Saturday of the 5th week after Pentecost

(de Cons. Ev. lib. ii. 42.) But since St. Luke mentions that great things had been already done by Him, which he knows he had not yet related, what is more evident than that he knowingly anticipated the relation of them. For he had not proceeded so far beyond our Lord's baptism as that he should be supposed to have forgotten that he had not yet related any of those things which were done in Capernaum.

And he said to them: Certainly you will quote me this proverb: Physician, heal yourself: whatever, etc. Their insane perfidy, although ignorant of sound faith, confesses it, calling the Lord Christ both a craftsman and a physician. For he is indeed the true craftsman, because all things were made through him. He is a physician, because all things were restored through him in heaven and on earth. And as he himself testifies about himself: Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick (Mark II). And since we have said by what instrument he works as a craftsman, let us also say by what method he heals. Passing by, he saw a man blind from birth, he spat on the ground, and made mud with the saliva, and applied it to his eyes, and said to him: Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, which means Sent. So he went and washed, and came back seeing (John IX). Recognize then the greatness of his healing method, and rejoice because through this you have deserved to be enlightened. The mud from the earth is the flesh of Christ. The saliva from the mouth is his divinity, because the head of Christ is God. The saliva mixed with the mud enlightens us when baptized in the pool of Siloam, because the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory (John I), which we could not comprehend before, being hindered by darkness. Therefore, you were created through the craftsman Christ, so that you might exist. You were recreated through the physician Christ, so that after wounds you might be healthy. Although he is advised by the scornful citizens to heal himself, that is, to perform miracles in his own country, he is not excused in vain by another Evangelist, because he could not perform any miracle there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief. Lest anyone should think that a lesser affection should be given to one's own country. Therefore, he loved the citizens, but they themselves deprived themselves of the love of their fatherland through spite.

By way of hidden irony he expresses their reproaches, when he adds: And he said to them: Doubtless you will say to me this similitude: for he saw them thinking this secretly. He said therefore: this you propose ironically against me, which you have secretly conceived in your hearts, because, according to what is said in Matthew twelve, "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks"; you propose this similitude, namely by irony: Physician, heal yourself: which is customarily said to physicians who are ailing, when they cannot help themselves, or do not know how, or are negligent: which is a mocking word directed at them. So also you, heal yourself, that is, the infirm one. Which they said rather out of unbelief and derision than out of humility and devotion, as is said in Matthew thirteen, that "he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief." Whence Bede says in the Gloss: "In vain do you await the help of heavenly mercy, if you envy the virtues bestowed on others. For the Lord is a despiser of the envious, and from those who persecute the divine benefits given to others, he turns away the miracles of his power." And note that they ironically call him physician, whom they ought truthfully to confess as physician, according to that passage in Job five: "He himself wounds and heals." They despise him whom they ought to revere and honor, according to that passage in Sirach thirty-eight: "Honor the physician on account of necessity"; and afterward: "The Most High created medicine from the earth, and a prudent man will not abhor it."

But by way of explicit invective he expresses it, when he adds: How great things we have heard done in Capernaum, namely miraculous works: whence Matthew eleven: "Woe to you, Capernaum! For if in Tyre and Sidon the mighty works had been done," etc. But how did they hear these things, since the Evangelist had not yet related that he had performed any miracles? On account of which it must be noted that the Evangelist does not follow the order of events as they happened, but the order of his own intention, and this indeed he does frequently; and therefore, when one Evangelist narrates afterward what another narrates before, there is no contradiction, because they do not intend to say that events occurred in the order in which they were written, as Augustine says in On the Harmony of the Evangelists. Moreover, Luke, together with the other two, Matthew and Mark, narrates nothing about the first coming of Christ into Galilee, but about the second; about the first, however, John alone treats. From the fame, therefore, of miracles performed in a foreign land, they reproached him because he did not perform them in his own land. Whence is added: Do so also here in your own country; and this is to say: heal yourself, that is, heal those of your own country through miracles, as you have healed others, according to that passage in Sirach fourteen: "He who is evil to himself, to whom will he be good?" and First Timothy five: "If anyone does not have care for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith"; it is said in Sirach seventeen: "He gave commandment to each one concerning his neighbor."

Jesus rebuked them, therefore, for asking so foolishly, "Isn't this Joseph's son?" Keeping to the goal of his teaching, he says, "Truly, I tell you, that no prophet is acceptable in his country." As I have mentioned, certain Jews affirmed that the prophecies relating to Christ had been fulfilled in the holy prophets or in certain of their own more distinguished men. For their good, he draws them away from such a supposition. He said that Elijah had been sent to a single widow and that the prophet Elisha had healed but one leper, Naaman the Syrian. By these he refers to the church of the heathen, who were about to accept him and be healed of their leprosy, by reason of Israel's remaining impenitent.

It was a common proverb among the Hebrews, invented as a reproach, for men used to cry out against infirm physicians, Physician, heal thyself.

(ordin.) It was as if they said, We have heard that you performed many cures in Capernaum; cure also thyself, i. e. Do likewise in your own city, where you were nourished and brought up.

(ubi sup.) For though after a long time and when He had begun to show forth His miracles, He came to them; they did not receive Him, but again were inflamed with envy. Hence it follows, And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself.

As far as Luke's narrative is concerned, our Lord is not yet said to have worked any miracle in Capernaum. For before He came to Capernaum, He is said to have lived at Nazareth. I cannot but think therefore that in these words, "whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum," there lies a mystery concealed, and that Nazareth is a type of the Jews, Capernaum of the Gentiles. For the time will come when the people of Israel shall say, "The things which thou hast shown to the whole world, show also to us." Preach thy word to the people of Israel, that then at least, when the fulness of the Gentiles has entered, all Israel may be saved. Our Saviour seems to me to have well answered, No prophet is accepted in his own country, but rather according to the type than the letter; though neither was Jeremiah accepted in Anathoth his country, nor the rest of the Prophets. But it seems rather to be meant that we should say, that the people of the circumcision were the countrymen of all the Prophets. And the Gentiles indeed accepted the prophecy of Jesus Christ, esteeming Moses and the Prophets who preached of Christ, far higher than they who would not from these receive Jesus.

But Christ will be (the Christ) of the prophets, wheresoever He is found in accordance with the prophets. And yet even at Nazareth He is not remarked as having preached anything new, whilst in another verse He is said to have been rejected by reason of a simple proverb.

Therefore, the Savior excuses that he has not worked any miracles of virtue in his own country, so that no one might think that he should have a lower affection for his country. For he could not fail to love his fellow citizens, since he loved all. But those who envy have cast themselves out, through their lack of love for their country. For love does not envy... does not boast (1 Corinthians 13:4). However, the homeland is not devoid of divine blessings. For what greater miracle is there than that Christ was born in her? Therefore, see what evil envy brings. A homeland is judged unworthy because of envy, where a citizen works, which was worthy for the birth of the Son of God.

But the Saviour purposely excuses Himself for not working miracles in His own country, that no one might suppose that love of country is a thing to be lightly esteemed by us. For it follows, But he says, Verily I say unto you, that no prophet is accepted in his own country.

But this is given for an example, that in vain can you expect the aid of Divine mercy, if you grudge to others the fruits of their virtue. The Lord despises the envious, and withdraws the miracles of His power from them that are jealous of His divine blessings in others. For our Lord's Incarnation is an evidence of His divinity, and His invisible things are proved to us by those which are visible. See then what evils envy produces. For envy a country is deemed unworthy of the works of its citizen, which was worthy of the conception of the Son of God.

He said: Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country. That the Lord Christ is called a prophet in the Scriptures, Moses is a witness, who said: God will raise up for you a prophet from among your brothers like me (Deut. XVIII). Not only he who is the head and Lord of the prophets but also Elijah, Jeremiah, and the rest of the prophets were held in less regard in their own country than in distant cities. For it is almost natural that citizens always envy their fellow citizens. For they do not consider the man's present works, but remember his fragile childhood, as if they themselves had not reached mature age through the same stages of life.

Now that Christ is called a Prophet in the Scriptures, Moses bears witness, saying, God shall raise up a Prophet unto you from among your brethren. (Deut. 18:15.)

