Saturday of the 21st week after Pentecost

Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him, how he entered the house of God and took the showbread, and ate, and gave it to those who were with him, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests alone? The history of the Kings recounts that blessed David, avoiding Saul's traps, came to the priest Abimelech in Nob and asked for food for himself and his followers. But finding no common bread, and only after learning that the young men had been clean from women since the day before yesterday, the priest did not hesitate to give the consecrated bread, deeming it better, in the prophet's words: I desire mercy and not sacrifice (Matt. IX), to save men from the danger of hunger than to offer a sacrifice to God. For the sacrifice pleasing to God is the salvation of men. Therefore, the Lord opposes the calumniating Pharisees and says: If David is holy and Abimelech the high priest is not reproached by you, but each is excused with a plausible explanation for breaking the command of the law, and hunger is the reason, why do you not approve the same hunger in the apostles as you approve in others? Although there is much difference in this too, these rub the ears of grain with their hands on the Sabbath, those eat the Levitical bread and approached the Sabbath solemnity. For the showbread was baked before the Sabbath and laid on the sacred table on the Sabbath morning, twelve in pairs facing each other, with two golden bowls full of incense placed on top. They remained until the next Sabbath, and then others were brought in their place, and those were given to the priests. With the incense burned in the sacred fire where all holocausts used to be made, more incense was added on top of the other twelve loaves. Thus, when David arrived and took the consecrated loaves, it figuratively showed that the priestly food was to be transferred to the use of the people. Whether because we all ought to imitate the priestly life, or because all the children of the Church are priests. For we are anointed into a holy priesthood, offering ourselves as spiritual sacrifices to God.

Now the authority of Truth subjoined the confutation of the accusers, and he notes this when he adds: And Jesus answering them, said. Now Truth confounds the Pharisees and defends the disciples by the authority of Scripture and also by his own. By the authority of Scripture he shows that the commandment concerning the Sabbath did not bind in a case of necessity: and this he shows by the example of David, which he intimates when he says: Have you not read this? and if you have read it, you have not understood: Job 4: "Because no one understands, they perish forever"; or if you have read it, you have not remembered, according to that of Ezekiel 7: "The Law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from his elders," as if to say: you, who are zealots of the Law, ought to have read, not to be ignorant, lest that of John 3 could be said to you: "You are a teacher in Israel, and you do not know these things"? And truly they ought to have read it, because the deed was very notable, namely what David did, when he himself was hungry and those who were with him.

But the contrary of this saying seems to appear in 1 Kings 21: "Why have you come alone, and no one is with you"? But it says that because he did not have a noble company, since he was "the king's son-in-law" and a great prince. Whence it is added in the same place that "the vessels of the young men were holy." Therefore he had company, although not so great or notable: and those were his companions in the deed, so that they cannot say that it was done on account of a special privilege.

Now although David acted contrary to what the law approves, he is rightly and justly esteemed by us as worthy of all admiration because he was truly a saint and prophet. Since the law of Moses expressly commands justice and does not consider the person being judged, "how," he says, "do you condemn my disciples while you still admire as a saint and prophet the blessed David, although he did not keep Moses' command?"

As if He said, Whereas the law of Moses expressly says, Give a righteous judgment, and ye shall not respect persons in judgment, (Deut. 1:16, 17.) how now do ye blame My disciples, who even to this day extol David as a saint and prophet, though he kept not the commandment of Moses?

