Thursday of the 26th week after Pentecost

Here they proved that they were true sons of Abraham, because by a similar pattern they followed the Savior on hearing God's voice. For they immediately gave up hope of material advantage that they might seek eternal rewards. They left behind their earthly father that they might have a heavenly Father, and hence not undeservedly were they chosen. So the Lord chose fishermen who in a better way of plying their fishing trade were converted from earthly to heavenly fishing, that they might catch the human race for salvation like fish from the deep waters of error, according to what the Lord himself said to them: "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men." It was the very same thing he had promised through Jeremiah the prophet: "Behold, I am sending for many fishers, says the Lord, and they shall catch them; and afterward I will send for many hunters and they shall hunt them." So we see that the apostles are called not only fishermen but also hunters: fishermen, for in the nets of gospel preaching they catch all believers like fish in the world; hunters, for they catch for salvation by heavenly hunting those people who are roving in this world as though in the woods of error and who are living like wild animals.

It is quite false, in my experience, to say that Jesuits, or any other Roman priests, pester and persecute people in order to proselytise. Nobody has any notion of what the whole story is about, who does not know that, through those long and dark and indecisive days, it is the man who persecutes himself. The apparent inaction of the priest may be something like the statuesque stillness of the angler; and such an attitude is not unnatural in the functions of a fisher of men. But it is very seldom impatient or premature and the person acted upon is quite lonely enough to realise that it is nothing merely external that is tugging at his liberty.

(interlin.) Follow me, not so much with your feet as in your hearts and your life.

(Ver. 19, 20.) Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men. And immediately they left their nets and followed him. These first ones were called to follow the Lord: fishermen and unlettered men are sent to preach, lest the faith of believers be thought to come about not by the power of God, but by eloquence and teaching.

The operations of their secular craft were a prophecy of their future dignity. As he who casts his net into the water knows not what fishes he shall take, so the teacher casts the net of the divine word upon the people, not knowing who among them will come to God. Those whom God shall stir abide in his doctrine.

Fishers of men, that is, teachers, that with the net of God's word you may catch men out of this world of storm and danger, in which men do not walk but are rather borne along, the Devil by pleasure drawing them into sin where men devour one another as the stronger fishes do the weaker, withdrawn from hence they may live upon the land, being made members of Christ's body.

Come follow Me and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed Him. Behold obedient men, who followed Him immediately. From this it is clear that this is the second time that He called them. For they had been taught by Christ on a previous occasion (Jn. 1:35-42), then left Him, and when they saw Him again followed Him readily.

And he said to them. Here is described their call, concerning which three things must be considered: first, he invites them; secondly, he promises them a new position; thirdly, a reward.

He says, therefore: Come. This is entirely from God's generosity that he draws them to himself: "Come to me, you who desire me, and eat your full of my produce" (Sir 24:19); "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Mt 11:28). After me. As if to say: I go, and you come after me, because I will be your leader: "I will teach you the way of wisdom; I will lead you into the paths of righteousness. When you walk, your step will not be hampered; and if you run, you will not stumble" (Pr 4:11).

I will make, i.e., I will change your occupation into something higher: "I am sending for many fishers, says the Lord, and they shall catch them" (Jer 16:16). He says, I will make, because the preacher labors in vain outwardly, unless the grace of the Redeemer is present inwardly; for it is not by his power that he draws men but by the action of Christ.

Therefore, he says I will make. This, indeed, is the greatest dignity; hence, Denis: "Nothing is more dignified among men's occupations than to be made a cooperator with God." For the dignity consists in its splendor. But those so enlightened as to enlighten others draw more closely to that dignity. But although men who follow Christ enlighten and do great things regarding righteousness, yet they assert the dignity of Christ in regard to one thing only; but the life of preachers in regard to two things: "Those who turn many to righteousness shall shine like the stars forever and ever" (Dan 12:3).

From this we learn then, that we are not ourselves the masters, but rather the stewards of the property of others.

I HAVE often said to you in my discourses, that there is one fictitious and false conception prevalent among men, which multiplies their transgressions, and diminishes the good which we ought, each of us, to do. And this false conception is, that all that we have to enjoy in this life we possess as lords and masters. And on account of this notion we do fiercely fight and war and contend for it and protect it to the uttermost as a precious possession. Now the truth of the matter is not so, but quite otherwise. For none of those things which we have received is our own, nor do we as absolute possessors and lords dwell in this life as in a house of our own; but as sojourners, and strangers, and wanderers, and when we do not expect it, we are led whither we would not go. And when it seems good to the Lord we are deprived of the possession of our wealth. Wherefore the enjoyment of this perishable life is very liable to change. He who is to-day glorious, is to-morrow an object of pity, eliciting compassion and help. He who is now prosperous and flourishing in wealth, suddenly finds himself poor, without even bread to support life. In this respect especially does our God surpass mortals, in that he is always the same, and in the same state, and possesses life and glory and power inalienable. Why I have thus begun my discourse, is perhaps already perceived by those who are attentive and intelligent. Luke has fashioned us a parable that, by way of preface, was just now read to us, in which he describes the steward of other men's goods as groaning and troubled, because, being luxurious and extravagant, he has heard from the master of the money and property, the words, "Give an account of thy stewardship and depart, for I will not suffer thee to revel in my possessions, as though they were thine own." Now this is not the narrative of a thing that really took place, but the fiction of a parable, which by obscure sayings inculcates moral virtue. Know then, that each one of you is an administrator of what belongs to another; cast off then the pride of authority, and put on the humility and prudence of a steward, accountable for his acts. Be always waiting for your Lord, to whom with fear you must render a strict account. For you are a sojourner who has received the privilege of only a temporary and fleeting use of the things in your possession. And if you are in doubt about this, observe what happens, and be taught by experience, that trustworthy teacher. You possess an estate, having either inherited it from your fathers, or obtained it by some exchange. Call up therefore in memory and count over, if you can, all who have occupied it before you. And direct your mind also to the time to come, and think how many are to occupy it after you. Then tell me who owns it, and to whom does it especially belong; those who have had it, or those who now have it, or those who in the future are to have it? For if some one should in some way or other call them all together, the owners would be found more numerous than the clods. And, further, if you wish to see exactly what our life is like, call to mind if ever in summer, while traveling, you have seen a flourishing tree extending far enough in breadth and height to serve with its shadow the purpose of a shelter. You were glad to come under its shade, and there you remained as long as possible. And when it was necessary to move on, even as you were thinking of setting off again, another wayfarer appeared. And you took up your luggage while he laid his down and appropriated all your conveniences, the. bed of leaves, the fire, the shade of the tree, the water flowing by. And he began to recline and rest, while you resumed your walk. He, too, enjoyed the place and then left it. And that one tree was, in a single day, the temporary lodging-place for perhaps ten strangers. And that which was enjoyed by all belonged to but one owner. And thus also the abundance of our life here delights and supports many, while it belongs to God alone, who has imperishable and indestructible life. You can call to mind an inn where, when traveling, you have put up. There, as you brought nothing with you, you were provided with many things, bed, table, drinking-cups, a plate and other dishes of all sorts. But perhaps before you had used them as long as you wished, another came, panting, covered with dust and hard after you, forcing you from the inn and demanding as though they were his own the things that really belonged to neither of you. Such, brethren, is our life, and, if anything, it is still more transitory than the things I have mentioned. And I wonder at the way men say, "my estate," and "my house," and thus appropriate by an idle syllable things which are not theirs, and, with two deceptive letters, clutch things belonging to others. For as on the stage no one actor has exclusive right to any given character, but any actor may assume |53 it, so is it in the case of the earth and its material things. Men one after another put them on and off like garments. Tell me, is there anything more enduring than a kingdom? And yet, consider the palaces, search for the royal robes. You will find that many of these have covered the bodies of several successive kings. And in like manner also the crowns, and the clasps, and the girdles----all an unstable heritage, a property common to them all, passing over from those who go to those who remain. And of what worth are the possessions of magistrates, the canopy, the silver chariot, the golden wand? Do not these things always attend the magistrate, yet never the same one long, but each for a little season? For as the bier receives now one form, now another, so also the insignia of office pass from one magistrate to another. Hence, too, the apostle has uttered very many calls to us indicative of this thought. "For the fashion of this world passeth away"; and the phrase, "As having nothing, and yet possessing all things"; and again, "Who use it as not abusing it." For all these sayings have this one intent, that it becomes us to live as creatures of a day, awaiting the signal for our departure. And that you may clearly see that you are subject to the laws and ordinances of the Lord, to which it is incumbent on you strictly to conform, first, learn from self-observation that both your body and soul are wholly subject to the commands of virtue, and you are not master even of yourself, but it behooves you to act as a steward both in word and deed, and in every movement of your life. You have received from the Creator a body composed of many members and endowed with five senses for the needs of life. And not even these are free and independent, but each is subject to law. And first, the eye is commanded, "Look upon nature and behold what it is right to see: the sun, illuminating all the world; the moon, shining upon the gloom and dusk of night; the stars also giving us of themselves no great or independent light, but reflecting the beauty they receive. Behold the earth, hairy with plants and herbs"; the sea when it lies fixed in perfect calm, spread out like a level plain. For the sight of these and similar things benefit us. But other sights, which through the eye introduce harm into the soul, shun and flee, and put a veil over your eyes that you may not see. For it is better to darken the sense of sight, when it affords occasion for "the deeds of darkness." On this account, the Lord said to us through Matthew in the lesson of yesterday: "Every one that looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." And it is better to cut out the eye than that it should look upon things inordinate and lustful. And the ear also has been forbidden to listen to anything that is evil. But it is right that it be alert to hear whatever is good, that it may transmit to the soul profitable words. But if any evil companion, ready to deal out plague and destruction approach it, and be on the point of pouring into it filth, one should flee from him as from a venomous beast. Let the tongue also, together with the mouth, exercise discretion. Let it say what is right; but let it refrain from forbidden things----reproaches, slanders, unjust accusation, evil speaking against the brethren, blasphemy against God; and let it utter those things that are of good report, and pious; let it counsel good works, and let every man repeat the words of the sacred Psalmist: "I said, I will set a watch over my ways, that I sin not with my tongue:" again, "With their tongues they deal treacherously:" and again, "Why gloriest thou in evil, O man mighty in iniquity? All the day has thy tongue discoursed injustice; as a sharpened razor thou hast wrought deceit." Let the tongue taste profitable things. Let the nose also exercise discretion, not always scenting luxury, nor drawing into the head fragrant odors of costly perfumes. For against such things Isaiah vehemently inveighs. Let the hand, too, remember the commandments, that it touch not all things indiscriminately. Let it be outstretched in almsgiving, not in plundering. Let it keep its own, not wickedly seize the things of others. Let it in beneficent visitation touch the bodies that are feeble and distressed, not those that are lustful and devoted to fornication. This discourse has shown us that we are not our own masters, but stewards, for whoever is subject to laws and ordinances is a bond-servant and subject of the lawgiver. And if the members of our body are not free from authority, but regulated with reference to their functions, by the will of the Lord, what should be said to those who think that they have, without accountability, the possession of gold and silver and land and all other things? O man, nothing is your own. You are a slave and what is yours belongs to your Lord. For a slave has no property that is really his own. For naked you were brought into this life. What you have you have received by the dispensation of your Lord; whether you inherited it from a father, since God has so commanded,----for parents, he says, shall divide their possessions among their children, or have acquired affluence by marriage,----for marriage also and the things connected with it are ordained by God, or by trade and agriculture and other agencies, God cooperating in them. You see, then, it has been made evident that you have received things which are not your own. Let us now further observe what is incumbent on you, and what kind of control you have over them. Give to the hungry, clothe the naked, heal the afflicted, do not neglect the needy nor the outcast at the corners of the streets. Do not be anxious about yourself, nor stop to |60 consider how you will live to-morrow. If you do these things the Scripture says that you shall be honored by the Lawgiver. But if you do not heed the command, you shall be severely punished. These things I do not regard as characteristic of one who is irresponsible and lives in independence. But on the contrary, these numerous and repeated commands suggest to me a man strictly governed, subject to a master's laws, and rigidly accountable for his conduct as an administrator. But we, living how heedlessly, neglect the wretched and the poor, while they die in misfortune; and vying with each other in lavishness, spend our money on vanities, supporting a multitude of prodigal flatterers, and trailing after us hordes of ill-starred parasites; again, scattering our wealth to gladiators, and for wild beasts, and giving for horse-breeding |61 regardless of expense; and again, spending our abundance on jugglers and actors and persons equally worthless. And we have a fruitless experience, and one bordering on madness; for from expenditure that brings uncounted gain, and eternal salvation, we resolutely withhold our money, refusing to part with even a few obols; but where the expenditure is the occasion of sin and of countless pains and of the fiery punishment itself, of our own accord we let it flow. Prodigality anticipates the request, and opening all our doors, we lavish our wealth on those that are without. But this is not the mind of servants waiting for their lord, but of lusty, unbridled youths given over to revels. But if you wish, my hearer, to see a steward administering with fear and wise discretion the things committed to him, open the book of David; find those words |62 where one inquiring concerning the appointed time of his end, says to God, "Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the number of my days, that I may know what I lack." You see in these words, as an image in a mirror, the attitude of the one who prays; you see that he is very fearful; he foresees that which is to come, and, expecting judgment, is concerned about the appointed time, that the signal for his departure may not find him unprepared. And he seeks to number and know how many days still remain to him, in order that he may zealously fulfil his task before his Lord comes. Now if we carefully compare what the dying man experiences, and what the man who is cast out of his stewardship endures, we shall find that the end of each one of us is like that of a steward. For the dying man turns over his control of affairs to others, just as the steward does his keys; the latter on being cast out of an estate, the former on being cast out of the world. Deeply grieved, the steward retires from his own labors----from the estate rich in vineyards, gardens, houses. What then do you think the dying man experiences? Does he not bewail his possessions? Does he not piteously survey his house as, against his will, he is torn from it, and forced in spite of his attachments, to go far from his treasures and storehouses? And when he comes to the appointed place, when he hears the words, "Render the account of your stewardship, show how you have obeyed the commandments, how you have treated your fellow servants, whether properly and kindly or, on the contrary, grievously and tyrannically, smiting, punishing, and withholding the alms that mercy |64 dictates," then if he shall be able to render the master gracious, by showing that he has been a faithful servant, it shall be well with him. But if he cannot thus render him gracious there will remain for him not simply beating with rods, or the dark prison, and iron fetters, but fire unquenchable and eternal darkness, never illumined by a ray of light, and gnashing of teeth as the Gospel has plainly taught us. If indeed you are never to be cast out of your present possessions on the ground that they belong to another, revel in the world and with every sense let pleasure be unrestrained. But if these things are to be brought to an end and we are to enjoy them for no long time, let us, brethren, fear our removal hence, and live during the time of our sojourning as the Lord has commanded. Let us not be led away as prisoners for debt; but let us go as free men, taking with us an approving conscience, and such an account of our conduct as will not be condemned by the Lord. That rich man whose land brought forth abundantly, was a wicked steward of the earthly life, since in the abundance of his fruits he purposed nothing useful, but, enlarging the belly's desire and the broad and vast pockets of greed, designed all for his own enjoyment, saying, "I will pull down my barns, and build greater, and will say to myself, Thou hast much goods laid up; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry." But while he was yet speaking, the death angel stood at his side, to conduct him from the earth. A dreadful fellow slave was come to drag him from his stewardship; and what profit was there in his plan for the gratification of his selfish desires? Now |66 this has been vividly portrayed for our admonition. And what does experience teach us? Do not the events of each day loudly proclaim the truth of the parable? Do we not see the man in health at midday, dead ere the appearance of the evening star? And the man strong at evening, not alive to greet the beams of dawn? And another departing this life while eating? And who is so foolish as not to perceive at a glance that daily, now one, now another, we are being removed from our stewardship here? But the good and faithful steward, whose conscience approves his own administration of his stewardship, is of Paul's opinion. For Paul, though the Lord did not urge him, was in haste to go to his Master, and longed for his release, and of his own accord resigned his stewardship, saying somewhere, "Wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death," and again, "But for me it is well to depart and be with Christ." But one who is earthly in mind, and really akin to the clods, being confounded at the change which overtakes him, utters such lamentations as did the man of the parable, "What shall I do, because my Lord takes away the stewardship from me? I cannot dig, to beg I am ashamed." The lamentation of an idle and pleasure-loving man! For to weep at his departure, and to lament the sensuous enjoyments of the flesh, is proof that one is engrossed in his estate; and to be incapable of toil is the mark of an idle and supine life. For if he had been accustomed to industry, he would not have hesitated to dig. But further, to carry out the meaning of the parable, after removal to the eternal |68 world there is no longer place for importunity. And therefore let no one of them there say, "I cannot dig." For even if he could, no one would give him the opportunity. To this life belongs the obedience of the commandments, and to the life to come the reward. So that if you have done nothing here, it will be useless for you to think of digging, since you will have left the vines behind. Nor will you benefit yourself at all by entreating. And we have a notable example of this in the story of the foolish virgins, who were delayed for lack of oil, and shamelessly asked it from those who were wise. But they got no help, and turned away unsuccessful; the narrative showing that, at the bridegroom's appearing, no one may use another's oil, that is, another's rectitude, for his own benefit. For each one is |69 clothed with his own conduct as with a garment, whether it be splendid and costly, or mean and like a beggar's cloak. But to put off this garment is not possible, nor to remove it and exchange it for another, nor to beautify and adorn it by the gift or loan of another in the time of judgment, but each one remains such as he is in truth, whether poor in good deeds or rich. But what can we say concerning the remission of debts which the unjust steward contrived, that he might through his fellow servants secure relief for himself from the hardships of his downfall? For it is not easy to convert this into allegory consonant with Scripture, but after long reflection something like this occurred to me: All of us who busy ourselves about the rest to which we are destined, by giving what is another's, work to our own advantage; now by what is another's I mean what belongs to the Lord. For nothing is our own, but all things belong to him. When, therefore, any one anticipating his end and his removal to the next world, lightens the burden of his sins by good deeds, either by canceling the obligations of debtors, or by supplying the poor with abundance, by giving what belongs to the Lord, he gains many friends, who will attest his goodness before the Judge, and secure him by their testimony a place of happiness. Now they are called witnesses, who have secured for their benefactors favor from the Judge, not because they inform him of anything, as though he were ignorant, or did not know, but in the sense that what has been done for them relieves those who have helped them from the punishment of their sins. For just as the blood of Abel was said to cry unto God, in like manner the good deed, too, shall be said to testify on behalf of the upright in our Lord, Christ Jesus. Now to him be glory forever and ever. Amen.

He also said to his disciples: There was a rich man who had a steward, and this one was accused before him of wasting his goods. And he called him and said to him: What is this that I hear about you? Render an account of your stewardship, for you cannot be steward any longer. Then the steward said to himself: What shall I do? For my lord is taking away the stewardship from me. I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. In this steward whom the Lord cast out from his stewardship and praised him for having looked out for himself in the future, we ought not to take everything for imitation. For we should not in any way deceive our Lord, so as to make alms from this very deception, nor should we consider those, by whom we wish to be received into the eternal tabernacles, to be debtors of God and our Lord, since it is understood in this place that the just and the holy will introduce those into the everlasting tabernacles who have shared their earthly goods with their needs. Of these also He says that whoever gives a cup of cold water to one of them in the name of a disciple, will not lose his reward (Matthew X). But these parables are also contrary, so that we may understand if the one who committed fraud could be praised by the Lord, how much more will those who do works according to His command please the Lord God. Just as He also made a comparison with the unjust judge who was appealed to by the widow, to the Judge God, to whom in no way could the unjust judge be compared. By the term steward, we call those who have money, no longer masters of their own, but rather dispensers of another's property. If they, following the example of this servant, foresee the time of the end of stewardship and the rendering of accounts diligently, easily stripped of all delight and love for earthly things, will take care to gather more friends for themselves in the future than riches in the present.

