Cheesefare Tuesday

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And when he had come to the place, he said to them: Pray that you do not enter into temptation. It is impossible for the human soul not to be tempted. Hence also, in the Lord's Prayer we say; Lead us not into temptation (Matthew VI): not utterly rejecting temptation, but pleading for strength to endure in temptations. Therefore, even now, he does not say Pray, that you may not be tempted, but that you may not enter into temptation, that is, that the temptation may not ultimately overcome you, holding you within its snares; for example, a martyr who sheds his blood for the confession of the Lord is indeed tempted, but is not ensnared by the nets of temptation; whereas he who denies falls into the traps of temptation.

It is indeed impossible for the soul of man not to be tempted. Therefore he says not, Pray that ye be not tempted, but, Pray that ye enter not into temptation, that is, that the temptation do not at last overcome you.

Second, as regards the solicitude of prayer on the part of the soul, he adds: And when he had come to the place, he said to them: Pray, lest you enter into temptation. From which it is apparent that the Lord prayed with solicitude and urged the disciples to prayer, in order to teach that one must pray with solicitude on account of imminent dangers. For then especially must one persist in prayer, according to that word of the Psalm: "In the day of my tribulation I sought God with my hands," etc. For when temptation is imminent, it is then necessary to implore help from on high, according to that word of 2 Chronicles 20: "When we do not know what we ought to do, this alone remains to us, that we direct our eyes to you." But when a man is tempted, it is necessary for him to seek help, lest he be overcome; and this is sought in the Lord's Prayer, Matthew 6: "And lead us not into temptation." Whence he who in temptation does not watch and pray is the companion of a thief, because, when he perceives the enemies, he does not cry out to the Lord of the fortress and his soldiers, that they might come to his aid. Whence above, in chapter twenty-one: "Watch at all times, praying, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that are to come."

Now every art is set forth by the words and works of him who teacheth it. Because then our Lord had come to teach no ordinary virtue, therefore He speaks and does the same things. And so having in words commanded to pray, lest they enter into temptation, He does the same likewise in work, saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me. He saith not the words, If thou wilt, as if ignorant whether it was pleasing to the Father. For such knowledge was not more difficult than the knowledge of His Father's substance, which He alone clearly knew, according to John, As the Father knoweth me, even so have I known the Father. (John 10:15.) Nor says He this, as refusing His Passion. For He who rebuked a disciple, who wished to prevent His Passion, (Matt. 16:23.) so as even after many commendations, to call him Satan, how should He be unwilling to be crucified? Consider then why it was so said. How great a thing was it to hear that the unspeakable God, who passes all understanding, was content to enter the virgin's womb, to suck her milk, and to undergo every thing human. Since then that was almost incredible which was about to happen, He sent first indeed Prophets to announce it, afterwards He Himself comes clothed in the flesh, so that you could not suppose Him to be a phantom. He permits His flesh to endure all natural infirmities, to hunger, to thirst, to sleep, to labour, to be afflicted, to be tormented; on this account likewise He refuses not death, that He might manifest thereby His true humanity.

This passage He confirms by subsequent ones, saying, "Pray that ye be not tempted; " yet they were tempted, (as they showed) by de-setting their Lord, because they had given way rather to sleep than prayer.

He brought it back to his ad hominem argument: the will of the Father to divinity; for the will of man is temporal, the will of divinity eternal. The will of the Father is not different from the will of the Son; for there is one will where there is one divinity. However, learn to be subject to God, so that you do not choose what you yourself desire, but what you know to be pleasing to God.

He says then, If thou wilt, remove this cup from me, as man refusing death, as God maintaining His own decree.

(de Incarn. et cont. Ar.) For here He manifests a double will. One indeed human, which is of the flesh, the other divine. For our human nature, because of the weakness of the flesh, refuses the Passion, but His divine will eagerly embraced it, for that it was not possible that He should be holden of death.

Father, if you will, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done. He asks that the cup be removed from him, not out of fear of suffering, but out of mercy for the earlier people, that they may not drink the cup offered to them. Hence also, significantly, he did not say Remove the cup from me, but this cup, that is, of the people of the Jews, who cannot have the excuse of ignorance if they kill me, having the law and the prophets, who daily proclaim me. And yet, returning to himself, he confirms by the authority of the Son of God what he timidly held from the perspective of man.

Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done. He says, not let this happen because I speak with human feeling, but because by your will I descended to earth. Therefore, he says, if it can be that the multitude of the Gentiles can believe without the destruction of the Jews, I refuse the passion. But if those are to be blinded so that all the Gentiles may see, not my will, Father, but yours be done. Alternatively: Approaching the passion, the Savior took up the voice of the weaklings in himself, saying: Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me, and he took on their fear to remove it. And again, through obedience, showing the strength of mind, he said: Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done. When something looms that we do not want to happen, let us thus ask through weakness that it not happen, so that through strength we may be ready that the will of our Creator be done even against our own will.

Or He begs the cup to be removed from Him, not indeed from fear of suffering, but from His compassion for the first people, lest they should have to drink the cup first drunk by Him. Therefore He says expressly, not, Remove from Me the cup, but this cup, that is, the cup of the Jewish people, who can have no excuse for their ignorance in slaying Me, having the Law and the Prophets daily prophesying of Me.

When He drew near His Passion, the Saviour also took upon Him the words of weak man; as when something threatens us which we do not wish to come to pass, we then through weakness seek that it may not be, to the end that we also may be prepared by fortitude to find the will of our Creator contrary to our own will.

Christ, praying according to reason, expressed the will of the flesh, by which He shrank from the passion, when He said: "Let this cup pass from me"; yet He conformed the will of reason to the will of the Father and set it before the appetite of the flesh, when He said: "Not my will, but yours be done." And thus one will was not contrary to the other: for "according to the divine will He willed what was just, according to the will of reason He consented to justice, but according to the will of the flesh He refused the suffering, yet did not accuse justice. And thus each will operated what was its own and followed what pertained to it: the divine will, justice; the rational will, obedience; the will of the flesh, nature"; and through this there was in Christ no struggle and conflict, but a peaceful ordering and an ordered tranquility.

Fourth, as regards the discretion of prayer, he adds: Saying: Father, if you will, remove this cup from me. By this cup is understood the passion, because in a cup drink is drunk in measure, according to that passage of the Psalm: "You shall feed us with the bread of tears and give us drink in tears in measure." This cup Christ drank when he voluntarily tasted the passion; the Psalm: "He shall drink from the torrent along the way," etc.; and Matthew twenty: "Can you drink the cup that I am about to drink?" This cup Christ willed to drink by the will of reason, but shrank from by the will of sensuality. — Whence because reason ruled over sensuality, he therefore adds: Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done: in which it is apparent that he was petitioning with discretion, because he was subjecting the will of the flesh to the will of reason and to the will of the Divinity, according to that passage in John six: "I came not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me." It appears therefore that reason, as a discreet and skilled advocate, put forward the prayer on behalf of sensuality, while nevertheless preserving the form of divine law. Now the Lord prayed this in order to show in himself the truth of his humanity, to condescend and give a pattern to his weak members. Hence Bernard: "I recognize the voice of the sick in the physician, I consider the charity, I am amazed at the compassion, I tremble at the condescension." For this is wonderful, how he deigned thus to take upon himself our infirmities.

It can also be explained that Christ prayed on behalf of his members, that he asks that the cup be taken away, that is, the scandal of the passion, or the fear of death.

In another way, as Bede explains, for the Jews: either that this death not be inflicted upon Christ through the Jews, lest they be so blinded, or that those who have been blinded might be called back; and this is for the cup to be taken away from them. Then the sense is: from me, that is, from those who are mine.

The most unblushingly petitionary prayers are there recommended to us both by precept and example. Our Lord in Gethsemane made a petitionary prayer (and did not get what He asked for).

You'll remind me that He asked with a reservation—"nevertheless, not my will but thine." This makes an enormous difference. But the difference which it precisely does not make is that of removing the prayer's petitionary character. When poor Bill, on a famous occasion, asked us to advance him £100, he said, "If you are sure you can spare it," and, "I shall quite understand if you'd rather not." This made his request very different from the nagging or even threatening request which a different sort of man might have made. But it was still a request.

The servant is not greater, and must not be more high-minded than the master. Whatever the theoretical difficulties are, we must continue to make requests of God.

It is clear from many of His sayings that Our Lord had long foreseen His death. He knew what conduct such as His, in a world such as we have made of this, must inevitably lead to. But it is clear that this knowledge must somehow have been withdrawn from Him before He prayed in Gethsemane. He could not, with whatever reservation about the Father's will, have prayed that the cup might pass and simultaneously known that it would not. That is both a logical and a psychological impossibility. You see what this involves? Lest any trial incident to humanity should be lacking, the torments of hope—of suspense, anxiety—were at the last moment loosed upon Him—the supposed possibility that, after all, He might, He just conceivably might, be spared the supreme horror. There was precedent. Isaac had been spared: he too at the last moment, he also against all apparent probability. It was not quite impossible... and doubtless He had seen other men crucified... a sight very unlike most of our religious pictures and images.

But for this last (and erroneous) hope against hope, and the consequent tumult of the soul, the sweat of blood, perhaps He would not have been very Man. To live in a fully predictable world is not to be a man.

As the friend is above the servant, the servant is above the suitor, the man praying on his own behalf. It is no sin to be a suitor. Our Lord descends into the humiliation of being a suitor, of praying on His own behalf, in Gethsemane. But when He does so the certitude about His Father's will is apparently withdrawn.

After that it would be no true faith—it would be idle presumption—for us, who are habitually suitors and do not often rise to the level of servants, to imagine that we shall have any assurance which is not an illusion—or correct only by accident—about the event of our prayers. Our struggle is, isn't it?—to achieve and retain faith on a lower level. To believe that, whether He can grant them or not, God will listen to our prayers, will take them into account.

You have heard Christ say, "Father, if you will, remove this cup from me." Was then his passion an involuntary act? Was the need for him to suffer or the violence of those who plotted against him stronger than his own will? We say no. His passion was a voluntary act, although in another respect it was severe, because it implied the rejection and destruction of the synagogue of the Jews.…Since it was impossible for Christ not to endure the passion, he submitted to it, because God the Father so willed it with him.

The passion of grief, or affliction or sore distress as we may call it, cannot have reference to the divine nature of the Word, which is not able to suffer. That is impossible since it transcends all passion. We say that the incarnate Word also willed to submit himself to the measure of human nature by suffering what belongs to it. He is said to have hungered although he is life, the cause of life and the living bread. He was also weary from a long journey although he is the Lord of powers. It also is said that he was grieved and seemed to be capable of anguish. It would not have been fitting for him who submitted himself to emptiness and stood in the measure of human nature to have seemed unwilling to endure human things. The Word of God the Father, therefore, is altogether free from all passion. For the appointed time's sake, he wisely submitted himself to the weaknesses of humankind in order that he might not seem to refuse that which the time required. He even obeyed human customs and laws. He still did not bear this in his own [divine] nature.

God the Father had pity on earth's inhabitants who were in misery, caught in the snares of sin, and liable to death and corruption. A tyrant's hand made them bow and herds of devils enslaved them. He sent his Son from heaven to be a Savior and Deliverer. He was made like unto us in form. He knew he would suffer. The shame of his passion was not the fruit of his own will, but he still consented to undergo it that he might save the earth. God the Father wanted that, from his great kindness and love for humanity. He "so loved the world that he gave even his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life." As to the disgrace of his passion, Christ did not want to suffer.… He was obedient to the Father, even to death, and the death of the cross at that.

(Dion. de Martyr. c. 7.) Or when He says, Let this cup pass from me, it is not, let it not come to Me, for unless it had come it could not pass away. It was therefore when He perceived it already present that He began to be afflicted and sorrowful, and as it was close at hand, He says, Let this cup pass; for as that which has passed can neither be said not to have come nor yet to remain, so also the Saviour asks first that the temptation slightly assailing Him may pass away. And this is the not entering into temptation which He counsels to pray for. But the most perfect way of avoiding temptation is manifested, when he says, Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. For God is not a tempter to evil, but lie wishes to grant us good things above what we either desire or understand. Therefore He seeks that the perfect will of His Father which He Himself had known, should dispose of the event, which is the same will as His own, as respects the Divine nature. But He shrinks to fulfil the human will, which He calls His own, and which is inferior to His Father's will.

"If it is possible, let this cup pass from me." He said this because of the lowliness with which he had clothed himself, not in pretence, but in reality. Since he had really become unimportant and had clothed himself in lowliness, it would have been impossible for his lowliness not to have experienced fear and not to have been upset. He took on flesh and clothed himself with weakness. He ate when hungry, became tired after working, and overcome by sleep when weary. It was necessary, when the time for his death arrived, that all these things that have to do with the flesh be fulfilled. The anguish of death in fact invaded him, to make clear his nature as a son of Adam, over whom "death reigns," according to the word of the apostle.

"If it is possible, let this chalice pass from me." He knew that he was going to rise on the third day, but he also knew in advance the scandal of his disciples, the denial of Simon, the suicide of Judas, the destruction of Jerusalem and the scattering of Israel. "If it is possible, let the chalice pass from me," he said. He knew what he was saying to his Father and was well aware that this chalice could pass from him. He had come to drink it for everyone, in order to cancel, through this chalice, everyone's debt, a debt that the prophets and martyrs could not pay with their death.

"Not according to my will, but yours." He said this word against Adam, who resisted the will of the Creator and followed the will of his enemy. Consequently Adam was delivered over into the mouth of his enemy. Our Lord resisted the will of the flesh to uphold the will of the Creator of flesh, because he knew that all happiness depends on the will of his Father. "Not my will but yours be done."

"Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless let not what I will but your will prevail." It is unlikely that he did not know whether it was possible or not, or that he would oppose the Father's will. This is the language of him who came down and assumed our nature. However, this is not the language of human nature.… The passage does not mean that the Son has a special will of his own besides that of the Father but that he does not have a special will. The meaning would be, "Not to do mine own will, for there is none of mine apart from, but that which is common to me and you. Since we have one Godhead, so we have one will."