And again, the law did not forbid those who were hungry on the Sabbath-days to take food lying ready at hand: it did, however, forbid them to reap and to gather into the barn. And therefore did the Lord say to those who were blaming His disciples because they plucked and ate the ears of corn, rubbing them in their hands, "Have ye not read this, what David did, when himself was an hungered; how he went into the house of God, and ate the shew-bread, and gave to those who were with him; which it is not lawful to eat, but for the priests alone? " justifying His disciples by the words of the law, and pointing out that it was lawful for the priests to act freely. For David had been appointed a priest by God, although Saul persecuted him. For all the righteous possess the sacerdotal rank. And all the apostles of the Lord are priests, who do inherit here neither lands nor houses, but serve God and the altar continually. Of whom Moses also says in Deuteronomy, when blessing Levi, "Who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not known thee; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, and he disinherited his own sons: he kept Thy commandments, and observed Thy covenant." But who are they that have left father and mother, and have said adieu to all their neighbours, on account of the word of God and His covenant, unless the disciples of the Lord? Of whom again Moses says, "They shall have no inheritance, for the Lord Himself is their inheritance." And again, "The priests the Levites shall have no part in the whole tribe of Levi, nor substance with Israel; their substance is the offerings (fructifications) of the Lord: these shall they eat." Wherefore also Paul says, "I do not seek after a gift, but I seek after fruit." To His disciples He said, who had a priesthood of the Lord, to whom it was lawful when hungry to eat the ears of corn, "For the workman is worthy of his meat." And the priests in the temple profaned the Sabbath, and were blameless. Wherefore, then, were they blameless? Because when in the temple they were not engaged in secular affairs, but in the service of the Lord, fulfilling the law, but not going beyond it, as that man did, who of his own accord carried dry wood into the camp of God, and was justly stoned to death. "For every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be hewn down, and cast into the fire;" and "whosoever shall defile the temple of God, him shall God defile."

(ut sup.) And mark, that whenever the Lord speaks for His servants, (i. e. His disciples,) He brings forward servants, as for example David and the Priests; but when for Himself, He introduces His Father; as in that place, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. (John 5:17.)

Whence he adds: How he entered into the house of God, that is, into the tabernacle, because the house of God, that is, the temple, had not yet been built: 1 Chronicles 17: "You shall not build me a house to dwell in. For I have not remained in a house from the time I brought Israel out of Egypt even to this day." Nor did he merely enter into the house, that is, the tabernacle, but, what is more, he took the loaves of proposition, took them namely from the priest, and ate. And concerning these loaves, Exodus 25: "You shall set the loaves of proposition upon the table in my sight always," which are therefore called of proposition because on each Sabbath they were set upon the table.

And what is more: He himself ate and those who were with him, as it is said in 1 Kings 21: "The priest gave David hallowed bread; for there was no bread there but only the loaves of proposition," against the Law: whence he adds: Which it was not lawful to eat except for the priests alone; whence it is said in Leviticus 22, that "even the sojourner of a priest and a hireling were not to eat of the sanctified things." But in Leviticus 24 it is said concerning the loaves of proposition, that they were "for Aaron and his sons, that they might eat them in the holy place, because it is a most holy thing by an everlasting covenant." If therefore David did not sin, because necessity excused him from that precept, likewise also these who are compelled by necessity are not to be reproved, because they are excused by the necessity of hunger.

There is clearly indicated to us by the loaves of the showbread the bread that comes down from heaven to be set upon the holy tables of the churches and all the furniture of the table. Bread used for the performance of its mystical service was a plain type of the divine treasures. Spiritually the bread signifies the twelve apostles, of whom we shall speak in due order when our comments reach the disciples themselves.

And he said to them, because the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath. If, he said, King David who was fed with priestly food is excusable, and according to the faith of another Gospel, the priests violating the Sabbath through temple service are without crime, how much more the Son of Man, who is the true King and true Priest, and therefore the Lord of the Sabbath, is not held liable for the offense of plucking ears of grain on the Sabbath.

And lest anything be lacking to the authority of Scripture, he subjoins his own authority, by which he both willed and was able to grant them a dispensation. Which he indicates when he adds: And he said to them, that the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath. Now he calls himself the Son of man with respect to the humility of the humanity assumed, and he declares himself Lord of the Sabbath and of the Law with respect to the sublimity of the hidden Divinity: whence in Apocalypse 19 it is said that "he had on his garment and on his thigh written: King of kings and Lord of lords." And therefore it is said in the Psalm: "You have subjected all things under his feet"; this is said of the Son of man "made a little lower than the Angels" on account of the ignominy of the passion. And therefore as Lord he granted them a dispensation for a time, he who was afterwards to take away the observance of it.

(ubi sup.) But Mark declares that He uttered this of our common nature, for He said, The sabbath was made for man, not, man for the sabbath. It is therefore more fitting that the sabbath should be subject to man, than that man should bow his neck to the sabbath.

