30th Sunday after Pentecost

Hereby we are brought to understand that the prophecy of the incarnation, "The Lord created me the beginning of his ways for his works," means that the Lord Jesus was created of the Virgin for the redeeming of the Father's works. Truly, we cannot doubt that this is spoken of the mystery of the incarnation, forasmuch as the Lord took upon him our flesh, in order to save the works of his hands from the slavery of corruption, so he might, by the sufferings of his own body, overthrow him who had the power of death. For Christ's flesh is for the sake of things created, but his Godhead existed before them, seeing that he is before all things, while all things exist together in him. His Godhead, then, is not by reason of creation, but creation exists because of the Godhead.

O Lord Almighty, you have created the world by Christ, and … you have also appointed festivals for the rejoicing of our souls, that we might come into the remembrance of that wisdom which was created by you; how he submitted to be made of a woman on our account; he appeared in life, and demonstrated himself in his baptism; how he that appeared is both God and man; he suffered for us by your permission, and died, and rose again by your power: on which account we solemnly assemble to celebrate the feast of the resurrection on the Lord's day and rejoice on account of him who has conquered death and has brought life and immortality to light. .

"The Lord created me in the beginning of his ways for his works." … He is called also in the Scriptures "servant," and "son of a handmaid," and "lamb" and "sheep," and it is said that he suffered toil and thirst and was beaten and has suffered pain. But there is plainly a reasonable ground and cause why such representations as these are given of him in the Scriptures. It is because he became man and the Son of man, and took upon him the form of a servant, which is the human flesh, for "the Word," says John, "was made flesh." And since he became man, no one ought to be offended at such expressions, for it is proper to man to be created and born and formed, to suffer toil and pain, to die and to rise again from the dead. And as, being Word and wisdom of the Father, he has all the attributes of the Father, his eternity, and his unchangeableness, and the being like him in all respects and in all things. And [he] is neither before nor after, but coexistent with the Father. And [he] is the very form of the Godhead, and is the creator and is not created (for since he is in essence like the Father, he cannot be a creature but must be the creator, for he himself has said, "My Father works hitherto, and I work."43) So being made man, and bearing our flesh, he is necessarily said to be created and made, and that is proper to all flesh.

The fact is, then, that the Word is not from things created but is rather himself their creator. For this reason did he assume a body created and human: so that, having renewed it as its creator, he might deify it in himself and thus might introduce all of us in that likeness into the kingdom of heaven. A man would not have been deified if joined to a creature, nor if the Son were not true God; neither would a man have been brought into the Father's presence if he had not been the Father's natural and true Word who had put on the body. Since we could have had nothing in common with what is foreign, we would not have been delivered from sin and from the curse if that which the Word put on had not been natural human flesh. So also, the man would not have been deified if the Word which became flesh had not been by nature from the Father and true and proper to him.The union, therefore, was of just such a kind, so that he might unite what is man by nature, to him who is in the nature of the Godhead, thereby assuring the accomplishment of salvation and his deification. Let those, therefore, who deny that the Son is by nature from the Father and proper to his essence, deny also that he took true human flesh from the ever-virgin Mary. In neither case would it have been profitable to us men: if the Word were not by nature true Son of God, or if the flesh which he assumed were not true flesh.

Although the Word did indeed become flesh, it is to the flesh that affections are proper; and although the flesh bears divinity in the Word, it is to the Word that grace and power belong. He performed the Father's works, then, through the flesh; but nonetheless the affections of the flesh were exhibited in him. Thus, he inquired and then raised Lazarus; he chided his mother, saying, "My hour is not yet come"; and immediately he turned the water into wine. Indeed, he was true God in the flesh, and he was true flesh in the Word. Out of his works, therefore, he made known both his own Father, and himself, the Son of God. By the affections of the flesh he demonstrated that he bore a true body and that it was proper to him.

The Lord is God's true and natural Son, and he is known to be not just eternal but one who exists concurrently with the eternity of the Father. There are things which are called "eternal" of which he is the creator, for in Psalm 23 it is written, "Lift up your gates, O rulers, and be lifted up, O everlasting doors." It is apparent, though, that these everlasting doors also came into being through his agency. But if he is himself the creator of the things which are "everlasting," which of us can any longer doubt that he is more noble than these everlasting things and that he is made known as Lord not so much from his being eternal as from his being the Son of God? Being Son, he is inseparable from the Father, and there was never a "when" when he did not exist. He always existed. Moreover, since he is the image and radiance of the Father, he also possesses the Father's eternity.…What is the basic meaning and purport of holy Scripture? It contains, as we have often said, a double account of the Savior. It says that he has always been God and is the Son, because he is the Logos and radiance and wisdom of the Father. Furthermore, it says that afterwards for us he took flesh of the Virgin Mary, the bearer of God, and became man.

[The Son] is the first offspring of the Father. I do not mean that he was created, for, since God is eternal mind, he had his Word within himself from the beginning, being eternally wise. Rather did the Son come forth from God to give form and actuality to all material things, which essentially have a sort of formless nature and inert quality, the heavier particles being mixed up with the lighter. The prophetic Spirit agrees with this opinion when he says, "The Lord created me as the first of his ways, for his works."Indeed we say that the Holy Spirit himself, who inspires those who utter prophecies, is an effluence from God, flowing from him and returning like a ray of the sun. Who, then, would not be astonished to hear those called atheists who admit God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit, and who teach their unity in power and their distinction in rank?… We affirm, too, a crowd of angels and ministers, whom God, the maker and creator of the world, appointed to their several tasks through his Word. He gave them charge over the good order of the universe, over the elements, the heavens, the world, and all it contains.

According to the form of God it was said, "Before all the hills he has begotten me," that is, before all the most exalted creatures, and, "Before the morning star I have begotten you," that is, before all the ages and temporal things. But according to the form of a slave it was said, "The Lord created me in the beginning of his ways." Because according to the form of God he said, "I am the truth," and according to the form of a slave, "I am the way." For since he himself, "the firstborn of the dead," has laid out the road for his church to the kingdom of God, to eternal life, of which he is the head even to the extent of giving immortality to the body. He was, therefore, created in the beginning of the ways of God for his works.

The beginning of his ways is the head of the church, which is Christ incarnate, through whom there was to be given us an example of living, that is, a certain way by which we might reach God.… So the Word by which all things were made was created man in the beginning of his ways.

"The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his ways." The ways of the Lord are his works, by contemplating which man comes to faith or knowledge. For his invisible attributes are clearly seen, understood by the things that are made, from the creation of the world. His ways are the very illuminations by which he shows himself to angelic spirits and to human minds. In the beginning of these ways he possessed wisdom, for in the beginning of the nascent creation, he had the Son, who arranged all things with him. But lest anyone think that the Son began at the beginning of these ways, or at any time before, he vigilantly added:

Since wisdom is already eternal, it is not subjected to time. The "beginning," then, is yoked together with created things. But having existed before creation as wisdom, the Son of God—even though, he says, "The Lord created me"—this assertion ["The Lord created me"] must be understood as referring not to substance but to his relationship toward creatures. For [wisdom] says that its works were at the beginning of the creative and providential ways of God, that is, a "cause," introducing still another way of speaking. The Son of God was made man when he assumed the form of a servant. He is eternal before the ages, as he is God the Word. It says he was "created" because he was born of Mary and was made flesh. For those desiring to walk like God and with God, consult this teacher, an example of perfect life, who gives his teaching to those who follow him. The fact that the word "to create" does not mean everywhere "to make substance" is confirmed by David, who says, "Create in me a pure heart, O God." He asks for such a creation not as if he does not have a heart; but since he had polluted it, he desires to have it back pure. Also Paul, when he speaks about creating out of the two a single new man, does not mean from [two] human substances but rather the unity that results from concord. And so the interpreters proclaimed, "He created me."

The divine and perfect essence existing before things begotten, the rational and firstborn image of the unbegotten nature, the true and only-begotten Son of the God of the universe, being one with many names, and one called God by many titles, is honored in this passage under the style and name of wisdom, and we have learned to call him Word of God, light, life, truth, and, to crown all, "Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." Now, therefore, in the passage before us, he passes through the words of the wise Solomon, speaking of himself as the living wisdom of God and self-existent, saying, "I, wisdom, have dwelt with counsel and knowledge, and I have called upon understanding," and that which follows. He also adds, as one who has undertaken the government and providence of the universe: "By me kings reign, and princes decree justice. By me princes become great." Then saying that he will record the things of ages past, he goes on to say, "The Lord created me as the beginning of his ways for his works, he established me before time was." By which he teaches both that he himself is begotten, and not the same as the unbegotten, one called into being before all ages, set forth as a kind of foundation for all begotten things. And it is probable that the divine apostle started from this when he said of him: "Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature, for all things were created in him, of things in heaven and things in earth." For he is called "firstborn of every creature," in accordance with the words "The Lord created me as the beginning of his road to his works." And he would naturally be considered the image of God, as being that which was begotten of the nature of the unbegotten. And, therefore, the passage before us agrees when it says, "Before the mountains were established, and before all the hills, he begets me."Hence we call him only-begotten Son, and the firstborn Word of God, who is the same as this wisdom.

If, therefore, the Word began to exist at the time he passed through the mother's womb and wore the bodily framework, it is clear that he was born of a woman. But if God the Word was from the very beginning with the Father, and we say that all things were made through him, then the one who is and is the cause of all things that are made was not born of a woman but is, by nature, God, self-sufficient, unlimited and incomprehensible. But from a woman was born a human being, who was implanted in the virgin's womb by the Holy Spirit.

For the human being who died rises up on the third day; but when Mary strives with longing to touch his holy limbs, he objected and says to her, "Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father; go to my brothers and tell them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, my God and your God.' " God the Word, who comes from heaven and lives in the bosom of the Father, did not utter the phrase "I have not yet ascended to my Father." The Wisdom that embraces all things that exist did not say it either; this was spoken by the very human being who was formed out of all kinds of limbs, who had been raised from the dead, and who after death had not yet ascended to his Father but reserved for himself the firstfruit of his passage.

Solomon says, "You have made me above your ways." For, concerning spiritual generation, he immediately adds, "He has begotten me before all things."

In their eyes [of the Arians] the following is only too ready to hand: "The Lord created me at the beginning of his ways with a view to his works." How shall we meet this? Shall we bring an accusation against Solomon or reject his former words because of his fall in afterlife? Shall we say that the words are those of wisdom herself, as it were of knowledge and the creator-word, in accordance with which all things were made? For Scripture often personifies many even lifeless objects; as, for instance, "the sea said" so and so; and, "the heavens declare the glory of God"; and again a command is given to the sword; and the mountains and hills are asked the reason of their skipping. We do not allege any of these, though some of our predecessors used them as powerful arguments. But let us grant that the expression is used of our Savior himself, the true wisdom. Let us consider one small point together. What among all things that exist is unoriginate? The Godhead. For no one can tell the origin of God, that otherwise would be older than God. But what is the cause of the manhood, which for our sake God assumed? It was surely our salvation. What else could it be? Since, then, we find here clearly both the "created" and the "begets me," the argument is simple. Whatever we find joined with a cause we are to refer to the manhood, but all that is absolute and unoriginate we are to reckon to the account of his Godhead.

The phrase "created me" refers not to the divine and the uncompounded but, as has been said, to that which had been assumed, in accordance with the divine plan, from our created nature.

They attempt by a distortion of the sense and meaning to maintain that God was created rather than born because it was said, "The Lord created me for the beginning of his ways, for his works," so that he belongs to the common order of created things, although in a higher class of creation, nor does he enjoy the glory of the divine birth, but the power of a mighty creature.

Ignorance of prophetic diction and lack of skill in interpreting Scripture has led them into a perversion of the point and meaning of the passage, "The Lord created me for a beginning of his ways for his works." They labor to establish from it that Christ is created rather than born, as God, and hence partakes the nature of created beings, though he excel them in the manner of his creation and has no glory of divine birth but only the powers of a transcendent creature. We in reply, without importing any new considerations or preconceived opinions, will make this very passage of wisdom display its own true meaning and object. We will show that the fact that he was created for the beginning of the ways of God and for his works, cannot be twisted into evidence concerning the divine and eternal birth, because creation for these purposes and birth from everlasting are two entirely different things. Where birth is meant, there birth, and nothing but birth, is spoken of; where creation is mentioned, the cause of that creation is first named. There is a wisdom born before all things, and again there is a wisdom created for particular purposes. The wisdom which is from everlasting is one, the wisdom which has come into existence during the lapse of time is another.

And now I shall again recite the words which I have spoken in proof of this point. When Scripture says, "The Lord rained fire from the Lord out of heaven," the prophetic word indicates that there were two in number: One upon the earth, who, it says, descended to behold the cry of Sodom; Another in heaven, who also is Lord of the Lord on earth, as He is Father and God; the cause of His power and of His being Lord and God. Again, when the Scripture records that God said in the beginning, "Behold, Adam has become like one of Us," this phrase, "like one of Us," is also indicative of number; and the words do not admit of a figurative meaning, as the sophists endeavour to affix on them, who are able neither to tell nor to understand the truth. And it is written in the book of Wisdom: "If I should tell you daily events, I would be mindful to enumerate them from the beginning. The Lord created me the beginning of His ways for His works. From everlasting He established me in the beginning, before He formed the earth, and before He made the depths, and before the springs of waters came forth, before the mountains were settled; He begets me before all the hills." When I repeated these words, I added: "You perceive, my hearers, if you bestow attention, that the Scripture has declared that this Offspring was begotten by the Father before all things created; and that which is begotten is numerically distinct from that which begets, any one will admit."

O Lord Almighty, you have created the world by Christ, and … you have also appointed festivals for the rejoicing of our souls, that we might come into the remembrance of that wisdom which was created by you; how he submitted to be made of a woman on our account; he appeared in life, and demonstrated himself in his baptism; how he that appeared is both God and man; he suffered for us by your permission, and died, and rose again by your power: on which account we solemnly assemble to celebrate the feast of the resurrection on the Lord's day and rejoice on account of him who has conquered death and has brought life and immortality to light.

First we must know this, that in Christ there is one nature, his deity, because he is the only-begotten Son of the Father, and another human nature, which in very recent times he took upon him to fulfill the divine purpose.… He is called "wisdom," as Solomon said.… He is also called "firstborn," as the apostle Paul says: "who is the firstborn of all creation." The firstborn is not, however, by nature a different being from wisdom but is one and the same. Finally, the apostle Paul says, "Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God."

If he is an "image of the invisible God," he is an invisible image, and I would dare to add that as he is a likeness of the Father there is no time when he did not exist.… Let the man who dares to say "There was a time when the Son was not" understand that this is what he will be saying: "Once wisdom did not exist, and word did not exist, and life did not exist."

But if someone is able to comprehend an incorporeal existence comprised of the various ideas which embrace the principles of the universe, an existence which is living and animate, as it were, he will understand the wisdom of God which precedes all creation, which appropriately says of herself, "God created me the beginning of his ways for his works." It is because of this creation that the whole creation has also been able to subsist, since it has a share in the divine wisdom according to which it has been created, for according to the prophet David, God made "all things in wisdom."Many creatures, on the one hand, have come into existence by participation in wisdom, while they do not apprehend her by whom they have been created. Very few, however, comprehend not only the wisdom concerning themselves, but also that concerning many beings, for Christ is all wisdom. But each of the wise participates in Christ to the extent that he has the capacity for wisdom, insofar as Christ is wisdom, just as each one who possesses power has obtained greater power to the extent that he has shared in Christ, insofar as Christ is power.

What must we say of wisdom which "God created as the beginning of his ways for his works"? Her Father rejoiced at her, rejoicing in her manifold spiritual beauty which only spiritual eyes see. Wisdom's divine heavenly beauty invites the one who contemplates it to love.

This power and disposition of the divine intelligence is set forth also in the Scriptures under the name of sophia, "wisdom," for what can be better entitled to the name of wisdom than the reason or the Word of God? Listen therefore to wisdom herself, constituted in the character of a Second Person: "At the first the Lord created me as the beginning of his ways, with a view to his own works, before he made the earth, before the mountains were settled; moreover, before all the hills he begat me"—that is to say, he created and generated me in his own intelligence.… By proceeding from himself he became his first-begotten Son, because begotten before all things; and his only-begotten also, because alone begotten of God, in a way peculiar to himself, from the womb of his own heart.

Since all things were made by the wisdom of God, it follows that when God made both the heaven and the earth in principio, that is to say "in the beginning," he made them in his wisdom. If, indeed, beginning had a material signification, the Scripture would not have informed us that God made so and so in principio, at the beginning, but rather ex principio, of the beginning, for he would not have created "in," but "of," matter. When wisdom, however, was referred to, it was quite right to say, "in the beginning."

Since the heretics, reading the next verse, take a perverse view of that also, because it is written, "He founded me before the world," namely, that this is said of the Godhead of the Word and not of his incarnate presence, it is necessary, explaining this verse also, to show their error.It is written, "The Lord in Wisdom founded the earth; if then by wisdom the earth is founded, how can he who founds be founded? Indeed, this too is after the manner of proverbs.… He says not, "Before the world he founded me as Word or Son," but simply, "He founded me," to show again, as I have said, that not for his own sake but for those who are built upon him does he here also speak, after the way of proverbs.

[Solomon] says, "He laid down both the cause and foundation of creation." Also it is written, "He created all things in himself, and he is before all things." And the Lord says as well, "I am the beginning of the creation of God." Indeed, desiring to be the foundation of the church, he submitted to becoming human so that the church might be constituted firmly in him. Desiring to give existence to creation, he adjusted himself to its rule by introducing the relationship we mentioned above, when he was made the beginning and cause of future things. However, it says, even if he was created according to these things, still "God begat me before everything," the very one who is his Son.

The second mode of generation is by means of expression: as in the case of the species coming out of the object, the imprint out of the seal, the speech out of the speaker, or the concept or thought out of the mind. And in these, there is deficiency. In the first, the reality of the object is lacking, for the species in the eye or in the soul is not the reality of the thing. In the second, simplicity is lacking, for the image or figure does not consist in a point or in something simple, but has parts. In the third, permanence is lacking, for speech passes away and does not remain. In the fourth, substance is lacking, for the concept of the mind is neither a substance nor a hypostasis. Take away such defects, and suppose an expression like the species deriving from the object but having reality, like the imprint produced by the seal but having simplicity, like the word coming forth from the speaker but having permanence, like the concept proceeding from the mind but having substance: and then you have the first part of the mirror.

The Psalm refers to the first manner of expression: "My heart overflows with a goodly theme." And there follows: "Fairer in beauty are you than the sons of men." Wisdom refers to the second: "For she is the refulgence of eternal light, the spotless mirror of the power of God, the image of His goodness." And the Apostle: "He is the image of the invisible God." Job refers to the third: "God speaketh once, and repeateth not the selfsame thing the second time." Understand this as meaning "in the Son," in the sense that He always is, and will never cease to be nor even be changed. In the fourth manner of expression, suppose substantiality, for the concept of the eternal mind is a hypostasis, and this mental concept is most noble and perfect. Hence, in Proverbs: "When there were no depths I was brought forth." And so He is sometimes called the Word, the Species, the Image, the Word remaining forever, the Concept—not as existing within a mind, but as being substantial: a hypostasis. And in this way we have the other part of the mirror.

According to this same manner one may also find in the illumination of rational philosophy, whose principal concern turns upon discourse. In which there are three things to consider according to the threefold consideration of discourse itself, namely with respect to the speaker, by reason of the utterance, and with respect to the hearer or by reason of the end.

If we consider speech in relation to the speaker, we see that every speech signifies a concept of the mind, and that interior concept is the word of the mind and its offspring, which is known even to the one conceiving it. But in order that it may become known to the hearer, it puts on the form of voice, and the intelligible word by means of that garment becomes sensible and is heard outwardly and is received in the ear of the hearer's heart, and yet does not depart from the mind of the one uttering it.

According to this mode we see in the eternal Word that the Father eternally conceived it by generating, according to that passage of Proverbs eight: The depths did not yet exist, and I was already conceived. But in order that it might become knowable to sense-bound man, it put on the form of flesh, and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and yet remained in the bosom of the Father.

Whether he is eternally begotten or not, I do not yet say, until I have looked into the statement, "Before all the hills he begets me" more accurately. But I cannot see the necessity of their conclusion. For if, as they say, everything that is to come to an end had also a beginning, then surely that which has no end had no beginning. What, then, will they decide concerning the soul or the angelic nature? If it had a beginning, it will also have an end; and if it has no end, it is evident that according to them it had no beginning. But the truth is that it had a beginning and will never have an end. Their assertion, then, that that which will have an end had also a beginning, is untrue.

He who was established before time was already begotten, not only before the earth but also before the mountains and the hills. And because wisdom is certainly referring to itself in this passage, it says more than is heard.

Let us consider [that] our Savior is a "reflection of glory." The reflection of glory has not been begotten just once and no longer begotten. But just as the light is an agent of reflection, in such a way the reflection of the glory of God is begotten. Our Savior is the wisdom of God. But the wisdom is the reflection of everlasting light. If then the Savior is always begotten—because of this he also says, "Before all the hills he begets me" (and not "Before all the hills he has begotten me," but "Before all of the hills he begets me")—and the Savior is always begotten by the Father, and likewise also if you have the Spirit of adoption, God always begets you in him according to each work, according to each thought. And may one so begotten always be a begotten son of God in Christ Jesus, "to whom is the glory and the power for the ages of ages. Amen."

"Before he made anything from the beginning," etc. Similar to this in the Gospel: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made through him" (John 1). Perish those, therefore, who deny that the power of God and the wisdom of God, namely Christ, was begotten by the Father from the beginning, indeed even before any beginning could be said or thought. Another translation begins at this place: "The Lord created me the beginning of his ways in his works," which the Fathers understand to be spoken of the incarnation of the Lord, saying that by the mystery of a certain grace it is said, "The Lord created me," and not "The Father created me." Flesh, they say, acknowledges the Lord, glory signifies the Father. The creature confesses the Lord, charity names the Father as the beginning; or "in the beginning of his ways," as he himself said, "I am the way," because rising from the dead, he made a path for his Church to the kingdom of God, to eternal life. "In his works," because he was created from the Virgin to redeem the works of the Father; taking flesh to free the works of the Father from the bondage of corruption. For the flesh of Christ is for the works, the Divinity before the works.

Learn also that the Father was with him, and he with the Father, when all things were being made. Wisdom says, "When he was preparing the heavens I was with him, when he was making the fountains of waters." And in the Old Testament the Father … showed that the Son was to be worshiped with himself as the maker of all things. As, then, those things are said to have been created in the Son, of which the Son is received as the Creator, so too when God is said to be worshiped in truth by the proper meaning of the word itself often expressed after the same manner it ought to be understood, that the Son too is worshiped. So in like manner is the Spirit also worshiped because God is worshiped in Spirit. Therefore the Father is worshiped both with the Son and with the Spirit, because the Trinity is worshiped.

For in the beginning when He created the world and all that therein is, and when He was establishing things, wisdom worked with Him, even as Solomon saith, "The Lord by His wisdom laid the foundations of the earth, and He constructed the heavens by His understanding; and by His knowledge were the depths broken up, and the clouds distilled water." And again wisdom saith, "When He constructed the heaven I was with Him, and when He made a circle upon the face of the deep, and when He made firm the clouds from above, and when the fountains of the depths became strong." Now wisdom was with God in His primaeval works, but in this second creation faith is with Him; and in this second giving of birth He hath taken to Himself faith as a helpmeet. In everything faith cleaveth to God, and without it to-day He worketh no new things. It were an easy thing for Him to give thee birth from water and spirit without it, but until it is satisfied He doth not give thee new birth. He is able to make thee a new creature, and from being old to make thee new, but until He receiveth from thee faith as a pledge He neither changeth thee nor maketh thee a new creature.

This Wisdom uttered made the sky, The sky and light and all besides; All by the Word's almighty power Were fashioned, for the Word was God.

This Wisdom uttered made the sky, The sky and light and all besides; All by the Word's almighty power Were fashioned, for the Word was God.