Having rebuked in three parables those who murmured because He received penitents, our Saviour shortly after subjoins a fourth and a fifth on almsgiving and frugality, because it is also the fittest order in preaching that almsgiving should be added after repentance. Hence it follows, And he said unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man.

(ex Hieron.) The bailiff is the manager of the farm, therefore he takes his name from the farm. But the steward, or director of the household, (villicus œconomus) is the overseer of money as well as fruits, and of every thing his master possesses.

And he said also to his disciples, etc. After the expression of Jewish impiety and the notification of divine piety, the Evangelist here introduces the commendation and persuasion of human piety. And this part is divided into two. In the first of these, the disciples themselves are persuaded through Christ's teachings and through parabolic examples concerning human piety with respect to corporal works: in the second, with respect to spiritual works, below in the seventeenth chapter: And he said to his disciples etc.

First, concerning human piety with respect to corporal works in three ways. The first part contains the present chapter, which is distinguished into three parts. In the first of these is set forth a parabolic example of provident piety. In the second is drawn out a teaching of perfect piety, at that place: And I say to you: Make etc. In the third is subjoined an example of punished impiety, at that place: There was a certain rich man etc.

Concerning the example therefore of provident piety, which is set forth concerning the steward who was generous with the goods of his lord, it should be noted that it is partly an expressed example, partly a parabolic saying; for unless it were an expressed example, there would not be subjoined at the end of the parable that "the lord commended the steward of iniquity, because he had acted prudently," etc.; but again, unless it were spoken parabolically, a deed of such detestable fraud ought by no means to be set forth by the Lord as an example. On account of which it is necessary to understand that this example must be pursued partly according to the letter, partly also parabolically. For since both this parable and the one about the rich man who feasted have the character of both example and parable; this one nevertheless holds more the character of a parable, and that one more the character of an example, and therefore is understood more according to the letter; but this one must be understood partly according to metaphor, partly according to the letter.

For the elucidation of this parabolic example, it should be noted that something is set forth in it as to be reconsidered, something as to be rejected, something as to be dreaded, something as to be endured, something as to be provided for, something as to be imitated, and something as to be commended. For the origin of human power is to be reconsidered, concerning which it says there: There was a certain rich man. The abuse of entrusted power is to be shunned, which is intimated there: And this man was accused before him. The strictness of supernal Justice is to be dreaded, concerning which it says there: And he called him and said to him. The imperfection of human weakness is to be endured, which is intimated there: And the steward said within himself. The discovery of faithful friendship is to be provided for, there: I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed. To be imitated is the display of generous clemency, concerning which there: Having therefore called together each of the debtors. To be praised or commended is the discernment of sagacious providence, concerning which there: The lord commended the steward of iniquity.

First, therefore, in this parable there is intimated the origin of worldly power as something to be reconsidered by the disciples, when it is said: And he said also to his disciples, to whom he said above in the eighth chapter: "To you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God"; and John fifteen: "But I have called you friends, because all things that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you." He was speaking to the disciples because, the Jews having been confuted, piety ought to be urged upon them, to which the consideration of the origin of earthly power vehemently incites, with regard to which he says: A certain man was rich, who had a steward. This certain man, singular and singularly rich, is rightly understood as God, according to that passage in Romans ten: "The same Lord of all, rich unto all who call upon him." He alone is rich, because he possesses all things and abounds: Psalm: "For mine is the world and the fullness thereof"; and again: "All the beasts of the forests are mine"; and again: "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world" etc. The steward of this rich man is any person who has some earthly power, whether of dignity or of riches, to administer. Whence the Gloss: "A steward is one to whom God has entrusted some resources to distribute to the poor"; and as another Gloss says: "A steward is properly the guardian of an estate, but is used here for an administrator, that is, a manager." Human power, therefore, since it exists only for a time and is conferred by another, is nothing but a certain stewardship and administration. Whence 1 Chronicles twenty-nine: "All things are yours, and what we have received from your hand we have given to you. For we are pilgrims before you and sojourners, as were all our fathers. Our days are like a shadow upon the earth, and there is no abiding." Whence also the Apostle did not wish to be esteemed a lord, but an administrator and steward, when he said in 1 Corinthians four: "Let a man so account of us as ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God" etc. Job considered himself such a steward of present things, when he said in Job one: "The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; as it pleased the Lord, so it has been done."

Second, regarding the abuse of entrusted power, which is to be fled by all, he adds: And this one was accused before him, as though he had squandered his goods. For he squanders the goods of God who either wrongly retains these temporal things, or wrongly receives them, or wrongly distributes them. Hence the Gloss: "It is squandering when they are badly gathered or not well spent." And the reason for this is that temporal goods exist so that through them eternal goods may be acquired. When therefore these temporal things are so possessed that on account of them eternal things are lost, then without doubt they are squandered. Those therefore who so spend these temporal goods that they do not seek in them the merit of salvation but the comfort of the flesh do not dispense temporal things in the manner of a good steward but squander them in the manner of the prodigal son, of whom it is said above in the fifteenth chapter that "he squandered his substance by living luxuriously." Against whom the Lord says through the Prophet Hosea, Hosea 2: "I gave her grain and wine and oil, and I multiplied her silver and gold, which they offered to Baal. Therefore I will turn back and take away my grain and my wine in their season, and I will take back my wool and my flax, which covered her shame. And I will reveal her folly in the eyes of her lovers." Hence, because there are many squanderers and few faithful stewards, it is said in 1 Corinthians 4: "Here now it is required among stewards that one be found faithful."

But then these temporal things are well dispensed when they are distributed in works of mercy, according to that passage above in the twelfth chapter: "Who, do you think, is the faithful and prudent steward whom the Lord has set over his household," etc. Therefore the origin and mother of this squandering is mercilessness; on account of which, Proverbs 29: "The just man knows the cause of the poor; the wicked man has no understanding. Pestilent men destroy the city."

But then this steward is accused before the Lord when the cry of the poor ascends to the Lord; hence it is said in James 5: "Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that shall come upon you"; and afterwards: "Behold, the wages of the laborers who have reaped your fields, which has been defrauded by you, cries out, and their cry has entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth." And since he is cruel who neglects his reputation, and every man especially dreads infamy, therefore such an abuse of goods is to be guarded against, lest from the squandering of goods the steward fall into reproach and public derision, according to that passage in Sirach 20: "The fool shall have no friend, and there shall be no thanks for his good deeds." "How often and how many shall mock him! For he does not distribute with right judgment what ought to have been given, and likewise what ought not to have been given."

He told another parable of the steward, who was accused in the presence of his master. The shrewdness of this unjust steward was praised in the presence of his master. He unjustly wasted the initial treasures and then unjustly and cunningly cancelled the later debts. He was praised because he acquired what was to be his by what was not his, namely, his friends and supporters. Through what was not his, Adam got something that was not his, namely, thorns and pains. O children of Adam, buy for yourselves those things that do not pass away, by means of those temporary things that are not yours!

You proposed a little question about the Gospel of Luke (Chapter 16, verse 1 et seq.): Who is the steward of iniquity who is praised by the voice of the Lord? When I wanted to know the reason for this and from which source it came, I examined the volume of the Gospel, and I found among other things that, as the tax collectors and sinners approached the Saviour to hear him, the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, "Why does this one receive sinners and eat with them?" (Luke 15:2). He spoke to them the parable of one hundred sheep, and one that was lost, which was found and carried back on the shoulders of the shepherd. And when it was proposed, he immediately said: "I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner repenting than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need for repentance." He also proposed another parable about ten drachmas lost and found, and he completed it with a similar ending. So I tell you, there will be joy in the presence of the Angels of God over one sinner repenting. He also proposed a third parable about a man who had two sons, and who divided his wealth between them. And when the younger son had lost his faculties and began to eat the pods that the pigs ate, he returned to his father, who accepted him. The envious elder brother, too, was rebuked by his father's voice, and he should have rejoiced because his brother was dead and had come back to life; he was lost, and he has been found. He spoke three parables against the Pharisees and Scribes who did not want to receive the repentance of sinners and the salvation of Publicans. He said also, he said to his disciples (Ibid. 16.1), without doubt, that he used a parable, just as before to the Scribes and Pharisees: by which parable he would exhort the disciples to mercy and would say in other words: Forgive and you shall be forgiven (Luke 6:7), so that you may ask boldly in the Lord's Prayer, Forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors (Matthew 6:12). Therefore, what is the parable that urges the disciples towards mercy? There was a certain rich man who had a steward (Luke 16:1), or a manager, for this is what οἰκονόμος means. The steward is properly the governor of the estate, from which he is also called a steward. The οἰκονόμος, however, is a dispenser of both money and fruits and all that the master possesses. Therefore, the most beautiful book of Xenophon's Oeconomica is not about the management of the estate but the management of the entire household (interpreted by Cicero). Therefore, this steward was accused before his master because he was squandering his master's property. When he was called, [the master] said: "What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, for you can no longer be steward." What did he say to himself? "What shall I do, since my master is taking the stewardship away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg." I know what I will do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses." He called each one of his master's debtors to him and said to the first, "How much do you owe my master?" He said, "A hundred measures of oil. He said to him: take your bill, and sitting down quickly, write fifty. Then he said to another: And how much do you owe? Who answered: A hundred quarters of wheat. He said to him: take your bill, and write eighty. And the lord commended the unjust steward, forasmuch as he had done wisely: for the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light. And I say to you: make unto you friends of the mammon of iniquity; that when you shall fail, they may receive you into everlasting dwellings. He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in that which is greater: and he that is unjust in that which is little, is unjust also in that which is greater. If then you have not been faithful in the unjust mammon, who will trust you with that which is the true? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's; who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Now all these things were heard by the Pharisees, who were greedy, and they ridiculed him. I have put the entire text of this parable so that we do not seek understanding from elsewhere and strive to find certain persons in the parable, but we should interpret it as a parable, that is, a comparison, which is called "parabolē" because it is "thrown beside" or compared, and is like the shadow of the pre-existent truth. Therefore, if the steward of unjust mammon is praised by the voice of the Lord because he has prepared justice for himself from an unjust matter, and the Lord, having suffered losses, praises the prudence of the steward, when he has acted fraudulently towards the Lord but wisely for himself, how much more will Christ, who cannot suffer any loss and is inclined to mercy, praise his disciples if they are merciful towards those who will believe ((or have believed)) in them? Finally, after the parable, he said: And I tell you, make friends for yourselves with unjust mammon. Mammon, however, in the language of the Syriacs, not the Hebrews, means wealth, because it has been collected unjustly. If, therefore, well-dispensed iniquity turns into justice: how much more will divine speech, in which there is no iniquity, and which is entrusted to the apostles, if it is well-dispensed, raise its dispensers to heaven? Therefore it follows: "He who is faithful in the least, that is, in earthly things, will also be faithful in many, that is, in spiritual things. But whoever is unjust in small things, so as not to give to his brothers for their use what has been created by God for all, he will also be unjust in dividing spiritual wealth, so that he may divide the doctrine of the Lord not for necessity, but for persons." But if, he says, you do not manage well the perishable riches of the flesh, who will trust you with the true and eternal riches of the doctrine of God? And if you have been unfaithful in what belongs to someone else (but everything that belongs to this age is someone else's), who will give you what is yours? That is why he criticizes avarice and says that those who love money cannot love God. Therefore, even the Apostles, if they wish to love God, must hold money in contempt. So the scribes and Pharisees, who were greedy, understanding that the parable was directed at themselves, mocked Him, preferring the carnal things, which are certain and present, to the spiritual and future things, which are uncertain. Theophilus, the seventh Bishop of the Church of Antioch after the Apostle Peter, who compiled the sayings of the four Evangelists into one work, has spoken about this parable in his Commentaries. 'The rich man who had a steward, or manager, is Almighty God, who is richer than anything else. His steward is Paul, who learned the sacred Scriptures at the feet of Gamaliel (Act. 22. 3), and had received the Law of God to be dispensed.' When he had begun to persecute the believers in Christ, to bind them, to kill them, and to plunder all the substance of his Lord, he was rebuked by the Lord: Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the pricks. (Acts 9:4-5). And he thought to himself: What should I do? Since I, who was a teacher and a steward, must become a disciple and a worker. I cannot dig. For I see that all the commandments of the Law, which were on the earth, are destroyed; and that the Law and the Prophets were fulfilled up to John the Baptist. I am ashamed to beg, that I, who was a teacher of the Jews, should be compelled to beg for instruction from a gentile and from the disciple Ananias. Therefore, I will do what I think is useful to me: so that after I am dismissed from my position, Christians will receive me into their homes. And those who formerly practiced the law, but had now believed in Christ, began to teach that the law was abolished, and that the prophets had foretold these things. And they taught that what had been done by those who kept the law, was worthy of nothing but contempt (Philippians 3:8). Then he called two of his debtors. The first owed him one hundred measures of oil, that is, those who had been gathered from the Gentiles and were in great need of God's mercy; and he made them write fifty in the document instead of one hundred, which was a special number for those who repented, and based on the Jubilee, and that parable in the Gospel in which one is forgiven five hundred denarii, and another fifty. However, he called the people of the Jews who were nourished on the wheat of God's commandments, and who owed him a hundred denarii, and he forced them to make eighty out of a hundred, that is, to believe in the resurrection of the Lord, which is contained in the number of the eighth day, and is completed in eight decades, so that he might pass from the Sabbath of the Law to the first Sabbath. For this reason, it is preached by the Lord that he did well, and that he was changed from the severity of the Law to the mercy of the Gospel for his salvation. And if you ask why he is called the steward of iniquity in the Law, which is from God, he was an unjust steward who indeed offered well, but did not divide well, believing in the Father, but persecuting the Son; having almighty God, but denying the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the Apostle Paul was wiser in transgressing the Law than the once children of light who, engaged in the observation of the Law, lost Christ who is the true light of God the Father. You can read what Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, thought about this place in his comments. I could not find an explanation of this parable in Origen and Didymus, and I am uncertain whether it has been abolished by the antiquity of the times or whether they did not write it themselves. To me, it seems according to my previous interpretation, that we ought to make friends for ourselves from the unjust mammon, not just any poor person, but those who can receive us into their homes and eternal dwellings, so that when we offer them small things, we may receive great things from them, and giving them what belongs to others, we may receive what belongs to us, and sow in blessing, so that we may reap blessings. For he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly.

(Hom. de Divite.) There is a certain erroneous opinion inherent in mankind, which increases evil and lessens good. It is the feeling that all the good things we possess in the course of our life we possess as lords over them, and accordingly we seize them as our especial goods. But it is quite the contrary. For we are placed in this life not as lords in our own house, but as guests and strangers, led whither we would not, and at a time we think not of. He who is now rich, suddenly becomes a beggar. Therefore whoever thou art, know thyself to be a dispenser of the things of others, and that the privileges granted thee are for a brief and passing use. Cast away then from thy soul the pride of power, and put on the humility and modesty of a steward.

Every parable explains the essence of some subject in a concealed and figurative manner, but it is not in all respects similar to the subject for the explanation of which it is employed. Therefore one should not interpret all parts of a parable down to the finest detail, but, having made use of the subject as far as is fitting, the remaining parts should be passed over without attention, as having been added for the completeness of the parable, yet having no correspondence with the subject. So one should proceed with the present parable as well. For if we undertake to explain in minute detail everything — who the steward is, who appointed him to the management, who reported against him, who the debtors are, why one owed oil and another wheat, why it is said that they each owed a hundred, and if we investigate everything else in general with excessive curiosity — then we will make the discourse obscure, and, being forced by the difficulties, will perhaps arrive even at ridiculous explanations. Therefore one should make use of the present parable only as much as one can. I will explain a little. The Lord wishes here to teach us to manage well the wealth entrusted to us. And, first of all, we learn that we are not masters of our possessions, for we have nothing of our own, but that we are stewards of what belongs to another, entrusted to us by the Master so that we may dispose of our possessions well and as He commands. Then we are taught that if we act in the management of wealth not according to the mind of the Master, but squander what has been entrusted to us on our own whims, then we are stewards against whom an accusation has been made. For the will of the Master is that we spend what has been entrusted to us on the needs of our fellow servants, and not on our own pleasures. And when we are accused and are about to be removed from the management of the estate, that is, torn from this present life — namely when we will give an account of our stewardship after our departure from here — then we belatedly perceive what must be done, and "make friends for ourselves by means of unrighteous wealth." That "wealth" is called "unrighteous" which the Lord entrusted to us for use on the needs of our brothers and fellow servants, but which we kept for ourselves. But too late we will realize where to turn, and that on that day we can neither labor, for then is not the time for doing, nor ask for alms, for it is unseemly, since the virgins who asked for them were called foolish (Matt. 25:8). What then remains to be done? To share this estate with our brothers, so that when we depart from here, that is, when we pass from this present life, the poor may "receive us into eternal dwellings." For to the poor in Christ eternal dwellings have been appointed as their inheritance, into which they can receive those who showed them love here through the distribution of wealth, even though that wealth, as belonging to the Master, ought to have been distributed to the poor from the beginning. They are debtors, according to what is said: "he is ever merciful and lends" (Ps. 37:26), and in another place: "He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord" (Prov. 19:17). So then, everything ought to have been distributed beforehand to these good debtors, who repay a hundredfold. Nevertheless, when we prove to be unfaithful stewards, unjustly retaining for ourselves what was designated for others, we must not remain forever in this inhumanity, but must distribute to the poor, so that they may receive us into eternal dwellings. When we explain this parable in this way, the explanation will contain nothing superfluous, nor contrived, nor conjectural. However, the expression "the sons of this age are more shrewd" and what follows seems to mean something else, and nothing incomprehensible or strange. By "sons of this age" He calls those who devise everything that is useful for them on earth, and by "sons of light" those who, out of love for God, ought to impart spiritual riches to others. So what is being said here is that people appointed as stewards of human property make every effort to have comfort after their dismissal from stewardship, while the sons of light, who are appointed, that is, entrusted with the stewardship of spiritual property, give no thought whatsoever to obtaining benefit for themselves afterward. Thus, "the sons of this age" are those to whom the management of human affairs has been entrusted and who "in their generation," that is, in this life, conduct their affairs wisely, while the sons of light are those who have received property in order to manage it in a manner pleasing to God. It turns out that when managing human property, we conduct our affairs wisely and make sure to have some refuge of life even when we are dismissed from this management. But when we manage the property that must be administered according to God's will, we seem not to care that after our departure from this life we might fall under accountability for our management and be left without any consolation. Therefore we are called foolish, because we do not think about what will be beneficial for us after this. But let us acquire friends among the poor, spending on them the unrighteous wealth given to us by God as a weapon of righteousness, but which we have retained for our own benefit and which has therefore turned into unrighteousness. If even wealth obtained by righteous means, when it is managed poorly and not distributed to the poor, is reckoned as unrighteousness and as mammon, then how much more so unrighteous wealth. Let us then use this latter to acquire friends for ourselves, so that when we die and depart from this life, or in another case lose heart from condemnation, "they... may receive us there into everlasting habitations."

Next, that when we exercise not the management of our wealth according to our Lord's pleasure, but abuse our trust to our own pleasures, we are guilty stewards. Hence it follows, And he was accused to him.

Third, with respect to the severity of divine Justice, which is to be dreaded by everyone, it is added: And he called him and said to him: What is this I hear about you? The Gloss says: "He calls, when he strikes the fear of eternal damnation"; concerning which calling it is said in Ezekiel 3: "And I heard behind me the voice of a great commotion: Blessed be the glory of the Lord from his place." By this voice he is called who is aroused to consider the future judgment, where he will be accused not only according to reputation, but according to conscience.

