded Gothic architecture. For in a town like this, which seems to have grown Gothic as a wood grows leaves, anywhere and anyhow, any odd brick or moulding may be carved off into a shouting face. The front of vast buildings is thronged with open mouths, angels praising God, or devils defying Him. Rock itself is racked and twisted, until it seems to scream. The miracle is accomplished; the very stones cry out.

Christ prophesied the whole of Gothic architecture in that hour when nervous and respectable people (such people as now object to barrel organs) objected to the shouting of the gutter-snipes of Jerusalem. He said, "If these were silent, the very stones would cry out." Under the impulse of His spirit arose like a clamorous chorus the facades of the mediæval cathedrals, thronged with shouting faces and open mouths. The prophecy has fulfilled itself: the very stones cry out.

Seeing this, the Pharisees said to the Lord: "rebuke them"; to whom he answered: "If these keep silent, the stones will cry out". When we speak, the stones are silent; when we keep silent, the stones cry out; "for the Lord is able to raise up from these stones sons of Abraham". At what time shall we keep silent? When "the charity of many shall have grown cold", when that which was foretold by the Savior shall have been fulfilled: "do you think that the Son of man, when he comes, will find faith upon the earth?" Therefore let us entreat the Lord's mercy, lest, while we are silent, the stones cry out, but let us speak and praise God in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit: to whom is glory and dominion unto the ages of ages. Amen.

When we also are silent, (that is, when the love of many waxeth cold,) the stones cry out, for God can from stones raise up children to Abraham.

But Jesus said: "if they keep silent, the stones will cry out." Or: the people say this not out of flattery toward Me, but they utter this doxology because they are convinced and compelled by all those signs and mighty works which they have seen.

As if He said, Not without cause do men praise me thus, but being constrained by the mighty works which they have seen.

And indeed in this your day, what is to your peace. For when it was giving itself to carnal pleasures, it did not foresee the evils about to come, it had, in its day, what could have been for its peace. Why it would have present goods for peace is made clear when it is added:

But now they are hidden from your eyes. For if the evils that were impending had not been hidden from the eyes of his heart, he would not have rejoiced in present prosperity. Moreover, the punishment that was imminent from the Roman leaders, as I predicted, was added, when it is said:

Secondly, as to the foolish joy of the royal city, he adds: Saying: If you had known, even you, through foresight, you would have wept, supply: through penitence; whence the Gloss: "If you had known the ruin that threatens, you would have wept." And here there is an omission of a necessary expression, but the Lord speaks in a broken manner after the fashion of one who grieves, and supplies it from the very act of grieving and weeping, so that feeling supplies the thought, and the deed supplies the word: you would indeed have wept.

And if you ask: when? Indeed, that is, certainly, in this your day, the things that are for your peace, in which, namely, you exult; whence the Gloss: "You who now exult."

And if you ask the cause, why she exults and does not weep, it is lack of foresight. Whence he adds: But now they are hidden from your eyes; the Gloss: "In a time of gladness, future miseries are not foreseen"; therefore she had foolish joy on account of the consideration of the present day, concerning which day he says: In this your day; on account of the possession of present peace, concerning which he adds: The things that are for your peace; and on account of the concealment of calamity, concerning which he subjoins: But now they are hidden from your eyes. Whence the Gloss: "While you give your flesh to pleasures, not foreseeing future evils, you have present goods, which can be for your temporal peace. And why does he add this, namely that she does not foresee the evils that are to come? For if she had foreseen them, she would not have been joyful in present prosperity."

And hence it is that just men despise the present day, according to that passage of Jeremiah seventeen: "I have not desired the day of man, you know"; and Jeremiah twenty: "Cursed be the day in which I was born"; and of Job it is said in Job three: "Job cursed his day, saying: Let the day perish in which I was born, and the night in which it was said," etc. They despise present peace: Psalm: "I was envious of the wicked, seeing the peace of sinners"; and Ezekiel thirteen: "The prophets have deceived my people, saying: Peace, peace, and there was no peace." They behold and attend to future things, according to that passage of Ecclesiasticus thirty-eight: "Remember the last things and do not forget." But on the contrary, wicked men do not think of judgment, and therefore they rejoice, according to that passage of Proverbs two: "They rejoice when they have done evil and exult in the worst things." And this is because they consider the present day, not the last: Job twenty-one: "They hold the timbrel and harp and rejoice at the sound of the organ. They spend their days in prosperity and in a moment descend to hell." Therefore it is said ironically in Ecclesiastes eleven: "Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth." "And know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment." From this, therefore, is evident what is said in Ecclesiastes seven: "It is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting," etc.

If thou hadst known, even thou. The Jews were not worthy to receive the divinely inspired Scriptures, which relate the mystery of Christ. For as often as Moses is read, a veil overshadows their heart that they should not see what has been accomplished in Christ, who being the truth puts to flight the shadow. And because they regarded not the truth, they rendered themselves unworthy of the salvation which flows from Christ.

He here declares that His coming was to bring peace to the whole world. For unto this He came, that He should preach both to them that were near, and those that were afar off. But as they did not wish to receive the peace that was announced to them, it was hid from them.

To which the weeping Lord rightly says: "If you had known, even you"—understand: you would weep—you who now, because you do not know what threatens, rejoice. Whence it is also added: "And indeed in this your day, the things that are for your peace." For when it gave itself to the pleasures of the flesh and did not foresee the evils to come, it had in its day those things which could be for its peace. But why it had present goods for peace is made clear when it is said: "But now they are hidden from your eyes." For if the evils which threatened had not been hidden from the eyes of its heart, it would not have been joyful in present prosperity.

The sentence which follows fittingly applies to the soul about to perish: "And indeed in this your day, the things that are for your peace, but now they are hidden from your eyes." Here the perverse soul has its own day, which rejoices in transitory time. For such a soul the things present are for peace, because while it rejoices in temporal things, while it is exalted by honors, while it dissolves in carnal pleasure, while it is terrified by no fear of future punishment, it has peace in its day, which will have the grave scandal of its damnation in another's day. For there it will be afflicted, where the just will rejoice; and all the things which now are for its peace will then be turned into the bitterness of strife, because it will begin to quarrel with itself as to why it did not dread the damnation it suffers, why it closed the eyes of its mind from foreseeing the evils to follow. Hence it is told: "But now they are hidden from your eyes." For the perverse soul, devoted to present things, dissolved in earthly pleasures, hides from itself the evils to follow, because it refuses to foresee future things which would disturb its present joy; and while it abandons itself to the delights of the present life, what else does it do but go to the fire with closed eyes? Hence it is well written: "In the day of good things, do not be forgetful of evil things." And therefore it is said through Paul: "Let those who rejoice be as though not rejoicing," because even if there is any joy of the present time, it is to be experienced in such a way that the bitterness of the following judgment never departs from memory, so that while the fearful mind is pierced through by fear of final vengeance, as much as present joy now prevails, so much will the wrath that follows afterward be tempered. For hence it is written: "Blessed is the man who is always fearful; but he who is hard of mind will fall into evil." For the wrath of the following judgment will then be borne all the more severely, the less it is feared now even amid sins.

Some passages, also, which occur in the Gospels, receive from them a colouring of the same kind, such as the answer which He gave His mother when He was twelve years of age: "Wist ye not that I must be about My Father's business?" Thus, they say, He announced to them the Father of whom they were ignorant. On this account, also, He sent forth the disciples to the twelve tribes, that they might proclaim to them the unknown God. And to the person who said to Him, "Good Master," He confessed that God who is truly good, saying, "Why callest thou Me good: there is One who is good, the Father in the heavens;" and they assert that in this passage the Aeons receive the name of heavens. Moreover, by His not replying to those who said to Him, "By what power doest Thou this?" but by a question on His own side, put them to utter confusion; by His thus not replying, according to their interpretation, He showed the unutterable nature of the Father. Moreover, when He said, "I have often desired to hear one of these words, and I had no one who could utter it," they maintain, that by this expression "one" He set forth the one true God whom they knew not. Further, when, as He drew nigh to Jerusalem, He wept over it and said, "If thou hadst known, even thou, in this thy day, the things that belong unto thy peace, but they are hidden from thee," by this word "hidden" He showed the abstruse nature of Bythus. And again, when He said, "Come unto Me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest, and learn of Me," He announced the Father of truth. For what they knew not, these men say that He promised to teach them.

Therefore He went into Galilee, for He was unwilling to show Himself to the Jews, lest He should lead them to repentance, and restore them from their impiety to a sound mind. And there He opened to His disciples again assembled the writings of Holy Scripture, that is, the secrets of the prophets; which before His suffering could by no means be understood, for they told of Him and of His passion.

And he wept over Jerusalem, "saying: if you too had known, even in this your day, the things that are for your peace; but now they are hidden from your eyes", and the rest, up to the place where it says: "because you have not known the time of your visitation". Let one of the hearers say: What is said here is plain, and has been fulfilled in deed concerning Jerusalem: for the Roman army surrounded it and laid it waste even to utter destruction, and the time will come when a stone shall not be left upon a stone upon it. I do not deny that that Jerusalem too was destroyed because of the crimes of its inhabitants; but I ask whether perhaps this weeping pertains also to this our Jerusalem. For we are the Jerusalem that is wept over, we who seem to ourselves to have the greater vision. For if, after the mysteries of truth, after the word of the Gospel, after the teaching of the Church and after the vision of the sacraments of God, someone among us should sin, he will be lamented and wept over. For no Gentile is wept over, but only he who was of Jerusalem and has ceased to be so. And this our Jerusalem is wept over, because after sins "enemies surround" it — namely the hostile powers, the wicked spirits — and cast "a rampart" around about it and besiege it "and leave not a stone upon a stone", especially if, after much continence, after some years of chastity, someone should be overcome and, enticed by the blandishments of the flesh, should lose the endurance of purity. If you have committed fornication, "they will not leave a stone upon a stone in you". For he says in another place: "I will not remember his former righteous deeds; in his sin, in which he shall be caught, in that very sin will I judge him". This, then, is the Jerusalem that is wept over.

He weeps over the insensibility of Jerusalem and says: "if you, even you, had known in this your day the things that make for your peace." That is, if only you had known even now what is to your benefit and leads to peace and tranquility, namely: that you must believe in Me and turn away from your evil design against Me! But now it is hidden from your eyes that unbearable calamities will come upon you for your rejection of Me.

Because the days will come upon you, and your enemies will build an embankment around you. And they will surround you and hem you in on every side, and will level you to the ground, you and your children within you. This is also added: And they will not leave one stone upon another in you. The very migration of that city now testifies to this, since, whereas now it is built in that place where the Lord was crucified outside the gate, that former Jerusalem was utterly overthrown. The reason for its overthrow that brought its due punishment is added:

Third, as to the approaching destruction of the royal city, he adds: Because the days shall come upon you, and your enemies shall surround you with a rampart, through siege, according to that passage of Ezekiel four: "Take to yourself a brick, and you shall draw upon it the city of Jerusalem. And you shall set a siege against it and build fortifications and cast up a mound and set camps against it round about and place siege works," etc.

Now this was fulfilled in the time of the Romans; whence the Gloss: "Enemies, namely the Roman leaders," who are said to have literally constructed three ramparts against Jerusalem for its capture.

And they shall surround you and hem you in on every side, through the continuation of the siege, according to that passage of Ezekiel four: "You shall set a pan as an iron wall between you and the city, and you shall set your face firmly against it, and it shall be under siege, and you shall besiege it: it is a sign to the house of Israel." And this came to pass because, as Josephus says, the siege was so exceedingly strict that a mother ate her daughter and an old woman devoured another. Whence was fulfilled that passage of Lamentations two: "They said to their mothers: Where is grain and wine? when they fainted like the wounded in the streets of the city, when they breathed out their souls in the bosom of their mothers"; and below in the same place: "Shall women then eat their own fruit, little ones the length of a palm?"

And therefore the siege which was shortly to come upon them He most expressly foretells, adding, For the days shall come upon thee, &c.

But how these things were fulfilled we may gather from what is delivered to us by Josephus, who though he was a Jew, related each event as it toot place, in exact accordance with Christ's prophecies.

"Because the days will come upon you, and your enemies will surround you with a rampart; and they will encircle you, and hem you in on every side." For the Roman princes are indicated when it is said: "Because the days will come upon you, and your enemies will surround you with a rampart."

Who are ever greater enemies of the human soul than the malignant spirits, who besiege it as it departs from the body, whom they nourished with deceitful pleasures while it was placed in love of the flesh? They surround it with a rampart, because by bringing back before the eyes of its mind the iniquities which it perpetrated, they constrict it, dragging it to the fellowship of their damnation, so that caught now in the very extremity of life, it may see both by what enemies it is surrounded, and yet be unable to find a way of escape, because it is no longer permitted to perform the good works which, when it was permitted to do them, it despised.

(Hom. 39. in Ev.) By these words the Roman leaders are pointed out. For that overthrow of Jerusalem is described, which was made by the Roman emperors Vespasian and Titus.

(Hom. 39. in Ev.) Or else; The evil spirits lay siege to the soul, as it goes forth from the body, for being seized with the love of the flesh, they caress it with delusive pleasures. They surround it with a trench, because bringing all its wickedness which it has committed before the eyes of its mind, they close confine it to the company of its own damnation, that being caught in the very extremity of life, it may see by what enemies it is blockaded, yet be unable to find any way of escape, because it can no longer do good works, since those which it might once have done it despised. On every side also they inclose the soul when its iniquities rise up before it, not only in deed but also in word and thought, that she who before in many ways greatly enlarged herself in wickedness, should now at the end be straitened every way in judgment. Then indeed the soul by the very condition of its guilt is laid prostrate on the ground, while its flesh which it believed to be its life is bid to return to dust. Then its children fall in death, when all unlawful thoughts which only proceed from it, are in the last punishment of life scattered abroad. These may also be signified by the stones. For the corrupt mind when to a corrupt thought it adds one more corrupt, places one stone upon another. But when the soul is led to its doom, the whole structure of its thoughts is rent asunder. But the wicked soul God ceases not to visit with His teaching, sometimes with the scourge and sometimes with a miracle; that the truth which it knew not it may hear, and though still despising it, may return pricked to the heart in sorrow, or overcome with mercies may be ashamed at the evil which it has done. But because it knows not the time of its visitation, at the end of life it is given over to its enemies, that with them it may be joined together in the bond of everlasting damnation.

But our Jerusalem is also wept over, because after sin enemies surround it, (that is, wicked spirits,) and cast a trench round it to besiege it, and leave not a stone behind; especially when a man after long continency, after years of chastity, is overcome, and enticed by the blandishments of the flesh, has lost his fortitude and his modesty, and has committed fornication, they will not leave on him one stone upon another, according to Ezekiel, His former righteousness I will not remember. (Ezek 18:24.)

Accordingly, therefore, prophesying concerning the temple, He said: 'See ye these buildings? Verily I say to you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another which shall not be taken away; and this generation shall not pass until the destruction begin. For they shall come, and shall sit here, and shall besiege it, and shall slay your children here.'

He therefore charged us Himself to fast these six days on account of the impiety and transgression of the Jews, commanding us withal to bewail over them, and lament for their perdition. For even He Himself "wept over them, because they knew not the time of their visitation."

Because you did not recognize the time of your visitation. For the Creator of all things deigned to visit this city through the mystery of the Incarnation, but it did not remember His fear and love. Hence, through the prophet, the birds of the sky are brought as witnesses against the hardness of the human heart, when it is said: The stork in the sky knows its appointed time, the turtledove, the swallow, and the crane keep the time of their coming, but my people do not know the judgment of the Lord (Jerem. VIII).

And they shall dash you to the ground, and your children who are in you, through the destruction of the city; Lamentations 2: "The Lord purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Sion; he stretched out his line and did not turn away his hand from destruction. And the rampart mourned, and the wall was likewise destroyed." Nor was only the city itself destroyed, but also the entire nation was dispersed, according to that passage of Lamentations 2: "Her gates have sunk into the ground; he has destroyed and broken her bars; her kings and her princes are among the nations: there is no law, and her prophets have found no vision from the Lord."

And they shall not leave in you a stone upon a stone, through utter overthrow. Whence the Gloss says: "Since Jerusalem is now built outside the gate where the Lord was crucified, it is evident that the former Jerusalem was entirely destroyed." And thus was fulfilled that passage of Lamentations 2: "The Lord has done what he purposed; he has fulfilled his word which he commanded from days of old; he has destroyed and has not spared, and he has made your enemy rejoice over you and has exalted the horn of your adversaries"; and immediately it is added: "Let tears run down like a torrent by day and by night," etc.

But this happens spiritually against every sinner dying temporally: who is first surrounded in sickness, hemmed in by the aggravation of sickness, dashed to the ground in death, and utterly overthrown in reduction to ashes, according to that passage of Job 7: "Behold, now I shall sleep in the dust, and if you seek me in the morning, I shall not remain." It can also be understood of the sinner approaching judgment, who is surrounded by the multitude of accusing iniquities; the Psalm: "For evils have surrounded me, of which there is no number; my iniquities have overtaken me, and I was not able to see." He is hemmed in by the severity of divine judgments; Ecclesiastes 8: "It is not in man's power to restrain the spirit, nor has he power in the day of death, nor is he allowed rest when war presses upon him, nor shall impiety save the impious." He is dashed to the ground in the pronouncement of sentences; Job 27: "If his children be multiplied, they shall fall by the sword," namely, of the divine sentence. And at last he is utterly overthrown in the bitterness of punishments; the Psalm: "Our bones are scattered at the mouth of hell." For then no excuse is left for the impious; Isaiah 5: "I will take away its hedge, and it shall be for trampling."

And concerning all these things it is said in Amos 3: "The land shall be afflicted and encircled, and your strength shall be taken from you, and your dwellings shall be plundered, says the Lord." On account of which Anselm says: "Above will be the wrathful judge, below the horrendous chaos, hell gaping open; on the right, sins accusing; on the left, infinite demons dragging to hell; within, the burning conscience; without, the world ablaze. The wretched sinner thus seized — where shall he flee? To hide will be impossible; to appear will be intolerable."

Fourth, as regards the antecedent sin, he adds: Because you did not know the time of your visitation; and this on account of unbelief: Jeremiah 8: "The kite in the sky has known its time; the turtledove and the swallow and the stork have observed the time of their coming; but my people has not known the judgment of the Lord." Just as, therefore, faith is the foundation of the entire spiritual edifice, through which Christ dwells in us, who is the foundation — on account of which it is said in Hebrews 11 that "faith is the substance of things hoped for" — so unbelief is the origin of the destruction of all spiritual edifices. Therefore it is said in Job 4: "Because no one understands, they shall perish forever"; and in Romans 1: "Because they did not see fit to have God in their knowledge, God handed them over to a reprobate mind"; whence also the Jews, because they were unwilling to believe in Christ, were blinded and rejected. And this was the greatest sin, according to that passage in John 16: "He will convict the world of sin indeed," namely "because they have not believed in me." Therefore in the last chapter of Mark: "He who believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he who does not believe shall be condemned"; indeed, what is more, his damnation already begins; John 3: "He who does not believe is already judged, because he does not believe in the name of the only-begotten Son of God."

"They shall not leave in you a stone upon a stone"—even the very relocation of that city now testifies, because while it is now built in the place where the Lord had been crucified outside the gate, that former Jerusalem, as it is said, was utterly destroyed. From what fault the punishment of its destruction was inflicted upon it is added: "Because you did not know the time of your visitation." For the Creator of all things deigned to visit it through the mystery of his incarnation, but it did not remember the fear and love of him. Whence also through prophecy, in rebuke of the human heart, the birds of heaven are brought forward as testimony, when it is said: "The kite in the sky has known its time; the turtledove and the swallow and the stork have kept the time of their coming, but my people has not known the judgment of the Lord."

Concerning these, what follows can also be aptly understood: "They shall surround you and press you in on every side." For malignant spirits press in upon the soul on every side, when they bring back to it the iniquities not only of deed, but also of speech and moreover of thought, so that she who formerly spread herself abroad through many crimes may at the end be pressed in on all sides in retribution. There follows: "And they shall cast you to the ground, and your children who are in you." Then the soul is cast to the ground through the knowledge of its guilt, when the flesh which it believed to be its life is compelled to return to dust. Then her children fall into death, when the illicit thoughts which now proceed from her are scattered in the final punishment of life, as it is written: "In that day all their thoughts shall perish." These harsh thoughts can also be understood through the signification of stones. For there follows: "And they shall not leave in you stone upon stone." For when a perverse mind adds a yet more perverse thought to a perverse thought, what else does it do but place stone upon stone? But in the destroyed city stone is not left upon stone, because when the soul is led to its punishment, the whole structure of its thoughts is scattered.

Why it suffers this is added: "Because you did not know the time of your visitation." Almighty God is accustomed to visit every wicked soul in many ways. For He visits it continually through His commandment, sometimes through affliction, and sometimes through a miracle, so that it may hear the truths it did not know, and yet if still proud and contemptuous, it may return pricked by pain, or overcome by benefits may blush at the evil it has done. But because it does not recognize the time of its visitation, it is handed over at the end of life to those enemies with whom it will be bound in the fellowship of perpetual damnation at the eternal judgment, as it is written: "When you go with your adversary to the magistrate on the way, make an effort to be freed from him, lest perhaps he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer cast you into prison." For our adversary on the way is the word of God, contrary to our carnal desires in the present life. He is freed from it who humbly submits to His commandments. Otherwise the adversary will hand him over to the judge, and the judge will hand him over to the officer, because from the contempt of the Lord's word the guilty sinner will be held liable at the examination of the judge. The judge hands him over to the officer, because He permits the malignant spirit to drag him away for punishment, so that he himself may exact the soul driven from the body for punishment, the soul that willingly consented to him for sin. The officer casts him into prison, because through the malignant spirit he is thrust back into hell until the day of judgment comes, from which point he himself also will be tormented together in the fires of hell.

This too which is added, namely, They shall not leave in thee one stone upon another, is now witnessed in the altered situation of the same city, which is now built in that place where Christ was crucified without the gate, whereas the former Jerusalem, as it is called, was rooted up from the very foundation. And the crime for which this punishment of overthrow was inflicted is added, Because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.

In addition to these things, he also appointed a place in which alone it should be lawful to them to sacrifice to God. And all this was arranged with this view, that when the fitting time should come, and they should learn by means of the Prophet that God desires mercy and not sacrifice, they might see Him who should teach them that the place chosen of God, in which it was suitable that victims should be offered to God, is his Wisdom; and that on the other hand they might hear that this place, which seemed chosen for a time, often harassed as it had been by hostile invasions and plunderings, was at last to be wholly destroyed.

You will suffer such and such things because you did not recognize "the time of your visitation," that is, My appearing, when I came to visit you and save you. So, you should have known what makes for your well-being, that is, to believe in Me, and you would have been safe from the Romans and free from all harm. For all who believed in Christ remained free from captivity, so that if all had believed, no one would have fallen into captivity at all.

That is, of my coming. For I came to visit and to save thee, which if thou hadst known and believed on Me, thou mightest have been reconciled to the Romans, and exempted from all danger, as did those who believed on Christ.

But answering, he said to them, "I will also ask you one thing. Answer me. Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?" The Lord could have confuted the slander of the tempters with an open answer, but prudently he asks so that by their own silence or response, they might be condemned.

Now our Lord by a simple answer might have refuted such a calumny; but He wisely asks a question, that by their silence or their words they might condemn themselves. And he answered and said unto them, I also will ask, &c.

Second, as to the sagacity of Christ in resisting, it is added: But Jesus answering said to them: I also will ask you one word. When he should have responded, he asked a question—not because he did not know, but because they are better bound by a question posed than by a direct answer. Hence Bede: "He could have refuted the calumny of his tempters with an open answer, but he prudently asks a question, so that they might be condemned either by their own silence or by their own judgment," as above in the nineteenth chapter: "Out of your own mouth I judge you, wicked servant." For it is a precaution that "one who wholly opposes must be wholly opposed," and against those who equivocate one must proceed from what has been granted, so that they may be overcome.

However, in order to expose them for their constant resistance to the Holy Spirit and for their unwillingness to believe not only the ancient prophet Isaiah, who had perhaps been forgotten by them, but also John, who had appeared so recently and was almost immaterial and incorporeal, He in turn gives them a real and admirable question in response to their question.

For that He might show that they had always rebelled against the Holy Spirit, and that besides Isaiah, whom they remembered not, they had refused to believe John whom they had lately seen; He now in his turn puts the question to them, proving that if so great a Prophet as John who was accounted greatest among them had been disbelieved when he testified of Him, they would in no wise believe Him, answering by what authority He did this.

As if He should say, He whom yon confess had his gift of prophecy from heaven, and gave testimony to Me. And ye heard from him by what power I should do these things. It follows, But if we shall say, Of men; the whole people will stone us: for they be persuaded that John was a prophet. Therefore perceived they in whatever way they should answer they would fall into a trap, fearing the stoning, but much more the confession of the truth.

Therefore he carefully inquires and asks, so that whatever they answer, they may be refuted, when he adds: Answer me: The baptism of John, whence was it? From heaven, or from men? To this they could not respond except in three ways: either simply by being silent, and thus they would be confounded; or by saying that it was from men, and thus they would be stoned by the people; or by saying that it was from God, and thus Christ would have his point established, because John bore witness concerning Christ at his baptism, according to that passage in John 5: "You sent to John, and he bore witness to the truth." For it is said in John 1: "John bore witness, saying: Because I saw the Holy Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and remaining upon him"; "and I saw and bore witness that this is the Son of God." Whence the Gloss: "He whom you confess to have had prophecy from heaven bore witness to me, and from him you heard by what power I do these things." Since therefore, as is said in John 1, "he was not the light, but was to bear witness concerning the light," those who doubt the light are referred to the consideration of the lamp: for, as is said in John 5, "he was a burning and shining lamp"; and those who doubt the Word are referred to the voice; John 1: "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness."

His question concerning John the Baptist is not from whence was he sprung, but whence received he his law of baptism But they feared not to shun the truth. For God sent John as a voice, crying, Prepare ye the way of the Lord. But they dreaded to speak the truth, lest it should be said, Why did ye not believe? and they scruple to blame the forerunner, not from fear of God, but of the people; as it follows, And they reasoned within themselves, saying, If we shall say, From, heaven; he will say, Why then believed ye him not.

Christ knew "the baptism of John, whence it was." Then why did He ask them, as if He knew not? He knew that the Pharisees would not give Him an answer; then why did He ask in vain? Was it that He might judge them out of their own mouth, or their own heart? Suppose you refer these points to an excuse of the Creator, or to His comparison with Christ; then consider what would have happened if the Pharisees had replied to His question.

The baptism announced by John formed the subject, even at that time, of a question, proposed by the Lord Himself indeed to the Pharisees, whether that baptism were heavenly, or truly earthly: about which they were unable to give a consistent answer, inasmuch as they understood not, because they believed not.

Fourth, with regard to Christ's truthfulness in refuting, he adds: And Jesus said to them: neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things. For because they deny the truth, they are worthy that the truth of knowledge be denied to them by the Truth, according to that passage in Romans 1: "Because they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a reprobate mind."

And note that the Lord concealed the truth from them for a twofold reason; hence the Gloss: "For two reasons the truth must be hidden from those who inquire: either because they are less capable of hearing; whence it is said in John 16: I have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now; or because they inquire out of hatred or contempt; whence it is said in Matthew 7: Do not give what is holy to dogs." Hence Chrysostom says: "Because he himself said: Do not give what is holy to dogs, it was fitting that he himself should not transgress the precept which he established"; the Psalm: "He established a precept, and it shall not pass away." We are therefore instructed by this to conceal sacred mysteries from the malevolent: Isaiah 24: "My secret is mine, my secret is mine"; and to hide our own excellence: Proverbs 27: "Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips."

They were unworthy to learn the truth and to see the pathway that leads directly to every good work. Christ answered them, "Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things." The Jews therefore did not know the truth, and they were not taught of God, that is, of Christ. Christ reveals that knowledge to us who have believed in him. We, receiving in mind and heart his divine and adorable mystery, or rather the knowledge of it, and being careful to fulfill those things which are pleasing to him, shall reign with him.

But, at any rate, when He actually met their refusal to say what they thought, with such reprisals as, "Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things," He returned evil for evil! "Render unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's.

With this question He both silences them and shows us that if they did not believe such a prophet as John, who in their opinion was greater than He, when John testified concerning Him, then how would they have believed His answer as to by what authority He does these things? For whatever He might have said, they could in any case have twisted it and mocked it, just as they had also despised the words of John, who was held in great esteem among them.

Very many derive various meanings from the word vineyard, but Isaiah clearly stated that the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel. Who else but God founded this vineyard? He leased it and set out to foreign places. The Lord, who is always everywhere, does not journey from place to place, but he is present to those who love him and absent from those who neglect him. He was absent for many seasons, fearing that the foreclosure might seem premature. The more indulgent the generosity, the more inexcusable is the stubbornness.… He thus leased to the Jews his fortified, prepared and beautified vineyard.

Now many derive different meanings from the name vineyard, but Esaias clearly relates the vineyard of the Lord of Sabaoth to be the house of Israel. (Isa. 5.) This vineyard who else but God planted?

Not that our Lord journeys from place to place, seeing that He is ever present in every place, but that He is more present to those who love Him, while He removes Himself from those who regard Him not. But He was absent for a long time, lest His coming to require His fruit might seem too early. For the more indulgent it is, it renders obstinacy the less excusable.

The vineyard is also our type. For the husbandman is the Almighty Father, the vine is Christ, but we are the branches. (John 15:5.) Rightly are the people of Christ called a vine, either because it carries on its front the sign of the cross, or because its fruits are gathered in the latter time of the year, or because to all men, as to the equal rows of vines, poor as well as rich, servants as well as masters, there is an equal allotment in the Church without distinction of persons. And as the vine is married to the trees, so is the body to the soul. Loving this vineyard, the husbandman is wont to dig it and prune it, lest it grow too luxuriant in the shade of its foliage, and check by unfruitful boastfulness of words the ripening of its natural character. Here must be the vintage of the whole world, for here is the vineyard of the whole world.

(de con. Ev. l. ii. c. 70.) Matthew has omitted for brevity's sake what Luke has not, namely, that the parable was spoken not to the rulers only who asked concerning His authority, but also to the people.

He began to tell the people this parable: A man planted a vineyard, and let it out to tenants, and went into another country for a long time. While the Lord was teaching the people and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders gathered and questioned, testing in what authority he performed signs. Overcoming them with his wisdom, the Lord proceeded with what he had begun. Indeed, while they were listening, he addressed the people all the more, because they listened to his words more willingly. Introducing a parable, he intended to show them their impiety and to teach that the kingdom of God would be transferred to the nations. Therefore, the man who planted the vineyard is the same one who, according to another parable, hired laborers in his vineyard (Matthew 20). For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel (Isaiah 5). The tenants are the laborers who are said to be hired at the first, third, sixth, and ninth hours to cultivate the vineyard. However, he went into another country, not by changing his location. For where can God be absent from, who says: I fill heaven and earth (Jeremiah 23)? and elsewhere: I am a God who is near, and not far off, says the Lord? But he is said to go away from the vineyard to leave the tenants free will in their working. This is similar to what is said through Isaiah, when the vineyard was let out to tenants: And I looked for it to yield grapes, but it produced wild grapes (Isaiah 5).

The man then who plants the vineyard is the same who, according to another parable, hired labourers into his vineyard.

(in Marc. 12.) Or understanding it morally; to every one of the faithful is let out a vineyard to cultivate, in that the mystery of baptism is entrusted to him to work out. One servant is sent, a second and a third, when the Law, the Psalms, and the Prophets are read. But the servant who is sent is said to be treated despitefully or beaten, when the word heard is despised or blasphemed. The heir who is sent that man kills as far as he can, who by sin tramples under foot the Son of God. (Heb. 6:6.) The wicked husbandman being destroyed, the vineyard is given to another, when with the gift of grace, which the proud man spurned, the humble are enriched.

He began to say to the people, etc. After he repulsed the calumny of the Pharisees, here consequently he reproves and exposes their hidden perfidy through a parable proposed to the people. In this parable, however, three things are intimated. The first is the benignity of divine liberality. The second is the malignity of Jewish perversity, at the passage: And at the time of the vintage he sent, etc. The third is the severity of judicial vengeance, concerning which at the passage: What therefore will the lord of the vineyard do to them? The benignity of divine liberality toward the synagogue he shows in three ways, namely in calling the synagogue to his worship, in giving due guardianship, and in entrusting voluntary freedom.

First, therefore, with regard to the parabolic expression of the calling of the synagogue to divine worship, he says: He began to say to the people this parable: because, namely, the leaders were not worthy to hear. A certain man planted a vineyard: by this man God is understood, to whose image man was formed: Genesis 1: "Let us make man in our image," etc. This vineyard is the synagogue: Isaiah 5: "The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel." The Lord planted this vineyard when in the Patriarchs he chose and called them to his worship; on account of which, Jeremiah 2: "I planted you a choice vineyard, all true seed." Concerning the planting of this vineyard, Isaiah 5: "My beloved had a vineyard on a hill, in a fruitful place. And he fenced it and gathered out the stones from it and planted a choice vineyard and built a tower in the midst of it." By the hedge of this vineyard is understood the guardianship of the Angels: the Psalm: "He has given his Angels charge over you, to guard you," etc. By the chosen stones is understood the steadfastness of the Patriarchs; whence on the twelve stones of the breastplate were the names of the twelve sons of Israel, the penultimate chapter of Exodus. By the tower, however, Sacred Scripture is understood: Song of Songs 4: "Your neck is like the tower of David, which was built with battlements," etc.

Secondly, as regards the due custody given, he adds: And he let it out to husbandmen. By the husbandmen are understood the leaders and chiefs of the synagogue; the Gloss says: "The husbandmen are the workers who were hired to cultivate the vineyard at the first, third, sixth, and ninth hour," according to that passage in Matthew 20: "The kingdom of heaven is like a householder who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard." And concerning these, in the last chapter of Song of Songs: "The peaceful one had a vineyard, in that place which had peoples: the Lord delivered it to keepers." He is said to have let it out, because he requires a rent; whence Song of Songs 8: "A man offers for its fruit a thousand pieces of silver. My vineyard is before me. A thousand are for you, O peaceful one, and two hundred for those who guard the fruits." The husbandmen of this vineyard in the Church, which is the vineyard of the Lord, are bishops and priests; whence First Corinthians 3: "I planted, Apollos watered," etc. Concerning this, Chrysostom says: "The husbandmen are the priests who undertook the care of the people, either to great glory or to great peril: to glory, if they acted diligently; to peril, if they acted negligently." Therefore these husbandmen ought to carry out this cultivation most diligently, because they were appointed for this purpose, as Chrysostom says: "A priest does not please God so much on account of his own righteousness as for the holiness of the people, because his own righteousness is singular, but that of the people is manifold." Greatly therefore is that saying of Proverbs 24 to be feared: "I passed by the field of a slothful man and by the vineyard of a foolish man; and behold, nettles had filled the whole of it," that is, the sins of lust, "and thorns had covered its surface," that is, the sins of avarice. And therefore Augustine in Against the Five Heresies: "Where are you, O good farmers? What are you doing? Why are you idle? You see how full of evils the earth is: here thorns, here thistles, here grass springs up. Burn the thorns, uproot the thistles, scatter good seed."

Third, as regards the free will granted to each one, there is added: And he went abroad for a long time. Bede: "He went abroad who is everywhere present, because he left to the vinedressers free choice of working"; Sirach fifteen: "God from the beginning established man and left him in the hand of his own counsel." "He has set before you water and fire; to whichever you will, stretch forth your hand. Before man is life and death, good and evil; whichever shall please him shall be given to him." He is said, moreover, to be abroad for many days, because he has great patience in waiting for repentance. Whence Ambrose: "He was absent for a long time, lest the exaction seem too hasty. And therefore, the more indulgent the generosity, the more inexcusable the obstinacy." Therefore Romans two: "Do you not know that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?" And Second Peter last chapter: "He acts patiently on your account, not willing that any should perish, but that all should return to repentance and come to the knowledge of his truth."

The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the man of Judah, a plant new and beloved. He who planted the vineyard is God, who also went away for a long time. God still fills everything and in no way whatsoever is absent from anything that exists. How, therefore, did the Lord of the vineyard go away for a long time? After they saw him in the shape of fire at his descent on Mount Sinai with Moses, who spoke the law to them as the mediator, he did not again grant to them his presence in a visible way. To use a metaphor taken from human affairs, his relation to them was like one who made a long journey abroad.

Or God took Himself away from the vineyard for the course of many years, for since the time that He was seen to descend in the likeness of fire upon Mount Sinai, He no longer vouchsafed to them His visible presence; though no change took place, in which He sent not His prophets and righteous men to give warning thereof; as it follows, And at the time of the vintage he sent a servant to the husbandmen, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard. (Exod. 19.)

He proposed another parable. "A certain man, a householder, planted his vineyard." This is like what the psalmist said, "You brought a vine out of Egypt, you drove out the nations and planted it." He protected it with a hedge, the law, and prepared a pit in it for the winepresses, the altar, and built a tower there, the temple, and sent his servants to bring him its fruit. The first, the next and the last were not received. Then he sent his Son. He was not the last, for although he appeared at the end, he already existed. John witnessed, "A man will come after me, who is before me." He did not do this because he was unaware that the ancestors were incapable of receiving the produce but to remove the detractions of these stubborn ones from their midst. They were saying that he was not able to direct and prepare everything that he wanted to by the law, so therefore he sent his Son to impose silence on them. When they saw his Son coming, they said, "Here is the heir of the vineyard. Come! Let us kill him, and the inheritance of the vineyard will be ours." They killed him, but their inheritance was taken away from them and given to the Gentiles. It happened just as he had said, "For to him who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away."