For in the beginning when He created the world and all that therein is, and when He was establishing things, wisdom worked with Him, even as Solomon saith, "The Lord by His wisdom laid the foundations of the earth, and He constructed the heavens by His understanding; and by His knowledge were the depths broken up, and the clouds distilled water." And again wisdom saith, "When He constructed the heaven I was with Him, and when He made a circle upon the face of the deep, and when He made firm the clouds from above, and when the fountains of the depths became strong." Now wisdom was with God in His primaeval works, but in this second creation faith is with Him; and in this second giving of birth He hath taken to Himself faith as a helpmeet. In everything faith cleaveth to God, and without it to-day He worketh no new things. It were an easy thing for Him to give thee birth from water and spirit without it, but until it is satisfied He doth not give thee new birth. He is able to make thee a new creature, and from being old to make thee new, but until He receiveth from thee faith as a pledge He neither changeth thee nor maketh thee a new creature.

But there is another quarrel involved in which the young gentleman of culture comes into violent collision with the young lady of the cauliflowers. The first essential of the merely bookish view of the sea is that it is boundless, and gives a sentiment of infinity. Now it is quite certain, I think, that the cauliflower simile was partly created by exactly the opposite impression, the impression of boundary and of barrier. The girl thought of it as a field of vegetables, even as a yard of vegetables. The girl was right. The ocean only suggests infinity when you cannot see it; a sea mist may seem endless, but not a sea. So far from being vague and vanishing, the sea is the one hard straight line in Nature. It is the one plain limit; the only thing that God has made that really looks like a wall. Compared to the sea, not only sun and cloud are chaotic and doubtful, but solid mountains and standing forests may be said to melt and fade and flee in the presence of that lonely iron line. The old naval phrase, that the seas are England's bulwarks, is not a frigid and artificial metaphor; it came into the head of some genuine sea-dog, when he was genuinely looking at the sea. For the edge of the sea is like the edge of a sword; it is sharp, military, and decisive; it really looks like a bolt or bar, and not like a mere expansion. It hangs in heaven, grey, or green, or blue, changing in colour, but changeless in form, behind all the slippery contours of the land and all the savage softness of the forests, like the scales of God held even. It hangs, a perpetual reminder of that divine reason and justice which abides behind all compromises and all legitimate variety; the one straight line; the limit of the intellect; the dark and ultimate dogma of the world.

For in the beginning when He created the world and all that therein is, and when He was establishing things, wisdom worked with Him, even as Solomon saith, "The Lord by His wisdom laid the foundations of the earth, and He constructed the heavens by His understanding; and by His knowledge were the depths broken up, and the clouds distilled water." And again wisdom saith, "When He constructed the heaven I was with Him, and when He made a circle upon the face of the deep, and when He made firm the clouds from above, and when the fountains of the depths became strong." Now wisdom was with God in His primaeval works, but in this second creation faith is with Him; and in this second giving of birth He hath taken to Himself faith as a helpmeet. In everything faith cleaveth to God, and without it to-day He worketh no new things. It were an easy thing for Him to give thee birth from water and spirit without it, but until it is satisfied He doth not give thee new birth. He is able to make thee a new creature, and from being old to make thee new, but until He receiveth from thee faith as a pledge He neither changeth thee nor maketh thee a new creature.

We have that general seemliness; for God made the beauty of this world. We have it also in its parts; for when God made the light, and marked off the day from the night, when he made heaven, and separated land and seas, when he set the sun and moon and stars to shine upon the earth, he approved of them all one by one. Therefore this comeliness, which shone forth in each single part of the world, was resplendent in the whole, as the book of Wisdom shows, saying, "I existed, in whom he rejoiced when he was glad at the completion of the world." Likewise also in the building up of the human body each single member is pleasing, but the right adjustment of the members all together delights us far more. For thus they seem to be united and fitted into one harmonious whole.

"And I delighted every day," etc. Saying "playing," he means rejoicing. Therefore, he was playing before the Father every day, because, as the prophet says, "From the beginning, from the days of eternity" (Mic. 5), he was rejoicing to be one with the Father. He was at all times playing in the world, for even when the times of the world and creation began to exist, he remained the Son, which he was in the Father. This is said so that no one would claim that he began with creatures and times. And his delights are to be with the sons of men, because he desires to rest in our soul, and to lead us by the grace of good merits to the vision of himself.

We can therefore imagine no moment whatever when that power was not engaged in acts of well-doing. Whence it follows that there always existed [in God's wisdom] objects for this well-doing, namely, God's works or creatures, and that God, in the power of his providence, was always dispensing his blessings among them by doing them good in accordance with their condition and deserts. It follows plainly from this, that at no time whatever was God not creator, nor benefactor, nor providence.…God the Father always existed, and he always had an only-begotten Son, who at the same time, according to the explanation we have given above, is called wisdom. This is that wisdom in whom God delighted when the world was finished, in order that we might understand from this that God ever rejoices. In this wisdom, therefore, who ever existed with the Father, the creation was always present in form and outline, and there was never a time when the prefiguration of those things which hereafter were to be did not exist in wisdom.

Therefore let every man weigh his words, not with deceit and guile, for a false balance is abomination to the Lord. I do not mean that balance which weighs the wares of others, (though even in lesser matters deceit often costs dear,) but that balance of words is hateful to the Lord, which wears the mask of the weight of sober gravity, and yet practises the artifices of cunning. Great is God's anger, if a man deceive his neighbour by flattering promises, and by treacherous subtlety oppress his debtor, a craft which will not benefit himself. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the riches of the whole world, and yet defraud his own soul of the wages of eternal life?

"A deceitful balance is abomination to the Lord," etc. A deceitful balance is not only held in the measurement of money but also in judicial discretion; for he who weighs the case of the poor differently from the case of the powerful, the case of a friend differently from that of a stranger, certainly uses an unjust balance. Also, he who judges his own good deeds to be better than those of his neighbor, and his own faults to be lighter, weighs with a deceitful scale. Likewise, he who imposes unbearable burdens on people's shoulders but does not want to touch them with one finger (Matt. XXIII). Also, he who does good in public and acts badly in secret will be abominated by the Lord for the iniquity of the deceitful balance. But he who acts sincerely in all things, who discerns each case with an even hand, certainly conforms to the will and action of the just judge.

"Where there is pride," etc. Because they behave arrogantly and insultingly, through contempt or ignorance of discipline, they insult their neighbors; or certainly because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled (Luke XIV, XVIII).

"But where there is humility," etc. "You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and revealed them to little children" (Matt. XI; Luke X), that is, to the humble.

Gregory of Nazianzus was a most pure youth. It happened that he was studying at Athens. One night, while he slept, there came to him a most beautiful lady, having two handmaidens as if they were virgins; he began to repel her. And the lady said: "Do not flee from me, for I have not come to corrupt you. I am Wisdom, and the two handmaidens are humility and chastity. If you desire me, who am Wisdom, keep these handmaidens, namely humility and chastity, for where there has been pride, there will be disgrace; but where there is humility, there is wisdom." True virginity is that in which wisdom is joined as a companion. Humility with modesty is the principal pillar of wisdom.

He is truly wise who truthfully recognizes his own and others' nothingness and the sublimity of the first principle. But no one arrives at full knowledge of God except through true and right knowledge of oneself; nor does he rightly know himself who does not attend to his own nothingness; but to know one's own nothingness is to humble oneself: therefore humility is the gateway of wisdom. And this the Wise Man says in Proverbs eleven: Where there is humility, there is also wisdom.

[Solomon] leads toward understanding especially when he says, "Possessions are of no advantage in the day of wrath." For he infused your heart with the knowledge that an abundance of money will be of no help to you in that day, nor will it remove eternal punishment. And when he says, "The innocent will inherit the earth," he clearly means the earth of which the meek are also heirs, for first the psalmist said, "But the meek will inherit the earth," and then the Lord, when preaching about beatitude, said, "Blessed are the meek, for they will possess the earth."

I know why it is written: "Wealth will not profit in the day of wrath." This was said about the one who does not employ his wealth for mercy. Is not the power of wealth to be brought forth and used at a time of need? At the hour in which you return your spirit to the hands of God, you will understand that the full utility of your riches is to use them for the sake of mercy. For they were given to you by Jesus Christ, God and the Son of God.

To be repeatedly requesting forgiveness for offenses repeatedly committed is not repentance, only its appearance. "The righteousness of the blameless keeps their way straight," proclaims Scripture, and again, "The righteousness of the innocent will set straight their way."

"When a wicked man dies, there is no longer any hope." Alas, poor man! Origen ignored this sentence, who believed that life would be given to all the wicked and sinners after the universal and final judgment. It should be noted, however, that although there is no hope of pardon for the wicked after death, there are those who, after death, can be absolved of lighter sins to which they were bound, either by chastisement of punishments or by the prayers, alms, and celebrations of masses by their loved ones. But these things, whenever they are done, are done both before the judgment and for lighter faults. However, those who think they will be liberated after a long time following judgment are mistaken and perhaps it pertains to them...

"And the expectation of the diligent will perish." Similarly, there is one kind of diligence with which the good are always girded to fulfill God's commandments; another, with which the wicked, when they sin knowingly, fear diligently lest they someday be seized for eternal punishment. Therefore, rightly the expectation of those who serve God with a diligent mind will be crowned; but the expectation of those who, disregarding God and already condemned by their own conscience before His judgment, the expectation of the diligent will perish. This verse is very different in the old translation, which says: "The hope of a just man who has died will not perish, but the glory of the wicked will perish."

"When a righteous man dies, hope does not perish." He hopes that his children will do well; he hopes to be provided with great things. This passage also transports us to thoughts of the resurrection or of our posterity. Or, since one who is righteous has delighted in all these things already, he will also enjoy their future consummation; or, finally, that he would have enjoyment of glory after death.

"The righteous is delivered out of trouble," etc. Any martyr freed from the distress of suffering after death will be entrusted to punishment on account of his cause to the persecutor who caused him distress. James was crowned with martyrdom, Peter was saved from prison; and Herod, who persecuted them, visibly consumed by worms, was invisibly snatched where his worm does not die and his fire is not quenched.

"A hypocrite with his mouth destroys his neighbor," etc. A heretic who pretends to teach Catholic doctrine deceives his listener; but those who justly follow the truth of the Gospel will be freed by Catholic knowledge so that they are not snatched by heretic deception.

"He who despises his friend lacks sense," etc. One who is not proven to love sincerely should not be despised or ridiculed by us, even if he does something foolish out of inertia; for he who does this is unworthy of wisdom. But indeed any prudent person does not publicly speak about such ones' faults; rather, he secretly corrects them. The same is more strictly inculcated in the following verses when it is said:

That ruler tempting Him said, Good Master, he ought to have said, Good God. For although goodness exists in divinity and divinity in goodness, yet by adding Good Master, he uses good only in part, not in the whole. For God is good altogether, man partially.

(Quæst. Ev. lib. ii. qu. 63.) It may seem that the account given in Matthew is different, where it is said, "Why askest thou me of good?" which might apply better to the question which he asked, What good shall I do? (Matt. 10.) In this place he both calls Him good, and asks the question about good. It will be best then to understand both to have been said, Why callest thou me good? and, Why askest thou me of good? though the latter may rather be implied in the former.

And a certain ruler asked him, saying: Good teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? I believe this ruler had heard from the Lord that only those who want to be like children will enter the kingdom of God, and therefore, concerned with obtaining clear guidance, he asks to be told openly, not in parables, by what merits of works he may gain eternal life.

A certain ruler having heard our Lord say, that only those who would be like little children should enter the kingdom of heaven, entreats Him to explain to him not by parable but openly by what works he may merit to obtain eternal life.

Second, curiosity in possessing is refuted in two ways.

And a certain one asked him etc. After the refutation of curiosity in investigating, there follows here the second part of this section, in which the refutation of curiosity in possessing takes place; and this he does in two ways, first by commending poverty, second by approving liberality, below in the nineteenth chapter: And having entered, he was passing through Jericho.

First, by commending poverty in four ways, He shows poverty to be commendable and worthy of approval on four grounds: first, by reason of perfection in its merit; second, by reason of imperfection in its contrary, at the passage: When he heard these things, he was sorrowful; third, by reason of consummation in its reward, at the passage: And Peter said: Behold etc.; fourth, by reason of the condescension of Christ in his example, at the passage: And Jesus took the twelve disciples.

In explaining the merit of perfect poverty, four things are introduced, namely the interrogation, by which it is asked what is to be done; the response, by which it is shown whither one must tend; the instruction, by which the way of salvation is declared; the exhortation, by which the way of perfection is urged.

First, therefore, as regards the interrogation, by which it is asked what is to be done, he says: And a certain ruler asked him.

Here it seems that Ambrose and Bede contradict each other. For Ambrose says that this man questioned Jesus with a testing and inquisitive question, and this is gathered both from the fact that the Lord rebuked him, and from the fact that he did not accept the Lord's counsel. Hence Ambrose in the Gloss: "The question was crafty, and therefore the response was shrewd." But Bede says that he questioned with a faithful and earnest question, which he draws from the fact that the Lord Jesus is said especially to have loved him; hence Bede in the Gloss: "This man should not be thought, as some say, to have either tempted God or to have lied about his life; otherwise, as Mark says, having gazed into the secrets of his heart, Jesus would not be said to have loved him."

But this is resolved by a certain saying of John Chrysostom: "This man," he says, "was rich and a tempter and proud, but Jesus looked upon him with eyes of mercy." And so he did not love in him what he formerly was through pride, but what he began to be through grace.

But whatever intention he may have had in doing this, he made a useful question: and therefore he adds: Saying: Good Master, what shall I do to possess eternal life? This is a right and useful question, according to that passage of Jeremiah 6: "Stand upon your ways and see and ask about the ancient paths, which is the good way, and walk in it"; and this by the counsel of the Lord, Matthew 6: "Seek first the kingdom of God and his justice," through which the kingdom is acquired; and Tobit 4: "Always seek counsel from a wise man"; and especially saving counsel must always be sought from the one most wise Christ and supreme Master. And therefore he calls him Master, from whom as from the most expert he seeks sound counsel, according to that passage of Ecclesiasticus 6: "Let many be at peace with you, but let your counselor be one in a thousand." And this is Christ, of whom Song of Songs 5: "My beloved is white and ruddy, chosen out of thousands"; and Ecclesiastes 7: "One man among a thousand I have found." From him therefore, who alone is the Master, according to that passage of Matthew 23: "One is your Master, Christ," who alone is wisdom: First Corinthians 1: "We call Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God," who alone is the true counselor, according to that passage of Isaiah 9: "His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor" etc.; this counsel and instruction must be sought, according to that passage of Isaiah 48: "I am the Lord who teaches you profitable things, who governs you in the way in which you walk."

Just as the world is composed of opposites, of heat and cold, dry and wet, so also is it made up of givers and receivers. Again when he says, "If you would be perfect, sell your possessions and give to the poor," he convicts the man who boasts that he has kept all the commandments from his youth up. For he had not fulfilled "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." Only then was he taught by the Lord who wished to make him perfect, to give for love's sake.

The Jewish crowds … with their princes and teachers … looked at Christ as being a mere man like one of us, and not as God who had become man. They approached him to test him and lay the nets of their cleverness for him.…He is called here a ruler. He fancied himself to have learned the law and supposed that he had been accurately taught it. He imagined that he could convict Christ of introducing laws of his own and of dishonoring the commandment spoken by most wise Moses. It was the Jews' goal to prove that Christ opposed and resisted the former commandments and established new laws by his own authority, in opposition to those previously existing. Their wicked conduct toward him had a false pretext. He comes near and makes a pretense of speaking kindly. He calls him "Teacher," designates him "good," and professes himself desirous of being a disciple. He says, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Observe how he mixes flattery with fraud and deceit, like one who mingles vinegar with honey. He supposed that he could deceive him in this way.

Now he thought to detect Christ in blaming the law of Moses, while He introduced His own commands. He went then to the Master, and calling Him good, says that he wishes to be taught by Him, for he sought to tempt Him. But He who takes the wise in their craftiness answers him fitly as follows, Why callest thou me good? there is none good, save God alone.

But the ruler expected to hear Christ say, Forsake the commandments of Moses, and listen to Mine. Whereas He sends him to the former; as it follows, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not commit adultery.

The ruler was not able to contain the new word, but being like an old bottle, burst with sorrow.

And to the person who said to Him, "Good Master," He confessed that God who is truly good, saying, "Why callest thou Me good: there is One who is good, the Father in the heavens;" and they assert that in this passage the Aeons receive the name of heavens.

For when on earth He acted in the very same manner, and answered to one who addressed Him as 'Good Master': 'Why callest thou me good? One is good, my Father who is in heaven.'

And Peter said: "I shall explain to you how goodness itself is just. Our teacher Himself first said to the Pharisee who asked Him, 'What shall I do to inherit eternal life?' 'Do not call me good; for one is good, even the Father who is in the heavens;' and straightway He introduced these words, 'But if thou shalt wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.' And when he said, 'What commandments?' He pointed him to those of the law. Now He would not, if He were indicating some other good being, have referred him to the commandments of the Just One. That indeed justice and goodness are different I allow, but you do not know that it is within the power of the same being to be good and just. For He is good, in that He is now long-suffering with the penitent, and welcomes them; but just, when acting as judge He will give to every one according to his deserts."

Now, undoubtedly, He is the good God who "sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust, and maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good; " sustaining and nourishing and assisting even Marcionites themselves! When afterwards "a certain man asked him, `Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? '" (Jesus) inquired whether he knew (that is, in other words, whether he kept) the commandments of the Creator, in order to testify that it was by the Creator's precepts that eternal life is acquired. Then, when he affirmed that from his youth up he had kept all the principal commandments, (Jesus) said to him: "One thing thou yet lackest: sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.

That rich man did go his way who had not "received" the precept of dividing his substance to the needy, and was abandoned by the Lord to his own opinion. Nor will "harshness" be on this account imputed to Christ, the Found of the vicious action of each individual free-will.

This man, in the opinion of some, was a certain evil schemer and sought to trap Jesus in His words. But it is more likely that he was a lover of money, since Christ Himself exposed him as precisely such. And the evangelist Mark says that a certain man, running up and falling on his knees, asked Jesus, and "looking at him, Jesus loved him" (Mk. 10:17, 21). So then, this man was covetous. He comes to Jesus wishing to learn about eternal life. Perhaps in this case too he was driven by a passion for acquisition. For no one desires a long life so much as a covetous man. So he thought that Jesus would show him a way by which he could live forever, possess his property, and thus enjoy himself. But when the Lord said that the means of attaining eternal life is the renunciation of possessions, then he, as though reproaching himself for the question and Jesus for the answer, went away. For he needed eternal life because he had riches for many years. But when he must give up his possessions and live, it would seem, in poverty, then what need has he of eternal life?

When he says then, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? it is the same as if he says, Thou art good; vouchsafe me then an answer to my question. I am learned in the Old Testament, but I see in Thee something far more excellent. For Thou makest no earthly promises, but preachest the kingdom of heaven. Tell me then, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

He said, "All these I have kept from my youth." Jesus, hearing this, said to him, "You still lack one thing." This prince is not to be thought a liar when he claimed he kept the commandments of the law, but he confessed simply as he had lived. Because if he were guilty of the charge of lying, the evangelist Mark would not have added, writing about him: "Jesus looking at him, loved him, and said to him, 'You lack one thing: Go, sell all that you have' (Mark 10), and so on. For the Lord loves those who keep even the lesser mandates of the law, but nonetheless shows what was lesser in the law to those who desire to be perfect.

Or we must not think him to have lied, but to have avowed that he had lived honestly, that is, at least in outward things, else Mark could never have said, And Jesus seeing him, loved him. (Mark. 10:21.)

And since these commandments do not justify through simple knowledge, but through experiential observance, therefore the Lord was not asking about simple knowledge when He said: You know the commandments, but about experiential knowledge, because, as is said in Romans 2, "not the hearers of the law, but the doers of the law are just before God." Therefore this lawyer responds as one who understands, when it follows: Who said: All these things I have kept from my youth: and this indeed according to the counsel of the Wise Man in Proverbs 3: "My son, do not forget my law, and let your heart keep my precepts; for they shall add to you length of days and years of life and peace"; because it is said in Ecclesiastes 8: "He who keeps the commandment shall experience no evil."

(in Matt. 19:19.) The young man speaks false, for if he had fulfilled that which was afterwards placed among the commandments, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, how was it that when he heard, Go and sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor, he went away sorrowful?

Then, when he affirmed that from his youth up he had kept all the principal commandments, (Jesus) said to him: "One thing thou yet lackest: sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." Well now, Marcion, and all ye who are companions in misery, and associates in hatred with that heretic, what will you dare say to this? Did Christ rescind the forementioned commandments: "Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother? "Or did He both keep them, and then add what was wanting to them? This very precept, however, about giving to the poor, was very largely diffused through the pages of the law and the prophets.

Hearing this, he was sorrowful, for he was very rich. This is the sadness of the world that works death. These deceptive riches are like thorns that choke the Lord's seed.

Having heard these things, he was saddened, etc. After he showed poverty to be commendable by reason of its perfection in merit, here he shows it to be commendable by reason of the imperfection in its contrary, which is indeed the tenacious clinging to riches. Concerning which four things are introduced by the Evangelist, namely the sign, danger, obstacle, and remedy of human tenacity, which is the gift of divine grace.

First, therefore, as regards the sign of human tenacity, it is said: Having heard these things, he was saddened, because he was very rich. For because he abounded in riches, he shuddered at the destitution of poverty, and therefore he was made sad at the praise and counsel of poverty. And this is the consequence of cupidity and the sign of tenacity, when someone is saddened out of horror of poverty: Ecclesiasticus 14: "The eye of the covetous man is insatiable in his portion of iniquity; he will not be satisfied until he consumes, withering his own soul." "And he who is in want will not be satisfied with bread, and he will be sorrowful at his own table." But this sadness is evil, because it is the sadness of the world, of which Second Corinthians 7 says: "The sadness of the world works death." For it is said in Ecclesiasticus 38: "From sadness death hastens and covers virtue, and sadness of heart bends the neck." Therefore whoever wishes to flee this sadness must hate the cupidity of riches, which prick after the manner of thorns, as is intimated in Matthew 13. For concerning the rich man it is said in Job 15: "The sound of terror is always in his ears, and when there is peace, he suspects treachery." But contrary to these are the just and perfect Christians, to whom it is said in Hebrews 10: "You received the plundering of your goods with joy, knowing that you have a better and enduring substance."

(Hom. 63. in Matt.) Or else; I shall not hesitate to call this ruler covetous, for with this Christ reproaches him, but I say not that he was a tempter.

As the Lord promised the covetous ruler a treasure in heaven, he nevertheless did not heed, for he was a slave to his treasures, and therefore "became sorrowful" upon hearing the Lord urge him to part with his possessions, since he desired eternal life precisely so that with his great abundance of wealth he might also live forever. The ruler's sorrow shows that he was a well-intentioned man, and not a cunning villain. For none of the Pharisees ever became sorrowful; rather, they grew hardened. It is not unknown to me that the great luminary of the universe, Chrysostom, held that this young man desired true eternal life and loved it, but was possessed by a powerful passion—love of money; yet the thought now proposed is also not out of place, that he desired eternal life as a covetous man.

(ut sup.) Seeing that there is an incomparably greater number of poor which might be saved by forsaking their riches, they understood that all who love riches, even though they cannot obtain them, were to be counted among the number of the rich. It follows, And he said to them, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God, which must not be taken as if a rich man with covetousness and pride might enter into the kingdom of God, but that it is possible with God for a man to be converted from covetousness and pride, to charity and humility.

And those who heard it said, "And who can be saved?" What does this answer pertain to unless it is because the far greater multitude of the poor, who could be saved with the rich being lost, understood that all who love riches, even if they cannot obtain them, are reckoned among the rich?

Fourth, regarding the remedy for this very tenacity through divine help, he adds: And those who heard said: And who can be saved? They say this seeking a remedy and dreading the danger. For since very few perfectly despise riches, it seems from this that almost no one can attain perpetual salvation. Hence Augustine: "Since the poor are more numerous than the rich, the Apostles would not have said this unless they understood in the number of the rich all those who desire to obtain riches"; but few are those who are not such, because, as is said in Philippians 2, "all seek the things that are their own, not the things that are of Jesus Christ." All, therefore, seem to be in danger of damnation.