Wishing, therefore, to initiate them into this meaning of the law by the restoration of the withered hand, He requires, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath-days to do good, or not? to save life, or to destroy it? " In order that He might, whilst allowing that amount of work which He was about to perform for a soul, remind them what works the law of the Sabbath forbade-even human works; and what it enjoined-even divine works, which might be done for the benefit of any soul, He was called "Lord of the Sabbath," because He maintained the Sabbath as His own institution.

But he reproves them in another way, as it is added, And he said unto them, that the So of man is Lord also of the sabbath. As if he said, I am the Lord of the sabbath, as being He who ordained it, and as the Legislator I have power to loose the sabbath; for Christ was called the Son of man, who being the Son of God yet condescended in a miraculous manner to be made and called for man's sake the Son of man.

(de Con. Ev. l. ii. c. 35.) But it may be questioned how Matthew came to say, that they asked the Lord, whether it was lawful to heal on the sabbath, when Luke in this place states that they rather were asked of the Lord. We must therefore believe that they first asked the Lord, and that then He understanding by their thoughts that they sought an opportunity to accuse Him, placed the man in the midst whom He was going to heal, and asked the question which Mark and Luke relate Him to have asked. It follows, And looking round about upon them all.

He himself knew their thoughts, etc. This is what we read: The Lord knows the thoughts of men, that they are vain (Psalm XCIII). And what follows: Blessed is the man whom you instruct, Lord, and teach him out of your law (Ibid.). This is said about those who have learned that the law fulfilled through Christ, not to be a carnal commandment for us, but a spiritual Sabbath.

But he himself knew their thoughts. After the opportunity of the miraculous work, there is added here the sublimity of the wondrous worker with respect to three things, namely with respect to the wisdom of discerning in the heart, the prudence of questioning in speech, and the efficacy of healing in deed. First therefore, through wisdom in the heart he apprehended their thoughts, which he notes when he says: But he himself knew their thoughts: and truly so, because the Lord is most wise; whence in the Psalm: "The Lord knows the thoughts of men, that they are vain." And therefore their thoughts were open to the eyes of God; on account of which Isaiah 1 says: "Take away the evil of your thoughts from before my eyes"; whence also John 16: "The disciples said to him: Now we know that you know all things, and there is no need for anyone to question you." Nor is this surprising, because he is the one of whom Jeremiah 17 says: "I the Lord, searching hearts and reins, who give to each one according to his way."

As testimony of this, to show himself the knower of hearts, he commands this man who is to be healed to rise into the midst, when he adds: And he said to the man who had the withered hand; on whose account they were thinking proud thoughts, so that there could be said to them that word of Ecclesiasticus 37: "O most wicked presumption! Whence were you created, to cover the dry land with malice?" Rise and stand in the midst, that is, in a conspicuous place, so that all might know that their thoughts had been detected, according to that word of Ecclesiasticus 1: "Do not approach him with a double heart"; "lest God reveal your hidden things and cast you down in the midst of the synagogue"; because, according to what is said in Proverbs 26, "he who covers hatred fraudulently, his malice shall be manifested in the assembly." And rising up, he stood, not fearing the indignation of the Pharisees. For he was saying within himself that word of Job 17: "Deliver me, O Lord, and set me beside you, and let the hand of anyone fight against me"; and again that word of the Psalm: "If armies should stand against me, my heart shall not fear"; whence, strengthened by the Lord's command, he stood secure. Nor is this strange, because to him can rightly be said that word of Job 4: "Behold, you have taught many and have strengthened weary hands"; whence he could say that word of Daniel 10: "And when he spoke to me, I recovered strength and said: Speak, my Lord, for you have strengthened me."

Once more he spoke to this; "he reveals deep and mysterious things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him." And why did he do this? Perhaps it might be to move the cruel and unpitying Pharisee to compassion. The man's malady [his withered hand] perhaps might shame them and persuade them to dispel the flames of their envy.

For this is the way of the envious man, he feeds in himself his pang of grief with the praises of others. But the Lord knew all things, and searches the hearts; as it follows, But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man who had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand. And he arose, and stood forth, that perchance he might stir up the cruel Pharisees to pity, and allay the flames of their passion.