The rulers of the Jewish people being now assembled together in the temple, Christ put forth a parable, foretelling by a figure the things they were about to do to Him, and the rejection that was in store for them.

But the parable which Esaias gives denounces the vineyard, whereas our Saviour's parable is not directed against the vineyard, but the cultivators of it; of whom it is added, And he let it out to husbandmen, that is, to the elders of the people, and the chief priests, and the doctors, and all the nobles.

This parable is brief, but it teaches us much that is great, namely: that God had and showed a special providence toward the Hebrews, that they have long been inclined to murder, that the God of the Old and New Testaments is one, that the Gentiles will be brought in, and the Jews rejected. The vineyard is the Jewish church itself, the vinedressers are the scribes and Pharisees, those leading men and overseers of the people. Or: each person in himself is both vineyard and vinedresser, for each of us cultivates himself. The Lover of mankind, having given this vineyard to the workers, "went away," that is, He left them to act according to their own free will.

Or each one of the people is the vineyard, each likewise is the husbandman, for every one of us takes care of himself. Having committed then the vineyard to the husbandmen, he went away, that is, he left them to the guidance of their own judgment. Hence it follows, And went into a far country for a long time.

And in due season he sent a servant to the tenants to receive from them the fruit of the vineyard. But they beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Correctly, he placed the time of fruits, not of harvests. For no fruit existed from the Jews, no yield of this vineyard was found, even though it was often and diligently sought. Therefore, the servant who was first sent is understood to be the lawgiver Moses, who for forty continuous years sought some fruit of the law he had given from the tenants; but they beat him and sent him away empty-handed. For they provoked Moses in the camp, and Aaron, the holy one of the Lord. And Moses was vexed because of them, for they embittered his spirit. And this same servant clearly declares what he thinks of the fruit of the vineyard, saying in a song: "For their vine is from the vine of Sodom, and their branch from Gomorrah. Their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter. The fury of dragons is their wine, and the cruel venom of asps" (Deut. 32).

But it is rightly written fruit, not increase. For there was no increase in this vineyard. The first servant sent was Moses, who for forty years sought of the husbandmen the fruit of the law which he had given, but he was wroth against them, for they provoked his spirit. Hence it follows, But they beat him, and sent him away empty.

And at the time of the vintage he sent, etc. After he described the benignity of divine generosity, he here describes the malice of Jewish perversity. The perversity of the malice of the Jews is described in two ways: first, namely before the coming of Christ; second, after the coming of Christ, at the place: But the lord of the vineyard said: What shall I do? Before the coming of Christ it is described in three ways, namely with respect to the lawgiver, with respect to royal power, and with respect to the prophetic company; and according to the three means by which that people could be led by the hand to justice, namely through the Law, psalmody, and prophecy, according to the height of power, the sweetness of goodness, and the certainty of truth.

First, regarding the perversity of the Jewish people with respect to the lawgiver Moses he says: And at the time of the vintage he sent a servant to the tenants, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: The Gloss says: "The first servant who is sent is Moses the lawgiver, who for forty years sought from the tenants the fruit of the Law which he had given"; the Psalm: "He sent Moses his servant, Aaron whom he chose." Concerning this sending, Exodus 3: "Come, I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt." But because the perversity of the Jews did not accept this servant, he therefore adds: Who beat him and sent him away empty. The Gloss says: "They send him away beaten and empty, because they provoked Moses in the camp, Aaron the holy one of the Lord; and again: Moses was troubled on their account, because they embittered his spirit." Whence Deuteronomy 31: "I know your contention and your most stiff neck. While I am yet alive and going in with you, you have always acted contentiously against the Lord; how much more when I shall be dead?" Now this was done by the tenants especially, that is, the leaders of the synagogue: Numbers 16: "Behold, Korah the son of Izhar, and Dathan and Abiram rose up against Moses, and also other children of Israel, two hundred and fifty men, leaders of the synagogue, who at the time of the council were called by name." And the lesser ones followed these; whence it also follows after that "the whole multitude of the children of Israel murmured the next day against Moses and Aaron. And when sedition arose and the tumult increased, Moses and Aaron fled to the tabernacle of the covenant."

He went away, but plainly he cared for his farm and kept it in his mind. He sent faithful servants to them at three different times to receive produce or fruit from the tillers of the vineyard. There was no period in the interval, during which there were not sent by God prophets and righteous men to admonish Israel and urge it to bring forth as fruits the glories of a life in accordance with the law. They still were wicked, disobedient and callous, and their heart was hardened against admonition so that they would in no way listen to the word that would have profited them.… Israel was guilty of the charge of apostasy and of idol worship. This is how they shamefully threw out those who were sent to them.

He sends various "servants," that is, prophets, so as to have at least some small profit; for He desired, it says, to receive "some of the fruit," and not all the fruit. And what fruit is there from us to God, if not the knowledge of Him? And this is our gain; yet He counts our salvation and our benefit as His own. The wicked tenants mistreated those who were sent, beat them, and sent them away empty-handed, that is, they reached such ingratitude that they not only turned away from good and gave no good fruit, but also committed evil, which deserves greater punishment.

He says of the fruit of the vineyard, because not the whole fruit, but part only, He wished to receive. For what does God gain from us, but His own knowledge, which is also our profit.

And it came to pass that He ordained many others, whom the Jews sent back to him disgraced and empty, for they could reap nothing from them; as it follows, And again he sent another servant.

And he added the sending of another servant. But they also beat him and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. The other servant signifies David the prophet and king. Who was sent after Moses, to urge the tenants of the vineyard, through the modulation of psalmody and the sweetness of the lyre, to the practice of good work after the legal decrees. For David himself also sought to lift the heart of the people to higher things, establishing that the praises of the Lord be sung continuously with sweet melody among the rites of carnal sacrifices. But even him they treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. For they said: "What portion have we in David? Neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse" (1 Kings 12). They changed David's kingdom with an ignoble lineage and the religion with impiety. Yet he intercedes that this vineyard, which, transplanted from Egypt, covered the mountains of Palestine with its shadow, might not be utterly destroyed. "O Lord God of hosts, turn now, look down from heaven, and see, and visit this vineyard, and protect the branch that your right hand has planted" (Ps. 80). Where he also explains who the man is who planted this vineyard, namely the Lord God of hosts.

By the other servant is meant David, who was sent after the commandment of the law, that he by the music of his psalmody might stir up the husbandmen to the exercise of good works. But they on the contrary declared, What portion have we in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse. (1 Sam. 20:1.). Hence it follows, And they beat him also, and entreated him shamefully, and sent him away empty. (1 Kings 12:16.)

Second, regarding the perversity with respect to King David, the chief worshiper of God, he adds: And he proceeded to send another servant; The Gloss says: "The other servant is David the prophet, who after Moses invited the tenants of the vineyard to the exercise of good works by the melody of psalmody and the sweetness of the harp." The Lord sent him when he chose him from the pastures to rule and feed his people, according to what the prophet David himself says in the Psalm: "He chose David his servant and took him from the sheepfolds. From following the ewes with young he took him, to shepherd Jacob his servant and Israel his inheritance." Whence 2 Kings 7: "Thus shall you say to my servant David: I took you from the pastures, following the flocks, that you should be the leader over my people Israel; and I was with you in all things, wherever you went, and I made you a great name, like the name of the great ones who are on the earth." Whence also to him, namely David, he gave a royal throne forever; to the same he gave the spirit of prophecy; to the same he gave the song of psalmody, so that he might thus incline that stubborn people.

And yet he could not soften the hardness of the Jews, on account of which he adds: But they, beating this one also and treating him with contempt, sent him away empty, because they despised his governance and leadership. Whence the Gloss: "They send him away empty, treated with contempt, saying: What portion have we in David, or what inheritance in the son of Jesse?" Second Kings twenty. Where it is also set forth beforehand how they pursued David with Absalom: Second Kings fifteen; "A messenger came to David saying: With all their heart all Israel follows Absalom. And David said to his servants: Arise, let us flee; there will be no escape for us from the face of Absalom." And afterward in the sixteenth chapter it is said concerning the insults inflicted upon him: "Thus Shimei spoke, when he cursed the king: Go out, go out, man of blood and man of Belial! The Lord has repaid upon you all the blood of the house of Saul: and behold, evils press upon you, because you are a man of blood."

And he sent a third, but they wounded this one also and threw him out. Understand the third servant as the group of prophets, who with continual testimonies admonished the people and foretold the evils that were to come upon this vineyard. But which of the prophets did they not persecute? They killed those who announced the coming of the just one (Acts 7). And these also spoke much about the barrenness of this vineyard, but let the lament of Jeremiah alone suffice. "I planted you as a choice vine, wholly of pure seed. How then have you turned degenerate and become a wild vine?" (Jeremiah 2). For the protection of this vineyard, namely so that in it or for it there would not arise the weak and infirm vegetable of quickly perishing sweetness, we read that Naboth the Jezreelite was not only wounded but also killed. Although we receive no prophetic utterance from him, yet his prophetic act, through his own blood, foretold that many martyrs were to come for this vineyard. Clearly, these three grades of servants can be understood to represent the figure of all teachers under the law, as the Lord elsewhere plainly shows, saying: "For it is necessary to fulfill all that is written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms" (Luke 24).

But He does not stop here, for it follows, And again he sent a third: whereby we must understand the company of prophets who constantly visited the people with their testimony. But which of the Prophets did they not persecute; as it follows, And they wounded him also, and cast him out. Now these three successions of servants, our Lord elsewhere shows to comprehend under a figure all the teachers under the law, when He says, For all those things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and the Prophets, and the Psalms, concerning me.

Third, as regards the perversity of that people with respect to the prophetic company, there is subjoined: And he added to send a third. The Gloss: "The third servant is the choir of the Prophets, who rebuked the people and foretold the evils that threatened the vineyard." Concerning the sending of this servant it is said in Jeremiah seven: "I sent to you all my servants the Prophets daily, rising early and sending. And they did not listen to me nor incline their ear, but they hardened their neck and acted worse than their fathers."

Whence he also adds: Who also cast him out, having wounded him. For they sawed Isaiah asunder, stoned Jeremiah, and reviled Ezekiel. Therefore Matthew twenty-three: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who killest the Prophets and stonest those who are sent to thee"; and in Acts seven Stephen said to the Jews: "Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in hearts and ears, ye always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do ye also. Which of the Prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they slew those who foretold the coming of the Just One." Therefore the Prophets themselves, seeing their hardness, both rebuked and lamented. For it is said in Isaiah five concerning the vineyard: "I expected that it would bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes"; and Jeremiah two: "How art thou turned unto me into that which is depraved, O strange vine"? and Ezekiel nineteen: "Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood, planted by the water." "And she was plucked up in wrath, cast down to the ground, and the burning wind dried up her fruit." In this, however, the astonishing faithlessness of the Jews is apparent, because all those whom they persecuted loved them most greatly. For Moses did not cease to pray for the people; Exodus thirty-two: "Why, O Lord, doth thy fury burn against thy people, whom thou hast brought forth out of Egypt?" "Either forgive them this trespass" etc. Likewise also David: "O Lord God of hosts, turn again: look down from heaven and see and visit this vine." Likewise the chorus of the Prophets, whence Jeremiah eighteen: "Remember that I stood in thy sight to speak good for them and to turn away the wrath of thine indignation from them." And all these bore the figure of Christ, of whom Isaiah fifty-three says: "He himself bore the sins of many and made intercession for transgressors."

But the Lord of the vineyard said: What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. Perhaps when they see him, they will respect him. Though the Lord of the vineyard is said to speak doubtfully and not with deliberation, this does not come from ignorance. For what could the Lord of the vineyard, who is understood here to be God the Father, not know? But God is always said to waver so that free will may be reserved for man. When the tenants saw him, they discussed among themselves, saying: This is the heir, let us kill him so that the inheritance may become ours. The Lord most clearly demonstrates that the leaders of the Jews did not crucify the Son of God out of ignorance but out of envy. For they understood that he was the one to whom it was said: Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance (Psalm II). And therefore, as if consulting among themselves, they were saying: Behold, the whole world is following him, and if we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him (John XII). Therefore, the inheritance of the son is the Church given to him from all the nations, which the Father did not leave to him by dying, but he miraculously acquired by his own death, because he possessed it by rising again. But the wicked tenants were attempting to seize this, having killed him, when the Jews, crucifying him, tried to extinguish the faith which is through him, and rather to promote their own righteousness, which is from the law, and sought to implant it in the gentiles to be instructed.

But the lord of the vineyard said, etc. After having described the perversity of the Jews before the coming of Christ against the persons of the servants, here he describes the malignity of their perversity after the coming, against the very Son of God, Jesus Christ. Concerning the description of this, three things are introduced, namely the gratuitous benefit of God, the perverse design of the Jews, and their flagitious deed.

First, as regards the gratuitous benefit of God, he sets forth: But the lord of the vineyard said: What shall I do? I will send my beloved son, this was the greatest benefit, according to that passage of First John four: "In this appeared the charity of God in us, that God sent his only-begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him"; and John three: "God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son." This sending, moreover, was from the hidden and most secret purpose and counsel of God.

And because he had proposed this by a definite counsel, therefore he says: What shall I do? On account of which Moses in Exodus 4 was saying: "I beseech you, Lord, send him whom you are going to send"; but the Lord reserved sending him until the end, both on account of the consummation of the order, according to that passage in Galatians 4: "When we were little ones, we were serving under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of time came, God sent his Son"; and also so that it might appear that through no other could human perfidy and hardness of heart be remedied.

On account of which he adds: Perhaps, when they see him, they will reverence him. Perhaps does not denote doubt in God, who most certainly foresees all things, but the freedom of the will, which is turnable to either side. Whence the Gloss: "That he is uncertain, that is, uses a word of doubt, is not from God's ignorance, but so that free will might be preserved to man." Whence that the Jews did not reverence Christ was not a defect on God's part, but on the part of the hardness of the human heart: Isaiah 5: "What is there that I ought to have done more for my vineyard and did not do?" For those who do not reverence the Son of God will never again reverence God nor his messenger, because, John 5, "The Father has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father; he who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him."

But the lord of the vineyard considers with himself, saying, "What shall I do?" And we must carefully examine in what sense he says this. Does then the householder use these words because he had no more servants? Certainly not: for there were not wanting to Him other ministers of His holy will. But just as if a physician were to say of a sick man, What shall I do? we should understand him to mean, that every resource of medical skill had been tried, but without avail: so we affirm that the lord also of the vineyard, having practised all gentleness and care with his farm, but without in any respect benefiting it, says, What shall I do? And what is the result? He advances to still greater purposes; for "I will send, He says, My Son, the beloved one. Perhaps they will reverence Him." Observe in this, that after the servants the Son is sent, as One not numbered among the servants, but as a true Son, and therefore the Lord. For even though He put on the form of a servant for the dispensation's sake, yet even so He was God, and very Son of God the Father, and possessed of natural dominion. Did they then honour Him Who was sent as Son and Lord, and as One Who possesses by inheritance whatsoever belongs to God the Father? By no means. For they slew Him outside the vineyard, having plotted among themselves a purpose foolish and ignorant and full of all wickedness. For they say, "Let us kill Him, that the inheritance may be ours." But tell me, How did you imagine this? For are you also son of God the Father? Does the inheritance descend by right of nature to you? If you remove the heir out of the way, how will you become lord of what you covet? But further, How is not your supposition ridiculous? For the Lord indeed, as being Son, and Heir by right of His substance of the authority of God the Father, having become man, called those who believed in Him to communion and participation of His kingdom: but these men wanted to take possession of the kingdom solely for themselves, without admitting even Him to any participation at all therein, usurping for themselves alone the lordly inheritance. But this was a purpose impossible, and full of ignorance: and therefore the blessed David says of them in the Psalms, "He that dwells in the heaven shall laugh at them, and the Lord shall deride them."

The Lord of the vineyard also ponders what He should do, not that He is in need of ministers, but that having thoroughly tried every device of human aid, yet His people being in no wise healed, He may add something greater; as He goes on to say, I will send my beloved son: it may be they will reverence him when they see him.

Now it was not accidentally but part of the purpose of the divine dispensation that Christ came after the prophets. For God does not pursue all things at once, but accommodates Himself to mankind through His great mercy; for if they despised His Son coming after His servants, much less would they have heard Him before. For they who listened not to the inferior commands, how would they have heard the greater?

After the prophets had endured such terrible evil, the Son is sent. "Perhaps," He says, "they will be ashamed" before My Son. He says "they will be ashamed" not because He does not know the future — namely, that they will treat Him far worse than the prophets — but because this is how it should have been: they should have been ashamed before Him. But if they were so shameless that they even killed Him, this serves as a greater accusation against them, because even after God declared that it would have been good to be ashamed before the Son, they rendered the opposite verdict. This manner of speaking is found in many places of Scripture, for example: "Perhaps... they will listen" (Jer. 26:3); "whether they will listen" (Ezek. 2:5, 3:11). In these places God speaks this way not out of ignorance of the future, but He uses such a manner of expression so that no one would say that God's foreknowledge was the necessary cause of their disobedience.

After the prophets then had suffered all these things, the Son is delegated; for it follows, Then said the Lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? That the Lord of the vineyard speaks doubtingly, arises not from ignorance, for what is there that the Lord knows not? but He is said to hesitate, that the free will of man may be preserved.

Now He said this, not as ignorant that they would treat Him worse than they did the prophets, but because the Son ought to be reverenced by them. But if they should still be rebellious and slay Him, this would crown their iniquity. Lest therefore any should say that the Divine Presence has necessarily been the cause of their disobedience, He uses purposely this doubtful mode of speech.

When then the only-begotten Son was sent to them, the unbelieving Jews, wishing to be rid of the Heir, put Him to death by crucifying Him, and rejected Him by denying Him. Christ is the Heir and the Testator likewise. The Heir, because He survives His own death; and of the testament which He Himself bequeathed, He reaps as it were the hereditary profits in our advances.

Second, with respect to the perverse design, it is added: When the tenants saw him, they deliberated among themselves, saying: This is the heir, by a conjecture of the truth: for they did not know with certain knowledge, as is said in 1 Corinthians 2: "Which none of the princes of this world knew. For if they had known, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory." Yet they knew, even if not through faith, through certain signs leading to the belief that he was the Messiah promised in the Law. Therefore they conspired against Christ not from ignorance but from deliberate malice. Whence the Gloss says: "He openly proves that the Jews crucified the Son of God not through ignorance but through envy. For they understood that he was the one to whom it was said: Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance." What is therefore said in Acts 3: "Now I know, brethren, that you acted through ignorance, as did also your rulers," does not exclude from the Jews all knowledge, but certain knowledge: or it is said with respect to the lesser ones, who sinned from ignorance. For the greater ones did this from deliberate malice, because they feared losing their temporal glory. Therefore he adds: Let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours, through a machination of perversity: which they said not to acquire a new inheritance, since Christ was utterly poor, but to preserve what they already had. Whence John 11: "The chief priests and Pharisees gathered a council, saying: Because this man works many signs. If we let him go on like this, all will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away our place and our nation." Whence that wicked design drew its origin from avarice, and it also drew its rise from envy: whence Wisdom 2: "Let us lie in wait for the just man, because he is contrary to our works and reproaches us with sins against the law and defames us with sins against our training"; and below: "Let us condemn him to a most shameful death. These things they thought and were mistaken, for their own malice blinded them"; since "by the envy of the devil, death entered into the world." A figure of this preceded in Joseph; Genesis 37: "His brothers devised to kill him and spoke to one another, saying: Behold, the dreamer comes; come, let us kill him and cast him into an old pit, and we shall say: A most wicked beast devoured him," etc. Therefore this Gospel is read together with the history of Joseph as the Passion approaches.

He rightly puts a question to them, that they may condemn themselves by their own words, as it follows, What then will the Lord of the vineyard do to them?

He says, the Lord of the vineyard will come, because in the Son is present also the Father's majesty; or because in the last times He will be more graciously present by His Spirit in the hearts of men.

And they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. The heir of the vineyard is slaughtered outside the vineyard, because Jesus suffered outside the gate to sanctify the people with his own blood. Either he was cast out of the vineyard and killed, because he was first rejected by the heart of the unbelievers, and then given over to the cross. In whose figure Moses set the altar of burnt offering, where the blood of the victims would be poured, not within the tabernacle, but at the door, mystically teaching that the altar of the Lord's cross should be placed outside the gate of Jerusalem, and that Christ himself, the true sacrifice of the Father, whom he had come to sanctify, should not be received in the innermost heart of the house of the Jews, but should be tinged with his own blood outside. But that which according to Mark is said with the order changed: And they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard (Mark 12), marks their obstinacy, who did not want to believe the apostles preaching of the crucified and risen Lord, but cast him out as if he were a vile corpse. Because, as far as it depended on them, excluding him from their boundaries, they gave him to be received by the Gentiles.

What then will the lord of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others. When they heard this, they said: God forbid. They contradicted the Lord's sentence because they recognized that it was against their own perfidy. For they understood the parable not because they were already prepared by the merit of holiness to grasp the words of the mystery, but because they were inflamed with the flames of malice to do what was being said, and therefore they were ready to recognize what they had in mind, although spoken in parables, as something long meditated upon. Therefore, to the Jews denying that it would be just for the knowledge of the divine law which they despised to be transferred to the Gentiles, observe what the Savior replies.

But our Lord most clearly proves that the Jewish rulers crucified the Son of God not from ignorance but for envy. For they knew it was He to whom it was said, I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance. (Ps. 2:8.) And they cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. (Heb. 13:12.) Because Jesus, that He might sanctify the people by His blood, suffered without the gate.

Or was He cast out of the vineyard and slain, because He was first driven out of the hearts of the unbelievers, and then fastened to the cross?

Third, as regards the flagitious deed, it is added: And having cast him out of the vineyard, they killed him, that is, outside Jerusalem, because it is said in the last chapter of Hebrews: "Christ suffered outside the gate. Let us therefore go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach." They killed him, moreover, when they handed him over to Pilate to be killed and demanded that he be crucified; whence Acts 3: "You handed over and denied Jesus, the Son of God, before the face of Pilate, when he judged that he should be released. But you asked that a murderer be granted to you, while the Author of life you killed." And thus was fulfilled that passage of Isaiah 5 concerning the planted vineyard: "I waited for it to produce judgment, and behold, iniquity; and justice, and behold, a cry"; a cry, namely, for the killing of Christ, concerning which Mark 15: "They cried out: Crucify him! But Pilate said to them: What evil then has he done? But they cried out all the more: Crucify him!" Whence from this vineyard there came forth not wine but gall, according to that passage of Deuteronomy 32: "Their vine is of the vine of Sodom and of the suburbs of Gomorrah; their grape is a grape of gall, and their clusters most bitter. Their wine is the poison of dragons and the incurable venom of asps."

They "killed" the Son, "casting him out of the vineyard." One could fittingly say: out of Jerusalem, for Christ suffered "outside the gate" (Heb. 13:12). But since above we understood the vineyard to mean the people, and not Jerusalem, it is perhaps more to the point to say that the people did kill Him, but outside the vineyard, that is, they did not put Him to death with their own hands, but by handing Him over to Pilate and the Gentiles. Thus, the Lord suffered outside the vineyard, that is, not at the hands of the people, for they were not permitted to put anyone to death, and so He died at the hands of the soldiers. Some understood the vineyard to mean the Scriptures. Thus, the Lord suffered outside the Scriptures, that is, He was killed by those who did not believe Moses. For if they had believed Moses and occupied themselves with the Scriptures, searching them, they would not have killed the Master of the Scriptures.

Since we have already assumed the people, not Jerusalem, to be the vineyard, it may perhaps be more properly said that the people indeed slew Him without the vineyard; that is, our Lord suffered without the hands of the people, because in truth the people did not with their own hands inflict death upon Him, but delivered Him up to Pilate and the Gentiles. But some by the vineyard have understood the Scripture, which not believing they slew the Lord. And so without the vineyard, that is, without Scripture, our Lord is said to have suffered.

The vineyard prefigures us, because the people of God, founded on the root of the eternal Vine, appear above the earth, bordering the lowly ground. They now grow ripe with budding flowers. They now are clothed with dense greenery and take on a gentle yoke when they worship with mature branches as if with the twigs of the vine. The Father Almighty truly is the Vinedresser, and Christ is the Vine. We, not vine sprouts, are pruned by the sickle of the eternal cultivator if we do not bear fruit in Christ. The people of Christ then is correctly named a vineyard, either because the sign of the cross is woven on its forehead or its fruit is gathered in the last season of the year. It may also be called a vineyard because there is equal measurement in the church of God for rich and poor, humble and powerful, servants and masters. There is no difference in the church, as in all the rows of the vineyard. As the vine clings to trees, so the body is joined to the soul and the soul to the body. When the vine clings, it is raised up. When it is pruned, it is not diminished, but it increases. The people of God is stripped when it is bound, uplifted when it is humbled, crowned when it is cut back. The tender shoot cut from an old tree is grafted onto the progeny of another root. When the scars of the old shoot are cut away, the people of God likewise grow into the wood of the cross. It is as if they are cherished in the arms of a pious parent. The Holy Spirit comes as if cast down into the deep ditches of the earth and poured into this prison of the body. With the flow of saving water, the Holy Spirit washes away whatever is filthy and raises the posture of our members to heavenly discipline.

(de con. Ev. lib. iv. cap. 70.) Or else, in the multitude of which we are speaking there were those who craftily asked our Lord by what authority He acted; there were those also who not craftily, but faithfully, cried aloud, Blessed is he who cometh in the name of the Lord. And so there would be some who would say, He will miserably destroy those husbandmen, and let out his vineyard to others. Which are rightly said to have been the words of our Lord Himself, either on account of their truth, or because of the unity of the members with the head; while there would be others also who would say to those who made this answer, God forbid, inasmuch as they understood the parable was spoken against themselves. It follows, And he beheld them, and said, What is this then that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner?

And this happens as it were to men who are condemned, having nothing to answer to the plain evidence of justice. But it is the property of Divine mercy not to inflict punishment in secret, but to foretell it with threatenings, that so it might recall men to repentance; and thus it follows here, He shall come and destroy those husbandmen.

What therefore will he do to them, etc. After he has described parabolically the benignity of divine generosity and the perversity of Jewish malice, here now in the third place he describes the severity of judicial vengeance. Concerning which three things are indicated, namely: the severity of divine vengeance, the incredulity of Jewish rebellion, and the firmness of the attestation of Scripture.

First, therefore, as regards the severity of divine vengeance, he says: What therefore will the lord of the vineyard do to them? He asks this not as one doubting, but to arouse understanding of the sentence, with respect to which he adds: He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others; in which is given the sentence of the reprobation of the Jews and the election of the Gentiles; and this under the figure of the vineyard and the vinedressers, concerning which Isaiah 5: "Now I will show you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be for plundering; I will break down its wall, and it shall be for trampling. And I will make it desolate; it shall not be pruned nor dug, and briers and thorns shall grow up over it; and I will command the clouds not to rain upon it." This reprobation the Prophet laments in the Psalm, saying: "Why have you destroyed its wall, and all who pass by the way pluck its grapes? The boar from the forest has laid it waste, and the solitary wild beast has devoured it." Concerning the election truly of the Gentiles, it is said in Romans 11: "Blindness in part has befallen Israel, so that the fullness of the Gentiles might enter in"; and concerning this, Romans 9: "I will call not-my-people my people, and her who has not obtained mercy, one who has obtained mercy"; which is taken from Hosea 2. And concerning this, Matthew 21: "The kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation producing its fruits."

Second, regarding the incredulity of Jewish rebellion, he adds: When they heard this, they said: God forbid, as if to say: it will not happen as you have said. But the contrary of this appears in Matthew twenty-one, where it is said thus: "When the lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those husbandmen? They say to him: He will miserably destroy those wicked men and will let out his vineyard to other husbandmen, who will render him the fruit in their seasons." Here, however, it is said that they contradicted. But Augustine resolves this apparent contradiction in the book On the Harmony of the Evangelists, where he says thus: "We understand that some responded as Matthew records, and others as Luke records." Chrysostom responds differently, saying that "they said one thing in their heart, namely what Matthew says; another with their mouth, namely what Luke says. Hence their conscience was in agreement with the divine sentence and the parable, but their tongue was contrary." Hence the Gloss: "They contradict the sentence which they recognize was spoken against their own perfidy; for they understood that what they bore in their mind was contained in the parable." And from this the wondrous judgment of God appears, because by contradicting they wished to conceal themselves, and yet they were exposing themselves, while they set themselves against the truth, contrary to that passage in Sirach four: "Do not contradict the word of truth in any way, and concerning the lie," etc.

The farm was given to other farmers. Who are they? I answer the company of the holy apostles, the preachers of the evangelical commandments, the ministers of the new covenant. They were the teachers of a spiritual service, and knew how to instruct people correctly and blamelessly and to lead them most excellently to everything that is pleasing to God.… The God of all plainly reveals that the farm was given to other farmers and not only to the holy apostles but also to those who come after them, although they are not from Jewish blood. He says by the voice of Isaiah to the church of the Gentiles and to the remnant of Israel, "Aliens shall stand and feed your flocks, foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers." Many were called from the Gentiles, and holy people from their number became teachers and instructors. Even to this day, people of Gentile race hold high place in the churches. They are sowing the seeds of piety to Christ in the hearts of believers and making the nations entrusted to their care into beautiful vineyards in the sight of God.

What did the scribes and Pharisees say when they heard the parable? Their words were, "Heaven forbid!" One may see by this that having understood its more profound significance, they put away from them the impending suffering and were afraid of the coming danger. They however did not escape, because they could not be restrained from disobedience, nor would they submit to believe in Christ.

The Jewish rulers were shut out then, because they resisted their Lord's will, and made the vineyard barren which was entrusted to them. But the cultivation of the vineyard was given to the Priests of the New Testament, upon which the Scribes and Pharisees, as soon as they perceived the force of the parable, refuse to permit it, saying as follows, God forbid. They did not however escape any whit the more, because of their obstinacy and disobedience to the faith of Christ.

Having said this, He adds also the sentence which He is about to pronounce upon them, namely: that "He will give the vineyard to others," that is, He will give to others that grace of being called My people. Note: those who say that the vineyard signifies the Scripture seem to guess the meaning more closely, as appears from here. For the Scripture, taken away from the Jews, was handed over to us. And another, bolder person might perhaps say that the vineyard is everything spiritual, whether it be contained in Scripture and laws, or in deeds and histories, all of which the Jews were deprived of, while we enjoy it. As you hear, the Evangelist Luke says that the Lord spoke these words: the master of the vineyard will destroy the ungrateful vinedressers and will give the vineyard to others, and that the Pharisees, hearing this, said: "God forbid!" But the Evangelist Matthew says it differently, namely: the Lord asked, what will the owner of the vineyard do to those vinedressers? And the Jews answered: "He will miserably destroy those wicked men... and will let out the vineyard to others" (Matt. 21:40–41). Is this not a contradiction? Not at all. For probably both things happened: first they themselves pronounced the judgment, as the Evangelist Matthew relates; and then, having realized to whom the parable referred, namely that it was spoken against them, they said again what the Evangelist Luke now relates, namely: "God forbid!"

Now Matthew seems to relate the parable differently; that when our Saviour asked indeed, What will he do then to the husbandmen? the Jews answered, he will miserably destroy them. But there is no difference between the two circumstances. The Jews at first pronounced that opinion, then perceiving the point of the parable said, God forbid, as Luke here relates.

But he, looking at them, said: What then is this that is written: The stone which the builders rejected, this one has become the head of the corner? How, he says, will this prophecy be fulfilled, which says that the stone rejected by the builders is to be made the head of the corner, unless it be that Christ, rejected and killed by you, is to be preached to the believing nations? So that, like a cornerstone binding together two into itself, from both peoples he builds for himself one city of the faithful, one temple. For the same teachers of the Synagogue whom he had previously called husbandmen, he now calls builders, because those who were instructed to cultivate the people subject to them to bear fruits of life like a vineyard, were commanded to build and adorn this for God as a worthy dwelling, like a house. Whence also the Apostle writing to the faithful says: You are God's husbandry, God's building (I Cor. III). But those who refused the fruit of God's vineyard as bad husbandmen, the same ones as bad masons attempted to remove the precious chosen stone from the house of God, which was to be placed either in the foundations or in the corner, that is, they tried to take away the faith of Christ from their hearers. But even though they were unwilling, this same stone made the head of the corner, because from both peoples, as many as he willed, he joined together in his faith.

As if He said, How shall the prophecy be fulfilled, except that Christ, being rejected and slain by you, is to be preached to the Gentiles, who will believe on Him, that as the corner stone He may thus from both nations build up one temple to Himself?

Third, regarding the firmness of the attestation of Scripture, he adds: But he, looking upon them, said: What then is this that is written: The stone which the builders rejected, the same has become the head of the corner? This is written in the Psalm, where it is immediately added: "This is the Lord's doing," etc. In this, moreover, is shown the wondrous humility of Christ, who willed to be rejected; on account of which Isaiah marvels in the fifty-third chapter: Lord, "who has believed our report? And the arm of the Lord, to whom has it been revealed? And he shall grow up as a tender plant before him and as a root out of a thirsty ground." "And we esteemed him as a leper and as struck by God and humiliated." In this also is shown the wondrous power of Christ, because he brought things most widely separated back to unity, as a cornerstone.

Now Christ is called a stone on account of the permanence of stability, concerning which Daniel 2: "After these things you watched, until a stone was cut from the mountain without hands and struck the statue." "But the stone that had struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth." Now He is called angular on account of the power of connection; Ephesians 2: "He Himself is our peace, who made both one, breaking down the middle wall of partition"; "that He might create the two in Himself into one new man, making peace." Concerning this, Job 38: "Where were you when I was laying the foundations of the earth? Who set its measurements, or who laid its cornerstone?" This cornerstone of the earth is the unifying stone of the Church, concerning which Isaiah 28: "Behold, I will lay in the foundations of Zion a stone, a tested stone, a cornerstone, precious, founded in the foundation." He is also called the head of the corner on account of the summit of perfection; Ephesians 2: "Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord," etc. And therefore First Peter 2: "Coming to whom, a living stone, rejected indeed by men." "And you yourselves as living stones," etc. Christ is therefore to be imagined as the central stone in the whole body of the Church, which is compared to the circumference of a circle; to whom indeed all lines drawn form an angle and are united in Him as in a point of indivisibility, in which occurs the kiss of the lines of the cross converging in their midst into one. Therefore this stone is the one stabilizing the elect, and conversely is the one crushing adversaries and the reprobate.

Although he was a chosen stone, those who had the duty to build up the synagogue of the Jews in everything that was edifying rejected the Savior. He still became the head of the corner. Now the sacred Scripture compares with a corner the gathering together or joining of the two people. I mean Israel and the Gentiles in the sameness of sentiment and faith. The Savior has built the two people into one new person by making peace and reconciling the two in one body to the Father. This resembles a corner, which unites two walls and binds them together. Blessed David wondered at this corner or gathering together of the two people into one. He said, "The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner. This [the corner] has been done by the Lord, and is marvelous in our eyes." Christ has bound together the two people in the bonds of love and in the same sentiment and faith.

But holy Scripture compares to a corner the meeting together of the two nations, the Jew and the Gentile, into one faith. (1 Pet. 2:7. Eph. 2:20.) For the Saviour has compacted both peoples into one new man, reconciling them in one body to the Father. Of saving help then is that stone to the corner made by it, but to the Jews who resist this spiritual union, it bringeth destruction.

He led them to the point of judging themselves, saying, "What do the vinedressers deserve?" They made a pronouncement concerning themselves, saying, "Let him destroy the evil ones with evil." He then explained this, saying, "Have you not read that the stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner?" What stone is this? It is the one known to be as hard as lead. See, he has said, "I am setting a plumb line in the midst of the sons of Israel." To show that he himself was this stone, he said concerning it, "Whoever knocks against that stone will be broken to pieces, but it will crush and destroy whomsoever it falls upon." The leaders of the people were gathered together against him and wanted his downfall because his teaching did not please them. He said, "It will crush and destroy whomsoever it falls upon," because he got rid of idolatry along with other such things. "The stone that struck the image has become a great mountain, and the whole earth has been filled with it."

Christ is called a stone on account of His earthly body, cut out without hands, (Dan. 2:34.) as in the vision of Daniel, because of His birth of the Virgin. But the stone is neither of silver nor gold, because He is not any glorious King, but a man lowly and despised, wherefore the builders rejected Him.

What then does Christ do? He brings forward another testimony from the Psalms of David (Ps. 118:22), calling Himself the stone, and the teachers themselves the builders, just as the prophet Ezekiel also says: "and when he builds a wall, they plaster it with mud" (Ezek. 13:10), that is, those who speak to please and cover up the faults of the people, and therefore as it were smear with mud the injuries of the people, as of some wall. How then did they "reject" this stone? When they said: "This Man is not from God" (John 9:16).

For the rulers of the people rejected Him, when they said, This man is not of God. (John 9:16.) But He was so useful and so precious, that He was placed as the head stone of the corner.

Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken. Upon whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder. It is one thing to stumble against Christ through evil deeds, another to deny Him through impiety. Whoever is a sinner and yet believes in Him falls indeed upon the stone and is shattered, but is not utterly crushed; for he is preserved by wisdom for salvation. Upon whomever it falls, that is, upon whom the stone itself comes down, and who utterly denies Christ, it will grind him to powder, so that not even a shard remains in which a little water may be drawn. Whether he speaks of those who fall upon Him, who now despise Him or bring Him injuries. Therefore, they do not utterly perish yet, but are nonetheless shattered so that they do not walk rightly. But upon whom it falls, it will come upon them from above in judgment with the punishment of destruction. Therefore, it is said it will grind them to powder, so that the wicked may be like dust which the wind drives away from the face of the earth (Psalm 1).

Or else, He who is a sinner, yet believes on Christ, falls indeed upon the stone and is shaken, for he is preserved by penitence unto salvation. But upon whomsoever it shall fall, that is, upon whom the stone itself has come down because he denied it, it shall grind him to powder, so that not even a broken piece of a vessel shall be left, in which may be drunk a little water. Or, He means by those who fall upon Him, such as only despise Him, and therefore do not yet utterly perish, but are shaken violently so that they cannot walk upright. But upon whom it falls, upon them shall He come in judgment with everlasting punishment, therefore shall it grind them to powder, that they may be as the dust which the wind scatters from the face of the earth. (Ps. 1:4.)

And therefore he adds: Everyone who falls upon that stone shall be broken, through the corruption of sin; but upon whomever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder, through the vengeance of the future judgment. For fault renders nature weak, but eternal punishment utterly crushes and reduces to dust. Whence the Gloss: "He who now despises and inflicts injuries does not yet entirely perish, but is shaken, so that he does not walk upright; but the stone shall fall upon him, which coming in judgment will crush him." Against this stone, therefore, they stumble who do not believe in him or do not imitate him: First Peter 2, "To you is the honor who believe, but to those who do not believe, the stone which the builders rejected, this has become the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling and a rock of scandal to those who stumble at the word and do not believe, unto which also they are appointed." And so it happened to the Jews, according to that passage of Isaiah 8: "The Lord shall be to you for a sanctification, but for a stone of stumbling and a rock of scandal to the two houses of Israel, for a snare and a ruin to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And very many of them shall stumble and fall and be broken and be ensnared and be taken. I will wait for the Lord, who has hidden his face from the house of Jacob." Those therefore who are scandalized by this stone fall, but those who are condemned by this stone are crushed, according to that passage of Isaiah 30, "Suddenly, when it is not expected, its destruction shall come, and it shall be broken as the bottle of a potter is broken with an exceedingly mighty breaking, and there shall not be found among its fragments a shard in which a little fire may be carried from the hearth, or a little water drawn from the cistern." On account of which, "not so the wicked, not so, but as the dust which the wind casts from the face of the earth."

In this authority, therefore, the Lord confirms the intention of the parable, namely that he himself is to be rejected by the Jews, that he will choose the Gentiles, that he will cast out the Jews on account of their perfidy, and that he will finally condemn them by definitive sentence.

The Lord speaks here of a twofold destruction. One is the destruction of their souls, which they suffered because they were scandalized. For everyone who falls on this stone will be broken. The other is the destruction from the captivity which this stone brought upon them for their rejection of Him. For "on whomever it falls," it says, "it will crush him." The Jews were crushed and scattered like chaff from one threshing floor — Palestine — into the whole world. Note, then, that first they fell upon this stone, that is, they were scandalized, and then the stone fell upon them and punished them. For first the sin is committed by me, and then the righteous punishment from God overtakes me. But the Jews rejected this stone. And it was so good and chosen that it was placed as the head of the corner and joined and united two walls, that is, the old and the new. Though they ought to have listened to Isaiah, who says: "Sanctify Him, and He shall be your fear, and He shall be your dread! And He shall be a sanctuary and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense" (Isa. 8:13–14).

He mentions two condemnations or destructions of them, one indeed of their souls, which they suffered being offended in Christ. And He touches this when He says, Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be shaken to pieces. But the other of their captivity and extermination, which the Stone that was despised by them brought upon them. And He points to this when He says, But upon whomsoever it shall fall, it shall grind him to powder, or winnow him. For so were the Jews winnowed through the whole world, as the straw from the threshing floor. And mark the order of things; for first comes the wickedness committed against Him, then follows the just vengeance of God.

But perceiving their craftiness, he said to them: Why do you test me? Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription does it have? Wisdom always acts wisely, so that his tempters may be refuted by their own words. Show me, he said, a denarius. This is the type of coin accounted for ten coins and bore the image of Caesar. Those who think the question of the Savior to be ignorance and not dispensation, let them learn from the present passage that Jesus certainly could know whose image was on the coin. But he asks so that he may aptly respond to their words.

But he, perceiving their deceit. After he described the deceitful contrivance of cunning, here secondly he describes the truthful confutation. Concerning which three things are introduced, namely the circumspect consideration of the wisdom of the one responding, the truthful resolution of the proposed question, and the evident confutation of the cunning of the dissembler.

First, therefore, as regards the circumspect consideration of the wisdom of the one responding, he says: But considering their guile, in his mind: whence Jerome: "The first virtue of the one responding is to know the minds of those questioning." In their minds Wisdom itself saw the guile; whence Wisdom 7: "Malice does not overcome wisdom"; and Sirach 16: "Every heart is understood by him, and who understands his ways?" because, Hebrews 4, "the word of God is living and effective and a discerner of the thoughts and intentions of the heart."

Therefore this Word said to them: Why do you tempt me? namely in word, according to that of Sirach 13: "From much speaking he will tempt you, and smiling he will question you about your hidden things." In the person of these it is said in Wisdom 2: "Let us test what shall come upon him, and we shall know what his end shall be."

But the Lord escapes their snares like a "gazelle," for so the Bride called Him in the Song of Songs (Song 2:9), and He teaches that bodily subjection to the one who rules over our bodies, whether he be a king or a tyrant, in no way hinders us from spiritually pleasing the God of spirits.

But He escapes their snares, as it follows, Perceiving their craftiness, he said unto them, Why tempt ye me? show me a penny. Whose image and superscription has it?

When they questioned him about the penny, he asks about the image, because there is one image of God and another image of the world. The apostle also admonishes us, "As we have borne the image of the earthly, let us bear also the image of the heavenly." Christ does not have the image of Caesar, because he is the image of God. Peter does not have the image of Caesar, because he said, "We have left all things, and have followed you." The image of Caesar is not found in James and John, because they are the Sons of Thunder. It is found in the sea, where there are dragons with crushed heads upon the water. The large dragon itself, with its head broken, is given there as food to the Ethiopian people.

They answered and said: Caesar's. And he said to them: Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's. Let us not think of Caesar as Augustus but as Tiberius, his stepson, who succeeded in the place of his stepfather, under whom the Lord also suffered. All Roman kings from the first Gaius Caesar, who had seized the empire, were called Caesars. Moreover, when he says: Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, let us understand it to mean the coin, the tribute, and the money, and unto God the things that are God's: tithes, firstfruits, offerings, and sacrifices. Just as he himself pays the tribute for himself and Peter, and renders unto God the things that are God's, fulfilling the will of the Father. Alternatively: Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's; just as Caesar demands from you the impression of his image, so too does God, so that just as the coin is given to Caesar, so too the soul should be given to God, illuminated and imprinted with his visage. Hence the Psalmist: "The light of your face has been imprinted upon us, O Lord" (Psalm 4). For this light is the whole of man, and the true good, which is perceived not by the eyes but by the mind. He said "imprinted upon us", as a denarius is imprinted with the image of the king. For man was made in the image and likeness of God, which he corrupted by sinning. Therefore, his true and eternal good is to be imprinted anew through rebirth.

Let those who impute the question of our Saviour to ignorance, learn from this place that Jesus was well able to know whose image was on the money; but He asks the question, that He might give a fitting answer to their words; for it follows, They answered and said, Cæsar's. We must not suppose Augustus is thereby meant, but Tiberius, for all the Roman kings were called Cæsar, from the first Caius Cæsar.

And because the cunning of temptation is refuted through the manifestation of truth, therefore it is added: Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription does it bear? They answered and said to him: Caesar's, namely in the outward sign. The Lord does not ask this because he doubts, but so that from their response he might confute them. Or he asks about the image and inscription of the denarius so that from the very form and figure and quality of the thing he might show that a judgment of equity ought to flow forth. Or he requires this in order to show that each one is to be judged according to the inscription which he has inscribed upon the image of his mind. For by the denarius is understood man, because the denarius is of earthly matter, namely of metal, and man is of clay: Genesis 2: "God formed man from the clay of the earth"; and he himself is the tenth after the nine orders of Angels, and he is designated by the one drachma above in chapter fifteen: "Or what woman," etc.

By the image of the denarius is understood the Trinity of Persons, concerning which Sirach 17: "God created man from the earth and made him according to his own image"; and Genesis 1: "Let us make man in our image," etc. By the inscription is understood the quality of morals, and this is twofold: one divine, the other worldly. The divine is through the light of grace and justice: Psalm: "The light of your countenance is signed upon us, O Lord"; but the worldly, which is Caesar's, is through the appetite of cupidity and avarice. On this Ambrose says: "The image of Caesar is not found except in the sea, where the dragons are"; in which he touches upon that which is read in Matthew 17, where Christ sent Peter to the sea, and he found a fish and in the fish a stater, which he paid to Caesar; in which it is understood that the inscription of earthliness is found only in worldly minds, in which, on account of various desires, there is a storm and the violence of a tempest.

How did Christ overcome their craftiness? "Show me," he says, "a denarius." When they showed it to him, he asks, "Whose image and superscription are on it?" They said, "Caesar's." What did Christ answer to that? "Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." Those who have the office to govern impose a tribute of money on their subjects. God does not require of us anything corruptible and temporary. He rather requires willing obedience, submission, faith, love and the sweet fragrance of good works.

Furthermore, since something was added about the image of Caesar, we must also touch briefly upon this. Some suppose that it was said by the Savior simply: "render to Caesar what is Caesar's", that is: pay the tribute which you owe. For who among us objects to paying tribute to Caesar? Therefore the passage holds something mystical and hidden. There are two images in man: one, which he received from God when he was made in the beginning, as it is written in Genesis: "according to the image and likeness of God"; the other of the earthy, which afterward, when he had been cast out of paradise because of disobedience and sin, he took on, persuaded by the enticements of "the prince of this world". For just as a coin or denarius bears the image of the emperors of the world, so he who does the works of "the ruler of these darknesses" bears the image of him whose works he has: which image Jesus here commanded to be rendered back and cast off from our face, and that image to be taken up according to which from the beginning we were fashioned to the likeness of God. And thus it comes about that we render "what is Caesar's to Caesar, and what is God's to God". "Show me", he says, "the coin", for which in Matthew is written "denarius". And when he had received it, he said: "whose inscription does it have?" They answering said: "Caesar's". To them again he said: "render what is Caesar's to Caesar, and what is God's to God". The logical sequence of these things Paul too has expressed, saying: "as we have borne the image of the earthy, let us also bear the image of the heavenly". So then, what he says: "render what is Caesar's to Caesar", this he means: lay aside the person of the earthy, cast off the earthly image, so that, putting upon yourselves the person of the heavenly, you may be able to render "what is God's to God". God demands us back. What does he demand back? Read Moses: "and now what does the Lord your God demand back from you?" and the rest that follows. God therefore requires of us and beseeches us, not because he has need of anything that we might bestow upon him, but so that, after we have given it to him, he may bestow that very thing upon us for salvation. And that this may become clearer, let me set down the parable of the minas. He who had received one mina and had made ten and offered it to the Lord, by whom the mina had been entrusted to him, received also another which he had not had before. For the mina of him who had not multiplied what he had received the Lord orders to be taken away and given to the one who has others; "take away", he says, "the mina and give it to him who has ten minas". And in this manner, the things we have given to God he will restore to us, those very things, together with the things we had not had before. God exacts and requires of us, so that he may have occasion for giving, so that he himself may bestow, who paid it out. For by his own grace the mina was doubled, and to each of the worthy more was given than they hoped for. Wherefore, rising up, let us pray to God that we may be worthy to offer him gifts which he may restore to us, and that in exchange for earthly things he may lavish heavenly ones upon us, in Christ Jesus: to whom is glory and dominion unto the ages of ages. Amen.

If he did not have the image of Caesar, why did he pay the tax? He did not give from his own but gave back to the world what was of the world. If you would not be indebted to Caesar, do not possess what belongs to the world. You have wealth; therefore you are indebted to Caesar. If you want to owe nothing to an earthly king, leave all that you have and follow Christ.

Our Lord here teaches us, how cautious we ought to be in our answers to heretics or Jews; as He has said elsewhere, Be ye wise as serpents (Mat. 10:16).

Be unwilling then, if thou wouldest not offend Cæsar, to possess worldly goods. And thou rightly teachest, first to render the things which be Cæsar's. For no one can be the Lord's unless he has first renounced the world. Oh most galling chain! To promise to God, and pay not. Far greater is the contract of faith than that of money.

But from their answer our Lord easily solves the question, for it follows, And he said unto them, Render unto Cæsar the things which be Cœsar's, and unto God the things which be God's.

Render also to God the things which be God's, that is to say, tithes, first fruits, offerings, and sacrifices.

Secondly, as to the truthful resolution of the proposed question, he adds: And he said to them: Render therefore the things that are Caesar's to Caesar: in which he manifestly gives a just response: for it is an act of justice "to render to each one what is his own." If therefore a thing belongs to him whose inscription it bears, since temporal things bear the inscription of Caesar, it is not against God if they are paid to earthly princes. Therefore in Romans thirteen it is said: "Render to all what is owed: to whom tribute, tribute; to whom tax, tax. Owe no one anything, except to love one another." And because justice is not sufficient unless what is his own is rendered to each one, therefore he adds: And the things that are God's to God: The Gloss says: "Just as Caesar demands the impression of his image, so also God demands the soul marked with the light of his countenance"; on account of which in First Corinthians fifteen: "Just as we have borne the image of the earthly, so let us bear the image of the heavenly."

And note that he first sets forth that the things of the world should be rendered, because, as is said in First Corinthians fifteen, "not first what is spiritual, but what is natural, then what is spiritual." The burden must also be laid down before one is raised upward; whence the Gloss says: "If you do not wish to be liable to Caesar, do not possess the things of the world; and if you have riches, you are liable to Caesar. If you wish to owe nothing to an earthly king, leave all your things and follow Christ. And rightly he decreed that the things that are Caesar's should be rendered first, because no one can belong to the Lord unless he first renounces the world"; above in chapter fourteen: "Unless one renounces all that he possesses, he cannot be my disciple." But the things of God are the soul and the body, because he himself formed the body and the soul—the body from the clay of the earth, the soul from nothing—and therefore both must be rendered and offered to God. This is signified in that widow who cast "two small coins into the treasury" of the Lord, below in chapter twenty-one. And therefore in Romans twelve: "Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God, your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this age, but be reformed in the newness of your mind." Hence in this word is enclosed the sum of all justice and perfection.

A man may have to die for our country: but no man must, in any exclusive sense, live for his country. He who surrenders himself without reservation to the temporal claims of a nation, or a party, or a class is rendering to Caesar that which, of all things, most emphatically belongs to God: himself.

And of civil government: "Render to Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things which are God's."

[Daniel 8:27] "And I, Daniel, languished and was sick for some days. And when I rose from my bed, I performed the king's tasks." This is the same thing as we read in Genesis about Abraham, for after he had heard the Lord speaking to him, he averred that he was but dust and ashes (Genesis 18:27). And so Daniel states that he languished as a reaction to the horror of the vision, and suffered illness. And after he had risen from his sick-bed, he says he performed the tasks assigned to him by the king, rendering to all men all that was due them and bearing in mind the gospel principle: "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's" (Luke 20:25).

"And I was amazed at the vision, and there was no one who could interpret it." If there was no one who could interpret it, how was it that the angel interpreted it in the previous passage? What he means is that he had heard mention of kings and did not know what their names were; he learned of things to come, but he was tossed about with uncertainty as to what time they would come to pass. And so he did the only thing he could do: he marveled at the vision, and resigned everything to God's omniscience.

Now this place contains a mystery. For there are two images in man, one which he received from God, as it is written, Let us make man in our own image: (Gen. 1:26.) another from the enemy, which he has contracted through disobedience and sin, allured and won by the enticing baits of the prince of this world. For as the penny has the image of the emperor of the world, so he who does the works of the power of darkness, bears the image of Him whose works he doth. He says then, Render unto Cæsar the things which be Cæsar's, that is, cast away the earthly image, that ye may be able, by putting on the heavenly image, to render unto God the things which be God's, namely, to love God. Which things Moses says God requires of us. (Deut. 10:12.) But God makes this demand of us, not because He has need that we should give Him any thing, but that, when we have given, He might grant us this very same gift for our salvation.

Idolatry is condemned, not on account of the persons which are set up for worship, but on account of those its observances, which pertain to demons. "The things which are Caesar's are to be rendered to Caesar." It is enough that He set in apposition thereto, "and to God the things which are God's.

But, at any rate, when He actually met their refusal to say what they thought, with such reprisals as, "Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things," He returned evil for evil! "Render unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's." What will be "the things which are God's? "Such things as are like Caesar's denarius-that is to say, His image and similitude.

"Therefore render," He says, "unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's." And notice, He did not say "give," but "render." This, He says, is a debt, therefore pay what is owed. Your sovereign protects you from enemies and makes your life peaceful; for this you owe him tribute. And in another sense: the very thing that you contribute, that is, the coin, you have from him himself. Therefore, return the emperor's coin to him (the emperor) again. Meanwhile, you too have derived benefit from it for yourself, exchanging it and obtaining the necessities of life. So too must one render unto God what is God's. He gave you a mind: return it to Him through rational activity. He gave you reason: return it to Him, not likening yourself to irrational animals, but acting in all things as one endowed with reason. And in general He gave you soul and body: return everything to Him and restore His image for Him, living by faith, with hope, in love. And in another sense one must render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's. Each of us bears upon himself either the image of God or the image of the prince of this world. When we become like Caesar, becoming sons of the devil, we bear his image upon ourselves. This image must be given back to him and cast off, so that he may have what is his own with him, and find nothing belonging to him in us. Through this the image of God can also be preserved in us in purity. Therefore the Apostle Paul also urges that just as we have borne the image of the earthly, so we should bear the image of the heavenly (1 Cor. 15:49); and in another place: "to put off the former manner of life of the old man" (Eph. 4:22). What is expressed here by the word "render" is expressed by Paul with the word "put off," and what is here called the image of "Caesar" is there called the image of "the earthly," undoubtedly of Adam who sinned, and of "the old man." For the image of the earthly is nothing other than corruption and sin, an image which we bear because we have made ourselves like the apostate, and not the King.

And observe that He said not, give, but return. For it is a debt. Thy prince protects thee from enemies, renders thy life tranquil. Surely then thou art bound to pay him tribute. Nay, this very piece of money which thou bringest thou hast from him. Return then to the king the king's money. God also has given thee understanding and reason, make then a return of these to Him, that thou mayest not be compared to the beasts, but in all things mayest walk wisely.

As if He said, With your words ye tempt me, obey me in works. Ye have indeed Cæsar's image, ye have undertaken his offices, to him therefore give tribute, to God fear. For God requireth not money, but faith.

And Jesus said to them: The children of this age marry, and are given in marriage. When the Lord says: Do not give what is holy to dogs, nor cast your pearls before swine (Matthew 7), because He is found to have said certain things either here about the glory of the resurrection, or elsewhere about the mystery of His dispensation or even His divinity, which many who were present either by resisting or by scorning did not receive, He is not to be thought as having given what is holy to dogs, or cast pearls before swine. For He did not give to those who could not grasp it, who, due to the impurity of others, ought not to be neglected. Indeed, when the tempters were questioning Him, and He was responding to them in such a way that they had nothing to contradict, even though they would rather languish in their own venom than be satisfied with His food, yet others who were able to grasp it heard many things usefully because of them.

And Jesus said to them, etc. After the erroneous inquiry, he here subjoins the truthful response. Concerning which four things are introduced, namely the assertion of truth, the reason for the assertion, the confirmation of the reason, and the commendation of the confirmation.

First, as regards the assertion of truth, he says: And Jesus said to them: The children of this world marry and are given in marriage, for the sake of having succession, as in Tobit 8: "You, Lord, know that not for the sake of lust do I take my sister as wife, but solely out of love of posterity, in which your name may be blessed forever and ever." And this marriage, although it could belong to spiritual men, is nevertheless only among those living in the flesh; whence children of this world does not connote vice. But others marry for the sole fulfillment of pleasure, concerning whom Genesis 6: "The sons of God, seeing the daughters of men that they were fair, took to themselves wives of all whom they chose"; and above in chapter 14: "I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come." And then children of this world connotes vice, as also above in chapter 16: "The children of this world are more prudent than the children of light," etc. And these are the children of the bondwoman, concerning whom Galatians 4: "The son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman." But neither of these will exist in the resurrection, neither succession nor carnal pleasure.

Against conjugal chastity it is objected: Luke 20: The children of this age marry and are given in marriage, etc.: but the children of this age are not children of God: therefore through the conjugal act which they exercise, they are not children of God: therefore conjugal continence is repugnant to the law of God.

To that which is objected concerning the children of this world, it must be said that the children of the world are sometimes distinguished from the children of light, as in Luke 16: The children of this world are more prudent than the children of light, etc.; sometimes they are distinguished from the children of the other world or of the resurrection, as here. In the first way, the children of this world are called those who conform themselves to this world and love it above all: and thus it has the sense of vice. In the second way, the children of this world are called those who live in this world, or pass away with the world; and thus it has the sense of infirmity. Whence from this it is not established that marriage is blameworthy, but that it has an infirmity attached to it.

And those whose life is common, have common graces and a common salvation; common to them are love and training. "For in this world," he says, "they marry, and are given in marriage," in which alone the female is distinguished from the male; "but in that world it is so no more." There the rewards of this social and holy life, which is based on conjugal union, are laid up, not for male and female, but for man, the sexual desire which divides humanity being removed.

If anyone ponders over this answer about the resurrection of the dead, he will find that the Lord is not rejecting marriage but is purging the expectation of physical desire in the resurrection. The words "the children of this age" were not spoken in contrast to the children of some other age. It is like saying, "those born in this generation," who are children by force of birth, being born and engendering themselves, since without the process of birth no one will pass into this life. This process of birth is balanced by a process of decay and is no longer in store for the person who has once been cut off from life here.

Of the benefit of virginity and of continency. In Genesis: "Multiplying I will multiply thy sorrows and thy groanings, and in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children; and thy turning shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee." Of this same thing in the Gospel according to Matthew: "All men do not receive the word, but they to whom it is given: for there are some eunuchs who were born so from their mother's womb, and there are eunuchs who have been constrained by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He who can receive it, let him receive it." Also according to Luke: "The children of this world beget, and are begotten. But they who have been considered worthy of that world, and the resurrection from the dead, do not marry, nor are married: for neither shall they begin to die: for they are equal to the angels of God, since they are the children of the resurrection. But, that the dead rise again, Moses intimates when he says in the bush, The Lord, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto Him." Also in the first Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: "It is good for a man not to touch a woman. But, on account of fornication, let every man have his own wife, and every woman have her own husband. Let the husband render what is due to the wife, and similarly the wife to the husband. The wife hath not power over her own body, but the husband. And in like manner, the husband hath not power over his own body, but the wife. Defraud not one the other, except by agreement for a time, that ye may have leisure for prayer; and again return to the same point, lest Satan tempt you on account of your incontinency. This I say by way of allowance, not by way of command. But I wish that all men should be even as I am. But every one has his proper gift from God; one in one way, but another in another way." Also in the same place: "An unmarried man thinks of those things which are the Lord's, in what way he may please God; but he who has contracted marriage thinks of those things that are of this world, in what way he may please his wife. Thus also, both the woman and the unmarried virgin thinketh of those things which are the Lord's, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit; but she that hath married thinks of those things which are of this world, in what way she may please her husband." Also in Exodus, when the Lord had commanded Moses that he should sanctify the people for the third day, he sanctified them, and added: "Be ye ready, for three days ye shall not approach to women." Also in the first book of Kings: "And the priest answered to David, and said, There are no profane loaves in my hand, except one sacred loaf. If the young men have been kept back from women, they shall eat." Also in the Apocalypse: "These are they who have not defiled themselves with women, for they have continued virgins; these are they who follow the Lamb whithersoever He shall go."

Let us also see what Christ said to them. He says, "The children of this world that lead worldly, fleshly lives full of fleshly lust marry and are married for the procreation of children. Those who have maintained an honorable and chosen life, full of all excellence, and have been accounted worthy of attaining to a glorious and marvelous resurrection, certainly will be raised far above the life which people lead in this world. They will live as is suitable for saints who already have been brought near to God. They are equal with the angels and are the children of God. Since all fleshly lust is taken away and no place whatsoever is left in them for bodily pleasure, they resemble the holy angels, fulfilling a spiritual and not a material service suitable for holy spirits. They are at the same time counted worthy of a glory like the angels enjoy.

And our Lord Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, for no other reason than that He might destroy the begetting by lawless desire, and might show to the ruler that the formation of man was possible to God without human intervention. And when He had been born, and had submitted to the other conditions of the flesh,-I mean food, drink, and clothing,-this one condition only of discharging the sexual function He did not submit to; for, regarding the desires of the flesh, He accepted some as necessary, while others, which were unnecessary, He did not submit to. For if the flesh were deprived of food, drink, and clothing, it would be destroyed; but being deprived of lawless desire, it suffers no harm. And at the same time He foretold that, in the future world, sexual intercourse should be done away with; as He says, "The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage; but the children of the world to come neither marry nor are given in marriage, but shall be like the angels in heaven." Let not, then, those that are unbelieving marvel, if in the world to come He do away with those acts of our fleshly members which even in this present life are abolished.

Answering them, the Savior said: "You are in error, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection of the dead they will neither marry nor be given in marriage, but they will be like the angels in heaven". Those who will be like the angels will certainly be angels. And at the same time it must be learned that the angels have no marriages. Here indeed, where there is death, both marriages and children are necessary; but where there is immortality, there is need neither of wedlock nor of sons. Let me set before myself a very troublesome question, one that is not easily solved, in the person of those who are most zealous for the Scriptures and who "meditate day and night in the law of the Lord". Where, they say, is it written that "they will neither marry nor be given in marriage"? Passing through both the Old and the New Testament in memory and mind, I do not recall that anything of the kind is anywhere reported. But if perchance it escapes me, let him who knows more teach me; I gladly learn what I do not know; yet as far as I judge, he will find nothing of the sort in either the Old or the New instrument. All their error, therefore, has crept in from the reading of the prophets, which they do not understand — among which is that passage in Isaiah: "my chosen ones will not have children for a curse", and in Deuteronomy among the blessings: "blessed are the children of your womb" — and they suppose that these things are to be in the resurrection, not understanding that spiritual blessings were foretold. For Paul, "the vessel of election", interpreting spiritually all these blessings that are set down in the law, and knowing that they are not carnal, speaks to the Ephesians: "blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing". And so all these blessings will be spiritual, when, rising from the dead, we attain eternal blessedness. But in the Psalms too, finding something similar, they slip into the same error: "your wife", it says, "like a fruitful vine on the sides of your house, your children like young olive shoots around your table", up to that place where it says: "may the Lord bless you out of Zion, and may you see the good things that are of Jerusalem". Therefore, when Jerusalem has been furnished and restored to its ancient state, then the holy one will see the good things which the Scripture mentions. Those who understand Jerusalem spiritually, and know that it is said of her: "which is heavenly, which is above, which is our mother", will see her good things, of which we have often spoken, and that which we have now cited from the psalm: "your wife like a fruitful vine on the sides of your house, your children like young olive shoots around your table". To the Sadducees, who were a portion of the Jews, understanding all these things bodily, the Savior says: "you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God". Let these things be said briefly concerning the question which the Sadducees put to the Lord.

But because the Lord says in Matthew, which is here omitted, Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, (Mat. 22:29.) I ask the question, where is it so written, They shall neither marry, nor be given in marriage? for as I conceive there is no such thing to be found either in the Old or New Testament, but the whole of their error had crept in from the reading of the Scriptures without understanding; for it is said in Esaias, My elect shall not have children for a curse. (Isai. 65:23.) Whence they suppose that the like will happen in the resurrection. But Paul interpreting all these blessings as spiritual, knowing them not to be carnal, says to the Ephesians, Ye have blessed us in all spiritual blessings. (Eph. 1:3.)

He had nobody to fear; that it should seem advisable for Him either to evade their questions, or to make them the occasion of indirectly mooting a subject which He was not in the habit of teaching publicly at any other time. He therefore gave His answer, that "the children of this world marry." You see how pertinent it was to the case in point.

God; who have restored the honour of their flesh, and who have already dedicated themselves as sons of that (future) age, by slaying in themselves the concupiscence of lust, and that whole (propensity) which could not be admitted within Paradise! Whence it is presumable that such as shall wish to be received within Paradise, ought at last to begin to cease from that thing from which Paradise is intact.

But the Lord refutes their premise and declares that life there is not bodily. And together with this weak premise and assumption He destroys their teaching as well, saying: you are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures and misinterpreting their meaning. "The children of this age," that is, those who beget and are begotten in this world, "marry and are given in marriage," that is, "are wed." But the sons of that age do none of such things, for they cannot even die; therefore there is no marriage there either, but life is angelic, divine. Here there is marriage because there is death, and there is death because there is marriage. But there, when death is abolished, what need is there for marriage? For marriage was established as an aid to mortality and to make up for what is lacking. And where there is no lack whatsoever, what need is there for replenishment?

But our Lord shows that in the resurrection there will be no fleshly conversation, thereby overthrowing their doctrine together with its slender foundation; as it follows, And Jesus said unto them, The children of this world marry, &c.

What did the Lord say to the Sadducees? He said, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures or the power of God. For in the resurrection they marry neither husbands nor wives; for neither do they start dying again, but they will be equal to the angels of God." The power of God is great. Why do they not marry husbands or wives? They will not start dying again. When one generation departs, another is required to succeed it. There will not be such liability to decay in that place. The Lord passed through the usual stages of growth, from infancy to adult manhood, because he was bearing the substance of flesh that still was mortal. After he had risen again at the age at which he was buried, are we to imagine that he is growing old in heaven? He says, "They will be equal to the angels of God." He eliminated the assumption of the Jews and refuted the objection of the Sadducees, because the Jews did indeed believe the dead would rise again, but they had crude, fleshly ideas about the state of humanity after resurrection. He said, "They will be equal to the angels of God." …It has already been stated that we are to rise again. We have heard from the Lord that we rise again to the life of the angels. In his own resurrection, he has shown us in what specific form we are to rise again.

(de Quæst. Ev. l. ii. cap. 49.) For marriages are for the sake of children, children for succession, succession because of death. Where then there is no death, there are no marriages; and hence it follows, But they which shall be accounted worthy, &c.

But those who are considered worthy of that age and the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. This is not to be understood as if only the worthy will either rise again or be without marriage, and the unworthy, that is, sinners, are either believed not to rise again or to rise for the sake of marriages; rather, it should be understood that all will both rise again and remain without marriages in that age. But the Lord and Savior, to incite souls to seek the glory of the resurrection, wished only to speak of the elect. If, however, in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, then the bodies that rise are ones that can marry and be given in marriage, that is, bodies of men and women distinguished by specific members, but bound by no pleasure or necessity of intercourse. For no one says about a stone or a tree, and these things which do not have genital members, that they do not marry nor are given in marriage, but about those who, when they can marry, do not for another reason.

Which must not be taken as if only they who are worthy were either to rise again or be without marriage, but all sinners also shall rise again, and abide without marriage in that new world. But our Lord wished to mention only the elect, that He might incite the minds of His hearers to search into the glory of the resurrection.

Therefore he adds: But they who shall be accounted worthy of that age and of the resurrection from the dead shall neither marry nor take wives: neither shall they marry, as regards women, nor take wives, as regards men. He calls the just worthy of the resurrection. For he speaks here specifically about the resurrection of the just, who will not only rise again but will also be changed, according to that passage of First Corinthians fifteen: "We shall all indeed rise again, but we shall not all be changed." "For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall rise incorruptible." Therefore, although the wicked shall rise with the good, as is said in John five: "The hour comes, in which all who are in the tombs shall hear the voice of the Son of God"; nevertheless he speaks specifically of the good, who will be elevated above time and temporal movements, and thereby above marriage and every carnal act.

In us it is not only the spirit which ought to be sanctified, but also our behaviour, manner of life, and our body. What does the apostle Paul mean when he says that the wife is sanctified by the husband and the husband by the wife? And what is the meaning of the Lord's words to those who asked concerning divorce whether it is lawful to put away one's wife as Moses commanded? "Because of the hardness of your hearts," he says, "Moses wrote this; but have you not read that God said to the first man, You two shall be one flesh? Therefore he who divorces his wife except for fornication makes her an adulteress." But "after the resurrection," he says, "they neither marry nor are given in marriage."

I salute you, dearest and most blessed brethren, myself also desiring to enjoy the sight of you, if the state in which I am placed would permit me to come to you. For what could happen to me more desirable and more joyful than to be now close to you, that you might embrace me with those hands, which, pure and innocent, and maintaining the faith of the Lord, have rejected the profane obedience? What more pleasant and sublime than now to kiss your lips, which with a glorious voice have confessed the Lord, to be looked upon even in presence by your eyes, which, despising the world, have become worthy of looking upon God? But since opportunity is not afforded me to share in this joy, I send this letter in my stead to your ears and to your eyes, by which I congratulate and exhort you that you persevere strongly and steadily in the confession of the heavenly glory; and having entered on the way of the Lord's condescension, that you go on in the strength of the Spirit, to receive the crown, having the Lord as your protector and guide, who said, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." O blessed prison, which your presence has enlightened! O blessed prison, which sends the men of God to heaven! O darkness, more bright than the sun itself, and clearer than the light of this world, where now are placed temples of God, and your members are to be sanctified by divine confessions!

Hold fast, O virgins! hold fast what you have begun to be; hold fast what you shall be. A great reward awaits you, a great recompense of virtue, the immense advantage of chastity. Do you wish to know what ill the virtue of continence avoids, what good it possesses? "I will multiply," says God to the woman, "thy sorrows and thy groanings; and in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee." You are free from this sentence. You do not fear, the sorrows and the groans of women. You have no fear of child-bearing; nor is your husband lord over you; but your Lord and Head is Christ, after the likeness and in the place of the man; with that of men your lot and your condition is equal. It is the word of the Lord which says, "The children of this world beget and are begotten; but they who are counted worthy of that world, and of the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage: neither shall they die any more: for they are equal to the angels of God, being the children of the resurrection." That which we shall be, you have already begun to be. You possess already in this world the glory of the resurrection. You pass through the world without the contagion of the world; in that you continue chaste and virgins, you are equal to the angels of God. Only let your virginity remain and endure substantial and uninjured; and as it began bravely, let it persevere continuously, and not seek the ornaments of necklaces nor garments, but of conduct. Let it look towards God and heaven, and not lower to the lust of the flesh and of the world, the eyes uplifted to things above, or set them upon earthly things.

Just as our Lord also said, 'They shall neither marry nor be given in marriage, but shall be equal to the angels, the children of the God of the resurrection.'

"But they whom God shall account worthy of the possession of that world and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; forasmuch as they cannot die any more, since they become equal to the angels, being made the children of God and of the resurrection." If, then, the meaning of the answer must not turn on any other point than on the proposed question, and since the question proposed is fully understood from this sense of the answer, then the Lord's reply admits of no other interpretation than that by which the question is clearly understood.

"And all that glory shall serve Him; His dominion shall be an everlasting one, which shall not be taker from Him, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed," because in it "men shall not die, neither shall they marry, but be like the angels." It is about the same advent of the Son of man and the benefits thereof that we read in Habakkuk: "Thou wentest forth for the salvation of Thy people, even to save Thine anointed ones, -in other words, those who shall look up and lift their heads, being redeemed in the time of His kingdom.

With what consistency do we mount that (future) judgment-seat to pronounce sentence against those whose gifts we (now) seek after? For you too, (women as you are, ) have the self-same angelic nature promised as your reward, the self-same sex as men: the self-same advancement to the dignity of judging, does (the Lord) promise you.

"But if 'in that age they will neither marry nor be given in marriage, but will be equal to angels,' is not the fact that there will be no restitution of the conjugal relation a reason why we shall not be bound to our departed consorts? "Nay, but the more shall we be bound (to them), because we are destined to a better estate-destined (as we are) to rise to a spiritual consortship, to recognise as well our own selves as them who are ours.

But the sons of that age do none of such things, for they cannot even die; therefore there is no marriage there either, but life is angelic, divine. Here there is marriage because there is death, and there is death because there is marriage. But there, when death is abolished, what need is there for marriage? For marriage was established as an aid to mortality and to make up for what is lacking. And where there is no lack whatsoever, what need is there for replenishment?

As if He said, Because it is God who worketh in the resurrection, rightly are they called the sons of God, who are regenerated by the resurrection. For there is nothing carnal seen in the regeneration of them that rise again, there is neither coming together, nor the womb, nor birth.

How do we understand these two resurrections? Do we, it may be, understand that they who rise now will not rise then; that the resurrection of some is now, of some others then? It is not so. For we have risen in this resurrection, if we have rightly believed; and we ourselves, who have already risen, are looking for another resurrection in the end. Moreover, both now are we risen to eternal life, if we perseveringly continue in the same faith; and then, too, we shall rise to eternal life, when we shall be made equal with the angels.