Here, after the reproaches of the detractors, prophetic examples are added, confuting the detractors. For their full confutation, a general proverb is first set forth; second, a special example in Elijah, the most eminent of the Prophets; third, in Elisha, his disciple. The first is for admonishing, the second for confuting, the third for confirming. Therefore he sets forth the general proverb concerning every Prophet and people, when he says: And he said, namely Christ: Amen I say to you, that is, with certainty, because amen is a sign of affirmation. And truly so, because, as he himself says in Matthew twenty-four, "heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." That no prophet is accepted in his own country, namely neither as regards doctrine nor as regards life, in which Prophets were accustomed to have excellence. And therefore it is not surprising if he does not work miracles in his own country, which are not to be done for the ungrateful and unworthy. This denunciation of the Savior is attested by the fact that Joseph is sold by his brothers, Genesis thirty-seven, and honored by the Egyptians, Genesis forty-one. So Moses suffers insult from Aaron and Miriam, Numbers twelve, and is reproached by his fellow tribesmen, Numbers sixteen. So Abraham suffers from his countrymen; whence it is said to him: "Go forth from your land and from your kindred," Genesis twelve.

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

As if He says, You wish me to work many miracles among you, in whose country I have been brought up, but I am aware of a very common failing in the minds of many. To a certain extent it always happens, that even the very best things are despised when they fall to a man's lot, not scantily, but ever at his will. So it happens also with respect to men. For a friend who is ever at hand, does not meet with the respect due to him.

And yet even at Nazareth He is not remarked as having preached anything new, whilst in another verse He is said to have been rejected by reason of a simple proverb. Here at once, when I observe that they laid their hands on Him, I cannot help drawing a conclusion respecting His bodily substance, which cannot be believed to have been a phantom, since it was capable of being touched and even violently handled, when He was seized and taken and led to the very brink of a precipice.

By a very apt comparison the arrogance of envious citizens is put to shame, and our Lord's conduct shown to agree with the ancient Scriptures. For it follows, But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias: not that the days were his, but that he performed his works in them.

But he says in a mystery, "In the days of Elias," because Elias brought the day to them who saw in his works the light of spiritual grace, and so the heaven was opened to them that beheld the divine mystery, but was shut when there was famine, because there was no fruitfulness in acknowledging God. But in that widow to whom Elias was sent was prefigured a type of the Church.

(Hom. 2. de jejun. Hom. de fame.) For when he beheld the great disgrace that arose from universal plenty, he brought a famine that the people might fast, by which he checked their sin which was exceeding great. But crows were made the ministers of food to the righteous, which are wont to steal the food of others.

Truly I say to you, there were many widows in the days of Elijah in Israel when the sky was closed for three years, etc. It is not (he says) that I withhold divine benefits from the disdainful citizens, contrary to the deeds of the prophets. For just as when famine once afflicted the whole land, no one in Judea was found worthy of hospitality to Elijah, but a widow of a foreign nation was sought, who, by the grace of faith, should be visited by such a great prophet. And just as among the many lepers there, only Naaman the Syrian, because he sought devoutly, deserved to be cured by the prophet Elisha, so here you will be deprived of the heavenly gift for no other reason than envy and faithlessness. If you were to critically examine the deeds of the prophets, and now allegorically study them, you would indeed find that the Lord, in the faithlessness and arrogance of His own homeland, from which He was not received, has noted the pride of the Jews. But by the name of Capernaum, which is interpreted as the field of consolation, He foretold the salvation of the Gentiles, where greater signs are daily performed by the apostles and the successors of the apostles, not so much in the healing of bodies as in the healing of souls. Therefore, the widow to whom Elijah was sent represents the Church of the Gentiles, which, long deserted by its Maker, nurtured with meager provision, that is, taught with the word devoid of fruit, the people ignorant of the true faith—as if it were a poor son—until the prophetic word came, which, when the fleece of Israel was dried up, with the door of heaven closed, was in danger of famine in Judea, would be nourished there and would simultaneously nourish, and thus, received by those who believed, would both refresh the believers and be refreshed by them. Hence, it is fittingly said that this same widow lived in Sarepta of Sidon. Sidon means useless hunting; Sarepta, on the other hand, denotes fire or famine of bread. For where sin abounded, grace did much more abound (Rom. 5). Where efforts were directed to acquiring superfluous things, like a concern for hunting, where there was a dire thirst and a famine of spiritual bread, there the flour and oil are blessed by the prophetic word, that is, the fruit and joy of charity, or the grace of the Lord's body and the anointing of chrism, were enriched by the inexhaustible gift of the heavenly word. So far the oil of spiritual joy and the flour of blessing in the vessels has not run out, while the rest of the nations who do not believe are in misery for the lack of divine bread, and are devoted to useless hunting. For she herself, wonderfully intending to make a mystical bread before she died, testified that she wished to gather two sticks, expressing the sign of the cross not only by the name of the wood but also by the number of the woods, by which the bread of eternal life was prepared for us.

He adds a special example in Elijah, the most distinguished of the Prophets, when he says: In truth I say to you: John 17: "Your word is truth." He spoke in truth, whom they ought to have believed, and yet they did not believe; whence that passage in John 8: "If I speak the truth, why do you not believe me?" and that passage in Job 6: "Why have you detracted from the words of truth?" And this is a certain truth, because it is taken from Scripture. Whence it is added: Many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, who were placed in necessity on account of the lack of matrimonial companionship: Jeremiah 15: "Her widows are multiplied above the sand of the sea." They were placed in necessity on account of the lack of heavenly rain: whence he adds: When the heaven was shut up and it did not rain for three years and six months: as the Lord had threatened in Leviticus 26: "But if you will not even so obey me, I will make the heaven above you like iron"; and Deuteronomy 28: "Let the heaven that is above you be bronze." And so it came to pass because of their sins: whence Jeremiah 3: "You have polluted the land with your fornications. Therefore the drops of rain have been withheld, and the latter rain has not come." They were placed in necessity on account of the lack of earthly sustenance: and therefore it is added: When there was a great famine throughout all the land: as it is said in 3 Kings 18: "There was a severe famine," etc.; whence that word of the Psalm was verified concerning the children of Israel: "They shall suffer hunger like dogs and shall go about the city," because the king and the steward of his house went about to find pastures, 3 Kings 18.

And note here spiritually that in these two examples he shows the unworthiness of the Jews in comparison with the Gentiles with regard to the universal lack of repentance and the universal contagion of malice, which remained uncured in the Jews but was remedied in the Gentiles through Christ. For the closing of heaven designates the lack of grace and doctrine: Deuteronomy 11: "Take heed lest you depart from the Lord"; and thereafter: "And the Lord being angry shut up heaven, and the rain come not down, and the earth yield not her fruit." Concerning which rain in the Psalm: "God shall set apart a voluntary rain"; and from this comes famine and want of every good: Job 18: "Let his strength be wasted with hunger, and let famine invade his ribs." And note that the rain is said to have been withheld for three years and six months, because during the three and a half years in which the Lord preached, they did not receive the rain of grace, their sins requiring it. For although the rain came upon them, Judea nevertheless did not receive it so as to bear fruit: Hebrews 6: "The earth that drinks in the rain that comes often upon it and brings forth herbs meet for those by whom it is tilled, receives blessing from God: but that which brings forth thorns and briers is rejected and near unto a curse." In this time, however, the true preacher Elijah is sent to the widow in Zarephath of Sidon, who rightly designates the Gentile world, as Bede shows in the Great Gloss, and she was saved while the people of the Jews were abandoned, according to that passage in Acts 13: "Since you reject the word of God and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life: behold, we turn to the Gentiles."

He himself, an earthly angel, a heavenly man, who had neither house, nor food, nor clothing like others, carries the keys of the heavens on his tongue. And this is what follows, When the heaven was shut. But as soon as he had closed the heavens and made the earth barren, hunger reigned and bodies wasted away, as it follows, when there was a famine through the land.

For when a famine came upon the people of Israel, i. e. of hearing the word of God, a prophet came to a widow, of whom it is said, For the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband; (Isa. 54:1, Gal. 4:27.) and when he had come, he multiplies her bread and her nourishment.

(Hom. in div.) Every widowed soul, bereft of virtue and divine knowledge, as soon as she receives the divine word, knowing her own failings, learns to nourish it with the bread of virtue, and to water the teaching of virtue from the fountain of life.