(Hom. 63. in Matt.) These weighty words so far exceeded the capacity of the disciples, that when they heard them, they asked, Who then can be saved? not that they feared for themselves, but for the whole world.

He who has a human way of thinking, that is, is carried away by earthly things and attached to the terrestrial, for him, as it is said, it is impossible to be saved, but for God this is possible; that is, when someone has God as his counselor and takes the ordinances of God and the commandments concerning poverty as his teachers, and calls upon Him for help, for that person it will be possible to be saved. For it is our part to desire the good, but to accomplish it is the work of God. And in another sense: if we, having risen above every human faintheartedness regarding wealth, desire even to make friends for ourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, then we shall be saved and shall be escorted by them into eternal habitations. For it is better if we renounce everything, or if we do not renounce everything, at least make the poor our partners, and then the impossible will become possible. Although without renouncing everything one cannot be saved, yet through the lovingkindness of God it becomes possible to be saved even in the case where several portions are distributed for genuine benefit.

With men therefore whose thoughts creep earthward, salvation is impossible, but with God it is possible. For when man shall have God for his counsellor, and shall have received the righteousness of God and His teaching concerning poverty, as well as have invoked His aid, this shall be possible to him.

And the angel of the Lord, he says, appeared to the shepherds, proclaiming joy to them: "For [Luke 2:11, etc.] there is born in the house of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. Then [appeared] a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, Glory in the highest to God, and on earth peace, to men of good will." The falsely-called Gnostics say that these angels came from the Ogdoad, and made manifest the descent of the superior Christ. But they are again in error, when saying that the Christ and Saviour from above was not born, but that also, after the baptism of the dispensational Jesus, he, [the Christ of the Pleroma,] descended upon him as a dove. Therefore, according to these men, the angels of the Ogdoad lied, when they said, "For unto you is born this day a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David." For neither was Christ nor the Saviour born at that time, by their account; but it was he, the dispensational Jesus, who is of the framer of the world, the [Demiurge], and upon whom, after his baptism, that is, after [the lapse of] thirty years, they maintain the Saviour from above descended. But why did [the angels] add, "in the city of David," if they did not proclaim the glad tidings of the fulfilment of God's promise made to David, that from the fruit of his body there should be an eternal King? For the Framer [Demiurge] of the entire universe made promise to David, as David himself declares: "My help is from God, who made heaven and earth;" and again: "In His hand are the ends of the earth, and the heights of the mountains are His. For the sea is His, and He did Himself make it; and His hands founded the dry land. Come ye, let us worship and fall down before Him, and weep in the presence of the Lord who made us; for He is the Lord our God." The Holy Spirit evidently thus declares by David to those hearing him, that there shall be those who despise Him who formed us, and who is God alone. Wherefore he also uttered the foregoing words, meaning to say: See that ye do not err; besides or above Him there is no other God, to whom ye should rather stretch out [your hands], thus rendering us pious and grateful towards Him who made, established, and [still] nourishes us. What, then, shall happen to those who have been the authors of so much blasphemy against their Creator? This identical truth was also what the angels [proclaimed]. For when they exclaim, "Glory to God in the highest, and in earth peace," they have glorified with these words Him who is the Creator of the highest, that is, of super-celestial things, and the Founder of everything on earth: who has sent to His own handiwork, that is, to men, the blessing of His salvation from heaven. Wherefore he adds: "The shepherds returned, glorifying God for all which they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them." [Luke 2:20] For the Israelitish shepherds did not glorify another god, but Him who had been announced by the law and the prophets, the Maker of all things, whom also the angels glorified. But if the angels who were from the Ogdoad were accustomed to glorify any other, different from Him whom the shepherds [adored], these angels from the Ogdoad brought to them error and not truth.

(non occ.) But every one rejoiced in the nativity of Christ, not with human feelings, as men are wont to rejoice when a son is born, but at the presence of Christ and the lustre of the Divine light. As it follows: And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for every thing they had heard, &c.

And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them. The shepherds glorify and praise God for all the things they had heard from the angels, and seen in Bethlehem, as it was told unto them, that is, they glorify also in this, that upon coming they found nothing else than what had been told unto them; or as it was told unto them, they give glory and praise to God. For indeed the angels commanded them to do this, not with commanding words, but offering the form of their devotion, when they resonated with unanimous exultation "Glory to God in the highest." For he who says: "I bring you good news of great joy, which shall be to all people" (Here above), indeed provokes to glorify and praise God. But also the shepherds of spiritual flocks, while the others are sleeping, sometimes ascend by contemplation of the heavens, sometimes go around surveying the camps of the faithful and seeking examples of virtue, and sometimes return to the public duties of the pastoral office by teaching, so that they may proclaim to their neighbors the memory of the abundance of the sweetness of God, which they had tasted by a fleeting vision (Psalm CXLV).

That is to say, from the Angels, and had seen, i. e. in Bethlehem, as it was told them, i. e. they glory in this, that when they came they found it even as it was told them, or as it was told them they give praise and glory to God. For this they were told by the Angels to do, not in very word commanding them, but setting before them the form of devotion when they sung glory to God in the highest.

The masters of the spiritual flocks also, while others sleep, at one time by contemplation enter into the heavenly places, at another time pass around them by seeking the examples of the faithful, at another time by teaching return to the public duties of the pastoral office.

Every one of us, even he who is supposed to live as a private person, exercises the office of shepherd, if, keeping together a multitude of good actions and pure thoughts, he strive to rule them with due moderation, to feed them with the food of the Scriptures, and to preserve them against the snares of the devil.

And the shepherds returned etc. Here the diligence of the shepherds is commended on account of the gratitude of devotion. For devotion to be acceptable to God, it is necessary that the hand, the mind, and the tongue resound and harmonize together: the hand by working, the tongue by praising, the mind by recognizing. The devotion of the shepherds was therefore praiseworthy on account of due operation, by reason of which it is said: The shepherds returned, namely to the custody of the flock entrusted to them. In this the devout are instructed that after the contemplation of the Savior they should return to the exercise of action: Ezekiel 1: "The living creatures went and returned in the likeness of a flash of lightning"; and below, chapter 8: "Return to your house and tell how great things God has done for you." A figure of this is found in Joshua 2: "The spies returned and descended from the mountain and came to Joshua." In this is signified that in time of temptation one must have recourse to prayer and afterwards return to action.

It was also praiseworthy on account of due thanksgiving, by reason of which is added: Glorifying and praising God: Ecclesiasticus 43: "Glorify the Lord as much as you can: he will yet surpass, and his magnificence is wonderful. Blessing the Lord, exalt him as much as you can: he is greater than all praise." Against this it is said of the wise of this world, Romans 1: "Because when they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give thanks, but became vain in their thoughts, and their foolish heart was darkened. For professing themselves to be wise, they became fools." And therefore he who does not wish to be blinded must give thanks to God for his benefits: therefore it is said, Colossians 3: "All that you do in word or in work, do all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God."

It was also praiseworthy on account of due recognition, by reason of which is added: In all things which they had heard and seen, as it was told to them: whence they could say that word of the Psalm: "As we have heard, so we have seen in the city of our God." Then was verified that word of the Psalm: "Behold, we heard of it in Ephrata, we found it in the fields of the forest." And note that it says: In all things which they had heard and seen, — in which is shown the fullness of gratitude: Ephesians 5: "Be filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking to yourselves in psalms, hymns, and spiritual canticles, singing and making melody in your hearts to God, giving thanks always for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father." And note the order in which he says: In all things which they had heard and seen: because, Isaiah 7, according to another reading, "unless you believe, you will not understand"; but Romans 10: "Therefore faith comes by hearing," but understanding comes by sight, below, chapter 10: "Blessed are the eyes that see the things which you see"; Job, last chapter: "By the hearing of the ear I heard you, but now my eye sees you."

The shepherds returned with thanksgiving to God for all things; for they were not envious like the Jews.

Who is this Child, but He of whom it was said, Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given? (Is. 9:6, Gal. 4:5.) For He was made under the law, that He might redeem them who were under the law.

(De Sabbato et Circumcisione.) For circumcision expressed nothing else, but the stripping off of the old birth, seeing that part was circumcised which caused the birth of the body. And thus it was done at that time as a sign of the future baptism through Christ. Therefore as soon as that of which it was a sign came, the figure ceased. For since the whole of the old man Adam is taken away by baptism, there remains nothing which the cutting of a part prefigures.

He therefore received in the flesh the circumcision decreed by the law, although he appeared in the flesh absolutely without any blemish of pollution. He who came in the likeness of sinful flesh—not in sinful flesh—did not turn away from the remedy by which sinful flesh was ordinarily made clean. Similarly, not because of necessity but for the sake of example, he also submitted to the water of baptism, by which he wanted the people of the new law of grace to be washed from the stain of sins.…The reason "the child who was born to us, the son who was given to us," received the name Jesus (that is, "Savior") does not need explanation in order to be understood by us, but we need eager and vigilant zeal so that we too may be saved by sharing in his name. Indeed, we read how the angel interprets the name of Jesus: "He will save his people from their sins." And without a doubt we believe and hope that the one who saves us from sins is not failing to save us also from the corruptions which happen because of sins, and from death itself, as the psalmist testifies when he says, "Who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases." Indeed, with the pardoning of all of our iniquities, all our diseases will be completely healed when, with the appearance of the glory of the resurrection, our last enemy, death, will be destroyed.… We read that circumcision was done with knives made of rock, and the rock was Christ. And by Christ's faith, hope and love the hearts of the good are purified not only in baptism but furthermore in every devout action. This daily circumcision of ours (that is, the continual cleansing of our heart) does not cease from always celebrating the sacrament of the eighth day.

And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the child, his name was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. The rite and religion of circumcision took its beginning from the blessed patriarch Abraham. Since he, still being in uncircumcision, believed perfectly in God, it was accounted to him as righteousness, and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of faith while in uncircumcision. From him also arose the custom that on the day of circumcision, a name would be given to infants. For he himself, when he received the covenant of circumcision from God, on that very day, along with his wife, merited an augmentation of his name: he who was originally called Abram, which means 'exalted father,' would henceforth, on account of the merit of his faith, be called Abraham, which means 'father of many nations;' likewise, Sarai would be called Sarah.

Circumcision was also a type and figure of many things. For it was a seal (as stated) of the righteousness of the faith of Abraham and his seed, an indication for chastening those who belong to this seed and faith, from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, a prophecy of the Savior who would be born from this seed, who would both in the present purify us from all pollution of deadly action through baptism and in the future liberate us from all corruption of death itself through resurrection forever, and it especially - pleased the Grace and Law-giver to administer the gift of remission, which would release from the sin of Adam's transgression at that time. For he who now says, "Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (John 3), also then said, "The soul that has not had the flesh of his foreskin circumcised will be cut off from his people, for he has broken my covenant" (Genesis 17). Surely not the covenant of circumcision, which not an infant, who could not yet discern this, but elders, who knew how to observe it, could and should have kept unbroken; rather, the covenant which God made with the first man, which every man who has lived even one day on earth is found to have transgressed, and therefore, it is evident that everyone is in need of some remedy for salvation. For those who became faithful from foreign nations either before the time of circumcision or even after the giving of circumcision, such as the example of Job's patience and his friends and children, they saved themselves and theirs from original sin, either by sacrifices of victims or certainly by faith alone, because "the just shall live by faith" (Rom. I), and "without faith it is impossible to please God" (Heb. XI). But these remedies are needed by those who are propagated by the lineage of sin, conceived in iniquities, and born in pleasures. However, our Redeemer, who came into the world without sin to take away the sins of the world, not only provided remedies for us by his baptism, that is, consecrating the waters of which he underwent the washing for cleansing our crimes, but also by the circumcision which he received, he did not purify his own sins (since he had none), but taught that the old nature in us should be renewed, and now visibly it should be purged from vice through him, and on the last day signifying that it will be completely restored from the pest of varied mortality and death. Hence, it is fitting that Jesus is said to have been circumcised on the eighth day, which we hardly read about anyone being done in the Old Testament, although it was often commanded to all, except only Isaac, who is reported to have received circumcision on the eighth day as the first son of promise. Well, I say, Jesus is circumcised on the eighth day. Because evidently, this refers to both the renewals we mentioned, that is, both the present and future, both of spirit and flesh, which were prefigured in his resurrection and are to be accomplished in ours someday. Indeed, concerning our first resurrection, which is meanwhile celebrated by a reformation of life and faith, the Apostle says: "For as many of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life" (Rom. VI). Regarding the second, which is hoped for at the end, he says: "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so too God will bring with him those who sleep through Jesus" (I Thess. IV). It is clear almost universally that the number eight corresponds to the glory of resurrection. For the Lord also rose on the eighth day, that is, after the seventh of the Sabbath, and we ourselves will rise after the six ages of this world and the seventh Sabbath of souls, which now in the meantime is carried out in another life, almost as in the eighth time, then truly circumcised, that is, stripped of all the vices and corruptions of carnal desire, in which lust mostly reigns, truly the foreskin is cut off. For, as the Lord says: "The children of this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are accounted worthy to attain that age and the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage; nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection" (Luke XX).

His name was called Jesus, said he, which was named by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. Jesus means Savior, a name in which the faithful and elect rejoice to participate in each of their circumcisions, as has been sufficiently said, so that as Christians are named from Christ, so also are those who are saved named from the Savior; now indeed saved in hope through faith, but then in reality through the vision of the glory which is in Christ Jesus our Lord, a name which was given to them by God not only before they were conceived in the womb of the Church through faith, but also before the secular times. The sacred name's etymology and the numerical value it carries are redolent of the mysteries of our perpetual salvation. For it is written with six letters in Greek Ἰησοῦς, namely ι, η, σ, ο, υ, ς, whose numbers are 10, 8, 200, 70, 400, and 200, which together make 888. This number, which signifies the figure of resurrection, has been sufficiently discussed above. For what eight simply placed means, the same also multiplied by ten or a hundred signifies. Or certainly, the perfection of numbers believed to indicate firmness. We can also say that the name of the Savior contains the number eight completed, because he provided the example of resurrection to mortals by rising on the eighth day. It also contains the number tenfold, because the Decalogue of the law, as it should be fulfilled, is instituted and helped by the figures of his resurrection. Just as he, rising from the dead, dies no more, death no longer has dominion over him, so we also must consider ourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus (Rom. VI). It also contains the number a hundred times, because showing the glory of his resurrection, which follows us in the future, portends retribution. The number one hundred, which after so many on the left side of the course of numbers first seeks the right, aptly fits the depiction of the joys of that age when the last enemy, death, will be destroyed (1 Cor. XV), when we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with those who have risen, in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord (1 Thess. IV). Hence beautifully, in the type of all the elect, the first son of promise, born and circumcised to a hundred-year-old father, was called, according to the Lord's prediction, Isaac, which means laughter or joy, prefiguring in all respects the right hand felicity of that time of which the Lord said: I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you (John XVI). But because the discussion is about circumcision, it is pleasing to inquire why Moses himself, who presents the law of circumcision both as given by God to the fathers and repeatedly impressed upon himself, did not wish anyone to be circumcised during the entire time of his leadership, except only one, his own son, whom his mother circumcised with a sharp stone to prevent him from being struck by the Lord, and left all who were born in the wilderness to be circumcised by Joshua; evidently, a divinely commanded custom, observed for four hundred and six years and handed down by ancestral succession, he discontinued for forty continuous years. I would not believe this was done in vain, but rather with great mystery. About this, preserving the understanding of the elders, I will briefly say what I think. Moses preaches circumcision, but Joshua fulfills it, because the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth through Jesus Christ (John 1). And the letter that commands is of no benefit unless the grace that helps is present. With Moses preaching, the foreskin grows, because, as the Apostle says, by the works of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight. For through the law comes the knowledge of sin (Rom. 3). And elsewhere: For until the law, sin was in the world. But sin is not imputed when there is no law (Rom. 5). And again: The law came in so that the offense would increase. For I would not have known coveting if the law had not said, "You shall not covet." But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind (Rom. 7). But Joshua, having led the people into the promised land, cuts off with stone knives the foreskin that had grown while Moses was alive. Because where sin abounded, grace abounded much more (Rom. 5). For anyone who reads understands why Joshua uses stone knives for circumcision, because the rock was Christ (1 Cor. 10), and upon this rock, He says, I will build My church (Matt. 16). For what was impossible for the law, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (Rom. 8). But this grace of Christ not only justifies the faithful of the New Testament but also all those who were made perfect under the law, not by works of the law, but by the same grace of Christ who was to come in the flesh, they were saved through faith. And these people circumcised by Joshua represent those who with the severity of the law forced themselves to learn to implore the grace of Christ, as if avoiding the impending sword of the Lord, they avoided circumcision by the stone, with Peter attesting who, speaking of the yoke of the law, says: Which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear, but we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they (Acts 15). And the Psalmist, who, as though enclosed in the custodial prison of the law and finding no way of escape except in the grace of Christ, exclaims: When my heart was overwhelmed, You led me to the rock that is higher than I. You have been a refuge for me, a tower of strength against the enemy (Psalm 61). Surely no one who hears of circumcision preaching would think that only one part of the body is commanded to be continent, as if it were sufficient to exist safe from fornication, temperate in lawful marriage, or glorious in virginity, without adding other virtues, but rather that the chastisement of all our senses, both of the heart and the body, is commanded. For even Moses, receiving the most pure words of God, complained that he was uncircumcised in lips, and Stephen, saying to the disbelieving Jews, "You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears; you always resist the Holy Spirit" (Acts VII). Therefore, he is cleansed by true circumcision, who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed (Isaiah XXXIII), and shuts his eyes so as not to see evil, who guards his ways so as not to sin with his tongue (Psalm XXXVIII), and keeps himself vigilant so that his heart is not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness (Luke XXI), who, as long as breath is in him and the Spirit of God is in his nostrils (Job XXVII), does not speak iniquity with his lips (Ibid.), who washes his hands in innocence (Psalm XXVI), and refrains his feet from every evil way (Psalm CXVIII), who disciplines his body and brings it into subjection in all things (I Cor. IX), and with all diligence keeps his heart because from it flow the issues of life (Prov. IV). He, after circumcision, is brought to Jerusalem and presented to the Lord, who, according to the one who says: "Turn from evil and do good" (I Pet. III), after ceasing from sins, begins to abound in good works. Who can say: "My eyes are ever toward the Lord, and I will go about your altar, O Lord, that I may hear the voice of your praise" (Psalm XXVI). Who says: "We are the aroma of Christ to God" (II Cor. II), and "I have lifted my hands to your commandments, and have turned my feet to your testimonies" (Psalm CXVIII). Who, whether he eats, or drinks, or does anything else, does everything to the glory of God (I Cor. X), and says: "How sweet are your words to my taste" (Psalm CXVIII); and finally: "My heart and my flesh exult in the living God" (Psalm LXXXIII). But even his good action, which is hidden, no less needs circumcision, so that when I fast, pray, give alms, I seek glory from within. For if I stand on the street corners, disfiguring my face, sounding a trumpet before me to be seen and praised by men (Matt. VI), I appear circumcised outwardly, but remaining impure in heart, I incur the penalties of feigned holiness. As an example indeed, the Shechemites, who appeared to imitate the circumcision of the patriarchs, but not for the covenant of the Lord, but for the sake of lust, did not gain any reward. Rather, on the third day when the pain of their wounds was most severe, they perished among the ruins of their city. Such people, having forgotten the prophetic warning: "Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and remove the foreskins of your hearts" (Jer. IV), when the time of resurrection comes, having been stripped of the virtues in which they trusted, will be cast into eternal death. Therefore, the Apostle also diligently commends the hidden circumcision in the heart, whose praise is not from men, but from God (Rom. II).

(Hom. ubi sup.) Every one of us, even he who is supposed to live as a private person, exercises the office of shepherd, if, keeping together a multitude of good actions and pure thoughts, he strive to rule them with due moderation, to feed them with the food of the Scriptures, and to preserve them against the snares of the devil.

(ubi sup.) Having related our Lord's nativity, the Evangelist adds, And after that eight days were accomplished for the circumcision of the child.

He was circumcised also that He might enjoin upon us by His example the virtue of obedience, and might take compassion on them who being placed under the law, were unable to bear the burdens of the law, to the end that He who came in the likeness of sinful flesh might not reject the remedy with which sinful flesh was wont to be healed. For circumcision brought in the law the same assistance of a saving cure to the wound of original sin which Baptism does in the time of the grace of revelation, except that as yet the circumcised could not enter the gates of the heavenly kingdom, but comforted after death with a blessed rest in Abraham's bosom, they waited with a joyful hope for their entrance into eternal peace.

Now in His resurrection was prefigured the resurrection of each of us both in the flesh and the Spirit, for Christ has taught us by being circumcised that our nature must both now in itself be purged from the stain of vice, and at the last day be restored from the plague of death. And as the Lord rose on the eighth day, i. e. the day after the seventh, (which is the Sabbath,) so we also after six ages of the world and after the seventh, which is the rest of souls, and is now carrying on in another life, shall rise as on the eighth day.

That upon the day of His circumcision He also received the imposition of the name was likewise done in imitation of the old observances. For Abraham, who received the first sacrament (Gen. 17:5.) of circumcision, was on the day of his circumcision thought worthy to be blessed by the increase of his name.

Of this name the elect also in their spiritual circumcision rejoice to be partakers, that as from Christ they are called Christians, so also from the Saviour they may be called saved, which title was given them of God not only before they were conceived through faith in the womb of the Church, but even before the world began.

As to the first, it should be noted that "everyone who humbles himself shall be exalted"; therefore the humiliation according to the precept of the Law is set forth first, when it is said: And after eight days were completed, that the child should be circumcised etc. For so it was commanded in Genesis seventeen: "An infant of eight days shall be circumcised among you." And rightly are those days said to be completed on account of the perfection of humility and the beginning of our salvation; Sirach eighteen: "When a man shall have completed," namely the eight days, "then he shall begin," namely to free us. For already on the eighth day he was beginning to shed his blood for us. Bernard: "We have heard the fitting lesson concerning the Word abbreviated: it was abbreviated in the flesh, and it will be further abbreviated by undergoing circumcision of the flesh." And further: "He whom no one can convict of sin himself endures the remedy for sin, at once humble and austere." Now the Lord willed to be circumcised both on account of the approval and fulfillment of the Law, concerning which he says in Matthew five: "I have not come to destroy the Law, but to fulfill it." And also on account of the demonstration of humility; the Psalm: "Because of the words of your lips, I have kept hard ways"; another reading: "the ways of the robber." Bernard: "He who is without sin does not disdain to be regarded as a sinner," indeed "he was marked with the brand of a robber." And also on account of the introduction of spiritual circumcision; Jeremiah four: "Be circumcised to the Lord and take away the foreskins of your hearts, men of Judah." And also on account of the commendation of conformity and concord; Hebrews two: "He ought to be made like his brethren in all things." Bernard: "Jesus, the lover and commender of community, how could he abandon it?"

Then is added the clarification on account of the name imposed, when it is added: His name was called Jesus, that is, Savior, so that by the very name you may know that he did not receive circumcision on account of the necessity of his own healing, but on account of the dispensation of our salvation; Job 13: "He himself shall be my savior." Now this is a name worthy of all veneration; Philippians 2: "He humbled himself," etc. "For which reason God also exalted him and gave him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow." Now this name belongs to Christ himself truly and properly: truly, according to that passage of Matthew 1: "You shall call his name Jesus; for he himself shall save his people from their sins"; it also fits properly, according to that passage of Acts 4: "There is no salvation in any other. For there is no other name under heaven given to men, by which we must be saved."

Lastly is added the approval of the imposed name through the angelic proclamation, when it is added: Which was called by the Angel before he was conceived in the womb; Isaiah 62: "You shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name"; and Ecclesiastes 6: "He who is to be, his name has already been called, and it is known that he is man." And this indeed was done now; above in chapter one: "You shall call his name Jesus." This name is truly divine and angelic, which the bride desires in Song of Songs 1: "Your name is oil poured out." Bernard: "All food of the soul is dry if it is not steeped in this oil; it is tasteless if it is not seasoned with this salt. If you write, it has no savor for me unless I read Jesus there. If you dispute or confer, it has no savor unless Jesus has sounded there. Jesus is honey in the mouth, melody in the ear, jubilation in the heart." And therefore it is said in Isaiah 26: "Your name and your memorial are in the desire of the soul."