(de Quæst. Ev. l. ii. cap. 49.) As our discourse is made up and completed by departing and succeeding syllables, so also men themselves whose faculty discourse is, by departure and succession make up and complete the order of this world, which is built up with the mere temporal beauty of things. But in the future life, seeing that the Word which we shall enjoy is formed by no departure and succession of syllables, but all things which it has it has everlastingly and at once, so those who partake of it, to whom it alone will be life, shall neither depart by death, nor succeed by birth, even as it now is with the angels; as it follows, For they are equal to the angels.

For they can no longer die. Because marriages are for the sake of children. Children are for the sake of succession. Succession is for the sake of death. Therefore, where there is no death, neither are there marriages.

For they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. Equal to angels and sons of God, who, renewed by the glory of the resurrection, without any fear of death, without any stain of corruption, without any act of earthly state, enjoy the perpetual vision of God, to which, whoever desires to ascend to the equality of angelic dignity must now condescend to the least of the brothers.

Or they are equal to the angels, and the children of God, because made new by the glory of the resurrection, with no fear of death, with no spot of corruption, with no quality of an earthly condition, they rejoice in the perpetual beholding of God's presence.

Second, as regards the reason for the assertion, he adds: For neither can they die anymore; from which it follows that they will not have wives. Hence Bede: "Since marriages exist for the sake of children, children for the sake of succession, and succession exists on account of death: where therefore there is no death, neither are there marriages."

But then it can be argued from this that since in paradise there was no death before sin, marriages would not have existed.

And the response to this is that although there was no death by necessity, as there is now, there was nevertheless death by possibility, because the first parents had an animal body, but after the resurrection the body will be spiritual, according to that passage of First Corinthians fifteen: "It is sown an animal body, it shall rise spiritual: it is sown in weakness, it shall rise in power: it is sown in dishonor, it shall rise in glory."

Therefore he adds: For they are equal to the Angels and are sons of God, since they are sons of the resurrection, that is, just as the Angels are immortal, incorruptible, above time and the variations of temporal movements, so shall the good be, because after the resurrection we shall then be equal to the Angels according to the dignity of glory; on account of which, Revelation twenty-one: "The measure of a man, which is that of an Angel." Nor is this surprising, because then we shall be made like God through glory, according to that passage of First John three: "Now we are sons of God, and it has not yet appeared what we shall be. We know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is." Hence Rabanus: "They are as the Angels of God in heaven, who, renewed by the glory of the resurrection, without any fear of death, without any stain of corruption, without any act of earthly condition, enjoy the perpetual vision of God. To which equality of angelic dignity, whoever desires to ascend must condescend to the least of the brethren by acting piously." And he rightly says this, because one who does not wish to be made like the Angels in ministry cannot be like them in glory.

Faith is then, so to speak, a comprehensive knowledge of the essentials; and knowledge is the strong and sure demonstration of what is received by faith, built upon faith by the Lord's teaching, conveying the soul on to infallibility, science, and comprehension. And, in my view, the first saving change is that from heathenism to faith, as I said before; and the second, that from faith to knowledge. And the latter terminating in love, thereafter gives the loving to the loved, that which knows to that which is known. And, perchance, such an one has already attained the condition of "being equal to the angels." Accordingly, after the highest excellence in the flesh, changing always duly to the better, he urges his flight to the ancestral hall, through the holy septenniad of heavenly abodes to the Lord's own mansion; to be a light, steady, and continuing eternally, entirely and in every part immutable.

even the Lord manifestly hints obscurely at this when He says: At the resurrection they are equal to the angels.

For as the multitude of the angels is indeed very great, yet they are not propagated by generation, but have their being from creation, so also to those who rise again, there is no more necessity for marriage; as it follows, And are the children of God.

My God, however, who formed that which He had taken out of the dust of the ground in the true quality of flesh, although not issuing as yet from conjugal seed, was equally able to apply to angels too a flesh of any material whatsoever, who built even the world out of nothing, into so many and so various bodies, and that at a word! And, really, if your god promises to men some time or other the true nature of angels (for he says, "They shall be like the angels"), why should not my God also have fitted on to angels the true substance of men, from whatever source derived? For not even you will tell me, in reply, whence is obtained that angelic nature on your side; so that it is enough for me to define this as being fit and proper to God, even the verity of that thing which was objective to three senses-sight, touch, and hearing.

For this corruptible"-and as he spake, the apostle seemingly pointed to his own flesh-"must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." in order, indeed, that it may be rendered a fit substance for the kingdom of God. "For we shall be like the angels." This will be the perfect change of our flesh-only after its resurrection.

To this discussion, however, our Lord's declaration puts an effectual end: "They shall be," says He, "equal unto the angels." As by not marrying, because of not dying, so, of course, by not having to yield to any like necessity of our bodily state; even as the angels, too, sometimes.

But to Christians, after their departure from the world, no restoration of marriage is promised in the day of the resurrection, translated as they will be into the condition and sanctity of angels. Therefore no solicitude arising from carnal jealousy will, in the day of the resurrection, even in the case of her whom they chose to represent as having been married to seven brothers successively, wound any one of her so many husbands; nor is any (husband) awaiting her to put her to confusion.

"For they are equal to the Angels and are sons of God." Why? Because they are sons of the resurrection. These words have the following meaning: I, He says, called them sons of God because in their birth nothing bodily is perceived, but everything is divine. For in the resurrection there is no preceding of union, nor seed, nor womb, nor conception, but God gives birth to our bodies in a way known to Him. Since God acts in the resurrection, those who are reborn through the resurrection are rightly called sons of God.

As if He said, Because it is God who worketh in the resurrection, rightly are they called the sons of God, who are regenerated by the resurrection. For there is nothing carnal seen in the regeneration of them that rise again, there is neither coming together, nor the womb, nor birth.

But that the dead rise again, even Moses showed at the bush, as he says, "The Lord God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." To confirm the truth of the resurrection, he could have used much more obvious examples, among which is this: "The dead shall be raised, and those who are in the tombs shall arise." Therefore it is questioned why the Lord chose to bring forth this testimony, which seems ambiguous or not sufficiently relevant to the truth of the resurrection. But the Sadducees accepted only the five books of Moses, rejecting the prophecies of the prophets. Thus, it was foolish to bring forth testimonies from there whose authority they did not follow. Furthermore, to prove the immortality of souls, he used the example from Moses: "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" (Exodus III)...

Or He says this, that after having proved that the souls abide alter death, (which the Sadducees denied,) He might next introduce the resurrection also of the bodies, which together with the souls have done good or evil. But that is a true life which the just live unto God, even though they are dead in the body. Now to prove the truth of the resurrection, He might have brought much more obvious examples from the Prophets, but the Sadducees received only the five books of Moses, rejecting the oracles of the Prophets.

Third, as to the confirmation of reason, he adds: That the dead truly rise, even Moses showed at the bush, that is, the word of the Lord which he spoke to Moses in the vision of that burning and unconsumed bush, according to what is said in Exodus 3: "The Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of the bush, and he saw that the bush burned and was not consumed"; and it follows that the Lord spoke the words which follow here: As he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob: Exodus 3: "The Lord called Moses from the midst of the bush" "and said: I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob."

The Savior also demonstrated the great ignorance of the Sadducees by bringing forward their own leader Moses, who was clearly acquainted with the resurrection of the dead. He set God before us saying in the bush, "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." Of whom is he God, if, according to their argument, these have ceased to live? He is the God of the living. They certainly will rise when his almighty right hand brings them and all that are on the earth there.For people not to believe that this will happen is worthy perhaps of the ignorance of the Sadducees, but it is altogether unworthy of those who love Christ. We believe in him who says, "I am the resurrection and the life." He will raise the dead suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye, and at the last trumpet. It shall sound, the dead in Christ shall rise incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For Christ our common Savior will transfer us into incorruption, glory and to an incorruptible life.

(de Anna, Serm. 4.) As the saints claim as their own the common Lord of the world, not as derogating from His dominion, but testifying their affection after the manner of lovers, who do not brook to love with many, but desire to express a certain peculiar and especial attachment; so likewise does God call Himself especially the God of these, not thereby narrowing but enlarging His dominion; for it is not so much the multitude of His subjects that manifests His power, as the virtue of His servants. Therefore He does not so delight in the name of the God of heaven and earth, as in that of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Now among men servants are thus denominated by their masters; for we say, 'The steward of such a man,' but on the contrary God is called the God of Abraham.

For since the Sadducees indeed denied the resurrection, whilst the Lord affirmed it; since, too, (in affirming it, ) He reproached them as being both ignorant of the Scriptures-those, of course which had declared the resurrection-as well as incredulous of the power of God, though, of course, effectual to raise the dead, and lastly, since He immediately added the words, "Now, that the dead are raised," (speaking) without misgiving, and affirming the very thing which was being denied, even the resurrection of the dead before Him who is "the God of the living,"-(it clearly follows) that He affirmed this verity in the precise sense in which they were denying it; that it was, in fact, the resurrection of the two natures of man.

To His logical argument the Lord also adds testimony from Scripture. Moses says that God said to him from the bush: "I am the God of Abraham" and so forth (Exod. 3:6).

Or to the reason above given the Lord added the testimony of Scripture, Now that the dead are raised, Moses also showed at the bush, (Exod. 3:6.) as the Lord saith, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. As if he said, If the patriarchs have once returned to nothing so as not to live with God in the hope of a resurrection, He would not have said, I am, but, I was, for we are accustomed to speak of things dead and gone thus, I was the Lord or Master of such a thing; but now that He said, I am, He shows that He is the God and Lord of the living.

For those that have believed in God, although they are asleep, are not dead. For our Saviour says to the Sadducees: "But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which is written, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God, therefore, is not the God of the dead, but of the living; for all live to Him." Wherefore, of those that live with God, even their very relics are not without honour. For even Elisha the prophet, after he was fallen asleep, raised up a dead man who was slain by the pirates of Syria. For his body touched the bones of Elisha, and he arose and revived. Now this would not have happened unless the body of Elisha were holy.

"God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." To prove that souls remain after death, something which they denied along with other things (for it could not be that he is the God of those who do not exist at all), the resurrection of bodies would consequently be inferred, which, with the souls, have done good or evil.

For all live to him. All those, indeed, whose Lord is God. They live to him, truly the life by which the just live even when they die in the body. About this elsewhere the Lord says: "He who believes in me, even if he dies, shall live" (John XI). Believe, therefore, and if you die, you shall live. But if you do not believe, even when you live, you are dead. For the widow who lives in pleasure is dead while she lives (I Timothy V).

From this, however, the Lord wishes to infer the future resurrection, when he adds: But God is not of the dead, but of the living. For all live to him. From which it follows that they live to him either in act or in potency; but all these were actually dead; therefore they were living to God as to power and disposition. It is therefore necessary to posit a future resurrection. There are, moreover, many testimonies in the Old Testament by which the resurrection of the dead can be proved: Isaiah 26: "Your dead shall live, my slain shall rise again"; and Ezekiel 37: "Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord: Behold," etc.; likewise, Daniel 12: "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake"; likewise, Job 19: "I know that my Redeemer lives, and on the last day I shall rise from the earth"; likewise, Hosea 6: "After two days he will revive us, on the third day he will raise us up"; likewise, Joel 3: "Let them rise up and let the nations ascend into the valley of Jehoshaphat," etc.; likewise, 2 Maccabees 7: "He himself will give you spirit and life with mercy." But the Lord introduced none of these seven witnesses, because the Sadducees, to whom he was responding, accepted only the Pentateuch; whence the Gloss: "He could have given clearer testimonies of the resurrection from the Prophets, but the Sadducees do not accept the Prophets." Or because through this he proves the life of souls after death, which the Sadducees denied, and this was the root of their error. Or because in the citation of this word there is simultaneously enclosed the mystery of the Trinity in the threefold repetition of God, the mystery of the threefold virtue, namely of faith, hope, and charity, in the three aforementioned Patriarchs, the mystery of the Incarnation in the burning bush and also the mystery of the Passion, and in the entire authority the mystery of the Resurrection, and thus, as it were, the whole mystery of the Christian faith; because every figure of mysteries and variety of words has been consummated in the incarnate Word, according to that passage in Isaiah 28: "I have heard of consummation and abbreviation," etc.; and Hebrews 1: "In many ways," etc.

The prophet's words are applicable to those who sin without perceiving their sin. A sinner who has received baptism, although he may be dead toward his soul because he does not perceive his sin, he is alive to God because of the grace of baptism that he possesses. This agrees with the words "God is not of the dead but of the living, for they are all living in him."

If the patriarchs had been utterly destroyed and were not alive before God by the hope of the resurrection, He would not have said "I am," but "I was." For concerning things damaged and lost we usually say: I "was" the owner of such-and-such a thing. But now, when God said "I am," He showed that He is the Lord and God of the living, and not of those who have been utterly destroyed. For although they have died, yet by the hope of the resurrection they are alive, just as Adam, although he was alive, was nevertheless mortal, and it is said of him that he died at the very moment he tasted the forbidden fruit.

This is what follows, But he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him. For though they have departed from life, yet live they with Him in the hope of a resurrection.

Before summarizing his commandments, the Lord included the faith and mercy preceding his passion at the end of his testament. Faith is that we believe Christ is our Lord and God and sits at the right hand of God. … He rebukes those who say that Christ is the Son of David. How then did that blind man deserve healing by acknowledging the Son of David?44 How did the children, saying "Hosanna to the Son of David," give the glory of their lofty proclamation to God? Here Jesus did not rebuke them because they acknowledged the Son of David but because they do not believe him to be the Son of God. The true faith does not confess one versus the other but both. Although at the beginning we judged to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified, yet now since we are near the judgment, we already do not know Christ only crucified but also wait for him coming in the clouds. The unbeliever looks on the wounds. The faithful one is taken up and runs to meet Christ in the air. Let us therefore believe that Christ is God and man.

They are not blamed here because they acknowledge Him to be David's Son, for the blind man for so doing was thought worthy to be healed. (Luke 18:42.) And the children saying, Hosanna to the Son of David, (Matt. 21:9.) rendered to God the glory of the highest praise; but they are blamed because they believe Him not to be the Son of God. Hence it is added, And David himself saith in the book of Psalms, The Lord said unto my Lord. (Ps. 110:1.) Both the Father is Lord and the Son is Lord, but there are not two Lords, but one Lord, for the Father is in the Son, and the Son is in the Father. He Himself sits at the right hand of the Father, for He is coequal with the Father, inferior to none; for it follows, Sit thou at my right hand. He is not honoured by sitting at the right hand, nor is He degraded by being sent. Degrees of dignity are not sought for, where is the fulness of divinity.

And since they had been defeated in argument, they ask Him no further questions, but seize Him, and deliver Him up to the Roman power. From which we may learn, that the poison of envy may indeed be subdued, but it is a hard thing to keep it at rest.

And he said to them: How do they say, etc. After he refuted those erring concerning the mystery of the resurrection, here he refutes those erring concerning the mystery of the incarnation, who namely do not believe Christ to be true man and God. Now Christ does this by inquiring and introducing a question which is impossible to resolve unless it is believed and understood that Christ is of a twofold nature. In this question, therefore, Christ, the master of faith, proposes the carnal generation of Christ himself, commonly believed by the Jews; second, he assumes the eternal generation foretold by the Prophet; and he concludes with the apparent controversy between the two.

First, therefore, as to the carnal generation of Christ commonly believed, he says: But he said to them: How do they say that Christ is the son of David? All the Jews commonly say this, and also all Christian men. For to David himself the promise concerning Christ was made, as it is said in the Psalm: "Of the fruit of your womb I will set upon your throne"; and in 2 Kings 7: "I will raise up your seed after you, who shall come forth from your womb, and I will establish his kingdom and make firm the throne of his kingdom forever." This cannot be said except of Christ, as the Angel attests, according to that passage above in chapter one: "The Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he shall reign in the house of Jacob forever." Therefore rightly "the crowds cried out: Hosanna to the son of David; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" Matthew 21. And the Apostle preached this according to that passage in 2 Timothy 2: "Remember that the Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead, of the seed of David, according to my Gospel"; and in Acts 2, Peter said: "Therefore, since he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath that of the fruit of his loins one would sit upon his throne, foreseeing this he spoke of the resurrection."

The Savior asked them, "How do they say that Christ is David's son? David himself says in the book of Psalms, 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit on my right hand until I place your enemies as a footstool under your feet." ' David therefore calls him Lord, and how is he his son?" The beginning of understanding is faith. He says, "If you will not believe, you cannot understand." The examination of important truths leads to salvation. Emmanuel is the Son and the Lord of David. If anyone would learn in what way he is to understand this, he must certainly begin the exact and blameless examination of his mystery. This was kept in silence from the foundation of the world but has been revealed in the latter ages of the world.

We also will ask the Pharisees of today a similar question. They deny that he who was born of the holy Virgin is very Son of God the Father and himself also God. They also divide the one Christ into two sons. Let these people explain to us how David's Son is his Lord, not so much as to human lordship as divine. To sit at the right hand of the Father is the assurance and pledge of supreme glory. Those who share the same throne are equal also in dignity, and those who are crowned with equal honors are understood of course to be equal in nature. To sit by God can signify nothing else than sovereign authority. The throne declares to us that Christ possesses power over everything and supremacy by right of his substance. How is the Son of David David's Lord, seated at the right hand of God the Father and on the throne of Deity? Is it not altogether according to the unerring word of the mystery that the Word as God sprung from the very substance of God the Father? Being in his likeness and equal with him, he became flesh. He became man, perfectly and yet without departing from the incomparable excellence of the divine dignities. He continued in that state in which he had always been. He still was God, although he became flesh and in form like us. He is David's Lord therefore according to that which belongs to his divine glory, nature and sovereignty. He is his son according to the flesh.

The Pharisees did not answer Christ's question. They did this in spitefulness, or rather against their own selves, for perhaps being convicted by the inquiry the word of salvation would have shined in them. They did not wish to know the truth, but sinfully seizing for themselves the Lord's inheritance, they denied the heir, or rather wickedly murdered him. They rejected the faith because of their love of leadership, greed for profit, and for their shameful gains.…To remove from them the habit of thinking and speaking of him in a derogatory and scornful manner, he asked them, "How do they say that Christ is David's Son, etc.?" As I have already remarked, they were silent from malicious motives and thereby condemned themselves as unworthy of eternal life and of the knowledge of the truth.

Or, that He sits on the Father's right hand proves His heavenly glory. For whose throne is equal, their Majesty is equal. But sitting when it is said of God signifies a universal kingdom and power. Therefore He sitteth at the right hand of the Father, because the Word proceeding from the substance of the Father, being made flesh, putteth not off His divine glory.

We then likewise in answer to the new Pharisees, who neither confess the Son of the holy Virgin to be the true Son of God, nor to be God, but divide one son into two, put the like objections: How then is the Son of David David's Lord, and that not by human lordship, but divine?

Now, He did not reject the attestation of those who had assumed His answer to bear this meaning. If, however, the Scribes thought Christ was David's Son, whereas (David) himself calls Him Lord, what relation has this to Christ? David did not literally confute an error of the Scribes, yet David asserted the honour of Christ, when he more prominently affirmed that He was his Lord than his Son,-an attribute which was hardly suitable to the destroyer of the Creator.

But how consistent is the interpretation on our side of the question! For He, who had been a little while ago invoked by the blind man as "the Son of David," then made no remark on the subject, not having the Scribes in His presence; whereas He now purposely moots the point before them, and that of His own accord, in order that He might show Himself whom the Mind man, following the doctrine of the Scribes, had simply declared to be the Son of David, to be also his Lord.

Soon about to go to His sufferings, the Lord preaches about His Divinity, and not openly or with pride, but very humbly. For He asks them and, having brought them to perplexity, leaves it to them to draw the conclusion.

Although our Lord was shortly about to enter on His Passion, He proclaims His own Godhead, and that too neither incautiously nor boastfully, but with modesty. For He puts a question to them, and having thrown them into perplexity, leaves them to reason out the conclusion; as it follows, And he said unto them, How say they that Christ is David's son?

(de Symbolo. ad Catech. l. ii. c. 7.) By the sitting we must not conceive a posture of the human limbs, as if the Father sat on the left and the Son on: the right, but the right hand itself we must interpret to be the power which that Man received who was taken up into Himself by God, that He should come to judge, who at first came to be judged.

He said to them: How do they say that Christ is the son of David, and David himself says in the book of Psalms: The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool? David therefore calls him Lord, and how is he his son? The question of Jesus profits us even today against the Jews. For those who confess that Christ is to come assert that he is a simple man and a holy man of the lineage of David. Let us therefore ask them, taught by the Lord, if he is a simple man and only the son of David, how does David call him his Lord? They are not reproved because they say he is the son of David, but because they do not believe he is the Son of God. Indeed, he is both the Lord of David, continuously being God before time, and appeared as the son of David, born as a man at the end of times. And that the enemies are subjected by the Father does not signify the weakness of the Son, but the unity of nature by which one works in the other. For the Son also subjects the enemies to the Father because he glorifies the Father on earth.

Second, as to the eternal generation foretold by the Prophet, he adds: And David himself says in the book of Psalms: The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand. Without doubt David says this word for word in the Psalm, which treats most excellently and most profoundly of the two natures of Christ. For it is established that this is understood of Christ. For God gave to no one the supreme kingdom, the eternal priesthood, and the judgment of all things except to Christ; and all this is described in that Psalm. It is necessary, therefore, that this verse be understood of Christ, in which David himself, inspired by the Holy Spirit, expresses the eternal generation of the Son in this, that he says: "The Lord said to my Lord"; for to say is nothing other than to conceive a word in the mind, which saying indeed could not exist in God except from eternity, because, as is said in Job 33, "God speaks once and does not repeat the same thing a second time." And therefore in John 1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." He spoke, therefore, eternally when he begot the Son; the Psalm: "The Lord said to me: You are my Son, today I have begotten you."

He also expresses the equality of the Son with the Father, when he says: "Sit at my right hand," that is, equal to me: Hebrews 1: "Who, being the brightness of glory and the figure of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, making purgation of sins, sits at the right hand of the Majesty on high," etc., up to: "This day have I begotten thee." Therefore Philippians 2: "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God." That sitting therefore does not signify a local position, but rather supreme rest, dignity, and authority, and through this also equality, which belongs to the Son alone. Therefore Lucifer fell, who desired it: Isaiah 14: "How art thou fallen, O Lucifer, who didst rise in the morning, who didst say in thy heart: I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit upon the mountain of the testament, and I will be like the Most High."

He manifests then that He is not opposed to the Father, but agrees with Him, since the Father resists the Son's enemies, Until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

We must believe then that Christ is both God and man, and that His enemies are made subject to Him by the Father, not through the weakness of His power, but through the unity of their nature, since in the one the other works. For the Son also subjects enemies to the Father, in that He glorifies the Father upon earth. (John 17:6.)

He expresses nonetheless the universal dominion of the Son of God himself, when he adds: Until I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet: The Psalm: "Thou hast subjected all things under his feet," etc., because by his almighty power he both governs the good and tramples the wicked. Whence 1 Corinthians 15: "He must reign, until he hath put his enemies under his feet"; "for he hath subjected all things under his feet"; Isaiah 45: "Thus saith the Lord to my anointed Cyrus, whose right hand I have taken hold of, that I may subdue all nations and turn the backs of kings," etc. For of Christ it is said in Apocalypse 19: "He had on his garment and on his thigh written: King of kings," etc.

Third, as regards the apparent controversy of both, he adds: David therefore calls him Lord, and how is he his son? For it is impossible to say that according to his human nature Christ was the lord of David, because Christ was not yet born nor conceived; and moreover, a son is never called the lord of his father; and again, since David was an exalted king, it does not seem that he had any mere man as his lord. It remains therefore that, since Christ according to the same nature cannot be said to be at once the true son and lord, of King David, it is necessary that he be at once God and man. And this indeed is true, which no one can deny unless he wholly overthrows Scripture and the faith received from the Fathers.

Now there are manifold testimonies in Scripture concerning this twofold nature of Christ, but he chose this testimony especially, both because David among the Prophets prophesied most excellently concerning Christ, and also because that Psalm from which this verse is taken most excellently expresses the mystery of the entire truth of faith. Whence Cassiodorus also says of that Psalm that "it is a mirror of the heavenly mystery, a treasury of the Sacred Scriptures, where everything is said in summary that is proclaimed in the narrative of both Testaments."

For the intention of the whole of both testaments principally concerns the twofold nature of Christ, concerning which David himself says: "He shall come down like rain upon a fleece"; and afterwards: "Let his name be blessed forever"; and again: "Beautiful in form above the sons of men"; and afterwards: "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever"; and Baruch chapter three: "This is our God, and no other shall be esteemed against him." "After these things he was seen upon the earth and conversed with men"; and Isaiah chapter seven: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel"; and Isaiah chapter nine: "A little child is born to us, and a son is given to us, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, God, the Mighty," etc. Likewise, Isaiah chapter fifty-three: "He shall grow up like a tender plant"; and afterwards: "Who shall declare his generation?" And Micah chapter five: "And you, Bethlehem Ephratha, you are small among the thousands of Judah; for from you shall come forth he who is to be ruler in Israel, and his going forth is from the beginning, from the days of eternity." Therefore, Romans chapter one: "Who was made for him from the seed of David according to the flesh, who was predestined the Son of God in power, according to the spirit of sanctification," etc.; and Romans chapter nine: "Whose is the adoption of sons and the glory and the covenant and the giving of the law and the worship and the promises, whose are the fathers, from whom is Christ according to the flesh, who is over all things God blessed." And this is expressly stated in John chapter one: "In the beginning was the Word"; and afterwards: "The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory," etc. Finally, Christ himself, in John chapter eight: "The Beginning, who also speak to you"; and Apocalypse, the last chapter: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." "I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright and morning star."

In this, therefore, "he established the end of his teaching," as Ambrose says, because in this is the foundation of the Christian religion, in which is rooted and enclosed everything to be believed, namely, that Christ is believed to be man and God. For all the articles of faith are reduced either to the Divinity or to the humanity; and therefore the Apostle said in First Corinthians chapter three: "As a wise architect I have laid the foundation; but no other foundation can anyone lay besides that which has been laid, which is Christ Jesus." And he himself is also the completion, according to that passage in Ecclesiasticus chapter forty-three: "We say many things and fall short in words, but the consummation of our discourse is he himself."

David in truth was both the Father and the servant of Christ, the former indeed according to the flesh, the latter in the Spirit.

David, He says, calls Him Lord (Ps. 109:1): how then is He merely his Son? He was indeed a son of David according to the flesh, but at the same time also his God, yet they considered Him only the son of David. Therefore He refutes this opinion of theirs, that Christ is merely a son of David, and declares that He is not opposed to the Father, but has great unity of mind with Him, for the Father vanquishes His enemies. This He said to the scribes.

Therefore He asks the question, and having excited their doubts, leaves them to deduce the consequence; as it follows, David therefore calleth him Lord, how is he then his son?

When all the people were listening, he said to his disciples: Beware of the scribes who wish to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the places of honor at banquets. To walk in stoles means to proceed to the public adorned in more distinguished garments. In which among other things, the rich man who feasted sumptuously every day is described as having sinned (Luke 16). However, it should be noted that he does not forbid those whose duty these things properly belong to, to be greeted in the forum, or to sit in the first places, or to recline at banquets; but rather, he teaches that those who, whether having them or not, unjustly love these things, are to be considered as reprobate by every faithful person, rightly censuring the mind and not the rank. Nonetheless, it is not without fault if those wish to engage in lawsuits in the forum, who desire to be called teachers in the Synagogue in the seat of Moses. Truly, we are commanded to beware of those desirous of vain glory for two reasons: first, so that we are not led astray by their pretense, thinking that what they do is good, and second, that we are not inflamed by emulation, foolishly rejoicing in being praised for the good things they pretend.

He does not forbid those to sit first in the synagogue, or at the feast, to whom this dignity belongs by right, but He tells them to beware of those who love this unduly; denouncing not the distinction, but the love of it. Though the other also would not be free from blame, when the same men who wish to take part in the disputes in the market, desire also to be called masters in the synagogue. For two reasons we are bid to beware of those who seek after vain-glory, either lest we be led away by their pretences, supposing those things to be good which they do, or be inflamed with jealousy, desiring in vain to be praised for the good deeds which they pretend to.

[On the "Inner Ring" — the unwritten hierarchy of insiders that exists alongside every formal hierarchy, and which those who love the chief seats are always seeking to enter]

In all men's lives at certain periods, and in many men's lives at all periods between infancy and extreme old age, one of the most dominant elements is the desire to be inside the local Ring and the terror of being left outside. People who believe themselves to be free, and indeed are free, from snobbery, and who read satires on snobbery with tranquil superiority, may be devoured by the desire in another form. It may be the very intensity of their desire to enter some quite different Ring which renders them immune from the allurements of high life. An invitation from a duchess would be very cold comfort to a man smarting under the sense of exclusion from some artistic or communist coterie. Poor man—it is not large, lighted rooms, or champagne, or even scandals about peers and Cabinet Ministers that he wants: it is the sacred little attic or studio, the heads bent together, the fog of tobacco smoke, and the delicious knowledge that we—we four or five all huddled beside this stove—are the people who know.

Since He was sending the disciples as teachers into the world, He rightly urges them not to imitate the Pharisees in their love of glory, their love of preeminence, and in general their worldliness and people-pleasing. For to carefully seek out greetings in the marketplaces is characteristic of those who flatter every person they meet and curry a favorable opinion of themselves, or who use this as a means of collecting money.

For as He was sending them to teach the world, He rightly warns them not to imitate the pride of the Pharisees. Beware of the Scribes, who desire to walk in long robes, that is, to go forth into public, dressed in fine clothes, which was one of the sins remarked in the rich man. (Luke 16:19.)

Which is the way of those who court and hunt after a good reputation, or they do it for the sake of collecting money. It follows, And the chief seats in synagogues.

Those who devour the houses of widows, while feigning long prayers, will receive greater damnation. He did not simply say they will receive damnation, but added greater, to indicate that even those who stand praying in corners to be seen by men (Matthew VI) deserve damnation; but those who do these things more lengthily, as if acting more religiously, not only seeking praises from men but also money, will be punished with lengthier damnation. For there are those who, pretending to be righteous and of great merit before God, do not hesitate to take money from any weaklings troubled by the conscience of their sins, as if they would be their advocates in judgment for them. And while normally an outstretched hand assisting a poor person is helped by prayers, these people, primarily in their prayers, watch through the night to take a coin from the poor. To them, the curse of Judah is deservedly applicable: When he is judged, let him go out condemned, and let his prayer become a sin (Psalm CVIII). For he goes out condemned when he is judged, and his prayer turns into sin, who, now esteemed great among men, is found not only unable to intervene for others in the divine examination but not even able to avail by his own merits, and indeed those prayers by which he deceived the human judgment, he suffers punishment among crimes.

But they seek not only for praise from men, but money; for it follows, Who devour widows' houses, and for a show make long prayers. For pretending to be righteous and of great merit before God, they do not fail to receive large sums of money from the sick and those whose consciences are disturbed with their sins, as though they would be their protectors in the judgment.

Or because they seek from men praise and money, they are punished with the greater damnation.

Third, with respect to the appetite for riches, he adds: Who devour the houses of widows, and this through cupidity, whose voracity is never satisfied, and especially when carnality is joined to it. Therefore he says: Who devour the houses of widows, simultaneously implying the voracity of cupidity toward the house and of carnality toward the sex; and concerning these two, Proverbs thirty: "The horseleech has two daughters, crying: Give, give"; and immediately he adds: "Three things are insatiable, and a fourth that never says: Enough. Hell, the mouth of the womb, and the earth, which is never satisfied with water; fire never says: Enough"; because, as is said in Ecclesiastes five, "the covetous man shall not be satisfied with money, and he who loves riches shall reap no fruit from them." The devouring, therefore, is reprehensible on account of avarice, but association with widows is reprehensible on account of evil suspicion. Whence Chrysostom: "While he confounds the Jewish priests, he admonishes Christians not to remain with widows more than with others, because, even if the will is not evil, the suspicion nevertheless is evil." And Jerome to Nepotian: "Let the feet of women rarely or never wear out your threshold. All the maidens and virgins of Christ either equally ignore or equally love. See that you do not remain under the same roof, nor trust in past chastity. You cannot be more holy than David, nor stronger than Samson, nor wiser than Solomon. Remember always that woman cast the settler of paradise out of his possession." The scribes, therefore, are not to be imitated, neither with respect to carnality nor with respect to cupidity, because concerning the imitators of these, Second Peter two: "These are like irrational beasts," "enticing unstable souls, having a heart exercised in avarice, children of malediction, forsaking the right way they have gone astray, following the way of Balaam of Bosor, who loved the wages of iniquity." Against such the Lord is indignant, according to that passage in Isaiah three: "You have devoured the vineyard, and the spoil of the poor is in your house."

Fourth, with respect to the simulation of virtues, he adds: Feigning long prayer; the Gloss: "So that they may appear more religious, they pray at greater length, in order that from any who are weak and troubled by the consciousness of their sins, they may receive praises and money as though they were patrons."

But is prolonged prayer evil? Certainly not, since it is said above in the eighteenth chapter: "One ought to pray always"; and First Thessalonians 5: "Pray without ceasing." But this is said on account of simulation, because, since simulation and fraud are reprehensible in all things, they are most especially reprehended in those acts which ought above all to be done in truth: and such is the act of prayer: John 4, "Those who adore him must adore in spirit and truth." Concerning him, therefore, who prays fraudulently and with simulation, it is said in the Psalm: "Let his prayer be turned into sin," because, Jeremiah 48: "Cursed is he who does the work of God negligently." And therefore he adds: These shall receive greater damnation, because, as is said in Job 36, "dissemblers and the crafty provoke the wrath of God." Therefore Ecclesiasticus 1: "Be not a hypocrite in the sight of men," "lest God reveal your hidden things and cast you down in the midst of the synagogue." And therefore upon the scribes as hypocrites he pronounces woe seven times, Matthew 23: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!" on account of their sevenfold simulation, on account of which they were worthy, together with their followers, to be cast down into eternal damnation, according to that passage of Apocalypse 19: "And the beast was apprehended, and with him the false prophet, who wrought signs before him, by which he seduced those who received the mark of the beast: and these two were cast alive into the pool of fire burning with sulphur. And all the birds were filled with their flesh."

Thrusting themselves also into the possessions of widows, they grind down their poverty, not content to eat as it may be afforded them, but greedily devouring; using prayer also to an evil end, they thus expose themselves to a heavier condemnation; as it follows, These shall receive the greater damnation.

"They devour," He says, "the houses of widows," filling their bellies and squandering beyond what is proper. And the pretext for this is seemingly pious. For, under the pretense of prayer and spiritual benefit, they teach not fasting, but drunkenness and gluttony, and for this, He says, "they will receive the greater condemnation," because they not only do evil, but also cloak it with prayer. Their appearance is pious, yet they make virtue a pretext for wickedness. Therefore they deserve even greater condemnation, since they bring reproach upon what is good. Widows ought to be pitied, but these men enter their houses supposedly to bless them with lengthy prayers. Meanwhile, the widows are compelled on account of their visits to bear expenses, and are thus ruined.

Because they not only do what is evil, but make a pretence of prayer, so making virtue an excuse for their sin. They also impoverish widows whom they were bound to pity, by their presence driving them to great expenses.

Third, with respect to the praise of the offering made by the widow, he adds: And he said: Truly I say to you, that this poor widow has put in more than all of them, that is, she gave more abundantly. For he gives more abundantly who gives from a greater heart. Whence Gregory: "The hand is not empty of a gift when the treasury of the heart has been filled with good will." For this widow was of the number of those about whom it is said in Second Corinthians 8: "I bear them witness according to their power, that beyond their power they were willing." Whence Chrysostom: "Let no one say: I cannot give alms. You are not poorer than that widow, you are not more unlearned than Peter and John. The talents of each person consist either in preeminence in teaching, or in money, or in any occupation"; and afterwards: "Nothing is so pleasing to God as to live for the common benefit." On account of which also First Peter 4: "Each one, as he has received grace, ministering it to one another." Whence, just as he who leaves behind few things in reality and wills to have nothing in desire is said to leave all things, as Peter, Matthew 19: "Behold, we have left all things"; just as he who is subject to nothing has all things and abounds, as Paul, Second Corinthians 6: "As having nothing, yet possessing all things"; and Philippians last chapter: "I have all things and abound"; so he who gives with a great heart is said to give abundantly, according to that saying in Second Corinthians 8: "In much trial of tribulation, the abundance of their joy abounded, and their very deep poverty abounded unto the riches of simplicity."

But you who are such as this, cannot labour in the Church. For your eyes, overcast with the gloom of blackness, and shadowed in night, do not see the needy and poor. You are wealthy and rich, and do you think that you celebrate the Lord's Supper, not at all considering the offering, who come to the Lord's Supper Without a sacrifice, and yet take part of the sacrifice which the poor man has offered? Consider in the Gospel the widow that remembered the heavenly precepts, doing good even amidst the difficulties and straits of poverty, casting two mites, which were all that she had, into the treasury; whom when the Lord observed and saw, regarding her work not for its abundance, but for its intention, and considering not how much, but from how much, she had given, He answered and said, "Verily I say unto you, that that widow hath cast in more than they all into the offerings of God. For all these have, of that which they had in abundance, cast in unto the offerings of God; but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had," Greatly blessed and glorious woman, who even before the day of judgment hast merited to be praised by the voice of the Judge! Let the rich be ashamed of their barrenness and unbelief. The widow, the widow needy in means, is found rich in works. And although everything that is given is conferred upon widows and orphans, she gives, whom it behoved to receive, that we may know thence what punishment, awaits the barren rich man, when by this very instance even the poor ought to labour in good works. And in order that we may understand that their labours are given to God, and that whoever performs them deserves well of the Lord, Christ calls this "the offerings of God," and intimates that the widow has cast in two farthings into the offerings of God, that it may be more abundantly evident that he who hath pity on the poor lendeth to God.