Sidonia signifies a vain pursuit, Sarepta fire, or scarcity of bread. By all which things the Gentiles are signified, who, given up to vain pursuits, (following gain and worldly business,) were suffering from the flames of fleshly lusts, and the want of spiritual bread, until Elias, (i. e. the word of prophecy,) now that the interpretation of the Scriptures had ceased because of the faithlessness of the Jews, came to the Church, that being received into the hearts of believers he might feed and refresh them.

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

(Hom. in Pet. et Eli.) But when the stream was dried up by which the cup of the righteous man was filled, God said, Go to Sarepta, a city of Sidon; there I wall command a widow woman to feed you. As it follows, But to none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. And this was brought to pass by a particular appointment of God. For God made him go a long journey, as far as Sidon, in order that having seen the famine of the country he should ask for rain from the Lord. But there were many rich men at that time, but none of them did any thing like the widow. For in the respect shown by the woman toward the prophet, consisted her riches not of lands, but of good will.

Now in a mystery the people pollute the Church, that another people might succeed, gathered together from foreigners, leprous indeed at first before it is baptized in the mystical stream, but which after the sacrament of baptism, washed from the stains of body and soul, begins to be a virgin without spot or wrinkle.

And there were many lepers in Israel under Elisha the prophet, and none of them were cleansed, except Naaman the Syrian. Because the story is well-known, it is necessary to disclose a few things about the mystery. And thus Naaman the Syrian, who is interpreted as "beauty," represents the people of the nations, once stained by the leprosy of unbelief and sins, but purified from all foulness of mind and body through the sacrament of baptism. Advised by a captured girl, which is the grace of divine inspiration, which the Jews could not keep but the Gentiles seized, he was urged to hope for salvation and to be washed seven times. Because obviously, the only type of baptism that regenerates by the Holy Spirit saves. Hence it is rightly remembered that his flesh appeared like the flesh of a small child after the washing. Either because grace as a mother begets all baptized in Christ to a single infancy, or more likely he is to be understood as the child of whom it was said: A child is born to us, a son is given to us (Isaiah 9). By whose body through baptism the whole offspring of believers is united. And so that you may know all the prefigured sacraments of baptism here, in which we are commanded to renounce Satan and to confess faith, Naaman declares that he will no longer make offerings to foreign gods, but will serve the Lord alone in all things. He also rejoices to take with him a portion of the Holy Land, because the baptized must also be confirmed by participation in the body of the Lord. Therefore, worthily, Naaman, whose body is washed by water while his heart is washed by faith, that is, the people of the nations, is preferred to the Jews, who are sullied by the leprosy of obstinacy. Worthily, the widow of Zarephath, that is, the Church, desiring to be renewed by the wood of the cross, is refreshed with the bread of the holy body and the anointing of the life-giving Spirit, while the Jews perish from the famine of the word. And it is proven that the Lord denied the gifts of virtues to His fellow citizens not because of His inability, but because of their envy, and by this example the whole nation was ultimately forsaken by Him, not because they were not loved, but because they themselves did not desire to be loved, evidently, as the teachers dispersed throughout the whole world for the salvation of the nations. But what the Lord declared about the Jews, they themselves testified by deed about themselves. For it follows:

For Naaman, which means beautiful, represents the Gentile people, who is ordered to be washed seven times, because that baptism saves which the seven-fold Spirit renews. His flesh after washing began to appear as a child's, because grace like a mother begets all to one childhood, or because he is conformed to Christ, of whom it is said, Unto us a Child is born. (Isa. 9:6.)

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

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

He cites also another similar example, adding, And there were many lepers in Israel at the time of Eliseus the Prophet, and none of them were cleansed but Naaman the Syrian, who indeed was not of Israel.

For when the sons of the prophets were cutting "wood" with axes on the bank of the river Jordan, the iron flew off and sank in the stream; and so, on Elisha the prophet's coming up, the sons of the prophets beg of him to extract from the stream the iron which had sunk.

If, however, the Creator's prophet Elisha cleansed Naaman the Syrian alone, to the exclusion of so many lepers in Israel, this fact contributes nothing to the distinction of Christ, as if he were in this way the better one for cleansing this Israelite leper, although a stranger to him, whom his own Lord had been unable to cleanse.

Now, although He said in a preceding chapter, that "there were many lepers in lsrµl in the days of Eliseus the prophet, and none of them was cleansed saving Naaman the Syrian," yet of course the mere number proves nothing towards a difference in the gods, as tending to the abasement of the Creator in curing only one, and the pre-eminence of Him who healed ten.

Or, perhaps it is more probable that Matthew here turns back to relate something that he had omitted; and we may suppose Matthew to have been called before the sermon on the mount; for on the mount, as Luke relates, the twelve, whom He also named Apostles, were chosen.

The Lord, about to give salvation to all sinners believing in him, willingly chose Matthew the former publican. The gift of his esteem for Matthew stands as an example for our salvation. Every sinner must be chosen by God and can receive the grace of eternal salvation if one is not without a religious mind and a devout heart. So Matthew was chosen willingly by God. And though he is immersed in worldly affairs, because of his sincere religious devotion he is judged worthy to be called forth by the Lord ("Follow me"), who by virtue of his divine nature knows the hidden recesses of the heart. From what follows, we know that Matthew was accepted by the Lord not by reason of his status but of his faith and devotion. As soon as the Lord says to him, "Follow me," he does not linger or delay, but thereupon "he arose and followed him."

(ap. Anselm.) He says, sitting at the receipt of custom, that is, in the place where the tolls were collected. He was named Telonarius, from a Greek word signifying taxes.

(non occ.) Matthew places his calling among the miracles; for a great miracle it was, a Publican becoming an Apostle.

Out of respect and deference, the other Evangelists were unwilling to call him by the common name of Matthew but said Levi. So Matthew went by a double name in accordance with what Solomon noted: "An accuser is righteous at the beginning of his words." And in another place: "Tell your sins, and you will be justified." Matthew also calls himself a publican to show his readers that no one must despair of salvation if he has changed for the better, for he was suddenly changed from a publican to an apostle.

(Verse 9) And as Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man sitting at the tax booth, named Matthew. And he said to him, 'Follow me.' And he rose and followed him. The other evangelists, out of respect and honor for Matthew, did not want to use his name openly, but they said, 'Levi,' for he had two names. But Matthew himself, according to what is commanded by Solomon (or rather, it is said), 'The righteous is an accuser of himself at the beginning of his speech' (Proverbs 18:17). And in another place: Confess your sins, that you may be justified (Isaiah 43:26). Matthew calls himself and the tax collector, in order to show to the readers that no one should despair of salvation if they have turned to better things; since he himself was suddenly changed from a tax collector to an apostle. Porphyry and Julian the Emperor argue in this place, either the incompetence of the lying historian, or the foolishness of those who immediately followed the Savior, as if they irrationally followed anyone who called them, when there were so many virtues and signs that the Apostles had seen before they believed. Certainly, that very brilliance and majesty of hidden divinity, which also shone forth in a human face, was able to draw those who saw it for the first time to itself by its appearance. For if this power is said to exist in a magnet and amber, so that they attract rings, straws, and stalks to themselves, how much more could the Lord of all creatures draw to himself those whom he wished?

The other Evangelists from respect to Matthew have not called him by his common name, but say here, Levi, for he had both names. Matthew himself, according to that Solomon says. The righteous man accuses himself, (Prov. 18:17.) calls himself both Matthew and Publican, to show the readers that none need despair of salvation who turn to better things, seeing he from a Publican became an Apostle.

Porphyry and the Emperor Julian insist from this account, that either the historian is to be charged with falsehood, or those who so readily followed the Saviour with haste and temerity; as if He called any without reason. They forget also the signs and wonders which had preceded, and which no doubt the Apostles had seen before they believed. Yea the brightness of effulgence of the hidden Godhead which beamed from His human countenance might attract them at first view. For if the loadstone can, as it is said, attract iron, how much more can the Lord of all creation draw to Himself whom He will!

But they had seen the Publican turning from sins to better things, and finding place of repentance, and on this account they do not despair of salvation.

For when He had performed the miracle, He did not remain, lest, being in sight, He should kindle their jealousy the more; but He indulges them by retiring, and soothing their passion. This then let us also do, not encountering them that are plotting against us; let us rather soothe their wound, giving way and relaxing their vehemence.