"Are you angry at me because I have healed the whole man on the sabbath day?" In this place he revivified with the salutary strength of good works the hand which Adam stretched out to pluck the fruit of the forbidden tree. The hand which had withered through a crime was healed by good deeds. Christ thereby rebuked the Jews who violated the precepts of the law with evil interpretations. They thought that they should rest even from good works on the sabbath, since the law prefigured in the present the form of the future in which indeed the days of rest from evils, not from blessings, would come.

But the law by things present prefigured the form of things future, among which surely the days of rest to come are to be not from good works but from evil. For although secular works may be given up, yet it is no idle act of a good work to rest in the praise of God.

Aug. de Qu. Ev. l. iii. qu. 7.) But though our Lord was healing the body, He asked this question, "is it lawful to save the soul or to lose it?" either because He performed His miracles on account of faith in which is the salvation of the soul; or, because the cure of the right hand signified the salvation of the soul, which ceasing to do good works, seemed in some measure to have a withered right hand, i. e. He placed the soul for the man, as men are wont to say, "So many souls were there."

But Jesus said to them: I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do evil on the Sabbath? The Lord, anticipating the calumny of the Jews which they had prepared for him with a treacherous mind, reproached them because they violated the commandments of the law with a twisted interpretation, thinking that even good works should be refrained from on the Sabbath, whereas the law commands to abstain from evil works saying: You shall do no servile work on it (Levit. XXIII), that is, sin: For everyone who commits sin is a servant of sin (John VIII). By the same commandment, at the same time foreshadowing the form of the future age, where those who have done good through the six ages of this world, in the seventh rest, will have holidays only from evil, but not also from good. For although secular works rest, nevertheless the act of good work is not idle in resting in the praise of God.

To save a soul, or to lose it? This is to care for a man, or not. It is the same as what was previously stated: To do good, or to do evil. Not that God, supremely good, could be the author of evil or destruction for us, but because His not saving, according to the custom of Scripture, is said to destroy. As it is said that He hardened Pharaoh's heart, not that He hardened a soft one, but that He, not mercifully softening what was already hardened by preceding merits. And when we pray, lead us not into temptation (Matthew 6), immediately adding: but deliver us from evil (ibid.), we are plainly taught that His not leading into temptation is nothing other than delivering from evil; His destroying a soul is not to save it from destruction. If anyone is moved by the question of why the Lord, when He was going to heal the body, asked about the salvation of the soul, let him understand either that the soul is put forth for the man by the manner of the Scriptures, as it is said: these are the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob (Exodus 1); or that those miracles were performed for the health of the soul, or that the healing of the hand itself signified the health of the soul, which seemed to have a certain dry right hand, ceasing from good works (as I have foretold).

But the Lord anticipating the false charge which they were preparing against Him, reproves those who by wrongly interpreting the law thought that they must rest on the sabbath-day even from good works; whereas the law commands us to abstain from servile works, i. e. from evil, on the sabbath. Hence it follows, Then said Jesus unto them, I ask you, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath, &c.

Secondly, by prudence in speech he was turning aside their machinations; on account of which is added: And Jesus said to them: I ask you. But the contrary of this seems to be said in Matthew 12, where it is said that they were asking the Lord: "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" To which Augustine responds, in On the Harmony of the Evangelists, that first they asked, and the Lord replied to them. Or it can be that the form of questioning follows the interior thought. Matthew understands that in the ears of God to think is to speak, and to doubt is to question.