(non occ.) Now Apollinaris asserts that Christ had not His own will according to His earthly nature, but that in Christ exists only the will of God who descends from heaven. Let him then say what will is it which God would have by no means to be fulfilled? And the Divine nature does not remove His own will.

He was altogether in all, and everywhere; and though He filleth the universe up to all the principalities of the air, He stripped Himself again. And for a brief space He cries that the cup might pass from Him, with a view to show truly that He was also man. But remembering, too, the purpose for which He was sent, He fulfils the dispensation (economy) for which He was sent, and exclaims, "Father, not my will," and, "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."

Consequently, while he had naturally the power of willing as God and as man, the human will followed after and was subordinated to his will, not being motivated by its own opinion but wanting what his divine will wanted. With the permission of the divine will, he suffered what was naturally proper to him. When he begged to be spared death, he did so naturally, with his divine will wanting and permitting. He was thus in agony and afraid. Then, when his divine will wanted his human will to choose death, it freely accepted the passion. He did not freely deliver himself over to death as God alone but also as man. By this, he also gave us the grace of courage in the face of death. He says before his saving passion, "Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me." Clearly as man and not as God, he was to drink from the chalice. Consequently, as man, he wishes the cup to pass, and these words arose from a natural fear. "Not my will, but yours be done." That is to say, "I am of another substance than yours, but also of your substance which is mine and yours in so far as I am begotten consubstantial with you." These are words of courage. Since by his good pleasure the Lord truly became man, his soul at first experienced the weakness of nature. Through sense perception, he felt a natural pain at the thought of his soul's separation from the body. It was then strengthened by the divine will and faced death courageously. He was entirely God with his humanity and entirely man with his divinity. He as man in himself and through himself subjected his humanity to God the Father and became obedient to the Father. He thus set a most noble example and pattern for us.

Something in the passage has perhaps escaped our notice. You will find it out by noting how the cup is mentioned in the three Gospels. Matthew writes that the Lord said, "Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me." Luke writes, "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me." Mark writes, "Abba, Father, all things are possible to you, remove this cup from me." Every martyrdom completed by death for whatever motive is called a cup. See whether you cannot say with him, "Let this cup pass from me." ... "The cup of salvation" in Psalms is the death of the martyrs. That is why the verse "I will take the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord" is followed by "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints."

The Lord also, when He had wished to demonstrate to us, even in His own flesh, the flesh's infirmity, by the reality of suffering, said, "Father, remove this Thy cup; "and remembering Himself, added, "save that not my will, but Thine be done." Himself was the Will and the Power of the Father: and yet, for the demonstration of the patience which was due, He gave Himself up to the Father's Will.

Since He is in agony and prays, lest this appear to be a sign of cowardice, He takes with Him those who themselves saw His Divine glory and themselves heard the testimony from heaven, so that, seeing Him in agony, they would consider this an act of human nature. For to confirm that He was truly Man, He allowed this nature to act in its own way. As Man, He desires to live and prays for the cup to pass from Him, for man is a lover of life; and through this He overthrows the heresies according to which He became man only in appearance. For if even after such actions of human nature they found occasion to babble in this manner, what would they not have said if these actions had not taken place? Thus, the desire that the cup pass by belongs to human nature, while the words spoken shortly after — "nevertheless, not My will, but Yours be done" — show that we too must have the same disposition and the same mindset, submitting to the will of God and not turning aside, even though our nature may pull us in the opposite direction. "Not My" human "will, but Yours be done," and this Yours is not separate from My Divine will. The one Christ, having two natures, undoubtedly also had the will or desires of each nature, Divine and human. Thus, human nature at first desired to live, for this is proper to it, but then, following the Divine will that all people be saved — a will common to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit — it resolved upon death, and in this way one desire emerged: salvific death.

Our Lord proves by what comes after, that He prayed for His disciples whom He exhorts by watching and prayer to be partakers of His prayer; for it follows, And he saith unto them, Why sleep ye? Rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.

Whence it is also added: And he said to them: Why do you sleep? Arise and pray, lest you enter into temptation. He rebukes their drowsiness, which was similar to the drowsiness of Jonah himself; Jonah 1: "Jonah went down into the inner part of the ship and was sleeping in a deep sleep. And the captain came to him, saying: Why are you weighed down with sleep?" So also the Lord said to Peter in Mark 14: "Simon, do you sleep? Could you not watch one hour with me?" However, they were sleeping not from excess, like that man of whom Proverbs 23 says: "You shall be as one sleeping in the midst of the sea and as a drowsy helmsman who has lost the rudder," but only from sorrow: whence Matthew 26: "Their eyes were heavy with sorrow."

In this, therefore, the wondrous circumspection of Christ at prayer is apparent, because He returned three times to the disciples to rouse them and again three times returned to pray to God; so that He might manifestly show that He was most devoted and most vigilant both toward His subjects and toward God, as a most excellent prelate.

It is also intimated in this, that Christ prayed the same words three times, that our prayer ought to be directed to the Triune God; it ought to be against the threefold kind of temptations; it ought to be according to the threefold act of the powers of the image of our mind, and according to the threefold theological virtue, namely faith, hope, and charity; it ought to be for the sake of the threefold good to be obtained, namely pardon, grace, and glory, or goodness, knowledge, and discipline, according to that verse of the Psalm: "Teach me goodness and discipline and knowledge."

In this, moreover, that He visited them three times, it is signified that the Lord visits souls three times, namely by strengthening the irascible power, by sending in zeal, the rational power, by pouring in light, and the concupiscible power, by inflaming desire. On account of which, Job thirty-three: "God works all these things three times with each person, to bring back their souls from corruption and to enlighten them with the light of the living." — And thus this part is completed, which concerns the preambles to the Passion.

In all other respects the Father did not forsake the Son, for it was into His Father's hands that the Son commended His. spirit. Indeed, after so commending it, He instantly died; and as the Spirit remained with the flesh, the flesh cannot undergo the full extent of death, i.e., in corruption and decay.

He Himself, when tempted by the devil, demonstrated who it is that presides over and is the originator of temptation. This passage He confirms by subsequent ones, saying, "Pray that ye be not tempted; " yet they were tempted, (as they showed) by deserting their Lord, because they had given way rather to sleep than prayer. The final clause, therefore, is consonant, and interprets the sense of "Lead us not into temptation; " for this sense is, "But convey us away from the Evil One."

And He, finding the disciples sleeping, rebukes them and at the same time urges them to pray in temptations, so as not to be overcome by them. For not to fall into temptation means not to be swallowed up by temptation, not to come under its power. Or He also simply commands us to pray that our lot may be safe and that we not be subjected to any trouble. For to cast oneself into temptations means to be reckless and proud. How then does James (Jas. 1:2) say: "Count it all joy when you fall into various temptations"? What is this, are we not contradicting ourselves? No, for James did not say: cast yourselves in, but when you are subjected to them, do not lose heart, but have all joy, and make what was once involuntary into something voluntary. For it is better if temptations had not come, but when they have come, why grieve foolishly? Show me a place in Scripture where it is literally commanded to pray to fall into temptations. But you cannot show one. I know that there are two kinds of temptation, and that some understand the duty of praying not to fall into temptation as referring to the temptation that conquers the soul, for example, the temptation of fornication, the temptation of anger. But one should count it all joy when we undergo bodily afflictions and temptations. For to the degree that "the outward man perishes," to that degree "the inward man is renewed" (2 Cor. 4:16). Although I know this, I prefer that which is more true and which is closer to the present purpose.

It must be used I think by way of question, as if he arrests the traitor with a lover's affection.

He says, Betrayest thou with a kiss? that is, dost thou inflict a wound with the pledge of love? with the instruments of peace dost thou impose death? a slave, dost thou betray thy Lord; a disciple, thy master; one chosen, Him who chose thee?

O great manifestation of Divine power, great discipline of virtue! Both the design of thy traitor is detected, and yet forbearance is not withheld. He shows whom it is Judas betrays, by manifesting things hidden; He declares whom he delivers up, by saying, the Son of man, for the human flesh, not the Divine nature, is seized. That however which most confounds the ungrateful, is the thought that he had delivered up Him, who though He was the Son of God, yet for our sakes wished to be the Son of man; as if He said, "For thee did I undertake, O ungrateful man, that which thou betrayest in hypocrisy.

Our Lord kissed him, not that He would teach us to dissemble, but both that He might not seem to shrink from the traitor, and that He might the more move him by not denying him the offices of love.

The Lord when He was betrayed first said this which Luke mentions, Betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss? next, what Matthew says, Friend, wherefore art thou come? and lastly, what John records, Whom seek ye?

But Jesus said to him: Judas, do you betray the Son of Man with a kiss? He says, do you betray the Son of Man because it is the flesh, not the divinity, that is seized. However, it rebukes the ungrateful all the more because he betrayed him who, though he was the Son of God, nevertheless wanted to be the Son of Man because of us. And it is as if he is saying: Ungrateful one, do you betray what I took on because of you? Certainly, it should be pronounced interrogatively, as if with the affection of someone who loves, he rebukes the betrayer. Judas, do you betray the Son of Man with a kiss? That is, with the symbol of love you inflict a wound, with the duty of charity you shed blood, with the instrument of peace you impose death; the servant betrays the Lord, the disciple the master, the chosen one the author?

This sign was truly that of betrayers, because it is a sign of love, and yet it proceeded from the perversity of the heart: and therefore he adds: But Jesus said to him: Judas, do you betray the Son of man with a kiss? namely, exposing the betrayer's intent. The Lord, however, received the kiss from Judas, although he knew it was treacherous, so that he might always show the greatest benignity in himself. Whence the Gloss: "The Lord received the kiss, so that he might move the betrayer all the more, to whom he would not deny the offices of love."

Whence it is said in the Psalm: "With those who hated peace, I was peaceable," etc.; and Matthew 26: "Who said to him: Friend, why have you come?" From this, moreover, the remarkable perversity of the betrayer is apparent: whence Jerome: "Judas slips from the pinnacle of apostleship into the depths of betrayal, and is deterred neither by the familiarity of the banquet, nor by the dipping of the morsel, nor by the grace of the kiss, from betraying as a mere man the one whom he knew to be the Son of God." The reception of the kiss, therefore, on Christ's part was one of benignity, but on Judas's part was one of remarkable deceit. As a figure of this, in 2 Kings 20, Joab said to Amasa: "Hail, my brother. And he took hold of his chin, as if to kiss him, and struck him in the side, and he died." And this is the kiss of the impious betrayer; therefore Proverbs 27: "Better are the wounds of a friend than the deceitful kisses of an enemy."

Unmindful of the glory of Christ, he thought to be able to act secretly, daring to make an especial token of love the instrument of his treachery.

But John saith, that even to the very moment He continued to reprove him, saying, "Judas, betrayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss?" Art thou not ashamed even of the form of the betrayal? saith He. Nevertheless, forasmuch as not even this checked him, He submitted to be kissed, and gave Himself up willingly; and they laid their hands on Him, and seized Him that night on which they ate the passover, to such a degree did they boil with rage, and were mad. However, they would have had no strength, unless He had Himself suffered it. Yet this delivers not Judas from intolerable punishment, but even more exceedingly condemns him, for that though he had received such proof of His power, and lenity, and meekness, and gentleness, he became fiercer than any wild beast.

And He gives him his proper name, which was rather like one lamenting and recalling him, than one provoked to anger.

But He said not, "Betrayest thou thy Master, thy Lord, thy Benefactor," but the Son of man, that is, the humble and meek, who though He were not thy Master and Lord, forasmuch as He has borne himself so gently toward thee, should have never been betrayed by thee.

He admits him to Himself with this hostile kiss. And thunderbolts did not rain down upon the ungrateful and treacherous one! Thus the Savior teaches us meekness in such circumstances. He says only with reproach: "Judas! Do you betray with a kiss?" Will you not be ashamed of the very manner of the betrayal? Why do you mix betrayal, an act of enmity, with a friendly kiss? And whom do you betray? "The Son of Man," that is, the humble, the meek, the condescending One, Who became man for your sake, and moreover the true God. He says this because even to the very last He burned with love for him. Therefore He did not insult him, did not call him inhuman and utterly ungrateful, but called him by his own name: "Judas." And He would not have reproached him if even this did not serve for his improvement, should he so desire. For He did this and, it would seem, reproached him so that Judas would not think that He was hiding, but so that, at least now, recognizing Him as Master, as the All-Knowing One, he might fall before Him and repent. The Lord knew that Judas was incorrigible, yet He did what was His to do, just as His Father also did in the Old Testament: He knew that the Jews would not listen, yet He sent the prophets. And at the same time He teaches us this very thing, namely: that we should not take offense at the failure to reform of those who fall.

Understand, if you can, how the pain of a healthy right hand escaping touch flees, and wounds are healed not by ointment but by touch. The clay recognizes its potter, and the flesh follows the hand of its Master; for as he wills, the Creator restores his work. Thus elsewhere does sight return to the blind man, when mud spread over his eyes as if it had returned to nature, is reformed. He could have commanded, but he preferred to work; so that we may know that it is he who from the clay of the earth fashioned the various organs of our body with different functions, and infused them with the vigor of the mind.

But Jesus answered and said: "Permit it thus far." It should not be thought that He was pleased with what had happened up to this point, but rather He did not want it to proceed any further. In the words which Matthew records the Lord is said to have spoken: "Put your sword back in its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword" (Matthew 26). It was understood rather that the entire action, wherein Peter used the sword, was displeasing to the Lord. For it is more accurate that when they asked Him, saying: "Lord, should we strike with the sword?" then He responded: "Permit it thus far," meaning: do not be concerned with what is about to happen, they must be allowed to proceed up to this point, that is, to apprehend Me, and that what is written about Me may be fulfilled. But in the intervening time between the words of those questioning the Lord and His responding, Peter, in his eagerness to defend and with greater commotion for the Lord, struck. But it could not also be spoken at the same time that which could be done at the same time. For He would not have said: "But Jesus answered," unless He was responding to their questioning. For concerning Peter's action, Matthew alone states what He judged. Where Matthew also did not say: "Jesus answered Peter: 'Put your sword back,'" but said: "Then Jesus said to him: 'Put your sword back,'" which appears the Lord said after the fact.