On account of which he adds: Render an account of your stewardship. For this voice ought to resound in the ear of everyone, because without doubt divine justice will demand an account of gifts entrusted, as is indicated in Matthew 18: "The kingdom of heaven is like a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants." Of evils forgiven; Matthew 18: "And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents." "But the lord, having compassion on that servant, released him"; and afterward it is added that he demanded an account of this. Also of good deeds omitted; Matthew 25: "After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with his servants"; and he adds concerning the lazy servant that he was cast "into the outer darkness." Also of evils perpetrated; First Peter 4: "For the time past is sufficient to have carried out the will of the Gentiles for those who walked in wantonness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries"; "who shall render an account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead." And not only of great evils, but also of small ones, according to that passage in Matthew 12: "Of every idle word that men shall speak, they shall render an account on the day of judgment." From this steward, therefore, he demands an account of the stewardship with respect to all four of the aforementioned things, because, as Bernard says, "just as not a hair of the head shall perish, so neither does a moment of time pass for which an account is not demanded."

And after this exaction of an account, there will remain no possibility of meriting; therefore he adds: For you can no longer be steward, because it is said in Ecclesiastes 9: "Neither work nor reason nor knowledge nor wisdom shall be in the netherworld, to which you are hastening." Whence also in Proverbs 27 it is said to every steward: "You shall not have power perpetually"; and Sirach 10: "Every dominion is of brief life." On account of which the Prophet says in the Psalm: "Put not your trust in princes nor in the sons of men, in whom there is no salvation. His spirit shall go forth, and he shall return to his earth; in that day all their thoughts shall perish," etc.

(ut sup.) Meanwhile he is taken and thrust out of his stewardship; for it follows, And he called him, and said unto him, What is this that I hear of thee? give an account of thy stewardship, for thou canst be no longer steward. Day after day by the events which take place our Lord cries aloud to us the same thing, showing us a man at midday rejoicing in health, before the evening cold and lifeless; another expiring in the midst of a meal. And in various ways we go out from our stewardship; but the faithful steward, who has confidence concerning his management, desires with Paul to depart and be with Christ. (Phil. 1:23.)

He, anxiously pondering many things to himself, said: What shall I do? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. For once stewardship is taken away, we cannot dig, because, with this life ended, in which only we are permitted to work, we are no longer able to seek the fruit of good conversation, with the spade of devoted compunction. To beg is shameful. Namely, with that worst kind of begging, in which those foolish virgins were said to have begged, who, when the time of the weddings came, and the oil of virtues was lacking, said to the wise: Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out (Matthew XXV). And of which Solomon says: Because of the cold, the sluggard would not plough, therefore he shall beg during the harvest, and it shall not be given to him (Proverbs XX).

Fourth, with regard to the imperfection of human weakness to be tolerated in the steward, it is added: And the steward said within himself: What shall I do, because my lord takes away from me the stewardship? For because the fear of judgment urges the mind to procure a remedy, therefore the steward, seeing that he is to be judged, seeks a remedy, according to that passage of Ecclesiasticus 18: "Before judgment prepare justice, and before sickness apply medicine, and before judgment examine yourself."

And because the perfection of penance consists in affliction and bodily labor and in humility and mental shame, and these two things the soul of a weak man refuses, therefore he adds: I am not able to dig, on account of the difficulty of bodily labor, because, as it is said in Proverbs 29, "he who delicately nourishes his servant from childhood shall afterwards find him contumacious." I am ashamed to beg, on account of the vileness of so contemptible an act; Ecclesiasticus 29: "Let the least thing be to you as something great, and you shall not hear the reproach of your sojourning"; and afterwards it adds: "These things are grievous to a man of understanding: the rebuke of the household and the reproach of the creditor." Therefore he who flees from the Cistercian order because they labor, or the order of Friars Minor because they beg, is like this steward. And yet this is tolerable, because it comes from weakness to flee from labor and shame—the former as unbearable, the latter as contemptible.

But although these things are difficult for a weak man, they are nevertheless easy for a Christian made perfect through Christ. For Christ, made poor for us and abounding in labors, according to that passage of the Psalm: "I am poor and in labors from my youth," makes labor desirable and mendicancy honorable, because "it is a great glory to follow the Lord," as it is said in Ecclesiasticus 23. But the Lord Himself says of Himself: "But I am a beggar and poor, and the Lord is solicitous for me"; which indeed is not said with regard to spiritual things, in which He abounds, but with regard to temporal things, in which He was made needy and a beggar for us, according to that passage of Second Corinthians 8: "You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that for our sakes He became poor, though He was rich," etc. And therefore blessed Francis says in his Rule that his brothers "ought not be ashamed in begging, because the Lord made Himself poor for us in this world." Nevertheless, because to the steward as one imperfect there had not been given the grace through which he might be perfectly conformed to Christ, therefore as one weak he says: I am ashamed to beg; he does not say: I disdain to beg, because this would not be a weakness to be tolerated, but an impiety to be detested.

(ut sup.) But he whose wishes are on earth is troubled at his departing. Hence it is added of this steward, Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do, for my Lord taketh away from me the stewardship? I cannot dig, to beg I am ashamed. Weakness in action is the fault of a slothful life. For no one would shrink who had been accustomed to apply himself to labour. But if we take the parable allegorically, after our departure hence there is no more time for working; the present life contains the practice of what is commanded, the future, consolation. If thou hast done nothing here, in vain then art thou careful for the future, nor wilt thou gain any thing by begging. The foolish virgins are an instance of this, who unwisely begged of the wise, but returned empty. (Matt 25:8.) For every one puts on his daily life as his inner garment; it is not possible for him to put it off or exchange it with another.

Fifth, with regard to the provision for finding faithful friendship, he adds: I know what I shall do, so that I may acquire faithful friendship. Whence the Gloss: "The steward is one to whom God has entrusted certain monies to be distributed to the poor: who, if he considers that such stewardship is to end with this life, concerns himself more with acquiring friends than with amassing riches." For he can rightly say: I know what I shall do, who intends to acquire the friendship of his neighbor, because conversely it is said in First John 2: "He who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness and does not know where he goes, because the darkness has blinded his eyes." But conversely, he who loves knows what he does; for he acts according to the teaching of Christ, by which he seeks a remedy against danger. On account of which he adds: So that, when I shall have been removed from the stewardship, by divine sentence, according to that passage in Revelation 2: "I will come to you and will move your lampstand from its place"; they may receive me into their houses, through friendly mercy. For this is the law of friendship: not to fail a friend in necessity; whence Proverbs 17: "He who is a friend loves at all times, and a brother is proven in distress," because, Sirach 6, "a faithful friend is a strong protection; he who finds him finds a treasure. To a faithful friend there is no comparison, and no weighing of gold and silver is worthy against the goodness of his fidelity."

(ut sup.) But the wicked steward aptly contrived the remission of debts, to provide for himself an escape from his misfortunes among his fellow-servants; for it follows, I am resolved what to do, that when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. For as often as a man, perceiving his end approaching, lightens by a kind deed the load of his sins, (either by forgiving a debtor his debts, or by giving abundance to the poor,) dispensing those things which are his Lord's, he conciliates to himself many friends, who will afford him before the judge a real testimony, not by words, but by the demonstration of good works, nay moreover will provide for him by their testimony a resting-place of consolation. But nothing is our own, all things are in the power of God. Hence it follows, So he called every one of his Lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my Lord? And he said, A hundred casks of oil.

Then, having called each one of his lord's debtors, he said to the first: How much do you owe my lord? And he said: A hundred measures of oil. And he said to him: Take your bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. Then he said to another: And you, how much do you owe? Who said: A hundred measures of wheat. And he said to him: Take your bill, and write eighty. A measure is a Greek amphora, containing three urns. A "corus" comprises thirty modii. Now, as to having the debtor write fifty out of a hundred measures of oil, and eighty out of a hundred measures of wheat, I think it means nothing else but that whatever a Jew did for priests and Levites should abound in righteousness in the Church of Christ beyond that of the scribes and Pharisees, so that whereas they gave tithes, these should give half, as Zacchaeus did not only from his fruits but from his very goods. Or certainly doubling the tithes, so that by giving two tithes, they exceed the expenses of the Jews. Unless perhaps someone thinks simply that every person who alleviates the indigence of any poor saint, either by half, or certainly by one-fifth, as twenty or fifty to a hundred, will be granted a sure reward of their mercy.

Sixth, with regard to the display of generous mercy to be imitated, it is added: Having therefore called together each of his lord's debtors, where literally the generosity of munificence and mercy in the steward is shown, both because he gives to many, and because he gives much, and because he gives moderately: to many, because to each of his lord's debtors, according to that which the Lord counsels above in chapter six: "Give to everyone who asks of you"; and Isaiah 32: "Blessed are you who sow beside all waters, sending forth the foot of the ox and the donkey." And because mercy ought to be expended on those in need, therefore he does not give to just anyone, but to debtors; according to that passage in Isaiah 58: "Set free those who are broken, and break asunder every burden. Break your bread for the hungry and bring the needy and wandering into your house. When you see one naked, cover him, and do not despise your own flesh."

Much, because he remits a great sum of the price; on account of which he adds: He said to the first: How much do you owe my lord? He said, I say, through familiar address; Sirach 4: "Make yourself affable to the congregation of the poor. Incline your ear to the poor without sadness, and repay your debt, and answer him peacefully," etc.; and Sirach 18: "Does not the dew cool the heat? So also a word is better than a gift."

(de Qu. Ev. l. ii. qu. 34.) Or because out of the hundred measures of oil, he caused fifty to be written down by the debtors, and of the hundred measures of wheat, fourscore, the meaning thereof is this, that those things which every Jew performs toward the Priests and Levites should be the more abundant in the Church of Christ, that whereas they give a tenth, Christians should give a half, as Zaccheus gave of his goods, (Luke 19:8.) or at least by giving two tenths, that is, a fifth, exceed the payments of the Jews.

A cadus in Greek is a vessel containing three urns. It follows, And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty, forgiving him the half. It follows, Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. A corus is made up of thirty bushels. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore, forgiving him a fifth part. It may be then simply taken as follows: whosoever relieves the want of a poor man, either by supplying half or a fifth part, will be blessed with the reward of his mercy.

And he said to him: A hundred measures of oil, through faithful acknowledgment of the debt. For each person ought faithfully to acknowledge his own debt, lest perchance that word of Revelation three be said to him: "You say: I am rich and made wealthy and have need of nothing; and you know not that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked." Now the cadus is a measure containing three urns; whence the Gloss: "Cadus in Greek, amphora in Latin, containing three urns." In this, moreover, is intimated the magnitude of the debt oppressing the debtor, because, Proverbs twenty-two, "he who borrows is servant to the lender." — And he said to him: Take your bond and sit down quickly and write fifty, through liberal remission. For he greatly relieves who bears half the burden to be removed; and in this the law of charity is fulfilled, according to that word of Galatians, last chapter: "Bear one another's burdens, and so you shall fulfill the law of Christ."

He also gives moderately, that is, according to the requirement of the debt; on account of which he adds: Then he said to another: And how much do you owe? Therefore he inquires the measure, so that he may distribute in measured fashion, because Ecclesiasticus forty-two, "where there are many hands, lock up; and whatever you hand over, number and weigh; and describe everything given and received."

Who said: A hundred cors of wheat. Here he expresses a large measure, so that he may obtain a generous remission. "A cor, as the Gloss says, is filled by thirty modii," whence it is a greater measure than a cadus. And because in greater gifts the number ought to be smaller, so that due measure may be preserved, therefore it is added: And he said to him: Take your bill and write eighty; The Gloss: "He remits a fifth part." Although he may seem to remit less according to arithmetic proportion, because he remits only a fifth part for this one, but a half for the previous one, nevertheless he remits more according to geometric proportion, because twenty cors of wheat are greater in quantity than fifty cadi of oil. It is shown therefore in this that this steward generously remitted, because not only to many and much, but also moderately, according to that passage in Tobit 4: "However you are able, be merciful. If you have much, give abundantly; but if you have little, strive to share even that willingly." In this remission of fifty parts and twenty, there is rightly understood a full remission of the most generous piety. For the number fifty, which arises from seven multiplied upon itself, with one added, designates the remission of sevenfold mercy. In designation of which, in the jubilee there was made a full remission, according to that passage in Leviticus 25: "You shall sanctify the fiftieth year and proclaim remission to all the inhabitants of the land. For it is the jubilee," "because the jubilee is the fiftieth year." This number, with twenty added, rises to seventy, where full remission is understood. As a figure of this, the people of the Lord, led into captivity, were liberated after seventy years, as is said in Jeremiah 29: "When seventy years shall begin to be fulfilled in Babylon, I will visit you and raise up my good word over you and bring you back to this place," etc.

What the Gospel of "the unjust steward" says is also an image of this matter. He says to the debtor [of one hundred measures of wheat], "Take your bill, sit down, and write eighty," and the other things that are related. You see that he said to each man, "Take your bill." It is evident from this that the documents of sin are ours, but God writes documents of justice. The apostle says, "For you are an epistle written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in the fleshly tables of the heart." You have in yourselves documents of God and documents of the Holy Spirit. If you transgress, you yourself write in yourselves the handwriting of sin. Notice that at any time when you have approached the cross of Christ and the grace of baptism, your handwriting is fastened to the cross and blotted out in the fountain of baptism. Do not rewrite later what has been blotted out or repair what has been destroyed. Preserve only the documents of God in yourself. Let only the scripture of the Holy Spirit remain in you.

Why did the Lord Jesus Christ present this parable to us? He surely did not approve of that cheat of a servant who cheated his master, stole from him and did not make it up from his own pocket. On top of that, he also did some extra pilfering. He caused his master further loss, in order to prepare a little nest of quiet and security for himself after he lost his job. Why did the Lord set this before us? It is not because that servant cheated but because he exercised foresight for the future. When even a cheat is praised for his ingenuity, Christians who make no such provision blush. I mean, this is what he added, "Behold, the children of this age are more prudent than the children of light." They perpetrate frauds in order to secure their future. In what life, after all, did that steward insure himself like that? What one was he going to quit when he bowed to his master's decision? He was insuring himself for a life that was going to end. Would you not insure yourself for eternal life?

(ubi sup.) The steward whom his Lord cast out of his stewardship is nevertheless commended because he provided himself against the future. As it follows, And the Lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely; we ought not however to take the whole for our imitation. For we should never act deceitfully against our Lord in order that from the fraud itself we may give alms.

(ubi sup.) On the other hand this parable is spoken, that we should understand that if the steward who acted deceitfully, could be praised by his lord, how much more they please God who do their works according to His commandment.

And the lord praised the unjust steward because he had acted prudently. For the children of this age are wiser than the children of light in their generation. Let the wise of this world hear, that they may abandon foolish wisdom and learn the wisdom of God's foolishness, how greatly divine equity has valued their wisdom, whom He remembers not as truly wise, but wise in their generation. As it is said elsewhere: Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight (Isaiah 5). And also, by calling the lovers of eternal life children of light, He reproves those who are wise to do evil but know not how to do good as being children of darkness. The children of light and the children of this age are so called, just as the children of the kingdom and the children of perdition. For each one is named a child of that of which he performs the works.

The children of light and the children of this world are spoken of in the same manner as the children of the kingdom, and the children of hell. For whatever works a man does, he is also termed their son.

Seventh, as to commending the discernment of providence, it is added: And the master commended the steward of iniquity, because he had acted prudently: The Gloss: "He praises him not for fraud, but for prudence, although he was sinning." Whence, although the steward has some blameworthy qualities in himself, nevertheless his manner of providing can be drawn as an example for the good. For just as the serpent is detestable in spreading venom, but in the prudence of guarding its head is worthy of imitation by perfect men — on account of which it is said in Matthew 10: "Be prudent as serpents and simple as doves" — so this steward is to be detested because he committed fraud, by reason of which he is called the steward of iniquity, and is to be praised because he prudently devised a remedy for himself against danger.

And because someone might wonder why the Lord drew such a steward as an example of prudence, the Evangelist, responding to this, adds: Because the children of this world are more prudent than the children of light in their generation. He does not say that they are more prudent simply speaking, but more prudent in those things that pertain to carnal generation, just as the owl and the cat see more clearly at night than a man—not for reading letters, but for catching mice.

There is, however, a prudence of the spirit, which is in the children of light, more excellent than the prudence of the flesh, which is in carnal men, according to that passage in Romans 8: "The prudence of the flesh is death, but the prudence of the spirit is life and peace." Yet this worldly prudence has something that arouses and instructs toward divine prudence, just as the diligence of a man seeking money is proposed as an example to a man seeking wisdom; Proverbs 2: "If you call upon wisdom and incline your heart to prudence, if you seek her as money and dig for her as for treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and will find the knowledge of God." Whence, because no vice destroys the last vestiges of nature, every vicious person has something that can arouse the just to good, just as from the consideration of a lascivious man one can arouse oneself to love, from the consideration of a miser to diligence, from the consideration of a proud man to magnanimity. — Whence from this parable and example we are instructed not only particularly but also universally, so that from all things we may know how to draw out a lesson that arouses and forms us toward the good. For just as the Saints, by their excellent goodness, ought to have and do have testimony from those who are outside, so all base things bear some image of virtue and piety. Virtue is approved by all with a certain universal voice, but the impious man is condemned by all.

The 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 in Luke 20. 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.

But if Christ's disciples are unwilling to learn from Christ what veneration and honour is due to the name of the Father, still let them learn from earthly and secular examples, and know that Christ has declared, not without the strongest rebuke, "The children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light." In this world of ours, if any one have offered an insult to the father of any; if in injury and frowardness he have wounded his reputation and his honour by a malevolent tongue, the son is indignant, and wrathful, and with what means he can, strives to avenge his injured father's wrong. Think you that Christ grants impunity to the impious and profane, and the blasphemers of His Father, and that He puts away their sins in baptism, who it is evident, when baptized, still heap up evil words on the person of the Father, and sin with the unceasing wickedness of a blaspheming tongue? Can a Christian, can a servant of God, either conceive this in his mind, or believe it in faith, or put it forward in discourse? And what will become of the precepts of the divine law, which say, "Honour thy father and thy mother? " If the name of father, which in man is commanded to be honoured, is violated with impunity in God, what will become of what Christ Himself lays down in the Gospel, and says, "He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death; " if He who bids that those who curse their parents after the flesh should be punished and slain, Himself quickens those who revile their heavenly and spiritual Father, and are hostile to the Church, their Mother? An execrable and detestable thing is actually asserted by some, that He who threatens the man who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, that he shall be guilty of eternal sin, Himself condescends to sanctify those who blaspheme against God the Father with saving baptism. And now, those who think that they must communicate with such as come to the Church without baptism, do not consider that they are becoming partakers with other men's, yea, with eternal sins, when they admit without baptism those who cannot, except in baptism, put off the sins of their blasphemies.

(in Prov. 1:1.) But because the Gentiles say that wisdom is a virtue, and define it to be the experience of what is good, evil, and indifferent, or the knowledge of what is and what is not to be done, we must consider whether this word signifies many things, or one. For it is said that God by wisdom prepared the heavens. (Prov. 3:19.) Now it is plain that wisdom is good, because the Lord by wisdom prepared the heavens. It is said also in Genesis, according to the LXX, that the serpent was the wisest animal, wherein He makes wisdom not a virtue, but evil-minded cunning. And it is in this sense that the Lord commended the steward that he had done wisely, that is, cunningly and evilly. And perhaps the word commended was spoken not in the sense of real commendation, but in a lower sense; as when we speak of a man being commended in slight and indifferent matters, and in a certain measure clashings and sharpness of wit are admired, by which the power of the mind is drawn out.

The children of this world also are not called wiser but more prudent than the children of light, and this not absolutely and simply, but in their generation. For it follows, For the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light, &c.

By the children of this world then He means those who mind the good things which are on the earth; by the children of light, those who beholding the divine love, employ themselves with spiritual treasures. But it is found indeed in the management of human affairs, that we prudently order our own things, and busily set ourselves to work, in order that when we depart we may have a refuge for our life; but when we ought to direct the things of God, we take no forethought for what shall be our lot hereafter.