And he poses a careful question: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good, or to do evil: to save a life, or to destroy it? He asks this not as something doubtful, but as something indubitably true, so that one part of the disjunction must be granted. For it is established that on the Sabbath it is lawful either to do good or not to do good; to save a life, or not to save, because between contradictory opposites there is no middle ground. But not to do good, when there is occasion and opportunity, is to neglect the good, and this is to do evil. Therefore this is a certain and true disjunction, of which it is necessary to grant one part; but they cannot grant this part: that it is lawful to do evil, or to destroy a life. It remains, therefore, that by this question they are refuted, namely that it is lawful on the Sabbath to do good and to heal a life; and thus they could not respond. Whence was fulfilled that word of Job 9: "If he should suddenly question, who will answer him? Or who can say to him: Why do you act thus?" And therefore Romans 9: "O man! Who are you to answer back to God?" Whence it is said in Job 9 that "he cannot answer him one thing out of a thousand." In Matthew 12, however, this disjunction is not proposed in this way, but the other part is sought and proved from the lesser through the freeing of a sheep from a pit; much more, therefore, must a man be freed, of whom it is said in the Psalm: "You have subjected all things under his feet," etc.

This question is most wise indeed and a most suitable statement to meet their folly. If it is lawful to do good on the sabbath and nothing prevents the sick being pitied by God, cease picking up opportunities for fault-finding against Christ and bringing down on your own head the sentence which the Father has decreed against those who dishonor the Son. You have heard the Father where he says of the Son by the voice of David, "I will crush his foes before him and strike down those who hate him." But if it is not lawful to do good on the sabbath and the law forbids the saving of life, you have made yourself an accuser of the law.

This is a very useful question, for if it is lawful to do good on the sabbath, and there is no reason why those who work should not obtain mercy from God, cease to gather up accusation against Christ. But if it be not lawful to do good on the sabbath, and the law prohibits the safety of life, thou art become the accuser of the law. For if we examine the very institution of the sabbath, we shall find it was introduced for an object of mercy, for God commanded to keep holy the sabbath, that may rest thy man servant and thy maid servant, and all thy cattle. (Exod. 20:23.) But he who has mercy on his ox, and the rest of his cattle, how much rather will he not have mercy on man troubled with a severe disease?

Wishing, therefore, to initiate them into this meaning of the law by the restoration of the withered hand, He requires, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath-days to do good, or not? to save life, or to destroy it? " In order that He might, whilst allowing that amount of work which He was about to perform for a soul, remind them what works the law of the Sabbath forbade-even human works; and what it enjoined-even divine works, which might be done for the benefit of any soul, He was called "Lord of the Sabbath," because He maintained the Sabbath as His own institution.

Then you heard the words of the Lord, saying, "Stretch forth your hand." That is the common and universal remedy. You who think that you have a healthy hand beware lest it is withered by greed or by sacrilege. Hold it out often. Hold it out to the poor person who begs you. Hold it out to help your neighbor, to give protection to a widow, to snatch from harm one whom you see subjected to unjust insult. Hold it out to God for your sins. The hand is stretched forth; then it is healed. Jeroboam's hand withered when he sacrificed to idols; then it stretched out when he entreated God.

You have heard then the words of Him who says, Stretch forth thy hand. That is a frequent and common cure, and thou that thinkest thy hand is whole, beware lest it be contracted by avarice or sacrilege. Stretch it forth oftener to help thy neighbour, to protect the widow, to save from injury him whom you see the victim of unjust attack; stretch it forth to the poor man who beseeches thee; stretch it forth to the Lord, to ask pardon of thy sins; as the hand is stretched forth so is it healed. (1 Kings 13:5, 6.)

And looking around at all of them, He said to the man: Stretch out your hand. And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The dry hand to be healed is commanded to be stretched out, because the barrenness of an unfruitful soul is cured by nothing better than the generosity of almsgiving. Hence John the Baptist, when asked by the crowds what they should do so as not to be cast into fire like barren trees, only gave this command: He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise (Luke 3). And in Ecclesiasticus, it is said: Son, let not your hand be extended to receive, and shut when it should be giving (Ecclesiasticus 4). For in vain does one stretch out his hand to God to pray for sins, who does not extend it to bring benefit to a begging widow.

The man represents the human race, withered by the unfruitfulness of good works, because of the hand in our first parent stretched forth to take the apple, which was healed by the innocent hand stretched forth on the cross. And rightly was the withered hand in the synagogue, because where there is the greater gift of knowledge, there the transgressor lies under the greater blame.