And when he touched his ear, he healed him. The Lord never forgets his compassion, even preventing his enemies from being harmed. They inflict death on the just one, while he heals the wounds of the persecutors: mystically teaching that even they can be healed, if they are converted, who are wounded in agreement with his death. According to the allegory, this servant is the people of the Jews, subjected to the obedience of the chief priests, so much so that by their influence they asked for Barabbas to be released, and Jesus, whom they had just been singing Hosanna to as the son of David and king, to be crucified. In the Lord's Passion, they lost the right ear, that is, the spiritual understanding of the law, being content only with the left, that is, the benefit of the letter. This ear is cut off by Peter's sword, not because he takes away the understanding from those listening, but reveals the neglect removed by divine judgment. But the same right ear was, by divine dignity, restored to its original function in those who chose to believe from the same people. Alternatively: the ear cut off for the Lord, and healed by the Lord, signifies hearing renewed after the old state is removed, so that it is in the newness of the spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. Whoever is granted this by Christ will also be granted to reign with Christ. Hence, it is fitting that Malchus, the name of that servant, is interpreted as king or one destined to reign. But that he was found a servant also pertains to that old condition which generates servitude, which is Hagar. But when health approached, freedom was also symbolized.

For the Lord is never forgetful of His lovingkindness. While they are bringing death upon the righteous, He heals the wounds of His persecutors.

Third, as regards the power of the Savior, he adds: But Jesus answering said: Permit even this, as if to say: proceed no further, because patience must be shown, not wrath; kindness, not vengeance.

Therefore he adds: And when he had touched his ear, he healed him. In this the benignity of Christ is shown in a wondrous manner, that he healed the servant who was seizing him, wounded in the act of persecution. Then most especially he fulfilled that which he commanded in Matthew 5: "Do good to those who hate you."

In this his wondrous power appeared, because by touch alone he united what had been severed, which neither art nor nature could do. And through this he showed himself able to resist, to give life and to kill, according to that passage of Deuteronomy 32: "I will kill, and I will make alive; I will strike, and I will heal, and there is none who can deliver from my hand."

In this also the wondrous power of Christ appeared, because together with omnipotence there was such great patience: whence in John 18 it is said that "Jesus went forth to meet them and said to them: Whom do you seek? When therefore He said to them: I am He, they went backward and fell to the ground." Christ therefore showed in this also the power of might and patience and beneficence: whence the Gloss: "He never forgets mercy, who does not allow even His enemies to be wounded." — He also indicated with this a mystery of wisdom. For by the healing of the severed ear it is understood that the Lord will one day restore hearing and understanding of the truth to the Jewish people, according to that passage of Isaiah 10: "The remnant shall be converted, the remnant, I say, of Jacob, to the mighty God. For if your people Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, a remnant of them shall be converted." Whence the Gloss: "The ear cut off and healed signifies hearing, with the oldness removed, renewed, so that it may be in newness of spirit and not in oldness of the letter."

Since our Lord was the fulfillment of justice and the beginning of mercy, he put the sword in its sheath and put justice back in its place again. He then healed the ear through mercy. He put the ear back in its place and made good the imperfection of justice through fruitful mercy. He whose ear had been healed expressed his gratitude for this love with hatred. Those who had "fallen backwards to the ground" and had been raised up again through Christ, thanked him for his help with chains. "They bound him," said the Evangelist, "and led him away."

Jesus restores the ear; for it is fitting for the great power of the Word to heal the disobedient and give them an ear for hearing. Jesus performs the miracle so that by this visible miracle upon the ear He might show His lack of malice and, at the very least, by the miracle lead them to the thought of restraining themselves from their madness.

So they came and arrested him, who were about to perish with a more severe loss of their pursuit: neither did they understand the unhappy mystery, nor did they worship such a compassionate affection of piety, which even allowed their enemies not to be wounded. They were inflicting death justly: he was healing the wounds of his persecutors.

Jesus said to those who had come to him, the chief priests, and officers of the temple, and elders. It is asked how Jesus is said to have addressed the chief priests, officers of the temple, and elders who came to him, when other evangelists report that they did not come themselves but sent servants while waiting in Caiaphas's court. But since the chief priests, Pharisees, and elders managed the Lord's death in such a way that they appeared innocent of His blood: Let Him not be handed over by us, but by His disciple; let Him not be seized by us, but by the tribune and the mob; let Barabbas be chosen by the people, not by us; and finally, let Him be condemned not by us but by the governor, and crucified not by our hand but by Roman soldiers; the evangelist, wishing to show that those who orchestrated everything were guilty of His blood, says that the chief priests, officers of the temple, and elders came to apprehend the Savior, so that it might be understood that just as they did not seize Christ themselves, but through those they sent, so too all those who shouted for His crucifixion did not kill Him by their own hands but through the one who was impelled by their clamor to this wickedness.

"Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs? When I was daily with you in the temple, you did not stretch forth hands against me. But this is your hour and the power of darkness." It is foolish (he says) to seek him with swords and clubs, who willingly surrenders to your hands; to search for him at night as if he were hiding and avoiding your sight through a betrayer, who teaches daily in the temple. But you gather against me in the darkness because your power, which is armed against the light of the world, is itself in darkness.

It follows, Then said Jesus unto them, Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and slaves? &c.

As if He says, Therefore are ye assembled against Me in darkness, because your power, wherewith ye are thus armed against the light of the world, is in darkness. But it is asked, how Jesus is said to be addressing the chief priests, the officers of the temple, and the elders, who came to Him, whereas they are reported not to have gone of themselves, but to have sent their servants while they waited in the hall of Caiaphas? The answer then to this contradiction is, that they came not by themselves, but by those whom they sent to take Christ in the power of their command.

Fourth, as to the deceit of the Jews, he adds: But Jesus said to those who had come to Him, the chief priests and magistrates of the temple and the elders, whom He names specifically, because all these things were done by the authority of the leaders: and that passage of 1 Esdras 9 was fulfilled: "The hand of the princes and magistrates was first in this transgression"; and Daniel 13: "Iniquity came forth from the elder judges of the people, who seemed to govern the people." For the princes seemed to govern by authority, the magistrates by learning, the elders by both, and yet these men devised wickedness.

And therefore He addresses them, saying: Have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs? When I was daily with you in the temple, you did not stretch out your hands against Me; from which their foolishness is shown: whence Ambrose: "It is foolish to seek with swords Him who willingly hands Himself over, and to search in the night through a traitor for one hiding, whom they daily saw teaching in the temple." Their wickedness is also shown, because they sought a just man as a robber, an unarmed man with weapons; they sought the true light in darkness; which indeed the darkness of their sins caused. Whence He adds: But this is your hour and the power of darkness: because, John 3, "he who does evil hates the light"; and Job 24: "The eye of the adulterer watches for darkness." On account of which the demons also, because they counsel evil, are called powers of darkness, according to that passage of Ephesians 6: "Against the princes and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness." We ought to flee these darknesses, according to that passage of Ephesians 5: "Do not be partakers in the unfruitful works of darkness." In this darkness is he who hates Christ, the light and the brother of the human race, 1 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."

He says "to the chief priests and captains of the temple," that is, to the overseers appointed to attend to the needs of the priests; or by captains he means those who were entrusted with matters concerning the construction and adornment of the temple.

"You have one hour against me." That is a very short and limited time, between the precious cross and the resurrection from the dead. This also is the power given to darkness. Darkness is the name of Satan, for he is total night and darkness. Blessed Paul says that the God of this world has blinded the minds of those that do not believe, or else, the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ should shine on them. God granted power to Satan and the Jews to rise up against Christ. They, however, dug for themselves the pitfall of destruction. He certainly saved all under heaven by means of his passion and rose the third day, having trampled under foot the empire of death. They brought down inevitable condemnation on their own heads in company with that traitorous disciple.

Whereby He does not blame the chiefs of the Jews that they had not sooner prepared their murderous designs against Him, but convicts them of having presumptuously supposed they had attacked Him against His will; as if He says, "Ye did not take Me then, because I willed it not, but neither could ye now, did I not of My own accord surrender Myself into your hands." Hence it follows, But this is your hour, that is, a short time is permitted you to exercise your vengeance against Me, but the Father's will agrees with Mine. He also says, that this power is given to darkness, i. e. the Devil and the Jews, of rising in rebellion against Christ. And then is added, And the power of darkness.

For they had come at night fearing an outbreak of the multitude, therefore He says, "What need was there of these arms against one who was always with you?" as it follows, When I was daily with you.

He says to them: every day I taught in the temple, and you did not wish to seize Me, but now you have come as against a robber. However, you are truly undertaking works of the night, and your authority is the authority of darkness. Therefore you have chosen precisely such a time as befits both you and the deed you are undertaking.

Therefore, Peter wept very bitterly, he wept so that he could wash away his sin with tears: and you, if you want to deserve forgiveness, wash away your guilt with tears: at the same moment, at the same time, Christ looks at you. If you perhaps stumble in any way; because the witness of your secrets is present, he looks at you so that you may remember and confess your error. Imitate Peter saying elsewhere for a third time: Lord, you know that I love you. For indeed, because he had denied for the third time, for the third time he confesses: but he denied at night, he confesses in the day.

However, these things are written so that we may know that no one should boast; for if Peter fell, because he said, 'Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble,' who else has the right to presume about himself? And indeed, David, because he had said, 'I said in my prosperity, 'I shall never be moved',' openly admits that this was boasting, saying, 'You hid Your face, and I was troubled.'

Lastly, those whom Jesus looks upon weep for their sins. Hence it follows, And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly. Why did he weep? Because he sinned as man. I read of his tears, I do not read of his confession. Tears wash away an offence which it is shame to confess in words. The first and second time he denied and wept not, for as yet our Lord had not looked upon him. He denied the third time, Jesus looked upon him, and he wept bitterly. So then if thou wilt obtain pardon, wash away thy guilt in tears.

When fear overwhelmed him, as the Lord had predicted, he three times denies the one for whom he promised to die. As it says, "The Lord looked at him and he, for his part, wept bitterly." Remembrance of his denial was necessarily bitter, so that the grace of redemption might be even more sweet. If Christ had not left him to himself, he would not have denied. If Christ had not looked at him, he would not have wept. God hates people relying presumptuously on their own powers. Like a doctor, he lances this swollen tumor in those whom he loves. By lancing it, of course, he inflicts pain, but he also ensures health later. When he rises again, the Lord entrusts his sheep to Peter, to that one who denied him. Peter denied him because he relied on himself, but later Peter would feed his flock as a pastor, because he loved him. After all, why does he ask him three times about his love, if not to prick his conscience about his threefold denial?

How we should understand this, requires some careful consideration; for Matthew says, Peter was sitting without in the hall, which he would not have said unless the transaction relating to our Lord were passing within. Likewise also, where Mark said, And as Peter was beneath in the hall, he shows that the things he had been speaking of took place not only within but in the upper part. How then did our Lord look upon Peter? not with His bodily face, since Peter was without in the hall among those who were warming themselves, while these things were going on in the inner part of the house. Wherefore, that looking upon Peter seems to me to have been done in a divine manner. And as it was said, Look thou, and hear me, (Ps. 13:3.) and, Turn and deliver my soul, (Ps. 6:4.) so I think the expression here used, The Lord turned and looked upon Peter.

And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said: "Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times." And Peter went out and wept bitterly. With the Lord looking upon him, Peter's heart was pricked, and he wiped away the stain of denial with the tears of repentance, as it is not only while repentance is performed but also for it to be performed, that the mercy of God is necessary. For His looking is to show mercy. Hence the Psalmist says: "How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Look upon me and answer me, O Lord my God" (Psalm 12), that is, have mercy and help me. How harmful indeed are the sayings of the treacherous! Peter, among the Jews, denied knowing the man he had confessed as the Son of God among his fellow disciples. But could he do penance while detained in Caiaphas' courtyard? He went out, so that, separated from the council of the impious, he might wash away the stains of fearful denial with unrestrained weeping.

For to look upon him is to have compassion, seeing that not only while penance is being practised, but that it may be practised, the mercy of God is necessary.

Thirdly, as to the compassion of the Lord in coming to his aid, it is added: And immediately, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed. And the Lord, turning, looked upon Peter. He sent beforehand the crowing of the cock by which Peter might be moved outwardly, and by the gaze of the Lord he might be moved inwardly, because in this twofold manner the compassion of Christ raises up sinners: outwardly, by moving them through the crowing of the cock, that is, through the admonition of preachers; Job thirty-eight: "Who has given the cock understanding?" Whence the Church also sings: The cock reproves those lying down and rebukes the drowsy, because it is said to the preacher in Second Timothy chapter four: "Reprove, entreat, rebuke," etc. And at its crowing there comes the gaze of divine mercy, concerning which in the Psalm: "For he has looked forth from his holy height: the Lord has gazed from heaven upon the earth." Augustine in On the Harmony of the Evangelists: "The Lord looked upon Peter not with human eyes, but with divine ones"; Wisdom chapter four: "The regard of God is upon his elect"; and the Psalm: "He looks upon the earth," etc.

Fourth, as regards the faithfulness of Peter in returning, it is added: And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, as he had said: Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times; and in this he acknowledged his fault, upon the acknowledgment of which penance follows.

As for the fact of a sin, is it probable that anything cancels it? All times are eternally present to God. Is it not at least possible that along some one line of His multi-dimensional eternity He sees you forever in the nursery pulling the wings off a fly, forever toadying, lying, and lusting as a schoolboy, forever in that moment of cowardice or insolence as a subaltern? It may be that salvation consists not in the cancelling of these eternal moments but in the perfected humility that bears the shame forever, rejoicing in the occasion which it furnished to God's compassion and glad that it should be common knowledge to the universe. Perhaps in that eternal moment St. Peter--he will forgive me if I am wrong--forever denies his Master. If so, it would indeed be true that the joys of Heaven are for most of us, in our present condition, "an acquired taste"--and certain ways of life may render the taste impossible of acquisition. Perhaps the lost are those who dare not go to such a public place. Of course I do not know that this is true; but I think the possibility is worth keeping in mind.