He says, "Make for yourself friends of the mammon of iniquity," so that by giving to the poor, we may match the grace of the angels and all the saints for ourselves. He does not rebuke the steward. By this, we learn that he does not belong to the Lord himself but to the riches of others. Although he has sinned, he is praised because he sought help for himself in the future through the Lord's mercy. He fittingly mentions the mammon of iniquity, because greed tempted our dispositions with different enticements of wealth, so that we were willing to be the slaves of riches.

Or he spoke of the unrighteous Mammon, because by the various enticements of riches covetousness corrupts our hearts, that we may be willing to obey riches.

Or else, make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that by giving to the poor we may purchase the favour of angels and all the saints.

Mammon is the Hebrew word for "riches," just as in Punic the word for "profit" is mammon. What are we to do? What did the Lord command? "Make yourselves friends with the mammon of iniquity, so that they too, when you begin to fail, may receive you into eternal shelters." It is easy, of course, to understand that we must give alms and a helping hand to the needy, because Christ receives it in them.… We can understand that we have to give alms and that we must not really pick and choose to whom we give them, because we are unable to sift through people's hearts. When you give alms to all different types of people, then you will reach a few who deserve them. You are hospitable, and you keep your house ready for strangers. Let in the unworthy, in case the worthy might be excluded. You cannot be a judge and sifter of hearts.

(Serm. 113.) That which the Hebrews call mammon, in Latin is "riches." As if He said, "Make to yourselves friends of the riches of unrighteousness." Now some misunderstanding this, seize upon the things of others, and so give something to the poor, and think that they are doing what is commanded. That interpretation must be corrected into, Give alms of your righteous labours. (Prov. 3:9. LXX.) For you will not corrupt Christ your Judge. If from the plunder of a poor man, you were to give any thing to the judge that he might decide for you, and that judge should decide for you, such is the force of justice, that you would be ill pleased in yourself. Do not then make to yourself such a God. God is the fountain of Justice, give not your alms then from interest and usury. I speak to the faithful, to whom we dispense the body of Christ. But if you have such money, it is of evil that you have it. Be no longer doers of evil. Zaccheus said, Half my goods I give to the poor. (Luke 19:8.) See how he runs who runs to make friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; and not to be held guilty from any quarter, he says, I If hare taken any thing from any one, I restore fourfold. According to another interpretation, the mammon of unrighteousness are all the riches of the world, whenever they come. For if you seek the true riches, there arc some in which Job when naked abounded, when he had his heart full towards God. The others are called riches from unrighteousness; because they are not true riches, for they are full of poverty, and ever liable to chances. For if they were true riches, they would give you security.

(de Quæst. Ev. l. ii. q. 34.) Or the riches of unrighteousness are so called, because they are not riches except to the unrighteous, and such as rest in their hopes and the fulness of their happiness. But when these things are possessed by the righteous, they have indeed so much money, but no riches are theirs but heavenly and spiritual.

(Serm. 113.) For who are they that shall have everlasting habitations but the saints of God? and who are they that are to be received by them into everlasting habitations but they who administer to their want, and whatsoever they have need of, gladly supply. They are those little ones of Christ, who have forsaken all that belonged to them and followed Him; and whatsoever they had have given to the poor, that they might serve God without earthly shackles, and freeing their shoulders from the burdens of the world, might raise them aloft as with wings.

(de Quæst. Ev. l. ii. q. 34.) We must not then understand those by whom we wish to be received into everlasting habitations to be as it were debtors of God; seeing that the just and holy are signified in this place, who cause those to enter in, who administered to their necessity of their own worldly goods.

(Hom. de Avar.) Or if thou hast succeeded to a patrimony, thou receivest what has been amassed by the unrighteous; for in a number of predecessors some one must needs be found who has unjustly usurped the property of others. But suppose that thy father has not been guilty of exaction, whence hast thou thy money? If indeed thou answerest, "From myself;" thou art ignorant of God, not having the knowledge of thy Creator; but if, "From God," tell me the reason for which thou receivedst it. Is not the earth and the fulness thereof the Lord's? (Ps. 24:1.) If then whatever is ours belongs to our common Lord, so will it also belong to our fellow-servant.

And I say to you: Make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous mammon, so that when it fails, they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. He calls this money which we possess temporarily "unrighteous mammon" because mammon is interpreted to mean riches. And these are riches only for the unjust, who place their hope and abundance of happiness in them. But for the righteous, when they possess these, it is simply money, but they are not riches for them, except heavenly and spiritual. By fulfilling their spiritual need with these, excluding the destitution of the needy, they will be enriched with the abundance of happiness. But if those who give alms from unrighteous mammon make friends for themselves by whom they may be received into the eternal dwellings, how much more should those who distribute spiritual feasts, who give their fellow servants food at the appropriate time, be raised with the most certain hope of the highest reward?

And I say to you, etc. After the example of provident piety, there is added the instruction of perfect piety, which is drawn from the meaning of the above-stated parable. First, therefore, the instruction is drawn for the formation of obedient disciples; second, for the confutation of the rebellious Pharisees, at the passage: But the Pharisees heard all these things, etc. Concerning the formation of the disciples toward piety, he proceeds in this order. For he invites them to mercy: first, by reason of the reward to be obtained; second, by reason of the faithfulness to be preserved, at the passage: He who is faithful in the least; third, by reason of the duplicity to be avoided, at the passage: No one can serve two masters. By reason of the reward to be obtained, he invites in this order, namely by setting forth an instructing exhortation and adding a moving reason.

First, therefore, as regards the instructing exhortation, he sets forth: And I say to you: Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of iniquity. "Mammona, as the Gloss says, in the language of the Syrians means riches: and they are called riches of iniquity, because they frequently have iniquity attached to them, according to that saying in Ecclesiasticus eleven: "If you are rich, you will not be free from sin"; whence Augustine says: "Every rich man is either unjust or the heir of an unjust man"; or as Bede says in a homily: "Mammon, mammonis in the Punic language means profit." Nor should it be understood that from what someone has acquired through robbery and iniquity and possesses by unjust title, he ought to give alms, because against this it is said in Ecclesiasticus thirty-four: "The Most High does not approve the gifts of the wicked"; and again in the same chapter: "He who offers sacrifice from the substance of the poor is like one who slays a son in the sight of his father"; but it is understood that from riches which are possessed by just title and yet beget iniquity unless they are distributed, according to that saying in Ecclesiasticus ten: "Nothing is more iniquitous than to love money. For such a one has his very soul for sale." From these riches, I say, friends ought to be made through the generous giving of alms, which manifest the affection of piety. For it is said in First John three: "He who has the substance of this world and sees his brother in need, and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?" And therefore Ecclesiasticus twenty-nine: "Lose your money for a friend and do not hide it under a stone to your ruin," because, Proverbs eleven, "he who hides grain will be cursed among the peoples," etc.

Second, as to the moving reason, he adds: So that when you fail, they may receive you into eternal tabernacles. From this it is understood why a gift must be given and what ought to move a man to give alms: not present advantage, but eternal reward, not for a passing tabernacle, but an eternal one, according to that saying in Matthew six: "When you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do. Amen I say to you," etc.; and afterwards: "But when you give alms, let not your left hand know what your right hand does." These eternal tabernacles are the mansions of glory, about which Isaiah thirty-two says: "My people shall sit in the beauty of peace, in tabernacles of confidence, in wealthy rest." Into eternal tabernacles others are received by those who are so perfect that their merits avail even for others, and on account of whose merits they acquire eternal tabernacles for themselves and for others. Whence on that passage, "Make for yourselves friends," the Gloss says: "Not any poor persons whatsoever, but those who can receive you into eternal tabernacles."

For such are not the involuntarily poor but the poor in spirit, of whom Matthew five says: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." It belongs to them, therefore, as kings and possessors of that kingdom, to introduce others into the kingdom of heaven. It belongs to them also as judges, according to that passage in Job thirty-six: "He will not save the impious, but he grants judgment to the poor"; to the poor, I say, who are perfect and voluntary, of whom Matthew nineteen says: "You who have left all things and followed me shall sit upon twelve seats, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." It belongs to them also as intimates and friends, on account of which James two says: "Has not God chosen the poor in this world, rich in faith, heirs of the kingdom which God has promised," etc. Such introduce their friends and benefactors through that judicial law by which the Lord will pass sentence in the future judgment, according to what he says in Matthew twenty-five: "What you did to one of the least, you did to me," and through that other law which the Lord established, of which Matthew ten says: "He who receives a just man in the name of a just man shall receive the reward of a just man."

Again, Luke 16: Make for yourselves friends from the mammon of iniquity, so that when you fail, they may receive you into eternal tabernacles. The Gloss: "Not any poor whatsoever, but those who can receive into eternal tabernacles"; but such are the poor in spirit, whose is the kingdom of heaven: therefore it is according to divine counsel that alms be given to such poor and that they be received by them. But what is consonant with divine counsel does not conflict with evangelical perfection: therefore, etc.

Jerome, in Against Vigilantius, treating the aforementioned word, says: "Can those poor, among whose filth and bodily squalor burning lust holds sway, possess eternal tabernacles—they who possess neither present nor future things? For not simply the poor, but the poor in spirit are called blessed, of whom it is written: Blessed is he who understands concerning the needy and the poor; in the evil day the Lord will deliver him. In sustaining the poor of the common people, there is need not at all of understanding, but of almsgiving; in the holy poor, there is blessedness in understanding, that you give to him who blushes to receive, and when he has received, grieves—reaping carnal things and sowing spiritual things."

"Make to you friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations;" showing that by nature all property which a man possesses in his own power is not his own. And from this unrighteousness it is permitted to work a righteous and saving thing, to refresh some one of those who have an everlasting habitation with the Father.

(18. Mor. cap. 18.) In order then that after death they may find something in their own hand, let men before death place their riches in the hands of the poor. Hence it follows, And I say to you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, &c.

(21. Mor. cap. 14.) But if through their friendship we obtain everlasting habitations, we ought to calculate that when we give we rather offer presents to patrons, than bestow benefits upon the needy.

For, because He knew that we would make a good use of our substance which we should possess by receiving it from another, He says, "He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise." And, "For I was an hungered, and ye gave Me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave Me drink; I was naked and ye clothed Me." And, "When thou doest thine alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth." And we are proved to be righteous by whatsoever else we do well, redeeming, as it were, our property from strange hands. But thus do I say, "from strange hands," not as if the world were not God's possession, but that we have gifts of this sort, and receive them from others, in the same way as these men had them from the Egyptians who knew not God; and by means of these same do we erect in ourselves the tabernacle of God: for God dwells in those who act uprightly, as the Lord says: "Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that they, when ye shall be put to flight, may receive you into eternal tabernacles." For whatsoever we acquired from unrighteousness when we were heathen, we are proved righteous, when we have become believers, by applying it to the Lord's advantage.

You know that many high standing people renege on repayment of a loan. They are either resistant with a bad attitude or unable to pay because of poverty, as it often happens. In the case of the Lord of all, there is no room for thinking this. On the contrary, the loan is proof against loss. He guarantees to return in good time one hundred percent of what was deposited, and he keeps life everlasting in reserve for us. In the future, what excuse will we have if we are negligent and fail to gain a hundredfold in place of the little we have, the future in place of the present, the eternal in place of the temporary? What excuse will we have if we heedlessly lock our money behind doors and barricades, and we prefer to leave it lying idle? Instead, we should make it available to the needy now, so that in the future we may count on support from them. Remember that Scripture says, "Make friends with ill-gotten gains so that, when you go down in the world, they may welcome you into their eternal dwellings."

Mark also that He said not, "that they may receive you into their own habitations." For it is not they who receive you. Therefore when He said, Make to yourselves friends, he added, of the mammon of unrighteousness, to show, that their friendship will not alone protect us unless good works accompany us, unless we righteously cast away all riches unrighteously amassed. The most skilful then of all arts is that of almsgiving. For it builds not for us houses of mud, but lays up in store an everlasting life. Now in each of the arts one needs the support of another; but when we ought to show mercy, we need nothing else but the will alone.

As also the Lord showed, when He said: "Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations." For what the Lord then called "habitations," the apostle here calls "clothing." And what He there calls "friends" "of unrighteousness," the apostle here calls "houses" "dissolved." As then, when the days of our present life shall fail, those good deeds of beneficence to which we have attained in this unrighteous life, and in this "world" which "lieth in wickedness," will receive our souls; so when this perishable life shall be dissolved, we shall have the habitation which is before the resurrection-that is, our souls shall he with God, until we shall receive the new house which is prepared for us, and which shall never fall.

And how superior is the grade of perfect and spiritual men to that of the righteous and the merciful who are in the world the words of our Redeemer, which were spoken unto the lords of wealth in this world, are sufficient to shew: "Be strenuous to make unto yourselves friends of the mammon of iniquity, that when it hath come to an end, they may receive you into their everlasting habitations." Behold, therefore, the perfect, like the lords of the country and citizens, receive the righteous strangers who go into their world, because they are sons of the inheritance of Christ, and heirs of the Father Who is in heaven.

Else how will one, when he has two coats, give the one of them to the naked, unless he be a man likewise to offer to one who takes away his coat his cloak as well? How shall we fashion to us friends from mammon, if we love it so much as not to put up with its loss? We shall perish together with the lost mammon.

Otherwise, if you think that we should give indiscriminately to all who ask, that seems to me to mean that you would give, I say not wine to him who has a fever, but even poison or a sword to him who longs for death. But how we are to understand," Make to yourselves friends of mammon," let the previous parable teach you.

Those then are called the riches of unrighteousness which the Lord has given for the necessities of our brethren and fellow-servants, but we spend upon ourselves. It became us then, from the beginning, to give all things to the poor, but because we have become the stewards of unrighteousness, wickedly retaining what was appointed for the aid of others, we must not surely remain in this cruelty, but distribute to the poor, that we may be received by them into everlasting habitations. For it follows, That, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.

The disciples followed behind His back, in order to see Him, and did not see His face. So He turns round, and, as it were, lowers His majesty, that they might be enabled to behold His face.

They do not wish to be under His teaching for a time only, but enquire where He abides; wishing an immediate initiation in the secrets of His word, and afterwards meaning often to visit Him, and obtain fuller instruction. And, in a mystical sense too, they wish to know in whom Christ dwells, that profiting by their example they may themselves become fit to be His dwelling. Or, their seeing Jesus walking, and straightway enquiring where He resides, is an intimation to us, that we should, remembering His Incarnation, earnestly entreat Him to show us our eternal habitation. The request being so good a one, Christ promises a free and full disclosure. He saith unto them, Come and see: that is to say, My dwelling is not to be understood by words, but by works; come, therefore, by believing and working, and then see by understanding.

"What seek ye?" They said unto Him, "Rabbi (which is to say, being interpreted, Master), where dwellest Thou? He says to them, Come and see. And they came and saw where He dwelt, and abode with Him that day: and it was about the tenth hour." Do we think that it did in no wise pertain to the evangelist to tell us what hour it was? Is it possible that he wished us to give heed to nothing in that, to inquire after nothing? It was the tenth hour. That number signifies the law, because the law was given in ten commandments. But the time had come for the law to be fulfilled by love, because it could not be fulfilled by the Jews by fear. Hence the Lord says, "I am not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill." Suitably, then, at the tenth hour did these two follow Him, at the testimony of the friend of the Bridegroom, and that He at the tenth hour heard "Rabbi (which is interpreted, Master)." If at the tenth hour the Lord heard Rabbi, and the tenth number pertains to the law, the master of the law is no other than the giver of the law. Let no one say that one gave the law, and that another teaches the law: for the same teaches it who gave it; He is the Master of His own law, and teaches it. And mercy is in His tongue therefore mercifully teacheth He the law, as it is said regarding wisdom, "The law and mercy doth she carry in her tongue." Do not fear that thou art not able to fulfill the law, flee to mercy. If thou canst not fulfill the law, make use of that covenant, make use of the bond, make use of the prayers which the heavenly One, skilled in the law, has ordained and composed for you.

"But Jesus, turning and seeing them following him." Here the reception of the converted disciples is touched upon: whence the Lord turns toward them and addresses them. Therefore he says: "But Jesus, turning and seeing them following him." He turned toward those who turned, according to that passage in Zechariah 1: "Turn to me and I will turn to you." Thus having turned, "he says to them: What do you seek?" He does not say this out of doubt, but to manifest their right intention through their response.

"They said to him: Rabbi, which is to say, being interpreted, Master, where do you dwell?" As if they were saying: we seek you, your teaching, your dwelling. This question is asked by the soul that directly seeks God; Song of Songs 1: "Show me, O you whom my soul loves, where you feed, where you lie down at midday." And because they follow with right intention, therefore they are admitted.

There is a question about what they say: "Rabbi, where do you dwell?" And the Lord showed them his lodging. Against: Matthew 8: "Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." There it is said that he had no lodging. It must be said that to have a dwelling place is in two ways: either by right of possession, as wealthy men have; or by the rest of inhabitation, as all have who turn aside to some house to stay. In the first way he did not have one, as a poor man; in the second way he did have one, as one at rest: for he was not a wanderer.

They said unto Him, Rabbi, where dwellest Thou?

Like people well instructed do they that are asked reply. For already do they call Him, Master, thereby clearly signifying their readiness to learn. Then they beg to know His home, as about therein to tell Him at a fit season of their need. For probably they did not think it right to make talk on needful subjects the companion of a journey. Be what is said again to us for a useful pattern.

Those who are asked reply like people who are well instructed. Notice already how they call him "Rabbi," thereby clearly signifying their readiness to learn. Then they beg to know where he lives, since they are looking for an appropriate time to tell him their concerns. They probably did not think it was right to talk about such vital topics as companions on a journey.

"Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye?"

Hence we are taught, that God does not prevent our wills by His gifts, but that when we begin, when we provide the being willing, then He gives us many opportunities of salvation. "What seek ye?" How is this? He who knoweth the hearts of men, who dwelleth in our thoughts, doth He ask? He doth; not that He may be informed; how could that be? but that by the question He may make them more familiar, and impart to them greater boldness, and show them that they are worthy to hear Him; for it was probable that they would blush and be afraid, as being unknown to him, and as having heard such accounts of Him from the testimony of their teacher. Therefore to remove all this, their shame and their fear, he questions them, and would not let them come all the way to the house in silence. Yet the event would have been the same had He not questioned them; they would have remained by following Him, and walking in His steps would have reached His dwelling. Why then did He ask? To effect that which I said, to calm their minds, yet disturbed with shame and anxiety, and to give them confidence.

Nor was it by their following only that they showed their earnest desire, but by their question also: for when they had not as yet learned or even heard anything from Him, they call Him, "Master"; thrusting themselves as it were among His disciples, and declaring what was the cause of their following, that they might hear somewhat profitable. Observe their wisdom also. They did not say, "Teach us of Thy doctrines, or some other thing that we need to know"; but what? "Where dwellest Thou?" Because, as I before said, they wished in quiet to say somewhat to Him, and to hear somewhat from Him, and to learn. Therefore they did not defer the matter, nor say, "We will come to-morrow by all means, and hear thee speak in public"; but showed the great eagerness they had to hear Him, by not being turned back even by the hour, for the sun was already near its setting.

(tom. ii. c. 29) Perhaps it is not without a reason, that after six testimonies John ceases to bear witness, and Jesus asks seventhly, What seek ye?

An avowal, befitting persons who came from hearing John's testimony. They put themselves under Christ's teaching, and express their desire to see the dwelling of the Son of God.

At once his disciples, who were present, after hearing his words, left John and hurried to go to Jesus about whom John testified. "When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, 'What are you looking for?' " He did not say this out of ignorance but rather in order to give them an occasion to trust him. They immediately called him "Rabbi" and showed their profound intention, that is, that they had been led to Jesus for no other reason but the desire to obey him as a teacher. And at the same time they asked him where he lived, as if they wanted to come to him often. He did not point out a house but told them to come along with him and see, by giving them the space for greater familiarity and trust toward him.