Spiritually note that by the eight days are understood the eight Ages, of which six are in the course of the world according to six notable distinctions, the seventh in the rest of souls, which runs simultaneously with the sixth and has no evening, the eighth in the resurrection, in which circumcision from all fault and misery takes place. And therefore circumcision was performed on the eighth day for the designation of that circumcision.

According to the tropology and allegory simultaneously, the sevenfold virtue of the Spirit is understood, and the eighth is final perseverance, which never fails. The first therefore pertains to the light of faith, because on the first day light was made; Proverbs four: "The path of the just, as a shining light, goes forth and increases unto the perfect day." The second pertains to the firmness of hope, in which the firmament was made; Hebrews six: "We have the strongest consolation, who have fled to hold fast the hope set before us." The third to the verdure of charity, when the earth brought forth vegetation; Proverbs eleven: "The just shall sprout like a green leaf." Gregory: "The branch of a good work has nothing of greenness unless it remains in the root of charity." The fourth, in which the luminaries were made, to the luminous discernment of prudence, which flourishes in the mature age; Ecclesiastes twelve: "Remember your Creator, before the time of affliction comes"; and Philippians two: "You shine as luminaries in the world." The fifth, to the strength of power, which is proved in the waters of tribulation, since on the fifth day the adornment of the waters was made: Psalm: "Save me, O God, for the waters have entered in"; Psalm: "He sent from on high and took me up from many waters." The sixth to the rectitude of justice, on account of severity with respect to bestial motions, and piety with respect to men, since on the sixth day brute animals were brought forth together with man: Job five: "Know that your tabernacle shall have peace, and visiting your dwelling, you shall not sin." The seventh to the sanctification of temperance, since he sanctified the seventh day, on which he rested; Exodus nineteen: "Go to the people and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments"; and twenty: "Remember to sanctify the Sabbath day." The eighth to the consummation of final perseverance: Leviticus twenty-three: "The eighth day shall be most celebrated and most holy"; whence also the Psalm which is about the passage to glory, namely: "O Lord, rebuke me not in your fury," is entitled Psalm for the octave.

VERY numerous indeed is the assembly, and earnest the hearer:----for we see the Church full:----but the teacher is but poor. He nevertheless Who giveth to man a mouth and tongue, will further supply us with good ideas. For He somewhere says Himself, "Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it." Since therefore ye have all come together eagerly on the occasion of this joyous festival of our Lord, let us with cheerful torches brightly celebrate the feast, and apply ourselves to the consideration of what was divinely fulfilled, as it were, this day, gathering for ourselves from every quarter whatsoever may confirm us in faith and piety. But recently we saw the Immanuel lying as a babe in the manger, and wrapped in human fashion in swaddling bands, but extolled as God in hymns by the host of the holy angels. For they proclaimed to the shepherds His birth, God the Father having granted to the inhabitants of heaven as a special privilege to be the first to preach Him. And to-day too we have seen Him obedient to the laws of Moses, or rather we have seen Him Who as God is the Legislator, subject to His own decrees. And the reason of this the most wise Paul teaches us, saying, "When we were babes we were enslaved under the elements of the world; but when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem them that were under the law." Christ therefore ransomed from the curse of the law those who being subject to it, had been unable to keep its enactments. And in what way did He ransom them? By fulfilling it. And to put it in another way: in order that He might expiate the guilt of Adam's transgression, He showed Himself obedient and submissive in every respect to God the Father in our stead: for it is written, "That as through the disobedience of the One man, the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the One, the many shall be made just." He yielded therefore His neck to the law in company with us, because the plan of salvation so required: for it became Him to fulfil all righteousness. For having assumed the form of a slave, as being now enrolled by reason of His human nature among those subject to the yoke, He once even paid the half shekel to the collectors of the tribute, although by nature free, and as the Son not liable to pay the tax. |20 When therefore them seest Him keeping the law, be not offended, nor place the free-born among the slaves, but reflect rather upon the profoundness of the plan of salvation. Upon the arrival, therefore, of the eighth day, on which it was customary for the circumcision in the flesh to be performed according to the enactment of the law, He receives His Name, even Jesus, which by interpretation signifies, the Salvation of the people. For so had God the Father willed that His Son should be named, when born in the flesh of a woman. For then especially was He made the salvation of the people, and not of one only, but of many, or rather of every nation, and of the whole world. He received His name, therefore, on the same occasion on which He was circumcised. But come, and let us again search and see, what is the riddle, and to what mysteries the occurrence directs us. The blessed Paul has said, "Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing." To this it is probable that some may object, Did the God of all then command by the all-wise Moses a thing of no account to be observed, with a punishment decreed against those that transgressed it? Yes, I say: for as far as regards the nature of the thing, of that, I mean, which is done in the flesh, it is absolutely nothing, but it is pregnant with the graceful type of a mystery, or rather contains the hidden manifestation of the truth. For on the eighth day Christ arose from the dead, and gave us the spiritual circumcision. For He commanded the holy Apostles: "Having gone, make ye disciples of all nations, baptizing them into the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." And we affirm that the spiritual circumcision takes place chiefly in the season of holy baptism, when also Christ makes us partakers of the Holy Ghost. And of this again, that Jesus of old, who was captain after Moses, was a type. For he first of all led the children of Israel across the Jordan: and then having halted them, immediately circumcised them with knives of stone. So when we have crossed the Jordan, Christ circumcises us with the power of the Holy Ghost, not purifying the flesh, but rather cutting off the defilement that is in our souls. On the eighth day, therefore, Christ is circumcised, and receives, as I said, His Name: for then, even then, were we saved by Him and through Him, "in Whom, it saith, ye were circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands in the putting off of the fleshly body, with Christ's circumcision, having been buried together with Him in baptism, wherein also ye were raised with Him." His death, therefore, was for our sakes. as were also His resurrection and His circumcision. For He died, that we who have died together with Him in His dying unto sin, may no longer live unto sin: for which reason it is said, "If we have died together with Him, we shall also live together with Him." And He is said to have died unto sin, not because He had sinned, "for He did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth," but because of our sin. Like as therefore we died together with Him when He died, so shall we also rise together with Him. Again, when the Son was present among us, though by nature God and the Lord of all, He does not on that account despise our measure, but along with us is subject to the same law, although as God He was Himself the legislator. Like the Jews, He is circumcised when eight days old, to prove His descent from their stock, that they may not deny Him. For Christ was expected of the seed of David, and offered them the proof of His relationship. But if even when He was circumcised they said, "As for This man, we know not whence He is;" there |22 would have been a show of reason in their denial, had He not been circumcised in the flesh, and kept the law. But after His circumcision, the rite was done away by the introduction of that which had been signified by it, even baptism: for which reason we are no longer circumcised. For circumcision seems to me to have effected three several ends: in the first place, it separated the posterity of Abraham by a sort of sign and seal, and distinguished them from all other nations. In the second, it prefigured in itself the grace and efficacy of Divine baptism; for as in old time he that was circumcised, was reckoned among the people of God by that seal, so also he that is baptized, having formed in himself Christ the seal, is enrolled into God's adopted family. And, thirdly, it is the symbol of the faithful when established in grace, who cut away and mortify the tumultuous risings of carnal pleasures and passions by the sharp surgery of faith, and by ascetic labours; not cutting the body, but purifying the heart, and being circumcised in the spirit, and not in the letter: whose praise, as the divine Paul testifies, needs not the sentence of any human tribunal, but depends upon the decree from above.

St. Paul says that "neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision." On the eighth day Christ rose from the dead and gave us the spiritual circumcision. He then commanded the holy apostles, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." And we affirm that the spiritual circumcision takes place chiefly in holy baptism, when Christ makes us partakers of the Holy Spirit too. Of this Joshua, that Jesus of old, who became the leader of the Israelites after Moses, was also a type. He led the children of Israel across the Jordan, then made them stop and immediately circumcised them with knives of stone. So when we have crossed the Jordan, Christ circumcises us with the power of the Holy Spirit, not by purifying the flesh but rather by cutting off the defilement that is in our souls. On the eighth day, therefore, Christ was circumcised and, as I said, received his name. We were saved by him and through him, because "in him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of flesh in the circumcision of Christ. And you were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him." His death, therefore, was for our sake, as were also his resurrection and his circumcision. For he died, so that we who have died together with him in his dying to sin, would no longer live for sin. Thus if we have died together with him, we shall also live together with him. He is said to have died to sin, not because he had sinned, for he was without sin, neither was guile found on his lips, but because of our sin. Therefore, just as we died together with him when he died, so will we also rise together with him.…After Jesus' circumcision, the rite was abolished by the introduction of baptism, of which circumcision was a type. For this reason we are no longer circumcised. It seems to me that circumcision achieved three distinct ends. In the first place, it separated the descendants of Abraham by a sort of sign and seal and distinguished them from all other nations. Second, it prefigured in itself the grace and efficacy of divine baptism. Formerly a male who was circumcised was included among the people of God by virtue of that seal; nowadays, a person who is baptized and has formed in himself Christ the seal, becomes a member of God's adopted family. Third, circumcision is the symbol of the faithful when they are established in grace, as they cut away and mortify the tumultuous rising of carnal pleasures and passions by the sharp surgery of faith and by ascetic labors. They do this not by cutting the body but by purifying the heart. They do this by being circumcised in the spirit and not in the letter. Their praise, as St. Paul testifies, needs not the sentence of any human tribunal, but depends upon the decree from above.

It was the custom on the eighth day to perform the circumcision of the flesh. For on the eighth day Christ rose from the dead, and conveyed to us a spiritual circumcision, saying, Go and teach all nations, baptizing them. (Matt. 28:19.)

But according to the command of the law, on the same day He received the imposition of a name, as it follows, His name was called Jesus, which is interpreted Saviour. For He was brought forth for the salvation of the whole world, which by His circumcision He prefigured, as the Apostle says to the Colossians, "Ye are circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the stripping off of the body of the flesh, to wit, the circumcision of Christ." (Col. 2:11.)

(lib. i. Hær. 30.) Now the followers of Ebion and Cerinthus say e, "It is enough for a disciple if he be as his Master. But Christ circumcised Himself. Be thou therefore circumcised." But herein do they deceive themselves, destroying their own principles; for if Ebion should confess that Christ as God descended from heaven and was circumcised on the eighth day, it might then afford the ground of an argument for circumcision; but since he affirms Him to be mere man, surely as a boy he cannot be the cause of Himself being circumcised, as neither are infants the authors of their own circumcision. But we confess that it is God Himself who has descended from heaven, and that inclosed in a virgin's womb, He abode there the whole time necessary for her delivery, until He should perfectly form to Himself of the virgin's womb a human body; and that in this body He was not in appearance but truly circumcised on the eighth day, in order that the figures having come to this spiritual fulfilment, both by Himself and His disciples, might now be spread abroad no longer the figures but the reality.

(ubi sup.) Christ was circumcised for several reasons. First indeed to show the reality of His flesh, in opposition to Manichæus f and those who say that He came forth in appearance only. Secondly, that He might prove that His body was not of the same substance with the Deity, according to Apollinaris, and that it descended not from heaven, as Valentinian said. Thirdly, to add a confirmation to circumcision which He had of old instituted to wait His coming. Lastly, to leave no excuse to the Jews. For had He not been circumcised, they might have objected that they could not receive Christ uncircumcised.

So, when he died, we died with him, and when he rose, we rose with him. Likewise, we were also circumcised along with him. After his circumcision, we were cleansed by a solemn purification. Hence we have no need at all for a circumcision of the flesh. You should know that he was circumcised for our sake. Listen to Paul's clear proclamation. He says, "For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have come to fullness of life in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of flesh in the circumcision of Christ. And you were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead." Therefore his death, his resurrection and his circumcision took place for our sake.

Christians are seen to draw their courage not from incantations but from the name of Jesus and from the commemoration of what he has done. For by his name it has happened very often that demons are put to flight from people, especially whenever they, who invoke them, pronounce them with the right disposition and with all trust. So great indeed is the power of the name of Jesus that sometimes it is efficacious even when spoken by the wicked. The name of Jesus heals the afflicted in mind, puts to flight the spirits of darkness, and to the sick is an ever present remedy.

As we have died with Him at His death, and risen together with Him at His resurrection, so with Him have we been circumcised, and therefore need not now circumcision in the flesh.

But the name of Jesus, a glorious name and worthy of all honour, a name which is above every other, ought not first to be uttered by men, nor by them be brought into the world. Therefore significantly the Evangelist adds, which was called of the Angel, &c.

When the Law gave the commandments, then the transgressors of them were subjected to a curse. So the Lord is circumcised in order that, having fulfilled the Law in this respect too and having omitted nothing of what it commanded, He might redeem us from the curse. Let those henceforth be put to shame who say that He was incarnate only in appearance, for how was He circumcised if He was incarnate only in appearance? To investigate where the circumcised part is, however, is useless. For one ought not to inquire into what Scripture has passed over in silence. And it is entirely useless besides. One may say that after being cut off it fell to the ground and sanctified it, just as the blood and water that flowed from His side. And He, in a manner known to Him, preserved this part unharmed and after the Resurrection took it up again, so that in this respect too He would not be found lacking — just as we also in the resurrection shall receive our body in its entirety. Note that the Lord was not conceived immediately when the Angel said, "and behold, you will conceive" (Lk. 1:31), but after this, when He willed. For see what it says here: "named by the Angel before His conception in the womb." This is evident from the very expression itself, for he did not say "you are conceiving," but "you will conceive." From this one may conclude that the Lord was conceived at that time, but not at the very moment when the Angel was speaking, but perhaps when he finished speaking. However, we do not say this with certainty.

(lib. de Incarn. Christi cont. Apollin.) But if as some say the flesh was changed into a Divine nature, how did it derive growth? for to attribute growth to an uncreated substance is impious.

And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. The distinction of the words is notable, because the Lord Jesus Christ, in that he was a child, that is, had assumed the condition of human frailty, had to grow and become strong. But in that he was also the Word of God and the eternal God, he did not need to become strong nor did he need to grow. Hence, he is very rightly said to be full of wisdom and grace. Wisdom because in him dwells all the fullness of deity bodily. Grace because to the same mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ, great grace was given, so that from the moment he began to be man, he might be perfect and God. Similar to this is what John writes, that he is full of grace and truth, he himself setting forth that same excellence of divinity of truth, which Luke commends under the name of wisdom.

We must observe the distinction of words, that the Lord Jesus Christ in that He was a child, that is, had put on the condition of human weakness, was daily growing and being strengthened.

Wisdom truly, for in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, (Col. 2:19.) but grace, because it was in great grace given to the man Christ Jesus, that from the time He began to be man He should be perfect man and perfect God. But much rather because He was the word of God, and God needed not to be strengthened, nor was in a state of growth. But while He was yet a little child He had the grace of God, that as in Him all things were wonderful, His childhood also might be wonderful, so as to be filled with the wisdom of God.

But the child grew etc. Above the Evangelist described how the Savior was made subject to the ceremonial law; here he describes how he was made subject to the moral law. But since the whole ordering of morals is principally concerned with three things, namely, with the worship of the divine majesty and the pursuit of truth and the duty of piety: by the first a person is subjected to his Creator, by the second to his teacher, by the third to his parent.

The excellence of virtue in Christ is shown on the part of the mind, although there was a deficiency of age on the part of the flesh: on account of which he first sets forth the advance of age in the flesh and then adds the perfection of virtue in the mind. As for the advance of age in the flesh it is said: But the child grew, namely in body, as Bede explains: "Insofar as he was a child, that is, a fragile man, he could grow, just as other men, not insofar as he was the Word." As for the perfection of virtue in the mind it is added: He was strengthened. The perfection of mental virtue consists in three things, namely in the vigor of power with respect to the irascible, in the splendor of wisdom with respect to the rational, and in the fervor of grace with respect to the concupiscible. As for the vigor of power of the irascible, it is said: And he was strengthened: Ezekiel three: "The hand of the Lord was with me, strengthening me"; Philippians, the last chapter: "I can do all things in him who strengthens me". As for the splendor of wisdom in the rational, it is added: Full of wisdom: Colossians two: "For in him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge"; and Isaiah eleven: "The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding". As for the fervor of grace in the concupiscible, it is added: And the grace of God was in him: Sirach twenty-four: "In me is all grace of the way and of truth, in me is all hope of life", etc.; and John one: "And we saw his glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth".

TO say that the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, being filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him, must be taken as referring to His human nature. And examine, I pray you, closely the profoundness of the dispensation: the Word endures to be born in human fashion, although in His divine nature He has no beginning nor is subject to time: He Who as God is all perfect, submits to bodily growth: the Incorporeal has limbs that advance to the ripeness of manhood: He is filled with wisdom Who is Himself all wisdom. And what say we to this? Behold by these things Him Who was in the form of the Father made like unto us: the Rich in poverty: the High in humiliation: Him said to "receive," Whose is the fulness as God. So thoroughly did God the Word empty Himself! For what things are written of Him as a man show the manner of the emptying. For it were a thing impossible for the Word begotten of God the Father to admit ought like this into His own nature: but when He became flesh, even a man like unto us, then He is born according to the flesh of a woman, and is said also to have been subject to the things that belong to man's state: and though the Word as being God could have made His flesh spring forth at once from the womb unto the measure of the perfect man, yet this would have been of the nature of a portent: and therefore He gave the habits and laws of human nature power even over His own flesh. Be not therefore offended, considering perchance within thyself, How can God increase? or how can He Who gives grace to angels and to men receive fresh wisdom? Rather reflect upon the great skill wherewith we are initiated into His mystery. For the wise Evangelist did not introduce the Word in His abstract and incorporeal nature, and so say of Him that He increased in stature and wisdom and grace, but after having shown that He was born in the flesh of a woman, and took our likeness, he then assigns to Him these human attributes, and calls Him a child, and says that He waxed in stature, as His body grow little by little, in obedience to corporeal laws. And so He is said also to have increased in wisdom, not as receiving fresh supplies of wisdom,----for God is perceived by the understanding to be entirely perfect in all things, and altogether incapable of being destitute of any attribute suitable to the Godhead:----but because God the Word gradually manifested His wisdom proportionably to the age which the body had attained. The body then advances in stature, and the soul in wisdom: for the divine nature is capable of increase in neither one nor the other; seeing that the Word of God is all perfect. And with good reason he connected the increase of wisdom with the growth of the bodily stature, because the divine nature revealed its own wisdom in proportion to the measure of the bodily growth.

Rightly with the growth in age, St. Luke has united increase in wisdom, as he says, And he was strengthened, (i. e. in spirit.) For in proportion to the measure of bodily growth, the Divine nature developed its own wisdom.

In the Gospel of Luke, the Holy Spirit writes this of him before he reached the age of twelve: "But the boy grew and was strengthened, and he was filled with wisdom." Human nature itself does not permit this, that wisdom is perfected before the twelfth year of life. It is one thing to participate in wisdom, another thing to be filled with wisdom.…The Son of God "had emptied himself," and, for that reason, again he is filled with wisdom. "And the grace of God was upon him." He possessed the grace of God not when he reached young manhood, not when he taught openly, but already when he was a small child.

Jesus "grew" in body. Although He could have attained the measure of manhood from the very womb, He would then have appeared to be a phantom; therefore He grows little by little. With age, the wisdom of God the Word was manifested. For He was not wise through progress in learning — away with such a thought! But since He revealed His innate wisdom little by little, it is said that He advanced and "grew strong in spirit" in proportion to His bodily growth. For if He had displayed all wisdom at His very earliest age, He would have appeared monstrous. But now, revealing Himself as much as possible in accordance with His age, He was fulfilling the dispensation, not receiving wisdom. For what could be more perfect than He who was perfect from the beginning? Yet He reveals His inherent wisdom little by little.

Now our Lord might have come forth from the womb in the stature of mature age, but this would seem like something imaginary; therefore His growth is gradual, as it follows, And the child grew, and waxed strong.

For if while yet a little child, He had displayed His wisdom, He would have seemed a miracle, but together with the advance of age He gradually showed Himself, so as to fill the whole world. For not as receiving wisdom is He said to be strengthened in spirit. For that which is most perfect in the beginning, how can that become any more perfect. Hence it follows, Filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was in him.

(de Con. Evan. ii. 9.) Perhaps it may strike you as strange that Matthew should say that His parents went with the young Child into Galilee because they were unwilling to go to Judæa for fear of Archelaus, when they seem to have gone into Galilee rather because their city was Nazareth in Galilee, as Luke in this place explains it. But we must consider, that when the Angel, said in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, Rise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel, (Matt. 2:20.) it was at first understood by Joseph as a command to go into Judæa, for so at first sight the land of Israel might have been taken to mean. But when afterwards he finds that Herod's son Archelaus was king, he was unwilling to be exposed to that danger, seeing the land of Israel might also be understood to include Galilee also as a part of it, for there also the people of Israel dwelt.

(de Con. Ev. ii. 10.) But it may be asked, how did His parents go up all the years of Christ's childhood to Jerusalem, if they were prevented from going there by fear of Archelaus? This question might be easily answered, even had some one of the Evangelists mentioned how long Archelaus reigned. For it were possible that on the feast day amid so great a crowd they might secretly come, and soon return again, at the same time that they feared to remain there on other days, so as neither to be wanting in religious duties by neglecting the feast, nor leave themselves open to detection by a constant abode there. But now since all have been silent as to the length of Archelaus' reign, it is plain that when Luke says, They were accustomed to go up every year to Jerusalem, we are to understand that to have been when Archelaus was no longer feared.

And his parents went every year to Jerusalem, at the feast of Passover. You see this evangelist, among the four creatures, not without reason compared to the calf, which, as if designated for sacrifices, revolves around the temple and Jerusalem with the course of his narrative. For indeed at the beginning he places a priest praying at the altar, establishes a multitude of people in the courts of the temple, soon sends Mary, having conceived the Lord, to Jerusalem, introduces her into the house of the High Priest. There he recounts the birth of the Baptist, and immediately after the birth, transfers the Lord with an offering. He leads him there every year with his parents, and at the age of twelve inserts him into the choir of doctors in the temple. Where among other things, he says astonishing things to the wise: Because it behooves me to be in the things of my Father (Luke 2). And after such things, he concludes his Gospel with the disciples praising God in the temple.

The Lord's coming every year to Jerusalem for the Passover with his parents is an indication of his human humility. It is characteristic of human beings to gather to offer God the votive offerings of spiritual sacrifices, and by plentiful prayers and tears to dispose their Maker toward them. Therefore the Lord, born a human being among human beings, did what God, by divine inspiration through his angels, prescribed for human beings to do. He himself kept the law which he gave in order to show us, who are human beings pure and simple, that whatever God orders is to be observed in everything. Let us follow the path of his human way of life. If we take delight in looking upon the glory of his divinity, if we want to dwell in his eternal home in heaven all the days of our lives, it delights us to see the Lord's will and to be shielded by his holy temple. And lest we be forever buffeted by the wind of wickedness, let us remember to frequent the house, the church of the present time, with the requisite offerings of pure petitions.

And his parents went etc. Here is described the reverence of the divine majesty, which consists in the worship of religion, and is shown in Christ according to the guidance of the parents and according to his own instinct. As for the guidance of the parents it is said: And his parents went every year to Jerusalem. For so it was commanded in the Law: Exodus twenty-three: "Three times in the year you shall celebrate feasts to me". And it is to be believed that they also brought Jesus, because it is added there: "Three times in the year every male of yours shall appear before the Lord your God"; and this in Jerusalem, according to the precept of Deuteronomy, the twelfth chapter: "You shall come to the place which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes". And this place was Jerusalem, according to what is said in Second Chronicles, the seventh chapter: "I have chosen and sanctified this place, that my name may be there forever". And they performed this worship especially at the Passover, and therefore it is added: On the solemn day of the Passover: Exodus twelve: "You shall have this day as a memorial, and you shall celebrate it as a solemnity to the Lord throughout your generations with everlasting worship".