This miserable act arose from the affliction of human cowardice. The disciple's conscience condemned him. The proof of this is his grieving immediately afterwards and his tears of repentance that fell from his eyes as for a serious sin. It says, "Having gone out, he wept bitterly," after Christ had looked at him and reminded him of what he had said to Peter.

(Hom. 83. in Joan.) Marvel now at the case of the Master, who though He was a prisoner, had exercised much forethought for His disciple, whom by a look He brought to Himself, and provoked to tears; for it follows, And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter.

Then "the Lord looked at Peter." Christ stood in the middle of the priests' insults, the witnesses' lies, and the injuries of those that struck him and spat on him. He met the troubled disciple with his eyes, the same eyes that had foreseen that Peter would undergo a struggle. In so doing, the gaze of truth entered Peter, directed toward the place where the amendment of his heart would be grounded. It was as if the Lord's voice were echoing within Peter, saying, "What are you thinking, Peter? Why do you withdraw into yourself? Turn to me, trust in me", and "follow me." This is the time for my passion. The hour of your suffering has not yet come. Why do you fear what you yourself will also overcome? Do not let the weakness that I have accepted disturb you. I was anxious for you, but you should not worry about me."

What things, then, they be for which repentance seems just and due-that is, what things are to be set down under the head of sin-the occasion indeed demands that I should note down; but (to do so) may seem to be unnecessary. For when the Lord is known, our spirit, having been" looked back upon" by its own Author, emerges unbidden into the knowledge of the truth; and being admitted to (an acquaintance with) the divine precepts, is by them forthwith instructed that "that from which God bids us abstain is to be accounted sin: "inasmuch as, since it is generally agreed that God is some great essence of good, of course nothing but evil would be displeasing to good; in that, between things mutually contrary, friendship there is none.

Peter, according to Christ's prediction, proved weak and denied the Master Christ not once, but three times, and denied Him with an oath, for Matthew says: "Then he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the Man" (Matt. 26:74). Perhaps such timidity seized him, and he was abandoned for a time on account of his boldness, as if for instruction, so that he might be lenient toward others as well. For he was very bold, and if he had not been chastened by this circumstance, he would have acted in many things tyrannically and without condescension. But then he fell into such terror that he would not even have noticed his fall, if the Lord, turning, had not looked upon him. O goodness! He Himself is under condemnation, yet He cares for the salvation of His disciple. And rightly so. For He was enduring the very condemnation for the sake of human salvation. First the disciple denied, then the rooster crowed. He denied again, even up to three times, and the rooster crowed again a second time. Mark describes this so precisely and in detail (Mark 14:66–72) and conveys it as one who learned it from Peter, for he was his disciple. But Luke, since this had already been told by Mark, spoke briefly without going into detail. And Luke's words do not contradict what Mark said. For a rooster has the habit of crowing two or three times at each occasion. Thus, Peter was brought by human weakness into such forgetfulness that he did not come to his senses even from the crowing of the rooster, but even after the rooster had crowed, he denied again, and yet again, until the gracious gaze of Jesus brought him back to remembrance.

And when day came, the elders of the people, and the chief priests, and the scribes, gathered together, and led him into their council, saying: If you are the Christ, tell us. They did not desire the truth, but were preparing a calumny. For thinking that the Christ would come only as a man from the lineage of David, just as they replied to him in another place when he questioned them, this they asked him greatly, so that if he said, I am the Christ (as they only conceived), from the seed of David, they would calumniate that he arrogated to himself royal power.

And he said to them: If I tell you, you will not believe me. But if I also ask you, you will not answer me, nor let me go. Frequently he had said to them that he was the Christ, namely, when he said: I and the Father are one (John X); and again: The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me, but you do not believe (Ibid.), and such things. He also asked how they could say that Christ was David's son, when David himself in the spirit called him his Lord, so that by such a question they might learn that he was not only a true man, because a son of David, but also a true God, because the Lord of David. But they neither wished to believe by following what he said, nor to answer when he questioned, nor to release him who was proven to be innocent. They who sought to calumniate the seed of David, heard more than they bargained for.

They wished not for truth, but were contriving calumny. Because they expected that Christ would come only as man, of the root of David, they sought this of Him, that if He should say, "I am the Christ," they might falsely accuse Him of claiming to Himself the kingly power.

For He had often declared Himself to be the Christ; as when he said, l and my Father are one, (John 10:30.) and other such like things. And if I also ask you, ye will not answer me. For He had asked them how they said Christ was the Son of David, whereas David in the Spirit called Him his Lord. But they wished neither to believe His words nor to answer His questions. However, because they sought to accuse falsely the seed of David, they hear something still farther; as it follows, Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God.

Second, as to the malice in questioning, it is added: Saying: If you are the Christ, tell us. They do not ask this in order to be instructed, but in order to lay snares; whence the Gloss: "They do not desire the truth, but prepare a false accusation, so that, if he were to say: I am the Christ, they might accuse him of arrogating royal power to himself." They were seeking this in John 10: "The Jews surrounded him and said to him: If you are the Christ, tell us plainly."

But this malice did not escape Christ, and therefore it is added: And he said to them: If I tell you, you will not believe me: from which it is apparent that you ask as unbelievers. Whence John 10: "I speak to you, and you do not believe: the works that I do, these bear witness concerning me. But you do not believe, because you are not of my sheep."

But tell me, why do you question Him, and wish to learn of Himself, whether He be the Christ? For it is easy enough to obtain the knowledge of Him from the law and the prophets. Search the writings of Moses: you will see Him depicted there in manifold ways. For He was sacrificed as a lamb: He vanquished the destroyer by His blood: and was prefigured also in many other forms. Examine too the writings of the prophets; you will hear them proclaiming His divine and wonderful miracles. "For then, they say, shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the dumb shall hear: then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be plain." And again, "The dead shall arise, and those who are in the graves shall awake: for the dew from You is healing to them." Since therefore even you yourselves see the perfect clearness of the accomplishment of the prophecies respecting Him, why do you not rather acknowledge Him on the evidence of His divine miracles, and of His ineffable works? And this too Christ Himself said to you; "The works which My Father gave Me to do, those works bear witness of Me that He sent Me." And again, "If I had not done among them the works which no other man did, they had not had sin: but now they have both seen and hated both Me and My Father." The rulers therefore of the Jews, together with the people under their charge, were in very truth unbelieving, and thoroughly without understanding.

I think, however, that we ought to examine the words used by Christ: for they were a reproof of the want of love to God of which the Scribes and Pharisees were guilty. When therefore they ask whether He is in truth the Christ, and would learn this very thing, He says, "If I tell you, you will not believe; and if I ask, you will not return an answer." Come therefore, and let me explain to you, as to men glad to be taught, what the occasion was on which they heard, and would not believe; and that on which they were silent when questioned. When Christ then went up to Jerusalem, He found in the temple people selling sheep and oxen and doves, and moneychangers sitting: and having made, it says, a kind of scourge of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, saying, "Take these things hence: and make not My Father's house a house of merchandize." Because therefore He called God His Father, those who were sacrificing in the temple murmured and attacked Him, saying, "By what authority do You do these things? And who gave You this authority?" And to this Christ replied, "I will also ask you a word, which if you tell Me, I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, whence was it, from heaven, or from men? And they, it says, reasoned with themselves, saying, If we say, From heaven, He will say to us, Why did you not believe him? But if we say, Of men, we fear the multitude: for all held John as a prophet. And they answered and said, We do not know. And Christ said thereto, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things."

And on another occasion He asked them, saying, "What say you of Christ? Whose Son is He? And they said, David's. And afterwards the Lord said to them, How therefore does David in spirit call Him Lord, saying, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit You on My right hand, until I place Your enemies as a footstool under Your feet. If therefore David call Him Lord, how is He his Son?" And to this again they were silent. You see that Christ speaks truly when He says, "And if I ask you, you will not return Me an answer."

You shall see too that the other declaration is equally true: and what is this? "If I tell you, you will not believe." For the blessed John the Evangelist writes, that "it was the feast of the dedication at Jerusalem, and it was winter: and Jesus was walking in the temple in Solomon's porch. The Jews therefore came round about Him, and said to Him, How long will You lift up our soul? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly. And Jesus answered them, I told you, and you will not believe: the works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me; but you will not believe."

But even if he had told them, he would yet have to suffer. For he said, "If I tell you, ye will not believe." And refusing to believe, they would have continued to insist on his death.

And by day the elders and honorable men ask: Is He the Christ? Knowing their thoughts and that, not having believed the works which are more capable of persuading, they would all the more not believe words, He says: "if I tell you, you will not believe." For if you believed My words, what need would there be for this present assembly?

He knew the secrets of their hearts, that they who had not believed His works would much less believe His words. Hence it follows, And he said unto them, If I tell you, ye will not believe, &c.

As if he said, There is no time left to you any longer for discourses and teaching, but hereafter shall be the time of judgment, when ye shall see Me, the Son of man, sitting on the right hand of the power of God.

When then they heard this, they ought to have been afraid, but after these words they are the more frantic; as it follows, All said, &c.

Whereby it is manifest, that the disobedient reap no advantage, when the more secret mysteries are revealed to them, but rather incur the heavier punishment. Wherefore such things ought to be concealed from them.

But if I shall ask you, you will not answer me nor release me; wherefore it is clear that you ask as rebels. Whence the Gloss: "He had often said that he was the Christ, and he had also asked them how they said the Christ was the son of David: but they were willing neither to believe him when he spoke, nor to answer him when he asked, nor to release him who was innocent"; above in chapter 20: "How do they say that the Christ is the son of David?"

"And if I also ask, you will not answer." For they often remained silent when questioned, for example, about the baptism of John (Mark 11:30, 33), about the words: "The Lord said to my Lord" (Matt. 22:44–46), about the woman who was bent over (Luke 13:11–17). When did you listen to Me and believe? When did you not remain silent to a question put to you? Therefore I will only say that from now on it is not the time to speak to you and explain who I am (for if you had wished, you would have known Me from the signs I performed), but from now on it is the time of judgment.

From this, the Son of Man will be sitting at the right hand of the power of God. Therefore, if in Christ, O Jew, pagan, and heretic, contempt, weakness, and the cross are an insult, see that through these the Son of Man will sit at the right hand of God the Father, and being born as a human from the virgin's birth, he will come in his majesty with the clouds of heaven. Hence the Apostle, when he described the abasement of the cross, added, saying: For which reason also God exalted him, and gave him a name above every name, that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is in the glory of God (Philipp. II).

They understood that He called Himself the Son of God in these words, The Son of man shall sit on the right hand of the power of God.

Lest, however, he should seem to seek evasion, he answers with the truth, when he adds: But from henceforth the Son of man shall be sitting at the right hand of the power of God: from henceforth, that is, after this passion, according to that passage in Philippians 2: "He humbled himself: wherefore God also exalted him," etc. At the right hand, that is, as equal; Psalm: "The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand"; and Hebrews 1: "Who, being the brightness of glory and the figure of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, sits at the right hand of the Majesty on high."

Whenever sitting and a throne are spoken of God, His kingly and supreme majesty is signified. For we do not imagine any judgment-seat to be placed, on which we believe the Lord of all takes His seat; nor again, that in any wise right hand or left hand appertain to the Divine nature; for figure, and place, and sitting, are the properties of bodies. But how shall the Son be seen to be of equal honour and to sit together on the same throne, if He is not the Son according to nature, having in Himself the natural property of the Father?

But yet for all this, He with a solemn gesture says, "Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God." For it was on the authority of the prophecy of Daniel that He intimated to them that He was "the Son of man," and of David's Psalm, that He would "sit at the right hand of God.

You will see Me, the Son of Man, sitting "at the right hand of the power of God."

The Lord had rather prove Himself a King than call Himself one, that they might have no excuse for condemning Him, when they confess the truth of that which they lay against Him. It follows, And he said, Ye say that I am.

And they all said: Are you then the Son of God? You say that I am. Thus he tempers his response, so that he both speaks the truth, and his statement provides no opportunity for calumny. For he preferred to prove himself the Christ, the Son of God, rather than to say it, so that he would be taken up for condemnation by those who acknowledge what they themselves propose.

Third, as to the malice in replying, it is added: And they all said: Are you then the Son of God? They as it were draw a conclusion and seek a charge, so that, if he should assert this, they might condemn him as a blasphemer, according to that passage in John 5: The Jews persecuted Jesus, "not only because he broke the Sabbath," but also because "he called God his Father, making himself equal to God." Since therefore they were here concluding what was true, and yet regarded it as evidently false, therefore Christ neither entirely asserted nor entirely denied, but answered in a middle way.

On account of which he adds: Who said: You say it, because I am. Whence the Gloss: "He so tempers his response that he speaks the truth, and yet his words are not open to calumny." Whence in John 10, when the Jews said: "We do not stone you for a good work, but for blasphemy, and because you, being a man, make yourself God," Christ responded through Scripture: "Is it not written in your Law: I said: You are gods? If he called them gods, to whom the word of God was made: do you say that I blaspheme, because I said: I am the Son of God?" Whence, just as there he repressed their madness with a prudent response, so also here; in which Christ instructs us, according to that passage in Matthew 7: "Do not give what is holy to dogs, nor cast pearls before swine." For, in Proverbs 9, "he who instructs a scoffer brings injury upon himself"; and afterwards: "Teach a just man, and he will hasten to receive." Whence, to the blind man who had been given sight and who asked: "Who is the Son of God, that I may believe in him?" he responded: "You have both seen him, and it is he who speaks with you"; and in John 4, to the Samaritan woman saying that the Messiah would come, he responded: "I am he, who speaks with you."

And of course all three Synoptics tell the story of One who, at his trial, sealed His fate by saying He was the Son of God.

Accordingly, after He had said this, and so suggested a comparison of the Scripture, a ray of light did seem to show them whom He would have them understand Him to be; for they say: "Art thou then the Son of God? " Of what God, but of Him whom alone they knew? Of what God but of Him whom they remembered in the Psalm as having said to His Son, "Sit Thou on my right hand? "Then He answered, "Ye say that I am; " as if He meant: It is ye who say this-not I.