The Evangelist Matthew, having recounted the baptism of the Lord, immediately leads Him up to the mountain for the temptation, while the present evangelist, omitting what Matthew related, narrates the events that took place after the Lord's descent from the mountain. Thus, John's disciples follow Christ and go to Him after He came down from the mountain and endured the temptation. In my opinion, this combination of events shows that no one should assume the office of teacher before he has ascended to the height of virtue (for this is what is signified by the mountain), conquered every temptation, and obtained the sign of triumph over the tempter. These disciples first follow Jesus, and only then ask Him where He lives. For they needed to converse with Him not openly, in the presence of many, but privately, as about a matter of necessity. They do not even ask first themselves, but Christ Himself leads them to the question. "What do you seek?" He says to them. He asks not because He did not know (He who knows the hearts of men), but so that by His question He might draw them to express their desire. Probably they were ashamed and afraid of Jesus after John's testimony that He is above man. And you, I ask you, marvel at their good sense. They not only followed after Jesus, but also call Him "Rabbi," which means "Teacher," and this when they had not yet heard anything from Him. However, wishing to learn something from Him in private, they ask Him: where do You live? For in quietness it is easier both to speak and to hear.

The consummation of this fruit is now set forth (v 38), for what John began is completed by Christ, since "the law brought nothing to perfection" (Heb 7:19). And Christ does two things. First, he questions the disciples who were following him. Secondly, he teaches them (v 39). As to the first we have: first, the question of Christ is given; secondly, the answer of the disciples.

He says, Jesus turned around, and seeing them following him said. According to the literal sense we should understand that Christ was walking in front of them, and these two disciples, following him, did not see his face at all; and so Christ turns to them to bolster their confidence. This lets us know that Christ gives confidence and hope to all who begin to follow him with a pure heart: "She goes to meet those who desire her" (Wis 6:14). Now Jesus turns to us in order that we may see him; this will happen in that blessed vision when he will show us his face, as is said: "Show us your face, and we will be saved" (Ps 79:4). For as long as we are in this world we see his back, because it is through his effects that we acquire a knowledge of him; so it is said, "You will see my back" (Ex 33:23). Again, he turns to give us the riches of his mercy. This is requested in Psalm 89 (13): "Turn to us, O Lord." For as long as Christ withholds the help of his mercy he seems to be turned away from us. And so Jesus turned to the disciples of John who were following him in order to show them his face and to pour his grace upon them.

Christ examines them specifically about their intention. For all who follow Christ do not have the same intention: some follow him for the sake of temporal goods, and others for spiritual goods. And so the Lord asks their intention, saying, What are you looking for?; not in order to learn their intention, but so that, after they showed a proper intention, he might make them more intimate friends and show that they are worthy to hear him.

It may be remarked that these are the first words which Christ speaks in this Gospel. And this is appropriate, because the first thing that God asks of a man is a proper intention. And, according to Origen, after the six words that John had spoken, Christ spoke the seventh. The first words spoken by John were when, bearing witness to Christ, he cried out, saying, "This is the one of whom I said." The second is when he said, "I am not worthy to unfasten the strap of his sandal." The third is, "I baptize with water. But there is one standing in your midst whom you do not recognize." The fourth is, "Look! There is the Lamb of God." The fifth, "I saw the Spirit coming down on him from heaven like a dove." The sixth, when he says here, "Look! There is the Lamb of God." But it is Christ who speaks the seventh words so that we may understand, in a mystical sense, that rest, which is signified by the seventh day, will come to us through Christ, and that in him is found the fulness of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.

The disciples answer; and although there was one question, they gave two answers. First, why they are following Christ, namely, to learn; thus they call him Teacher, Rabbi (which means Teacher). As if to say: We ask you to teach us. For they already knew what is stated in Matthew (23:10): "You have one Teacher, the Christ." The second answer is what they want in following him, that is, Where do you live? And literally, it can be said that in truth they were looking for the home of Christ. For because of the great and wonderful things they had heard about him from John, they were not satisfied with questioning him only once and in a superficial way, but wanted to do so frequently and seriously. And so they wanted to know where his home was so that they might visit him often, according to the advice of the wise man: "If you see a man of understanding, go to him early" (Sir 6:36), and "Happy is the man who hears me, who watches daily at my gates" (Prv 8:34).

In the allegorical sense, God's home is in heaven, according to the Psalm (122:1): "I have lifted up my eyes to you, who live in heaven." So they asked where Christ was living because our purpose in following him should be that Christ leads us to heaven, i.e., to heavenly glory.

Finally, in the moral sense, they ask, Where do you live? as though desiring to learn what qualities men should possess in order to be worthy to have Christ dwell in them. Concerning this dwelling Ephesians (2:22) says: "You are being built into a dwelling place for God." And the Song (1:6) says: "Show me, you whom my soul loves, where you graze your flock, where you rest at midday."

(Tr. vii. c. 9) What a blessed day and night was that! Let us too build up in our hearts within, and make Him an house, whither He may come and teach us.

(Tr. vii. c. 10) The number here signifies the law, which was composed of ten commandments. The time had come when the law was to be fulfilled by love, the Jews, who acted from fear, having been unable to fulfil it, and therefore was it at the tenth hour that our Lord heard Himself called, Rabbi; none but the giver of the law is the teacher of the law.

"He says to them: Come and see. They came and saw where he was staying." Conversely, the one who sought with an improper intention was rebuffed: in Matthew chapter eight, a scribe said to him: "Master, I will follow you wherever you go. Jesus said to him: Foxes have dens, and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." And because one who does not persevere converts in vain, therefore he says: And "they stayed there that day." And the reason is given: "It was about the tenth hour." In this is signified the day of grace, which is the last, in which one must persevere: 1 John chapter two: "Now we know, beloved, that it is the last hour." In this last hour one must remain with the Lord Jesus; Luke chapter twenty-two: "You are those who have persevered with me."

He saith unto them, Come and see.

He doth not point out the house, though asked to do it, but rather bids them come forthwith to it: teaching first, as by example, that it is not well to cast delays in the way of search after what is good (for delay in things profitable is altogether hurtful): and this too besides, that to those who are still ignorant of the holy house of our Saviour Christ, that is, the Church, it will not suffice to salvation that they should learn where it is, but that they should enter into it by faith, and see the things mystically wrought therein.

They came and saw where He dwelt, and abode with Him that day: for it was about the tenth hour.

Assiduously did the disciples apply themselves to the attainment of the knowledge of the Divine Mysteries. For I do not think that a fickle mind beseems those who desire to learn, but rather one most painstaking, and superior to feeble mindedness in good toils, so as during their whole life time to excel in perfect zeal. For this I think the words, they abode with Him that day, darkly signify. But when he says, it was about the tenth hour, we adapting our own discourse to each man's profit, say that in this very thing, the compiler of Divinity through this so subtle handling again teacheth us, that not in the beginning of the present world was the mighty mystery of our Saviour made known, but when time now draws towards its close. For in the last days, as it is written, we shall be all taught of God. Take again I pray as an image of what has been said about the tenth hour, the disciples cleaving to the Saviour, of whom the holy Evangelist says that having once become His guests they abode with Him: that they who through faith have entered into the holy house, and have run to Christ, may learn that it needs to abide with Him, and not to desire to be again estranged, either turning aside into sin, or again returning to unbelief.

And therefore Christ does not tell them the marks of His abode, nor its situation, but rather induces them to follow Him by showing them that He had accepted them. For this reason He did not say anything of this kind to them, "It is an unseasonable time now for you to enter into the house, to-morrow you shall hear if you have any wish, return home now"; but converses with them as with friends, and those who had long been with Him.

How then saith He in another place, "But the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head," while here He saith, "Come and see" where I abide? Because the expression "hath not where to lay His head," signifies that He had no dwelling place of His own, not that He did not abide in a house. And this too is the meaning of the comparison. The Evangelist has mentioned that "they abode with Him that day," but has not added wherefore, because the reason was plain; for from no other motive did they follow Christ, and He draw them to Him, but only that they might have instruction; and this they enjoyed so abundantly and eagerly even in a single night, that they both proceeded straightway to the capture of others.

(tom. ii. c. 29) Or perhaps come, is an invitation to action; see, to contemplation.

The Lord does not tell them the signs of the house, but says: "Come and see." He does this in order to draw them even more to follow Him, and at the same time to reveal the strength of their desire in the event that they are not deterred by the journey. For if they had followed Jesus with cold feeling, they would not have resolved to go all the way to the house. How can one reconcile the fact that Christ is here presented as having a house, while in another place it is said that the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head (Luke 9:58)? One does not contradict the other. For when He says that He has nowhere to lay His head, He does not mean that He had absolutely no shelter at all, but that He had none of His own. So even if He did live in a house, He lived not in His own house, but in someone else's. The Evangelist notes the time, that "it was about the tenth hour," not without purpose, but in order to teach both teachers and students not to postpone their work to another time; the teacher must not put it off and say: today is late, you will learn tomorrow; and the student must recognize every time as suitable for learning, and not postpone listening until tomorrow. And we also learn that the disciples were so temperate and sober that they devoted to listening a time which others spend in bodily rest, being weighed down with food and having become incapable of engaging in important matters. True disciples of John the faster! Note, if you will, that Jesus turns to those who follow Him and shows them His face. For if you do not follow after Jesus through your own good works, you will not attain the contemplation of the Lord's face, that is, you will not attain enlightenment by divine knowledge. For light is the dwelling of Christ, as it is said: "dwelling in unapproachable light" (1 Tim. 6:16). And how shall one who has not cleansed himself and does not walk the path of purification be enlightened by knowledge?

And it was about the tenth hour. The Evangelist mentions the time of day purposely, as a hint both to teachers and learners, not to let time interfere with their work.

Then when he says, Come and see, Christ's instruction of the disciples is given. First we have the instruction of the disciples by Christ; secondly, their obedience is cited; and thirdly, the time is given.

First he says, Come and see, that is, where I live. There is a difficulty here: for since the Lord says, "The Son of Man does not have any place to lay his head" (Mt 8:20), why does he tell them to Come and see where he lives? I answer, according to Chrysostom, that when the Lord says, "The Son of Man does not have any place to lay his head," he showed that he had no home of his own, but not that he did not remain in someone else's home. And such was the home he invited them to see, saying, Come and see.

In the mystical sense, he says, Come and see, because the dwelling of God, whether of glory or grace, cannot be known except by experience: for it cannot be explained in words: "I will give him a white stone upon which is written a new name, which no one knows but he who receives it" (Rv 2:17). And so he says, Come and see: Come, by believing and working; and see, by experiencing and understanding.

It should be noted that we can attain to this knowledge in four ways. First, by doing good works; so he says, Come: "When shall I come and appear before the face of God" (Ps 41:3). Secondly, by the rest or stillness of the mind: "Be still and see" (Ps 45:10). Thirdly, by tasting the divine sweetness: "Taste and see that the Lord is sweet" (Ps 33:9). Fourthly, by acts of devotion: "Let us lift up our hearts and hands in prayer" (Lam 3:41). And so the Lord says: "It is I myself. Feel and see" (Lk 24:39).

Next the obedience of the disciples is mentioned; for immediately they went and saw, because by coming they saw him, and seeing they did not leave him. Thus it says, and they stayed with him the rest of that day, for as stated below (6:45): "Every one who hears the Father, and has learned, comes to me." For those who leave Christ have not yet seen him as they should. But those who have seen him by perfectly believing stayed with him the rest of that day; hearing and seeing that blessed day, they spent a blessed night: "Happy are your men, and happy are your servants, who always stand before you" (1 Kgs 8:10). And as Augustine says: "Let us also build a dwelling in our heart and fashion a home where he may come and teach us."

And he says, that day, because there can be no night where the light of Christ is present, where there is the Sun of justice.

The time is given when he says, It was about the tenth hour. The Evangelist mentions this in order that, considering the literal sense, he might give credit to Christ and the disciples. For the tenth hour is near the end of the day. And this praises Christ who was so eager to teach that not even the lateness of the hour induced him to postpone teaching them; but he taught them at the tenth hour. "In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening do not let your hands be idle" (Ecc 11:6).

The moderation of the disciples is also praised, because even at the tenth hour, when men usually have eaten and are less self-possessed for receiving wisdom, they were both self-possessed and prepared to hear wisdom and were not hindered because of food or wine. But this is not unexpected, for they had been disciples of John, whose drink was water and whose food was the locust and wild honey.

According to Augustine, however, the tenth hour signifies the law, which was given in ten precepts. And so the disciples came to Christ at the tenth hour and remained with him to be taught so that the law might be fulfilled by Christ, since it could not be fulfilled by the Jews. And so at that hour he is called Rabbi, that is, Teacher.

Or perhaps He does not actually give him the name now, but only fixes beforehand what He afterwards gave him when He said, Thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I build My Church. And while about to change his name, Christ wishes to show that even that which his parents had given him, was not without a meaning. For Simon signifies obedience, Joanna grace, Jona a dove: as if the meaning was; Thou art an obedient son of grace, or of the dove, i. e. the Holy Spirit; for thou hast received of the Holy Spirit the humility, to desire, at Andrew's call, to see Me. The elder disdained not to follow the younger; for where there is meritorious faith, there is no order of seniority.

The Evangelist John, again, tells us that before Jesus went into Galilee, Peter and Andrew were with him one day. He also tells us that on that occasion the former had this name, Peter, given to him, while before that he was called Simon. Likewise, John tells us that on the day following, when Jesus now wanted to go up to Galilee, he found Philip and told him to follow him. In this way, too, the Evangelist comes to give the narrative about Nathanael. Further, he informs us that on the third day, when he was yet in Galilee, Jesus brought about the miracle of the turning of the water into wine at Cana. All these incidents are left unrecorded by the other Evangelists, who continue their narratives at once with the statement of the return of Jesus into Galilee. From this, we are to understand that there was an interval here of several days during which those incidents took place in the history of the disciples that are inserted at this point by John. Neither is there anything contradictory here to that other passage where Matthew tells us how the Lord said to Peter, "You are Peter, and on this rock will I build my church." But we are not to understand that that was the time when he first received this name. We are rather to suppose that this took place on the occasion when it was said to him, as John mentions, "You shall be called Cephas, which is, by interpretation, 'a rock.' " Thus the Lord could address him at that later period by this very name when he said, "You are Peter." For he does not say then, "You shall be called Peter" but "You are Peter," because on a previous occasion it had already been said, "You shall be called."

"And he brought him to Jesus; and when Jesus beheld him, He said, Thou art Simon the son of Joannes: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is, by interpretation, Peter." It is not a great thing that the Lord said whose son Peter was. What is great to the Lord? He knew all the names of His own saints, whom He predestinated before the foundation of the world; and dost thou wonder that He said to one man, Thou art the son of this man, and thou shalt be called this or that? Is it a great matter that He changed his name, and converted it from Simon to Peter? Peter is from petra, a rock, but the petra [rock] is the Church; in the name of Peter, then, was the Church figured. And who is safe, unless he who builds upon the rock? And what saith the Lord Himself? "He that heareth these my words, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man building his house upon a rock" (he doth not yield to temptation). "The rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth my words, and doeth them not" (now let each one of us fear and beware), "I will liken him to a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand: the rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it." What profit is it to enter the Church for him who builds upon the sand? For, by hearing and not doing, he builds indeed, but on the sand. For if he hears nothing, he builds nothing; but if he hears, he builds. But we ask, Where? For if he hears and does, he builds upon the rock; if he hears and does not, he builds upon the sand. There are two kinds of builders, those building upon the rock, and those building upon the sand. What, then, are those who do not hear? Are they safe? Does He say that they are safe because they do not build? They are naked beneath the rains, before the winds, before the floods; when these come, they carry away: those persons before they overthrow the houses. It is then the only security, both to build, and to build upon the rock. If thou wilt hear and do not, thou buildest; but thou buildest a ruin: and when temptation comes it overthrows the house, and carries away thee with the ruin. But if thou dost not hear, thou art naked; thou thyself art dragged away by those temptations. Hear, then, and do; it is the only remedy. How many, perchance, on this day, by hearing and not doing, are hurried away on the stream of this festival! For, through hearing and not doing, the flood cometh, this annual festival; the torrent is filled, it will pass away and become dry, but woe to him whom it shall carry away! Know this, then, beloved, that unless a man hears and does, he builds not upon the rock, and he does not belong to that great name which the Lord so commended. For He has called thy attention. For if Simon had been called Peter before, thou wouldest not have so clearly seen the mystery of the rock, and thou wouldest have thought that he was called so by chance, not by the providence of God; therefore God willed that he should be called first something else, that by the very change of name the reality of the sacrament might be commended to our notice.

(Tr. vii. c. 14) There was nothing very great in our Lord saying whose son he was, for our Lord knew the names of all His saints, having predestinated them before the foundation of the world. But it was a great thing for our Lord to change his name from Simon to Peter. Peter is from petra, rock, which rock is the Church: so that the name of Peter represents the Church. And who is safe, unless he build upon a rock? Our Lord here rouses our attention: for had he been called Peter before, we should not have seen the mystery of the Rock, and should have thought that he was called so by chance, and not providentially. God therefore made him to be called by another name before, that the change of that name might give vividness to the mystery.

(de Con. Evang. l. ii. c. 17) The account here of the two disciples on the Jordan, who follow Christ (before he had gone into Galilee) in obedience to John's testimony; viz. of Andrew bringing his brother Simon to Jesus, who gave him, on this occasion, the name of Peter; disagrees considerably with the account of the other Evangelists, viz. that our Lord found these two, Simon and Andrew, fishing in Galilee, and then bid them follow Him: unless we understand that they did not regularly join our Lord when they saw Him on the Jordan; but only discovered who He was, and full of wonder, then returned to their occupations. Nor must we think that Peter first received his name on the occasion mentioned in Matthew, when our Lord says, Thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I build My Church; (Mat. 16:18) but rather when our Lord says, Thou shall be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.

(Hom. i. Temp. Hier. in Vig. S. Andr.) He beheld him not with His natural eye only, but by the insight of His Godhead discerned from eternity the simplicity and greatness of his soul, for which he was to be elevated above the whole Church. In the word Peter, we must not look for any additional meaning, as though it were of Hebrew or Syriac derivation; for the Greek and Latin word Peter, has the same meaning as Cephas; being in both languages derived from petra. He is called Peter on account of the firmness of his faith, in cleaving to that Rock, of which the Apostle speaks, And that Rock was Christ; (1 Cor. 10:4) which secures those who trust in it from the snares of the enemy, and dispenses streams of spiritual gifts.

"And he brought him to Jesus"; Revelation, last chapter: "Let him who hears say: Come; and let him who thirsts come." "But Jesus, looking upon him." Here the acceptance of the disciples' preaching is touched upon, because the Lord accepts both the calling and the preaching of Andrew, by receiving Peter: on account of which he imposes a name upon him as his own disciple. Therefore he says: "But looking upon him," namely Peter, "Jesus," with eyes of benevolence: concerning which gaze, Genesis chapter forty-four: "Bring your brother to me, and I will set my eyes upon him"; "he said: You are Simon, son of Joannas." He speaks his name in order to impose another: "You shall be called Cephas, which is interpreted Peter"; Bede: "It should be known that in the Syriac language Cephas, in Greek and Latin Peter, and in both languages it is derived from rock." Therefore the Lord says to him in Matthew chapter sixteen: "You are Peter, and upon this rock," from which, namely, you received your name, that is, upon me, "I will build my Church"; 1 Corinthians chapter ten: "And the rock was Christ." "You shall be called Peter," that is, from the firm rock Christ, whom you will ardently love, you will receive your name.