But wherefore did He not call him together with Peter and John and the rest? As in their case He had come at that time, when He knew the men would obey Him; so Matthew also He then called when He was assured he would yield himself. And therefore Paul again He took, as a fisher his prey, after the resurrection. Because He who is acquainted with the hearts, and knows the secrets of each man's mind, knew also when each of these would obey. Therefore not at the beginning did He call him, when he was yet in rather a hardened state, but after His countless miracles, and the great fame concerning Him, when He knew him to have actually become more prepared for obedience.

And we have cause also to admire the self-denial of the evangelist, how he disguises not his own former life, but adds even his name, when the others had concealed him under another appellation.

But why did he say he was "sitting at the receipt of custom?" To indicate the power of Him that called him, that it was not when he had left off or forsaken this wicked trade, but from the midst of the evils He drew him up; much as He converted the blessed Paul also when frantic and raging, and darting fire; which thing he himself makes a proof of the power of Him that called him, saying to the Galatians, "Ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God." And the fishermen too He called when they were in the midst of their business. But that was a craft not indeed in bad report, but of men rather rudely bred, not mingling with others, and endowed with great simplicity; whereas the pursuit now in question was one full of all insolence and boldness, and a mode of gain whereof no fair account could be given, a shameless traffic, a robbery under cloak of law: yet nevertheless He who uttered the call was ashamed of none of these things.

And why talk I of His not being ashamed of a publican? since even with regard to a harlot woman, so far from being ashamed to call her, He actually permitted her to kiss His feet, and to moisten them with her tears. Yea, for to this end He came, not to cure bodies only, but to heal likewise the wickedness of the soul. Which He did also in the case of the paralytic; and having shown clearly that He is able to forgive sins, then, not before, He comes to him whom we are now speaking of; that they might no more be troubled at seeing a publican chosen into the choir of the disciples. For He that hath power to undo all our offenses, why marvel if He even make this man an apostle?

But as thou hast seen the power of Him that called, so consider also the obedience of him that was called: how he neither resisted, nor disputing said, "What is this? Is it not indeed a deceitful calling, wherewith He calls me, being such as I am?" nay; for this humility again had been out of season: but he obeyed straightway, and did not even request to go home, and to communicate with his relations concerning this matter; as neither indeed did the fishermen; but as they left their net and their ship and their father, so did he his receipt of custom and his gain, and followed, exhibiting a mind prepared for all things; and breaking himself at once away from all worldly things, by his complete obedience he bare witness that He who called him had chosen a good time.

Wherever natural faith is preserved in its original state, that man, with whom this faith is preserved, is a sheep of the Shepherd. For thus is it written concerning Matthew, "Our Lord saw him sitting at the place of toll, and He called him, and straightway he forsook his merchandise and all his possession, and went after Him."

In the call of Matthew and the Publicans is figured the faith of the Gentiles who first gaped after the gain of the world, and are now spiritually refreshed by the Lord; in the pride of the Pharisees, the jealousy of the Jews at the salvation of the Gentiles. Or, Matthew signifies the man intent on temporal gain; Jesus sees him, when He looks on him with the eyes of mercy. For Matthew is interpreted 'given,' Levi 'taken,' the penitent is taken out of the mass of the perishing, and by God's grace given to the Church. And Jesus saith unto him, Follow me, either by preaching, or by the admonition of Scripture, or by internal illumination.

He esteems lightly human dangers which might accrue to him from his masters for leaving his accounts in disorder, but, he arose, and followed him. And because he relinquished earthly gain, therefore of right was he made the dispenser of the Lord's talents.

So then, let everyone who wants approach Him, and let the one say: "Son of David, have mercy on me"; and, if he hears, "What do you want Me to do for you?" let him say quickly, "Lord, let me receive my sight," and right away he will hear, "So I desire. Receive your sight" [Luke 18:38-42]. Let another say, "Lord, my daughter"-i.e. my soul-"is severely possessed by a demon" [Matthew 15:22], and he will hear: "I will come to heal her" [Matthew 8:7]. If someone is hesitant and does not wish to approach the Master, even if He comes to him and says, "Follow Me" (Matthew 9:9), then let him follow Him as the publican once did, abandoning his counting tables and his avarice, and, I am sure, He shall make of him, too, an evangelist rather than a tax collector. If someone else is a paralytic, lying for years in sloth, carelessness, and love of pleasure, and if he should see another, be it the Master Himself or one of His disciples, come to him and ask, "Do you want to be healed?" [John 5:2-7], let him receive the word joyfully and reply immediately: "Yes, Lord, but I have no man to put me into the pool of repentance." And then if he should hear, "Rise, take up your bed, and follow me," let him get up right away and run after the footsteps of the One Who has called him from on high. - "Second Ethical Discourse"

Do you hesitate about arts, and trades, and about professions likewise, for the sake of children and parents? Even there was it demonstrated to us, that both "dear pledges," and handicrafts, and trades, are to be quite left behind for the Lord's sake; while James and John, called by the Lord, do leave quite behind both father and ship; while Matthew is roused up from the toll-booth; while even burying a father was too tardy a business for faith.

If that was wanting to the apostles, I know not in the faith of what things it was, that, roused by one word of the Lord, one left the toll-booth behind for ever; another deserted father and ship, and the craft by which he gained his living; a third, who disdained his father's obsequies, fulfilled, before he heard it, that highest precept of the Lord, "He who prefers father or mother to me, is not worthy of me.

"And as Jesus passed forth from thence, He saw a man, named Matthew, sitting collecting tax: and He saith unto him, Follow Me. And he arose, and followed Him." He did not call Matthew together with Peter and John, but when He knew that he would obey. He likewise called Paul later, when it was time. Marvel at how the evangelist displays his own former way of life, while the other evangelists disguise his name, calling him "Levi" (Mk. 2:13-17 and Lk. 5:27-32). That Matthew is converted by word alone is the work of God.

Here two things are mentioned: first, the conversion of sinners; secondly, the complaint of the Pharisees (v. 11).

First, he tells how he called a certain man to discipleship; secondly, how he called many to intimacy (v. 10).

He says, therefore, As Jesus passed on from there... Why did he pass on? Because they were lying in wait for him, he avoided the crowds, as it says in Sirach (8:3): "Do not heap wood on the fire of sinners." He saw a man, a man, indeed; because he was a sinner: "You shall die like men and fall like any prince" (Ps 82:7). Sitting at the tax office. Hence he was pursuing a vocation which one can scarcely follow without sin. By the name of Matthew. Others call him Levi, to save his honor and keep him from being known as a sinner. But he calls himself Matthew, because a just man in the beginning accuses himself; giving us to understand that the Lord is not an acceptor of persons. And he said to him: "Follow me." It is a great thing that the Lord moves him to follow. And he rose and followed him. Hence he could say from Job (23:11): "My foot has held fast to his steps; I have kept his way and have not turned aside."

But it is objected that it cannot be that at one word he followed him. The answer is that Jesus' fame had been so widespread, that anyone who followed him considered himself blessed; therefore, at one word he followed him. Hence obedience is shown, because he followed at once. But why did he not call him from the very beginning? The answer is that this wise person was the wisdom of the world. But the Lord waited before calling him, until he roused him by his miracles. Or, all this was said as a repetition, because he was present at the Lord's preaching on the mount. Then why does Matthew mention his call in this way? I say by reason of humility; for since he regarded his call as a miracle, he mentioned it among the miracles. But why was more mention made of the call of Peter and Andrew and Matthew than of the others? I answer that among the lowlier men were fishermen. Likewise among sinners, the worst were those who collected taxes. Therefore, special mention is made of them to show that God is not an acceptor of persons.

Luke adds to repentance, which explains the sense; that none should suppose that sinners are loved by Christ because they are sinners; and this comparison of the sick shows what God means by calling sinners, as a physician does the sick to be saved from their iniquity as from a sickness: which is done by penitence.