At this they should have been terrified, but after such words they became even more enraged and in their frenzy ask: "Are You then the Son of God?" He, with moderation and pointing out the absurdity of their question, answers them: "You say that I am," for He despised their fury and spoke to them fearlessly.

According to others, time is divided into five: and this is established by Christ who referred to five summonses: "The kingdom of heaven is like a householder who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard." The five summonses were in the morning, and at the third, sixth, ninth and eleventh hours. The morning saw the beginning of the creature, for God placed man in Paradise and commanded him "to till it and to keep it." But man had as yet neither mattock nor hoe: but he was able to make them out of the trees that were obedient to him. The second summons was under the scourge, until Noah who preached that man be more careful; the third, under Abraham who was a worshiper of God and a builder of altars, and it lasted until Moses; the fourth, under Moses through the Law and the prodigies, and it lasted until Christ; the fifth, under Christ and through Christ by means of penance—and He called all men to it and also to the wedding feast.

Avoiding ambition, the Lord speaks about another householder, being himself the householder and the regulator of the kingdom of heaven. By "day" he means the whole age during which at different moments since the transgression of Adam he calls just individuals to their pious work, defining rewards for them for their actions. And so "around the first hour" are those at the time of Adam and Enoch; "at the third hour" those in the time of Noah and Shem and the righteous descending from them, for the second time is also the second calling, when the laws were also different. The workers called "at the sixth hour" are those in the time of Abraham, the time of the institution of the circumcision; those "at the eleventh hour" are those just before Christ's advent. In their time alone the question is asked, "What are you doing standing the whole day idle?" for they do not have the hope of the Lord. They were godless in the world and idle in every good work; they are like those "standing idle in the market place," not groping in search of anything at all but running through their whole life to no purpose. The Lord admonishes them, "Why do you stand idle?" They answer, "No one has hired us; for neither Moses nor any of the holy men spoke to the Gentiles but to Jerusalem alone." Nevertheless the lord sends them too into the vineyard. There are five callings so that he may show that at each time there were sensible people and aimless ones, like the five wise virgins and the five foolish ones, according to their particular times. Some were found worthy, and some in their folly thought little of the coming age. The householder should be considered the Father using the Son as manager, not as a subsidiary but as colleague; for he orders and regulates everything through him, whatever he wishes.

The kingdom of heaven is said to be like a householder who hires workers to cultivate his vineyard. But who more fittingly holds the likeness of a householder than our Creator, who rules those whom he created, and possesses his elect in this world just as a master possesses his subjects in a house? He has a vineyard, namely the universal Church, which, from righteous Abel to the last elect who will be born at the end of the world, has sent forth as many branches as it has produced saints. This householder, therefore, hires workers to cultivate his vineyard at dawn, the third hour, the sixth, the ninth, and the eleventh, because from the beginning of this world until its end he has not ceased to gather preachers to instruct the faithful people. For the morning of the world was from Adam to Noah, the third hour from Noah to Abraham, the sixth from Abraham to Moses, the ninth from Moses to the coming of the Lord, and the eleventh from the coming of the Lord to the end of the world. In this last hour the holy apostles were sent as preachers, who received their full wage though they came late. Therefore the Lord has never ceased to send workers to instruct his people, as if to cultivate his vineyard, because both earlier through the patriarchs, and afterward through the teachers of the law and the prophets, and finally through the apostles, while he cultivated the character of his people, he labored, as it were, through workers in the cultivation of the vineyard. Although, in whatever measure or degree, whoever lived with right faith and good action was a worker of this vineyard.

(Hom. in Ev. xix, 1.) Or; The Master of the household, that is, our Maker, has a vineyard, that is, the Church universal, which has borne so many stocks, as many saints as it has put forth from righteous Abel to the very last saint who shall be born in the end of the world. To instruct this His people as for the dressing of a vineyard, the Lord has never ceased to send out His labourers; first by the Patriarchs, next by the teachers of the Law, then by the Prophets, and at the last by the Apostles, He has toiled in the cultivation of His vineyard; though every man, in whatsoever measure or degree he has joined good action with right faith, has been a labourer in the vineyard.

(ubi sup.) The morning is that age of the world which was from Adam and Noah, and therefore it is said, Who went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. The terms of their hiring He adds, And when he had agreed with the labourers for a denarius a day.

Chapter 20, Verse 1 onwards: The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. After agreeing to pay them the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. Going out again at about the third hour, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace and said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and I will give you whatever is right.' So they went. Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour and did the same. At about the eleventh hour, he went out and found others standing around, and he said to them, 'Why are you standing here idle all day?' They said to him, 'Because no one has hired us.' He said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard.' When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.' So when those hired at about the eleventh hour came, each one received a denarius. But when the first came, they thought that they would receive more; and they themselves also received each a denarius. And receiving it, they murmured against the householder, saying: These last have worked one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the day and the heat? But answering one of them, he said: This parable or similitude of the kingdom of heaven is understood from the things that have been set forth. For it is written before it: Many will be first who will be last, and the last first. Not deferring to time but to faith. And he said that the householder went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard and agreed to pay them a denarius for their work. Then he went out again around the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and he promised to pay them what is just, not a denarius. He also did the same at the sixth hour and the ninth hour. And the eleventh hour workers also found others standing idle all day long, and sent them into the vineyard. And when it was evening, the owner of the vineyard instructed his steward to begin paying the workers, starting with the last ones hired and ending with the first ones hired; and all were equally incited against the last ones, accusing the father of the household of unfairness. Not because they received less than what was agreed upon, but because they wanted to receive more than those upon whom the steward had shown his mercy. It seems to me that the first hour belongs to the workers Samuel, Jeremiah, and John the Baptist, who can say with the Psalmist: 'You are my God from my mother's womb' (Psalm 22:11). The third hour belongs to those who began to serve God from their youth. The sixth hour belongs to those who took up the yoke of Christ in mature age. The ninth hour belongs to those who are already declining towards old age. And the eleventh hour belongs to those in their final old age. Yet all receive the same reward, although the labor is different. There are those who explain this parable in a different way. The first hour is said to represent the time from Adam and the other patriarchs to Noah; the third, from Noah to Abraham and the giving of circumcision to him; the sixth, from Abraham to Moses, when the Law was given; the ninth, from Moses to the prophets; the eleventh, from the apostles to the Gentile people, whom everyone envies. Therefore, understanding this itself after the eleventh hour, when it was near the setting of the sun and towards evening, John the Evangelist speaks: My little children, it is the last hour (1 John 2:13). And at the same time, consider that the injustice of the head of the household, which everyone equally accuses the eleventh hour workers of, they do not understand in themselves. For if the head of the household is unjust, he is not unjust in one, but in all: because the worker who was sent to the vineyard in the third hour did not work as much as the one who was sent in the first hour. Similarly, the worker who was sent in the sixth hour worked less than the one in the third hour; and the worker in the ninth hour worked less than the one in the sixth hour. Therefore, every backward calling is envied by the peoples, and is twisted in the grace of the Gospel. Hence, the Savior concludes the parable, saying: The first will be last, and the last first. Thus, the Jews are turned from head to tail, and we are changed from tail to head.

Or, all that were called of old envy the Gentiles, and are pained at the grace of the Gospel.

"For the kingdom of Heaven," He said, "is like to a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with them for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard."

"And at the third hour he saw others standing idle, and to them too he said, Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And about the sixth and ninth hours he did likewise. And about the eleventh hour, he saw others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? But they say unto him, No man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into my vineyard, and whatsoever is right, ye shall receive."

"So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the laborers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. And the first supposed that they should receive more, and they received likewise every man a penny. And when they had received it, they murmured against the good man of the house, saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us that have borne the burden and heat of the day. But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong; didst thou not agree with me for a penny? Take that thine is, and go thy way; I will give unto this last also, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? Thus the last shall be first, and the first last: for many are called, but few chosen."

What is to us the intent of this parable? For the beginning doth not harmonize with what is said at the end, but intimates altogether the contrary. For in the first part He shows all enjoying the same, and not some cast out, and some brought in; yet He Himself both before the parable and after the parable said the opposite thing. "That the first shall be last, and the last first," that is, before the very first, those not continuing first, but having become last. For in proof that this is His meaning, He added, "Many are called, but few chosen," so as doubly both to sting the one, and to soothe and urge on the other.

But the parable saith not this, but that they shall be equal to them that are approved, and have labored much. "For thou hast made them equal unto us," it is said, "that have borne the burden and heat of the day."

What then is the meaning of the parable? For it is necessary to make this first clear, and then we shall clear up that other point. By a vineyard He meaneth the injunctions of God and His commandments: by the time of laboring, the present life: by laborers, them that in different ways are called to the fulfillment of the injunctions: by early in the morning, and about the third and ninth and eleventh hours, them who at different ages have drawn near to God, and approved themselves.

But the question is this, whether the first having gloriously approved themselves, and having pleased God, and having throughout the whole day shone by their labors, are possessed by the basest feeling of vice, jealousy and envy. For when they had seen them enjoying the same rewards, they say, "These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, that have borne the burden and heat of the day." And in these words, when they are to receive no hurt, neither to suffer diminution as to their own hire, they were indignant, and much displeased at the good of others, which was proof of envy and jealousy. And what is yet more, the good man of the house in justifying himself with respect to them, and in making his defense to him that had said these things, convicts him of wickedness and the basest jealousy, saying, "Didst thou not agree with me for a penny? Take that thine is, and go thy way; I will give unto the last even as unto thee. Is thine eye evil, because I am good?"

What then is it which is to be established by these things? For in other parables also this self-same thing may be seen. For the son who was approved is brought in, as having felt this self-same thing, when he saw his prodigal brother enjoying much honor, even more than himself. For like as these enjoyed more by receiving first, so he in a greater degree was honored by the abundance of the things given him; and to these things he that was approved bears witness.

What then may we say? There is no one who is thus justifying himself, or blaming others in the kingdom of Heaven; away with the thought! for that place is pure from envy and jealousy. For if when they are here the saints give their very lives for sinners, much more when they see them there in the enjoyment of these things, do they rejoice and account these to be blessings of their own. Wherefore then did He so frame His discourse? The saying is a parable, wherefore neither is it right to inquire curiously into all things in parables word by word, but when we have learnt the object for which it was composed, to reap this, and not to busy one's self about anything further.

Wherefore then was this parable thus composed? what is its object to effect? To render more earnest them that are converted and become better men in extreme old age, and not to allow them to suppose they have a less portion. So it is for this cause He introduces also others displeased at their blessings, not to represent those men as pining or vexed, away with the thought! but to teach us that these have enjoyed such honor, as could even have begotten envy in others. Which we also often do, saying, "Such a one blamed me, because I counted thee worthy of much honor," neither having been blamed, nor wishing to slander that other, but hereby to show the greatness of the gift which this one enjoyed.

But wherefore can it have been that He did not hire all at once? As far as concerned Him, He did hire all; but if all did not hearken at once, the difference was made by the disposition of them that were called. For this cause, some are called early in the morning, some at the third hour, some at the sixth, some at the ninth, some at the eleventh, when they would obey.

This Paul also declared when he said, "When it pleased Him, who separated me from my mother's womb." When did it please Him? When he was ready to obey. For He willed it even from the beginning, but because he would not have yielded, then it pleased Him, when Paul also was ready to obey. Thus also did He call the thief, although He was able to have called him even before, but he would not have obeyed. For if Paul at the beginning would not have obeyed, much more the thief.

And if they say, "No man hath hired us," in the first place as I said we must not be curious about all the points in the parables; but here neither is the good man of the house represented to say this, but they; but he doth not convict them, that he might drive them to perplexity, but might win them over. For that He called all, as far as lay in Him, from the first even the parable shows, saying, that "He went out early in the morning to hire."

From everything then it is manifest to us, that the parable is spoken with reference to them who from earliest youth, and those who in old age and more tardily, lay hold on virtue; to the former, that they may not be proud, neither reproach those called at the eleventh hour; to the latter, that they may learn that it is possible even in a short time to recover all.

For since He had been speaking about earnestness, and the casting away of riches, and contempt of all one's possessions, but this needed much vigor of mind and youthful ardor; in order to kindle in them a fire of love, and to give vigor to their will, He shows that it is possible even for men coming later to receive the hire of the whole day.

But He doth not say it thus, lest again He should make them proud, but he shows that the whole is of His love to man, and because of this they shall not fail, but shall themselves enjoy the unspeakable blessings.

And this chiefly is what it is His will to establish by this parable. And if He adds, that, "So the last shall be first and the first last; for many are called, but few chosen," marvel not. For not as inferring it from the parable doth He say this, but His meaning is this, that like as this came to pass, so shall that come to pass. For here indeed the first did not become last, but all received the same contrary to hope and expectation. But as this result took place contrary to hope and contrary to expectation, and they that came before were equalled by them that followed, so shall that also come to pass which is more than this, and more strange, I mean, that the last should come to be even before the first, and that the first should be after these. So that that is one thing, and this another.

But He seems to me to say these things, darkly hinting at the Jews, and amongst the believers at those who at first shone forth, but afterwards neglected virtue, and fell back; and those others again that have risen from vice, and have shot beyond many. For we see such changes taking place both with respect to faith and practice.

For the whole of this present life may be called one day, long to us, short compared to the existence of God.

The market-place is all that is without the vineyard, that is, without the Church of Christ.

The Master of the household is Christ, whose house are the heavens and the earth; and the creatures of the heavens, and the earth, and beneath the earth, His family. His vineyard is righteousness, in which are set divers sorts of righteousness as vines, as meekness, chastity, patience, and the other virtues; all of which are called by one common name righteousness. Men are the cultivators of this vineyard, whence it is said, Who went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. For God placed His righteousness in our senses, not for His own but for our benefit. Know then that we are the hired labourers. But as no man gives wages to a labourer, to the end he should do nothing save only to eat, so likewise we were not thereto called by Christ, that we should labour such things only as pertain to our own good, but to the glory of God. And like as the hired labourer looks first to his task, and after to his daily food, so ought we to mind first those things which concern the glory of God, then those which concern our own profit. Also as the hired labourer occupies the whole day in his Lord's work, and takes but a single hour for his own meal; so ought we to occupy our whole life in the glory of God, taking but a very small portion of it for the uses of this world. And as the hired labourer when he has done no work is ashamed that day to enter the house, and ask his food; how should not you be ashamed to enter the church, and stand before the face of God, when you have done nothing good in the sight of God?