(Orat. cont. Judæos.) At the feast of the Hebrews the law commanded men not only to observe the time, but the place, and so the Lord's parents wished to celebrate the feast of the Passover only at Jerusalem.

But we must not wonder that they are called His parents, seeing the one from her childbirth, the other from his knowledge of it, deserved the names of father and mother.

Jesus goes to Jerusalem together with His parents, in order to show in everything that He neither opposes God nor resists the requirements of the Law.

In the twelfth year, as we read, the beginning of the Lord's discussion is taken; for here the number of evangelizers who were to preach the faith was owed.

Or the twelfth year was the commencement of our Lord's disputation with the doctors, for this was the number of the Evangelists necessary to preach the faith.

(Geometer) His indication of wisdom did not exceed the measure of His age, but at the time that with us the powers of discernment are generally perfected, the wisdom of Christ shows itself.

And when he was twelve years old, as they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast day, and having completed the days as they returned, the boy Jesus remained in Jerusalem. The one who, from birth, indeed from human conception, was approved by clear signs of miracles showing that he is God, even then, as soon as the time of age was appropriate, began reverently to reveal and open both his natures, namely, what in truth of divine majesty belonged to the Father, and what, according to the frailty of human assumption, belonged to the mother. Nor without foresight did he reveal the first rudiments of his faith at twelve years old, which by the ministry of the twelve apostles was to be revealed and elucidated throughout the world. We can also say this, that as with the number seven, similarly the number twelve, which consists of the multiplied parts of seven, may designate the totality and perfection of things or times. And for this reason, that it is fitting for all places or times to be occupied, the light rightly takes its beginning from the number twelve. Therefore, it is not idly said that he appeared to have been unmindful of his parents, but that he instructs us, because not only before his own parents, but even before Abraham was made, he is, he delights rather to reside in the city and temple of God, as if by paternal right.

We may also say, that as by the seventh number, so also by the twelfth, (which consists of the parts of seven multiplied alternately by one another,) the universality and perfection of either things or times is signified, and therefore rightly from the number twelve, the glory of Christ takes its beginning, being that by which all places and times are to be filled.

(in Hom. post Epiph.) Now that the Lord came up every year to Jerusalem at the Passover, betokens His humility as a man, for it is man's duty to meet together to offer sacrifices to God, and conciliate Him with prayers. Accordingly the Lord as man, did among men what God by angels commanded men to do. Hence it is said, According to the custom of the feast day. (Gal. 3:14, Judges 6:20; 13:16.) Let us follow then the journey of His mortal life, if we delight to behold the glory of His divine nature.

But as regards his own impulse, the boy Jesus also devoted himself to divine worship: concerning which it is added: And when he was twelve years old; in which it is shown that the boy Jesus devoted himself to divine worship without his parents' company, without their counsel, without their approval. Without their company indeed: for although he went up with the company of his parents, nevertheless he remained without them: on account of which it is said: As they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast day, namely to pray, as below in the eighteenth chapter, "Two men went up to the temple to pray"; and Acts chapter three: "Peter and John went up to the temple," etc.

After the Evangelist had said, that Jesus advanced in wisdom and grace with God and men, he next shows that what he says is true: for he carries Him to Jerusalem in company with the holy Virgin, upon the summons of the feast: and then he says that He remained behind, and was afterwards found in the temple sitting in the midst of the doctors both asking and answering questions regarding those things, as we may feel sure, which were spoken of old by the law: and that He was wondered at by all for His questions and answers. Thou seest Him advancing in wisdom and grace, by reason of His becoming known unto many as being what He was.

The Evangelist having said before that the Child grew and waxed strong, verifies his own words when he relates, that Jesus with the holy Virgin went up to Jerusalem; as it is said, And when he was twelve years old, &c.

(cont. Hær. l. ii. hær. 31.) Let Ebion know that at twelve years old, not thirty, Christ is found the astonishment of all men, wonderful and mighty in the words of grace. We can not therefore say, that after that the Spirit came to Him in Baptism He was made the Christ, that is, anointed with divinity, but from His very childhood He acknowledged both the temple and His Father.

(Metaphrastes vel Geometer.) The feast having been celebrated, while the rest returned, Jesus secretly tarried behind. As it follows, And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and his parents knew not of it. It is said, When the days were accomplished, because the feast lasted seven days. But the reason of His tarrying behind in secret was, that His parents might not be a hindrance to His carrying on the discussion with the lawyers; or perhaps to avoid appearing to despise his parents by not obeying their commands. He remains therefore secretly, that he might neither be kept away nor be disobedient.

And his parents did not know. But assuming that he was in the company, they went a day's journey, and sought him among relatives and acquaintances, and not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem searching for him. Someone might ask how the Son of God, reared with such care by his parents, could have been forgotten and left behind as they went away. To this, it must be answered that it was the custom of the sons of Israel that during festive times, whether they converged on Jerusalem or returned to their own places, the men and women would walk separately in choruses, and infants or children could go with either parent indifferently. And thus, the blessed Mary or Joseph might have thought by turns that the boy Jesus, whom they did not see accompanying themselves, had returned with the other parent.

But some one will ask, how was it that the Son of God, brought up by His parents with such care, could be left behind from forgetfulness? To which it is answered, that the custom of the children of Israel while assembling at Jerusalem on the feast days, or returning to their homes, was for the women and men to go separately, and the infants or children to go with either parent indiscriminately. And so both Mary and Joseph each thought in turn that the Child Jesus, whom they saw not with them, was returning with the other parent. Hence it follows, But they, supposing him to have been in the company, &c.

And when the days were completed, as they returned, namely to their own homes, according to that passage in Judith chapter sixteen: "When the feast was celebrated, each one returned to his own home." And while all returned, Jesus nevertheless did not: whence it is added: The boy Jesus remained in Jerusalem, and thus alone, without the company of his parents. A figure of this preceded in the boy Samuel, of whom it is said in First Kings chapter two, that "Elkanah departed," his father, and his mother departed "to her own home: but the boy ministered before the Lord." Whence he had remained alone, so that he might better devote himself to prayer: Lamentations chapter three: "He shall sit solitary and be silent." And thus he remained by his own impulse without the company of his parents.

He also remained without counsel: whence it is added: And his parents did not know. A figure of this preceded in Samson, "who did not wish to tell his father and mother that he had taken honey from the mouth of the lion," Judges chapter fourteen. In this he also gave an example that in carrying out divine service, counsel is not to be sought from carnal parents: Deuteronomy chapter thirty-three: "He who said to his father and mother: I do not know you: and to his brothers: I know you not: these have kept your word and preserved your covenant."

But as when the Jews plotted against Him He escaped from the midst of them, and was not seen; so now it seems that the Child Jesus remained, and His parents knew not where He was. As it follows, And not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking for him. (John 10:29.)

Jesus goes to Jerusalem together with His parents, in order to show in everything that He neither opposes God nor resists the requirements of the Law. When they had fulfilled the days, that is, the seven days of Passover, He "remained... in Jerusalem."

And lest you think that this ignorance was from negligence, on account of which Mary would be blameworthy, he adds the cause: But supposing him to be in the company, they came a day's journey: because, since the men traveled with the men, and the women with the women separately, it was probable to the father that the boy was with his mother, and probable to the mother that he was with his father. And therefore they were mistaken. He was not of the kind of those about whom it is said in Job chapter twenty-one: "Their seed endures before them, the throng of their kinsmen and grandchildren in their sight," but he was like him of whom it is said in the Psalm: "I looked to the right hand and saw, and there was none who knew me." And thus he remained without his parents' counsel.

He also remained without approval, because they sought with sorrow him whom they had lost: whence it is added: And they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintances: and yet they did not find him, because such people are far removed from him; Job chapter nineteen: "My acquaintances have withdrawn from me as strangers."

He is not found as soon as sought for, for Jesus was not among His kinsfolk and relations, among those who are joined to Him in the flesh, nor in the company of the multitude can He be found. Learn where those who seek Him find Him, not every where, but in the temple. And do thou then seek Jesus in the temple of God. Seek Him in the Church, and seek Him among the masters who are in the temple. For if thou wilt so seek Him, thou shalt find Him. They found Him not among His kinsfolk, for human relations could not comprehend the Son of God; not among His acquaintance, for He passes far beyond all human knowledge and understanding. Where then do they find Him? In the temple! If at any time thou seek the Son of God, seek Him first in the temple, thither go up, and verily shalt thou find Christ, the Word, and the Wisdom, (i. e. the Son of God.)

And therefore there follows: And not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem, so that him whom they could not find in the company of their kindred they might find in the place of prayer, according to that word of the Psalm: "Behold, we heard of him in Ephrata"; and after: "We shall enter into his tabernacle." They returned, I say, seeking him; according to that word of Song of Songs chapter three: "I will rise and go about the city; I will seek him whom my soul loveth"; thus spoke the Virgin Mary; and again Song of Songs chapter five: "I sought him, and found him not; I called him, and he did not answer me." "I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that if you find my beloved, you tell him that I languish with love."

In this moreover we are admonished that from infancy itself we should be devoted to divine worship: First Kings chapter two: "Samuel ministered before the face of the Lord, a boy girded with a linen ephod"; and especially from the twelfth year, because then begins the time of discretion to be turned toward the good. Whence it is said of Saint Martin that "when he was twelve years old, he desired the desert"; similarly it is said of blessed Benedict. Therefore the Evangelist specifies this age. We are also admonished that we should in no way interrupt divine worship on account of love for parents: whence Jerome: "Over your trampled father, go forward; over your trampled mother, go forward, and fly to the standard of the cross. For the highest kind of piety is to be cruel in these matters"; for it is said in Matthew chapter ten: "He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me."

(ordin.) Or they feared lest Herod who sought Him in His infancy, now that He was advanced to boyhood might find an opportunity of putting Him to death.

Nor is it unimportant that, mindful of his earthly parents, who were certainly filled with the wisdom and grace of God according to the flesh, he is found in the temple after three days; so that he might provide evidence that after three days of his triumphant passion on the heavenly throne, and with divine honor, he would offer himself as resurrected for our faith, who was believed to be dead.

After three days He is found in the temple, that it might be for a sign, that after three days of victorious suffering, He who was believed to be dead should rise again, and manifest Himself to our faith, seated in heaven with divine glory.

(Metaphrastes vel Geometer.) He asks questions with reason, He listens with wisdom, and answers with more wisdom, so as to cause astonishment. As it follows, And they who saw it were astonished.

And it happened after three days, they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, listening to them and asking questions. As a fountain of wisdom sits in the midst of the doctors, but as an example of humility, he first seeks to listen and ask questions of the doctors rather than to teach the unlearned. So that the little ones may not be ashamed to learn from their elders, and he himself, for the sake of human age appropriateness, is not ashamed to listen to men, though he is God. So that the weak may not dare to teach, he, as a boy, wished to be taught by asking questions, who by the power of divinity provided the word of knowledge to his very doctors.

To show that He was a man, He humbly listened to the masters; but to prove that He was God, He divinely answered those who spake.

He shows that the Savior assumed the form of a disciple, when it is said: And it came to pass, after three days they found him in the temple sitting. Sitting designates rest and humility: for he knew that "it is better to sit in a corner of the housetop than with a quarrelsome woman and in a common house," Proverbs twenty-one. Sitting, I say, in the midst of the doctors: Ecclesiasticus fifteen: "In the midst of the church he opened his mouth, and filled him with the spirit of wisdom and understanding." For he knew it was written: "He who walks with the wise shall be wiser; the friend of fools shall become like them," Proverbs thirteen. And in this he teaches that the fellowship of students is to be cherished, not for disputing, but for conferring: on account of which it is added: Listening to them and asking them questions. For this is the exercise of the learner, that he should listen and ask about doubtful matters: Ecclesiasticus thirty-two: "Listen in silence, and for your reverence good grace shall come to you," because "a good ear will hear wisdom with all desire," Ecclesiasticus three: and therefore it is said in John eight: "He who is of God hears the words of God." Because it is not sufficient to hear, therefore it is added: And asking them questions: Job eight: "Ask the former generation, and diligently search the memory of the fathers"; and Deuteronomy thirty-two: "Ask your father, and he will declare to you," etc. He was asking, however, not that he might be taught, but rather that he might teach. Jerome: "The Savior had completed twelve years, and questioning the priests in the temple, he teaches more while he prudently questions."

In this, however, it is to be noted spiritually that Christ teaches us that we ought to learn before we teach, according to that saying of Ecclesiasticus eighteen: "Before you speak, learn." And therefore he willed to be found in the midst of the doctors and in the temple, because in the reading of the Scriptures and in prayer truth is found.

Whence note that Christ was found in a manger: above in the same chapter: "This shall be a sign unto you"; that is, in the study of sacred Scripture, because, according to what is said in Proverbs fourteen, "where there are no oxen, the manger is empty." The oxen are preachers: First Corinthians nine: "You shall not muzzle the ox that treads out the grain," etc. He was found in a house: Matthew two: "Entering the house"; that is, in the examination of a quiet conscience: Wisdom eight: "Entering my house, I shall find rest with her." He was also found in the temple, as here, that is, in the fellowship of the holy Church, because "the Lord is in his holy temple," as is said in the Psalm. But he is not found in the tomb of erroneous doctrine: Luke last chapter: The women "came to the tomb and did not find the body of Jesus"; nor indeed in the bed of a restless conscience: Song of Songs three: "In my bed I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him and did not find him"; nor is he found in the fellowship of a worldly life: Job twenty-eight: "But wisdom, where is it found?" and afterwards: "It is not found in the land of those who live pleasantly."

(ordin.) They were on their way home, one day's journey from Jerusalem; on the second day they seek for Him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance, and when they found Him not, they returned on the third day to Jerusalem, and there they found Him. As it follows, And it came to pass, after three days they found him.

(ubi sup.) Or because the advent of Christ, which was looked for by the Patriarchs before the Law, was not found, nor again, that which was sought for by prophets and just men under the Law, but that alone is found which is sought for by Gentiles under grace.

Because he was a small child, he is found "in the midst of teachers," sanctifying and instructing them. Because he was a small child, he is found "in their midst," not teaching them but "asking questions." He did this because it is appropriate to his age, to teach us what befits boys, even if they are wise and learned. They should rather hear their teachers than want to teach them and not show off with a display of knowledge. He interrogated the teachers not to learn anything but to teach them by his questions. From one fountain of doctrine, there flow both wise questions and answers. It is part of the same wisdom to know what you should ask and what you should answer. It was right for the Savior first to become a master of learned interrogation. Later he would answer questions according to God's reason and Word.

Because moreover He was the Son of God, He is found in the midst of the doctors, enlightening and instructing them. But because He was a little child, He is found among them not teaching but asking questions, as it is said, Sitting in the midst of the doctors, hearing them, and asking them questions. And this He did as a duty of reverence, that He might set us an example of the proper behaviour of children, though they be wise and learned, rather to hear their masters than teach them, and not to vaunt themselves with empty boasting. But He asked not that He might learn, but that asking He might instruct. For from the same source of learning is derived both the power of asking and answering wisely, as it follows, All who heard him were astonished at his wisdom.

He sat among the teachers, and listened unto them, and asked them questions, and He bowed His ear, and received instruction, that thou also mightest hear and ask questions, and incline thine ear continually to the hearing of the divine commandments, and that thou mightest ask questions and learn those things which are beneficial to thy life, even from those who are inferior to thee in knowledge, even as our Lord Himself asked questions of those who were inferior to Him in knowledge, and He received doctrine from those who had gathered together doctrine from the law which He Himself had given.

He was reasoning with the scribes, posing questions to them from the Law.

And all who heard him were astonished at his wisdom and answers, and seeing him, they were amazed. Note the distinction of words, and diligently examine the mysteries of your salvation and faith. They were astonished at what they heard from him, and seeing him, they were amazed. And they were all the more astonished at the wisdom of his answers, the more they despised the fewness of his years seeing it. His tongue revealed divine wisdom, but his age pretended human infirmity. Truly, let these things astound the doctors of the Jews as if they were new, and let them be disturbed by a doubtful amazement among the high things they hear and the weak things they see. But let us, knowing that this is he of whom the Prophet once rejoiced, saying, "A child is born to us, a son is given to us, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God" (Isaiah 9); let us in no way wonder at him, who has been made a little child and yet has always remained what he was, namely, God and mighty, displaying at times signs of his divinity, at times signs of his humanity to those he wished to instruct. But let us give thanks to him with faith, hope, and charity, because he who was great and exceedingly praiseworthy, though we did not know him, was born as a little child for us, so that by growing and advancing among the little ones, he might gradually lead them to embrace the secrets of his virtue and greatness.

For from His tongue there went forth divine wisdom, while His age exhibited man's helplessness, and hence the Jews, amid the high things they hear and the lowly things they see, are perplexed with doubts and astonishment. But we can in no wise wonder, knowing the words of the Prophet, that thus unto us a Child is born, that He abideth the mighty God. (Is. 9:6.)

And they were astonished, etc. Here after the humiliation he adds the clarification: when it is said: And all who heard him were astonished at his understanding and his answers: because he answered most wisely, beyond estimation. For astonishment arises from an unusual and great impression: below in chapter five: "Astonishment seized them all"; Job twelve: "He leads counselors to a foolish end and judges to astonishment." And thus was fulfilled that saying of Wisdom eight: "On account of her I shall have glory among the multitudes and honor among the elders, though young; I shall be found keen in judgment, and in the sight of the powerful I shall be admirable; the faces of princes shall wonder at me." This was fulfilled in Christ at this time. A figure of this preceded in Third Kings ten, where it is said that "the queen of Sheba, seeing the wisdom of Solomon, had no more spirit in her," on account of exceeding wonder.

(sup. Joh. Hom. 20.) The Lord truly did no miracle in His childhood, yet this one fact St. Luke mentions, which made men look with wonder upon Him.

And all "were amazed." Do you see how He was advancing in wisdom, so that for many He became an object of curiosity and wonder? For the manifestation of His wisdom is His very advancement.

(ubi sup.) But the ever-wonderful mother of God, moved by a mother's feelings, as it were with weeping makes her mournful enquiry, in every thing like a mother, with confidence, humility, and affection. As it follows, And his mother said unto him, Son, what hast thou done?

And his mother said to him: Son, why have you done this to us? Behold, your father and I, sorrowing, have been seeking you. And he said to them: Why were you seeking me? Did you not know that I must be about my Father's business? Not Joseph, who provided nothing for his generation except service and affection, whence he is called father both by the evangelist and by Mary herself for his faithful service; Christ does not deny him as his parent, but simply and openly indicates who is his true Father, equally to us and to them. He does not reproach them for seeking him as a son, but rather compels them to raise the eyes of their mind to what is owed to him who is the eternal Son. For as he is both God and man, he now exhibits the heights of divinity, now the depths of human frailty. As a man, he questions the elders, as God he responds to matters which astonish the elders and the learned. As the Son of God, he dwells in the temple of God, and as the son of man, he returns with his parents where they command.

And not only those strangers were astonished, but also the parents: whence it is added: And seeing him, they wondered: Matthew seven: "The crowds wondered at his teaching." And truly it was wondrous that he answered what he had not learned: John seven: "The Jews wondered, saying: How does this man know letters, since he has not learned?"

And his Mother said, etc. Here thirdly he shows how he was made subject to the moral law with respect to the duty of piety: in which first is set forth the humiliation, and then is added the clarification, at the point: And his Mother kept all these words in her heart. Humiliation, however, is shown in two things, namely in submitting to one who corrects and in obeying one who commands. For Christ subjected himself to his Mother correcting him: on account of which it is said: And his Mother said to him: Son, why have you done this to us? She speaks with greater confidence and asks the reason for his departure, since she knows that she ought to be honored by him, according to that passage in Exodus 20: "Honor your father and your mother"; and Proverbs 6: "Keep, my son, the precepts of your father, and do not forsake the law of your mother." But you, she says, have troubled us: whence she adds: Your father, namely putative or adoptive or nurturing: and I have been seeking you sorrowing, as if together we were saying that passage from Tobit 10: "Alas, my son, why did we send you away to travel, the light of our eyes, the staff of our old age, the comfort of our life! For having all things in you alone, we ought not to have let you go."

His mother certainly knew that He was not the child of Joseph, but she so speaks to avoid the suspicions of the Jews. And upon her saying, that "Thy father and I have sought Thee sorrowing," the Saviour answers...

If, from the fact that some are called brothers of our Lord, people think that these are sons of Mary, take note that he was called son of Joseph. Not only did Jews call him the son of Joseph, but also Mary called him Joseph's son. For "I and your father have been seeking you with much anxiety." If the angel commanded Joseph to take Mary into his care, this was to eliminate any suspicion from her slanderers, and especially so that he might protect her in case those who were scandalized in thinking that it was from the angel that she was pregnant might kill her. It was a great source of scandal to them that a virgin should give birth, because they were convinced that through her giving birth their city would be destroyed and that their kingdom, priesthood and prophecy would be abolished. It was for this reason too that they also killed the prophet Isaiah who announced these things, that a virgin would give birth to a child.

The holy Virgin knew that He was not the Son of Joseph, and yet calls her husband His father according to the belief of the Jews, who thought that He was conceived in the common way. Now to speak generally we may say, that the Holy Spirit honoured Joseph by the name of father, because he brought up the Child Jesus; but more technically, that it might not seem superfluous in St. Luke, bringing down the genealogy from David to Joseph. But why sought they Him sorrowing? Was it that he might have perished or been lost? It could not be. For what should cause them to dread the loss of Him whom they knew to be the Lord? But as whenever you read the Scriptures you search out their meaning with pains, not that you suppose them to have erred or to contain anything incorrect, but that the truth which they have inherent in them you are anxious to find out; so they sought Jesus, lest perchance leaving them he should have returned to heaven, thither to descend when He would. He then who seeks Jesus must go about it not carelessly and idly, as many seek Him who never find Him, but with labour and sorrow.

The Mother of God calls Joseph father, even though she knew that he was not the father. Without doubt, she names Joseph His father for the sake of the Jews, so that they would not conceive any impure thought concerning His birth. Otherwise: since Joseph applied fatherly care and service in His upbringing, she fittingly called him father himself, as though the Holy Spirit honored him with the title of father.

There are two generations in Christ, one from His Father, the other from His mother; the Father's more divine, the mother's that which has come down for our use and advantage.

(Metaphrastes et Geometer.) But the Lord Himself sets every thing at rest, and correcting as it were her saying concerning him who was His reputed father, manifests His true Father, teaching us not to walk on the ground, but to raise ourselves on high, as it follows, And he says unto them, What is it that you ask of me?

(Geometer.) This is the first demonstration of the wisdom and power of the Child Jesus. For as to what are called thea acts of His childhood, we can not but suppose them to be the work not only of a childish but even of a devilish mind and perverse will, attempting to revile those things which are contained in the Gospel and the sacred prophecies. But should one desire to receive only such things as are generally believed, and are not contrary to our other declarations, but accord also with the words of prophecy, let it suffice that Jesus was distinguished in form above the sons of men; obedient to His mother, gentle in disposition; in appearance full of grace and dignity; eloquent in words, kind and thoughtful of the wants of others, known among all for a power and energy, as of one who was filled with all wisdom; and as in other things, so also in all human conversation, though above man, Himself the rule and measure. But that which most distinguished Him was His meekness, and that a razor had never come upon His head, nor any human hand except His mother's. But from these words we may derive a lesson; for when the Lord reproves Mary seeking Him among His relations, He most aptly points to the giving up of all fleshly ties, showing that it is not for him to attain the goal of perfection who is still encompassed by and walks among the things of the body, and that men fall from perfection through love of their relations.

Clearly the abode in the hearts of the elect of the holy Trinity, the nature of whose divinity is one and indivisible, cannot be disparate. Therefore, when he was sitting in the temple, the Lord said, "I must be about my Father's business," and this is a declaration of his power and glory which are co-eternal with God the Father's. However, when he returned to Nazareth, he was subject to his parents, and this is an indication of his true humanity as well as an example of humility. He was subject to human beings in that human nature in which he is less than the Father. Hence he himself said, "I go to the Father because the Father is greater than I." In that human nature, he was made a little less than the angels. In that other nature, however, in which he and the Father are one, and in virtue of which he does not go to the Father only now and then but is always in him, all things were made through him, and he is before all things.