The greatest barrier I have met is the almost total absence from the minds of my audience of any sense of sin. This has struck me more forcibly when I spoke to the R.A.F. than when I spoke to students: whether (as I believe) the proletariat is more self-righteous than other classes, or whether educated people are cleverer at concealing their pride, this creates for us a new situation. The early Christian preachers could assume in their hearers, whether Jews, Metuentes, or Pagans, a sense of guilt. (That this was common among Pagans is shown by the fact that both Epicureanism and the mystery religions both claimed, though in different ways, to assuage it.) Thus the Christian message was in those days unmistakably the Evangelium, the Good News. It promised healing to those who knew they were sick. We have to convince our hearers of the unwelcome diagnosis before we can expect them to welcome the news of the remedy.

The Lord went to the banquet of sinners that he might have an opportunity to teach and to offer spiritual food to his hosts. In effect, when he is mentioned as frequently going out to attend feasts, nothing is said other than what he did there and taught there. Thus, we see both the Lord's humility in reaching out to sinners and the force of his teaching in converting penitents. What follows: "I desire mercy, and not sacrifice" and "I came not to call the righteous but sinners" (as he cites testimony from the prophet) challenged the scribes and Pharisees, who considered themselves righteous and shunned both publicans and sinners.

What then saith Infinite Wisdom? "They that be whole need not a physician," saith He, "but they that are sick."

See how He turned their reasoning to the opposite conclusion. That is, while they made it a charge against Him that He was in company with these men: He on the contrary saith, that His not being with them would be unworthy of Him, and of His love of man; and that to amend such persons is not only blameless, but excellent, and necessary, and deserving of all sorts of praise.

After this, that He might not seem to put them that were bidden to shame, by saying, "they that are sick;" see how He makes up for it again, by reproving the others.

He calls Himself a physician, because by a wonderful kind of medicine He was wounded for our iniquities that He might heal the wound of our sin. By the whole, He means those who seeking to establish their own righteousness have not submitted to the true righteousness of God. By the sick, He means those who, tied by the consciousness of their frailty, and seeing that they are not justified by the Law, submit themselves in penitence to the grace of God.

The Lord had come, of course, to save that which "had perished; " "a Physician." necessary to "the sick" "more than to the whole." This fact He was in the habit both of typifying in parables and preaching in direct statements.

"But when Jesus heard that, He said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I desire mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." He says, "I have not come now as judge but as physician, and for this reason I endure stench and filth." He also rebukes them for being ignorant when He says, "Go ye and learn." This means, "Since up to the present time you have not managed to learn, so at least from this time on go and learn that God prefers mercy towards sinners above any sacrifice" (Hosea 6:7). The words "I am not come to call the righteous" He spoke ironically. That is, "I have not come to call you who consider yourselves to be righteous, but I have come to call sinners. I do this, not so that they remain sinners, but in order for them to repent."

Then follows Jesus' response, wherein he gives three reasons. First, he uses a comparison: But when Jesus heard it, he said: "Those who are well have no need of a physician." The Lord calls himself a physician; and correctly so: "He heals all your diseases" (Ps 103:3), namely, of soul and body. Therefore, he refers to infirmities of body and soul; hence he says, those who are well have no need of a physician. The well are those who from pride consider themselves well; concerning these Revelation (3:17): "You say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing; not knowing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked." Such persons do not need a physician, but those who are weak, i.e., acknowledge their sin, as David: "For I know my transgression" (Ps 51:3).

(ap. Anselm.) Yet does not God contemn sacrifice, but sacrifice without mercy. But the Pharisees often offered sacrifices in the temple that they might seem to men to be righteous, but did not practise the deeds of mercy by which true righteousness is proved.

(ap. Anselm.) Or; Those who were righteous, as Nathanael and John the Baptist, were not to be invited to repentance. Or. I came not to call the righteous, that is, the feignedly righteous, those who boasted of their righteousness as the Pharisees, but those that owned themselves sinners.

Christ came for all; how is it then that He says He came not for the righteous? Were there those for whom it needed not that He should come? But no man is righteous by the law. He shows how empty their boast of justification, sacrifices being inadequate to salvation, mercy was necessary for all who were set under the Law.

(Verse 13) I desire mercy, and not sacrifice. For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners. And the Lord was going to the feasts of sinners, so that He may have an opportunity to teach and provide spiritual food to His invited guests. Ultimately, as He was frequently described as going to feasts, it is only important what He did there, what He taught, in order to demonstrate both the humility of the Lord in going to sinners and the power of His teaching in the conversion of repentant sinners. But as for what follows: 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice' (Hosea 6:6). And: 'I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners,' testifying of the prophet, he rebukes the scribes and Pharisees who consider themselves righteous, but reject the company of sinners and tax collectors.

This text from Osee (Hosea 6:6.) is directed against the Scribes and Pharisees, who, deeming themselves righteous, refused to keep company with Publicans and sinners.

"Go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice."

Now this He said, to upbraid them with their ignorance of the Scriptures. Wherefore also He orders His discourse more sharply, not Himself in anger, far from it; but so as that the publicans might not be in utter perplexity.

And yet of course He might say, "Did ye not mark, how I remitted the sins of the sick of the palsy, how I braced up his body?" But He saith no such thing, but argues with them first from men's common reasonings, and then from the Scriptures. For having said, "They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick;" and having covertly indicated that He Himself was the Physician; after that He said, "Go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice." Thus doth Paul also: when he had first established his reasoning by illustrations from common things, and had said, "Who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk thereof?" then he brings in the Scriptures also, saying, "It is written in the law of Moses, Thou shall not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn;" and again, "Even so hath the Lord ordained, that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel."

But to His disciples not so, but He puts them in mind of His signs, saying on this wise, "Do ye not yet remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?" Not so however with these, but He reminds them of our common infirmity, and signifies them at any rate to be of the number of the infirm; who did not so much as know the Scriptures, but making light of the rest of virtue, laid all the stress on their sacrifices; which thing He is also earnestly intimating unto them, when He sets down in brief what had been affirmed by all the prophets, saying, "Learn ye what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice."

The fact is, He is signifying hereby that not He was transgressing the law, but they; as if He had said, "Wherefore accuse me? Because I bring sinners to amendment? Why then ye must accuse the Father also for this." Much as He said also elsewhere, establishing this point: "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work:" so here again, "Go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice." "For as this is His will, saith Christ, so also mine." Seest thou how the one is superfluous, the other necessary? For neither did He say, "I will have mercy, and sacrifice," but, "I will have mercy, and not sacrifice." That is, the one thing He allowed, the other He cast out; and proved that what they blamed, so far from being forbidden, was even ordained by the law, and more so than sacrifice; and He brings in the Old Testament, speaking words and ordaining laws in harmony with Himself.

Having then reproved them, both by common illustrations and by the Scriptures, He adds again, "I am not come to call righteous men, but sinners to repentance."

And this He saith unto them in irony; as when He said, "Behold, Adam is become as one of us;" and again, "If I were hungry, I would not tell thee." For that no man on earth was righteous, Paul declared, saying, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." And by this too the others were comforted, I mean, the guests. "Why, I am so far," saith He, "from loathing sinners, that even for their sakes only am I come." Then, lest He should make them more careless, He staid not at the word "sinners," but added, "unto repentance." "For I am not come that they should continue sinners, but that they should alter, and amend."

He therefore warns them, that by deeds of mercy they should seek for themselves the rewards of the mercy that is above, and, not overlooking the necessities of the poor, trust to please God by offering sacrifice. Wherefore, He says, Go; that is, from the rashness of foolish fault-finding to a more careful meditation of Holy Scripture, which highly commends mercy, and proposes to them as a guide His own example of mercy, saying, I came not to call the righteous but sinners.