For in this world men live by buying and selling, and gain their support by defrauding each other.

Or; The idle are not sinners, for they are called dead. But he is idle who works not the work of God. Do you desire to be not idle? Take not that which is another's; and give of that which is your own, and you have laboured in the Lord's vineyard, cultivating the vine of mercy. It follows, And he said unto them, Go ye also into my vineyard. Observe that it is with the first alone that He agrees upon the sum to be given, a denarius; the others are hired on no express stipulation, but What is right I will give you. For the Lord knowing that Adam would fall, and that all should hereafter perish in the deluge, made conditions for him, that he should never say that he therefore neglected righteousness, because he knew not what reward he should have. But with the rest He made no contract, seeing He was prepared to give more than the labourers could hope.

These two hours are coupled together, because in the sixth and ninth it was that He called the generation of the Jews, and multiplied to publish His testaments among men, whereas the appointed time of salvation now drew nigh.

For what is our hiring, and the wages of that hiring? The promise of eternal life; for the Gentiles knew neither God, nor God's promises.

Consider, He gives the reward not the next morning, but in the evening. Thus the judgment shall take place while this world is still standing, and each man shall receive that which is due to him. This is on two accounts. First, because the happiness of the world to come is to be itself the reward of righteousness; so the award is made before, and not in that world. Secondly, that sinners may not behold the blessedness of that day, The Lord saith unto his steward, that is, the Son to the Holy Spirit.

For we always give more willingly, where we give without return, seeing it is for our own honour that we give. Therefore God in giving reward to all the saints shows himself just; in giving to us, merciful; as the Apostle speaks, That the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy; (Rom. 16:9.) and thence it is said, Beginning from the last even unto the first. Or surely that God may show His inestimable mercy, He first rewards the last and more unworthy, and afterwards the first; for of His great mercy He regarded not order of merit.

And this not with injustice. For he who was born in the first period of the world, lived no longer than the determined time of his life, and what harm was it to him, though the world continued after his leaving it? And they that shall be born towards its close will not live less than the days that are numbered to them. And how does it cut then labour shorter, that the world is speedily ended, when they have accomplished their thread of life before? Moreover it is not of man to be born sooner or later, but of the power of God. Therefore he that is born first cannot claim to himself a higher place, nor ought he to be held in contempt that was born later. And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, saying. But if this we have said be true, that both first and last have lived their own time, and neither more nor less; and that each man's death is his consummation, what means this that they say, We have borne the burden and heat of the day? Because to know that the end of the world is at hand is of great force to make us do righteousness. Wherefore Christ in His love to us said, The kingdom of heaven shall draw nigh. (Matt. 4:2.) Whereas it was a weakening of them to know that the duration of the world was to be yet long. So that though they did not indeed live through the whole of time, they seem in a manner to have borne its weight. Or, by the burden of the day is meant the burdensome precepts of the Law; and the heat may be that consuming temptation to error which evil spirits contrived for them, stirring them to imitate the Gentiles; from all which things the Gentiles were exempt, believing on Christ, and by compendiousness of grace being saved completely.

Their complaint was not that they were defrauded of their rightful recompense, but that the others had received more than they deserved. For the envious have as much pain at others' success as at their own loss. From which it is clear, that envy flows from vain glory. A man is grieved to be second, because he wishes to be first. He removes this feeling of envy by saying, Didst thou not agree with me for a denarius?

Or; He says the first shall be last, and the last first, not that the last are to be exalted before the first, but that they should be put on an equality, so that the difference of time should make no difference in their station. That He says, For many are called, but few chosen, is not to be taken of the elder saints, but of the Gentiles; for of the Gentiles who were called being many, but few were chosen.

To establish the truth of this saying, There are many first that shall be last, and last first, the Lord subjoins a similitude.

Else how shall we sing thanks to God to eternity, if there shall remain in us no sense and memory of this debt; if we shall be reformed in substance, not in consciousness? Consequently, we who shall be with God shall be together; since we shall all be with the one God-albeit the wages be various, albeit there be "many mansions", in the house of the same Father having laboured for the "one penny " of the self-same hire, that is, of eternal life; in which (eternal life) God will still less separate them whom He has conjoined, than in this lesser life He forbids them to be separated.

For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said unto them: Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way. Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive. The kingdom of heaven is Christ, Who is likened to a man inasmuch as Christ took on our form. He is the householder, as He is Master of the house, that is, of the Church. This Christ, then, went out from the bosom of the Father and hired laborers into the vineyard, namely, into the study of the Scriptures and into the doing of the commandments. Or, He hired each one to labor in the vineyard which is his own soul. He hires one in the morning, that is, in his childhood; another, at the third hour, in his youth; others at the sixth and ninth hours, when they are twenty five or thirty years of age, or simply, in their manhood; and others at the eleventh hour, in their old age. For there are many who came to believe even as old men. Or, in another manner as well, the day is this present age, for in it we labor as if for one day. The Lord, then, called at the first hour those living at the time of Enoch and Noah; at the third hour, those living at the time of Abraham; at the sixth hour, those living at the time of Moses; at the ninth hour, those living at the time of the prophets; at the eleventh hour, namely, at the close of the age, the Gentiles, who had been idle from every good work. No one had hired them because no prophet had been sent to the Gentiles.

Above, the Lord treated of the attainment of the kingdom through the way of common salvation and through the way of perfection; and because some believe they will arrive undeservedly, they are therefore repelled. And first, those who intend to come on account of the antiquity of time; secondly, those on account of carnal origin. The second is at and Jesus going up to Jerusalem, etc. The first, then, is set forth under the parable of the householder and the hired workers. First, he sets forth the parable; secondly, he draws the conclusion to which the parable is directed, at so shall the last be first, and the first last. The parable has two parts. First, he treats of the hiring; secondly, of the remuneration. The second is at and when evening had come, etc. Regarding the first, four hirings are set forth, which are invitations of workers to labor. The second is at and going out about the third hour, etc. The third is at and again he went out about the sixth hour, etc. The fourth is at but about the eleventh hour he went out. Regarding the first, he touches on three things. First, the one hiring is mentioned; secondly, those hired are set forth; thirdly, the manner of hiring. The second is at who went out early in the morning to hire laborers. The third is at and having made an agreement, etc. This householder is God, whose household is the whole world, but especially the rational creature; and he is called a householder from the likeness of governing. Wisdom 14:3: but you, father, govern all things by your wisdom. Who went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard. Here he treats of those hired. First, it is asked what the vineyard is, who the workers are, why they are hired. What this vineyard is: according to Chrysostom, it is justice, and as many virtues as it produces, so many branches it sends forth. Song of Songs 8:12: my vineyard is before me. Gregory says: the vineyard signifies the holy Church. Isaiah 5:7: the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel. And the various branches. The workers, indeed, are all who descended from Adam, hence all men. Genesis 2:15: the Lord placed Adam in Paradise to work and to keep it. For each one ought to work justice and cultivate it and have care for his neighbor. Sirach 17:12: God commanded each one concerning his neighbor. Likewise, prelates are workers. Isaiah 61:3: and they shall be called the mighty ones of justice in it, the planting of the Lord unto glory. They are called hired workers because they ought to work for their reward, and are like hirelings. Job 7:1: the life of man upon earth is a warfare, and his days are like the days of a hireling. For just as a hireling does not receive his wages immediately but waits, so we in this life. But for one to be a good hireling, he must labor for the advantage of his master: thus if we labor in the vineyard of the Church, we ought to refer everything to God. Hence, 1 Corinthians 10:31: do all things for the glory of the Lord. Likewise, first he cultivates and afterward he eats; and so it is necessary that we first cultivate and prepare the salvation of others, and afterward seek temporal things. Above, chapter 6:33: seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you. Luke 17:8: gird yourself and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you shall eat and drink. Likewise, thirdly, it is required that he be occupied in labor the whole day; thus the cultivator of the Lord's vineyard should spend little time on what pertains to himself, but it is necessary that we spend all our time in the service of God. 1 Corinthians 15:58: abounding in the work of the Lord always. Likewise, he is ashamed to appear before his master unless he has done well; so also one ought not to appear here before the Lord except with a good work. Exodus 23 and 34:20: you shall not appear before me empty. But let us see what morning means. The whole time of this world is one day. Psalm 89:4: a thousand years are as yesterday which is past. The different hours are the different ages. The first is from Adam to Noah, and in that time the Lord admonished men both through messengers and through apparitions to go into the vineyard of justice. Or it can be said that the whole life of a man is one day. The morning of this day is childhood. For childhood is green like grass; hence some are called from childhood, as Jeremiah, Daniel, and John the Baptist were called from childhood. Therefore he says, who went out early in the morning, etc.

He gives to all "their single denarius," which is the grace of the Spirit, perfecting the saints in conformity with God and impressing the heavenly stamp on their souls and leading them to life and immortality.

The denarius I suppose here to mean salvation.

A denarius was a coin anciently equal to ten sesterces, and bearing the king's image. Well therefore does the denarius represent the reward of the keeping of the decalogue. And that, Having agreed with them for a denarius a day, is well said, to show that every man labours in the field of the holy Church in hope of the future reward.

Next, the manner of hiring is determined; hence he says, and having made an agreement with the workers for a denarius a day. By this denarius is signified eternal life, because that denarius was worth ten ordinary coins. Likewise, it had impressed upon it the likeness of the king. Hence, what is signified by this denarius consists in the observance of the Decalogue. Above, chapter 19:17: if you will enter into life, keep the commandments. Likewise, it bears the likeness of God. 1 John 3:2: when he shall appear, we shall be like to him.

The worker at dawn, the third, sixth, and ninth hour designates that ancient Hebrew people, who among their elect from the very beginning of the world, while they strove to worship God with right faith, did not cease, as it were, to labor in the cultivation of the vineyard.

(ubi sup.) The third hour is the period from Noah to Abraham; of which it is said, And he went out about the third hour; and saw others standing in the market-placeidle.

(ubi sup.) He that lives to himself, and feeds on the delights of the flesh, is rightly accused as idle, forasmuch as he does not seek the fruit of godly labour.

Or, He did not call upon the labourers of the third hour for a complete task, but left to their own choice, how much they should work. For they might perform in the vineyard work equal to that of those who had wrought since the morning, if they chose to put forth upon their task an operative energy, such as had not yet been exerted.

Next, he treats of the second hiring: and going out about the third hour, etc. If we take one day as the whole course of the world, just as the first hour signifies the time from Adam to Noah, so the second from Noah to Abraham. Before the promises were made concerning Christ, then through the angels he admonished many, and he also had many who admonished others. But if we take the life of one man, the third hour is adolescence; for just as at the third hour of the day the sun begins to grow warm, so in adolescence the sun of intelligence begins to shine. Likewise, it then begins to grow hot. James 1:11: the sun rose with a burning heat. And he found these in the marketplace and idle. This marketplace is the present life. A marketplace is a place where disputes are conducted; a marketplace is where things are sold and bought, and it signifies the present life, which is full of disputes, buying and selling. 1 John 5:19: the whole world is seated in wickedness. And these were idle, because they had already lost part of their life; for idle are called not only those who do evil, but also those who do not do good. And just as the idle do not attain their end, so neither do these. The end of man is eternal life; therefore, whoever works in the manner he ought will have it, if he has not been idle. Sirach 33:29: idleness has taught much evil.

And he said to them: go you also into my vineyard. Because God rewards according to justice. 1 Samuel 26:23: God will reward according to justice. With these he did not agree upon a denarius. Why with the first, and not with these? The reason is, according as it refers to the age of the world: because Adam was going to sin, he could therefore be excused if he had not known his remuneration; but he knew, because he had tasted. Likewise, he who has better senses, truth is more clearly known to him. Since, therefore, Adam had better senses, truth was more clearly known to him. But with the others he did not agree, because he always pays more than he promises. Isaiah 64:4 and 1 Corinthians 2:9: eye has not seen, besides you, what you have prepared for those who love you. Likewise, the first were hired for the whole day. Therefore they ought to have the full wage; for this reason a denarius for the day is promised to them, which will be the full reward. But the other does not give his whole life to God; therefore he does not agree with him, because it could be that he will work more fervently, and thus will be rewarded more; or so negligently that he will not merit. Therefore he says, and whatever is just I will give you, because if they recover the time lost, they will have the full reward. 1 Corinthians 3:13: every man's work shall be manifest, for the day of the Lord shall declare it. Likewise, he invited the first to go, but these went of their own accord; because in children there is no discretion, and therefore if they do some good, it seems to be more from the Holy Spirit than from discretion; but in adolescence a man is moved by his own counsel. Likewise, of the first it is said that he sent them; of these, that they went of their own accord.

(ubi sup.) The sixth hour is that from Abraham to Moses, the ninth that from Moses to the coming of the Lord.

And again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour. According as the day is called the age of the world, so the sixth hour was from Abraham to David, and the ninth from David to Christ. But why does he join two hours? Because at that time the people were divided, namely, the Jewish and the Gentile peoples. Hence it can be said that the sixth hour is youth, because just as at midday the sun is at its perfection, so is man in youth. The ninth hour is old age; and he joins these two because the manner of living is the same in both.

But at the eleventh hour the Gentiles are called, to whom it is also said: Why do you stand here idle all day? For those who, after so long a time of the world had passed, had neglected to labor for their life, stood idle, as it were, all day. But consider, brothers, what they answer when questioned: For they say: Because no one has hired us. Indeed, no patriarch, no prophet had come to them. And what does it mean to say: No one has hired us for labor, except: No one has preached to us the ways of life? What then shall we, who cease from good work, say in our excuse, we who came to the faith almost from our mother's womb, who heard the words of life from the very cradle, who from the breasts of holy Church have drunk the draught of heavenly preaching along with the milk of the flesh?