Third, through efficacy in deed he overthrew their presumptions; on account of which it is added: And looking around at all of them, as though already confounded, so that he could now say that word of Job 17: "Therefore turn and come, and I shall not find among you any wise man." And because no one could contradict, for the confirmation of the truth it is added: He said to the man: Stretch out your hand. And since "his word is full of power," as is said in Ecclesiastes 8, therefore it is added: And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored to health: in which the Lord showed that he is Lord of the Law and of the Sabbath. For he it was who healed the hand of Moses, in Exodus 4, by his command alone; he it was also who withered and again healed the hand of Jeroboam, the idolatrous king of Israel, as is told in 3 Kings 13; he, I say, is the one of whom it is said that "he wounds and he heals, he strikes, and his hands shall heal"; of whom it is said in the Psalm: "Who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your infirmities"; and this by his word alone, so that it may be made manifest that he is the one of whom Wisdom 16 says: "Your word, O Lord, healed them, who heals all things." For just as the Father made all things through the uncreated Word, so through the incarnate Word, as Augustine says, he remade all things.

Spiritually it is to be understood that dryness in the soul is a defect of vigor on account of the absence of grace, according to that passage in John 15: "If anyone does not abide in me, he shall be cast out like the branch and shall wither." But this dryness is introduced from seven causes according to the seven capital sins. Whence note that there is a dryness of pride, or arising from pride: Ecclesiasticus 10: "The Lord dried up the roots of proud nations." And of envy: James 1: "The sun rose with its burning heat and dried up the grass"; and in the Psalm: "Let them become like the grass of the housetops." And of wrath, concerning which Mark chapter nine says of the demoniac who "foams and gnashes his teeth and withers away." And of sloth: Proverbs chapter seventeen: "A sorrowful spirit dries up the bones"; Numbers chapter eleven: "Our soul is dried up," "it is nauseated by this most light food." And of avarice: Sirach chapter fourteen: "The eye of the covetous man is insatiable in the portion of iniquity; he shall not be satisfied until he consumes, withering his own soul." And of gluttony: Nahum chapter one: "The banquet of those drinking together shall be consumed like stubble full of dryness." And of lust: The Psalm: "My bones are burned as a hearth; I am struck like grass, and my heart has withered," etc.; "All flesh is grass," Isaiah chapter forty; and Job chapter thirty: "My skin is blackened upon me, and my bones are dried up."

Thus therefore from seven causes spiritual dryness is understood, which is also sevenfold: namely, dryness of the heart for thinking well: Isaiah chapter twenty-one: "My heart has withered; darkness has stupefied me." And dryness of the mouth for desiring: Judith chapter seven: "Our end will be brief by the mouth of the sword, which becomes longer in the dryness of thirst." And of the word for teaching: Hosea chapter nine: "Give them, O Lord, a womb without children and dry breasts." And dryness of the arm for working: Zechariah chapter eleven: "His arm shall be dried up with dryness." And dryness of the hand for giving generously: Job chapter fifteen: "Before his days are fulfilled, he shall perish, and his hand shall wither." And of the skin for conducting oneself: Job chapter seven: "My skin is dried up and shrunken." There is lastly dryness of strength for enduring; the Psalm: "My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue has cleaved to my jaws."

Now this sick man having a withered hand signifies the dryness of avarice, which is healed when by divine command the hand is extended to give alms generously, according to that passage in the last chapter of Proverbs: "She opened her hand to the needy and extended her palms to the poor." And that extension obtains the vigor of grace, according to that passage in Sirach chapter seventeen: "The alms of a man is as a purse with him, and it shall preserve the grace of a man as the apple of the eye." An example and proof of this appears manifestly in a certain king of England, who gave generous alms, whose hand and arm remains whole and incorrupt, since a certain bishop said to him one day, when he had extended his hand to give a poor person a silver dish that he had before him, that his hand would never wither — which word is said to have been fulfilled up to the present day.

Thou perceivest, O Pharisee, a divine Worker, and Him Who delivers the sick by His heavenly power, and out of envy thou breathest forth death.

When the eyes of all were, as it were, riveted together, and their minds also fixed upon the consideration of the matter, he said to the man, Stretch forth thy hand; I command thee, Who created man. But he who had the withered hand hears, and is made whole, as it follows, And he stretched it, and it was restored.