This therefore what Paul himself also knew when he said rightly:

Those whom God foreknew, the same He also predestined; and those whom He predestined, He also called; and those whom He called, the same He also glorified. [Romans 8:29-30]

It is not God's foreknowledge of those who, by their free choice and zeal, will prevail which is the cause of their victory, just as, again, it is not His knowing beforehand who will fall and be vanquished which is responsible for their defeat. Instead, it is the zeal, deliberate choice, and courage of each of us which effects the victory. Our faithlessness and sloth, our irresolution and indolence, on the other hand, comprise our defeat and perdition. So, while reclining on our bed of worldly affection and love of pleasure, let us not say: "Those whom God fore-knew, them also He predestined," without perceiving just what it is we are saying. Yes, indeed, He truly knew you beforehand as inattentive and disobedient and lazy, but this is certainly not because He ordered or foreordained it that you should have no power to repent yourself nor, if you will it, to get up and obey. You, though, when you say this, are clearly calling God a liar. While He says, "I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance" [Matthew 9:13], you, lazy and unwilling to turn around and repent of your evil, contradict Him, as it were, and call Him a liar Who never lies, when you make such excuses as these. "Those who are going to repent", you say, "were predestined, but I am not one of them. So, let them repent therefore whom God clearly foreknew, and whom He also predestined." O what a lack of feeling! O shamelessness of soul and worse than the demons themselves! When did anyone ever hear of one of them saying such a thing? Where was it ever heard that a demon blamed God for its own damnation? Let us then not blame the demons, for here there is a human soul which thinks up blasphemies even worse than theirs. - "Second Ethical Discourse"

He therefore said: "You wash the outside of the cup," that is, the flesh, "but you do not cleanse your inside part," that is, the soul; adding: "Did not He that made the outside," that is, the flesh, "also make the inward part," that is to say, the soul?-by which assertion He expressly declared that to the same God belongs the cleansing of a man's external and internal nature, both alike being in the power of Him who prefers mercy not only to man's washing, but even to sacrifice. For He subjoins the command: "Give what ye possess as alms, and all things shall be clean unto you.

Saith He not, "He who hath fallen shall rise again, and he who hath been averted shall be converted? "He it is, indeed, who "would have mercy rather than sacrifices." The heavens, and the angels who are there, are glad at a man's repentance.

"But," say they, "God is `good, 'and `most good, ' and `pitiful-hearted, 'and `a pitier, 'and `abundant in pitiful-heartedness, ' which He holds `dearer than all sacrifice, ' `not thinking the sinner's death of so much worth as his repentance', `a Saviour of all men, most of all of believers.

Secondly, he cites a scriptural text, saying, "Go and learn what this means..." As if to say: You do not understand the Scripture, but go and learn what this means: "I desire mercy and not sacrifice." This is written in Hosea (6:6). And it is explained in two ways:

First, so that one is understood to be preferred to the other, because I desire mercy more than sacrifice; hence one sacrifice is preferred to another. A lamb is a sacrifice and so is mercy; for by such offerings God shows mercy. Therefore, which of these is better? "To show mercy and judgment is more acceptable to the Lord than victims" (Pr 21:3).

Or secondly, so that one is approved and the rest rejected: I desire mercy, but not the sacrifice you make. Hence Isaiah (1:15): "I do not desire holocausts, because your hands are filled with blood."

Or, another way: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For one is said to desire that which he wants for its own sake and not for the sake of something else. It is as though a physician said: "I desire health," and so among the works we offer God, we offer some for their own sake, as loving God and neighbor; others for the sake of these: "I will show you, O man, what is good; and what the Lord requires of you. Indeed, to do justice and to love mercy" (Mic 6:8).

Thirdly, the Lord gives another reason, based on his mission. It is as though an emissary, if he were prevented from exercising his office, should say: "You are foolish, because you are preventing what pertains to me." The Lord had come to save sinners; hence it was said above (1:21): "And you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." Therefore, he says, I have come to call not the just, but sinners. Luke adds, "to repentance." And this addition is proper, for he did not come to call sinners and let them remain in their sins, but that they be removed from them.

But we might inquire about the just, because no one is just but God alone, and we are all sinners. Likewise, it seems that what he says is false, because John was just, and Simeon and Zechariah were just; yet he called them. For an answer we must make a distinction about justice, because one is called just for not being subject to sin. In this sense no one is just, because all are subject to mortal or venial or original sin, at least as far as the debt is concerned. This he totally blotted out: "He came that they might have life" (Jn 5:40). Hence he did not come to call the just, as just, but the just, in so far as they are sinners. Likewise, one is called just who is not subject to mortal sin; hence he came not to call these just to repentance, but to greater justice. Or, in this way: I came not to call the just, i.e., who put trust in their own justice, but sinners, who repent, not knowing their justice.

(de Cons. Ev. lib. ii. 42.) But since St. Luke mentions that great things had been already done by Him, which he knows he had not yet related, what is more evident than that he knowingly anticipated the relation of them. For he had not proceeded so far beyond our Lord's baptism as that he should be supposed to have forgotten that he had not yet related any of those things which were done in Capernaum.

And he said to them: Certainly you will quote me this proverb: Physician, heal yourself: whatever, etc. Their insane perfidy, although ignorant of sound faith, confesses it, calling the Lord Christ both a craftsman and a physician. For he is indeed the true craftsman, because all things were made through him. He is a physician, because all things were restored through him in heaven and on earth. And as he himself testifies about himself: Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick (Mark II). And since we have said by what instrument he works as a craftsman, let us also say by what method he heals. Passing by, he saw a man blind from birth, he spat on the ground, and made mud with the saliva, and applied it to his eyes, and said to him: Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, which means Sent. So he went and washed, and came back seeing (John IX). Recognize then the greatness of his healing method, and rejoice because through this you have deserved to be enlightened. The mud from the earth is the flesh of Christ. The saliva from the mouth is his divinity, because the head of Christ is God. The saliva mixed with the mud enlightens us when baptized in the pool of Siloam, because the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory (John I), which we could not comprehend before, being hindered by darkness. Therefore, you were created through the craftsman Christ, so that you might exist. You were recreated through the physician Christ, so that after wounds you might be healthy. Although he is advised by the scornful citizens to heal himself, that is, to perform miracles in his own country, he is not excused in vain by another Evangelist, because he could not perform any miracle there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief. Lest anyone should think that a lesser affection should be given to one's own country. Therefore, he loved the citizens, but they themselves deprived themselves of the love of their fatherland through spite.

By way of hidden irony he expresses their reproaches, when he adds: And he said to them: Doubtless you will say to me this similitude: for he saw them thinking this secretly. He said therefore: this you propose ironically against me, which you have secretly conceived in your hearts, because, according to what is said in Matthew twelve, "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks"; you propose this similitude, namely by irony: Physician, heal yourself: which is customarily said to physicians who are ailing, when they cannot help themselves, or do not know how, or are negligent: which is a mocking word directed at them. So also you, heal yourself, that is, the infirm one. Which they said rather out of unbelief and derision than out of humility and devotion, as is said in Matthew thirteen, that "he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief." Whence Bede says in the Gloss: "In vain do you await the help of heavenly mercy, if you envy the virtues bestowed on others. For the Lord is a despiser of the envious, and from those who persecute the divine benefits given to others, he turns away the miracles of his power." And note that they ironically call him physician, whom they ought truthfully to confess as physician, according to that passage in Job five: "He himself wounds and heals." They despise him whom they ought to revere and honor, according to that passage in Sirach thirty-eight: "Honor the physician on account of necessity"; and afterward: "The Most High created medicine from the earth, and a prudent man will not abhor it."

But by way of explicit invective he expresses it, when he adds: How great things we have heard done in Capernaum, namely miraculous works: whence Matthew eleven: "Woe to you, Capernaum! For if in Tyre and Sidon the mighty works had been done," etc. But how did they hear these things, since the Evangelist had not yet related that he had performed any miracles? On account of which it must be noted that the Evangelist does not follow the order of events as they happened, but the order of his own intention, and this indeed he does frequently; and therefore, when one Evangelist narrates afterward what another narrates before, there is no contradiction, because they do not intend to say that events occurred in the order in which they were written, as Augustine says in On the Harmony of the Evangelists. Moreover, Luke, together with the other two, Matthew and Mark, narrates nothing about the first coming of Christ into Galilee, but about the second; about the first, however, John alone treats. From the fame, therefore, of miracles performed in a foreign land, they reproached him because he did not perform them in his own land. Whence is added: Do so also here in your own country; and this is to say: heal yourself, that is, heal those of your own country through miracles, as you have healed others, according to that passage in Sirach fourteen: "He who is evil to himself, to whom will he be good?" and First Timothy five: "If anyone does not have care for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith"; it is said in Sirach seventeen: "He gave commandment to each one concerning his neighbor."

Jesus rebuked them, therefore, for asking so foolishly, "Isn't this Joseph's son?" Keeping to the goal of his teaching, he says, "Truly, I tell you, that no prophet is acceptable in his country." As I have mentioned, certain Jews affirmed that the prophecies relating to Christ had been fulfilled in the holy prophets or in certain of their own more distinguished men. For their good, he draws them away from such a supposition. He said that Elijah had been sent to a single widow and that the prophet Elisha had healed but one leper, Naaman the Syrian. By these he refers to the church of the heathen, who were about to accept him and be healed of their leprosy, by reason of Israel's remaining impenitent.