It is asked: "You shall be called Cephas," whether he imposed this name upon him at that time? The Interlinear Gloss says: "He does not yet impose the name upon him, but prefigures it." Likewise in Mark 3 it is said that the Lord called the twelve; and then "he imposed upon Simon the name Peter." Likewise in Matthew 16 it is said that he imposed it then, when he made his confession. It is commonly answered that this name Peter was here prefigured, in Mark 3 imposed, and in Matthew 16 confirmed. But Augustine contradicts this solution, saying that this name was imposed upon Peter when he was led by Andrew to Christ; and Bede likewise says on Mark 3 that it was not then imposed, but before. On this account it must be said that it was at this time imposed upon him, but nevertheless was not made public; because he was not yet from that time called Peter by others, but by his other, former name; but afterward, in Mark 3, he willed that he be called by this name; and in Matthew 16 this naming is rendered celebrated through the dignity befitting the name.

Likewise it is asked: why did the Lord impose a name upon Peter at his calling rather than upon the others? It seems that he was a respecter of persons, because he conferred the dignity of a name without merit. To this Pelagius responds that he did this on account of the greater natural vigor which he saw in Peter: whence it is said: "Jesus, looking upon him"; and Pelagius says that through natural endowments it is possible to merit. To this it must be responded that God sees not only exterior things, but also interior things: not only those things which are, but also those things which are to come: therefore as a sign that he was to be the future pastor of the Church, a name is imposed upon him. But as for what Pelagius says: "He looked upon his natural vigor"; Victor rejects this: whence he says: "He does not add a greater edifice of virtue on account of the foundation of natural endowments, as Pelagius falsely claimed, drawing from this the kindling of error: but he looked upon him with the eye of mercy and benignity."

There is also a question: why are names not now changed for those who enter religious life, or even for those who are converted to Christ? To this Chrysostom responds that the change of name was made as an incitement to virtues. Since therefore we now have one name which is most inciting to virtue, we ought to be content with that name: and this name is that of Christianity, because we are all called Christians. Nevertheless the Roman Church still preserves the change of name in the Supreme Pontiff.

He after a Divine sort looketh upon him, Who seeth the hearts and reins; and seeth to how great piety the disciple will attain, of how great virtue he will be possessed, and at what consummation he will leave off. For He Who knoweth all things before they be is not ignorant of ought. And herein does He specially instruct him that is called, that being Very God, He hath knowledge untaught. For not having needed a single word, nor even sought to learn who or whence the man came to Him; He says of what father he was born, and what was his own name, and permits him to be no more called Simon, already exercising lordship and power over him, as being His: but changes it to Peter from Petra: for upon him was He about to found His Church.

And behold, I beg of you, the mind of Peter obedient and tractable from the very beginning; he ran to Him without any delay; "He brought him," saith St. John, "to Jesus." Yet let no one blame his easy temper if he received the word without much questioning, because it is probable that his brother had told him these things more exactly and at length; but the Evangelists from their care for conciseness constantly cut many things short. Besides, it is not said absolutely that "he believed," but that "he brought him to Jesus," to give him up for the future to Him, so that from Him he might learn all; for the other disciple also was with him, and contributed to this. And if John the Baptist, when he had said that He was "the Lamb," and that He "baptized with the Spirit," gave them over to learn the clearer doctrine concerning this thing from Him, much more would Andrew have done this, not deeming himself sufficient to declare the whole, but drawing him to the very fount of light with so much zeal and joy, that the other neither deferred nor delayed at all.

"And when Jesus beheld him," saith the Evangelist, "He said, Thou art Simon, the son of Jonas; thou shalt be called Cephas, which is, by interpretation, a stone."

He begins from this time forth to reveal the things belonging to His Divinity, and to open It out little by little by predictions. So He did in the case of Nathaniel and the Samaritan woman. For prophecies bring men over not less than miracles; and are free from the appearance of boasting. Miracles may possibly be slandered among foolish men, ("He casteth out devils," said they, "by Beelzebub"), but nothing of the kind has ever been said of prophecy. Now in the case of Nathaniel and Simon He used this method of teaching, but with Andrew and Philip He did not so. Why was this? Because those (two) had the testimony of John, no small preparation, and Philip received a credible evidence of faith, when he saw those who had been present.

"Thou art Simon, the son of Jonas." By the present, the future is guaranteed; for it is clear that He who named Peter's father foreknew the future also. And the prediction is attended with praise; but the object was not to flatter, but to foretell something future.

But Peter makes no reply to these words; as yet he knew nothing clearly, but still was learning. And observe, that not even the prediction is fully set forth; for Jesus did not say, "I will change thy name to Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church," but, "Thou shalt be called Cephas." The former speech would have expressed too great authority and power; for Christ does not immediately nor at first declare all His power, but speaks for a while in a humbler tone; and so, when He had given the proof of His Divinity, He puts it more authoritatively, saying, "Blessed art thou, Simon, because My Father hath revealed it to thee"; and again, "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church." Him therefore He so named, and James and his brother He called "sons of thunder." Why then doth He this? To show that it was He who gave the old covenant, that it was He who altered names, who called Abram "Abraham," and Sarai "Sarah," and Jacob "Israel." To many he assigned names even from their birth, as to Isaac, and Samson, and to those in Isaiah and Hosea; but to others He gave them after they had been named by their parents, as to those we have mentioned, and to Joshua the son of Nun. It was also a custom of the Ancients to give names from things, which in fact Leah also has done; and this takes place not without cause, but in order that men may have the appellation to remind them of the goodness of God, that a perpetual memory of the prophecy conveyed by the names may sound in the ears of those who receive it. Thus too He named John early, because they whose virtue was to shine forth from their early youth, from that time received their names; while to those who were to become great at a later period, the title also was given later.

Andrew brought Simon to Jesus not because Simon was frivolous and carried away by every word, but because he was very quick and ardent, and readily accepted the words that his brother conveyed to him about Christ. For Andrew probably expressed a great deal to Simon and proclaimed Christ thoroughly, since he had spent considerable time with Christ and learned something most mysterious. But if anyone continues to accuse Peter of frivolity, let such a person also know that it is not written that he immediately believed Andrew, but that Andrew brought him to Jesus; and this is the act of a mind more firm than impressionable. For Simon did not simply accept Andrew's words, but wished to see Christ as well, so that if he found in Him something worthy of the reports, he would follow Him, but if he did not, he would turn back — so that the bringing of Simon to Jesus is a sign not of his frivolity, but of his thoroughness. What then does the Lord do? He begins to reveal Himself to him through a prophecy about him. Since prophecies convince people no less than miracles, if not more, the Lord prophesies about Peter. "You," He says, "are Simon, the son of Jonah." Then He also reveals the future: "You shall be called Cephas." Having declared the present, through this He also gives assurance concerning the future. However, He did not say "I will rename you Peter," but rather "you shall be called"; for at first He did not wish to display His full authority, since they did not yet have firm faith in Him. Why then does the Lord call Simon "Peter," and the sons of Zebedee "sons of thunder"? In order to show that it was the same One who gave the Old Testament who now also changes names, just as He then called Abram "Abraham" and Sarai "Sarah" (Gen. 17:5, 15). Know also that "Simon" means obedience, and "Jonah" means dove. Thus, obedience is born from meekness, which is signified by the dove. And whoever has obedience also becomes a Peter, through obedience attaining firmness in good.

Thirdly, he mentions the fruit he produced, because he brought him, that is, Peter, to Jesus. This gives recognition to Peter's obedience, for he came at once, without delay. And consider the devotion of Andrew: for he brought him to Jesus and not to himself (for he knew that he himself was weak); and so he leads him to Christ to be instructed by him. This shows us that the efforts and the aim of preachers should not be to win for themselves the fruits of their preaching, i.e., to turn them to their own private benefit and honor, but to bring them to Jesus, i.e., to refer them to his glory and honor: "What we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ," as is said in 2 Corinthians (4:5).

The consummation of this fruit is given when he says, Looking at him intently Jesus said. Here Christ, wishing to raise him up to faith in his divinity, begins to perform works of divinity, making known things that are hidden. First of all, things which are hidden in the present: so looking at him, i.e., as soon as Jesus saw him, he considered him by the power of his divinity and called him by name, saying, You are Simon. This is not surprising, for as it is said: "Man sees the appearances, but the Lord sees the heart" (1 Sm 16:7). This name is appropriate for the mystery. For "Simon" means "obedient," to indicate that obedience is necessary for one who has been converted to Christ through faith: "He gives the Holy Spirit to all who obey him" (Acts 5:32).

Secondly, he reveals things hidden in the past. Hence he says, son of John, because that was the name of Simon's father; or he says, "son of Jonah," as we find in Matthew (16:17), "Simon Bar-Jonah." And each name is appropriate to this mystery. For "John" means "grace," to indicate that it is through grace that men come to the faith of Christ: "You are saved by his grace" (Eph 2:5). And "Jonah" means "dove," to indicate that it is by the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us, that we are made strong in our love for God: "The love of God is poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit" (Rom 5:5).

Thirdly, he reveals things hidden in the future. So he says, you are to be called Cephas (which is translated Peter), and in Greek, "head." And this is appropriate to this mystery, which is that he who was to be the head of the others and the vicar of Christ should remain firm. As Matthew (16:18) says: "You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church."

There is a question here about the literal meaning. First, why did Christ give Simon a name at the beginning of his conversion, rather than will that he have this name from the time of his birth? Two different answers have been given for this. The first, according to Chrysostom, is that divinely given names indicate a certain eminence in spiritual grace. Now when God confers a special grace upon anyone, the name indicating that grace is given at one's birth: as in the case of John the Baptist, who was named before he was born, because he had been sanctified in his mother's womb. But sometimes a special grace is given during the course of one's life: then such names are divinely given at that time and not at birth: as in the case of Abraham and Sarah, whose names were changed when they received the promise that their posterity would multiply. Likewise, Peter is named in a divine way when he is called to the faith of Christ and to the grace of apostleship, and particularly because he was appointed Prince of the apostles of the entire Church—which was not done with the other apostles.

But, according to Augustine, if he had been called Cephas from birth, this mystery would not have been apparent. And so the Lord willed that he should have one name at birth, so that by changing his name the mystery of the Church, which was built on his confession of faith, would be apparent. Now "Peter" (Petrus) is derived from "rock" (petra). But the rock was Christ. Thus, the name "Peter" signifies the Church, which was built upon that solid and immovable rock which is Christ.

The second question is whether this name was given to Peter at this time, or at the time mentioned by Matthew (16:18). Augustine answers that this name was given to Simon at this time; and at the event reported by Matthew the Lord is not giving this name but reminding him of the name that was given, so that Christ is using this name as already given. But others think that this name was given when the Lord said, "You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church" (Mt 16:18); and in this passage in the Gospel of John, Christ is not giving this name, but foretelling what will be given later.

The third question is about the calling of Peter and Andrew: for here it says that they were called near the Jordan, because they were John's disciples; but in Matthew (4:18) it says that Christ called them by the Sea of Galilee. The answer to this is that there was a triple calling of the apostles. The first was a call to knowledge or friendship and faith; and this is the one recorded here. The second consisted in the prediction of their office: "From now on you will be catching men" (Lk 5:10). The third call was to their apostleship, which is mentioned by Matthew (4:18). This was the perfect call because after this they were not to return to their own pursuits.

Leaving, that is, Judaea, where John was baptizing, out of respect to the Baptist, and not to appear to lower his office, so long as it continued. He was going too to call a disciple, and wished to go forth into Galilee, i. e. to a place of "transition" or "revelation," that is to say, that as He Himself increased in wisdom or stature, and in favour with God and man, and as He suffered and rose again, and entered into His glory: so He would teach His followers to go forth, and increase in virtue, and pass through suffering to joy. He findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow Me. Every one follows Jesus who imitates His humility and suffering, in order to be partaker of His resurrection and ascension.

"On the next day," namely after the conversion of Andrew and Peter, "he wanted to go out into Galilee and found Philip," not by chance, but by design is that which was lost found. Thus the Lord found his disciples who were previously lost, because he snatched them from perdition: Luke 15: "The woman who lost one drachma searches diligently until she finds it." "And he says to him: Follow me," as a servant follows his lord, as a disciple follows his master, so that you may attain; Philippians 3: "But I follow on, if by any means I may apprehend, wherein I also am apprehended."

But it is asked here concerning the coming of the Lord into Galilee: why is it said here that "on the next day," after the testimony of John, he came into Galilee? Against: The other Evangelists say that immediately "he was led into the desert by the Spirit," Matthew chapter four and Mark chapter one. Likewise it is said there that "Jesus came into Galilee after John was handed over": but it is established that he had not yet been handed over.

To this Augustine responds in book two of On the Harmony of the Evangelists, that there was a twofold coming of the Lord into Galilee. The first was after the testimony of John, before he was sent into prison: and about this all the other Evangelists are silent. The second, however, was after John was sent into prison. In the first coming he performed the miracle of the changing of water into wine at the wedding; in the second coming, the miracle concerning the official's son. Therefore, what is said, that he was led into the desert: it should be understood that that testimony was given after the return of the Lord from the desert.

Likewise it is asked concerning the calling of the disciples. For it is said here that they were called before John was handed over. But Matthew says that they were called after the handing over of John. Likewise Matthew says that he called Peter and Andrew from the boat. It must be said, as Augustine says, that John preserves the historical order regarding the time of the calling, but Matthew states that by way of recapitulation. As to the manner of the calling, it must be said that the disciples of the Lord were called in two ways: in one way to faith, in another way to perfection. In the first way, Peter and Andrew were called so that they might know the Lord and believe in him through the testimony of John. In the second way, they were called from their boats, so that they might leave all things and follow Christ. John speaks here of the first, while Matthew speaks of the second.

Likeminded with those preceding was Philip, and very ready to follow Christ. For Christ knew that he would be good. Therefore also He says Follow Me, making the word a token of the grace that was upon him, and wherein he bid him follow, testifying to him that most excellent was his conversation. For He would not have chosen him, if he had not been altogether good.

"To every careful thinker there is a gain" (Prov. xiv. 23, LXX.), saith the proverb; and Christ implied more than this, when He said, "He that seeketh findeth." (Matt. vii. 8.) Wherefore it does not occur to me any more to wonder how Philip followed Christ. Andrew was persuaded when he had heard from John, and Peter the same from Andrew, but Philip not having learned anything from any but Christ who said to him only this, "Follow Me," straightway obeyed, and went not back, but even became a preacher to others. For he ran to Nathanael and said to him, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets did write." Seest thou what a thoughtful mind he had, how assiduously he meditated on the writings of Moses, and expected the Advent? for the expression, "we have found," belongs always to those who are in some way seeking. "The day following Jesus went forth into Galilee." Before any had joined Him, He called no one; and He acted thus not without cause, but according to his own wisdom and intelligence. For if, when no one came to Him spontaneously, He had Himself drawn them, they might perhaps have started away; but now, having chosen this of themselves, they afterwards remained firm. He calls Philip, one who was better acquainted with Him; for he, as having been born and bred in Galilee, knew Him more than others. Having then taken the disciples, He next goes to the capture of the others, and draws to Him Philip and Nathanael.

Now in the case of Nathanael this was not so wonderful, because the fame of Jesus had gone forth into all Syria. (Matt. iv. 24.) But the wonderful thing was respecting Peter and James and Philip, that they believed, not only before the miracles, but that they did so being of Galilee, out of which "ariseth no prophet," nor "can any good thing come"; for the Galilaeans were somehow of a more boorish and dull disposition than others; but even in this Christ displayed forth His power, by selecting from a land which bore no fruit His choicest disciples. It is then probable that Philip having seen Peter and Andrew, and having heard what John had said, followed; and it is probable also that the voice of Christ wrought in him somewhat; for He knew those who would be serviceable. But all these points the Evangelist cuts short. That Christ should come, he knew; that this was Christ, he knew not, and this I say that he heard either from Peter or John. But John mentions his village also, that you may learn that "God hath chosen the weak things of the world." (1 Cor. i. 27.)

And concerning Philip also it is written that He said, "Come after Me," and straightway he went after Him. In this sincerity and simplicity then the Apostles went after the word of Christ, and the world was not able to impede them, nor human customs to hold them back, nor was any of those things which are esteemed of any value in this world able to impede those souls which had perceived God. Now there is nothing stronger in the world to the man who hath in him the life of faith than the word of God.

Andrew, having heard from the Forerunner, and Peter, having heard from Andrew, followed Jesus; but Philip, it seems, heard nothing and yet followed the Lord as soon as He said to him: "Follow Me." How then was Philip so quickly convinced? It seems, first, that the voice of the Lord produced in his soul a certain wound of love. For the speech of the Lord was not simply spoken, but immediately inflamed the hearts of the worthy with love for Him, as Cleopas and his companion say: "Did not our heart burn within us, while He talked with us on the road?" (Luke 24:32). Second, since Philip had a preoccupied heart, constantly occupied himself with the writings of Moses, and always awaited Christ, as soon as he saw Him, he was immediately convinced and says: "We have 'found' Jesus," and this shows that he had been seeking Him.

For the voice of Christ sounded not like a common voice to some, that is, the faithful, but kindled in their inmost soul the love of Him. Philip having been continually meditating on Christ, and reading the books of Moses, so confidently expected Him, that the instant he saw, he believed. Perhaps too he had heard of Him from Andrew and Peter, coming from the same district; an explanation which the Evangelist seems to hint at, when he adds, Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.

After having shown the fruit produced by John's preaching and that of his disciples, the Evangelist now shows the fruit obtained from the preaching of Christ. First, he deals with the conversion of one disciple as the result of Christ's preaching. Secondly, the conversion of others due to the preaching of the disciple just converted to Christ (v 45). As to the first he does three things: first, the occasion when the disciple is called is given; secondly, his calling is described; thirdly, his situation.

The occasion of his calling was the departure of Jesus from Judea. So he says, On the following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and coming upon Philip. There are three reasons why Jesus left for Galilee, two of which are literal. One of these is that after being baptized by John and desiring to shed honor on the Baptist, he left Judea for Galilee so that his presence would not obscure and lessen John's teaching authority (while he still retained that state); and this teaches us to show honor to one another, as is said in Romans (12:10).

The second reason is that there are no distinguished persons in Galilee: "No prophet is to rise from Galilee" (below 7:52). And so, to show the greatness of his power, Christ wished to go there and choose there the princes of the earth, who are greater than the prophets: "He has turned the desert into pools of water," as we read in Psalm 106 (v 35).

The third reason is mystical: for "Galilee" means "passage." So Christ desired to go from Judea into Galilee in order to indicate that on "on the following day," i.e., on the day of grace, that is, the day of the Good News, he would pass from Judea into Galilee, i.e., to save the Gentiles: "Is he going to go to those who are dispersed among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles?" (below 7:35).

A disciple's vocation is to follow: hence he says that after Christ found Philip he said, Follow me. Note that sometimes man finds God, but without knowing it, as it were: "He who finds me will find life, and will have salvation from the Lord" (Prv 8:35). And at other times God finds the man, in order to bestow honor and greatness upon him: "I have found David, my servant" (Ps 88:21). Christ found Philip in this way, that is, to call him to the faith and to grace. And so he says at once, Follow me.

There is a question here: Why did not Jesus call his disciples at the very beginning? Chrysostom answers that he did not wish to call anyone before someone clung to him spontaneously because of John's preaching, for men are drawn by example more than by words.

One might also ask why Philip followed Christ immediately after only a word, while Andrew followed Christ after hearing about him from John, and Peter after hearing from Andrew.

Three answers can be given. One is that Philip had already been instructed by John: for according to one of the explanations given above, Philip was that other disciple who followed Christ along with Andrew. Another is that Christ's voice had power not only to act on one's hearing from without, but also on the heart from within: "My words are like fire" (Jer 23:29). For the voice of Christ was spoken not only to the exterior, but it enkindled the interior of the faithful to love him. The third answer is that Philip had perhaps already been instructed about Christ by Andrew and Peter, since they were from the same town. In fact, this is what the Evangelist seems to imply by adding, Now Philip came from Bethsaida, the same town as Andrew and Peter.