He blames them not that they seek Him as their son, but compels them to raise the eyes of their mind to what was rather due to Him whose eternal Son He was. Hence it follows, Knew ye not? &c.

And note that he responds to the question humbly and wisely: whence it is added: And he said to them: Why is it that you sought me? As if I were absent, when I was present to you: Jeremiah 23: "I fill heaven and earth"; and this showed that he was the Son of the eternal Father. Whence he adds: Did you not know that I must be about the things that are my Father's? John 6: "I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me." Whence you ought not to wonder if I left you on account of the eternal Father, because thus it is said in Acts 5: "It is necessary to obey God rather than men."

Here then first He makes more open mention of Him Who is truly His Father, and lays bare His own divinity: for when the holy Virgin said, Child, why hast Thou so done unto us? then at once shewing Himself to transcend the measure of human things, and teaching her that she had been made the handmaid of the dispensation in giving birth to the flesh, but that He by nature and in truth was God, and the Son of the Father That is in heaven, He says, Did ye not know that I must be at My Father's? Here let the Valentinians, when they hear that the temple was God's, and that Christ was now at His own, Who long before also was so described in the law, and represented as in shadows and types, feel shame in affirming, that neither the Maker of the world, nor the God of the law, nor the God of the temple, was the Father of Christ.

He says this then by way of showing that He surpasses all human standards, and hinting that the Holy Virgin was made the handmaid of the work in bringing His flesh unto the world, but that He Himself was by nature and in truth God, and the Son of the Father most high. Now from this let the followers of Valentinus, hearing that the temple was of God, be ashamed to say that the Creator, and the God of the law and of the temple, is not also the Father of Christ.

Some passages, also, which occur in the Gospels, receive from them a colouring of the same kind, such as the answer which He gave His mother when He was twelve years of age: "Wist ye not that I must be about My Father's business?" Thus, they say, He announced to them the Father of whom they were ignorant.

Surely Jesus was in the temple that Solomon had built. He confesses that it is the temple of his Father, whom he revealed to us, and whose Son he said he was.

This He Himself, in those other Gospels also, testifies Himself to have been from His very boyhood: "Wist ye not," says He, "that I must be about my Father's business? " Satan likewise knew Him to be this in his temptations: "Since Thou art the Son of God.

Why then were they seeking Him? Did they suppose that He, as a child, had gotten lost or gone astray? Away with such a thought! For it could not have occurred either to the most wise Mary, who had received countless revelations about Him, or to Joseph, to whom it had also been revealed that He was of the Holy Spirit. Rather, they were seeking Him lest He had somehow fallen behind them, lest He had somehow left them. And when they found Him, see how He answers them! Since the Virgin had called Joseph His father, He says: he, Joseph, is not My true Father, although I was in his house; but God is My Father, and therefore I am in His house, that is, in His temple.

And they did not understand the word that he spoke to them. And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them. How much an example of piety and humility in the Lord! His parents did not understand the word that he spoke to them about his divinity, and yet he, not ungrateful for their human diligence towards him, descended to where they commanded, and was subject to them. For what would the teacher of virtue be if he did not fulfill the duty of piety? What else among us than that he would do what he wanted us to do? He deferred to a man, he deferred to a maidservant. For she herself says: Behold the handmaid of the Lord (Luke 1). He deferred to the simulated father, he deferred to the true father who is God. And indeed he had preserved his mother, born of a virgin, as a virgin and chaste; indeed, he did not differ from the father by will, by act, or by time. In order that, being admonished by his example, we might recognize what we owe to our parents, who suffer so much for us. The Arians are wont to say that the Son was imperfect because he said, The Father is greater than I (John 14). But what marvel if from human reception he asserts himself lesser than the Father in heaven, from which he was also subject to his parents on earth?

It follows, And they understood him not, that is, the word which He spoke to them of His divinity.

And because the word was hidden, it is added: And they did not understand: First Corinthians 2: "We speak wisdom hidden in mystery"; and Tobit 12: "It is good to hide the secret of a king." In this, however, that Christ, when he was corrected, humbly excused himself, and when he was invited by his Mother to perform a miracle, responded harshly, he gave us an example and pattern of humility, so that we should prefer to be corrected rather than praised: Ecclesiastes 7: "It is better to be corrected by a wise man than to be deceived by the flattery of fools." At the same time he also intimated by this that piety toward God is to be preferred to piety with respect to parents.

Or they knew not whether when He said about my Father's business, He referred to the temple, or something higher and more edifying; for every one of us who doeth good, is the seat of God the Father; but whoso is the seat of God the Father, has Christ in the midst of him.

"But they did not understand" what He said to them, for this was a mystery.

And can you wonder if He who is subject to His mother, also submits to His Father? Surely that subjection is a mark not of weakness but of filial duty. Let then the heretic so raise his head as to assert that He who is sent has need of other help; yet why should He need human help, in obeying His mother's authority? He was obedient to a handmaid, He was obedient to His pretended father, and do you wonder whether He obeyed God? Or is it a mark of duty to obey man, of weakness to obey God?

(ubi sup.) All that time of the life of Christ which He passed between His manifestation in the temple and His baptism, being devoid of any great public miracles or teaching, the Evangelist sums up in one word, saying, And he went down with them.

(ubi sup.) Sometimes by His word He first institutes laws, and He afterwards confirms them by His work, as when He says, The good shepherd layeth down his life for his sheep. (John 10:11) For shortly after seeking our salvation He poured out His own life. But sometimes He first sets forth in Himself an example, and afterwards, as far as words can go, draws therefrom rules of life, as He does here, showing forth by His work these three things above the rest, the love of God, honour to parents, but the preferring God also to our parents. For when He was blamed by His parents, He counts all other things of less moment than those which belong to God; again, He gives His obedience also to His parents.

(Amphilochius.) He increased then in age, His body growing to the stature of man; but in wisdom through those who were taught divine truths by Him; in grace, that is, whereby we are advanced with joy, trusting at last to obtain the promises; and this indeed before God, because having put on the flesh, He performed His Father's work, but before men by their conversion from the worship of idols to the knowledge of the Most High Trinity.

He who had commanded to honour our parents, was Himself subject to them.

(in Const. Mon. 4.) But from His very first years being obedient to His parents, He endured all bodily labours, humbly and reverently. For since His parents were honest and just, yet at the same time poor, and ill supplied with the necessaries of life, (as the stable which administered to the holy birth bears witness,) it is plain that they continually underwent bodily fatigue in providing for their daily wants. But Jesus being obedient to them, as the Scriptures testify, even in sustaining labours, submitted Himself to a complete subjection.

And his mother kept all these words in her heart. Whether what she understood, or what she could not yet understand of the words of the Gospel, she kept all in her heart to be pondered upon and diligently examined. Let us then learn the chastity of the holy virgin in all things, who, no less modest in speech than in body, kept the arguments of faith in her heart. And if she kept silent before the apostolic precepts, why do you, after the apostolic precepts, more desire to teach than to learn?

For what is the teacher of virtue, unless he fulfil his duty to his parents? What else did He do among us, than what He wished should be done by us?

The Virgin, whether she understood or whether she could not yet understand, equally laid up all things in her heart for reflection and diligent examination. Hence it follows, And his mother laid up all these things, &c. Mark the wisest of mothers, Mary the mother of true wisdom, becomes the scholar or disciple of the Child. For she yielded to Him not as to a boy, nor as to a man, but as unto God. Further, she pondered upon both His divine words and works, so that nothing that was said or done by Him was lost upon her, but as the Word itself was before in her womb, so now she conceived the ways and words of the same, and in a manner nursed them in her heart. And while indeed she thought upon one thing at the time, another she wanted to be more clearly revealed to her; and this was her constant rule and law through her whole life. It follows, And Jesus increased in wisdom.

Have you not read in the Gospel what pattern of obedience the boy Jesus handed on to holy children? For when he had remained in Jerusalem and had said that he must be about the things that are his Father's, yet when his parents did not agree, he did not disdain to follow them to Nazareth—the Master following disciples, God following human beings, the Word and Wisdom following a carpenter and a woman. What? The sacred history even adds: "And he was," it says, "subject to them." How long will you be wise in your own eyes? God entrusts and subjects himself to mortals; and you still walk in your own ways?

The Lord also submitted to the one commanding; on account of which it is added: And he went down with them and came to Nazareth. Now that passage from Baruch 3 was fulfilled: "After these things he was seen on earth and conversed with men." He went down, I say, which is a sign of humiliation: Song of Songs 6: "I went down into my garden to see the fruits of the valleys," that is, the humble. "For the Lord is high and regards the lowly," namely from near at hand, "and knows the lofty from afar." On account of which it is also added: And he was subject to them. Bernard: "Who? To whom? God to men. God, I say, subjects himself to men: and you, eager to dominate, set yourself before your Creator? For as often as I desire to be set over men, so often do I strive to go before my God, so that the Lord might respond something like this to me: Get behind me, Satan, for you do not savor the things that are of God." Whence he could truly say that passage from 1 Corinthians 9: "Though I was free from all, I made myself the servant of all." And we ought to be subject to all out of love for him: 1 Peter 2: "Be subject to every human creature for the sake of God."

And his Mother etc. Here is described his clarification, and this through two things, namely through the testimony of the Mother and through the indication of his own virtue. As for the testimony of the Mother, it is said: And his Mother kept all these words, so that she might bear witness at the proper place and time, as Bede says in the Gloss. So it is said in Daniel 12: "But you, Daniel, close the book and seal the words until the appointed time." And because she understood these things, therefore it is said: Pondering in her heart, according to that passage from Ecclesiastes 8: "The heart of the wise understands the time and the answer"; and in Mark 9 it is said concerning the transfiguration of the Lord that "the disciples kept the word among themselves." For the Apostles had not yet come, to whom "it was given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God," as is said in Matthew 13, who also might confer with one another, according to that passage from Galatians 2: "I conferred with them the Gospel which I preach among the Gentiles."

Conformity to Christ is consonant with evangelical perfection: but Christ by sheer liberality subjected himself to a human being, Luke 2: And he was subject to them: therefore to subject oneself to another makes one conformed to Christ. But this is done most of all through the vow of obedience. For since Christ the Lord not only gave us to ourselves, but also gave himself to us; and for our sake not only made himself man, but also subjected himself to men: hence it is fitting that we subject not only what we have and our members, but also what we are, that is, our will.

Be not therefore offended, considering perchance within thyself, How can God increase? or how can He Who gives grace to angels and to men receive fresh wisdom? Rather reflect upon the great skill wherewith we are initiated into His mystery. For the wise Evangelist did not introduce the Word in His abstract and incorporeal nature, and so say of Him that He increased in stature and wisdom and grace, but after having shewn that He was born in the flesh of a woman, and took our likeness, he then assigns to Him these human attributes, and calls Him a child, and says that He waxed in stature, as His body grow little by little, in obedience to corporeal laws. And so He is said also to have increased in wisdom, not as receiving fresh supplies of wisdom,----for God is perceived by the understanding to be entirely perfect in all things, and altogether incapable of being destitute of any attribute suitable to the Godhead:----but because God the Word gradually manifested His wisdom proportionably to the age which the body had attained.

(Orat. in 1 Cor. 15:28.) Further, since the young have not yet perfect understanding, and have need to be led forward by those who have advanced to a more perfect state; therefore when He arrived at twelve years, He is obedient to His parents, to show that whatever is made perfect by moving forward, before that it arrives at the end profitably embraces obedience, (as leading to good.)

(Hom. 3. in Cant.) The word also increases in different degrees in those who receive it; and according to the measure of its increase a man appears either an infant, grown up, or a perfect man.

How does he who is Wisdom receive understanding? "Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and grace before God and men." This means not so much that the Son was instructed by the Father but that his human nature was instructed by his own divinity. There is the seer's prophecy of him who blossomed from the root of Jesse, "The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and of understanding."

He is said to have progressed in wisdom and age and grace, because he did increase in age and by this increase in age brought more into evidence the wisdom inherent in him further. By making what is ours altogether his own, he made his own the progress of people in wisdom and grace, as well as the fulfillment of the Father's will, which is to say, people's knowledge of God and their salvation. Now, those who say that he progressed in wisdom and grace in the sense of receiving an increase in these are saying that the union was not made from the first instant of the flesh's existence. Neither are they holding the hypostatic union, but, misled by the empty-headed Nestorius, they are talking falsely of a relative union and simple indwelling, "understanding neither the things they say, nor whereof they affirm." For, if from the first instant of its existence the flesh was truly united to God the Word—rather, had existence in him and identity of person with him—how did it not enjoy perfectly all wisdom and grace? It did not share the grace, and neither did it participate by grace in the things of the Word. Rather, because the human and divine things had become proper to the one Christ by the hypostatic union, then, since the same was at once God and man, it gushed forth with the grace and the wisdom and the fullness of all good things for the world.

Children, we should learn to be subject to our parents. The greater is subject to the lesser. Jesus understood that Joseph was greater than he in age, and therefore he gave him the honor due a parent. He gave an example to every son.… I think Joseph understood that Jesus, who was subject to him, was greater than he. He knew that the one subject to him was greater than he and, out of reverence, restrained his authority. So each one should realize that often a lesser man is put in charge of better men.

Or they knew not whether when He said about my Father's business, He referred to the temple, or something higher and more edifying; for every one of us who doeth good, is the seat of God the Father; but whoso is the seat of God the Father, has Christ in the midst of him.

Jesus frequently went down with His disciples, for He is not always dwelling on the mount, for they who were troubled with various diseases were not able to ascend the mount. For this reason now also He went down to them who were below. It follows: And he was subject to them, &c.

Let us then also ourselves be subject to our parents. But if our fathers are not, let us be subject to those who are our fathers. Jesus the Son of God is subject to Joseph and Mary. But I must be subject to the Bishop who has been constituted my father. It seems that Joseph knew that Jesus was greater than he, and therefore in awe moderated his authority. But let every one see, that oftentimes he who is subject is the greater. Which if they who are higher in dignity understand, they will not be clated with pride, knowing that their superior is subject to them.

It is written that before His baptism He was subject unto His parents; "He went back with them to Nazareth, and was subject unto them." But observe that, after the baptism, when He was delivering a rule of life which was more perfect than this to the children of men, He was not persuaded to acknowledge parents after the body. And although He was obedient and subject unto His parents before baptism, in the time which followed, when He was delivering the rule and course of life of spiritual beings, He said, "I know them not"; and they called Him to go forth to them, but He would not be persuaded. Now if our Lord had done this before baptism when He was keeping the law, that is, if He had been called by His mother, and He had not obeyed, He would have transgressed the law; but in this case, He did not transgress except to shew that He was more obedient to the Father of nature than to the parents of grace, and that He might also teach those who are perfect to be more obedient unto the Father of grace than unto natural parents.

Jesus was obedient to His parents, giving us also an example, so that we too would be obedient to our parents. The Virgin kept all these things; for the deeds and words of the Child were divine and revealed in Him not a twelve-year-old child, but a fully mature man.

Not that He became wise by making progress, but that by degrees He revealed His wisdom. As it was when He disputed with the Scribes, asking them questions of their law to the astonishment of all who heard Him. You see then how He increased in wisdom, in that He became known to many, and caused them to wonder, for the showing forth of His wisdom is His increase. But mark how the Evangelist, having interpreted what it is to increase in wisdom, adds, and in stature, declaring thereby that an increase or growth in age is an increase in wisdom.

He says before God and men, because we must first please God, then man.

And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. This passage refutes both the Manichaeans and the Apollinarians alike, showing that the Lord truly had flesh and a true soul. For as stature pertains to the body, so wisdom and favor pertain to the soul. And indeed, it would not have increased in wisdom if it did not have the natural understanding that was granted to humans for the sake of reason. Not because the God who assumed this needed it, especially since He is described above as having been full of wisdom even as a child, but because He chose this as part of the remedy for our salvation, through the effect of a loving assumption, so that while flesh and a rational soul were assumed by God, both would be equally saved.

But as to the indication of his own virtue, there is added: And Jesus advanced in age, namely on the part of the body, as Samuel: 1 Kings 2: "The boy Samuel advanced and grew, and was pleasing both to God and to men." And this advancement was according to essence, but the interior advancement was according to evidence, of which it is said: And in wisdom, namely in the intellect, and in grace, in the affections, before God, namely to be honored, and men, to be edified. Nor is this contrary to what is said just above, that "he was full of wisdom"; whence Gregory: "He advanced in wisdom, not by receiving through the passage of time what he did not have, but by revealing to others the gifts of grace and wisdom which he had"; and this for the edification of others: 2 Corinthians 8: "We provide good things, not only before God, but also before men." Whence for our edification he hid his wisdom for a time, to show that we ought to be silent until the proper time, according to that passage of Ecclesiasticus 20: "There is one who is silent, not having the sense of speech, and there is one who is silent, knowing the fitting time. A wise man will be silent until the proper time." At the proper time also he showed it for our salvation, according to that passage of Ecclesiasticus 4: "Do not withhold the word in the time of salvation." Whence, because he did not seek his own glory but God's, not his own advantage but our salvation, therefore he found grace before God and men. The first pertained to justice, the second to mercy: on account of which, Proverbs 3: "Let not mercy and truth forsake you, and you shall find grace and good discipline before God and men."

From the foregoing, therefore, we can gather how we ought to attend to the worship of the divine Majesty, the study of truth, and the service of piety. For the worship of the divine Majesty ought to be undertaken from infancy and ought to be preferred to all else out of divine reverence. The study of truth ought to be with due companionship, namely of those who are skilled, and in due order, so that one be a disciple before being a master. The service of piety is observed in this, that we submit ourselves to a spiritual father, whether correcting or commanding. And if we keep these things, then there follows what is set down last, that we advance before God and men.

That besides uncreated wisdom Christ had also created wisdom is argued thus: Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and grace before God and men; but this could not be through uncreated wisdom. Therefore, besides that wisdom he had created wisdom.

The soul of Christ, since it is a creature, was wise with both wisdoms, namely created and uncreated: uncreated as principally moving and regulating and quieting; created however as informing, disposing, and elevating, so that it might fully attain to that uncreated wisdom. For created intelligence does not attain to that fontal wisdom unless it has been made deiform, and through this elevated and disposed: elevated above itself, and disposed in itself. Therefore it is necessary that something be given to it coming from above, which is nevertheless proportionate to it and inhering in it; and this we call the influence of the eternal light: and because it disposes the soul for wisdom, it is called created wisdom.

(Thes. l. x. c. 7.) But the Eunomian Hereticsb say, "How can He be equal to the Father in substance, who is said to increase, as if before imperfect." But not because He is the Word, but because He is made man, He is said to receive increase. For if He really increased after that He was made flesh, as having before existed imperfect, why then do we give Him thanks as having thence become incarnate for us? But how if He is the true wisdom can He be increased, or how can He who gives grace to others be Himself advanced in grace. Again, if hearing that the Word humbled Himself, no one is offended (thinking slightingly of the true God,) but rather marvels at His compassion, how is it not absurd to be offended at hearing that He increases? For as He was humbled for us, so for us He increased, that we who have fallen through sin might increase in Him. For whatever concerns us, Christ Himself has truly undertaken for us, that He might restore us to a better state. And mark what He says, not that the Word, but Jesus, increases, that you should not suppose that the pure Word increases, but the Word made flesh; and as we confess that the Word suffered in the flesh, although the flesh only suffered, because of the Word the flesh was which suffered, so He is said to increase, because the human nature of the Word increased in Him. But He is said to increase in His human nature, not as if that nature which was perfect from the beginning received increase, but that by degrees it was manifested. For the law of nature brooks not that man should have higher faculties than the age of his body permits. The Word then (made man) was perfect, as being the power and wisdom of the Father, but because something was to be yielded to the habits of our nature, lest He should be counted strange by those who saw Him, He manifested Himself as man with a body, gradually advancing in growth, and was daily thought wiser by those who saw and heard Him.

I blush not at an error which I have ceased to hold, because I am delighted at having ceased to hold it, because I recognise myself to be better and more modest. No one blushes at his own improvement. Even in Christ, knowledge had its stages of growth; through which stages the apostle, too, passed.

To explain what it means "to increase in wisdom," the Evangelist adds: "and stature," for the increase "in stature" he calls an increase "in wisdom." That is, he did what was pleasing to God and praiseworthy before men; but first he was acceptable before God, and then before men; for one must first please God, and then men.

(Serm. 218. App.) Hear the sacrament of a great mystery. Moses before had shut up the light of day from the traitors the Egyptians; Christ by going down thither brought back light to them that sate in darkness. He fled that he might enlighten them, not that he might escape his foes.

The miserable tyrant supposed that by the Saviour's coming he should be thrust from his royal throne. But it was not so; Christ came not to hurt others' dignity, but to bestow His own on others.

(Hom. in. Nat. Innocent.) The flight into Egypt signifies that the elect are often by the wickedness of the bad driven from their homes, or sentenced to banishment. Thus He, who, we shall see below, gave the command to His own, When they shall persecute you in one city, flee ye to another, first practised what He enjoined, as a man flying before the face of man on earth. He whom but a little before a star had proclaimed to the Magi to be worshipped as from heaven.

The first time when he would teach Joseph that she was lawfully espoused, the Angel called the Virgin his espoused wife; but after the birth she is only spoken of as the Mother of Jesus. As wedlock was rightfully imputed to her in her virginity, so virginity is esteemed venerable in her as the mother of Jesus.

(Vers. 13, 14.) Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying: Rise and take the child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. For it will come to pass that Herod will seek the child to destroy him. So Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt; and he stayed there until the death of Herod. When he takes the child and his mother to go to Egypt, he takes them by night and in darkness; but when he returns to Judea, neither night nor darkness are mentioned in the Gospel.

When he takes the Child and His mother to go into Egypt, it is in the night and darkness, when to return into Judæa, the Gospel speaks of no light, no darkness.

"And when they were departed, behold, an angel appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young Child and His mother, and flee into Egypt."

There is something here worth inquiring into, both touching the magi, and touching the Child; for if even they were not troubled, but received all with faith, it is worthy of examination on our part, why they and the young Child are not preserved, continuing there, but they as fugitives go into Persia, He with His mother into Egypt. But what? should He have fallen into the hands of Herod, and having fallen, not have been cut off? Nay, He would not have been thought to have taken flesh upon Him; the greatness of the Economy would not have been believed.

For if, while these things are taking place, and many circumstances are being ordered mysteriously after the manner of men, some have dared to say that His assumption of our flesh is a fable; in what degree of impiety would they not have been wrecked, had He done all in a manner becoming His Godhead, and according to His own power?

As to the wise men, He sends them off quickly, at once both commissioning them as teachers to the land of the Persians, and at the same time intercepting the madness of the king, that he might learn that he was attempting things impossible, and might quench his wrath, and desist from this his vain labor. For not alone openly to subdue His enemies, but also to deceive them with ease, is worthy of His power.

And besides what I have said, there is another lesson also, which we are hereby taught, tending not slightly to true self-command in us. Of what kind then is it? To look from the beginning for temptations and plots. See, for instance, how this was the case even at once from His swaddling clothes. Thus you see at His birth, first a tyrant raging, then flight ensuing, and departure beyond the border; and for no crime His mother is exiled into the land of the barbarians: that thou, hearing these things (supposing thee thought worthy to minister to any spiritual matter, and then to see thyself suffering incurable ills, and enduring countless dangers), shouldest not be greatly troubled, nor say, "What can this be? yet surely I ought to be crowned and celebrated, and be glorious and illustrious for fulfilling the Lord's commandment:" but that having this example, thou mightest bear all things nobly, knowing that this especially is the order of all things spiritual, to have everywhere temptations in the same lot with them.

Now the angel having thus appeared, talks not with Mary, but with Joseph; and what saith he? "Arise, and take the young Child and His mother." Here, he saith not any more, "thy wife," but "His mother." For after that the birth had taken place, and the suspicion was done away, and the husband appeased, thenceforth the angel talks openly, calling neither child nor wife his, but "take the young Child and His mother, and flee into Egypt;" and he mentions the cause of the flight: "For Herod," saith he, "will seek the young Child's life."