It was a common proverb among the Hebrews, invented as a reproach, for men used to cry out against infirm physicians, Physician, heal thyself.

(ordin.) It was as if they said, We have heard that you performed many cures in Capernaum; cure also thyself, i. e. Do likewise in your own city, where you were nourished and brought up.

(ubi sup.) For though after a long time and when He had begun to show forth His miracles, He came to them; they did not receive Him, but again were inflamed with envy. Hence it follows, And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself.

As far as Luke's narrative is concerned, our Lord is not yet said to have worked any miracle in Capernaum. For before He came to Capernaum, He is said to have lived at Nazareth. I cannot but think therefore that in these words, "whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum," there lies a mystery concealed, and that Nazareth is a type of the Jews, Capernaum of the Gentiles. For the time will come when the people of Israel shall say, "The things which thou hast shown to the whole world, show also to us." Preach thy word to the people of Israel, that then at least, when the fulness of the Gentiles has entered, all Israel may be saved. Our Saviour seems to me to have well answered, No prophet is accepted in his own country, but rather according to the type than the letter; though neither was Jeremiah accepted in Anathoth his country, nor the rest of the Prophets. But it seems rather to be meant that we should say, that the people of the circumcision were the countrymen of all the Prophets. And the Gentiles indeed accepted the prophecy of Jesus Christ, esteeming Moses and the Prophets who preached of Christ, far higher than they who would not from these receive Jesus.

But Christ will be (the Christ) of the prophets, wheresoever He is found in accordance with the prophets. And yet even at Nazareth He is not remarked as having preached anything new, whilst in another verse He is said to have been rejected by reason of a simple proverb.

Therefore, the Savior excuses that he has not worked any miracles of virtue in his own country, so that no one might think that he should have a lower affection for his country. For he could not fail to love his fellow citizens, since he loved all. But those who envy have cast themselves out, through their lack of love for their country. For love does not envy... does not boast (1 Corinthians 13:4). However, the homeland is not devoid of divine blessings. For what greater miracle is there than that Christ was born in her? Therefore, see what evil envy brings. A homeland is judged unworthy because of envy, where a citizen works, which was worthy for the birth of the Son of God.

But the Saviour purposely excuses Himself for not working miracles in His own country, that no one might suppose that love of country is a thing to be lightly esteemed by us. For it follows, But he says, Verily I say unto you, that no prophet is accepted in his own country.

But this is given for an example, that in vain can you expect the aid of Divine mercy, if you grudge to others the fruits of their virtue. The Lord despises the envious, and withdraws the miracles of His power from them that are jealous of His divine blessings in others. For our Lord's Incarnation is an evidence of His divinity, and His invisible things are proved to us by those which are visible. See then what evils envy produces. For envy a country is deemed unworthy of the works of its citizen, which was worthy of the conception of the Son of God.

He said: Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country. That the Lord Christ is called a prophet in the Scriptures, Moses is a witness, who said: God will raise up for you a prophet from among your brothers like me (Deut. XVIII). Not only he who is the head and Lord of the prophets but also Elijah, Jeremiah, and the rest of the prophets were held in less regard in their own country than in distant cities. For it is almost natural that citizens always envy their fellow citizens. For they do not consider the man's present works, but remember his fragile childhood, as if they themselves had not reached mature age through the same stages of life.

Now that Christ is called a Prophet in the Scriptures, Moses bears witness, saying, God shall raise up a Prophet unto you from among your brethren. (Deut. 18:15.)

Here, after the reproaches of the detractors, prophetic examples are added, confuting the detractors. For their full confutation, a general proverb is first set forth; second, a special example in Elijah, the most eminent of the Prophets; third, in Elisha, his disciple. The first is for admonishing, the second for confuting, the third for confirming. Therefore he sets forth the general proverb concerning every Prophet and people, when he says: And he said, namely Christ: Amen I say to you, that is, with certainty, because amen is a sign of affirmation. And truly so, because, as he himself says in Matthew twenty-four, "heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." That no prophet is accepted in his own country, namely neither as regards doctrine nor as regards life, in which Prophets were accustomed to have excellence. And therefore it is not surprising if he does not work miracles in his own country, which are not to be done for the ungrateful and unworthy. This denunciation of the Savior is attested by the fact that Joseph is sold by his brothers, Genesis thirty-seven, and honored by the Egyptians, Genesis forty-one. So Moses suffers insult from Aaron and Miriam, Numbers twelve, and is reproached by his fellow tribesmen, Numbers sixteen. So Abraham suffers from his countrymen; whence it is said to him: "Go forth from your land and from your kindred," Genesis twelve.

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

As if He says, You wish me to work many miracles among you, in whose country I have been brought up, but I am aware of a very common failing in the minds of many. To a certain extent it always happens, that even the very best things are despised when they fall to a man's lot, not scantily, but ever at his will. So it happens also with respect to men. For a friend who is ever at hand, does not meet with the respect due to him.

And yet even at Nazareth He is not remarked as having preached anything new, whilst in another verse He is said to have been rejected by reason of a simple proverb. Here at once, when I observe that they laid their hands on Him, I cannot help drawing a conclusion respecting His bodily substance, which cannot be believed to have been a phantom, since it was capable of being touched and even violently handled, when He was seized and taken and led to the very brink of a precipice.

By a very apt comparison the arrogance of envious citizens is put to shame, and our Lord's conduct shown to agree with the ancient Scriptures. For it follows, But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias: not that the days were his, but that he performed his works in them.

But he says in a mystery, "In the days of Elias," because Elias brought the day to them who saw in his works the light of spiritual grace, and so the heaven was opened to them that beheld the divine mystery, but was shut when there was famine, because there was no fruitfulness in acknowledging God. But in that widow to whom Elias was sent was prefigured a type of the Church.

(Hom. 2. de jejun. Hom. de fame.) For when he beheld the great disgrace that arose from universal plenty, he brought a famine that the people might fast, by which he checked their sin which was exceeding great. But crows were made the ministers of food to the righteous, which are wont to steal the food of others.

Truly I say to you, there were many widows in the days of Elijah in Israel when the sky was closed for three years, etc. It is not (he says) that I withhold divine benefits from the disdainful citizens, contrary to the deeds of the prophets. For just as when famine once afflicted the whole land, no one in Judea was found worthy of hospitality to Elijah, but a widow of a foreign nation was sought, who, by the grace of faith, should be visited by such a great prophet. And just as among the many lepers there, only Naaman the Syrian, because he sought devoutly, deserved to be cured by the prophet Elisha, so here you will be deprived of the heavenly gift for no other reason than envy and faithlessness. If you were to critically examine the deeds of the prophets, and now allegorically study them, you would indeed find that the Lord, in the faithlessness and arrogance of His own homeland, from which He was not received, has noted the pride of the Jews. But by the name of Capernaum, which is interpreted as the field of consolation, He foretold the salvation of the Gentiles, where greater signs are daily performed by the apostles and the successors of the apostles, not so much in the healing of bodies as in the healing of souls. Therefore, the widow to whom Elijah was sent represents the Church of the Gentiles, which, long deserted by its Maker, nurtured with meager provision, that is, taught with the word devoid of fruit, the people ignorant of the true faith—as if it were a poor son—until the prophetic word came, which, when the fleece of Israel was dried up, with the door of heaven closed, was in danger of famine in Judea, would be nourished there and would simultaneously nourish, and thus, received by those who believed, would both refresh the believers and be refreshed by them. Hence, it is fittingly said that this same widow lived in Sarepta of Sidon. Sidon means useless hunting; Sarepta, on the other hand, denotes fire or famine of bread. For where sin abounded, grace did much more abound (Rom. 5). Where efforts were directed to acquiring superfluous things, like a concern for hunting, where there was a dire thirst and a famine of spiritual bread, there the flour and oil are blessed by the prophetic word, that is, the fruit and joy of charity, or the grace of the Lord's body and the anointing of chrism, were enriched by the inexhaustible gift of the heavenly word. So far the oil of spiritual joy and the flour of blessing in the vessels has not run out, while the rest of the nations who do not believe are in misery for the lack of divine bread, and are devoted to useless hunting. For she herself, wonderfully intending to make a mystical bread before she died, testified that she wished to gather two sticks, expressing the sign of the cross not only by the name of the wood but also by the number of the woods, by which the bread of eternal life was prepared for us.