Let us now see the rest concerning this man. "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile." What is "in whom is no guile"? Perhaps he had no sin? Perhaps he was not sick? Perhaps he did not need a physician? God forbid. No one is born here in such fashion as not to need that Physician. What, then, is the meaning of the words, "in whom is no guile"? Let us search a little more intently--it will appear presently--in the name of the Lord. The Lord says dolus [guile]; and every one who understands Latin knows that dolus is when one thing is done and another feigned. Give heed, beloved. Dolus (guile) is not dolor (pain). I say this because many brethren, not well skilled in Latin, so speak as to say, Dolus torments him, using it for dolor. Dolus is fraud, it is deceit. When a man conceals one thing in his heart, and speaks another, it is guile, and he has, as it were, two hearts; he has, as it were, one recess of his heart where he sees the truth, and another recess where he conceives falsehood. And that you may know that this is guile, it is said in the Psalms, "Lips of guile." What are "lips of guile"? It follows, "In a heart and in a heart have they spoken evil." What is "in a heart and in a heart," unless in a double heart? If, then, guile was not in Nathanael, the Physician judged him to be curable, not whole. A whole man is one thing, a curable another, an incurable a third: he who is sick, but not hopelessly sick, is called curable; he who is sick hopelessly, incurable; but he who is already whole does not need a physician. The Physician, then, who had come to cure, saw that he was curable, because there was no guile in him. How was guile not in him, if he is a sinner? He confesses that he is a sinner. For if he is a sinner, and says that he is a just man, there is guile in his mouth. Therefore in Nathanael He praised the confession of sin, He did not judge that he was not a sinner.

Wherefore, when the Pharisees, who seemed righteous to themselves, blamed the Lord, because, as physician, he mixed with the sick, and when they said, "Behold with whom he eats, with publicans and sinners," the Physician replied to the madmen, "They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." That is to say, because you call yourselves righteous when you are sinners, because you judge yourselves to be whole when you are languishing, you put away from you the medicine, and do not hold fast health. Hence that Pharisee who had asked the Lord to dinner, was whole in his own eyes; but that sick woman rushed into the house to which she had not been invited, and, made impudent by the desire of health, approached not the head of the Lord, nor the hands, but the feet; washed them with tears, wiped them with her hair, kissed them, anointed them with ointment,--made peace, sinner as she was, with the footprints of the Lord. The Pharisee who sat at meat there, as though whole himself, blamed the Physician, and said within himself, "This man, if he were a prophet, would have known what woman touched his feet." He suspected that He knew not, because He did not repulse her to prevent His being touched with unclean hands; but He did know, He permitted Himself to be touched, that the touch itself might heal. The Lord, seeing the heart of the Pharisee, put forth a parable: "There was a certain creditor, which had two debtors; the one owed five hundred denars, and the other fifty; and when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Which of them loved him most?" He answered, "I suppose, Lord, he to whom he forgave most." And turning to the woman, He said unto Simon, "Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet; but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head: thou gavest me no kiss; she hath not ceased to kiss my feet: thou gavest me no oil; she hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore, I say unto thee, to her are forgiven many sins, for she loved much; but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little." That is to say, thou art more sick, but thou thinkest thyself whole; thou thinkest that little is forgiven thee when thou owest more. Well did she, because guile was not in her, deserve medicine. What means, guile was not in her? She confessed her sins. This He also praises in Nathanael, that guile was not in him; for many Pharisees who abounded in sins said that they were righteous, and brought guile with them, which made it impossible for them to be healed.

(Tr. vii. c. 19) What meaneth this, In whom is no guile? Had he no sin? Was no physician necessary for him? Far from it. No one was ever born, of a temper not to need the Physician. It is guile, when we say one thing, and think another. How then was there no guile in him? Because, if he was a sinner, he confessed his sin; whereas if a man, being a sinner, pretends to be righteous, there is guile in his mouth. Our Lord then commended the confession of sin in Nathanael; He did not pronounce him not a sinner.

"Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him." Here the attraction of the one called is touched upon. He attracts through commendation and through revelation of secrets. Through commendation: whence he says: "Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him," namely through the admonition of the simple Philip: "and he says of him: Behold, truly an Israelite, in whom there is no guile." Therefore there is no guile, because, although he is wise, he was not ashamed to follow a simple man; because what he believed in his heart, this he brought forth with his mouth; because he came not with the will of testing, but with the zeal of making progress; against which Proverbs 12: "Guile is in the heart of those who devise evil." But Nathanael does not believe his commendation unless he hears certainty about this, because a man ought not be inclined to believe good things about himself.

Such, according to David, "rest in the holy hill of God," in the Church far on high, in which are gathered the philosophers of God, "who are Israelites indeed, who are pure in heart, in whom there is no guile;" who do not remain in the seventh seat, the place of rest, but are promoted, through the active beneficence of the divine likeness, to the heritage of beneficence which is the eighth grade; devoting themselves to the pure vision of insatiable contemplation.

Not having yet used proof by means of signs, Christ endeavoured in another way to persuade both His own disciples, and the wiser of those that came to Him, that He was by Nature Son and God, but for the salvation of all was come in human Form. What then was the mode that led to faith? God-befitting knowledge. For knowledge of all things befitteth God Alone. He receiveth therefore Nathanael, not hurrying him by flatteries to this state, but by those things whereof he was conscious, giving him a pledge, that he knoweth the hearts, as God.

Because the prophet had said that a ruler and governor would arise from Bethlehem, but Nathanael heard that he [our Lord] was from Nazareth, he thus asked, "Can a good leader come forth who is from Nazareth?" For this was not what was written. Thus, when our Lord saw him [Nathanael], he gave excellent testimony about him, that he was not like the scribes who were being deceitful about the readings [from Scripture], striving to establish their interpretations according to their own will. He said, "This is a scribe of Israel in whom no deceit is seen," because before he knew [our Lord], he asked if Nazareth could bring forth a leader as Bethlehem [was able].

For "no man," he says, "hath seen God at any time," unless "the only-begotten Son of God, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared [Him]." For He, the Son who is in His bosom, declares to all the Father who is invisible. Wherefore they know Him to whom the Son reveals Him; and again, the Father, by means of the Son, gives knowledge of His Son to those who love Him. By whom also Nathanael, being taught, recognised [Him], he to whom also the Lord bare witness, that he was "an Israelite indeed, in whom was no guile." The Israelite recognised his King, therefore did he cry out to Him, "Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God, Thou art the King of Israel."

"Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile."

He praises and approves the man, because he had said, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" and yet he ought to have been blamed. Surely not; for the words are not those of an unbeliever, nor deserving blame, but praise. "How so, and in what way?" Because Nathanael had considered the writings of the Prophets more than Philip. For he had heard from the Scriptures, that Christ must come from Bethlehem, and from the village in which David was. This belief at least prevailed among the Jews, and the Prophet had proclaimed it of old, saying, "And thou, Bethlehem, art by no means the least among the princes of Judah, for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall feed My people Israel." (Matt. ii. 6; Mic. v. 2.) And so when he heard that He was "from Nazareth," he was confounded, and doubted, not finding the announcement of Philip to agree with the prediction of the Prophet.

Wherefore also Christ saith, "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile." So that there is such a person as a false Israelite; but this is not such an one; for his judgment, Christ saith, is impartial, he speaks nothing from favor, or from ill-feeling. Yet the Jews, when they were asked where Christ should be born, replied, "In Bethlehem" (Matt. ii. 5), and produced the evidence, saying, "And thou, Bethlehem, art by no means the least among the princes of Judah." (Mic. v. 2.) Before they had seen Him they bore this witness, but when they saw Him in their malice they concealed the testimony, saying, "But as for this fellow, we know not whence He is." (c. ix. 29.) Nathanael did not so, but continued to retain the opinion which he had from the beginning, that He was not "of Nazareth."

How then do the prophets call Him a Nazarene? From His being brought up and abiding there. And He omits to say, "I am not 'of Nazareth,' as Philip hath told thee, but of Bethlehem," that He may not at once make the account seem questionable; and besides this, because, even if He had gained belief, He would not have given sufficient proof that He was the Christ. For what hindered Him without being Christ, from being of Bethlehem, like the others who were born there? This then He omits; but He does that which has most power to bring him over, for He shows that He was present when they were conversing.

Christ praises Nathanael as a true Israelite, because he said nothing either for or against Him; for his words proceeded not from unbelief, but from prudence and from a mind that knew from the law that Christ would come not from Nazareth, but from Bethlehem.

Then when he says, When Jesus saw Nathanael, the consummation of this fruit by Christ is described. We should note that there are two ways in which men are converted to Christ: some by miracles they have seen and things experienced in themselves or in others; others are converted through internal insights, through prophecy and the foreknowledge of what is hidden in the future. The second way is more efficacious than the first: for devils and certain men who receive their help can simulate marvels; but to predict the future can only be done by divine power. "Tell us what is to come, and we will say that you are gods" (Is 41:23); "Prophecies are for those who believe." And so our Lord draws Nathanael to the faith not by miracles but by making known things which are hidden. And so he says of him, Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is no guile.

Christ mentions three hidden matters: things hidden in the present, in the heart; past facts; and future heavenly matters. To know these three things is not a human but a divine achievement.

He mentions things hidden in the present when he says, Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is no guile. Here we have, first, the prior revelation of Christ; secondly, Nathanael's question, How do you know me?

First he says, When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him. As if to say: Before Nathanael reached him, Jesus said, Here is a true Israelite. He said this about him before he came to him, because had he said it after he came, Nathanael might have believed that Jesus had heard it from Philip.

Christ said, Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is no guile. Now "Israel" has two meanings. One of these, as the Gloss says, is "most righteous"—"Do not fear, my most righteous servant, whom I have chosen" (Is 44:2). Its second meaning is "the man who sees God." And according to each meaning Nathanael is a true Israelite. For since one in whom there is no guile is called righteous, Nathanael is said to be a true Israelite, in whom there is no guile. As if to say: You truly represent your race because you are righteous and without guile. Further, because man sees God through cleanness of heart and simplicity, Christ said, a true Israelite, i.e., you are a man who truly sees God because you are simple and without guile.

Further, he said, in whom there is no guile, so that we do not think that it was with malice that Nathanael asked: What good can come from that place?

Augustine has a different explanation of this passage. It is clear that all are born under sin. Now those who have sin in their hearts but outwardly pretend to be just are called guileful. But a sinner who admits that he is a sinner is not guileful. So Christ said, Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is no guile, not because Nathanael was without sin, or because he had no need of a physician, for no one is born in such a way as not to need a physician; but he was praised by Christ because he admitted his sins.

Would that Jesus would cast a glance on me still lying under that barren fig tree, and that my fig tree might also after three years bear fruit. But how can sinners have that kind of hope? If only that gospel dresser of the vineyard, perhaps already bidden to cut down my fig tree, would at least let it alone this year also, until he digs around it and fertilizes it so that he may by some chance lift the helpless out of the dust and lift the poor out of the mire. … The fig tree, that is, the tempting attraction of the pleasures of the world, still overshadows me, low in height, brittle for working, soft for use and barren of fruit.

But this Jacob was called in Scripture a man without deceit. This same Jacob, you know, was called Israel. Therefore, the Lord in the Gospel when he saw Nathanael said: Behold, a true Israelite, in whom there is no deceit. And that Israelite, not yet knowing who was speaking with him, replied: How do you know me? And the Lord said to him: When you were under the fig tree, I saw you: as if to say: When you were in the shadow of sin; I predestined you. And he, because he remembered being under the fig tree, where the Lord was not, recognized the divinity in him, and responded: You are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel. He under the fig tree was not made a barren fig tree: he recognized Christ. And the Lord to him: Because I said to you: When you were under the fig tree, I saw you, therefore you believe; you will see greater things than these. What are these greater things? Amen, I say to you. Because that Israelite, in whom there is no deceit; look to Jacob in whom there is no deceit; and recall from where he speaks, a stone at his head, vision in a dream, ladders from earth to heaven, descending and ascending; and see what the Lord says to the Israelite without deceit: you will see heaven opened: Hear, Nathanael without deceit, what Jacob without deceit saw: you will see heaven opened, and angels ascending and descending; to whom? to the Son of Man.

And the Lord saw Zacchaeus himself. He was seen, and he saw; but unless he had been seen, he would not see. For those whom He predestined, He also called. He is the one who said to Nathanael, already helping the Gospel with his testimony, and saying: Can anything good come out of Nazareth? The Lord said to him: Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you. You know from where the first sinners, Adam and Eve, made themselves loincloths. When they sinned, they made themselves loincloths from fig leaves and covered their shameful parts: because they did what made them ashamed by sinning. Therefore, if the first sinners made themselves loincloths from the fig leaves from which we originate, in which we were lost, so that He would come to seek and save what was lost, what else is meant by: When you were under the fig tree, I saw you; except, you would not come to the cleanser of sin, unless He had first seen you in the shadow of sin? That we might see, we were seen; that we might love, we were loved. My God, His mercy will go before me.

Jesus then saw this man in whom was no guile, and said, "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile." Nathanael saith unto Him, "Whence knowest Thou me?" Jesus answered and said, "Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig (that is, under the fig-tree), I saw thee." Nathanael answered and said unto Him, "Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God; Thou art the King of Israel." Some great thing Nathanael may have understood in the saying, "When thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw thee, before that Philip called thee;" for his words, "Thou art the Son of God, Thou art the King of Israel," were not dissimilar to those of Peter so long afterwards, when the Lord said unto him, "Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven." And there He named the rock, and praised the strength of the Church's support in this faith. Here already Nathanael says, "Thou art the Son of God; Thou art the King of Israel." Wherefore? Because it was said to him, "Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw thee."

We must inquire whether this fig-tree signifies anything. Listen, my brethren. We find the fig-tree cursed because it had leaves only, and not fruit. In the beginning of the human race, when Adam and Eve had sinned, they made themselves girdles of fig leaves. Fig leaves then signify sins. Nathanael then was under the fig-tree, as it were under the shadow of death. The Lord saw him, he concerning whom it was said, "They that sat under the shadow of death, unto them hath light arisen." What then was said to Nathanael? Thou sayest to me, O Nathanael, "Whence knowest thou me?" Even now thou speakest to me, because Philip called thee. He whom an apostle had already called, He perceived to belong to His Church. O thou Church, O thou Israel, in whom is no guile! if thou art the people, Israel, in whom is no guile, thou hast even now known Christ by His apostles, as Nathanael knew Christ by Philip. But His compassion beheld thee before thou knewest Him, when thou wert lying under sin. For did we first seek Christ, and not He seek us? Did we come sick to the Physician, and not the Physician to the sick? Was not that sheep lost, and did not the shepherd, leaving the ninety and nine in the wilderness, seek and find it, and joyfully carry it back on his shoulders? Was not that piece of money lost, and the woman lighted the lamp, and searched in the whole house until she found it? And when she had found it, "Rejoice with me," she said to her neighbors, "for I have found the piece of money which I lost." In like manner were we lost as the sheep, lost as the piece of money; and our Shepherd found the sheep, but sought the sheep; the woman found the piece of money, but sought the piece of money. What is the woman? The flesh of Christ. What is the lamp? "I have prepared a lamp for my Christ." Therefore were we sought that we might be found; having been found, we speak. Let us not be proud, for before we were found we were lost, if we had not been sought. Let them then not say to us whom we love, and whom we desire to gain to the peace of the Catholic Church, "What do you wish with us? Why seek you us if we are sinners?" We seek you for this reason that you perish not: we seek you because we were sought; we wish to find you because we have been found.

(Tr. vii. c. 21) Has this fig tree any meaning? We read of one fig tree which was cursed, because it had only leaves, and no fruit. Again, at the creation, Adam and Eve, after sinning, made themselves aprons of fig leaves. Fig leaves then signify sins; and Nathanael, when he was under the fig tree, was under the shadow of death: so that our Lord seemeth to say, O Israel, whoever of you is without guile, O people of the Jewish faith, before that I called thee by My Apostles, when thou wert as yet under the shadow of death, and sawest Me not, I saw thee.

(Serm. 40. [122.]) Nathanael remembered that he had been under the fig tree, where Christ was not present corporeally, but only by His spiritual knowledge. Hence, knowing that he had been alone, he recognised our Lord's Divinity.

"Nathanael said to him: Whence do you know me?" Why do you commend me thus? And the Lord attracts through revelation of secrets: therefore there follows: "Jesus answered and said to him: Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you." Literally: he was in a secret place, as in a garden, whence Philip called him. Or: the fig tree is said to be the habit of sinning, as the first parents covered themselves under fig leaves, Genesis 3; where he was first seen by the Lord and sought before he himself would seek the Lord. By this revelation Nathanael was attracted: whence there follows his faithful confession.

Whence knowest thou me?

Nathanael begins to wonder, and is called to a now firm faith: but desires yet to learn, whence He has the knowledge concerning him. For very accurate are learning-seeking and pious souls. But perhaps he supposed that somewhat of him had been shewn to the Lord by Philip.

Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw thee.

The Saviour undid his surmise, saying that even before his meeting and conversing with Philip, He had seen him under the fig-tree, though not present in Body. Very profitably are both the fig-tree and the place named, pledging to him the truth of his having been seen. For he that has already accurate knowledge of what was with him, will readily be admitted.

When thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee; i. e. when thou wast yet under the shade of the law, I chose thee.

"Whence knowest Thou me?" He replies, "Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw thee."

Observe a man firm and steady. When Christ had said, "Behold an Israelite indeed," he was not made vain by this approbation, he ran not after this open praise, but continues seeking and searching more exactly, and desires to learn something certain. He still enquired as of a man, but Jesus answered as God. For He said, "I have known thee from the first," (him and the candor of his character, this He knew not as a man, from having closely followed him, but as God from the first,) "and but now I saw thee by the fig-tree"; when there was no one present there but only Philip and Nathanael who said all these things in private. It is mentioned, that having seen him afar off, He said, "Behold an Israelite indeed"; to show, that before Philip came near, Christ spoke these words, that the testimony might not be suspected. For this reason also He named the time, the place, and the tree; because if He had only said, "Before Philip came to thee, I saw thee," He might have been suspected of having sent him, and of saying nothing wonderful; but now, by mentioning both the place where he was when addressed by Philip, and the name of the tree, and the time of the conversation, He showed that His foreknowledge was unquestionable.

And He did not merely show to him His foreknowledge, but instructed him also in another way. For He brought him to a recollection of what they then had said; as, "Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?" And it was most especially on this account that Nathanael received Him, because when he had uttered these words, He did not condemn, but praised and approved him. Therefore he was assured that this was indeed the Christ, both from His foreknowledge, and from His having exactly searched out his sentiments, which was the act of One who would show that He knew what was in his mind; and besides, from His not having blamed, but rather praised him when he had seemed to speak against Himself. He said then, that Philip had "called" him; but what Philip had said to him or he to Philip, He omitted, leaving it to his own conscience, and not desiring farther to rebuke him.

Was it then only "before Philip called him" that He "saw" him? did He not see him before this with His sleepless eye? He saw him, and none could gainsay it; but this is what it was needful to say at the time. And what did Nathanael? When he had received an unquestionable proof of His foreknowledge, he hastened to confess Him, showing by his previous delay his caution, and his fairness by his assent afterwards. For, said the Evangelist,

"He answered and saith unto Him, Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God, Thou art the King of Israel."

Seest thou how his soul is filled at once with exceeding joy, and embraces Jesus with words? "Thou art," saith he, "that expected, that sought-for One." Seest thou how he is amazed, how he marvels? how he leaps and dances with delight?