Joseph, when he had heard these things, was not offended, neither did he say, "The thing is hard to understand: Didst thou not say just now, that He should 'save His people?' and now He saves not even Himself: but we must fly, and go far from home, and be a long time away: the facts are contrary to the promise." Nay, none of these things doth he say (for the man was faithful): neither is he curious about the time of his return; and this though the angel had put it indefinitely thus: "Be thou there until I tell thee." But nevertheless, not even at this did he shudder, but submits and obeys, undergoing all the trials with joy.

And this because God, who is full of love to man, did with these hardships mingle things pleasant also; which indeed is His way with regard to all the saints, making neither their dangers nor their refreshment continual, but weaving the life of all righteous men, out of both the one and the other. This very thing He did here also: for consider, Joseph saw the Virgin with child; this cast him into agitation and the utmost trouble, for he was suspecting the damsel of adultery. But straightway the angel was at hand to do away his suspicion, and remove his fears; and seeing the young child born, he reaped the greatest joy. Again, this joy no trifling danger succeeds, the city being troubled, and the king in his madness seeking after Him that was born. But this trouble was again succeeded by another joy; the star, and the adoration of the wise men. Again, after this pleasure, fear and danger; "For Herod," saith he, "is seeking the young Child's life," and He must needs fly and withdraw Himself as any mortal might: the working of miracles not being seasonable as yet. For if from His earliest infancy He had shown forth wonders, He would not have been accounted a Man.

Because of this, let me add, neither is a temple framed at once; but a regular conception takes place, and a time of nine months, and pangs, and a delivery, and giving suck, and silence for so long a space, and He awaits the age proper to manhood; that by all means acceptance might be won for the mystery of His Economy.

Rather, however, both the people and the patriarch, going down thither, and coming up thence, were together completing the type of this His return. Thus, as they went down to avoid death by famine, so He death by conspiracy. But whereas they on their arrival were for the time delivered from the famine, this man, when He had gone down, sanctified the whole land, by setting His foot thereon.

At least it is observable how, in the midst of His humiliations, the tokens of His Godhead are disclosed. Thus, first of all, the angel saying, "Flee into Egypt," did not promise to journey with them, either in their descent or return; intimating that they have a great fellow-traveller, the Child that had been born; such an one as actually changed all things immediately on His appearing, and wrought so that His enemies should minister in many ways to this Economy. Thus magi and barbarians, leaving the superstition of their fathers, are come to worship: thus Augustus ministers to the birth at Bethlehem by the decree for the taxing; Egypt receives and preserves Him, driven from His home, and plotted against, and obtains a sort of first impulse towards her union unto Him; so that when in after-time she should hear Him preached by the apostles, she might have this at least to glory of, as having received Him first. And yet this privilege did belong unto Palestine alone; but the second proved more fervent than the first.

His flight then was not occasioned by fear but by what had come through the mystery of prophecy. The Evangelist planted the seed when he thus spoke: "Take the boy and his mother and flee into Egypt." And later, "that what was written might be fulfilled: 'From Egypt have I summoned my son.' " Christ fled so that he might establish the truth of the law, faith in prophecy and the testimony of the psalter. The Lord himself says, "It was needful that what was written in the law and the prophets and the psalms be fulfilled by me." Christ fled for us, not for himself. Christ fled so that at the right time he might serve as a steward of the sacraments [the divine mysteries]. Christ fled so that by granting absolution he might take away the source of abuses to come and that he might give proof of faith to those who would believe. And finally, Christ fled so that he might bestow on us faith even when we have to flee, because in the face of persecution it is better to flee than to deny the faith. For Peter, because he was unwilling to flee, denied the Lord. John, lest he deny the Lord, fled.

Was it Herod seeking the child, or the devil working through Herod? When Herod saw the magi for himself, he imagined in his fantasy that they had fled their governors. For Christ, though bound in swaddling clothes, though busy at his mother's breast, though keeping quiet, concealing his words, unable to walk, nevertheless transformed the magi (who had been standard-bearers of the devil) into his most faithful servants. The devil instantly realized what Christ could do when he came of age. So he spurred the Jews against him and, clever contriver that he was, impelled Herod that he might get the jump on Christ in his infancy. He hoped to deprive him of the coming emblem of his virtue, the cross, the banner of the greatest victory for us. The devil perceived that Christ would soon be restoring life to all the world with his teaching and his virtue. Even while still whimpering as a baby, Jesus was taking possession of this world from top to bottom. It was as the prophet said: "Before the child knows to cry to his father and mother he shall take the pride of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria." The Jews themselves attest to this when they say, "You see how the whole world hastens after him."

He says not, 'the Mother and her young Child,' but, the young Child and His mother; for the Child was not born for the mother, but the mother prepared for the Child. How is this that the Son of God flies from the face of man? or who shall deliver from the enemy's hand, if He Himself fears His enemies? First; He ought to observe, even in this, the law of that human nature which He took on Him; and human nature and infancy must flee before threatening power. Next, that Christians when persecution makes it necessary should not be ashamed to fly.

Here Matthew omits the day of purification when the first-born must be presented in the Temple with a lamb, or a pair of turtle doves, or pigeons. Their fear of Herod did not make them bold to transgress the Law, that they should not present the Child in the temple. As soon then as the rumour concerning the Child begins to be spread abroad, the Angel is sent to bid Joseph carry Him into Egypt.

For when the true light withdraws, they who hate the light are in darkness, when it returns they are again enlightened.

By this that the Angel appears always to Joseph in sleep, is mystically signified that they who rest from mundane cares and secular pursuits, deserve angelic visitations.

In Joseph is figured the order of preachers, in Mary Holy Scripture; by the Child the knowledge of the Saviour; by the cruelty of Herod the persecution which the Church suffered in Jerusalem; by Joseph's flight into Egypt the passing of the preachers to the unbelieving Gentiles, (for Egypt signifies darkness;) by the time that he abode in Egypt the space of time between the ascension of the Lord and the coming of Anti Christ; by Herod's death the extinction of jealousy in the hearts of the Jews.

And when they had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young Child and His mother. Do you see now the reason why God permitted the Virgin to be betrothed? It is revealed to you here: that Joseph might care for her and watch over her. The angel did not say, "take thy wife," but "take the mother of the Child." For once his suspicion had been allayed, and the righteous man had understood from the miracles attendant at His birth that everything was of the Holy Spirit, the angel no longer calls her Joseph's "wife." And flee into Egypt. Even the Lord flees, to confirm that He was truly man. For if He had fallen into the hands of Herod and had not been slain, it would have seemed that He had been made flesh only in appearance. He flees into Egypt to sanctify even that place. For there were two lands that were the workshops of every iniquity: Babylon and Egypt. By means of the Magi He accepted the adoration of Babylon, and Egypt He sanctified by His own presence. And be thou there until I bring thee word. Remain there until you receive God's command. So we, too, should do nothing apart from the will of God. For Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him. Behold the foolishness of a man who labors to prevail against the will of God. For if it is not of God, what do you fear? But if it is of God, how can you destroy the Child?

Having showed how the Magi bore witness to the newborn Christ, the evangelist now shows how the Innocents gave testimony, not by speaking but by dying. In regard to this he does three things: first, he shows how Christ was concealed; secondly, the murder of the children (v. 16); thirdly, Christ's return (v. 19).

In regard to the first he does three things: first, he mentions the angel's warning; secondly, Joseph's obedience (v. 14); thirdly, the fulfillment of a prophecy (v. 15).

In regard to the first, three things are mentioned: first, the time of the appearance; secondly, the appearance itself and the manner of the appearance (v. 13b); thirdly, the warning given by the angel (v. 13c).

(13) The time is described at When they had departed. And it should be noted that the appearance did not occur immediately after the departure of the Magi, because everything mentioned in Luke (2:22), namely, the purification, should be interposed: "And when the time came for their purification..." For the thought of killing the child did not come to Herod right away. Hence, when he says Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph..., he is said to have appeared in sleep, because that is when men cease their external activities, and a revelation can be made by angels: "In peace I will both lie down and sleep" (Ps 4:8); "When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet" (Pr 3:24).

In the warning the angel does two things: first, the angel persuades him to flee; secondly, he gives the reason. He says, therefore Rise. And note that, as Hilary says, the Blessed Virgin is called "wife" by the angel before the birth (Mt 1:5) but not after for two reasons: first to commend the Virgin, for as a virgin she gave birth. Secondly, on account of her dignity, for she was the mother of God, than which there is no greater dignity. Also because, as Chrysostom says, the child had not come on account of the mother, but rather conversely. Therefore, he says Take the child and its mother. But why flee into Egypt? Does it not say in Ps 18 (v. 3): "The Lord is my helper and my redeemer." But he fled for three reasons: first, to manifest his humanity; for as the divinity appeared in the star, so in flight the humanity: "Made in the likeness of men" (Phil 2:7). Secondly, as an example: "When they persecute you in one city, flee into another" (Mt 10:23). Thirdly, on account of the mystery; for just as he willed to die in order to call us back from death, so he willed to flee in order to call back those who flee from his face through sin: "Where shall I flee from your spirit?" (Ps 139:7).

And remain there. But why to Egypt rather than some other region? For two reasons: first, because it is distinctive of God to be mindful of mercy in his anger (Hab 3:2). For the Lord had been angry at the Egyptians pursuing the sons of Israel, because the sons of Israel were God's firstborn. Therefore, the Egyptians were granted the privilege of serving the Lord: "Behold, the Lord, riding on a swift cloud, comes to Egypt" (Is 19:1); "We have seen his glory, the glory, as it were, of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" (Jn 1:14). Secondly, because he had brought forth darkness in Egypt, he willed to enlighten it first. Therefore, it was well that he fled there: "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, on them has light shined" (Is 9:2).

Note that when anyone wills to flee sin, the first thing to do is shake off laziness: "Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead and Christ shall enlighten you" (Eph 5:14). Secondly, he should take trust from the mother and from the Son, namely, Christ: "In me all hope of life and virtue" (Sir 24:18). Thirdly, he ought to flee from sin with the help of the mother and child: "Yes, I have wandered far, I have lodged in the wilderness" (Ps 55:7).

He adds the cause of the flight. For Herod is about to search for the child to destroy him. Herod was deceived, because he wanted to destroy the one who would come to share his kingdom: "As my father appointed a kingdom for me, so do I appoint one for you" (Lk 22:29); secondly, because he wanted to destroy him who sought no worldly glory: "Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross" (Heb 12:2).

Egypt full of idols; for after this enquiry for Him among the Jews, Christ leaving Judæa goes to be cherished among nations given to the vainest superstitions.

Christ promised that he would come incarnate, that he would go through the phases of life, that he would announce the glory of the kingdom of heaven, that he would proclaim the way of faith and that by the power of his word alone he would put demons to flight. He promised that he would give sight to the blind, gait to the lame, speech to the mute, hearing to the deaf, remission for sinners and life to the dead. All these things he promised through the law and the prophets. Thus it was that Christ, when he was to become a man, was not to flee the death he escaped as an infant.

But why into Egypt? The Lord, who keepeth not His anger for ever, remembered the woes He had brought upon Egypt, and therefore sent His Son thither, and gives it this sign of great reconciliation, that with this one remedy He might heal the ten plagues of Egypt, and the nation that had been the persecutor of this first-born people, might be the guardian of His first-born Son. As formerly they had cruelly tyrannized, now they might devoutly serve; nor go to the Red Sea to be drowned, but be called to the waters of baptism to receive life.

The straitness of every persecution may be called night—the relief from it in like manner, day.

And he arose and took the young Child and His mother by night, and departed into Egypt; and was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt have I called My Son" (Hosea 11:1).

The Jews say that this was said of the people whom Moses led out of Egypt. We reply, is it anything remarkable that something which was spoken of the people in type as a foreshadowing, was realized by Christ in truth? Furthermore, who is the Son of God? The Hebrew people who worshipped the idols and carvings of Beelphegor, or He Who truly is the Son of God?

(14) And he rose. Here is mentioned the execution of the angel's command both as to the flight and the length of the stay. He rose and took the child and his mother. The time is mentioned, when he says at night, on account of the fear and distress: "My soul desired you at night," i.e., in distress (Is 26:9); for in times of distress one must have recourse to God: "In the morning, they will come to me in their trouble" (Hos 10:1). He rose. Then was fulfilled the word of Is (19:1): "Behold, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt," which was fulfilled to the letter.

Joseph therefore was commanded to accept this boy about whom Isaiah had said, "For a boy has been born to you; a son has been given to you, whose rule has extended over his shoulders." Now he said "a son has been given to you" because Christ the Lord was born as a boy and was counted a son of Joseph and Mary. As to his going down into Egypt, Isaiah predicted this long before the fact when he said, "Behold, the Lord sits atop a swift cloud and will come into Egypt." By this statement the promise of the Lord's incarnation was clearly revealed. Since the Lord himself is invoked as "arising from on high, the sunlight of justice," it is right that he would come on a swift cloud. By this Isaiah means he would come in a hallowed body, a body weighed down by no sin and through which he covered the light of his own majesty with the envelope of the cloud of his body. Hosea as well points to this very fact when he says, "The king of Israel has been thrown down. Because Israel was small, I took delight in him. And I called my son from Egypt."19After Egypt's ancient, grave sin, after many blows had been divinely inflicted upon it, God the omnipotent Father, moved by devotion, sent his Son into Egypt. He did so that Egypt, which had long ago paid back the penalty of wickedness owed under Moses, might now receive Christ, the hope for salvation. How great was God's compassion as shown in the advent of his Son! Egypt, which of old under Pharaoh stood stubborn against God, now became a witness to and home for Christ. God's compassion toward Egypt was like that shown toward the magi, who deserved to know Christ the Lord. For, although the magi had for a long time dared resist the divine goodness under Moses, they now, having seen but a single star in heaven, believed in the Son of God. The cavalier magicians were handed over to punishment for their lack of faith. Others were brought to glory through faith, since they believed that God had been born in the flesh—God whom the Egyptian magicians were unwilling to recognize in all his divine excellence.

Matthew, also called Levi, apostle and aforetimes publican, composed a gospel of Christ at first published in Judea in Hebrew for the sake of those of the circumcision who believed, but this was afterwards translated into Greek though by what author is uncertain. The Hebrew itself has been preserved until the present day in the library at Caesarea which Pamphilus so diligently gathered. I have also had the opportunity of having the volume described to me by the Nazarenes of Beroea, a city of Syria, who use it. In this it is to be noted that wherever the Evangelist, whether on his own account or in the person of our Lord the Saviour quotes the testimony of the Old Testament he does not follow the authority of the translators of the Septuagint but the Hebrew. Wherefore these two forms exist "Out of Egypt have I called my son," and "for he shall be called a Nazarene."

(Verse 15, 16.) So that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying: Out of Egypt I called my son. Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. Let those who deny the truth of the Hebrew scriptures answer where this is read in the Septuagint translators. But since they did not find it, we will tell them it is written in the prophet Hosea (Chapter 11), as they can also confirm with the copies we recently published. However, we can reconcile (or console) this passage differently for the contentious, whose behavior the Apostle Paul denies having. And we present the testimony from Numbers, with Balaam saying: God has called him out of Egypt; His glory is like a unicorn (Numbers 23:22).

(Epist. 57.7.) This is not in the LXX; but in Osee according to the genuine Hebrew text we read; Israel is my child, and I have loved him, and, from Egypt have I called my Son; where the LXX render, Israel is my child, and I have loved him, and called my sons out of Egypt.

(In Osee 11:2.) The Evangelist cites this text, because it refers to Christ typically. For it is to be observed, that in this Prophet and in others, the coming of Christ and the call of the Gentiles are foreshewn in such a manner, that the thread of history is never broken.

Let those who deny the authenticity of the Hebrew copies, show us this passage in the LXX, and when they have failed to find it, we will show it them in the Hebrew. We may also explain it in another way, by considering it as quoted from Numbers, God brought him out of Egypt; his glory is as it were that of a unicorn. (Num. 23:22.)

But wherefore, it may be said, is the young Child sent into Egypt? In the first place, the evangelist himself hath mentioned the cause, saying, "That it might be fulfilled, Out of Egypt have I called my Son." And at the same time beginnings of fair hopes were thenceforth proclaimed before to the world. That is, since Babylon and Egypt, most in the whole earth, were burnt up with the flame of ungodliness, He, signifying from the first that He means to correct and amend both, and inducing men hereby to expect His bounties in regard of the whole world likewise, sent to the one the wise men, the other He Himself visited with His mother.

And if the Jews should raise a question touching the prophecy, and say, that the words, "Out of Egypt have I called my Son," were uttered concerning themselves; we would tell them, This is a law of prophecy, that in many cases much that is spoken of one set of persons is fulfilled in another; of which kind is that which is said touching Simeon and Levi, "I will divide them," saith He, "in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel." And yet not in themselves did this come to pass, but in their descendants; and Noah's saying again about Canaan, came to pass in the Gibeonites, Canaan's descendants. And that concerning Jacob one may see to have so come to pass; for those blessings which say, "Be lord over thy brother, and let thy father's sons worship thee," had no accomplishment in himself (how could they, he being in fear and trembling, and worshipping his brother over and over again?), but in his offspring they had. The very same may be said in this case also. For which may be called the truer son of God, he that worships a calf, and is joined to Baalpeor and sacrifices his sons to devils? or He that is a Son by nature, and honors Him that begat Him? So that, except this man had come, the prophecy would not have received its due fulfillment. It is worth observing, too, that the evangelist intimates the same by the phrase, "that it might be fulfilled;" implying that it would not have been fulfilled, unless He had come.

And this makes the Virgin also in no common degree glorious and distinguished; that the very thing which was the whole people's supreme endowment in the way of praise, she also might thenceforth have for her own. I mean, that whereas they were proud of their coming up from Egypt, and used to boast of it (which indeed the prophet also was hinting at, when he said, "Have I not brought up the strangers from Cappadocia, and the Assyrians from the pit"), He makes this pre-eminence belong to the Virgin likewise.

Isaiah had foretold this flight into Egypt. Lo! the Lord shall ascend on a light cloud, and shall come into Egypt, and shall scatter the idols of Egypt. (Is. 19:1.) It is the practice of this Evangelist to confirm all he says; and that because he is writing to the Jews, therefore he adds, that it might be fulfilled, &c.

(15) And remained there. It is said that he was there seven years and lived in the city of Heliopolis. In regard to the mystery, by Joseph is signified preachers, i.e., the apostles, whose task is to replace the darkness with doctrine—they left the Jews and turned to the gentiles: "It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it from you and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold we turn to the gentiles" (Acts 13:46).

And remain there till I tell you, i.e. until the unbelief of the Jews is ended: "Blindness has come upon part of Israel" (Rom 11:25). Then he applies the testimony of the prophet; hence he says, This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, "Out of Egypt I have called my son." The Septuagint is not the same, for it says: "Out of Egypt I have called his son."

There seems to be a question here, because this text does not appear to apply, in as much as it is preceded by the words: "When Israel was a child, I loved him"; hence, it seems to speak of Israel's call from Egypt. But it must be noted that in all the texts presented in the Old or New Testaments about Christ a certain distinction must be made: because some refer specifically to Christ, as Is (53:7): "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter"; but some are said of certain ones accordingly as they are a figure of Christ, such as the text in question. For they were called sons of Israel, because they possessed a likeness to the true only-begotten Son. And this is the meaning of "Out of Egypt I have called my son," i.e., special.

(non occ.) And while he thus persecutes Christ, he furnished an army (of martyrs) clothed in white robes of the same age as the Lord.

(Serm. 220. App.) Behold how this unrighteous enemy never could have so much profited these infants by his love, as he did by his hate; for as much as iniquity abounded against them, so much did the grace of blessing abound on them.

(Serm. 373. 3.) O blessed infants! He only will doubt of your crown in this your passion for Christ, who doubts that the baptism of Christ has a benefit for infants. He who at His birth had Angels to proclaim Him, the heavens to testify, and Magi to worship Him, could surely have prevented that these should not have died for Him, had He not known that they died not in that death, but rather lived in higher bliss. Far be the thought, that Christ who came to set men free, did nothing to reward those who died in His behalf, when hanging on the cross He prayed for those who put Him to death.

(Serm. 132. App.) The Magi had seen this unknown star in the heavens, not a few days, but two years before, as they had informed Herod when he enquired. This caused him to fix two years old and under; as it follows, according to the time he had enquired of the Magi.

(Gloss. ord.) Or because he feared that the Child to whom even stars ministered, might transform His appearance to greater or under that of His own age, or might conceal all those of that age: hence it seems to be that he slew all from one day to two years old.

(de Cons. Ev. ii. 11.) Or, disturbed by pressure of still more imminent dangers, Herod's thoughts are drawn to other thoughts than the slaughter of children, he might suppose that the Magi, unable to find Him whom they had supposed born, were ashamed to return to him. So the days of purification being accomplished, they might go up in safety to Jerusalem. And who does not see that that one day they may have escaped the attention of a King occupied with so many cares, and that afterwards when the things done in the Temple came to be spread abroad, then Herod discovered that he had been deceived by the Magi, and then sent and slew the children.

(Hom. in Nat. Innocent.) In this death of the children the precious death of all Christ's martyrs is figured; that they were infants signifies, that by the merit of humility alone can we come to the glory of martyrdom; that they were slain in Bethlehem and the coasts thereof, that the persecution shall be both in Jerusalem whence the Church originated, and throughout the world; in those of two years old are figured the perfect in doctrine and works; those under that age the neophytes; that they were slain while Christ escaped, signifies that the bodies of the martyrs may be destroyed by the wicked, but that Christ cannot be taken from them.

For Herod, as we have said, in his desire to destroy the Savior of the world, sent word to Bethlehem and commanded that all children two years of age and under be killed, figuring the age according to the time that he had learned from the magi. He thought that his edict would reach even to the Lord himself, the source of life. The Holy Spirit had already foreseen his wickedness beforehand. Solomon, speaking for the church, had said, "Who will give to you my brother, the one who nurses at the breast of his mother?" Moreover, by saying, "Who will give to you?" he was demonstrating that Herod would have no power over him who is the Lord and Prince of all powers. Thus the Lord spoke rightly when he bore witness about himself through the same Solomon: "Evil men will seek and not find me. For they hate wisdom and moreover have not partaken of the Word of God and have had no desire for it." The Spirit also said through David: "Since you are the one who gave birth to me, you are my hope, my mother, from the time I nursed at your breast … you are my protector." The blessed Moses also relates that Christ the Lord, an infant, could not have been killed while still nursing. He gave witness to this with his words, "You will not cook a lamb in the milk of its own mother." In this exact statement Moses revealed the expectation that Christ our Lord would be the true Lamb of God who was to suffer at the appointed time.

In Bethlehem therefore all the babies were slain. These innocents who died then on Christ's behalf became the first martyrs of Christ. David refers to them when he says, "From the mouths of nursing babies you have perfected praise because of your enemies, that you might bring ruin to the enemy." … For in this persecution even tiny infants and nursing babies were killed on Christ's behalf and attained to the consummate praise of martyrs. Meanwhile the wicked king Herod was destroyed, he who had usurped the realm to defend himself against the king of the heavens. Thus it is that those blessed babes have deservedly lasted beyond others. They were the first who were worthy to die on Christ's behalf.

"Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth."

Yet surely it was a case not for anger, but for fear and awe: he ought to have perceived that he was attempting impossible things. But he is not refrained. For when a soul is insensible and incurable, it yields to none of the medicines given by God. See for example this man following up his former efforts, and adding many murders to one, and hurried down the steep any whither. For driven wild by this anger, and envy, as by some demon, he takes account of nothing, but rages even against nature herself, and his anger against the wise men who had mocked him he vents upon the children that had done no wrong: venturing then in Palestine upon a deed akin to the things that had been done in Egypt. For he "sent forth," it is said, "and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men."