We can indeed also distinguish these same diversities of hours according to the stages of ages for each individual person. For the morning of our understanding is childhood. The third hour can be understood as adolescence, because the sun, as it were, advances higher as the heat of age increases. The sixth hour is youth, because the sun is fixed as if at its center, while in that age the fullness of strength is established. The ninth hour is understood as old age, in which the sun descends as if from its high axis, because that age declines from the heat of youth. The eleventh hour is that age which is called decrepit or advanced. Hence the Greeks call the very elderly not γέροντας but πρεσβυτέρους, to indicate that those whom they call more advanced are more than old. Therefore, since one person is led to a good life in childhood, another in adolescence, another in youth, another in old age, another in decrepit age, workers are called to the vineyard at different hours, as it were.

(ubi sup.) The eleventh hour is that from the coming of the Lord to the end of the world. The labourer in the morning, at the third, sixth, and ninth hours, denotes the ancient Hebrew people, which in its elect from the very beginning of the world, while it zealously and with right faith served the Lord, ceased not to labour in the husbandry of the vineyard. But at the eleventh the Gentiles are called. For they who through so many ages of the world had neglected to labour for their living, were they who had stood the whole day idle. But consider their answer; They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us; for neither Patriarch nor Prophet had come to them. And what is it to say, No man hath hired us, but to say, None has preached to us the way of life,

Or otherwise. The morning is our childhood; the third hour may be understood as our youth, the sun as it were mounting to his height is the advance of the heat of age; the sixth hour is manhood, when the sun is steady in his meridian height, representing as it were the maturity of strength; by the ninth is understood old age, in which the sun descends from his vertical height, as our age falls away from the fervour of youth; the eleventh hour is that age which is called decrepit, and doting.

They then who have neglected till extreme old age to live unto God, have stood idle to the eleventh hour, yet even these the master of the household calls, and oftentimes gives them their reward before other, inasmuch as they depart out of the body into the kingdom before those that seemed to be called in their childhood.

But this, Why stand ye here all the day idle? is not said to such as having begun in the spirit (Gal. 3:3) have been made perfect by the flesh, as inviting them to return again, and to live in the Spirit. This we speak not to dissuade prodigal sons, who have consumed their substance of evangelic doctrine in riotous living, from returning to their father's house; but because they are not like those who sinned in their youth, before they had learnt the things of the faith.

But about the eleventh hour he went out. The fourth hiring is set forth; and he does three things. First, he rebukes; secondly, he excuses; thirdly, they are invited. The second is at they say to him: because no man has hired us. The third is at go you also into my vineyard. He says, therefore, but about the eleventh hour he went out. The ninth hour is the time of Christ. Hence, 1 John 2:18 says: little children, it is the last hour. And Hebrews 1:1: God, who at sundry times spoke of old to the fathers by the prophets, last of all in these days has spoken to us by his Son. Isaiah 52:6: behold, I who spoke, am here. Or it can be called old age, or decrepit age, because some persist in sin until decrepit age. Psalm 89:6: in the evening let it fall and grow dry and wither. And he found others standing. He found others in the marketplace; these, not so. The reason is, according to the Philosopher, that there is a difference between adolescents and the elderly, because adolescents are entirely in hope, while the elderly are not in hope but in memories. Hence the former are found in the marketplace as though wishing to acquire; but these are found standing, as though not wishing to acquire but to preserve what has been acquired. Likewise, he saw the first and did not rebuke them; but he saw these and rebuked them, because the former are still weak, and passions dominate in them, and therefore they are to be excused for not spending their time in the service of God; but the elderly abound in good sense, and therefore he rebukes them: why do you stand here all the day idle? Proverbs 12:11: he who pursues idleness is very foolish; and 28:19: he who pursues idleness shall be filled with poverty.

The last ones, receiving the generosity of the Master instead of troubles, are first to receive their reward, since all those after the Lord's coming have become—through baptism and the union with the Spirit—"sharers in God's nature" and are called sons of God.… For the prophets too have become sharers in the Spirit, but not in the same way as the faithful, since the Holy Spirit is in some way like a leaven for the souls of the faithful and changes the entire man to another condition of life. And so we have become "participants in God's nature," and openly we cry "Abba, Father." The more ancient peoples did not receive the same grace. So Paul too says, "For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship." The ancients then received a spirit of slavery without the honor of adoption. Since therefore we really are first to receive a denarius, we must of necessity be said to be honored above the rest.

At the end of life, which is evening (for the time after Christ's sojourn until the consummation is the time after the eleventh hour, as John says: "It is the last hour"), the householder orders their wages to be given, beginning with the last.

Examine your ways, therefore, dearest brothers, and see if you are already workers of God. Let each one weigh what he does, and consider whether he labors in the Lord's vineyard. For they labor for the Lord who think not of their own things but of the Lord's gains, who serve with zeal of charity, with eagerness of piety, who are watchful for gaining souls, who hasten to lead others along with themselves to life. For he who lives for himself, who feeds on the pleasures of his flesh, is rightly reproached as idle, because he does not pursue the fruit of divine work. He who has neglected to live for God even until the last age has stood idle until the eleventh hour, as it were. Hence it is rightly said to those who are sluggish until the eleventh hour: Why do you stand here idle all day? As if it were openly said: If you did not wish to live for God in childhood and youth, at least come to your senses in the last age, and come to the ways of life, even if late, when you will not have much labor ahead. And such ones, therefore, the householder calls, and often they are rewarded first, because they depart from the body to the kingdom before those who seemed to have been called from childhood.

These then are sent into the vineyard, Go ye also into my vineyard.

There follows their excuse: they say to him: because no man has hired us. If we refer this to the state of the world, these signify the Gentile people, who did not serve God but idols. But they are excused, because they did not have prophets as the Jews did. Hence, Psalm 147:20: he has not done in like manner to every nation, and his judgments he has not made manifest to them. Or according as it refers to the age of man, it signifies that some are not given the occasion of returning to God until old age. And the reason is that all things have their time. Or it can happen from the divine dispensation, because to those who love God, all things work together unto good, Romans 8:28. Hence the Lord knew that if he had called them before, they would not have stood firm. They are therefore hired when they consent, and they rise again more efficaciously. Hence he says, go you also into my vineyard. Hence, although they are decrepit, he still wills all men to be saved, 1 Timothy 2:4. Likewise, to the first he promised a reward, but to these he did not, because it was owed to the former since they served him from the morning; but to these it is owed from mercy alone. Wisdom 4:13: being made perfect in a short time, he fulfilled a long time.

(non occ. sed vid. Raban.) Or, if you choose, the Father saith unto the Son; for the Father wrought by the Son, and the Son by the Holy Spirit, not that there is any difference of substance, or majesty.

Did not the thief come at the eleventh hour, who, even if he did not have time through age, yet had it late through punishment, who confessed God on the cross, and breathed out the spirit of life almost with the voice of his sentence? The householder began to give the denarius from the last, because he led the thief to the rest of paradise before Peter.

Or; The Lord said to his steward, that is, to one of the Angels who was set over the payment of the labourers; or to one of those many guardians, according to what is written, that The heir as long as he is a child is under tutors and governors. (Gal. 4:2.)

But the first labourers having the witness through faith have not received the promise of God, the lord of the household providing some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. (Heb. 11:40.) And because we have obtained mercy, we hope to receive the reward first, we, that is, who are Christ's, and after us they that wrought before us; wherefore it is said, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first.

But when they had rendered their day's task, at the fitting time for payment, When even was come, that is, when the day of this world was drawing to its close.

Or, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself is the master of the household, and also the steward, like as He is the door, and also the keeper of the door. For He Himself will come to judgment, to render to each man according to that he has done. He therefore calls His labourers, and renders to them their wages, so that when they shall be gathered together in the judgment, each man shall receive according to his works.

So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. And when they had received it, they murmured against the master of the house, saying, These last have laboured but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Take what is thine, and go thy way: I desire to give unto this last, even as unto thee; or am I not allowed to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen. Evening means the end of the world. Therefore at the end each one receives his penny, which is the gift of the Holy Spirit re-fashioning man into the image of God and making him a sharer in the divine nature. Those who lived before Christ's incarnation labored more, because death was not yet then destroyed, nor the devil crushed, but sin still had its full vitality. But we who by the grace of Christ have been made righteous through baptism receive power to conquer our opponent who has already been cast down and slain by Christ. Also, according to the first interpretation, those who believed in their youth have a greater labor than those who approached in old age, for the youth, warring with passions, must bear the burden of anger and the heat of desires, while the old man is in tranquility. Nevertheless, all are deemed worthy of the one gift of the Holy Spirit. The parable, then, teaches us that it is possible even in old age to repent and obtain the kingdom, for this is the eleventh hour. Surely the saints are not envious of those who receive the same reward? Far from it. But this shows here that the good things given to the righteous are so great as to even incite one to envy.

And when evening had come, etc. Here he treats of the remuneration. And first is set forth the remuneration; secondly, the murmuring; thirdly, the response. Regarding the first, he does two things. First, the time is set forth; secondly, the person commissioning; thirdly, the person to whom it is committed. The time is set forth: and when evening had come, etc. And this can be understood either of the end of life or of the end of the world. Psalm 29:6: in the evening weeping shall have place, because the light of the world fails. And he says evening, because in this world the judgment will take place. The lord of the vineyard said to his steward. The lord is the whole Trinity. He said to his steward, i.e., to Christ. And there is given to him the power of raising up, the power of judging, and the order of judgment is indicated. The power is indicated: call the workers, i.e., raise the dead. John 5:28: all who are in the tombs shall hear the voice of the Son of God. The power of judging: pay them their hire, i.e., be their judge. Hence he gives him the power of judging. John 5:27: he gave him power to execute judgment, because he is the Son of man. Next, the order is indicated: beginning from the last even to the first. And this can be referred to the age of the world. Beginning from the last, namely, from those who have been imbued with the sacraments. Hence a greater grace was given to them than to the first. Ephesians 3:5: which in other generations was not known, as it is now revealed to his holy apostles. Hence it was more abundantly conferred upon them, although some individual persons in the Old Testament had greater grace in some respect. John 7:39: as yet the Spirit was not given, because Jesus was not yet glorified; not that the Holy Spirit had not been given, but because at that time it was more abundantly given. Or it can be referred to the age of man, because those who are in decrepit age die sooner and are sooner rewarded. Or it can be that from their fervor they recover what was previously lost, as we read of the thief. As to both interpretations, Chrysostom says that what a man does more liberally, he does from mercy rather than in any other way; therefore a certain gracious favor and joy is designated. Luke 15:10: there shall be joy in heaven upon one sinner doing penance.

(de Sanc. Virg. 26.) Because that life eternal shall be equal to all the saints, a denarius is given to all; but forasmuch as in that life eternal the light of merits shall shine diversely, there are with the Father many mansions; so that under this same denarius bestowed unequally one shall not live longer than another, but in the many mansions one shall shine with more splendour than another.

How many fathers were there before the law, how many under the law, and yet those who were called at the Lord's coming arrived at the kingdom of heaven without any delay. Therefore those who labored until the eleventh hour receive the same denarius that those who labored from the first hour awaited with all their desire, because those who came to the Lord at the end of the world obtained an equal reward of eternal life with those who had been called from the beginning of the world.

(ubi sup.) They get alike a denarius who have wrought since the eleventh hour, (for they sought it with their whole soul,) and who have wrought since the first. They, that is, who were called from the beginning of the world have alike received the reward of eternal happiness, with those who come to the Lord in the end of the world.

Then follows the execution: when they came who had come about the eleventh hour, whether Christians, or men in decrepit age, they received each a denarius.

Among these [workers] the first seem to have toiled more than the last as having been subject longer to the devil's fanaticism—sin and death and corruption not yet being overpowered. If examined on an equal basis, the matter supposes that more is owed to the earlier workers, because they lived their life when death and the devil ruled; for this is "the burden of the day and the scorching heat," when not even the dew of the Spirit was present to help men to righteousness.

The Apostle says, 1 Corinthians 3:8: every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. But when the first also came (do not refer this to the time of the world, because they would be the Jews), they thought that they should receive more, because they had more in the other world. And they also received each his denarius, because they had their individual robes. But what is this? Will not all have glory equally? I say that in one respect the retribution will be equal, in another respect not; because beatitude can be considered with respect to its object, and thus the beatitude of all is one; or with respect to participation in the object, and thus not all will participate equally, because they will not see as clearly. John 14:2: in my Father's house there are many mansions. And it is like the case where many go to a river, and one carries a larger vessel than another: the river exposes itself entirely, yet not all carry away equally; so whoever has a soul more expanded by charity receives more, etc. Sirach 11:24: the blessing of God hastens to the reward of the just, and in a swift hour his process bears fruit.

Hence those who had preceded in labor also say, murmuring: These last worked one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the heat? For those have borne the burden of the day and the heat whom it befell from the beginning of the world, because they happened to live here for a long time, to endure also longer temptations of the flesh. For to bear the burden of the day and the heat is for each one to be wearied by the heat of his flesh through the times of a longer life.

And this murmur of the labourers corresponds with the frowardness of this nation, which even in the time of Moses were stiff-necked.

And having received it, they murmured against the master of the house, saying: these last have worked but one hour, etc. Above, the remuneration was set forth; here, the murmuring of some is set forth. But here there is a twofold question, because he says that those who received each their denarius murmured. By the denarius is understood eternal life. Is it to be believed that anyone would murmur after receiving his reward? It does not seem so, because then there would be sin there, as is stated in 1 Corinthians 10:10: neither murmur. Chrysostom says that the force of the statement is not in what is said but in why it is said. Hence it should be understood that the remuneration will be so great that, if it were possible, they would murmur. Or it can be understood in this world. Gregory says that this murmuring is nothing other than the deferral of remuneration, because the saints who came last received their reward immediately, but the first waited a long time. Hence, 2 Corinthians 6:13: having the same recompense, as I speak to children, be you also enlarged, etc. Hence the former murmur because they did not receive immediately; but the latter do not, because they received at once. Hilary and Jerome say thus: sometimes Scripture speaks of the whole number of the people, sometimes from the person of the good, sometimes of the wicked; as in Jeremiah 26:8, that all the people rose up against him, and all the people freed him. Here, all the people is taken for part of the people. Thus, in the first time some were good, and not all; therefore something is attributed by reason of the good, something by reason of the wicked; not that they murmured then, but before, because the Jewish people murmured against the Gentile, that he should be made equal to them.