This may perhaps irritate some among the rich. We will therefore address a few remarks to them. You delight, O rich person, in the abundance of your possessions.… You offer not so much in proportion to your means as merely that which when you give, you will never miss—out of great abundance, a little. The woman offered two farthings, but she possessed nothing more than what she offered. She had nothing left. With empty hand but a hand bountiful of the little she possessed, she went away from the treasury. Did she not therefore justly carry off the crown? Did not the decree of superiority come to her by a holy judgment? Did she not surpass your bountifulness, in regard at least of her readiness?

She offered two oboli, which with the sweat of her brow she had earned for her daily living, or what she daily begs for at the hands of others she gives to God, showing that her poverty is fruitful to her. Therefore does she surpass the others, and by a just award receives a crown from God; as it follows, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more, &c.

(Hom. 1. in Ep. ad Heb., Hom. 28.) For God regarded not the scantiness of the offering, but the overflowing of the affection. Almsgiving is not the bestowing a few things out of many, but it is that of the widow emptying, herself of her whole substance. But if you cannot offer as much as the widow, at least give all that remains over.

For all these out of their abundance have cast into the gifts of God; but she out of her poverty has cast in all the livelihood that she had. The Jew casts into the gifts of God out of his abundance, who, presuming on his own righteousness, prays thus with himself: "God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, etc." (Luke 18). But the Church casts her whole livelihood into the gifts of God, understanding that everything she lives by is not of her own merit, but the gift of God, saying, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner." (Luke 18). And elsewhere: "My strength I will guard for you, for you, O God, are my protector, my God, His mercy will go before me." (Psalms 58).

For whatever we offer with an honest heart is well pleasing to God, who hath respect unto the heart, not the substance, nor does He weigh the amount of that which is given in sacrifice, but of that from which it is taken; as it follows, For all these have cast in of their abundance, but she all that she had.

Fourth, with respect to the assignment of the reason and cause, he subjoins: For all these out of their abundance have cast into the gifts of God: and they fulfilled that precept above in chapter 11: "But yet that which remains, give as alms"; by which it is commanded to give out of one's abundance, as John said above in chapter 3: "He who has two tunics, let him give one to him who has none."

But she out of her want has cast in all the living that she had: and thus she fulfilled a counsel, because she reserved nothing for herself, but gave everything, so that she might begin to be an evangelical woman, fulfilling that counsel of the Lord, above in chapter 18: "If you wish to be perfect, go and sell all that you have." She was no longer anxious about the morrow, as is said in Matthew 6: "Be not anxious for the morrow"; "sufficient for the day is its own evil."

But it seems that this widow for this reason is not to be praised but rather to be blamed, because she did not keep the mean, because she exposed herself to danger, because she neglected the order of charity, against that word of the Apostle: "Not that there should be relief for others and affliction for you, but from equality. In the present time let your abundance be a supplement to their want," Second Corinthians eight. — But she is praised by the divine mouth for this reason: because she placed her hope in Christ and fulfilled the divine counsel, because she preferred the worship of God to her own private advantage. Although according to human judgment her almsgiving may not seem to have been discreet, nevertheless it was most prudent, since by giving everything she became an imitator of Christ, of whom it is said in Second Corinthians eight: "You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that for your sake he became poor, though he was rich, so that by his poverty you might become rich." Where therefore Christ promises the reward, there is no danger; where he gives the example, the mean is not abandoned, because he himself is the center of all perfection; where he approves the affection, the order of charity is not disturbed, indeed it is fulfilled, because, as is said in First Corinthians thirteen, "charity does not seek the things that are its own." — From these things it is gathered that to relinquish everything is not a vice but a perfection, because the root of meriting principally regards the affection of the heart, and because God accepts the fervor of the heart more than the magnitude of the gift. As a sign of which it is said in Genesis four: "The Lord had regard for Abel and for his offerings, but for Cain and for his offerings he had no regard." And therefore against the one who is of evil will, trusting in almsgiving, it is said in Ecclesiasticus seven: "Do not bind upon yourself double sins," and: "Do not say: God will look upon the multitude of my gifts, and when I offer to God most high, he will accept my gifts"; because, in Ecclesiasticus thirty-four, "the Most High does not approve the gifts of the wicked," but, as is said in the Psalm, "the sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit, a contrite and humbled heart," up to that point: "calves upon your altar."

These things have been said according to the letter; but according to the moral sense, by this poor widow, whom the Lord Jesus most kindly regards, is understood the soul that withdraws from the love of temporal things: which is therefore called a widow, because when it clung to the world, it had a husband, but now is as it were a widow and a poor woman: a widow indeed, because she is separated from the world with respect to the affection of carnality: the Psalm: "Blessing, I will bless her widow; I will satisfy her poor with bread." And this widow places all her delight in Christ, according to that passage of First Timothy, chapter five: "She who is truly a widow and desolate, let her hope in God and persist in prayers and supplications night and day." - And she is a poor woman, because she is separated from the world with respect to the affection of earthliness: of whom Isaiah, chapter fifty-four says: "O poor one, tossed by tempest, without any consolation." It belongs therefore to such a one to offer God two small coins, that is, the mortification of the flesh, insofar as she is a widow, according to that word of the Apostle in Romans, chapter twelve: "I beseech you through the mercy of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God, your reasonable service"; and to offer poverty of spirit, insofar as she is a poor woman; First Chronicles, chapter twenty-two: "Behold, in my poverty I have prepared the expenses of the house of the Lord." Concerning this twofold small coin to be offered, Second Corinthians, chapter seven: "Let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting sanctification in the fear of God."

But according to the allegorical sense, by the rich are understood the Jews; whence the Gloss: "The rich, who cast gifts into the treasury, are the Jews, who are puffed up concerning the justice of the Law," according to that word of the Apostle in Romans, chapter ten: "Being ignorant of the justice of God and seeking to establish their own, they have not submitted to the justice of God."

By the poor widow is understood the Church gathered from the gentiles; whence the Gloss: "The Widow, the Church, for whom her husband endured death and lives in the inner chambers of heaven, as if hidden from her eyes, as if dwelling in the region of another land." Therefore Ephesians five: "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the Church and delivered himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing of water in the word of life"; and afterwards: "This sacrament is great: but I speak in Christ and in the Church." The Jew therefore offers from abundance on account of presumption; whence the Gloss: "The Jew casts in from his abundance, who, presuming upon his own righteousness, prays thus within himself: God, I give you thanks that I am not like the rest of men," according to that passage above in the eighteenth chapter, where it treats of the Pharisee, who represents the Jewish people. But this widow offers all her living, because, as the Gloss says, "The Church casts all her living into the gifts of God: she who understands that everything by which she lives is not of her own merit but of the divine gift, saying: God, be merciful to me a sinner." Moreover, she offers two mites, that is, faith and charity, or twofold faith, namely concerning the Divinity and humanity, or twofold charity, namely of God and neighbor, according to that passage in Song of Songs four: "All of them bear twins, and none is barren among them." And these are mites on account of humility, but they are most acceptable to God; whence the Gloss: "In consideration of her frailty they are mites, but by the merit of pious intention they are more acceptable than all the works of the proud Jews, because, James four, 'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.'"

In this widow, therefore, the holy Church is commended; no less commended are chastity, humility, and poverty, which three are the evangelical counsels and lead the soul to the highest perfection, which is especially to be chosen by the disciples of Christ.

A hermit said, 'One man eats a lot and is still hungry. Another eats a little and has had enough. The man who eats a lot and is still hungry has more merit than the man who eats the little that satisfies him.'

The Lord praises the widow more than all the rest, because she cast in all her substance out of her poverty. For two mites, it would seem, are insignificant, but for one who lived on alms they constituted her whole livelihood, for the widow was destitute. Thus the Lord bestows His reward, paying attention not to how much is given, but to how much remains. In the houses of the rich, who brought little and small offerings, far more remained, but her house was completely emptied, and nothing was left in it. Therefore she is truly worthy of greater praise than they. Some thought that by "the widow" one can understand every soul that has renounced its former husband, that is, the Old Law, but has not yet been deemed worthy of union with God the Word, and that instead of a pledge she offers the thin and meager faith possible for her and a good conscience. For together with faith one must also offer a good conscience, that is, a blameless life. And whoever comes to God with these seems to put in more than all those who are rich in learning and abound in pagan virtues.

Second, as to the prediction introduced from the occasion taken, there is added: These things which you see, the days will come in which there shall not be left stone upon stone that shall not be destroyed. This indeed was said generally and is true for the time of the final judgment, when all things shall be destroyed, according to that passage of Matthew twenty-four: "Heaven and earth shall pass away," etc.; and Revelation twenty-one: "The first heaven and the first earth passed away, and the sea is no more," as in the Psalm: "They shall perish, but you shall remain," etc. It is also true for the destruction of Jerusalem specifically, which was accomplished by Titus and Vespasian in the forty-second year after the Passion of the Lord; above, in the nineteenth chapter: "The days shall come upon you, and your enemies shall surround you with a rampart and cast you to the ground, and they shall not leave in you stone upon stone." Hence Gregory says that that Jerusalem with the temple was utterly overthrown, and a new one was afterwards rebuilt. The reason, moreover, why the Lord delayed for forty-two years was so that He might await them for repentance, as is said in Second Peter three: "He acts patiently on your account, not willing that any should perish." The reason, moreover, why He delayed no longer was on account of the obstinate faithlessness of the Jews, which despised the truth on account of the veil and the shadow. Hence the Gloss: "God took care to overthrow the city and the temple and all figurative things, lest anyone after the coming of Christ should have recourse to them." And for that time is understood that passage of Isaiah one: "What is the multitude of your victims to me? says the Lord. I am full." "Offer sacrifice no more in vain: incense is an abomination to me. New moons and Sabbaths and other festivals I will not endure." And therefore Galatians five: "Stand fast and do not be held again under the yoke of servitude. Behold, I Paul say to you," etc.

The Lord, as One who in a short time would undergo the Crucifixion, fittingly prophesies now concerning Jerusalem, so that we might have in this a strong proof that He is the true God. Therefore even when some were praising the buildings of the temple and the "offerings" (I think they were speaking of carved and sculpted works, such as palms and cherubim (1 Kings 6:32): this, perhaps, is what they called them), the Lord pays no attention to any of it, but foretells their destruction.

But of the heavenly words none are greater witnesses than we, upon whom the ends of the world have come. What wars and what rumours of wars have we received!

There are also other wars which the Christian wages, the struggles of different lusts, and the conflicts of the will; and domestic foes are far more dangerous than foreign.

When this type of thing was chanted to you in the temple, "The gods who protected Rome have not saved it now, because they no longer exist," you would say, "They did save it when they existed."We, however, can show that our God is truthful. He foretold all these things. You read all of them and heard them. I am not sure whether you have remembered them, you that are upset by such words. Have you not heard the prophets, the apostles, the Lord Jesus Christ himself foretelling evils to come? When old age comes to the world and the end draws near, you heard it, brothers and sisters, we all heard it together. There will be wars, turmoil, tribulations and famines. Why do we contradict ourselves? When these things are read, we believe them, but when they are fulfilled, we grumble.

But when you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified. These things must first take place, but the end will not come immediately. Wars pertain to enemies. Insurrections pertain to citizens. Both of these have been abundant among the Jewish people since the time of the Lord's passion, who chose a seditious thief as their savior. But with these preceding, the apostles are warned not to be terrified and not to abandon Jerusalem and Judea. Because evidently the end does not come immediately, which rather is to be deferred to the fortieth year, that is, the destruction of the nation and the ultimate ruin of the city and temple follows.

The Apostles are also exhorted not to be alarmed by these forerunners, nor to desert Jerusalem and Judæa.

Secondly, as to the aggravation of wars, he adds: But when you shall hear of wars and seditions, be not terrified. For just as the deceitfulness of those who err is not to be followed, so the wickedness of those who wage war is not to be feared, especially by just men: whence Matthew 10: "Do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul"; since a just man does not lose what he loves through wars, and therefore does not dread wars of this kind: Proverbs 28: "The wicked man flees, when no one pursues; but the just man, confident as a lion, shall be without terror." Whence Chrysostom: "Holy men remain undisturbed at the hearing of either bodily or spiritual wars, because the things that are in the world cannot harm those who are outside the world; just as one who is in a tent indeed hears the sound of the tempest, but does not feel the blast." Therefore Proverbs 12: "Whatever befalls the just man shall not sadden him." These things are therefore not to be feared, because they are not harmful. — Nor are they to be feared, because they are opportune: therefore he adds: These things must first come to pass, but the end is not yet at once. Chrysostom: "That which has always been in use cannot be a sign. For these bodily wars have always been and will be." For as long as concupiscence reigns, there must be strife and wars: James 4: "Whence are wars and contentions among you? Are they not from your concupiscences, which war in your members?" But the Lord permits these things to happen for the overthrow of the wicked and the exercise of the good, so that thus may appear that saying of Job 7: "The life of man upon earth is a warfare." And therefore that good soldier said in Second Corinthians 7: "When we had come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we suffered all tribulation: combats without, fears within." For John 16: "In the world you shall have distress; but have confidence, I have overcome the world."

Our Lord and Redeemer announces beforehand the evils that precede the perishing world, so that the things to come may disturb us less because they have been foreknown. For missiles that are foreseen strike less forcefully; and we endure the evils of the world more tolerably if we are fortified against them by the shield of foreknowledge. For behold he says: "When you hear of wars and seditions, do not be terrified; for these things must happen first, but the end is not yet at once." The words of our Redeemer must be weighed carefully, through which he announces that we will suffer one thing internally, another externally. For wars indeed pertain to enemies, seditions to citizens. Therefore, to indicate that we are troubled both internally and externally, he declares that we suffer one thing from enemies, another from brothers. But since the end does not immediately follow when these evils come first, he adds: "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom." The final tribulation is preceded by many tribulations, and through the frequent evils that come before, the perpetual evils that will follow are indicated. And therefore after wars and seditions the end does not come immediately, because many evils must run before, so that they may be able to announce evil without end.

(in Hom. 35. in Evang.) God denounces the woes that shall forerun the destruction of the world, that so they may the less disturb when they come, as having been foreknown. For darts strike the less which are foreseen. And so He says, But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, &c. Wars refer to the enemy, commotions to citizens. To show us then that we shall be troubled from within and without, He asserts that the one we suffer from the enemy, the other from our own brethren.

But that the end will not immediately follow these evils which come first, it is added, These things must first come to pass; but the end is not yet, &c. For the last tribulation is preceded by many tribulations, because many evils must come first, that they may await that evil which has no end.

But He says, that the end of the city shall not come immediately, that is, the taking of Jerusalem, but there shall be many battles first.

Perhaps you are anxious, brothers and sisters, at the fact that we hear constantly of the tumult of wars and the onsets of battles. Perhaps your love is still more anxious since these are taking place in our times. The reason is the closer we are to the destruction of the world, the closer we are to the kingdom of the Savior. The Lord himself says, "In the last days nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. When you see wars, earthquakes and famines, know that the kingdom of God is at hand." This nearness of wars shows us that Christ is near.

"Wars," I observe, "and kingdom against kingdom, and nation against nation, and pestilence, and famines, and earthquakes, and fearful sights, and great signs from heaven" -all which things are suitable for a severe and terrible God.

There will be "wars and commotions," for, with the cessation of all love, wars and commotions will naturally take place.

Now some have wished to place the fulfilment of these things not only at the future consummation of all things, but at the time also of the taking of Jerusalem. For when the Author of peace was killed, then justly arose among the Jews wars and sedition, But from wars proceed pestilence and famine, the former indeed produced by the air infected with dead bodies, the latter through the lands remaining uncultivated. Josephus also relates the most intolerable distresses to have occurred from famine; and at the time of Claudius Cæsar there was a severe famine, as we read in the Acts, (Acts 11:28.) and many terrible events happened, forboding, as Josephus says, the destruction of Jerusalem.

Then he said to them: Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines, and pestilences. It is established that these things occurred literally before the end of the desolation of the temple, that is, in the time of the Jewish sedition. However, kingdoms against kingdoms, and the pestilence of those whose word spreads like gangrene (2 Tim. 2), and the famine of hearing the word of God (Amos 8), and the disturbance of the entire earth, and separation from true faith, can also be understood in the heretics, who, fighting against each other, bring about the victory of the Church.

But the kingdom against kingdom, and the pestilence of those whose word creepeth as a cancer, and the famine of hearing the word of God, and the shaking of the whole earth, and the separation from the true faith, may be explained also in the heretics, who contending one with another bring victory to the Church.

Thirdly, as to the onset of pestilences, he subjoins: Then he said to them: Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. Gregory: "Behold, the disturbance of men"; and there shall be great earthquakes in various places, "behold, the visitation of wrath from above"; and pestilences, "behold, the inequality of bodies"; and famines, "behold, the barrenness of the earth"; and terrors from heaven, "behold, the inequality of the air"; and there shall be great signs, not only because they are many, but also because they are unusual.

Moreover, signs of this kind, great and many, preceded the destruction of Jerusalem, according to what Josephus narrates, who says that "a star resembling a sword hung over Jerusalem for a year, and that chariots and armed horsemen waged battle in the air for forty days, and that a heifer brought forth a lamb among the hands of those crowding in." And these great signs preceded the second destruction of Jerusalem, just as they had preceded its destruction carried out under Antiochus: Second Maccabees 5: "It happened that throughout the whole city of Jerusalem there were seen for forty days horsemen rushing through the air, wearing golden robes, and engagements taking place in close combat, and the movement of shields and the hurling of javelins and the splendor of golden arms and breastplates of every kind."

This manifold and pestilential disturbance, although it has at times existed in part in the Church, as Gregory narrates, will nevertheless be fully present in the final tribulation, at whose approach there will be a disturbance of men and of the elements. For the disturbance of men will occur, according to that passage of Isaiah 19: "I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians, and a man will fight against his brother and a man against his friend and city against city and kingdom against kingdom"; and Zechariah 8: "I have let loose all men, each one against his neighbor." Nor will there be only a disturbance of men, but also of the elements. Whence Gregory says: "First the hearts of men and afterward the elements will be disturbed, so that, when the order of things is confounded, it may be shown from what source the tribulation comes." The elements will therefore be disturbed, according to that passage of Isaiah 24: "The floodgates from on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth will be shaken. The earth will be utterly broken," etc. And Gregory says: "All things which we have received for the use of life, we have turned to guilt: the tranquility of human peace into complacency; the pilgrimage of the way we have loved in place of the dwelling of our homeland; the health of our bodies we have reduced to the service of vices; the abundance of plenty we have twisted not to the necessity of the flesh but to the perversity of pleasure; the serenity of the air we have compelled to serve us for the love of earthly delight. Justly, therefore, all things strike us, so that as many joys as we have had in the world, so many torments we may afterward feel." And this indeed rightly, because, Wisdom 11, "by what things a man sins, by these also is he tormented"; and again Wisdom 5: "The whole world will fight for him against the senseless"; and therefore Wisdom 16: "The creature, serving you its Maker, is enkindled unto torment against the unjust, and is made milder to do good for those who trust in you." Whence Gregory himself also says: "Because all things are to be consummated, before the consummation all things were disturbed; and we who have sinned in all things are struck in all things, so that what was said may be fulfilled: The whole world will fight for him against the senseless," Wisdom 5.

The final tribulation is preceded by many tribulations, and through the frequent evils that come before, the perpetual evils that will follow are indicated. And therefore after wars and seditions the end does not come immediately, because many evils must run before, so that they may be able to announce evil without end. But since so many signs of disturbance have been mentioned, we ought to touch briefly upon the consideration of each one, because it is necessary that we suffer some things from heaven, some from earth, some from the elements, some from men. For he says: "Nation will rise against nation"—behold the disturbance of men.

It follows, Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, &c. For it must needs be that we should suffer some things from heaven, some from earth, some from the elements, and some from men. Here then are signified the confusions of men.

The ruin of the world then is preceded by certain of the world's calamities, such as famine, pestilence, and persecution.

And there shall be terrors in the heavens, and great signs. And these same things being fulfilled, whoever has read the history of Josephus will find out. For indeed a star similar to a sword, as he states, hung over Jerusalem for a whole year, terrifying the anxious citizens with a dreadful portent. And likewise chariots and armed horsemen were seen running through the skies, and mimicking the manner of warriors for forty days. Moreover, when a heifer was brought to sacrifices, it gave birth to a lamb in the hands of those offering it. But what merit caused these things to happen is immediately added when it is said:

"There will be great earthquakes in various places"—behold the look of wrath from above; "there will be pestilences"—behold the disorder of bodies; "there will be famine"—behold the barrenness of the earth; "terrors from heaven and storms"—behold the disorder of the air. Because therefore all things are to be brought to an end, before the end all things are disturbed; and we who have sinned in all things are struck in all things, so that what is said may be fulfilled: "And the world will fight on his behalf against the senseless." For all things that we received for the use of life we have turned to the use of sin, but all things that we bent to the use of wickedness are turned against us for the use of vengeance. Indeed we turned the tranquility of human peace to the use of vain security; we loved the pilgrimage of earth as if it were our homeland's dwelling; we reduced the health of bodies to the use of vices; we twisted the abundance of plenty not to the necessity of the flesh but to the perversity of pleasure; we forced even the serene enticements of the air to serve our love of earthly delight. Rightly therefore it remains that all things strike us together, which all together served our vices in evil subjection, so that as many joys as we previously had unharmed in the world, so many torments from it we are afterward compelled to feel.

But it should be noted what is said: "Terrors from heaven and storms." Since winter storms usually come according to the order of the seasons, why are storms predicted here as a sign of destruction, unless because the Lord announces that storms will come that in no way keep the order of the seasons? For those that come in an orderly fashion are not a sign; but storms are a sign that confound even the appointed times of the seasons themselves. This we too have recently experienced, because we saw the entire summer season turned into winter rains.

It follows, And great earthquakes shall be in divers places. This relates to the wrath from above.

(in Hom. 35.) Look at the vicissitudes of bodies. And famine. Observe the barrenness of the ground. And fearful sights and great signs there shall be from heaven. Behold the variableness of the climate, which must be ascribed to those storms which by no means regard the order of the seasons. For the things which come in fixed order are not signs. For every thing that we receive for the use of life we pervert to the service of sin, but all those things which we have bent to a wicked use, are turned to the instruments of our punishment.

(Hom. 11. in Acta.) For an earthquake is at one time a sign of wrath, as when our Lord was crucified the earth shook; but at another time it is a token of God's providence, as when the Apostles were praying, the place was moved where they were assembled. It follows, and pestilence.

As a consequence of wars, "famine and pestilence" will follow; pestilence from the corruption of the air by corpses, and famine from the failure to cultivate the fields. Some understood it such that famine, pestilence, and other calamities would occur not only at the end of the age, but also during the captivity of Jerusalem. For Josephus (Flavius) says that on account of the famine there were terrible calamities. And Luke too in the book of Acts (Acts 11:28) says that "there was a famine... under Caesar Claudius." There were also many terrors pointing to the captivity, as the same Josephus recounts. This, that is, "wars, tumults," and the rest, can certainly be understood generally as referring to the time of the end of the world and the captivity of Jerusalem.

There are also other wars which the Christian wages, the struggles of different lusts, and the conflicts of the will; and domestic foes are far more dangerous than foreign.

But before all this, they will lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, dragging you before kings and governors for my name's sake. This indeed had been either the sole or the greatest cause of ruin for the Jewish nation, because after the occasion of the Lord Savior, they likewise harassed his preachers and confessors with impious cruelty.

But before all these things they shall lay their hands upon you, etc. After he described the persecution of the Church in common with respect to all, here he specially describes it in the person of the perfect. Moreover there is described here a twofold persecution against the Apostles and apostolic men: first public, then private, at the passage: But you shall be betrayed by parents, etc.

Concerning the public persecution of holy men, namely the Apostles and their imitators, to be explained, three things are introduced, namely the struggle of persecution, the cause of persecution, and the manifest victory of the afflicted.

First therefore, as regards the struggle of persecution, he says: But before all these things they shall lay their hands upon you. Before, namely the final tribulation, in which all shall be afflicted, there precedes the persecution of the impious stirred up against perfect men. In which persecution indeed, on the part of the impious there will be violence: therefore he says: They shall lay hands upon you: Acts chapter five: "Rising up, the high priest and all who were with him, which is the sect of the Sadducees, were filled with zeal and laid hands on the Apostles and put them in public custody."

There will also be injury together with violence: and therefore he adds: And they shall persecute you, delivering you into synagogues and prisons: Acts chapter six: "They stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and running together they seized Stephen and brought him before the council."

There will also be with this a feigned justice: on account of which he adds: Dragging you before kings and governors on account of my name, as if it were wicked to preach the Crucified One; Acts chapter five: "When they had brought the Apostles, they set them before the council. And the high priest asked them, saying: We strictly commanded you not to teach in this name; and behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you wish to bring upon us the blood of this man"; and Acts chapter seventeen: "The Jews, being zealous and taking certain wicked men from the common people, and having formed a mob, stirred up the city and dragged Jason and certain brethren before the rulers of the city, crying out: These are they who have turned the world upside down and have come here. And all these act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus." Moreover this persecution raged against the Apostles and their followers as well, from the adversaries of the name of Christ; Second Timothy chapter three: "But you have followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, persecutions, sufferings, such as befell me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra." "And from all of them the Lord delivered me. And all who wish to live piously in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." Whence Augustine in the sermon on the Holy Innocents: "In the Holy Scriptures, we recognize that good and just men have always endured the persecution of the wicked," because, as Gregory says, "He refuses to be Abel whom the malice of Cain does not exercise."

Jesus gives them clear and evident signs of the time when the consummation of the world draws near. He says that there will be wars, turmoil, famines and epidemics everywhere. There will be terrors from heaven and great signs. As another Evangelist says, "All the stars shall fall, and the heaven be rolled up like a scroll, and its powers will be shaken."In the middle of this, the Savior places what refers to the capture of Jerusalem. He mixes the accounts together in both parts of the narrative. Before all these things, he says, "They will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to synagogues and to prisons and bringing you before kings and rulers for my name's sake. This will be a witness to you." Before the times of consummation, the land of the Jews was taken captive, and the Roman armies overran it. They burned the temple, overthrew their national government, and stopped the means for legal worship. They no longer had sacrifices, now that the temple was destroyed. The country of the Jews together with Jerusalem itself was totally laid waste. Before these things happened, they persecuted the blessed disciples. They imprisoned them and had a part in unendurable trials. They brought the disciples before judges and sent them to kings. Paul was sent to Rome to Caesar.… Christ promises, however, that he will deliver them certainly and completely. He says that a hair of your head will not perish.

Or He says this, because before that Jerusalem should be taken by the Romans, the disciples, having suffered persecution from the Jews, were imprisoned and brought before rulers; Paul was sent to Rome to Cæsar, and stood before Festus and Agrippa.

But because all these things come not from the injustice of the one striking but from the merit of the world that suffers, the deeds of wicked men are set forth first when it is said: "But before all these things they will lay their hands upon you and persecute you, and deliver you to synagogues, leading you before kings and governors for my name's sake." As if he were saying openly: First the hearts of men are disturbed, and afterward the elements, so that when the order of things is thrown into confusion, it may be shown from what retribution this comes. For although the end of the world depends on its own order, it is made known that it finds certain more perverse people who may worthily be crushed by its ruins.

(Hom. 35. in Evang.) Because the things which have been prophesied of arise not from the injustice of the inflictor of them, but from the deserts of the world which suffers them, the deeds or wicked men are foretold; as it is said, But before all these things, they shall lay their hands upon you: as if He says, First the hearts of men, afterwards the elements, shall be disturbed, that when the order of things is thrown into confusion, it may be plain from what retribution it arises. For although the end of the world depends upon its own appointed course, yet finding some more corrupt than others who shall rightly be overwhelmed in its fall, our Lord makes them known.

And therefore in this passage He forbids men "to meditate before what they answer" when brought before tribunals, even as once He suggested to Balaam the message which he had not thought of, nay, contrary to what he had thought; and promised "a mouth" to Moses, when he pleaded in excuse the slowness of his speech, and that wisdom which, by Isaiah, He showed to be irresistible: "One shall say, I am the Lord's, and shall call himself by the name of Jacob, and another shall subscribe himself by the name of lsrµl.

"Before... all these things" that are to happen at the end of the world, or also at the captivity (for, as I said, He joins the discourse about the end with the discourse about the captivity), "they shall lay hands on you," that is, My disciples. And indeed, before the captivity of Jerusalem the apostles were driven out of it, by a special providence of God, namely: so that all the horrors would fall only upon the crucifiers, while they, that is the apostles, would fill the whole world with preaching. The apostles were also brought before kings and governors: for example, Paul was brought before Festus, before Agrippa, before Caesar himself (Acts 25:6-23, 26:32).

It will happen for you as a testimony. As a testimony of whom, but of those who either bring about deaths by persecuting, or do not imitate by seeing? For the death of the just serves as assistance for the good, and as a testimony against the evil, so that the perverse may perish without excuse from where the elect take example that they might live. But, after hearing so many terrors, the hearts of the weak might be troubled, and thus consolation is added when it is immediately said:

Second, as to the cause of persecution, he adds: But it shall happen to you for a testimony, of divine love: Hebrews 12: "For whom the Lord loves, he chastises; and he scourges every son whom he receives. Persevere under discipline. God offers himself to you as to sons. For what son is there whom the father does not correct? But if you are without discipline, of which all have been made partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons"; Judith 8: "You ought to remember how our father Abraham, being tempted and proved through many tribulations, was made the friend of God."

It shall happen also for a testimony of one's own virtue. On account of which, Genesis 27: "Come here, that I may touch you, my son, and prove whether you are my son or not." Whence also in Job 2, Satan said to the Lord: "Put forth your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and then you will see that he blesses you to your face. And the Lord said to Satan: Behold, he is in your hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with a most grievous sore"; and Romans 5: "Tribulation works patience, and patience probation, and probation hope."

It shall happen also for a testimony of the damnation of others. Whence the Gloss: "The death of the just is an aid to the good, a testimony against the wicked, so that the perverse may perish without excuse from that very thing whence the elect take an example in order to live." Whence Wisdom 4: "The just man who is dead condemns the living wicked, and youth more quickly completed condemns the long life of the unjust"; and therefore 1 Peter 4: "For it is time that judgment should begin at the house of God. But if first at us, what shall be the end of those who do not believe the Gospel of God?" - It shall happen also for a testimony of the truth preached: for martyr means witness, and martyrdom is a testimony of the truth: Apocalypse 6: "I saw under the altar the souls of those slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held." And these testimonies of the holy Martyrs make the Christian faith credible: the Psalm: "Your testimonies are made exceedingly credible," on account of the death of those who preach. Whence also Acts 10: "He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that it is he who was appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead."

It follows, And it shall turn to you for a testimony. In the Greek it is εἰς μαρτύριον, that is, for the glory of martyrdom.

"But these things will happen to you for a testimony." For a testimony, clearly, of whom, unless of those who either inflict death by persecuting or who see and do not imitate? For the death of the just is a help to the good and a testimony against the wicked, so that the perverse may perish without excuse from the very thing whence the elect take an example that they may live.

(Hom. 35. in Evang.) Or, for a testimony, that is, against those who by persecuting you bring death upon themselves, or living do not imitate you, or themselves becoming hardened perish without excuse, from whom the elect take example that they may live. But as hearing so many terrible things the hearts of men may be troubled, He therefore adds for their consolation, Settle it therefore in your hearts, &c.

The apostles were also brought before kings and governors: for example, Paul was brought before Festus, before Agrippa, before Caesar himself (Acts 25:6-23, 26:32). And this turned into the glory of testimony for them.

Therefore, set in your hearts not to meditate beforehand what you shall answer. For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to resist or contradict. As if openly saying to his weakening members: Do not be terrified, do not fear. You go to battle, but I fight. You utter words, but I am the one who speaks.

Third, as to the victory of those who are afflicted, he adds: Settle it therefore in your hearts not to premeditate how you shall respond, by your own inquiry, because, 2 Corinthians 3, "not that we are sufficient to think anything of ourselves as from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God"; the Psalm: "The Lord knows the thoughts of men, that they are vain."

For that it is His doing that we conquer, and that we attain by the subduing of the adversary to the palm of the greatest contest, the Lord declares and teaches in His Gospel, saying, "But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak; for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you." And again: "Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer; for I will give you a month and wisdom, which your adversaries shall not be able to resist." In which, indeed, is both the great confidence of believers, and the gravest fault of the faithless, that they do not trust Him who promises to give His help to those who confess Him, and do not on the other hand fear Him who threatens eternal punishment to those who deny Him.

That injuries and penalties of persecutions are not to be feared by us, because greater is the Lord to protect than the devil to assault. John, in his epistle, proves this, saying: "Greater is He who is in you than he that is in the world." Also in the cxviith Psalm: "I will not fear what man can do unto me; the Lord is my helper." And again: "These in chariots, and those in horses; bat we will glory in the name of the Lord our God. They themselves are bound, and they have fallen; but we have risen up, and stand upright." And even more strongly the Holy Spirit, teaching and showing that the army of the devil is not to be feared, and that, if the foe should declare war against us, our hope consists rather in that war itself; and that by that conflict the righteous attain to the reward of the divine abode and eternal salvation,-lays down in the twenty-sixth Psalm, and says: "Though an host should be arrayed against me, my heart shall not fear; though war should rise up against me, in that will I put my hope. One hope have I sought of the Lord, this will I require; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life." Also in Exodus, the Holy Scripture declares that we are rather multiplied and increased by afflictions, saying: "And the more they afflicted them, so much the more they became greater, and waxed stronger." And in the Apocalypse, divine protection is promised to our sufferings. "Fear nothing of these things," it says, "which thou shalt suffer." Nor does any one else promise to us security and protection, than He who also speaks by Isaiah the prophet, saying: "Fear not; for I have redeemed thee, and called thee by thy name: thou art mine. And if thou passest through the water, I am with thee, and the rivers shall not overflow thee. And if thou passest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, and the flame shall not burn thee; for I, the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, am He who maketh thee safe." Who also promises in the Gospel that divine help shall not be wanting to God's servants in persecutions, saying: "But when they shall deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak. For it shall be given you in that hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaketh in you." And again: "Settle it in your hearts not to meditate before how to answer. For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which your adversaries shall not be able to resist." As in Exodus God speaks to Moses when he delayed and trembled to go to the people, saying: "Who hath given a mouth to man? and who hath made the stammerer? and who the deaf man? and who the seeing, and the blind man? Have not I, the Lord God? And now go, and I will open thy mouth, and will instruct thee what thou shall say." Nor is it difficult for God to open the mouth of a man devoted to Himself, and to inspire constancy and confidence in speech to His confessor; since in the book of Numbers He made even a she-ass to speak against the prophet Balaam. Wherefore in persecutions let no one think what danger the devil is bringing in, but let him indeed consider what help God affords; nor let human mischief overpower the mind, but let divine protection strengthen the faith; since every one, according to the Lord's promises and the deservings of his faith, receives so much from God's help as he thinks that he receives. Nor is there anything which the Almighty is not able to grant, unless the failing faith. of the receiver be deficient and give way.

But upon hearing so many terrors, the hearts of the weak could be disturbed, and therefore consolation is added when it is immediately subjoined: "Settle it therefore in your hearts not to premeditate how you will answer." As if He openly says to His weakening members: Do not be terrified, do not be afraid; you approach the contest, but I fight; you utter the words, but I am the one who speaks.

Since they were simple and unlearned men, lest they be troubled that wise men would demand an account from them, He says that they should not be concerned about this at all.

For because they were foolish and inexperienced, the Lord tells them this, that they might not be confounded when about to give account to the wise.

Now in one place Christ speaks in His disciples, as here; in another, the Father; (Mat. 16:17) in another the Spirit of the Father speaketh. (Mat. 10:20.) These do not differ but agree together, In that one speaketh, three speak, for the voice of the Trinity is one.

For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, through internal inspiration: Matthew 10: "For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you." Now this Spirit of the Lord gives wisdom and gives eloquence: wisdom in the heart, according to that passage in John 16: "When that Spirit of truth comes, he will teach you all truth"; therefore Job 32: "There is a spirit in men, and the inspiration of the Almighty gives understanding." And the reason for this is given in 1 Corinthians 2: because "the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man, except the spirit of the man which is in him? So also the things of God no one has known except the Spirit of God." And therefore Wisdom 9: "Who will know your meaning, unless you give wisdom and send your Holy Spirit from on high?" — He likewise gives eloquence in speech through wisdom; whence Wisdom 10: "Wisdom opened the mouth of the mute and made the tongues of infants eloquent"; therefore Exodus 4: "Who made the mouth of man? Or who fashioned the mute and the deaf, the seeing and the blind? Go therefore, and I will be in your mouth and will teach you what to speak." And therefore Isaiah 63: "I, who speak justice and am a champion for saving."