He adds a special example in Elijah, the most distinguished of the Prophets, when he says: In truth I say to you: John 17: "Your word is truth." He spoke in truth, whom they ought to have believed, and yet they did not believe; whence that passage in John 8: "If I speak the truth, why do you not believe me?" and that passage in Job 6: "Why have you detracted from the words of truth?" And this is a certain truth, because it is taken from Scripture. Whence it is added: Many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, who were placed in necessity on account of the lack of matrimonial companionship: Jeremiah 15: "Her widows are multiplied above the sand of the sea." They were placed in necessity on account of the lack of heavenly rain: whence he adds: When the heaven was shut up and it did not rain for three years and six months: as the Lord had threatened in Leviticus 26: "But if you will not even so obey me, I will make the heaven above you like iron"; and Deuteronomy 28: "Let the heaven that is above you be bronze." And so it came to pass because of their sins: whence Jeremiah 3: "You have polluted the land with your fornications. Therefore the drops of rain have been withheld, and the latter rain has not come." They were placed in necessity on account of the lack of earthly sustenance: and therefore it is added: When there was a great famine throughout all the land: as it is said in 3 Kings 18: "There was a severe famine," etc.; whence that word of the Psalm was verified concerning the children of Israel: "They shall suffer hunger like dogs and shall go about the city," because the king and the steward of his house went about to find pastures, 3 Kings 18.

And note here spiritually that in these two examples he shows the unworthiness of the Jews in comparison with the Gentiles with regard to the universal lack of repentance and the universal contagion of malice, which remained uncured in the Jews but was remedied in the Gentiles through Christ. For the closing of heaven designates the lack of grace and doctrine: Deuteronomy 11: "Take heed lest you depart from the Lord"; and thereafter: "And the Lord being angry shut up heaven, and the rain come not down, and the earth yield not her fruit." Concerning which rain in the Psalm: "God shall set apart a voluntary rain"; and from this comes famine and want of every good: Job 18: "Let his strength be wasted with hunger, and let famine invade his ribs." And note that the rain is said to have been withheld for three years and six months, because during the three and a half years in which the Lord preached, they did not receive the rain of grace, their sins requiring it. For although the rain came upon them, Judea nevertheless did not receive it so as to bear fruit: Hebrews 6: "The earth that drinks in the rain that comes often upon it and brings forth herbs meet for those by whom it is tilled, receives blessing from God: but that which brings forth thorns and briers is rejected and near unto a curse." In this time, however, the true preacher Elijah is sent to the widow in Zarephath of Sidon, who rightly designates the Gentile world, as Bede shows in the Great Gloss, and she was saved while the people of the Jews were abandoned, according to that passage in Acts 13: "Since you reject the word of God and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life: behold, we turn to the Gentiles."

He himself, an earthly angel, a heavenly man, who had neither house, nor food, nor clothing like others, carries the keys of the heavens on his tongue. And this is what follows, When the heaven was shut. But as soon as he had closed the heavens and made the earth barren, hunger reigned and bodies wasted away, as it follows, when there was a famine through the land.

For when a famine came upon the people of Israel, i. e. of hearing the word of God, a prophet came to a widow, of whom it is said, For the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband; (Isa. 54:1, Gal. 4:27.) and when he had come, he multiplies her bread and her nourishment.

(Hom. in div.) Every widowed soul, bereft of virtue and divine knowledge, as soon as she receives the divine word, knowing her own failings, learns to nourish it with the bread of virtue, and to water the teaching of virtue from the fountain of life.

Sidonia signifies a vain pursuit, Sarepta fire, or scarcity of bread. By all which things the Gentiles are signified, who, given up to vain pursuits, (following gain and worldly business,) were suffering from the flames of fleshly lusts, and the want of spiritual bread, until Elias, (i. e. the word of prophecy,) now that the interpretation of the Scriptures had ceased because of the faithlessness of the Jews, came to the Church, that being received into the hearts of believers he might feed and refresh them.

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

(Hom. in Pet. et Eli.) But when the stream was dried up by which the cup of the righteous man was filled, God said, Go to Sarepta, a city of Sidon; there I wall command a widow woman to feed you. As it follows, But to none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. And this was brought to pass by a particular appointment of God. For God made him go a long journey, as far as Sidon, in order that having seen the famine of the country he should ask for rain from the Lord. But there were many rich men at that time, but none of them did any thing like the widow. For in the respect shown by the woman toward the prophet, consisted her riches not of lands, but of good will.

Now in a mystery the people pollute the Church, that another people might succeed, gathered together from foreigners, leprous indeed at first before it is baptized in the mystical stream, but which after the sacrament of baptism, washed from the stains of body and soul, begins to be a virgin without spot or wrinkle.

And there were many lepers in Israel under Elisha the prophet, and none of them were cleansed, except Naaman the Syrian. Because the story is well-known, it is necessary to disclose a few things about the mystery. And thus Naaman the Syrian, who is interpreted as "beauty," represents the people of the nations, once stained by the leprosy of unbelief and sins, but purified from all foulness of mind and body through the sacrament of baptism. Advised by a captured girl, which is the grace of divine inspiration, which the Jews could not keep but the Gentiles seized, he was urged to hope for salvation and to be washed seven times. Because obviously, the only type of baptism that regenerates by the Holy Spirit saves. Hence it is rightly remembered that his flesh appeared like the flesh of a small child after the washing. Either because grace as a mother begets all baptized in Christ to a single infancy, or more likely he is to be understood as the child of whom it was said: A child is born to us, a son is given to us (Isaiah 9). By whose body through baptism the whole offspring of believers is united. And so that you may know all the prefigured sacraments of baptism here, in which we are commanded to renounce Satan and to confess faith, Naaman declares that he will no longer make offerings to foreign gods, but will serve the Lord alone in all things. He also rejoices to take with him a portion of the Holy Land, because the baptized must also be confirmed by participation in the body of the Lord. Therefore, worthily, Naaman, whose body is washed by water while his heart is washed by faith, that is, the people of the nations, is preferred to the Jews, who are sullied by the leprosy of obstinacy. Worthily, the widow of Zarephath, that is, the Church, desiring to be renewed by the wood of the cross, is refreshed with the bread of the holy body and the anointing of the life-giving Spirit, while the Jews perish from the famine of the word. And it is proven that the Lord denied the gifts of virtues to His fellow citizens not because of His inability, but because of their envy, and by this example the whole nation was ultimately forsaken by Him, not because they were not loved, but because they themselves did not desire to be loved, evidently, as the teachers dispersed throughout the whole world for the salvation of the nations. But what the Lord declared about the Jews, they themselves testified by deed about themselves. For it follows:

For Naaman, which means beautiful, represents the Gentile people, who is ordered to be washed seven times, because that baptism saves which the seven-fold Spirit renews. His flesh after washing began to appear as a child's, because grace like a mother begets all to one childhood, or because he is conformed to Christ, of whom it is said, Unto us a Child is born. (Isa. 9:6.)

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

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

He cites also another similar example, adding, And there were many lepers in Israel at the time of Eliseus the Prophet, and none of them were cleansed but Naaman the Syrian, who indeed was not of Israel.

For when the sons of the prophets were cutting "wood" with axes on the bank of the river Jordan, the iron flew off and sank in the stream; and so, on Elisha the prophet's coming up, the sons of the prophets beg of him to extract from the stream the iron which had sunk.

If, however, the Creator's prophet Elisha cleansed Naaman the Syrian alone, to the exclusion of so many lepers in Israel, this fact contributes nothing to the distinction of Christ, as if he were in this way the better one for cleansing this Israelite leper, although a stranger to him, whom his own Lord had been unable to cleanse.

Now, although He said in a preceding chapter, that "there were many lepers in lsrµl in the days of Eliseus the prophet, and none of them was cleansed saving Naaman the Syrian," yet of course the mere number proves nothing towards a difference in the gods, as tending to the abasement of the Creator in curing only one, and the pre-eminence of Him who healed ten.