But it can be asked how those who are called to the kingdom even at a late hour are said to have murmured. For no one who murmurs receives the kingdom of heaven, and no one who receives it can murmur. But because the ancient fathers, up until the coming of the Lord, no matter how justly they had lived, were not led to the kingdom unless He descended who would open the gates of paradise to men by the interposition of His death, their murmuring was this very thing: that they both lived rightly for the sake of receiving the kingdom, and yet were long delayed in receiving the kingdom. For those whom the places of hell, however tranquil, received after their righteousness was completed, for them indeed it was both to have labored in the vineyard and to have murmured. Therefore they receive the denarius as if after murmuring, who after long periods in hell arrived at the joys of the kingdom. But we who come at the eleventh hour do not murmur after our labor and receive the denarius, because after the coming of the Mediator, coming into this world, we are led to the kingdom as soon as we depart from the body, and we receive without delay what the ancient fathers deserved to receive with great delay.

(ubi sup.) Or; To bear the burden and heat of the day, is to be wearied through a life of long duration with the heats of the flesh. But it may be asked, How can they be said to murmur, when they are called to the kingdom of heaven? For none who murmurs shall receive the kingdom, and none who receives that can murmur.

(ubi sup.) Or because the old fathers down to the Lord's coming, notwithstanding their righteous lives, were not brought to the kingdom, this murmur is theirs. But we who have come at the eleventh hour, do not murmur after our labours, forasmuch as having come into this world after the coming of the Mediator, we are brought to the kingdom as soon as ever we depart out of the body.

There is also another question. What does it mean that he says, who have borne the burden of the day and the heat? Because they did not bear more than the time they lived, and modern people likewise. What, then, is meant? A threefold answer is given. The first response is that hope deferred afflicts the soul. Some at the beginning of the world bore the burden, because they knew that their retribution was being deferred; therefore they are said to have borne the burden of the day. Or it can be referred to the Jews, who bore the burdens of the Law, concerning which burden Peter says, Acts 15:10: this is a burden which neither we nor our fathers were able to bear. But the Gentiles did not bear such a burden, because they were not subject to the Law. Or, according to Gregory, because the first men lived for a longer time -- for they lived nine hundred years -- therefore they bore a heavier burden.

(Verse 13.) Friend, I do not harm you. I read in a certain book that this friend who is rebuked by the head of the household is understood as the first hour worker, the prototype, and those who believed at that time.

Did you not come with me from a denarius? A denarius has the figure of a king. Therefore, you have received the reward that I promised to you, that is, my image and likeness: what more do you seek? And it is not so much that you want to receive more yourself, but rather that you desire that no one else receive anything, as if the merit of the reward would be diminished by sharing it with another.

A denarius bears the figure of the king. You have therefore received the reward which I promised you, that is, my image and likeness; what desirest thou more?

Perhaps it is to Adam He says, Friend, I do thee no wrong; didst thou not agree with me for a denarius? Take that thine is, and go thy way. Salvation is thine, that is, the denarius. I will give unto this last also as unto thee. A person might not improbably suppose, that this last was the Apostle Paul, who wrought but one hour, and was made equal with all who had been before him.

By this one to whom his answer is given, may be understood all the believing Jews, whom he calls friends because of their faith.

But he answering said to one of them. Here the reproof is set forth. And first, he shows his justice and his mercy; secondly, the equity of the remuneration. Regarding the first, three things. First, he denies injustice; secondly, he adduces the agreement; thirdly, he adduces the retribution that was made. He says, therefore, but he answering said to one of them -- and add: and to all, because all had the same cause -- he said: friend. He calls him friend because he had drawn him to himself. Deuteronomy 4:37: he chose their seed after them. I do you no wrong, because what is mine I give to this one, not what is yours; therefore I do you no wrong. Job 8:3: does the Almighty pervert judgment? Then he recalls the agreement: did you not agree with me for a denarius? I.e., for obtaining salvation. Genesis 15:1: I am the Lord, your reward exceeding great.

Hence the same householder says: "I wish to give to this last one even as to you." And because the very reception of the kingdom is the goodness of His will, He rightly adds: "Or is it not lawful for me to do what I wish?" For it is a foolish complaint of man against the kindness of God. For there would be no cause for complaint if He does not give what He does not owe, but only if He did not give what He owed.

(Verse 14, 15) Take what is yours and go. I want to give to this last worker the same as I give to you. Or is it not lawful for me to do what I want with my own money? Is your eye evil because I am good? So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen.

And yet it is not that thou shouldest have more, but that another should have less that thou seekest. Take that is thine, and go thy way.

That is, take thy reward, and enter into glory. I will give to this last, that is, to the gentile people, according to their deserts, as to thee.

Take what is yours, i.e., what you have by my promise, and go, into glory. 2 Timothy 1:12: I know whom I have believed, and I am certain that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. Some explain it thus: take what is yours, i.e., damnation for your murmuring, and go into eternal fire. But this cannot be, because he says that they received each their denarius. Next, he sets forth the mercy bestowed, saying, but I will that to this last also I should give even as to you. And regarding this, he does two things. First, he sets forth the mercy; secondly, the power to show mercy. But I will that to this last, i.e., the Gentile, I should give even as to you. Romans 3:9: what then? Do we excel them? No, not so. But they could say, you cannot.

Hence it is fittingly added: "Or is your eye evil because I am good?" But let no one exalt himself on account of his work, let no one exalt himself on account of time, since with this statement completed, the Truth subsequently cries out: "So the last shall be first, and the first last." For behold, even if we already know what and how great the good things we have done are, we still do not know with what subtlety the heavenly Judge examines these things. And indeed each one should rejoice greatly to be even the last in the kingdom of God.

(ubi sup.) And because the attainment of this kingdom is of the goodness of His will, it is added, Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? For it is a foolish complaint of man to murmur against the goodness of God. For complaint is not when a man gives not what he is not bound to give, but if he gives not what he is bound to give; whence it is added, Is thine eye evil because I am good?

By the eye is understood his purpose. The Jews had an evil eye, that is, an evil purpose, seeing they were grieved at the salvation of the Gentiles.

On the contrary, he says, or is it not lawful for me to do what I will? Because it is lawful for anyone to do his will with what is his own. For if he were a debtor to another, it would not be lawful for him to do so; likewise, if he were under another; but he is the Lord, and therefore he can give more. For a steward cannot give anything except according to merits; but a king can give without merits. So God, who is Lord of all, can do so. Psalm 113:11: he has done all things whatsoever he willed. Romans 9:19: who resists his will? Here it should be noted that in what is given from mercy there is no respect of persons, because with what is purely mine I can give to whomever I wish without respect of persons. Hence he says, is your eye evil because I am good? It is evident that the preceding murmur did not arise from any defect of the Lord, but from mercy shown to another; therefore, from mercy and goodness. But he is properly wicked who grieves over goodness. Therefore he says, is your eye evil because I am good? Because toward you I showed justice, toward another, mercy? It is evident, however, that this proceeds from goodness. And above, 6:22: if your eye be single, your whole body shall be lightsome. On the goodness of the Lord, Psalm 72:1: how good is God to Israel, to those who are of a right heart.

(de Spir. et Lit. 24.) Or; The lesser are therefore taken as first, because the lesser are to be made rich.

For actual charity prefers inferior things, affectual prefers superior things. For indeed in a well-affected mind there is no doubt, for example, that the love of God is set before the love of man; and among men themselves, the more perfect before the weaker, heaven before earth, eternity before time, the soul before the flesh. Yet in a well-ordered action, the opposite order is often, or even always, found. For concerning care for our neighbor we are both more urgently pressed and more frequently occupied; and we attend to weaker brethren with more diligent care; and to the peace of earth rather than the glory of heaven we attend by the right of humanity and by necessity itself; and by the restlessness of temporal cares we are scarcely permitted to perceive anything of eternal things; and to the ailments of our body, with care of the soul set aside, we attend almost continuously; and indeed to our very weaker members we assign the more abundant honor, according to the judgment of the Apostle (1 Cor 12:23): by this in a certain way fulfilling the word of the Lord, concerning which you have: "The last shall be first, and the first last" (Mt 20:16). Finally, who doubts that one who prays speaks with God? Yet how often are we thence led away and torn away at the command of charity, on account of those who are in need of our work or word? How often does pious quiet piously yield to the tumult of business? How often is a book put down with good conscience, so that one may sweat at the work of the hands? How often, for the sake of administering earthly things, do we most justly abstain from celebrating the very solemnities of the Mass? The order is reversed: but necessity has no law. Actual charity therefore follows its own order according to the command of the head of the household, beginning from the last (Mt 20:8). Surely it is pious and just, for it is no respecter of persons; nor does it consider the value of things, but the necessities of men.

But there were in the play two great human ideas which the mediaeval mind never lost its grip on, through the heaviest nightmares of its dissolution. They were the two great jokes of mediaevalism, as they are the two eternal jokes of mankind. Wherever those two jokes exist there is a little health and hope; wherever they are absent, pride and insanity are present. The first is the idea that the poor man ought to get the better of the rich man. The other is the idea that the husband is afraid of the wife.

I have heard that there is a place under the knee which, when struck, should produce a sort of jump; and that if you do not jump, you are mad. I am sure that there are some such places in the soul. When the human spirit does not jump with joy at either of those two old jokes, the human spirit must be struck with incurable paralysis. There is hope for people who have gone down into the hells of greed and economic oppression (at least, I hope there is, for we are such a people ourselves), but there is no hope for a people that does not exult in the abstract idea of the peasant scoring off the prince. There is hope for the idle and the adulterous, for the men that desert their wives and the men that beat their wives. But there is no hope for men who do not boast that their wives bully them.

But after these things, what follows is very terrible: "For many are called, but few are chosen," because many come to faith, yet few are led to the heavenly kingdom. For behold, how many of us have gathered for today's feast, we fill the walls of the Church, yet who knows how few there are who are numbered in that flock of God's elect? For behold, the voice of all proclaims Christ, but the life of all does not proclaim Him. Most follow God with their voices, but flee from Him by their conduct. Hence Paul says: "They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him." Hence James says: "Faith without works is dead." Hence through the Psalmist the Lord says: "I have declared and spoken, they have multiplied beyond number." For when the Lord calls, the faithful are multiplied beyond number, because sometimes even those come to faith who do not attain to the number of the elect. For here they are mingled with the faithful through confession, but because of their reprobate life they do not deserve to be numbered there in the lot of the faithful. This fold of holy Church receives goats together with lambs; but, as the Gospel attests, when the Judge comes, He separates the good from the wicked, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. For those who here serve the pleasures of their flesh cannot be numbered there in the flock of sheep. There the Judge separates from the lot of the humble those who here exalt themselves in the horns of pride. Those who here, though established in heavenly faith, seek the earth with all their desire, cannot receive the kingdom of heaven.

And you see many such people within the Church, dearest brothers, but you ought neither to imitate them nor to despair of them. For we see what someone is today, but what each one will be tomorrow we do not know. Often one who is seen to come after us surpasses us through the swiftness of good work, and tomorrow we scarcely follow him whom today we seemed to precede. Certainly when Stephen was dying for the faith, Saul was guarding the garments of those who were stoning him. Therefore he himself stoned with the hands of all who were stoning, since he rendered them all free to stone, and yet in the holy Church he surpassed in labors that very one whom by persecuting he made a martyr. There are therefore two things which we ought to consider carefully. For since many are called but few are chosen, the first is that no one should presume too much of himself, because even if he has already been called to the faith, he does not know whether he is worthy of the eternal kingdom. The second is that no one should dare to despair of his neighbor, whom he perhaps sees lying in vices, because he does not know the riches of divine mercy.

(ubi sup.) There be very many come to the faith, yet but few arrive at the heavenly kingdom; many follow God in words, but shun Him in their lives. Whereof spring two things to be thought upon. The first, that none should presume ought concerning himself; for though he be called to the faith, he knows not whether he shall be chosen to the kingdom. Secondly, that none should despair of his neighbour, even though he see him lying in vices; because he knows not the riches of the Divine mercy.

(Verse 16.) Is your eye evil because I am good? So the last shall be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen. This is the same meaning as the parable of the prodigal son in Luke, where the older son envies the younger and does not want to receive him when he returns and accuses the father of injustice. And so that we may know that this is the meaning we have said, the title and the end of this parable agree. So the last shall be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen.

Whereto this parable pointed, He shows by adding, So the first shall be last, and the last first; and so the Jews of the head are become the tail, and we of the tail are become the head.

"The Lord (beholdeth and) knoweth them that are His; " and "the plant which (my heavenly Father) hath not planted, He rooteth up; " and "the first shall," as He shows, "be last; " and He carries "His fan in His hand to purge His threshing-floor.

We have indeed, likewise, a second font, (itself withal one with the former, ) of blood, to wit; concerning which the Lord said, "I have to be baptized with a baptism," when He had been baptized already. For He had come "by means of water and blood," just as John has written; that He might be baptized by the water, glorified by the blood; to make us, in like manner, called by water, chosen by blood. These two baptisms He sent out from the wound in His pierced side, in order that they who believed in His blood might be bathed with the water; they who had been bathed in the water might likewise drink the blood. This is the baptism which both stands in lieu of the fontal bathing when that has not been received, and restores it when lost.

So shall the last be first, and the first last. Here he draws the conclusion for which the whole parable was introduced. And first, he sets forth the conclusion; secondly, he removes a false opinion. He says, so shall the last be first. This can be read in two ways, according to Chrysostom: i.e., the last shall be made equal to the first, so that there will be no difference; and this corresponds to what was said, that each received his own denarius, nor will there be any difference according to time. Or otherwise, i.e., those who are last shall be first. Deuteronomy 28:44: the stranger shall be over you, and shall be the head, and you the tail. Or, some who were first, through negligence will become last; and this corresponds to the preceding, because they began from the last. But someone could say: will not all the first be saved? He says: many are called, but few are chosen, because all who believe by faith are called; but those are chosen who do good works, and these are few, as above, 7:14: narrow is the way that leads to life, and few there are who find it.