And because "malice does not overcome wisdom," therefore he adds: whom all your adversaries will not be able to resist and contradict, through fraudulent caviling: Exodus 14: "The Lord will fight for you, and you shall be silent." No one can resist this mighty warrior; the Psalm: "You are terrible, and who shall resist you?"; and Job 9: "Who has resisted him and had peace?" No one therefore resists without being overcome by the disciples on account of the proclamation of truth, because it is said in 3 Esdras 4: "And truth endures and grows strong forever and lives for ages of ages"; and in Apocalypse 12 it is said concerning the antichrist: "They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and because they did not love their lives even unto death."

But a contrary seems to be stated in Apocalypse 11: "I will give to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth"; and afterwards: "When they have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends from the abyss will make war against them and will overcome them."

But this is not contrary, because, although truth may be cast down for a time, it must nevertheless rise again. Whence in the same place: "After three and a half days the spirit of life from God entered into them. And they stood upon their feet, and great fear fell upon those who saw them." "And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth part of the city fell."

But upon hearing so many terrors, the hearts of the weak could be disturbed, and therefore consolation is added when it is immediately subjoined: "Settle it therefore in your hearts not to premeditate how you will answer. For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries will not be able to resist or contradict." As if He openly says to His weakening members: Do not be terrified, do not be afraid; you approach the contest, but I fight; you utter the words, but I am the one who speaks.

(Hom. 35. in Evang.) As if the Lord said to His disciples, "Be not afraid, go forward to the battle, it is I that fight; you utter the words, I am He that speaketh."

For you will receive from Me both wisdom and eloquence, so that all who oppose you, even if they unite together, will not be able to withstand you either in wisdom, that is, the power of thought, or in eloquence and unerring speech. Often someone is skilled in forming arguments and resourceful in thought, but is quickly flustered by noise, and because of this mixes everything up when speaking before the people. But to them, that is the apostles, grace was given in both respects. Therefore the priests were also amazed at the extraordinary wisdom of Peter and John, knowing that they had previously been simple men (Acts 4:13). And Festus said to Paul: You are out of your mind, Paul! "Much learning is driving you mad" (Acts 26:24).

And He adds the cause, For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay or resist. As if He said, Ye shall forthwith receive of me eloquence and wisdom, so that all your adversaries, were they gathered together in one, shall not be able to resist you, neither in wisdom, that is, the power of the understanding, nor in eloquence, that is, excellence of speech, for many men have often wisdom in their mind, but being easily provoked to their great disturbance, mar the whole when their time of speaking comes, But not such were the Apostles, for in both these gifts they were highly favoured.

But you will be betrayed by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death, and you will be hated by everyone because of my name. Lesser pain is caused by evils inflicted by strangers; indeed, the torments rage more within us that we suffer from those minds of whom we had confidence because with the loss of body, the evils torment us of lost charity. But because hard things are predicted about the affliction of death, immediately consolation is added about the joy of resurrection, when it is said:

But you will be handed over by parents, etc. After he described the public persecution of the perfect, here he describes the private persecution; concerning which three things are introduced, namely domestic conflict, heavenly protection, and internal armor.

First, therefore, regarding the domestic struggle, he says: But you will be betrayed by parents and brothers and relatives and friends: and this indeed will be most harsh. It is indeed hard to be betrayed by a friend and relative, according to that verse of the Psalm: "If my enemy had cursed me, I would surely have endured it. But you, a man of one mind with me, my leader and my familiar, who together with me took sweet food," etc. It is harder to be betrayed by one's own brother: Micah 7: "They all lie in wait for blood, a man hunts his brother to death. They call the evil of their hands good." But it is most grievous to suffer at the hands of one's own parent; Zechariah 13: "His father and his mother, his parents, will pierce him through when he prophesies." And this tribulation is indeed very harsh; whence the Gloss says: "This is the torment: when someone suffers at the hands of those in whom he had confidence, because together with the harm to the body, the evils of lost charity torment him." And therefore Jeremiah 9: "Let each one guard himself from his neighbor, and let him place no trust in any brother, because every brother will utterly supplant, and every friend will walk deceitfully. And a man will mock his brother, and they will not speak the truth."

And because this hatred will be most wicked, he therefore adds: And they will put some of you to death, and you will be hated by all men on account of my name: Jeremiah 15: "Woe is me, my mother! Why did you bear me, a man of strife, a man of discord in the whole earth? They all curse me."

Now the reason for this hatred is twofold: the first is discord of wills. Therefore John 15: "If you were of the world, the world would love what was its own; but because you are not of the world, therefore the world hates you." For, as is said in James 4, "the friendship of this world is enmity with God," etc. The other reason is the perfidy of souls, according to that passage in John 16: "The hour comes when everyone who kills you will think that he is offering service to God. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor me." In this is noted the remarkable perfidy of souls, that they will persecute just men for no other cause than that they believe, love, preach, and follow the name of Christ; and therefore he says: on account of my name. And this was the cause on account of which the brothers of Joseph hated him; whence Chrysostom says: "O unspeakable madness of the wicked! It is not permitted for Joseph, it is not permitted, I say, for one who is good to go unpunished; it is not permitted for the better man to be safe among the wicked! And as though the envious were losing something or incurring the expense of some possession: so the life of the good is the detriment of the worst. The proud are jealous of the modest, the envious of the gentle, the wicked of the upright; the arrogant assail the meek with hostile rivalry. The wicked cannot bear to see the good. They do not want one better than themselves to live, lest they themselves, being degenerate, should have to endure reproaches. Why are you jealous of the innocent, O hostile brotherhood? Why do you envy the good? Why can you not endure the simple? Why do you persecute the modest! Why do you not love the upright? Why are you found guilty of innocent blood? At least let him who has been sold live in some measure, lest innocent blood stand as an accuser against you, as it once did against Cain. Preserve for yourself, preserve, O hostile brotherhood, one alive whom you may one day find appeased; preserve unharmed one whom in a time of necessity you may find a provider."

But let us consider the state of things at that time. While all men were suspected, kinsfolk were divided against one another, each differing from the other in religion; the gentile son stood up the betrayer of his believing parents, and of his believing son the unbelieving father became the determined accuser; no age was spared in the persecution of the faith; women were unprotected even by the natural weakness of their sex.

It follows: "But you will be betrayed by parents and brothers, and relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death." Evils inflicted by strangers cause lesser pain. But those torments rage more fiercely within us which we suffer from those in whose minds we had confidence, because along with bodily harm, the evils of lost love torment us. Hence it is that the Lord says through the Psalmist concerning Judas His betrayer: "Indeed if my enemy had cursed me, I would have borne it; and if he who hated me had spoken great things against me, I would certainly have hidden myself from him. But you, a man of one mind with me, my guide and my acquaintance, who took sweet food together with me, we walked in the house of God with agreement." And again: "The man of my peace in whom I trusted, and who ate my bread, has greatly plotted treachery against me." As if He says in plain words about His betrayer: I bore his transgression all the more gravely because I perceived it from one who seemed to be mine. All the elect, therefore, because they are members of the supreme Head, also follow their Head in sufferings, so that they feel those very people as adversaries in their death from whose life they had confidence, and their reward of labor increases all the more as the gain of their virtue profits from another's loss of love.

(Hom. 35. in Evang.) We are the more galled by the persecutions we suffer from those of whose dispositions we made sure, because together with the bodily pain, we are tormented by the bitter pangs of lost affection.

Now, what plea is wiser and more irresistible than the simple and open" confession made in a martyr's cause, who "prevails with God"-which is what "Israel" means? Now, one cannot wonder that He forbade "premeditation," who actually Himself received from the Father the ability of uttering words in season: "The Lord hath given to me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season (to him that is weary); " except that Marcion introduces to us a Christ who is not subject to the Father. That persecutions from one's nearest friends are predicted, and calumny out of hatred to His name, I need not again refer to.

Having said this and diminished their fear of being unlearned, the Lord brings up yet another circumstance, both necessary and capable of shaking their souls, namely: that they will be betrayed by friends and relatives. He foretells this circumstance so that, should it happen suddenly, it would not confound them.

Having in what has gone before dispelled the fear of inexperience, He goes on to warn them of another very certain event, which might agitate their minds, lest falling suddenly upon them, it should dismay them; for it follows, And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolk, and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.

That it was before predicted, concerning the hatred of the Name, In the Gospel according to Luke: "And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake." Also according to John: "If the world hate you, know ye that it first hated me. If ye were of the world, the world would love what would be its own: but because ye are not of the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word which I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you." Also in Baruch: "For the time shall come, and ye shall seek me, both ye and those who shall be after you, to hear the word of wisdom and of understanding; and ye shall not find me. But the nations shall desire to see the wise man, and it shall not happen to them; not because the wisdom of this world shall be wanting, or shall fail to the earth; but neither shall the word of the law be wanting to the world. For wisdom shall be in a few who watch, and are silent and quiet, and who hold converse with one another; because some shall dread them, and shall fear them as evil. But some do not believe the word of the law of the Highest. But some who are amazed in their countenance will not believe; and they also who contradict will believe, and will be contrary to and hindering the spirit of truth. Moreover, others will be wise to the spirit of error, and declaring the edicts, as if of the Highest and the Strong One. Moreover, others are possessors of faith. Others are mighty and strong in the faith of the Highest, and hateful to the stranger."

"And you shall be hated by all men for my name's sake." All the elect, therefore, because they are members of the supreme Head, also follow their Head in sufferings, so that they feel those very people as adversaries in their death from whose life they had confidence, and their reward of labor increases all the more as the gain of their virtue profits from another's loss of love.

For it strikes the soul powerfully, as David also says: "For it is not an enemy who reproaches me, – that I could bear; ...but you, who were to me as myself" (Ps. 55:13-14); and again: "who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me" (Ps. 41:9).

To all this He adds the hatred which they shall meet with from all men.

For the Almighty God Himself will raise us up through our Lord Jesus Christ, according to His infallible promise, and grant us a resurrection with all those that have slept from the beginning of the world; and we shall then be such as we now are in our present form, without any defect or corruption. For we shall rise incorruptible: whether we die at sea, or are scattered on the earth, or are torn to pieces by wild beasts and birds, He will raise us by His own power; for the whole world is held together by the hand of God. Now He says: "An hair of your head shall not perish." Wherefore He exhorts us, saying: "In your patience possess ye your souls."

Death comes to either the soul or the body. The soul cannot die, and yet it can die. It cannot die, because its consciousness is never lost. It can die, if it loses God. You see, just as the soul itself is the life of the body, so in the same way God is the life of the soul. As the body dies when the soul that is its life abandons it, in the same way when God abandons the soul, it dies. To make sure, however, that God does not abandon the soul, it must always have enough faith not to fear death for God's sake. Then God does not abandon it, and it does not die.It remains that the death that is feared is feared for the body. Even on this point, the Lord Christ reassured his martyrs. After all, how could they be unsure of the integrity of their bodies, when they had been reassured about the number of their hairs? "He said that your hairs have all been counted." In another place he says even more plainly, "For I tell you, that not a hair of your head shall perish." Truth speaks. Does weakness hesitate?

We should have no doubt that our mortal flesh also will rise again at the end of the world.… This is the Christian faith. This is the Catholic faith. This is the apostolic faith. Believe Christ when he says, "Not a hair of your head shall perish." Putting aside all unbelief, consider how valuable you are. How can our Redeemer despise any person when he cannot despise a hair of that person's head? How are we going to doubt that he intends to give eternal life to our soul and body? He took on a soul and body in which to die for us, which he laid down for us when he died and which he took up again that we might not fear death.

And not a hair of your head will perish. We know that flesh cut feels pain, hair cut does not feel pain. Therefore, he says to his martyrs: Not a hair of your head will perish, evidently saying openly: Why do you fear lest what is cut and feels pain will perish, when even that in you which is cut and feels no pain cannot perish? In another sense: Not a hair of the head of the disciples of the Lord will perish, because not only the strong deeds or words of saints, of which it is said: The Lord preserves all their bones (Psalm 33), but also the volatile (so to speak) and most delicate surface of the thoughts of the faithful, which emerges from the hidden root of the heart, as hair from the brain, will be preserved with due reward by the just judge. Hence rightly the Prophet, to show how much the merits of even good thoughts are accepted by the Lord, says: And the leftovers of thoughts will feast for you (Psalm 76). Hence the Nazarenes in the law, during the time of consecration, are commanded to nurture their hair, and it is said that a razor did not come upon the head of Samuel. Conversely, the captive woman in order to marry an Israelite man, cleansed from leprosy to be worthy to communicate with the Church, is commanded to shave all the hair of her body, because evidently every thought of the wise, which is good, pleasing, and perfect, is saved forever, and its reward is with the Lord. But the thought of the foolish and wicked, as an unworthy root before the sight of God, must be cut off through repentance.

Or else, There shall not perish a hair of the head of our Lord's Apostles, because not only the noble deeds and words of the Saints, but even the slightest thought shall meet with its deserving reward.

Secondly, with regard to heavenly protection, he adds: And a hair of your head shall not perish: which is expounded in three ways: first indeed, because divine providence exercises care over all things and allows nothing to perish: above in chapter 12: "Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows."

Secondly, because divine power will allow no particle to perish; whence Augustine in the Enchiridion: "The earthly matter from which the flesh of mortal creatures is made does not perish before God; but into whatever dust or ash it may be dissolved, into whatever vapors or breezes it may disperse, into whatever substance of other bodies or even into the very elements it may be turned, into the food of whatever animals, even of men, it may pass and be changed into flesh, it returns in a moment of time to that soul which first animated it, so that a man might come into being, grow, and live."

Third, because in all these tribulations they do not incur even the slightest injury; as a figure of which, Daniel 3: "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came forth from the midst of the fire. And the satraps gazed upon those men, because the fire had had no power over their bodies, and not a hair of their head had been singed, and the smell of fire had not passed through them." And therefore it is said in 1 Peter 3: "And who is there that can harm you, if you are zealous for what is good?" And in this the wondrous protection of God over the just is made manifest; whence Chrysostom says: "Wondrous is the power of Christ and the fortitude of the Apostles. By the Gentiles they were hated as Jews, by Caesar they were cast out as seditious, by the Jews they were stoned as enemies of the Law. Against the Apostles all waged war: prince, leader, commoner, and populace. Infinite thousands of Jews the Romans then captured, yet twelve unarmed men they did not overcome."

But because the things foretold concerning the affliction of death are harsh, consolation is immediately added concerning the joy of the resurrection, when it is said: "Not a hair of your head shall perish." We know, brothers, that flesh when cut feels pain, but hair when cut does not feel pain. Therefore He says to His martyrs: "Not a hair of your head shall perish," clearly saying: Why do you fear that what feels pain when cut may perish, when even that which does not feel pain when cut cannot perish in you?

(Hom. 35. in Evang.) But because of the hard things foretold concerning the affliction of death, there immediately follows a consolation, concerning the joy of the resurrection, when it is said, But there shall not an hair of your head perish. As though He said to the martyrs, Why fear ye for the perishing of that which when cut, pains, when that can not perish in you, which when cut gives no pain?

These things, then, being to come to pass, beloved, and the one week being divided into two parts, and the abomination of desolation being manifested then, and the two prophets and forerunners of the Lord having finished their course, and the whole world finally approaching the consummation, what remains but the coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ from heaven, for whom we have looked in hope? who shall bring the conflagration and just judgment upon all who have refused to believe on Him. For the Lord says, "And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." "And there shall not a hair of your head perish." "For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together." Now the fall took place in paradise; for Adam fell there. And He says again, "Then shall the Son of man send His angels, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds of heaven." And David also, in announcing prophetically the judgment and coming of the Lord, says, "His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and His circuit unto the end of the heaven: and there is no one hid from the heat thereof." By the heat he means the conflagration. And Esaias speaks thus: "Come, my people, enter thou into thy chamber, (and) shut thy door: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation of the Lord be overpast." And Paul in like manner: "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth of God in unrighteousness."

Having said this and that they will be hated and some of them will be put to death, He adds the greatest consolation: "not a hair of your head shall perish." You, He says, will be saved, and not the slightest part of you shall perish, even though to many it will seem that it has perished; only one must endure.

And in your patience you shall possess your souls. Therefore, the possession of the soul is placed in the virtue of patience, because patience is the root and guardian of all virtues. Through patience indeed we possess our souls, because while we learn to master ourselves, we begin to possess that very thing which we are. For we are wondrously created, so that reason possesses the soul, and the soul possesses the body. But the right of the soul is repelled from the possession of the body if the soul is not first possessed by reason. Therefore, the Lord showed that patience is the guardian of our condition, who taught us to possess ourselves in it. But true patience is to endure others' evils with equanimity, and to be moved by no pain against the one who inflicts them. For he who bears the evils of his neighbor in such a way that he remains silently sad, and seeks a time for just retribution, does not exhibit patience, but feigns it.

In the second place, I cleave to myself in God. But I cleave to my soul when I possess it: for if a thing passes to the possession of another, I do not have its fruit. Now, I possess my soul when I can face adversity with patience. "By your patience you will win your souls." But the patient toleration of adversity must not be casual, nor result from mere chance: it must come from an inner vision of mercy. And that consists in looking forward to mercy. Thirdly, it consists in forgiving the trespasser for his offense. And these three result from patience, longanimity and goodness. Patience consists in tolerating adversity; longanimity, in expecting the reward that will come from all tribulations; and goodness, in forgiving generously.

Third, as to the internal armor, he adds: In your patience you shall possess your souls, that is, you shall defend them as by a perfect armor; Proverbs 15: "He who acquiesces to reproofs is possessor of the heart"; and this through patience. For a person is called the possessor of that thing over which he has full dominion; and patience makes one master of oneself, according to that saying in Proverbs 16: "The patient man is better than the strong man, and he who rules his spirit than the conqueror of cities." And therefore Gregory says: "Patience is the root and guardian of the virtues, and by it we possess the souls which possess the body."

And this is manifestly apparent if one considers what patience is. For patience rectifies the rational power, tempers the irascible, moderates the concupiscible, and perfects outward action. The rational power, I say, it illuminates and rectifies; whence Proverbs 14: "He who is patient is governed by much wisdom"; and Proverbs 19: "The learning of a man is known by his patience." It tempers the irascible and the concupiscible; on account of which Gregory says: "True patience exists when one loves the person one bears with. For to tolerate and to hate is not virtue but a veil for fury." It also perfects outward action, according to that saying in James 1: "Patience has a perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire," etc.; and Hebrews 10: "Patience is necessary for you, so that, doing the will of God, you may receive the promise." Moreover, this patience causes the reward to be obtained, while it preserves and multiplies the merits of sufferings. Whence Jerome says: "Patience is exercised when from our neighbor we endure persecutions, losses, and insults; from the adversary, temptations; from the Lord, scourges. Without the sword we can be martyrs, if we preserve patience in our soul."

"In your patience you shall possess your souls." The possession of the soul is placed in the virtue of patience because patience is the root and guardian of all virtues. Through patience we truly possess our souls, because while we learn to master ourselves, we begin to possess that very thing which we are.

Patience, however, is to endure the evils of others with equanimity, and to feel no sting of resentment even against the one who inflicts the evils. For whoever bears the evils of a neighbor in such a way that he nevertheless grieves silently and seeks an opportunity for fitting retribution does not display patience but merely shows it outwardly. For it is written: "Love is patient, love is kind." It is patient so as to bear the evils of others, and kind so as to love even those whom it bears. Hence Truth says through Himself: "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, pray for those who persecute and slander you." It is therefore a virtue before men to tolerate adversaries, but the virtue before God is to love them, because God accepts only that sacrifice which the flame of charity kindles before His eyes on the altar of good works.

But it should be known that very often we seem to be patient only because we cannot repay evils. But whoever does not repay evil because he is unable to, without doubt, as we said, is not patient, because patience is sought not in outward show but in the heart. Through the vice of impatience, doctrine itself, the nurse of virtues, is scattered. For it is written: "A man's learning is known through patience." Therefore, the less patient anyone is shown to be, the less learned he is shown to be. For one cannot truly impart good things by teaching if he does not know how to tolerate the evils of others with equanimity in his way of living.

For Solomon again indicates how great is the height at which the virtue of patience excels, saying: "The patient man is better than the strong man, and he who rules his spirit than he who captures cities." It is therefore a lesser victory to capture cities, because what is conquered is external. But what is conquered through patience is greater, because the mind is overcome by itself, and it subjects itself to itself, when patience prostrates it in the humility of forbearance.

But it should be known that it very often happens to patient people that at the very time when they suffer adversities or hear insults, they are struck by no grief, and they display patience in such a way that they take care also to guard the innocence of their heart. But when after a little while they recall to memory those very things they endured, they are inflamed by the fire of most vehement grief, they seek occasions for revenge, and they lose in their reconsideration, judging themselves, the meekness they had while enduring.

The cunning adversary wages war against two people: inflaming one to be the first to hurl insults, while provoking the other to return insults when injured. But since the one whom he stirred to utter insults has already emerged as his victor, he grieves more bitterly against the one whom he could not move to return injuries. Thus it happens that he rises up with all his strength against the one whom he observes to have bravely endured insults. Since he could not move him during the very hurling of injuries, he withdraws for a time from open battle, seeks an opportunity for deception in secret thought, and he who lost in public warfare burns to lay hidden ambushes. For now in a time of quiet he returns to the victor's mind and brings back to memory either losses of possessions or the darts of injuries. Greatly exaggerating everything that was inflicted upon him, he shows it to have been intolerable, and disturbs the mind of the one at rest with such fury that often a patient man, now a captive after his victory, is ashamed that he bore those things with equanimity. He grieves that he did not return insults and seeks to repay worse if the opportunity should arise. To whom, then, are such people similar, if not to those who are victorious on the battlefield through courage, but are afterwards captured within the city walls through negligence? To whom are they similar, if not to those whom a severe illness striking suddenly does not take from life, but whom a recurring fever coming lightly kills? Therefore, he truly preserves patience who both tolerates the evils of others without distress for the time being, and reflecting on these same things, rejoices that he endured such things—lest the good of patience perish in time of quiet which was guarded during disturbances.

But because we celebrate today the birthday of a martyr, my brothers, we ought by no means to consider ourselves strangers to the virtue of his patience. For if, with the Lord helping us, we strive to preserve the virtue of patience, we both live in the peace of the Church and yet hold the palm of martyrdom. For there are two kinds of martyrdom: one in the mind, another in the mind together with action. And so we can be martyrs even if we are not slain by any sword of persecutors. For to die at the hands of a persecutor is martyrdom in open deed; but to bear insults, to love one who hates us, is martyrdom in hidden thought. For that there are two kinds of martyrdom, one in hidden deed, another in public, the Truth testifies, who asks the sons of Zebedee, saying: "Can you drink the cup that I am about to drink?" When they immediately answered Him: "We can," the Lord at once replied, saying: "You shall indeed drink my cup." For what do we understand by the cup except the suffering of the Passion? Of which He says elsewhere: "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me." And the sons of Zebedee, that is, James and John, did not both die through martyrdom, and yet both heard that they would drink the cup. For John did not end his life through martyrdom, yet he was a martyr, because the suffering that he did not undergo in body he preserved in mind. Therefore, by this example, we too can be martyrs without the sword, if we truly guard patience in our soul.

(Mor. 5. c. 16.) He who preserves patience in adversity, is thereby rendered proof against all affliction, and so by conquering himself, he gains the government of himself; as it follows, In your patience shall ye possess your souls. For what is it to possess your souls, but to live perfectly in all things, and sitting as it were upon the citadel of virtue to hold in subjection every motion of the mind?

(Hom. 35. in Ev.) By patience then we possess our souls, because when we are said to govern ourselves, we begin to possess that very thing which we are. But for this reason, the possession of the soul is laid in the virtue of patience, because patience is the root and guardian of all virtues. Now patience is to endure calmly the evils which are inflicted by others, and also to have no feeling of indignation against him who inflicts them.

But "by patience," says He, "ye shall yourselves be saved." Of this very patience the Psalm says, "The patient endurance of the just shall not perish for ever; " because it is said in another Psalm, "Precious (in the sight of the Lord) is the death of the just"-arising, no doubt, out of their patient endurance, so that Zechariah declares: "A crown shall be to them that endure.

For by your patience you can acquire your souls. The enemy approaches as if with the intention of taking captive, and tries to seize your souls by bringing calamities upon you; but instead of silver, give patience, and by this ransom you will acquire your souls and suffer no harm in them. Pay attention to the expression: "some of you they will put to death," and you will understand it somewhat more deeply, namely: they will not put you to death entirely. You consist of two parts: soul and body. Not both, but one of these, that is the body, they will put to death, while your souls you will acquire through patience. About this He also said in another place: "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul" (Matt. 10:28).

For the Jews thought that the abomination of desolation took place when the Romans, in mockery of a Jewish observance, cast a pig's head into the temple.

Now mystically, the abomination of desolation is the coming of Antichrist, for with ill-omened sacrilege he pollutes the innermost recesses of the heart, sitting as it is literally in the temple, that he may claim to himself the throne of divine power. But according to the spiritual meaning, he is well brought in, because he desires to impress firmly on the affections the footstep of his unbelief, disputing from the Scriptures that he is Christ. Then shall come desolation, for very many falling away shall depart from the true religion. Then shall be the day of the Lord, since as His first coming was to redeem sin, so also His second shall be to subdue iniquity, lest more should be carried away by the error of unbelief. There is also another Antichrist, that is, the Devil, who is trying to besiege Jerusalem, i. e. the peaceful soul, with the hosts of his law. When then the Devil is in the midst of the temple, there is the desolation of abomination. But when upon any one in trouble the spiritual presence of Christ has shone, the unjust one is cast out, and righteousness begins her reign. There is also a third Antichrist, as Arius and Sabellius and all who with evil purpose lead us astray. But these are they who are with child, to whom woe is denounced, who enlarge the size of their flesh, and the step of whose inmost soul waxes slow, as those who are worn out in virtue, pregnant with vice. But neither do those with child escape condemnation, who though firm in the resolution of good acts, have not yet yielded any fruits of the work undertaken. These are those which conceive from fear of God, but do not all bring forth. For there are some which thrust forth the word abortive before their delivery. There are others too which have Christ in the womb, but have not yet formed Him. Therefore she who brings forth righteousness, brings forth Christ. Let us also hasten to nourish our children, lest the day of judgment or death find us as it were the parents of an imperfect offspring. And this you will do if you keep all the words of righteousness in your heart, and wait not the time of old age, but in your earliest years, without corruption of your body, quickly conceive wisdom, quickly nourish it. But at the end shall all Judæa be made subject to the nations which shall believe, by the mouth of the spiritual sword, which is the two-edged word. (Rev. 1:16; 19:15.)

Anyone can see that he refers to that city when Christ says, "When you shall see Jerusalem surrounded by an army, then know that its desolation is near." Anyone can see that these words refer to the last coming of the Lord when he says, "When you shall see these things come to pass, know that the kingdom of God is near." When he says, "Alas for those who are with child and for those who give suck in those days! Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be." This passage is phrased in this way in Matthew and Mark so that it is uncertain whether it is to be understood of the destruction of the city or of the end of the world.… Luke has so arranged it that it seems to refer to the destruction of that city.

(ad Hesych. Ep. 199.) These words of our Lord, Luke has here related to show, that the abomination of desolation which was prophesied by Daniel, and of which Matthew and Mark had spoken, (Mat. 24, Mark 13.) was fulfilled at the siege of Jerusalem.

But when you shall see Jerusalem surrounded by an army, then know that her desolation is near. Thus far these things which were to be for forty years, with the end not yet coming; here the very end of the desolation, which was made by the Roman army, is explained by the Lord's words.

Hitherto our Lord had been speaking of those things which were to come to pass for forty years, the end not yet coming. He now describes the very end itself of the desolation, which was accomplished by the Roman army; as it is said, And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed, &c.

When you shall see surrounded by an army, etc. After he described what was to come in general, and also the persecutions of the Church itself, here he describes what is to come concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, by which is understood the tribulation that the Church is to suffer in the time of the Antichrist. This part has two parts. In the first of these he foretells the preceding war: and in the second, the subsequent destruction, at the passage: But woe to those who are pregnant and nursing, etc.

The preceding war, however, he describes with respect to three things, namely with respect to the danger of battle, the remedy of flight, and the judgment of divine vengeance.

First, with respect to the danger of battle, he says: When you shall see Jerusalem surrounded by an army, through the siege of the Romans, according to that passage of Ezekiel chapter four: "Son of man, take to yourself a brick, and you shall set it before you, and you shall draw upon it the city of Jerusalem, and you shall lay siege against it, and you shall build fortifications, and you shall cast up a mound, and you shall set camps against it, and you shall place battering rams round about."

Then know that its desolation has drawn near, through complete overthrow; Daniel chapter nine: "The people with the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and its end shall be devastation, and after the end of the war the appointed desolation," etc.

Spiritually, however, by the army surrounding Jerusalem is understood the insurrection of the wicked against ecclesiastical peace, brought about by the Antichrist and his ministers, according to that passage of Revelation chapter sixteen: "And I saw from the mouth of the dragon and from the mouth of the beast and from the mouth of the false prophet three unclean spirits go forth in the manner of frogs. For they are spirits of demons working signs, and they go forth to the kings of the whole earth to gather them for battle on the great day of almighty God"; and Revelation chapter nineteen: "I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered to make war with him who sat upon the horse." But because the wicked will be incomparably more numerous, they are therefore said to surround. As a figure of this, 1 Kings chapter twenty-three: "Saul and his men were encircling David and his men in the manner of a crown, to capture them." Whence Job chapter nineteen: "His robbers came together and made their way by me and besieged my tabernacle round about."

To make his prediction even clearer and to mark more plainly the time of its capture, Jesus says, "When you have seen Jerusalem surrounded with armies, then know that its destruction is near." Afterwards, he again transfers his words from this subject to the time of the consummation. He says, "There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth distress of nations in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken." Since creation begins to be changed and brings unendurable terrors on the inhabitants of earth, there will be a certain fearful tribulation. There will also be souls departing to death. The unendurable fear of those things that are coming will be sufficient for the destruction of many.

By the desolation of Jerusalem, He means that it was never again to be set up, or its legal rites to be reestablished, so that no one should expect, after the coming siege and desolation, any restoration to take place, as there was in the time of the Persian king, Antiochus the Great, and Pompey.

Then, having shown what was to be the period of the destruction, even "when Jerusalem should begin to be compassed with armies," He described the signs of the end of all things: "portents in the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and upon the earth distress of nations in perplexity-like the sea roaring-by reason of their expectation of the evils which are coming on the earth.

Now the Lord speaks most clearly about the captivity of Jerusalem. Therefore I think that the words "but before all these" (Lk. 21:12) should be understood thus: before the famine and pestilence, and the other calamities that will occur at the time of the end of the world, you, the apostles, will be driven out, and so forth. Then for Jerusalem too calamities will come. Since they thought that the buildings of the temple would be destroyed at the time of the end, the Lord says: no! For at the time of the end there will be false prophets, famine, and pestilence from the constant wars that will be kindled because love will grow cold. But you will be driven out before the time of the end, and Jerusalem will be taken captive, and these stones will be destroyed. "When you see the city of Jerusalem surrounded by Roman armies, then know that its desolation has drawn near."

(ad Hesych. Ep. 199.) And before this, Matthew and Mark said, And let him that is on the housetop not come down into his house; and Mark added, neither enter therein to take any thing out of his house; in place of which Luke subjoins, And let them which are in the midst of it depart out.

(ad Hesych. Ep. 199.) But where Matthew and Mark have written, Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes, Luke adds more clearly, And let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto, for these be the days of vengeance, that all the things which are written may be fulfilled.

Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. The ecclesiastical history narrates that all the Christians who were in Judea, warned by the Lord at the imminent destruction of Jerusalem, left the place, and until the desolation of Judea was fulfilled, lived in a certain city named Pella across the Jordan.

And those who are in the midst of it, let them depart. And those who are in the regions, let them not enter into it. For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. It indeed seems to pertain to appropriate admonition, that those who are outside should not enter into it, but how will those who are in the midst depart from a city already surrounded by an army? Unless perhaps what was stated before, that is, then those who are in Judea should flee, does not pertain to the exact time of the siege, but to the time before the siege, when the Roman soldiers first began to spread through the boundaries of Galilee or Samaria, so that then everyone would hasten to flee while there was still time for flight. But these are the days of vengeance, namely seeking vengeance for the blood of the Lord.

(Ecc. Hist. lib. iii. c. 5.) The ecclesiastical history relates, that all the Christians who were in Judæa, when the destruction of Jerusalem was approaching, being warned of the Lord, departed from that place, and dwelt beyond the Jordan in a city called Pella, until the desolation of Judæa was ended.

But how, while the city was already compassed with an army, were they to depart out? except that the preceding word "then" is to be referred, not to the actual time of the siege, but the period just before, when first the armed soldiers began to disperse themselves through the parts of Galilee and Samaria.

Second, regarding the remedy of flight, he adds: Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, lest they be found; and let those who are in the midst of it depart, lest they be enclosed; and let those who are in the countryside not enter into it, lest they be captured there. For the army of the Romans first overthrew many cities throughout Judea before it came to Jerusalem. And nearly all the Jews had entered there, as Josephus says, on account of the feast and on account of security; therefore they were all seized by the just judgment of God, according to that passage in Jeremiah 12: "Gather them together like a flock for the slaughter and sanctify them for the day of killing." But the Christians were delivered through flight; hence the Gloss of Bede: "Ecclesiastical history relates that the Christians who were in Judea, when the destruction was imminent, were warned by an Angel and dwelt beyond the Jordan in the city of Pella until the desolation of Judea was fulfilled."

Spiritually, however, the remedy is here intimated which will be available to the weak in that violent persecution of the Antichrist, namely that of flight and concealment. For it is permitted for the imperfect to flee in order to avoid dangers; hence Zechariah 2: "O, O, O! Flee from the land of the north, says the Lord." Condescending to these, Christ hid himself from the Jews, according to that passage in John 7: "After these things Jesus walked in Galilee. For he did not wish to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill him." It is also permitted for perfect men, when they see that it is more expedient for the salvation of the people that they flee; hence the Lord said to the disciples in Matthew 10: "But when they persecute you in one city, flee to another"; and concerning Paul it is said in Acts 9 that when "the Jews were guarding the gates of Damascus day and night in order to kill Paul, the disciples took him and let him down through the wall by night, lowering him in a basket." A figure of this preceded in David; 1 Kings 19: "But he went away and fled and was saved"; for he was let down by Michal through the window.

Now our Lord, foreseeing that there would be a famine in the city, warned His disciples in the siege that was coming, not to betake themselves to the city as a place of refuge, and under God's protection, but rather to depart from thence, and flee to the mountains.

"Let those who are in Judea," He says, "flee to the mountains"; let those in the surrounding areas not hope that the walls of the city will protect them, but even those who are inside the city, let them go out of it.

"But the woman fled into the wilderness, and there were given to her two great eagle's wings." The aid of the great eagle's wings-to wit, the gift of prophets-was given to that Catholic Church, whence in the last times a hundred and forty-four thousands of men should believe on the preaching of Elias; but, moreover, he here says that the rest of the people should be found alive on the coming of the Lord. And the Lord says in the Gospel: "Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains; " that is, as many as should be gathered together in Judea, let them go to that place which they have ready, and let them be supported there for three years and six months from the presence of the devil.

And these are the days of vengeance, that is, the days exacting vengeance for our Lord's blood.

Third, regarding the judgment of divine vengeance, he adds: Because these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. Now the Lord decreed to destroy Jerusalem in vengeance for the blood of Jesus Christ and of his Prophets; hence Matthew 23: "That upon you may come all the just blood that has been shed upon the earth, from the blood of Abel the just even to the blood of Zechariah. Amen I say to you: All these things shall come upon this generation." For so great a crime ought in no way to remain unavenged; therefore Lamentations 2: "The Lord has done what he purposed; he has fulfilled his word which he commanded from the days of old. He has destroyed and has not spared, and he has made the enemy rejoice over you and has exalted the horn of your adversaries."

Spiritually, however, through these things is understood the vengeance of divine indignation on account of the sins of ecclesiastical persons, both secular and religious, according to that passage of Micah 3: "Her princes judged for bribes, and her priests taught for hire, and her prophets divined for money." "Therefore Zion shall be plowed as a field," etc. And especially on account of the sins of prelates: Isaiah 1: "How has the faithful city become a harlot, full of judgment! Justice dwelt in her, but now murderers"; "your princes are faithless, companions of thieves. All love bribes, they pursue rewards." "Therefore says the Lord God of hosts: Ah! I will be comforted over my enemies and will be avenged of my foes." Therefore Isaiah 34: "The day of the Lord's vengeance, the year of retributions of the judgment of Zion"; and 2 Thessalonians 2: "God will send them the operation of error, that they may believe a lie, that all may be judged who did not believe the truth but consented to iniquity." And then in the final tribulation all things will be consummated, according to that passage of Revelation 10: "In the days of the voice of the seventh Angel, when he shall begin to sound the trumpet, the mystery of God shall be consummated, which he spoke through his servants the Prophets"; and chapter 15: "The temple of God was filled with smoke from the majesty of God, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven Angels were consummated."

For these will be days of vengeance, so that what is written may be fulfilled, especially in the book of the prophet Daniel (Dan. 9:26-27).

Woe to those pregnant women, because they are heavy in body; they are too slow to escape danger. Woe to those for whom the yet unfelt pangs of future birth, by which every body is shaken, are the signs of future judgment, the beginnings of sorrows.

(ad Hesych. Ep. 199.) Then Luke follows in words similar to those of the other two; But woe to them that are with child, and them that give suck in those days; and thus has made plain what might otherwise have been doubtful, namely, that what was said of the abomination of desolation belonged not to the end of the world, but the taking of Jerusalem.