What about Nathanael? Was he carried away by the praise? No, he desires to learn something more clearly and precisely, and therefore asks: "How do You know me?" The Lord tells him that which no one knew except himself and Philip, that which was spoken and done in private, and thus reveals His Divinity. Philip conversed with Nathanael in private, when no one was under the fig tree, yet Christ, without even being there, knew everything, which is why He says: "I saw you when you were under the fig tree." The Lord spoke about Nathanael before Philip approached, so that no one would think that Philip had told Him about the fig tree and the other things He had discussed with Nathanael. From this Nathanael recognized the Lord and confessed Him as the Son of God. For hear what he says next.

Nathanael however, notwithstanding this praise, does not acquiesce immediately, but waits for further evidence, and asks, Whence knowest Thou me?

Then when he says, How do you know me?, we have Nathanael's question. For Nathanael, in wonder at the divine power in this revelation of what is hidden, because this can only be from God—"The heart is depraved and inscrutable, and who is able to know it? I the Lord search the heart and probe the loins" (Jer 17:9); "Man sees the appearances, but the Lord sees the heart" (1 Sam 16:7)—asks, How do you know me? Here we can recognize Nathanael's humility, because, although he had been praised, he did not become elated, but held this praise of himself suspect. "My people, who call you blessed, they are deceiving you" (Is 3:12).

Then he touches on matters in the past, saying, Before Philip called you, I saw you when you were sitting under the fig tree. First we have the statement of Christ; secondly, the confession of Nathanael.

As to the first, we should note that Nathanael might have had two misgivings about Christ. One, that Christ said this in order to win his friendship by flattery; the other, that Christ had learned what he knew from others. So, to remove Nathanael's suspicions and raise him to higher things, Christ reveals certain hidden matters that no one could know except in a divine way, that is, things that related only to Nathanael. He refers to these when he says, Before Philip called you, I saw you when you were sitting under the fig tree. In the literal sense, this means that Nathanael was under a fig tree when he was called by Philip—which Christ knew by divine power, for "The eyes of the Lord are far brighter than the sun" (Sir 23:28).

In the mystical sense, the fig tree signifies sin: both because we find a fig tree, bearing only leaves but no fruit, being cursed, as a symbol of sin (Mt 21:19); and because Adam and Eve, after they had sinned, made clothes from fig leaves. So he says here, when you were sitting under the fig tree, i.e., under the shadow of sin, before you were called to grace, I saw you, with the eye of mercy; for God's predestination looks upon the predestined, who are living under sin, with an eye of pity, for as Ephesians (1:4) says, "He chose us before the foundation of the world." And he speaks of this eye here: I saw you, by predestining you from eternity.

Or, the meaning is, according to Gregory: I saw you when you were sitting under the fig tree, i.e., under the shadow of the law. "The law has only a shadow of the good things to come" (Heb 10:1).

And Jacob went on, and slept, which is a sign of a peaceful soul: and he saw the angels of God ascending and descending, that is, he foresaw Christ on earth, to whom a host of angels descended and ascended, offering service to their own pious Lord.

Sometimes our Savior said "amen" once, at other times twice, when he wished to confirm what he was saying. This is a Hebrew manner of speaking, revealing that which was taking place, such as that "you have been found trustworthy" so as to see "the heavens opened," and so on. He says that it is possible to see the heavens opened not in a manner open to the senses but only by a mind observing the angels coming to serve Jesus. The word amen is used instead of "really and truthfully" and is more fitting here.

When, then, Nathanael had said "Whence knowest Thou me?" the Lord said to him, "Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw thee." O thou Israel without guile, whosoever thou art! O people living by faith, before I called thee by my apostles, when thou wast under the shadow of death, and thou sawest not me, I saw thee. The Lord then says to him, "Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig-tree, thou believest: thou shalt see a greater thing than these." What is this, thou shalt see a greater thing than these? And He saith unto him, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye shall see heaven open, and angels ascending and descending upon the Son of man." Brethren, this is something greater than "under the fig-tree I saw thee." For it is more that the Lord justified us when called than that He saw us lying under the shadow of death. For what profit would it have been to us if we had remained where He saw us? Should we not be lying there? What is this greater thing? When have we seen angels ascending and descending upon the Son of man?

"Jesus answered and said to him: Because I said to you: I saw you under the fig tree, you believe": and thus for a small thing you have been drawn to faith. "You will see greater things than these": below in chapter five: "He will show him greater works, that you may marvel." And he specifies that greater thing.

Thou shalt be firmer unto faith, saith He, when thou seest greater things than these. For he that believed one sign, how shall he not by means of many be altogether bettered, especially since they shall be more wonderful than those now wondered at?

For one and the same Lord, who is greater than the temple, greater than Solomon, and greater than Jonah, confers gifts upon men, that is, His own presence, and the resurrection from the dead; but He does not change God, nor proclaim another Father, but that very same one, who always has more to measure out to those of His household. And as their love towards God increases, He bestows more and greater [gifts]; as also the Lord said to His disciples: "Ye shall see greater things than these." And Paul declares: "Not that I have already attained, or that I am justified, or already have been made perfect. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; but when that which is perfect has come, the things which are in part shall be done away." As, therefore, when that which is perfect is come, we shall not see another Father, but Him whom we now desire to see (for "blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God"); neither shall we look for another Christ and Son of God, but Him who [was born] of the Virgin Mary, who also suffered, in whom too we trust, and whom we love; as Esaias says: "And they shall say in that day, Behold our Lord God, in whom we have trusted, and we have rejoiced in our salvation;" and Peter says in his Epistle: "Whom, not seeing, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, ye have believed, ye shall rejoice with joy unspeakable;" neither do we receive another Holy Spirit, besides Him who is with us, and who cries, "Abba, Father;" and we shall make increase in the very same things [as now], and shall make progress, so that no longer through a glass, or by means of enigmas, but face to face, we shall enjoy the gifts of God;-so also now, receiving more than the temple, and more than Solomon, that is, the advent of the Son of God, we have not been taught another God besides the Framer and the Maker of all, who has been pointed out to us from the beginning; nor another Christ, the Son of God, besides Him who was foretold by the prophets.

Seest thou how He leads him up by little and little from the earth, and causes him no longer to imagine Him a man merely? for One to whom Angels minister, and on whom Angels ascend and descend, how could He be man? For this reason He said, "Thou shalt see greater things than these." And in proof of this, He introduces the ministry of Angels. And what He means is something of this kind: "Doth this, O Nathanael, seem to thee a great matter, and hast thou for this confessed me to be King of Israel? What then wilt thou say, when thou seest the Angels ascending and descending upon Me?" Persuading him by these words to own Him Lord also of the Angels. For on Him as on the King's own Son, the royal ministers ascended and descended, once at the season of the Crucifixion, again at the time of the Resurrection and the Ascension, and before this also, when they "came and ministered unto Him" (Matt. iv. 11), when they proclaimed the glad tidings of His birth, and cried, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace" (Luke ii. 14), when they came to Mary, when they came to Joseph.

And He does now what He has done in many instances; He utters two predictions, gives present proof of the one, and confirms that which has to be accomplished by that which is so already. For of His sayings some had been proved, such as, "Before Philip called thee, under the fig-tree I saw thee"; others had yet to come to pass, and had partly done so, namely, the descending and ascending of the Angels, at the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, and the Ascension; and this He renders credible by His words even before the event. For one who had known His power by what had gone before, and heard from Him of things to come, would more readily receive this prediction too.

What then does Nathanael? To this he makes no reply. And therefore at this point Christ stopped His discourse with him, allowing him to consider in private what had been said; and not choosing to pour forth all at once, having cast seed into fertile ground, He then leaves it to shoot at leisure.

And He affirmed Himself that they were quite right in their convictions; for He answered Nathanµl: "Because I said, I saw thee under the fig-tree, therefore dose thou believe?" And in the same manner He pronounced Peter to be "blessed," inasmuch as "flesh and blood had not revealed it to him"-that he had perceived the Father-"but the Father which is in heaven.

The Lord shows that nothing he had said was so great or sufficient enough to demonstrate all of what he really was. So then he declares what the greater things are that Nathanael would have seen.… He spoke of angels ascending and descending on him, because they assist him in dealing with the whole of creation.

Prophecy has the greatest power to draw some to faith, and its power is greater than the power of miracles. For miracles can be presented as illusions by demons, but no one has exact foreknowledge and prediction of the future—neither angels, nor still less demons. This is why the Lord also drew Nathanael, telling him both the place and that Philip had called him, and that he was truly an Israelite. Nathanael, hearing this, felt the greatness of the Lord as much as was possible, and confessed Him as the Son of God. However, although he confesses Him as the Son of God, it is not in the same sense as Peter. Peter confessed Him as the Son of God as true God, and for this the Lord blessed him and entrusted the Church to him (Matt. 16:16–19). But Nathanael confessed Him as a mere man, adopted by God through grace on account of his virtue. And this is evident from the addition: You are the King of Israel. Do you see? He has not yet attained to the perfect knowledge of the true Divinity of the Only-Begotten. He only believes that Jesus is a man beloved of God and the King of Israel. If he had confessed Him as true God, he would not have called Him King of Israel, but King of the whole world. For this reason he is not blessed, as Peter was.

And so he said, You will see greater things than this. Here we have, thirdly, an allusion to the future. As if to say: Because I have revealed the past to you, you believe that I am the Son of God only by adoption, and the King of Israel; but I will bring you to greater knowledge, so that you may believe that I am the natural Son of God, and the King of all ages.

Already on a former occasion I have spoken of these ascending and descending angels; but lest you should have forgotten, I shall speak of the latter briefly by way of recalling it to your recollection. I should use more words if I were introducing, not recalling the subject. Jacob saw a ladder in a dream; and on a ladder he saw angels ascending and descending: and he anointed the stone which he had placed at his head. You have heard that the Messias is Christ; you have heard that Christ is the Anointed. For Jacob did not place the stone, the anointed stone, that he might come and adore it: otherwise that would have been idolatry, not a pointing out of Christ. What was done was a pointing out of Christ, so far as it behoved such a pointing out to be made, and it was Christ that was pointed out. A stone was anointed, but not for an idol. A stone anointed; why a stone? "Behold, I lay in Zion a stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on Him shall not be confounded." Why anointed? Because Christus comes from chrisma. But what saw he then on the ladder? Ascending and descending angels. So it is the Church, brethren: the angels of God are good preachers, preaching Christ; this is the meaning of, "they ascend and descend upon the Son of man." How do they ascend, and how do they descend? In one case we have an example; listen to the Apostle Paul. What we find in him, let us believe regarding the other preachers of the truth. Behold Paul ascending: "I know a man in Christ fourteen years ago was caught up into the third heaven (whether in the body, or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth), and that he heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter." You have heard him ascending, hear him descending: "I could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal; as babes in Christ I have fed you with milk, not with meat." Behold he descended who had ascended. Ask whether he ascended to the third heaven. Ask whether he descended to give milk to babes. Hear that he descended: "I became a babe in the midst of you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children." For we see both nurses and mothers descend to babes, and although they be able to speak Latin, they shorten the words, shake their tongues in a certain manner, in order to frame childish endearments from a methodical language; because if they speak according to rule, the infant does not understand nor profit. And if there be a father well skilled in speaking, and such an orator that the forum resounds with his eloquence, and the judgment-seats shake, if he have a little son, on his return home he puts aside the forensic eloquence to which he had ascended, and in child's language descends to his little one. Hear in one place the apostle himself ascending and descending in the same sentence: "For whether," says he, "we be beside ourselves, it is to God; or whether we be sober, it is for your cause." What is "we are beside ourselves"? That we see those things which it is not lawful for a man to speak. What is "we are sober for your cause?" "Have I judged myself to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified?" If the Lord Himself ascended and descended, it is evident that His preachers ascend by imitation, descend by preaching.

(in Verb. Dom.) Let us recollect the Old Testament account. Jacob saw in a dream a ladder reaching from earth to heaven; the Lord resting upon it, and the angels ascending and descending upon it. Lastly, Jacob himself understanding what the vision meant, set up a stone, and poured oil upon it. (Gen. 28:12.) When he anointed the stone, did he make an idol? No: he only set up a symbol, not an object of worship. Thou seest here the anointing; see the Anointed also. He is the stone which the builders refused. If Jacob, who was named Israel, saw the ladder, and Nathanael was an Israelite indeed, there was a fitness in our Lord telling him Jacob's dream; as if he said, Whose name thou art called by, his dream hath appeared unto thee: for thou shalt see the heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. If they descend upon Him, and ascend to Him, then He is both up above and here below at the same time; above in Himself, below in His members.

(Tr. vii. in Joan. c. 23) Good preachers, however, who preach Christ, are as angels of God; i. e. they ascend and descend upon the Son of man; as Paul, who ascended to the third heaven, and descended so far even as to give milk to babes. He saith, We shall see greater things than these: (2 Cor. 12:2. 1 Cor. 3:2) because it is a greater thing that our Lord has justified us, whom He hath called, than that He saw us lying under the shadow of death. For had we remained where He saw us, what profit would it have been? (c. 17.). It is asked why Nathanael, to whom our Lord bears such testimony, is not found among the twelve Apostles. We may believe, however, that it was because he was so learned, and versed in the law, that our Lord had not put him among the disciples. He chose the foolish, to confound the world. Intending to break the neck of the proud, He sought not to gain the fisherman through the orator, but by the fisherman the emperor. The great Cyprian was an orator; but Peter was a fisherman before him; and through him not only the orator, but the emperor, believed.

"And he says to him: Amen, amen I say to you, that you will see heaven opened," according to what is said in Matthew chapter three, that John saw that the heavens were opened over him. "And the Angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man." Literally, Angels descended to him, according to what is said in Matthew chapter four: "Angels came and ministered to him"; spiritually however, as Augustine says, what was said to Nathanael is now fulfilled in Christians, because after God-made-man ascended, the entrance to heaven is opened to those believing in him, and they see Angels, that is, preachers, ascending, while they contemplate the secrets of the Divinity; and descending, while they preach human things about him. This vision was prefigured in Genesis chapter twenty-eight, where it is said that Jacob saw the Lord leaning upon the ladder and Angels ascending and descending.

Likewise Bede asks: since Nathanael calls Christ the "Son of God," whence is it that he himself calls himself the "Son of Man"? Bede responds that "by a just governance of dispensation this was done, so that, when both natures are commemorated, he himself would confess his own lowliness, while the other would confess his exaltedness"; so that through this both natures in Christ might become known, and an example of humility might be given, whence man might always recognize and declare lowly things in himself. This is especially against those who, having certain noble relatives, when asked about their origin, do not answer with the name of their father, but of an uncle or some famous kinsman. Our Lord Jesus Christ, although he is noble on the part of the Father but lowliest on the part of the Mother, calls himself the Son of Man often, rarely the Son of God, unless compelled by necessity. And note, as distinct from others, that others are called sons of men, who are begotten from the mingling of seeds; but Christ had only a single parent, and therefore rightly calls himself the Son of Man.

Common now to all is the word which seals the faith of Nathanael. But in saying that angels shall be seen speeding up and down upon the Son of Man, that is, ministering and serving His commands, for the salvation of such as shall believe, He says that then especially shall He be revealed as being by Nature Son of God. For it is not one another that the rational powers serve but surely God. And this does not take away subjection among the angels (for this will not be reasonably called bondage). But we have heard of the Holy Evangelists, that angels came to our Saviour Christ, and ministered unto Him.

Therefore the Lord also, correcting him and leading him to an understanding worthy of His Divinity, says: you will see the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. "Accept Me," He says, "not as a mere man, but as the Master of angels." For He whom the angels serve cannot be a mere man, but is true God. This was fulfilled at the crucifixion and at the ascension. For, as Luke relates, both before the sufferings an angel from heaven strengthened Him, and at the tomb an angel appeared, and at the ascension (Luke 22:43; Luke 24:4, 23; Acts 1:10). Some understood the "fig tree" to mean the law, since it had fruit that was sweet for a time, but by the strictness of the legal prescriptions and the difficulty of fulfilling the commandments was covered as if by leaves. The Lord "saw" Nathanael. Regarding this they say that He mercifully looked upon and understood his comprehension, even though he was still under the law. I ask you, if you take delight in such things, to also pay attention to the fact that the Lord saw Nathanael under the fig tree, or under the law, that is, within the law, searching its depths. If he had not searched the depth of the law, the Lord would not have seen him. Know also that "Galilee" means cast down. So, the Lord came to the fallen land of the whole world, or to human nature, and, as the Lover of mankind, looked upon us who were under the fig tree, that is, under sin — pleasant for a time, but with which is joined no small sharpness on account of repentance and the future punishments there — and chose for Himself those who acknowledge Him as the Son of God and King of Israel, who sees God. If we continue our diligence, then He will deem us worthy of even greater contemplations, and we shall see angels "ascending to the height of divine knowledge of Him" and again "descending," because they do not attain full knowledge of the incomprehensible Essence. And in another sense: one "ascends" when he engages in contemplation of the Divinity of the Only-begotten; he "descends" when he willingly engages in contemplations of the incarnation and the descent into hell.

And accordingly he says, Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man. By this, according to Chrysostom, the Lord wishes to prove that he is the true Son of God, and God. For the peculiar task of angels is to minister and be subject: "Bless the Lord, all of you, his angels, his ministers, who do his will" (Ps 102:20). So when you see angels minister to me, you will be certain that I am the true Son of God. "When he leads his First-Begotten into the world, he says: 'Let all the angels of God adore him'" (Heb 1:6).

When did the apostles see this? They saw it, I say, during the passion, when an angel stood by to comfort Christ (Lk 22:43); again, at the resurrection, when the apostles found two angels who were standing over the tomb. Again, at the ascension, when the angels said to the apostles: "Men of Galilee, why are you standing here looking up to heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven" (Acts 1:11).

Because Christ spoke the truth about the past, it was easier for Nathanael to believe what he foretells about the future, saying, you will see. For one who has revealed the truth about things hidden in the past, has an evident argument that what he is saying about the future is true. He says, the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man, because, in his mortal flesh, he was a little less than the angels; and from this point of view, angels ascend and descend upon him. But insofar as he is the Son of God, he is above the angels, as was said.

According to Augustine, Christ is here revealing his divinity in a beautiful way. For it is recorded that Jacob dreamed of a ladder, standing on the ground, with "the angels of God ascending and descending on it" (Gn 28:16). Then Jacob arose and poured oil on a stone and said, "Truly, the Lord is in this place" (Gn 28:16). Now that stone is Christ, whom the builders rejected; and the invisible oil of the Holy Spirit was poured on him. He is set up as a pillar, because he was to be the foundation of the Church: "No one can lay another foundation except that which has been laid" (1 Cor 3:11). The angels are ascending and descending inasmuch as they are ministering and serving before him. So he said, Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened, and so forth, as if to say: Because you are truly an Israelite, give heed to what Israel saw, so that you may believe that I am the one signified by the stone anointed by Jacob, for you also will see angels ascending and descending upon him [viz. Jesus].

Or, the angels are, according to Augustine, the preachers of Christ: "Go, swift angels, to a nation rent and torn to pieces," as it says in Isaiah (18:2). They ascend through contemplation, just as Paul had ascended even to the third heaven (2 Cor 12:2); and they descend by instructing their neighbor. On the Son of Man, i.e., for the honor of Christ, because "what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ" (2 Cor 4:5). In order that they might ascend and descend, the heavens were opened, because heavenly graces must be given to preachers if they are to ascend and descend. "The heavens broke at the presence of God" (Ps 67:9); "I saw the heavens open" (Rv 4:1).

Now the reason why Nathanael was not chosen to be an apostle after such a profession of faith is that Christ did not want the conversion of the world to the faith to be attributed to human wisdom, but solely to the power of God. And so he did not choose Nathanael as an apostle, since he was very learned in the law; he rather chose simple and uneducated men. "Not many of you are learned," and "God chose the simple of the world" (1 Cor 1:26).