Woe to those who are pregnant and those nursing in those days. Woe, in the presence of captivity, to those who are pregnant and those nursing, or suckling, as some interpret. For their wombs or hands burdened with the load of their children significantly hinder the necessity of flight. Read even the history of the Kings, where the wife of Jonathan, avoiding the evil of captivity with a hasty flight, received her son, who slipped from her bosom, permanently lame.

For there will be great distress upon the earth, and wrath upon this people. This distress and wrath have adhered as an inseparable companion to that people scattered among all nations up to this day, yet it is not believed to adhere perpetually. For after the Lord showed the order of the same distress or wrath, saying:

He says then, Woe to them that nurse, or give suck, as some interpret it, whose womb or arms now heavy with the burden of children, cause no slight obstacle to the speed of flight.

But woe to those who are with child and to those who are nursing, etc. After he described the preceding war, he here describes secondly the subsequent destruction; concerning the description of which three things are indicated, namely the oppression of the city about to be occupied, the destruction of the oppressed city, and the desolation of the destroyed city.

First, therefore, with respect to the oppression of the city about to be occupied, he says: But woe to those who are with child and to those who are nursing in those days! The Gloss says: "Whose wombs or hands, weighed down by the burden of children, will impede the necessity of flight": because for such persons flight will not be able to avail, according to that passage of 1 Thessalonians 5: "Sudden destruction shall come upon them, as the pain upon her who is with child, and they shall not escape." — But the reason for this is the vehement oppression of the city; therefore he adds: For there shall be great distress upon the land and wrath upon this people, according to that passage of Isaiah 29: "Woe to Ariel! Woe to Ariel! the city which David conquered. And I will lay siege to Ariel, and it shall be sorrowful and mourning. And I will surround you as a sphere round about, and I will cast up a rampart against you and set up siege works for your blockade."

But according to the mystical understanding, by those who are with child are understood sinful souls, who conceive through the concupiscence of sin and give birth through perverse action. Whence Augustine, On the Words of the Lord: "When someone desires another's property, his soul seems as it were to have conceived; and if he is able to obtain that thing through some wickedness, he is known as it were to kiss and nurture the child that has been born." Whence James 1: "Concupiscence, when it has conceived, brings forth sin; and sin, when it is consummated, begets death." And for such there will be woe in that tribulation; whence Wisdom 4: "All children born of the wicked are witnesses of wickedness against their parents in their examination."

But by those who are with child can be understood souls who have a good intention but do not arrive at the birth of its effect; whence Isaiah 37: "The children have come to the birth, and there was no strength for bringing forth." And for these there will be woe in that tribulation, because, just as the blossom of the vine is quickly damaged by the cold, so a good intention is annihilated in persecution; whence Job 15: "Its cluster shall be damaged like a vine in its first flower," and this through bad examples. On account of which, Amos 1: "For three crimes of the children of Ammon, and for four, I will not turn him back, because he ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead to enlarge his border." For these there will be woe on account of negligence, just as for the others woe on account of concupiscence. And thus will be fulfilled that word of Isaiah 28: "The word of the Lord shall be to them: Command, command again, command, command again; wait, wait again, wait, wait again; a little there, a little there—that they may go and fall backward and be broken and snared and taken."

(adv. oppug. mon. vit.) He next assigns the cause of what he had just now said, For there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. For the miseries that took hold of them were such as, in the words of Josephus, no calamity can henceforth compare to them.

For why should we be eager to bear children, whom, when we have them, we desire to send before us (to glory) (in respect, I mean, of the distresses that are now imminent); desirous as we are ourselves, too, to be taken out of this most wicked world, and received into the Lord's presence, which was the desire even of an apostle? To the servant of God, forsooth, offspring is necessary! For of our own salvation we are secure enough, so that we have leisure for children! Burdens must be sought by us for ourselves which are avoided even by the majority of the Gentiles, who are compelled by laws, who are decimated by abortions; burdens which, finally, are to us most of all unsuitable, as being perilous to faith! For why did the Lord foretell a "woe to them that are with child, and them that give suck," except because He testifies that in that day of disencumbrance the encumbrances of children will be an inconvenience? It is to marriage, of course, that those encumbrances appertain; but that ("woe") will not pertain to widows.

A third saying let them add, "Let us eat, and drink, and marry, for to-morrow we shall die; " not reflecting that the "woe" (denounced) "on such as are with child, and are giving suck," will fall far more heavily and bitterly in the "universal shaking" of the entire world than it did in the devastation of one fraction of Judaea.

"Woe to those who are pregnant" (in those days), for because of the heaviness of their womb they cannot flee, "and to those who are nursing," for because of their great love for their children they can neither leave them unattended nor take them along. Some say that the Lord is here alluding to the slaughter of children, about which Josephus relates and Jeremiah prophesies (Jer. 11:22).

But some say that the Lord hereby signified the devouring of children, which Josephus also relates.

The signs given in the Gospel and in prophecy and fulfilled in us show the coming of the Lord.… We know that the coming is near by the fact that we see the fulfillment of certain signs of that coming that have been accomplished.… The signs that Christ told them to look for are listed in the Gospel of Saint Luke: "Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles until the times of the nations are fulfilled." This has happened and no one doubts that it has happened.… It is plain that there is no country or place in our time that is not harassed or humbled according to the words "for fear and expectation of what will come on the whole world." All the signs that the gospel describes in the earlier verses have mostly been accomplished.

And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled by the Gentiles. Immediately following the prophecy which sings: In wrath remember mercy, he appended and said:

Until the times of the nations are fulfilled. For those times of the nations are indeed those which the Apostle mentions, saying: Because blindness in part has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved (Rom. XI). When they have obtained the promised salvation, and they shall return to their fatherland and rejoice in the possession and inhabitation of their former metropolis, perhaps it is not hoped in vain, because it is said that they shall not be oppressed forever, but until the times of the nations are fulfilled. What, however, follows after the times of the nations are fulfilled, and so all Israel is saved, the Lord manifestly explains in order. For according to Matthew, the disciples asked this, not only inquiring about the time of the destruction of the temple, but also the sign of his coming and the end of the age.

Which indeed the Apostle makes mention of when he says, Blindness in part is happened to Israel, and so all Israel shall be saved. (Rom. 11:25.) Which when it shall have gained the promised salvation, hopes not rashly to return to the land of its fathers.

Secondly, as regards the destruction of the oppressed city, there is added: And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led captive into all nations. We see this fulfilled literally in the Jews, of whom Josephus narrates a wondrous slaughter, and we see a wondrous dispersion of the living; and thus was verified in them that word of Deuteronomy 32: "Outside the sword shall lay them waste, and within, terror—the young man together with the virgin, the suckling with the aged man"; and that word of Lamentations 1: "Outside the sword slays, and at home death is the same"; and likewise that word of Lamentations 2: "He bent his bow like an enemy, he made firm his right hand like a foe, and he slew all that was beautiful to behold in the tabernacle of the daughter of Zion."

According to the mystical sense, by this slaughter is understood that most great carnage which will occur in the final tribulation, concerning which Isaiah twenty-two says: "A day of slaughter and of trampling and of weeping to the Lord God of hosts in the valley of vision." And concerning this Daniel eleven says: "And the learned among the people shall instruct many; and they shall fall by the sword and by flame and by captivity and by plunder for many days." "And some of the learned shall fall, that they may be refined and chosen and made white," etc. Whence it is said in Ezekiel nine: "Pass through the midst of the city and strike; let not your eye spare, nor have pity; slay the old man, the young man and the virgin, the little child and women, unto utter destruction. And begin from my sanctuary," etc. And therefore Job nineteen says: "Flee from the face of the sword," etc.

Third, as regards the desolation of the destroyed city, he adds: And Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the nations. Lamentations one: "The enemy has stretched out his hand upon all her desirable things, for she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary, concerning whom you had commanded that they should not enter your assembly." And Lamentations two: "The Lord has cast down and has not spared." "He has cast down all her walls, he has destroyed her strongholds, and has filled in the daughter of Judah the humiliated man and the humiliated woman." And in the Psalm it is said: "O God, the nations have come into your inheritance," etc. — And since the wrath of the Lord is not without mercy, therefore he adds: Until the times of the nations be fulfilled. The Gloss says: "That is, until the fullness of the nations shall have entered, and so all Israel should be saved, as it is written: There shall come out of Zion he who shall deliver and turn away ungodliness from Jacob." And therefore it is said in Lamentations three: "For the Lord will not cast off forever; for if he has cast off, he will also have mercy according to the multitude of his mercies."

According to the mystical sense, by the times of the nations is understood that time in which the son of perdition will trample the Church. Revelation eleven: "The court which is outside the temple, do not measure, for it has been given to the nations, and they shall tread the holy city for forty-two months." But this time shall be shortened on account of the merit of the elect; whence Matthew twenty-four says: "There shall be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall be. And unless those days had been shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the sake of the elect they shall be shortened." Whence also Daniel nine says: "Seventy weeks are shortened upon your people and upon your holy city, that transgression may be finished, and sin may reach its end, and iniquity may be blotted out, and everlasting justice may be brought in."

For so in truth it was, that when the Romans came and were taking the city, many multitudes of the Jewish people perished in the mouth of the sword; as it follows, And they shall fall by the edge of the sword. But still more were cut off by famine. And these things happened at first indeed under Titus and Vespasian, but after them in the time of Hadrian the Roman general, when the land of their birth was forbidden to the Jews. Hence it follows, And they shall be led away captive into all nations. For the Jews filled the whole land, reaching even to the ends of the earth, and when their land was inhabited by strangers, they alone could not enter it; as it follows, And Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

For after He had declared that "Jerusalem was to be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles should be fulfilled," -meaning, of course, those which were to be chosen of God, and gathered in with the remnant of Israel-He then goes on to proclaim, against this world and dispensation (even as Joel had done, and Daniel, and all the prophets with one consent ), that "there should be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars, distress of nations with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring, men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.

"And Jerusalem," He says, "shall be trodden down by the Gentiles." Up to this point the discourse was about the captivity; then about the end.

This is a true sequence of prophecy and a fresh cause of mystery, because the Jews will be led captive a second time to Babylon and Assyria. Those throughout the world who have denied Christ will be captive. A hostile army will trample visible Jerusalem as the sword kills Jews. All Judea will be put to the spiritual sword, the two-edged sword, by the nations that will believe. There will be different signs in the sun, moon and the stars. … When very many fall away from religion, a cloud of unbelief will darken bright faith, because for me that heavenly Sun is either diminished or increased by my faith. If very many gaze on the rays of the worldly sun, the sun seems bright or pale in proportion to the capacity of the viewer, so the spiritual light is imparted to each according to the devotion of the believer. In its monthly courses, the moon, opposite the earth, wanes when it is in the sun's quarter. When the vices of the flesh obstruct the heavenly Light, the holy church also cannot borrow the brightness of the divine Light from the rays of Christ. In the persecutions, love of this life alone certainly very often shuts out the light of God.

All which signs are more clearly described in Matthew, Then shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven.

While many also fall away from religion, clear faith will be obscured by the cloud of unbelief, for to me that Sun of righteousness is either diminished or increased according to my faith; and as the moon in its monthly wanings, or when it is opposite the sun by the interposition of the earth, suffers eclipse, so also the holy Church when the sins of the flesh oppose the heavenly light, cannot borrow the brightness of divine light from Christ's rays. For in persecutions, the love of this world generally shuts out the light of the divine Sun; the stars also fall, that is, men who shine in glory fall when the bitterness of persecution waxes sharp and prevails. And this must be until the multitude of the Church be gathered in, for thus are the good tried and the weak made manifest.

(ad Hes. Ep. 199.) But you will say, your punishment compels you to confess that the end is now approaching, seeing the fulfilment of that which was foretold. For it is certain there is no country, no place in our time, which is not affected or troubled. But if those evils which mankind now suffer are sure signs that our Lord is now about to come, what meaneth that which the Apostle says, For when they shall say peace and safety. (1 Thess. 5:3.) Let us see then if it be not perhaps better to understand the words of prophecy to be not so fulfilled, but rather that they will come to pass when the tribulation of the whole world shall be such that it shall belong to the Church, which shall be troubled by the whole world, not to those who shall trouble it. For they are those who shall say, Peace and safety. But now these evils which are counted the greatest and most immoderate, we see to be common to both the kingdoms of Christ and the Devil. For the good and the evil are alike afflicted with them, and among these great evils is the yet universal resort to licentious feasts. Is not this the being dried up from fear, or rather the being burnt up from lust?

(ad Hes. ut sup.) But that the Lord may not seem to have foretold as extraordinary those things concerning His second coming, which were wont to happen to this world even before His first coming, and that we may not be laughed at by those who have read more and greater events than these in the history of nations, I think what has been said may be better understood to apply to the Church. For the Church is the sun, the moon, and the stars, to whom it was said, Fair as the moon, elect as the sun. (Cant. 6:10.) And she will then not be seen for the unbounded rage of the persecutors.

(ut sup.) But in the words, And upon the earth distress of nations, He would understand by nations, not those which shall be blessed in the seed of Abraham, but those which shall stand on the left hand.

And there will be signs in the sun, and moon, and stars, and on the earth distress of nations, in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves. For as the Lord indicates in the following, when the universal judgment appears, heaven and earth will pass away, and as we read in the Apocalypse of John, the sea will be no more, rightly therefore, with the same judgment impending, the roaring of the sea and waves is confused, the inhabitants of the earth pressing upon each other are afflicted, the great lights of the sky having their rays struck with new horror hide their troubled face. And just as trees thrust to fall are accustomed to emit signs of their crash and movement, so the elements, as if anxious with the approach of their end, tremble and waver. Therefore, what Matthew says: The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky (Matt. 24), signifies the very presence of judgment, when with the appearance of the true glory of light, all the lights of the world are compared to darkness and shadows. However, what Luke says: There will be signs in the sun, and moon, and stars, he indicates as precursors, as heralds of the coming judgment. Among these is that of the Prophet: The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and manifest day of the Lord comes (Joel 2). Also what Luke says: And on the earth distress of nations, I believe this to be what Matthew describes when speaking of the times of the Antichrist: For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will be (Matt. 24). But what Luke adds, in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, is a foretelling of what John saw among the other changes of the age concerning the sea.

The events which were to follow the fulfilment of the times of the Gentiles He explains in regular order, saying, There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars

And there shall be signs in the sun, etc. After he foretold what was to come generally, concerning persecution and concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, here fourthly he foretells what is to come concerning the final judgment. In this instruction he first instructs the disciples unto foresight. Second, he raises them to confidence, there: But when these things begin to come to pass, etc. Third, he rouses them to vigilance, there: But take heed to yourselves, etc.

Concerning the final judgment he describes a universal commotion on the part of celestial, elemental, rational, and intellectual nature and of the judge himself appearing.

First therefore, as regards celestial nature, he says: And there shall be signs in the sun and moon and stars. The sun and moon he names specifically as the two principal luminaries both according to appearance and according to efficacy: Genesis 1: "God made two great luminaries: the greater luminary, to rule over the day, and the lesser luminary, to rule over the night, and the stars." In these luminaries therefore shall appear signs of darkening, according to that passage of Joel 2: "The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the great and Terrible day of the Lord comes." Horrible moreover it will be on account of the darkening of those lights, according to that passage of the Psalm: "He made the moon for seasons; the sun knows its setting. You have appointed darkness" etc.; and concerning this, Wisdom 17: "Nor could the most brilliant flames of the stars illuminate that dreadful night." Whence these luminaries, which in the beginning of time were placed in the firmament as signs through their light, according to that passage of Genesis 1: "Let there be luminaries in the firmament of heaven, and let them be for signs and for seasons" etc.; at the end of times are signs of the end through the concealment of light. Whence Revelation 6: "The sun became black as a sackcloth of hair, and the whole moon became as blood, and the stars fell from heaven upon the earth"; and Matthew 24: "But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven."

Here however blessed Luke does not express that the stars shall fall, but that in them there shall be signs: because in truth the bodies of the celestial stars will not change their position according to substance, but according to appearance. By the virtue of the stars, with judgment imminent, very many impressions will be generated, which the Philosopher calls assub, which will so multiply that the stars of the heavens will appear to fall.

And it should be noted that just as the luminaries are signs of natural things according to natural operations, so they are signs of those things which occur above nature, through certain things done in them above nature. For to designate the wondrous power of Christ, the sun stood still, according to that passage of Joshua 10: "Sun, do not move against Gabaon, and moon, against the valley of Aialon." "And the sun stood still in the midst of heaven and did not hasten to set for the space of one day." But to designate the wondrous condescension, the sun went back ten degrees: Isaiah 38: "The sun returned ten lines, by the degrees by which it had descended," because man after the nine orders of Angels holds the tenth place. But to designate the wondrous passion, both in the Head and in the members, the sun was darkened in the passion of the Head: below in chapter 23: "Darkness was made over the whole earth, and the sun was darkened"; similarly in the passion of the body: Apocalypse 8: "A third part of the sun was struck, and a third part of the moon, and a third part of the stars"; which refers to the body, because, Apocalypse 12, "the dragon drew a third part of the stars."

Secondly, as regards elemental nature, he adds: And on earth distress of nations from the confusion of the sound of the sea and of the waves. Bede: "As the last judgment approaches, the sound of the sea and of the waves is thrown into confusion, because, as their end approaches, the elements waver and tremble as if in terror"; Wisdom 5: "His zeal shall take armor, and he shall arm creation for the vengeance of enemies." "The bolts of lightning shall go forth directly, and as from a well-bent bow of clouds they shall be driven out and shall leap to a fixed place. And hailstones full of wrath shall be cast from stony fury, and the water of the sea shall rage against them." Whence then shall be verified that passage of Exodus 15: "In the blast of your fury the waters were gathered together." For the Lord himself is the one who disturbs the sea; Isaiah 51: "I am the Lord your God, who disturbs the sea, and its waves swell up." And this indeed by his just judgment: because, as is said in Isaiah 57, "the wicked are like a raging sea, which cannot rest, and its waves overflow into trampling." And then there shall be a confusion of all the elements, according to what happened in Egypt, according to that passage of Exodus 9: "Fire and hail mingled together were carried along." And in this confusion there shall be a terrible sound: for then shall be verified that passage of the Psalm: "The voice of the Lord is upon the waters, the God of majesty has thundered, the Lord is upon many waters." For this sound designates the sound of the terrible voice of the Judge himself; whence Apocalypse 1: "His eyes were as a flame of fire, and his feet like unto fine brass as in a burning furnace, and his voice as the voice of many waters"; Ezekiel 1: "I heard the sound of their wings as the sound of many waters and as the sound of the most high God: when they walked, the sound was as the sound of a multitude, as the sound of an army."

For at that time when the end of this perishing life shall be accomplished, and, as the Apostle says, The fashion of this world passeth away, (1 Cor. 7:13.) then shall succeed a new world, in which instead of sensible light, Christ Himself shall shine as a sunbeam, and as the King of the new world, and so mighty and glorious will be His light, that the sun which now dazzles so brightly, and the moon and all the stars, shall be hidden by the coming of a far greater light.

What things shall befall the world after the darkening of the orbs of light, and whence shall arise the straitening of nations, He next explains as follows, And on the earth distress of nations, by reason of the confusion of the roaring of the sea. Wherein He seems to teach, that the beginning of the universal change will be owing to the failing of the watery substance. For this being first absorbed or congealed, so that no longer is heard the roaring of the sea, nor do the waves reach the shore because of the exceeding drought, the other parts of the world, ceasing to obtain the usual vapour which came forth from the watery matter, shall undergo a revolution. Accordingly since the appearance of Christ must put down the prodigies which resist God, namely, those of Antichrist, the beginnings of wrath shall take their rise from droughts, such as that neither storm nor roaring of the sea be any more heard. And this event shall be succeeded by the distress of the men who survive; as it follows, Men's hearts being dried up for fear, and looking after those things which shall come upon the whole world. But the things that shall then come upon the world He proceeds to declare, adding, For the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

Our Lord and Redeemer, most beloved brethren, desiring to find us prepared, announces what evils will follow upon the aging world, so that He might restrain us from love of it. He makes known what great calamities will precede its approaching end, so that if we are unwilling to fear God in times of peace, we may at least fear His judgment drawing near, worn down by these afflictions.

Of all these things, we certainly see some already accomplished, and we dread others as soon to come. For we see nation rising against nation and their pressure bearing down upon the lands more in our own times than we read of in books. How often we have heard from other parts of the world that earthquakes have destroyed countless cities, you well know. We suffer pestilences without ceasing. Signs in the sun, and moon, and stars we do not yet see openly, but that these too are not far off we gather from the very changes in the atmosphere. Indeed, before Italy was handed over to be struck by the barbarian sword, we saw fiery battle lines in the sky, flashing with that very blood of the human race which was afterward shed. The confusion of the sea and waves has not yet newly arisen. But since many things foretold have already been fulfilled, there is no doubt that the few which remain will also follow, for the fulfillment of past events is the certainty of things to come.

For as in this world the moon and the stars are soon dimmed by the rising of the sun, so at the glorious appearance of Christ shall the sun become dark, and the moon not shed her ray, and the stars shall fall from heaven, stripped of their former attire, that they may put on the robe of a better light.

Then, having shown what was to be the period of the destruction, even "when Jerusalem should begin to be compassed with armies," He described the signs of the end of all things: "portents in the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and upon the earth distress of nations in perplexity-like the sea roaring-by reason of their expectation of the evils which are coming on the earth."

For after He had declared that "Jerusalem was to be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles should be fulfilled," -meaning, of course, those which were to be chosen of God, and gathered in with the remnant of Israel-He then goes on to proclaim, against this world and dispensation (even as Joel had done, and Daniel, and all the prophets with one consent ), that "there should be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars, distress of nations with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring, men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth." "For," says He, "the powers of heaven shall be shaken; and then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds, with power and great glory.

"There will be," He says, "signs in the sun and moon and stars." For with the transformation of creation, it is natural for there to be a new order in the elements as well. Nations will have "despondency," that is, grief mixed with perplexity in all things.

Or else, When the higher world shall be changed, then also the lower elements shall suffer loss; whence it follows, And on the earth distress of nations, &c. As if He said, the sea shall roar terribly, and its shores shall be shaken with the tempest, so that of the people and nations of the earth there shall be distress, that is, a universal misery, so that they shall pine away from fear and expectation of the evils which are coming upon the world.

So severe then will be the manifold fires of our souls, that with consciences depraved through the multitude of crimes, by reason of our fear of the coming judgment, the dew of the sacred fountain will be dried upon us. But as the Lord's coming is looked for, in order that His presence may dwell in the whole circle of mankind or the world, which now dwells in each individual who has embraced Christ with his whole heart, so the powers of heaven shall at our Lord's coming obtain an increase of grace, and shall be moved by the fulness of the Divine nature more closely infusing itself. There are also heavenly powers which proclaim the glory of God, which shall be stirred by a fuller infusion of Christ, that they may see Christ.

You say that our very suffering forces us to admit that the end is at hand when there is a fulfillment of what was foretold: "men withering away for fear and expectation of what shall come upon the whole world." You say, "It is plain that there is no country or place in our time that is not harassed or humbled according to the words 'for fear and expectation of what shall come upon the whole world.' " If the evils that the human race now suffers are clear signs that the Lord is about to come now, what becomes of the apostle's words: "When they shall say, 'Peace and security' "? When the Gospel said, "men withering away for fear and expectation," it immediately continued, "For the powers of heaven shall be moved. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with great power and majesty."

(ut sup.) Or the powers of heaven shall be stirred, because when the ungodly persecute, some of the most stout-hearted believers shall be troubled.

Men will wither away from fear and expectation of what is coming upon the entire world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. I believe this sentence signifies the very advent of the judge, when, according to another parable, all, that is, both wise and foolish virgins, roused by an unusual cry, trim their lamps, that is, they count their works with them, for which, with great fear, they are now expecting the imminent event of eternal judgment. For until then, nearly the entire world will act without any fear of the judge, as testified by the apostle who says: For when they say, 'Peace and safety,' then sudden destruction will come upon them (I Thess. V). Then therefore, with fear and expectation of the strict examination coming upon the whole world, many who seemed to flourish in this world will wither when they see themselves fruitless. Then faith, which flourished without works, will wither, as proven by the righteous Judge. Nor is it surprising that men, that is either by nature or by earthly sense, are disturbed at His judgment, whose presence even the powers of the heavens, that is, the angelic hosts, tremble at, as testified by the blessed Job who says: The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at His rebuke. What, then, will the planks do when the columns tremble? What will the twig of the desert endure when the cedar of paradise is shaken?

Thus it is said in Job, the pillars of heaven tremble and are afraid at his reproof. (Job 26:11.) What then do the boards do, when the pillars tremble? what does the shrub of the desert suffer, when the cedar of Paradise is shaken?

Third, with respect to rational nature, he adds: Men withering away from fear and expectation of the things that shall come upon the whole world. For then shall be fulfilled that word of Matthew twenty-five: "At midnight a cry was made: Behold the bridegroom comes," etc. Whence the Gloss: "This is understood of the advent itself, when all the virgins, wise and foolish, roused by the unusual cry, trim their lamps, that is, reckon their works with themselves, on account of which they await with the greatest fear the now imminent coming of the Eternal judgment." Moreover, those men are said to wither who have lived according to the flesh; for Isaiah forty: "All flesh is grass." "The grass is dried up," etc. Whence also James one: "The sun rose with its burning heat and dried up the grass"—the sun of justice coming to judgment. Whence Bede: "In the expectation of the strict examination, those who flourished in this world shall wither away," according to that word of Exodus fifteen: "Let fear and dread fall upon them by the greatness of your arm." Then in those in whom there was security and joy, there shall be nothing but fear and mourning, because, First Thessalonians five, "when they shall say: Peace and security, then sudden destruction shall come upon them." Whence Chrysostom: "There shall be neither strength to resist, nor place for repentance, nor opportunity for satisfaction; from the anguish of all things nothing shall remain but mourning." Whence Matthew twenty-four: "The sign of the Son of Man shall appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth shall mourn."

Fourth, with respect to intellectual nature, he adds: For the powers of the heavens shall be moved. Now the powers of the heavens are the blessed Angels, who are said to be shaken by the disturbance of all things, according to that word of Job twenty-six: "The pillars of heaven tremble and are terrified at his command." They are said to tremble and quake, however, not from fear of punishment, but from reverential fear and horror at the divine vengeance, according to that word of Job forty-one: "When he shall raise himself up, the Angels shall fear, and being terrified they shall be purified." Whence, just as someone standing upon a mountain ridge is in a certain way terrified by the burning of some village or a chasm in the earth, so in a certain way those heavenly powers shall tremble at that terrible retribution. Whence Jerome: "What shall the twig of the desert do, when the cedar of the Lebanon of paradise is shaken with fear?" Whence Isaiah six: "The lintels of the doorposts were moved at the voice of the one crying out, and the house was filled with smoke." Whence Chrysostom: "If a king, about to go forth to war against someone, orders a campaign among the people, all the dignitaries are stirred, the army is mustered, the whole city is in ferment—how much more, when the heavenly King arises to judge the living and the dead, are the angelic powers moved: terrible ministers preceding the terrible Lord; before him, in place of candelabra, living lightnings shall go forth; in place of trumpets, dreadful thunders! Truly a great voice, which all the elements obey, which splits rocks, opens the netherworld, and breaks the bonds of death."

Or the powers of heaven are those which preside over the sensible parts of the universe, which indeed shall then be shaken that they may attain to a better state. For they shall be discharged from the ministry with which they serve God toward the sensible bodies in their perishing condition.

We say these things, dearly beloved brethren, so that your minds may be awakened to the pursuit of caution, lest they grow sluggish through security, lest they become feeble through ignorance, but that fear may always stir them and solicitude strengthen them in good work, considering what is added by the voice of our Redeemer: "Men withering away from fear and expectation of what shall come upon the whole world. For the powers of heaven shall be moved." For what does the Lord call the powers of heaven except angels, archangels, thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers, which at the coming of the strict Judge will then visibly appear to our eyes, so that they may then strictly demand from us what the invisible Creator now patiently bears with us?

(Hom. 1. in Ev.) For whom does He call the powers of heaven, but the angels, dominions, principalities, and powers? which at the coming of the strict Judge shall then appear visibly to our eyes, that they may strictly exact judgment of us, seeing that now our invisible Creator patiently bears with us.

(ad Olymp. Ep. 2.) Or the heavenly powers shall be shaken, although themselves know it not. For when they see the innumerable multitudes condemned, they shall not stand there without trembling.

That "the very powers also of heaven have to be shaken," you may find in Joel: "And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth-blood and fire, and pillars of smoke; the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come.

The sea will roar terribly, and fear and confusion will set in, so that people will expire from sheer terror and expectation of the calamities coming upon the world. Do you see? He speaks here clearly about the end of the world. For above He was speaking about Jerusalem being surrounded and trampled by pagan armies, but here He speaks of the onset of calamities for the world. This means He is now speaking about the end of the world. "What I say (He says), that at the change of all creation people will be troubled? The very Angels and the foremost Powers will be troubled and terrified at such fearful changes in everything."

But not only shall men be tossed about when the world shall be changed, but angels even shall stand amazed at the terrible revolutions of the universe. Hence it follows, And the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

You see him in the clouds. I certainly do not think that Christ will come in the darkness of mist and the chill of rain. The clouds are visible and surely cover the heaven in foggy cold. How has he set his tabernacle in the sun if his coming brings the rain? Some clouds suitably cover the radiance of the heavenly mystery. Some clouds grow moist with the dew of spiritual grace. Consider the cloud in the Old Testament. "He spoke to them," it says, "in a pillar of cloud." … He comes in a calm cloud in the Song of Songs, shining with the joy of a bridegroom. He also comes in a swift light cloud, incarnate of the Virgin. The prophet saw him as a cloud coming from the east. He fittingly said, "a light cloud," that earthly vices would not weigh down. See the cloud upon which the Holy Spirit came and the power of the Most High overshadowed. When Christ will appear in the clouds, the tribes of the earth will grieve over themselves.

"Then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with great power and majesty." As I see it, this could be taken in two ways. One way is that he will come in the church as in a cloud. He continues to come in this way according to his word, "Hereafter you will see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of the power of God, and coming in the clouds of heaven." He comes with great power and majesty because his greater power and majesty will appear in the saints to whom he will give great power, so that persecution might not overcome them. The other way in which he will come will be in his body in which he sits at the right hand of the Father. In this body, he died, rose again, and ascended into heaven. It is written in the Acts of the Apostles: "When he had said these things, a cloud received him and he was taken up from their sight." The angels then said, "He shall so come as you have seen him going away." We have reason to believe that he will come not only in the same body but also in a cloud since he will come as he left, and a cloud received him as he went.

And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with great power and majesty. In power and majesty, they will see Him whom, when He was in humility, they did not wish to hear, so that they will then feel His power all the more severely, as they now do not bow the neck of their hearts to His patience. But since these words are spoken against the reprobate, they are soon turned to the consolation of the elect, for it is added:

Fifth, with respect to the judge appearing, he says: And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with great power and majesty. Revelation 1: "Behold, he comes with the clouds, and every eye shall see him, and those who pierced him." And concerning this coming, Daniel 7: "I was watching in a vision of the night, and behold, with the clouds of heaven one like the Son of man was coming, and he reached even to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him before his sight. And he gave him power and honor and a kingdom. His power is an everlasting power, which shall not be taken away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed." And this coming will be so utterly terrifying that that word of Isaiah 2 will be fulfilled: "The loftiness of men shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be humbled, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day, and the idols shall be utterly crushed." "And he shall enter the clefts of the rocks and the caverns of the stones, from the face of the terror of the Lord and from the glory of his majesty, when he shall rise up to strike the earth." And therefore in the Psalm: "God shall come manifestly, our God, and he shall not be silent. A fire shall burn in his sight, and round about him a mighty tempest."

Although many wondrous and almost indescribable things will occur at the judgment, Jerome nevertheless relates certain things which he says he found in the annals of the Jews, which are arranged in different ways by different authors. For he says that on the first day the sea will raise itself above the height of the mountains, so that that word of the Psalm may be verified: "Wondrous are the surges of the sea." — On the second day it will descend so far that it can scarcely be seen, according to that word of Nahum 1: "The Lord is in the tempest and the whirlwind of his ways, and the clouds are the dust of his feet, rebuking the sea and drying it up and reducing all the rivers to a desert." And concerning these two days, in the Psalm: "He spoke, and the wind of the storm arose, and its waves were lifted up," etc. — On the third day the beasts of the sea, rising above the surface, will send forth roars up to heaven, as though announcing the coming judgment: Job 12: "Speak to the earth, and it will declare to you, and the fish of the sea will tell you," etc.

On the fourth day the water will burn, according to that word of Isaiah 64: "Would that you would rend the heavens and come down; the mountains would melt before your face, as the burning of fire they would waste away, the waters would burn with fire, that your name might be made known to your enemies."

On the fifth day the plants and trees will give forth a bloody dew: Revelation 14: "And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress up to the horses' bridles."

On the sixth day buildings will collapse: Revelation 16: "And the great city was broken into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell"; and Matthew 24: "There shall not be left stone upon stone that shall not be destroyed," etc.

On the seventh day rocks will crash against one another, as happened during the Lord's passion: Matthew 27: "The rocks were split," etc.

On the eighth day there will be a universal earthquake: Revelation 16: "And there was a great earthquake, such as had not been since men began to exist."

Ninth, the earth will be leveled; and then that word of Isaiah 40 will be fulfilled: "Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low"; and Apocalypse 6: "Every mountain and the islands were moved out of their places." - Tenth, men will come out of their caves and will go about as if out of their minds and will not be able to speak to one another, and this on account of the stupor at those wonders which they will see and await; and this is what is indicated here, when he says: "Men withering away from fear." - Eleventh, the tombs will be opened, and bones will stand upon them; and then that word of Ezekiel 37 will be fulfilled: "Behold, I will open your graves and will lead you out of your sepulchres, O my people," etc.

- Twelfth, the stars will fall from heaven: Matthew 24: "The stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be moved." - Thirteenth, men will die, so that they may rise again with the dead, because, as the Apostle says in First Corinthians 15 according to another translation, "we shall all indeed die, but we shall not all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye," etc. - Fourteenth, heaven and earth will burn, that is, the surface of the earth and of the air: Second Peter 3: "The day of the Lord shall come as a thief, in which the heavens shall pass away with great violence, and the elements shall be dissolved with heat, and the earth and the works that are in it shall be burned up."

On the fifteenth day there will be a new heaven and a new earth, and men will rise again, and the judgment will take place; concerning this John says in Apocalypse 21: "I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea is no more."

He says that they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Christ will not come secretly or obscurely but as God and Lord in glory suitable for deity. He will transform all things for the better. He will renew creation and refashion the nature of people to what it was at the beginning. He said, "When these things come to pass, lift up your heads and look upward, for your redemption is near." The dead will rise. This earthly and infirm body will put off corruption and will clothe itself with incorruption by Christ's gift. He grants those that believe in him to be conformed to the likeness of his glorious body.

Great must be understood in like manner. For His first appearance He made in our weakness and lowliness, the second He shall celebrate in all His own power.

Watch for your life's sake. Let not your lamps be quenched, nor your loins unloosed; but be ye ready, for ye know not the hour in which our Lord cometh. But often shall ye come together, seeking the things which are befitting to your souls: for the whole time of your faith will not profit you, if ye be not made perfect in the last time. For in the last days false prophets and corrupters shall be multiplied, and the sheep shall be turned into wolves, and love shall be turned into hate; for when lawlessness increaseth, they shall hate and persecute and betray one another, and then shall appear the world-deceiver as Son of God, and shall do signs and wonders, and the earth shall be delivered into his hands, and he shall do iniquitous things which have never yet come to pass since the beginning. Then shall the creation of men come into the fire of trial, and many shall be made to stumble and shall perish; but they that endure in their faith shall be saved from under the curse itself. And then shall appear the signs of the truth; first, the sign of an out-spreading in heaven; then the sign of the sound of the trumpet; and the third, the resurrection of the dead; yet not of all, but as it is said: The Lord shall come and all His saints with Him. Then shall the world see the Lord coming upon the clouds of heaven.

When also the Son of God shall come in glory, and shall crush the proud empire of the son of sin, the angels of heaven attending Him, the doors of heaven which have been shut from the foundation of the world shall be opened, that the things that are on high may be witnessed.

And there it is added: "And then they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and majesty." As if it were openly said: They shall see in power and majesty Him whom, placed in humility, they refused to hear, so that they may then feel His power all the more strictly, inasmuch as now they do not bow the neck of their heart to His patience.

(Hom. 1. in Ev.) For in power and majesty will men see Him, whom in lowly stations they refused to hear, that so much the more acutely they may feel His power, as they are now the less willing to bow the necks of their hearts to His sufferings.

For God ever appears in a cloud, according to the Psalms, clouds and darkness are round about him. (Ps. 17:11.) Therefore shall the Son of man come in the clouds as God, and the Lord, not secretly, but in glory worthy of God. Therefore He adds, with great power and majesty.

And when these things shall come to pass, ye shall look up, and raise your heads; for your redemption hath come near," that is, at the time of the kingdom, of which the parable itself treats. "So likewise ye, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.

"And then they will see the Son of Man." Who? All believers and unbelievers. "Coming on a cloud," that is, as God, with power and great glory. For then both He Himself and His cross will shine more brightly than the sun, and will be recognized by all.

It follows, And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds. Both the believers and unbelievers shall see Him, for He Himself as well as His cross shall glisten brighter than the sun, and so shall be observed of all.

When these things begin to take place, look up and lift your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. When the plagues, he says, of the world increase, when the terror of judgment is shown by the shaking of the powers, lift up your heads, that is, cheer up your hearts. Because as the world, to which you are not friends, is ending, the redemption you seek is near. In the holy Scripture, indeed, the head is often put for the mind. For just as the limbs are governed by the head, so thoughts are arranged by the mind. To lift up the head, therefore, is to raise our minds to the joys of the heavenly homeland. But that the world should be trampled upon and despised, the Lord shows by a prudent comparison. For it follows:

But when these things begin to come to pass, etc. After he instructed the disciples unto foresight, here secondly he raises them up to confidence, and this indeed he does in three ways, namely by consoling exhortation, by guiding similitude, and by certified assertion.

First, therefore, as regards the consolatory exhortation, he says: But when these things begin to come to pass, look up and lift up your heads; Gregory: "Lift up your heads, gladden your hearts, because, while the world is ending, whose friends you are not, the redemption which you have sought is near." Look up, therefore, through true faith, according to that passage above in chapter 18: "Look up, your faith has made you whole." Look up, I say, to the things to come, which are not seen, according to that passage in Second Corinthians 4: "While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen," etc. And this indeed is done through faith, concerning which in Hebrews 11: "Faith is the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things not appearing." -

Lift up, however, through hope; and he adds the reason for this: Because your redemption draws near, for which your hope sighs. Whence Romans 8: "The creature groans and travails until now. And not only it, but we ourselves also, having the firstfruits of the Spirit, we ourselves also groan within ourselves, awaiting the adoption of the sons of God, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope." Moreover, this hope causes tribulations to be borne patiently: Romans 12: "Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation"; and the reason for this, Romans 8, is that "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the future glory that shall be revealed in us. For the expectation of the creature awaits the revelation of the sons of God."

Spiritual men ought therefore to lift up their heads through firm expectation; they ought also to lift up their eyes through clear contemplation, according to that verse of the Psalm: "To you I have lifted up my eyes," etc.; and Genesis 13: "Lift up your eyes straight ahead." "All the land that you see, I will give to you," etc. They ought to lift up their voice through the preaching of Scripture: Isaiah 52: "The voice of your watchmen—they have lifted up their voice, together they shall praise," etc. They ought to lift up their hands unto perfect action: the Psalm: "Thus I will bless you in my life, and in your name I will lift up my hands." And this is what most raises us upward, on account of which First Timothy 2: "I will that you pray in every place, lifting up pure hands without all anger and contention."

Or else, To those that have passed through the body and bodily things, shall be present spiritual and heavenly bodies: that is, they will have no more to pass the kingdom of the world, and then to those that are worthy shall be given the promises of salvation. For having received the promises of God which we look for, we who before were crooked shall be made upright, and we shall lift up our heads who were before bent low; because the redemption which we hoped for is at hand; that namely for which the whole creation waiteth.

He speaks these things to His disciples, not as to those who would continue in this life to the end of the world, but as if uniting in one body of believers in Christ both themselves and us and our posterity, even to the end of the world.

But because these things have been said against the reprobate, the words soon turn to the consolation of the elect. For it is added: "But when these things begin to come to pass, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near." As if the Truth openly admonishes His elect, saying: When the calamities of the world increase, when the terror of judgment is shown by the powers being shaken, lift up your heads, that is, gladden your hearts, because while the world, to which you are not friends, comes to an end, the redemption which you have sought draws near.

For in Sacred Scripture the head is often used to mean the mind, because just as the members are governed by the head, so thoughts are arranged by the mind. Therefore to lift up our heads is to raise our minds to the joys of the heavenly homeland. Those who love God are therefore commanded to rejoice and be glad at the end of the world, because indeed they soon find Him whom they love, while that which they did not love passes away. For far be it that any of the faithful who desires to see God should grieve over the afflictions of the world, knowing that it will end through these very afflictions.

For it is written: "Whoever wishes to be a friend of this world is made an enemy of God." Therefore whoever does not rejoice as the end of the world approaches testifies that he is its friend, and by this is convicted of being an enemy of God. But far be this from the hearts of the faithful, far be it from those who both believe by faith that there is another life, and love it through their deeds. For to grieve over the destruction of the world belongs to those who have planted the roots of their heart in love of it, who do not seek the life to come, who do not even suspect that it exists.

But we who have known the eternal joys of the heavenly homeland ought to hasten to them as quickly as possible. We should desire to journey there sooner and to arrive by a shorter way. For by what evils is the world not oppressed? What sadness, what adversity does not distress us? What is mortal life but a journey? And consider, my brothers, what it means to grow weary from the labor of the journey, and yet not want that same journey to end.

(Hom. 1. in Ev.) Having in what has gone before spoken against the reprobate, He now turns His words to the consolation of the elect; for it is added, When these things begin to be, look up, and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh; as if he says, When the buffettings of the world multiply, lift up your heads, that is, rejoice your hearts, for when the world closes whose friends ye are not, the redemption is near which ye seek. For in holy Scripture the head is often put for the mind, for as the members are ruled by the head, so are the thoughts regulated by the mind. To lift up our heads then, is to raise up our minds to the joys of the heavenly country.

These things, then, being to come to pass, beloved, and the one week being divided into two parts, and the abomination of desolation being manifested then, and the two prophets and forerunners of the Lord having finished their course, and the whole world finally approaching the consummation, what remains but the coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ from heaven, for whom we have looked in hope? who shall bring the conflagration and just judgment upon all who have refused to believe on Him. For the Lord says, "And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." "And there shall not a hair of your head perish." "For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together." Now the fall took place in paradise; for Adam fell there. And He says again, "Then shall the Son of man send His angels, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds of heaven." And David also, in announcing prophetically the judgment and coming of the Lord, says, "His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and His circuit unto the end of the heaven: and there is no one hid from the heat thereof." By the heat he means the conflagration. And Esaias speaks thus: "Come, my people, enter thou into thy chamber, (and) shut thy door: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation of the Lord be overpast." And Paul in like manner: "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth of God in unrighteousness."

Just as the first coming of the Lord was for the recreation and regeneration of our souls, so the second will be for the regeneration of our bodies. Since the souls died first, through disobedience, while the bodies actually underwent death nine hundred years after the disobedience, they too are regenerated and improved in sequence: the souls through the first coming, and the bodies through the second. Therefore the Lord also says: when these things begin to come to pass, you who are weighed down by corruption, stand upright and enjoy freedom. For your redemption draws near, that is, the complete liberation of both, that is, of soul and body. The preposition, it seems, precisely indicates the complete deliverance from corruption, which the body too will then receive, by the grace of the Lord who abolishes the last enemy — death (1 Cor. 15:26, 53, 57). For He abolished principalities and powers and redeemed the soul. There still remained death, which fed upon our bodies; its abolition will be the cause of our freedom and redemption. Upon the fulfillment of this, the Kingdom of God will come at once.

That is, perfect liberty of body and soul. For as the first coming of our Lord was for the restoration of our souls, so will the second be manifested unto the restoration of our bodies.

The fig tree therefore has a double meaning: when the wild is tamed or when sins abound. Like the believer's faith that shriveled up before it will flower, so also sinners will glory through the grace of their transgressions. On the one hand is the fruit of faith, and on the other the lewdness of unbelief. The gardening of the Evangelist as farmer produces the fruit of the fig tree for me. We must not despair if sinners cover themselves with the leaves of the fig tree as with a garment of deceit, so that they may veil their conscience. Leaves without fruit are therefore suspicious.

Matthew speaks of the fig-tree only, Luke of all the trees. But the fig-tree shadows forth two things, either the ripening of what is hard, or the luxuriance of sin; that is, either that, when the fruit bursts forth in all trees and the fruitful fig-tree abounds, (that is, when every tongue confesses God, even the Jewish people confessing Him,) we ought to hope for our Lord's coming, in which shall be gathered in as at summer the fruits of the resurrection. Or, when the man of sin shall clothe himself in his light and fickle boasting as it were the leaves of the synagogue, we must then suppose the judgment to be drawing near. For the Lord hastens to reward faith, and to bring an end of sinning.

Second, with respect to the guiding parable, there is added: And he spoke to them a parable: Behold the fig tree and all the trees: when they now shoot forth fruit from themselves, you know that summer is near. He compares trees to the human race, and especially the fig tree. For man is likened to trees of this kind both with respect to origin and with respect to decline and with respect to fruit. With respect to origin, on account of which it is said in the Psalm: "He shall be like a tree that is planted by the streams of waters," etc. With respect to decline, on account of which Job chapter fourteen says: "A tree has hope: if it be cut down, it grows green again, and its branches sprout forth"; so also man, when he dies, has hope of rising again. With respect to fruit, because just as an unfruitful tree is cut down, so also is man; whence Matthew chapter three: "Every tree that does not bear good fruit shall be cut down," etc.; whence above in chapter thirteen it is said of the unfruitful fig tree: "Cut it down," etc. For just as a tree by the wayside does not bear fruit, so also a man occupied with many things; Matthew chapter twenty-one: "Seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he came to it and found nothing on it but leaves only. And he said to it: Let no fruit ever be born from you." Whence Chrysostom: "Just as it is impossible for a tree by the wayside to preserve its fruits to maturity, so it is difficult for a man living according to the world to maintain unstained youth all the way to the end." Just as trees also bear fruit when winter departs, so man has fruit after tribulation; Song of Songs chapter two: "Now the winter is past, the rain is gone and departed"; "the fig tree has put forth its green figs, the flowering vines have given their fragrance." This fruit comes through the endurance of tribulation, according to that passage in Hebrews chapter twelve: "All discipline in the present is not of joy but of sorrow, yet afterward it yields the most peaceful fruit to those who have been trained by it."

For as in this life, when winter dies away, and spring succeeds, the sun sending forth its warm rays cherishes and quickens the seeds hid in the ground, just laying aside their first form, and the young plants sprout forth, having put on different shades of green; so also the glorious coming of the Only-begotten of God, illuminating the new world with His quickening rays, shall bring forth into light from more excellent bodies than before the seeds that have long been hidden in the whole world, i. e. those who sleep in the dust of the earth. And having vanquished death, He shall reign from henceforth the life of the new world.

Moreover, our Redeemer shows by a thoughtful comparison that the world ought to be trampled upon and despised, when He immediately adds: "See the fig tree and all the trees; when they now produce fruit from themselves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near." As if He openly said: Just as the approaching summer is known from the fruit of trees, so from the ruin of the world it is recognized that the kingdom of God is near.

(ut sup.) That the world ought to be trampled upon and despised, He proves by a wise comparison, adding, Behold the fig tree and all the trees, when they now put forth fruit, ye know that summer is near. As if He says, As from the fruit of the tree the summer is perceived to be near, so from the fall of the world the kingdom of God is known to be at hand. Hereby is it manifested that the world's fall is our fruit. For hereunto it puts forth buds, that whomsoever it has fostered in the bud it may consume in slaughter. But well is the kingdom of God compared to summer; for then the clouds of our sorrow flee away, and the days of life brighten up under the clear light of the Eternal Sun.

So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is very near." Now, if the fructification of the common trees be an antecedent sign of the approach of summer, so in like manner do the great conflicts of the world indicate the arrival of that kingdom which they precede.

He immediately annexes a parable of this in "the trees which are tenderly sprouting into a flower-stalk, and then developing the flower, which is the precursor of the fruit." "So likewise ye," (He adds), "when ye shall see all these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of heaven is nigh at hand.

And He told them a parable: Look at the fig tree and all the trees, as soon as they put forth their fruit, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. He therefore clearly teaches that just as the coming summer is known by the fruit of the trees, so also the kingdom of God is known to be near by the ruin of the world. By these words it is certainly shown that the fruit of the world is ruin. For it grows to fall. It sprouts so that whatever it has sprouted consumes in disasters. But rightly is the kingdom of God compared to summer, because then the clouds of our sorrow pass away, and the days of life shine with the brightness of the eternal sun.

"See the fig tree and all the trees; when they now produce fruit from themselves, you know that summer is near." As if He openly said: Just as the approaching summer is known from the fruit of trees, so from the ruin of the world it is recognized that the kingdom of God is near. But the kingdom of God is rightly compared to summer, because then the clouds of our sorrow pass away, and the days of life shine bright with the radiance of the eternal sun.

(ut sup.) That the world ought to be trampled upon and despised, He proves by a wise comparison, adding, Behold the fig tree and all the trees, when they now put forth fruit, ye know that summer is near. As if He says, As from the fruit of the tree the summer is perceived to be near, so from the fall of the world the kingdom of God is known to be at hand. Hereby is it manifested that the world's fall is our fruit. For hereunto it puts forth buds, that whomsoever it has fostered in the bud it may consume in slaughter. But well is the kingdom of God compared to summer; for then the clouds of our sorrow flee away, and the days of life brighten up under the clear light of the Eternal Sun.

(ut sup.) But when He says, When ye shall see these things to come to pass, what can we understand but those things which were mentioned above. But among them we read, And then shall they see the Son of man coming. When therefore this is seen, the kingdom of God is not yet, but nigh at hand. Or must we say that we are not to understand all the things before mentioned, when He says, When ye shall see these things, &c. but only some of them; this for example being excepted, And then shall they see the Son of man. But Matthew would plainly have it taken with no exception, for he says, And so ye, when ye see all these things, among which is the seeing the coming of the Son of man; in order that it may be understood of that coming whereby He now comes in His members as in clouds, or in the Church as in a great cloud.

And this fruit is gathered in the summer of eternal clarity; on account of which he adds: So you also, when you see these things coming to pass, know that the kingdom of God is near. Gloss: "He compares the Kingdom of God to summer, because then the clouds of our sorrow will pass away, and the days of eternal life will shine forth under the brightness of the sun." In this Summer the rain of tears will cease: Isaiah twenty-five: "The Lord God will wipe away every tear from every face"; Psalm: "Going forth they went and wept," etc. The cloud of tribulations will cease: Tobit three: "After the storm you make calm, and after weeping and tears you pour in exultation," etc. The cold of desires will also cease: whence Bernard: "O true noonday, fullness of fervor and light, station of the sun, banishment of shadows, drying up of marshes, driving away of stenches! O perennial solstice, when the day will no longer decline! O noonday light, O springtime mildness, O summer beauty, O autumnal abundance! And lest I seem to have passed over anything: O winter rest and repose! Or rather, if you prefer this more, then alone has winter departed and gone away"!

For he who wars for God, dearest brethren, ought to acknowledge himself as one who, placed in the heavenly camp, already hopes for divine things, so that we may have no trembling at the storms and whirlwinds of the world, and no disturbance, since the Lord had foretold that these would come. With the exhortation of His fore-seeing word, instructing, and teaching, and preparing, and strengthening the people of His Church for all endurance of things to come, He predicted and said that wars, and famines, and earthquakes, and pestilences would arise in each place; and lest an unexpected and new dread of mischiefs should shake us, He previously warned us that adversity would increase more and more in the last times. Behold, the very things occur which were spoken; and since those occur which were foretold before, whatever things were promised will also follow; as the Lord Himself promises, saying, "But when ye see all these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is at hand." The kingdom of God, beloved brethren, is beginning to be at hand; the reward of life, and the rejoicing of eternal salvation, and the perpetual gladness and possession lately lost of paradise, are now coming, with the passing away of the world; already heavenly things are taking the place of earthly, and great things of small, and eternal things of things that fade away. What room is there here for anxiety and solicitude? Who, in the midst of these things, is trembling and sad, except he who is without hope and faith? For it is for him to fear death who is not willing to go to Christ. It is for him to be unwilling to go to Christ who does not believe that he is about to reign with Christ.

"So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near." As if He openly said: Just as the approaching summer is known from the fruit of trees, so from the ruin of the world it is recognized that the kingdom of God is near. By these words it is certainly shown that the fruit of the world is ruin. For it grows in order to fall. It sprouts forth in order to consume with disasters whatever it has sprouted. But the kingdom of God is rightly compared to summer, because then the clouds of our sorrow pass away, and the days of life shine bright with the radiance of the eternal sun.

(ut sup.) That the world ought to be trampled upon and despised, He proves by a wise comparison, adding, Behold the fig tree and all the trees, when they now put forth fruit, ye know that summer is near. As if He says, As from the fruit of the tree the summer is perceived to be near, so from the fall of the world the kingdom of God is known to be at hand. Hereby is it manifested that the world's fall is our fruit. For hereunto it puts forth buds, that whomsoever it has fostered in the bud it may consume in slaughter. But well is the kingdom of God compared to summer; for then the clouds of our sorrow flee away, and the days of life brighten up under the clear light of the Eternal Sun.

"So likewise ye, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand." This will be the great day of the Lord, and of the glorious coming of the Son of man from heaven, of which Daniel wrote: "Behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven," etc.

"So likewise ye," (He adds), "when ye shall see all these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of heaven is nigh at hand." "Watch ye, therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all those things, and to stand before the Son of man; " that is, no doubt, at the resurrection, after all these things have been previously transacted.

As the fig tree, when its leaves unfold, indicates the approach of summer, so too the appearance of these signs and the transformation of the universe serve as an indication that "summer" is coming, that is, the Kingdom of God, which for the righteous arrives precisely like summer after winter and storm. Meanwhile, for sinners, winter and storm will then set in. For they consider the present age to be summer, while the age to come is for them a storm.

Or else, He says, the kingdom of God is at hand, meaning that when these things shall be, not yet shall all things come to their last end, but they shall be already tending towards it. For the very coming of our Lord itself, casting out every principality and power, is the preparation for the kingdom of God.

Amen, I say to you, that this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Indeed, the Lord greatly emphasizes what He thus pronounces. In a way, if it is permitted to say, it is His oath: Amen, I say to you. For Amen is interpreted as true, and yet it is not interpreted, since it could have been said "I tell you the truth," neither the Greek interpreter dared to do this, nor the Latin. Thus it remained, it is not interpreted, so that it might have the honor of a secret veil, not that it is denied, but lest it should be cheapened if exposed. Therefore "I tell you the truth" is said by the Truth, which indeed even if it did not say so, it could not lie altogether. Nevertheless, He emphasizes, He insists, He somehow awakens those who are asleep, He makes them attentive, He does not wish to be disregarded: "Amen," He says, "I say to you, that this generation will not pass away until all these things take place." Now He either means every human generation, or specifically the generation of the Jews.

He strongly commends that which he thus foretels. And, if one may so speak, his oath is this, Amen, I say unto you. Amen is by interpretation "true." Therefore the truth says, I tell you the truth, and though He spoke not thus, He could by no means lie. But by generation he means either the whole human race, or especially the Jews.

Third, as regards the certifying assertion, he adds: Amen I say to you, this generation shall not pass away until all things are fulfilled. Gloss: "What I say to you, await with certainty." This generation, however, he calls the mortal generation, according to that passage of Ecclesiastes one: "A generation passes away, and a generation comes." This passes away when it passes over to immortality through the resurrection. Gloss: "From mortality to immortality." And this resurrection will not occur before the consummation of the things foretold, because, Job fourteen, "man, when he has fallen asleep, will not rise again until the heavens are worn away."

Or by generation He means the new generation of His holy Church, showing that the generation of the faithful would last up to that time, when it would see all things, and embrace with its eyes the fulfilment of our Saviour's words.

All these things are confirmed with great certainty when the sentence is added which says: "Amen I say to you, this generation shall not pass away until all things come to pass. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." For nothing in the nature of corporeal things is more enduring than heaven and earth, and nothing in nature passes as quickly as speech. For words, as long as they are incomplete, are not words; but when they have been completed, they no longer exist at all, because they cannot be completed except by passing away. Therefore he says: "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." As if he were saying openly: Everything that is enduring among you is not enduring unto eternity without change; and everything that is seen to pass away in me is held fixed and without passing away, because my speech which passes away expresses judgments that remain without mutability.

(in Hom. 1. in Ev.) But all the things before mentioned are confirmed with great certainty, when He adds, Verily I say unto you, &c.

"Truly I say to you: this generation shall not pass away until all these things come to pass." By "generation" He does not mean those who were living at that time, but all the generations of believers. For Scripture sometimes calls "generation" also those who are alike in character, for example: "This is the generation of those who seek Him" (Ps. 24:6).

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. We must understand that the heaven which will pass away is not the ethereal or sidereal, but the airy heaven, from which both the birds of heaven and the clouds of heaven are named. This is attested by Peter, who states that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth formed out of water and through water by the word of God, by means of which the world then existed perished. But the heavens that now exist and the earth are stored up by the same word for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and the destruction of ungodly men (2 Peter 3). He clearly teaches that not another heaven will perish by fire than the one destroyed by water, that is, these empty and cloudy spaces of the windy air. For the water of the flood, which surpassed the mountain peaks by only fifteen cubits, is not to be believed to have reached beyond the boundaries of air and ether. But wherever it could reach, evidently, according to the aforementioned statement of the blessed Peter, the fire of judgment will also reach. If, however, heaven and earth will pass away, it can be questioned how Ecclesiastes says: A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever (Eccles. 1). But by clear reason, heaven and earth pass away through the image they now have; nevertheless, they subsist without end through their essence. For the form of this world is passing away (1 Cor. 7). And to John, the angel says: There will be (he says) a new heaven and a new earth (Apoc. 21). These indeed are not other things to be created, but these same are renewed. Therefore, heaven and earth will both pass away and will be, because they are purged by fire from the form they now have, and yet they will always be preserved in their own nature. Hence it is said by the Psalmist: You will change them, and they will be changed (Psalm 102). Indeed, their ultimate transformation is now announced to us by the very vicissitudes we observe, by which they incessantly alternate for our uses. For the earth fails from its species, in winter dryness, and greens in vernal moisture. The heaven is shrouded daily by the darkness of night, and is renewed by the brightness of day. Hence, therefore, hence let every faithful person deduce both that these things perish and yet are renewed through innovation, which now evidently are continually repaired as if from defect.

But by the heaven which shall pass away we must understand not the æthereal or the starry heaven, but the air from which the birds are named "of heaven." But if the earth shall pass away, how does Ecclesiastes say, The earth standeth for ever? (Ecc. 1:4.) Plainly then the heaven and earth in the fashion which they now have shall pass away, but in essence subsist eternally.

And therefore he adds: Heaven and earth will pass away, as regards their outward form. Psalm: "You in the beginning, O Lord, founded the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands. They shall perish, but you remain," etc.; and therefore First Corinthians seven: "The form of this world passes away." Whence Isaiah fifty-one: "The heavens shall melt away like smoke, and the earth shall be worn out like a garment"; and Isaiah sixty-five: "Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth."

And therefore all these things pass away as temporal things; but on the contrary, my words shall not pass away, as regards their interior meaning. Psalm: "Forever, O Lord, your word endures." Whence Gregory: "Everything that among you is durable and without change is not durable unto eternity; and everything that in my sight is seen to pass away is held fixed and without passing." Whence Isaiah forty: "The grass has withered, and the flower has fallen; but the word of our Lord remains forever." Whoever wishes, therefore, to remain eternally, must not linger in transitory things, but rather, by forsaking transitory things through the divine words, pass over to eternal things.

For which reason it should be noted that this world passes away with respect to everything desirable that it has in itself. It passes away first with respect to loftiness: Wisdom 5: "What has pride profited us, or what has the boasting of riches conferred upon us? All things have passed away" etc. Psalm: "I saw the wicked highly exalted" etc. — Second, with respect to beauty: Psalm: "In the morning let it pass away like grass, in the morning let it flourish and pass away"; and James 1: "Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, but the rich in his humiliation, because like the flower of grass he will pass away. For the sun rose with its burning heat and dried up the grass."

Third, with respect to sweetness: 1 John 2: "The world passes away and its concupiscence"; Proverbs 5: "The lips of a harlot are a dripping honeycomb."

Therefore whoever clings to these transitory things makes a threefold passage. The first is from fault to fault: Wisdom 2: "Let us crown ourselves with roses before they wither; let there be no meadow that our luxury does not pass through" etc. The second is from fault to punishment: Wisdom 2: "Our time is the passing of a shadow"; and Job 7: "My days have passed more swiftly than the web is cut by the weaver." The third is from punishment to punishment: Job 24: "They shall pass from the waters of snow to excessive heat."

But whoever passes from transitory things makes a threefold passage. The first is from fault to repentance; and concerning this, Acts 12: "Passing through the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate"; and this was prefigured in the crossing of the Red Sea, Exodus 14. The second is from repentance to wisdom: Ecclesiasticus 24: "Come over to me, all you who desire me, and be filled from my generations"; and this is prefigured in the passage through the desert, in which the children of Israel tasted manna, Exodus 16. The third is from wisdom to eternal life: Psalm: "We have passed through fire and water" etc.; and John 13: "Knowing that his hour had come" etc.; and this is prefigured in the crossing of the Jordan, by which they entered the promised land: Joshua 4: "The people made haste to cross; and when all had crossed, the ark of God also crossed." — Whoever makes this threefold passage, he alone is a Hebrew and celebrates the true Passover; because Passover is nothing other than a passing over.

"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." For nothing in the nature of corporeal things is more enduring than heaven and earth, and nothing in nature passes as quickly as speech. For words, as long as they are incomplete, are not words; but when they have been completed, they no longer exist at all, because they cannot be completed except by passing away. Therefore he says: "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." As if he were saying openly: Everything that is enduring among you is not enduring unto eternity without change; and everything that is seen to pass away in me is held fixed and without passing away, because my speech which passes away expresses judgments that remain without mutability.

(ut sup.) Or else, The heaven and earth shall pass away, &c. As if He says, All that with us seems lasting, does not abide to eternity without change, and all that with Me seems to pass away is held fixed and immoveable, for My word which passeth away utters sentences which remain unchangeable, and abide for ever.

(If you examine) the whole passage of this Gospel Scripture, from the inquiry of the disciples down to the parable of the fig-tree you will find the sense in its connection suit in every point the Son of man, so that it consistently ascribes to Him both the sorrows and the joys, and the catastrophes and the promises; nor can you separate them from Him in either respect.

Since the beneficent Deity had premised that these things must needs come to pass, although so terrible and dreadful, as they had been predicted by the law and the prophets, therefore He did not destroy the law and the prophets, when He affirmed that what had been foretold therein must be certainly fulfilled. He further declares, "that heaven and earth shall not pass away till all things be fulfilled." What things, pray, are these? Are they the things which the Creator made? Then the elements will tractably endure the accomplishment of their Maker's dispensation.

Since He said that there would be commotions and wars, and changes both in the elements and in things themselves, lest anyone should come to think that perhaps Christianity too might someday be overthrown, He says: no! this generation, that is, the generation of Christians, shall never pass away. Heaven and earth shall change, but My words and My Gospel shall not be overthrown, but shall abide forever, even if everything were shaken, and faith in Me shall not fail. From this it is also evident that He prefers the Church to all creation: for creation shall change, but of the Church of the faithful, as well as of His words and Gospel, nothing shall perish.

For because He had foretold that there should be commotions, and wars, and changes, both of the elements and in other things, lest any one might suspect that Christianity itself also would perish, He adds, Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away: as if He said, Though all things should be shaken, yet shall my faith fail not. Whereby He implies that He sets the Church before the whole creation. The creation shall suffer change, but the Church of the faithful and the words of the Gospel shall abide for ever.

(de Con. Ev. l. ii. c. 77.) This is supposed to be that flight which Matthew mentions; which must not be in the winter or on the sabbath day. To the winter belong the cares of this life, which are mournful as the winter, but to the sabbath surfeiting and drunkenness, which drowns and buries the heart in carnal luxury and delight, since on that day the Jews are immersed in worldly pleasure, while they are lost to a spiritual sabbath.

(Hom. 1. in illud Atten de tibi.) Every animal has within itself certain instincts which it has received from God, for the preservation of its own being. Wherefore Christ has also given us this warning, that what comes to them by nature, may be ours by the aid of reason and prudence: that we may flee from sin as the brute creatures shun deadly food, but that we seek after righteousness, as they wholesome herbs. Therefore saith He, Take heed to yourselves, that is, that you may distinguish the noxious from the wholesome. But since there are two ways of taking heed to ourselves, the one with the bodily eyes, the other by the faculties of the soul, and the bodily eye does not reach to virtue; it remains that we speak of the operations of the soul. Take heed, that is, Look around you on all sides, keeping an ever watchful eye to the guardianship of your soul. He says not, Take heed to your own or to the things around, but to yourselves. For ye are mind and spirit, your body is only of sense. Around you are riches, arts, and all the appendages of life, you must not mind these, but your soul, of which you must take especial care. The same admonition tends both to the healing of the sick, and the perfecting of those that are well, namely, such as are the guardians of the present, the providers of the future, not judging the actions of others, but strictly searching their own, not suffering the mind to be the slave of their passions, but subduing the irrational part of the soul to the rational. But the reason why we should take heed He adds as follows, Lest at any time your hearts be overcharged, &c.

(in Reg. Brev. ad int. 88.) But carefulness, or the care of this life, although it seems to have nothing unlawful in it, nevertheless if it conduce not to religion, must be avoided. And the reason why He said this He shows by what comes next, And so that day come upon you unawares.

But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day come upon you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. O foolish presumption of the human heart, which foresees the lamentable end of greed, drunkenness, and carousing, not even with the judge himself testifying, but, like the edict of the eternal King, after having learned it, despises it like a wicked servant. And certainly, if any skilled and wise doctor were to instruct us: Take heed, saying to you, lest one (for example) too eagerly takes of the juice of this or that herb; for if he does this, sudden destruction will come upon him, how diligently would every man keep the commands of the forewarning doctor, so that by refraining from the forbidden, he might not perish? But now the Saviour and Lord of both souls and bodies commands the herb of drunkenness and carousing to be avoided, as well as the cares of the world, as if they were deadly juices, yet how many of us fear not only to be wounded by these but also to be consumed? I believe there is no other cause, but that they despise to give the same credence to the words of the Lord as they do to those of a doctor. For if they had believed, surely by believing they would fear, and by fearing they would beware of impending danger. But they, on the contrary, by remaining sluggish, prove how justly it is said: When the Son of Man comes, do you think he will find faith on earth (Luke XVIII)?

Now supposing a physician should bid us beware of the juice of a certain herb, lest a sudden death overtake us, we should most earnestly attend to his command; but when our Saviour warns us to shun drunkenness and surfeiting, and the cares of this world, men have no fear of being wounded and destroyed by them; for the faith which they put in the caution of the physician, they disdain to give to the words of God.

But take heed to yourselves, etc. After he instructed the disciples toward foresight and raised them to confidence, here thirdly he arouses them to vigilance: which indeed he does in four ways, namely by dissuading from the contrary, by intimating the danger, by persuading toward the purpose, and by introducing an example.

First therefore, as regards the dissuasion from the opposite of vigilance, he says: But take heed to yourselves, through vigilance, lest perhaps your hearts be weighed down, through drowsiness: Wisdom nine: "The body that is corrupted weighs down the soul": in surfeiting and drunkenness and cares of this life, through excess in gluttony; Sirach thirty-seven: "Because of surfeiting many have perished, but he who is abstinent shall prolong life." Moreover, this kind of excess renders us unfit for keeping watch concerning the study of truth: Proverbs twenty: "Wine is a luxurious thing, and drunkenness is tumultuous. Whoever delights in these will not be wise"; and therefore Ecclesiastes two: "I thought to withdraw my flesh from wine, that I might transfer my soul," etc. Likewise, concerning the exercise of virtue: Romans thirteen: "Let us walk honestly as in the day, not in revelries and drunkenness," etc.; and Philippians three: "Many walk, of whom I have often told you: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame"; and Romans sixteen: "Such men do not serve Christ, but their own belly." Likewise, concerning the height of contemplation: Ephesians five: "Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking to yourselves," etc.; Hebrews thirteen: "It is best to establish the heart with grace, not with foods"; because, Romans fourteen, "the kingdom of God is not food and drink, but justice and peace," etc.

Second, as regards the intimation of danger, he adds: And that day come upon you suddenly, on account of an unforeseen occurrence. For that which is not foreseen happens suddenly; Isaiah thirty: "Suddenly, when it is not expected, its destruction shall come." For that day of judgment comes suddenly upon those who have not prepared themselves against it: above, chapter twelve: "If that servant shall say: My lord delays his coming, and shall begin to eat and drink and be drunk: the lord of that servant shall come in a day that he does not expect, and at an hour that he does not know: and shall cut him asunder and shall appoint his portion with the unfaithful."

(Clem. Al. lib. ii. Pædag. c. 2.) Drunkenness is an excessive use of wine; crapula is the uneasiness, and nausea attendant on drunkenness, a Greek word so called from the motion of the head. And a little below. As then we must partake of food lest we suffer hunger, so also of drink lest we thirst, but with still greater care to avoid falling into excess. For the indulgence of wine is deceitful, and the soul when free from wine will be the wisest and best, but steeped in the fumes of wine is lost as in a cloud.

Antony said, 'I think that the body has a natural movement within itself, which obeys the orders of the mind, a kind of inclination of which the body's actions are only symptoms. There is a second movement in the body, caused by eating and drinking, by which the blood is heated and excited. That is why St Paul said, 'Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess' (Eph. 5:18), and again the Lord commanded his disciples in the Gospel, 'See that your hearts be not overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness' (Luke 21:34). There is a third movement which comes from the deceit and envy of demons against those who are trying to live a good life. It is a help to know that there are three bodily inclinations – from nature, from too much food, and from the demons.'

He taught them therefore to take heed unto the things we have just before mentioned, lest they fall into the indolence resulting therefrom. Hence it follows, Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all those things that shall come to pass.

And therefore did the Lord say to His disciples, to make us become good workmen: "Take heed to yourselves, and watch continually upon every occasion, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day shall come upon you unawares; for as a snare shall it come upon all dwelling upon the face of the earth." ...[In these passages] He declares one and the same Lord, who in the times of Noah brought the deluge because of men's disobedience, and who also in the days of Lot rained fire from heaven because of the multitude of sinners among the Sodomites, and who, on account of this same disobedience and similar sins, will bring on the day of judgment at the end of time...

For this reason the Lord also said, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good deeds, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." And, "Take heed to yourselves, lest perchance your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and worldly cares." ...All such passages demonstrate the independent will of man, and at the same time the counsel which God conveys to him, by which He exhorts us to submit ourselves to Him, and seeks to turn us away from [the sin of] unbelief against Him, without, however, in any way coercing us.

And therefore it is ordered that a virgin shall not taste of this vine, so that she may be sober and watchful from the cares of life, and may kindle the shining torch of the light of righteousness for the Word. "Take heed to yourselves," says the Lord, "lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares, as a snare."

Then, moreover, the Savior too, with the authority of the Lord and King, establishing laws and ordinances at once for priests and for the peoples, says: "Take heed, lest perhaps your hearts be weighed down with drunkenness and surfeiting and with the cares of this world, and that sudden destruction come upon you". You have heard the edict of the eternal King, and you have learned the lamentable end of "drunkenness" or "surfeiting". If some skilled and wise physician were to prescribe to you in these very words and say: Take heed to yourselves, lest anyone, for example's sake, take too greedily of the juice of this or that herb; for if he does so, sudden destruction will come upon him—I do not doubt that everyone, with regard to his own health, would keep the precepts of the physician who forewarned him. But now the physician of souls and bodies, and at the same time the Lord, bids the herb of "drunkenness" and of "surfeiting" be shunned, and likewise the deadly juices, as it were, of worldly cares be guarded against. And I know not whether any of us is not consumed in these things—not to say wounded. Drunkenness by wine, then, is pernicious in all respects; for it alone is the thing that renders both the body and the soul feeble at once. In other matters indeed it can come to pass that, according to the Apostle, when the body "is weakened", then the spirit "is the more powerful", and where "he who is without, the man, is corrupted, he who is within is renewed". But in the sickness of drunkenness the body and the soul are corrupted together, the spirit is vitiated along with the flesh. All the members are feeble, the feet, the hands, the tongue slackened; darkness veils the eyes, forgetfulness veils the mind, so that a man does not know nor perceive himself to be a man. This, then, drunkenness has first, of bodily disgrace.

Now Paul crieth unto us, "Let not your hearts be made heavy through the eating of flesh and the drinking of wine," that he may teach us that meat maketh heavy the heart, but they ate and did not become heavy, and they ate, moreover, that they might show that their lightness was more powerful than the heaviness of meat, and that by that thing which maketh dense the heart their mind became the brighter, and that by that which maketh heavy the body, and darkeneth the mind, the lightness of their understanding became more luminous. For being abstinent, that they should be clean, and pure, and holy, was not accounted by them so great a thing as that they should be purified in the matter of the things which make gross the heart, that is to say, that they should be purified in the matter of the things which are the contrary of purity, that they might overcome like mighty men that which was opposed to them, and that, like men of power and freemen, they might be uninjured by the things which cause injury.

Let the disciples also be warned, "lest their hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this world; and so that day come upon them unawares, like a snare " -if indeed they should forget God amidst the abundance and occupation of the world.

You, he says, have heard about the horrors and commotions. All of them sensibly prefigure those calamities that will befall sinners. But against these misfortunes there is a powerful and counteracting remedy – prayer and attentiveness to oneself. For constant readiness and expectation of the end can overcome all of this. And you will have it on this condition, he says, if you are watchful and your hearts are not weighed down with "carousing and drunkenness, and the cares of this life."

Our Lord declared above the fearful and sensible signs of the evils which should overtake sinners, against which the only remedy is watching and prayer, as it is said, And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time, &c.

As if He says, Beware lest the eyes of your mind wax heavy. For the cares of this life, and surfeiting, and drunkenness, scare away prudence, shatter and make shipwreck of faith.