Here attend to me carefully. Because many things are uttered by many very idly touching these children, and the course of events is charged with injustice, and some of these express their perplexity about it in a more moderate way, others with more of audaciousness and frenzy. In order then that we may free these of their madness and those of their perplexity, suffer us to discourse a little upon this topic. Plainly, then, if this be their charge, that the children were left to be slain, they should find fault likewise with the slaughter of the soldiers that kept Peter. For as here, when the young child had fled, other children are massacred in the place of Him who was sought; even so then, too, Peter having been delivered from his prison and chains by the angel, one of like name with this tyrant, and like temper too, when he had sought him, and found him not, slew instead of him the soldiers that kept him.

"But what is this? it may be said; "why this is not a solution, but an enhancement of our difficulty." I know it too, and for this intent I bring forward all such cases, that to all I may adduce one and the same solution. What then is the solution of these things? or what fair account of them can we give? That Christ was not the cause of their slaughter, but the king's cruelty; as indeed neither was Peter to those others, but the madness of Herod. For if he had seen the wall broken through, or the doors overthrown, he might, perhaps, have had ground to accuse the soldiers that kept the apostle, of neglect; but now when all things continued in due form, and the doors were thrown wide open, and the chains fastened to the hands of them that kept him (for in fact they were bound unto him), he might have inferred from these things (that is, if he had been strictly doing a judge's office on the matters before him), that the event was not of human power or craft, but of some divine and wonder-working power; he might have adored the doer of these things, instead of waging war with the sentinels. For God had so done all that He did, that so far from exposing the keepers, He was by their means leading the king unto the truth. But if he proved senseless, what signifies to the skillful Physician of Souls, managing all things to do good, the insubordination of him that is diseased?

Wherefore art thou wroth, O Herod, at being mocked of the wise men? didst thou not know that the birth was divine? didst thou not summon the chief priests? didst thou not gather together the scribes? did not they, being called, bring the prophet also with them into thy court of judgment, proclaiming these things beforehand from of old? Didst thou not see how the old things agreed with the new? Didst thou not hear that a star also ministered to these men? Didst thou not reverence the zeal of the barbarians? Didst thou not marvel at their boldness? Wast thou not horror-struck at the truth of the prophet? Didst thou not from the former things perceive the very last also? Wherefore didst thou not reason with thyself from all these things, that this event was not of the craft of the wise men, but of a Divine Power, duly dispensing all things? And even if thou wert deceived by the wise men, what is that to the young children, who have done no wrong?

"Yea," saith one, "Herod thou hast full well deprived of excuse, and proved him blood-thirsty; but thou hast not yet solved the question about the injustice of what took place. For if he did unjustly, wherefore did God permit it?" Now, what should we say to this? That which I do not cease to say continually, in church, in the market-place and everywhere; that which I also wish you carefully to keep in mind, for it is a sort of rule for us, suited to every such perplexity. What then is our rule, and what our saying? That although there be many that injure, yet is there not so much as one that is injured. And in order that the riddle may not disturb you too much, I add the solution too with all speed. I mean, that what we may suffer unjustly from any one, it tells either to the doing away of our sins, God so putting that wrong to our account; or unto the recompense of rewards.

"But what kind of sin had these children," it may be said, "that they should do it away? for touching those who are of full age, and have been guilty of many negligences, one might with show of reason speak thus: but they who so underwent premature death, what sort of sins did they by their sufferings put away?" Didst thou not hear me say, that though there were no sins, there is a recompense of rewards hereafter for them that suffer ill here? Wherein then were the young children hurt in being slain for such a cause, and borne away speedily into that waveless harbor? "Because," sayest thou, "they would in many instances have achieved, had they lived, many and great deeds of goodness" Why, for this cause He lays up for them beforehand no small reward, the ending their lives for such a cause. Besides, if the children were to have been any great persons, He would not have suffered them to be snatched away beforehand. For if they that eventually will live in continual wickedness are endured by Him with so great long-sufferings, much more would He not have suffered these to be so taken off had He foreknown they would accomplish any great things.

And these are the reasons we have to give; yet these are not all; but there are also others more mysterious than these, which He knoweth perfectly, who Himself ordereth these things. Let us then give up unto Him the more perfect understanding of this matter, and apply ourselves to what follows, and in the calamities of others let us learn to bear all things nobly. Yea, for it was no little scene of woe, which then befell Bethlehem, the children were snatched from their mother's breast, and dragged unto this unjust slaughter.

And if thou art yet faint-hearted, and not equal to controlling thyself in these things, learn the end of him who dared all this, and recover thyself a little. For very quickly was he overtaken by punishment for these things; and he paid the due penalty of such an abominable act, ending his life by a grievous death, and more pitiable than that which he now dared inflict; suffering also countless additional ills, which ye may know of by perusing Josephus' account of these events.

Why did Christ do this? Christ is the judge of thoughts and the examiner of minds. Why did he desert those whom he knew were being sought because of himself and whom he knew would be killed for his sake? He was born a king, the king of heaven—why did he neglect the standard-bearers of his own innocence? Why did he disdain an army of the same age as himself? Why did he thus abandon those who were cut down as plunder from the same cradle as himself? Was it so that he, who would become the one king, might proceed against the forces of all his enemies? Brothers, Christ did not despise his own soldiers but promoted them and granted that they might walk in victory before they lived. He enabled them to participate in a victory without struggle. He gave to them the gift of the crown even before their bodies had grown. It was Christ's will that they pass over vice for virtue, attain heaven before earth and share in the divine life immediately. Thus it was that Christ sent his soldiers ahead. He did not abandon them. He gathered up his ranks. He did not leave them behind.

When the infant Jesus had subdued the Magi, not by the might of His flesh, but the grace of His Spirit, Herod was exceeding wrath, that they whom he sitting on his throne had no power to move, were obedient to an Infant lying in a manger. Then by their contempt of him the Magi gave further cause of wrath. For when kings' wrath is stirred by fear for their crowns, it is a great and inextinguishable wrath. But what did he? He sent and slew all the children. As a wounded beast rends whatsoever meeteth it as if the cause of its smart, so he mocked by the Magi spent his fury on children. He said to himself in his fury, 'Surely the Magi have found the Child whom they said should be King;' for a king in fear for his crown fears all things, suspects all. Then he sent and slew all those infants, that he might secure one among so many.

He is not satisfied with the massacre at Bethlehem, but extends it to the adjacent villages; sparing no age from the child of one night old, to that of two years.

In Joseph is figured the order of preachers, in Mary Holy Scripture; by the Child the knowledge of the Saviour; by the cruelty of Herod the persecution which the Church suffered in Jerusalem; by Joseph's flight into Egypt the passing of the preachers to the unbelieving Gentiles, (for Egypt signifies darkness;) by the time that he abode in Egypt the space of time between the ascension of the Lord and the coming of Anti Christ; by Herod's death the extinction of jealousy in the hearts of the Jews.

But (we hold the contrary): for Christ, by "accepting praise out of the mouth of babes and sucklings," has declared that neither childhood nor infancy is without sensibility, -the former of which states, when meeting Him with approving shouts, proved its ability to offer Him testimony; while the other, by being slaughtered, for His sake of course, knew what violence meant.

He gave orders that not only the children in Bethlehem but even those in the outlying districts of the town be killed, thinking that amid the multitude of those killed would be the one he was seeking. Herod ordered those who were two years old and under to be slaughtered. He had calculated such was the time that had passed from the incarnation of Christ, taking into account the time the magi had spent on their journey and that which he had spent on the throne. But Christ was taken out of Bethlehem once night had arrived. It is not possible that the birth of Christ be the cause of the killing of the children. But the disclosure of Herod's child-killing marked the beginning of a long string of wickedness. Even those who crucified Christ were not wicked at the time when they arrested Christ. Rather, they became wicked at the time when they undertook his murder. Yet for Christ's sake the children will receive a good reward, fitting to their martyrdom.

Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the Magi, was exceedingly wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem. As God used Moses to trick Pharaoh, so, too, He used the Magi to trick Herod. For both Herod and Pharaoh were child slayers: Pharaoh slew the male children of the Hebrews in Egypt, and Herod slew the male children of the Hebrews in Bethlehem. Herod vents his wrath against the Magi upon those who had wronged him in nothing. Why were the children allowed to be slaughtered? So that Herod's wickedness might be revealed. But perhaps you will ask me, "Why did the children suffer wrong to show Herod's wickedness?" Listen then. They were not wronged but were made worthy of crowns. For anyone who suffers some evil here, suffers either so that his sins might be absolved, or so that his crowns might be multiplied. So it is with these children; for their suffering they will receive a greater crown in heaven. And in all the region thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had carefully ascertained of the Magi.

(16) Then Herod... Here he tells of the slaughter of the infants. In regard to this he does three things: first, the occasion of the slaughter is mentioned; secondly, the slaying (v. 16b); thirdly, the prophecies are quoted (v. 17).

The occasion was Herod's anger; hence Herod was in a furious rage: "Man's anger does not work the justice of God" (Jas 1:20). And it should be noted that when a king suspects the loss of his kingdom, he quickly becomes inflamed with anger.

Then Herod, seeing that he had been tricked by the wise men, was in a furious rage. He is said to have been in a furious rage for two reasons: because when one is angry, he becomes furious at the slightest provocation. Hence, because he suspected the loss of his kingdom and had been tricked by the wise men, he went into a furious rage: "From a spark of fire come many burning coals" (Sir 11:32). And he sent... In that fury was cruelty in regard to three things: the place, the multitude and the time. In regard to the multitude, because to find the one he kills all. Hence it says, He sent and killed all the male children. And note that Augustine says: "He would never have benefited them as much by paying homage, as he benefited them by his hatred." But one might ask, since they did not have free will, how they are said to die for Christ? But, as it says in John (3:17): "God did not send his son into the world to judge the world, but that the world be saved by him." For God would never permit them to be killed, unless it were useful for them. Hence Augustine says that it is the same thing to doubt whether their killing profited them as to doubt whether baptism would have profited them: for they suffered as martyrs, and by dying confessed Christ, though not by speech: "I saw under the altar the souls of those slain for the word of God" (Rev 6:9). The second cruelty is that he killed in all that region, for he feared that he might flee to another city. He acted like a wounded beast, which does not care whom it injures: "Like a roaring lion or a charging bear, a wicked ruler over a poor people" (Pr 28:15). The third was in regard to time. Hence those who were two years old and under. And note that Augustine says that "the Innocents were killed in the year Christ was born."

But why does he say from two years old and under? Some say that the star appeared for two years previously. Hence, Herod was not sure that he was not born as soon as the star appeared. Hence, he says, according to the time which he had ascertained from the wise men. But others say that they were not killed in the same year but two years later. But why did he wait so long? Three reasons are given by different persons. One is that in the beginning he thought that the Magi had been deceived and would find nothing, but after he heard many things about Christ from Zechariah and Simeon and Anna, he felt it was necessary to make inquiries. Others say that he did this out of wariness, for he feared that the parents would conceal the child he sought. Hence, at first he wished to follow them. Others say that he was prevented by his business, because he sent after the Magi as far as Tharsus of Cilicia and burned their ships. He was also occupied, because he had been summoned to Rome, where his sons had accused him. And so, after his return he began to vent his rage.

He says or under, because he knew that he had such power that he could change his features.

By that killing is signified the killing of the martyrs, because they were children in humility and innocence: "Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not" (Mt 19:14); likewise below (18:3): "Unless you be converted and become as little children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven."

In Bethlehem and in all that region, because they are killed through the whole world: "You will be witnesses to me," namely, by dying (Acts 1:8). The two years are the two loves—of God and of neighbor, because "faith without works is dead" (Jas 2:20). And note that after Christ was born, a persecution at once rages: because as soon as one is converted to Christ, he begins to be tempted: "Son, coming to the service of God, stand in justice and in fear, and prepare your soul for temptation" (Sir 2:1).

(ord.) She will not be comforted in this present life, for that they are not, but transfers all her hope and comfort to the life to come.

It could not be that they were not who seemed now dead, but by glorious martyrdom they were advanced to eternal life; and consolation is for those who have suffered loss, not for those who have reaped a gain. Rachel affords a type of the Church long barren now at length fruitful. She is heard weeping for her children, not because she mourned them dead, but because they were slaughtered by those whom she would have retained as her first-born sons.

(Vers. 17 seqq.) Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying: A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled, since they are no more (Jerem. XXXI, 15). From Rachel was born Benjamin, in whose tribe Bethlehem is not (Genes. XXXV). Therefore, it is asked how Rachel mourns the sons of Judah, that is, Bethlehem, as if they were her own. We will answer briefly, because she is buried near Bethlehem in Ephrath, and from the maternal womb, she received the name of the mother's lodging. Whether because Judah and Benjamin were two joined tribes, and Herod had ordered not only the killing of children in Bethlehem, but also in all its borders. By the slaughter of Bethlehem, we understand that many from Benjamin were also killed. But she wept for her children, and she did not receive consolation, according to a twofold interpretation. Either because she considered them dead for eternity, or because she did not want to console herself about those whom she knew would survive. But what is said in Rama, let us not think that this is the name of a place, near Gabaa, but 'rama' is interpreted as 'an elevated place', so the meaning is: A voice was heard in an elevated place, that is, far and wide dispersed.

(In Hierem. 31:15.) This passage of Jeremiah has been quoted by Matthew neither according to the Hebrew nor the LXX version. This shows that the Evangelists and Apostles did not follow any one's translation, but according to the Hebrew manner expressed in their own words what they had read in Hebrew.

By Ramah we need not suppose that the town of that name near Gibeah is meant; but take it as signifying 'high.' A voice was heard 'aloft,' that is, spread far and wide.'

Rachel's son was Benjamin, in which tribe Bethlehem is not situated. How then does Rachel weep for the children of Judah as if they were her own? We answer briefly. She was buried near Bethlehem in Ephrata, and was regarded as the mother, because her body was there entertained. Or, as the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin were contiguous, and Herod's command extended to the coasts of Bethlehem as well as to the town itself, we may suppose that many were slain in Benjamin.

This may be understood in two ways; either she thought them dead for all eternity, so that no consolation could comfort her; or, she desired not to receive any comfort for those who she knew had gone into life eternal.

"Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, In Rama was there a voice heard, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not."

Thus having filled the hearer with horror by relating these things: the slaughter so violent and unjust, so extremely cruel and lawless; he comforts him again, by saying, Not from God's wanting power to prevent it did all this take place, nor from any ignorance of His, but when He both knew it, and foretold it, and that loudly by His prophet. Be not troubled then, neither despond, looking unto His unspeakable providence, which one may most clearly see, alike by what He works, and by what He permits.

But what, it may be said, hath Rachel to do with Bethlehem? For it saith, "Rachel weeping for her children." And what hath Rama to do with Rachel? Rachel was the mother of Benjamin, and on his death, they buried her in the horse-course that was near this place. The tomb then being near, and the portion pertaining unto Benjamin her infant (for Rama was of the tribe of Benjamin), from the head of the tribe first, and next from the place of her sepulture, He naturally denominates her young children who were massacred. Then to show that the wound that befell her was incurable and cruel, He saith, "she would not be comforted because they are not."

Hence again we are taught this, which I mentioned before, never to be confounded when what is happening is contrary to the promise of God. Behold, for instance, when He was come for the salvation of the people, or rather for the salvation of the world, of what kind were His beginnings. His mother, first, in flight; His birth-place is involved in irremediable calamities, and a murder is perpetrated of all murders the bitterest, and there is lamentation and great mourning, and wailings everywhere. But be not troubled for He is wont ever to accomplish His own dispensations by their contraries, affording us from thence a very great demonstration of His power.

(Hil. Quæst. N. and V. Test. 9. 62.) Or, The sons of Benjamin, who were akin to Rachel, were formerly cut off by the other tribes, and so extinct both then and ever after. (see Judg. 20.) Then therefore Rachel began to mourn her sons, when she saw those of her sister cut off in such a cause, that they should be heirs of eternal life; for he who has experienced any misfortune, is made more sensible of his losses by the good fortune of a neighbour.

Or, it was heard on high, because uttered for the death of the innocent, according to that, The voice of the poor entereth into the heavens. (Ecclus. 35:21.) The 'weeping' means the cries of the children; 'lamentation,' refers to the mothers. In the infants themselves their death ends their cries, in the mothers it is continually renewed by the remembrance of their loss.

Or, The Church weeps the removal of the saints from this earth, but wishes not to be comforted as though they should return again to the struggles of life, for they are not to be recalled into life.

Rachel is well set for a type of the Church, as the word signifies 'a sheep' or 'seeing;' (vid. note i, p. 19.) her whole thought being to fix her eye in contemplation of God; and she is the hundredth sheep that the shepherd layeth on his shoulder.

The sacred Evangelist adds, to show the greatness of the mourning, that even the dead Rachel was roused to mourn her sons, and would not be comforted because they were not.

Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying. Lest anyone think that the slaying of the children took place against the will of God, the evangelist shows that God both knew of it beforehand and foretold it.

(17) Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah. Having mentioned the slaughter of the infants, the evangelist according to custom now mentions the prophecy foretelling this: (18) A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they were not (Jer 31:15). And it should be noted that, as Jerome says, wherever any text is introduced by the apostles and evangelists, it is not necessary to present it always word for word, but as the Holy Spirit gave it to them, sometimes sense for sense in our use. Thus we have in Jeremiah (31:15): "A voice is heard on high of lamentation and weeping and mourning. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are not." The sense is the same.

We should notice that as far as this text is concerned, it is one of those which are brought into the gospel, but which has a literal sense that is a figure of something in the New Testament. Hence, to understand it one must consider a bit of history, which is recorded in Judges, where it says that almost the whole tribe of Benjamin was wiped out on account of a sin committed against the wife of a Levite. It also states that there was greatest mourning there, so great, indeed, that it was heard from Gabsa to Ramah, a distance of 12,000 paces. Rachel is said to mourn this, because she was the mother of Benjamin; and it is a figure of speech used to express how great was the pain. But this is a prophecy about the past. In another way it is about the future in two ways: in one way it can refer to the captivity of Israel who, when they were led into captivity, are said to have wept on the road near Bethlehem; and then Rachel is said to have mourned, because she had been buried there (Gen 35:19). And this is said in the same manner of speaking as a place is said to weep over the evils which happen in the place. The prophet, therefore, desires to say that just as there was the greatest pain and grief when the tribe of Benjamin was destroyed, so in the future would be another excruciating pain in the time of the captivity. It is explained in a second way thus: the evangelist accepts the fact of the killing of the Innocents and amplifies the pain in four ways: first, from its extent; secondly, from the amount; thirdly, what the pain concerned; fourthly, its inconsolability.

He says, therefore: A voice in Ramah. This is a city in the tribe of Benjamin (Jos 18:25) and can be taken as the city of Liah. But here it is taken for the heights and can be interpreted in two ways: first, a voice uttered on high was heard, because a voice in a lofty place is spread far and wide: "Go up in a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength" (Is 40:9). Or was heard in Ramah, i.e., in heaven before God (Sir 35:21): "The prayer of the humble pierces the clouds, and he will not be consoled until it reaches the Lord"; "Do not the tears of the widow run down her cheek, as she cries out against him who has caused them to fall?" (Sir 35:15).

Wailing: This can refer to the weeping of the infants who were slaughtered. And loud lamentation: This refers to the weeping of the mothers. Or both can refer to the infants: wailing, in as much as they were lifted up by the soldiers; lamentations, in as much as they were slain. The pain of the mothers is greater than that of the infants. Again, the mothers' pain was continual, that of the infants, brief. For this reason Zechariah (12:10) says: "They shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a first-born." Also from the source of the pain, because it was concerned with the death of the infants. Hence, Rachel laments. But it might be objected that Bethlehem was not in the tribe of Benjamin but in the tribe of Judah, who was Liah's son.

This is answered in three ways: first, because Rachel was buried near Bethlehem (Gen 35:19). Accordingly, she wept for the infants in the way in which any place is said to weep: "Be appalled, O heavens, at this, be shocked, be utterly desolate, says the Lord" (Jer 2:12). Or in another way: it was stated above that Herod killed the infants in Bethlehem and in all its surrounding territory. But Bethlehem lay within the confines of two tribes, namely, Judah and Benjamin. Hence, some infants from the tribe of Benjamin were killed. Thus the objection ceases, as Jerome explains. But Augustine explains it another way and says that it is customary, when one is habituated to prosperity, that he becomes sadder when adversities come. Liah and Rachel were sisters, and the ones killed were among the children of Liah. Thus they were killed bodily, lest they be punished eternally, as in the case of Gabaa. Therefore, she is said to weep, when she sees her children killed or damned. Or the Church is signified by Rachel, because it means "seeing God," and the Church sees by faith. She weeps over her slain children, not because they were slain, but because through them she could obtain others. Or she weeps not for the slain but for the slayers.

Then he mentions the inconsolable pain: she refused... This is explained in a number of ways: first, as referring to the people who existed then. For consolation should be forthcoming, as long as a remedy is hoped for; but when there is no hope for it, there is no consolation, as in the case of the hopelessly infirm. Therefore, he says in regard to the mothers' opinion, because they were no more, i.e., no longer visible: "The lad is gone" (Gen 37:30). Or she refused to be consoled, because they were no more, i.e., as if they were no more: for consolation is expected only for evil things. Hence, according to this it is referred to the opinion of the Church, which regards them as reigning; hence, it rejoices over them as reigning: "But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope" (1 Thes 4:13). Or she refused to be consoled at present but awaited consolation in the future: "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted" (Mt 5:5).

Hil. Quaest. N. and N. Test.9. 62: Or, The sons of Benjamin, who were akin to Rachel, were formerly cut off by the other tribes, and so extinct both then and ever after. Then therefore Rachel began to mourn her sons, when she saw those of her sister cut off in such a cause, that they should be heirs of eternal life; for he who has experienced any misfortune, is made more sensible of his losses by the good fortune of aneighbour.

In Rama was there a voice heard. Rama is a place in Palestine of high elevation, for the name itself means "high." This place fell by lot to the inheritance of the tribe of Benjamin, who was the son of Rachel, and Rachel was buried in Bethlehem. By "Rachel," therefore, the prophet Jeremiah means "Bethlehem," for Rachel was buried in Bethlehem (Gen. 35:19). He is saying that weeping and lamentation will be heard from on high. Listen to what the prophet says: Lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, that is, Bethlehem weeping for its children, and would not be comforted, because they are not. In this life they are no more, but their souls are immortal.

(Hom. in Nat. Innoc.) This slaughter of the infants for the Lord's sake, the death of Herod soon after, and Joseph's return with the Lord and his mother to the land of Israel, is a figure showing that all the persecutions moved against the Church will be avenged by the death of the persecutor, peace restored to the Church, and the saints who had concealed themselves return to their own places. Or the return of Jesus to the land of Israel on the death of Herod shows, that, at the preaching of Enoch and Elijahc, the Jews, when the fire of modern jealousy shall be extinguished, shall receive the true faith.

(Eccles. Hist. i. 8.) For the sacrilege which Herod had committed against the Saviour, and his wicked slaughter of the infants of the same age, the Divine vengeance hastened his end; and his body, as Josephus relates, was attacked by a strange disease; so that the prophets declared that they were not human ailments, but visitations of Divine vengeance. Filled with mad fury, he gives command to seize and imprison the heads and nobles out of all parts of Judæa; ordering that as soon as ever he should breathe his last, they should be all put to death, that so Judæa though unwillingly might mourn at his decease. Just before he died he murdered his son Antipater, (besides two boys put to death before, Alexander and Aristobulus.) Such was the end of Herod, noticed in those words of the Evangelist, when Herod was dead, and such the punishment inflicted.

After the death of Herod, Joseph was advised by the angel to return to Judea with the boy and his mother. When he returned he heard that Archelaeus, son of Herod, was king. So he was afraid to go, but the angel admonished him to cross over into the region of Galilee, and they lived in the city of Nazareth.… Joseph resembles the apostles to whom Christ entrusted the spreading of the news about him. Similar to what happened with Joseph after the death of Herod, they must deal with the same people who caused the Lord to suffer. The apostles are commanded to preach to the Jews, for they were sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But when they saw that the power remained in the hands of inherited faithlessness, they became afraid and retreated.

But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying: Rise, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel.

Many here err from ignorance of history, supposing the Herod who mocked our Lord on the day of His passion, and the Herod whose death is here related, were the same. But the Herod who was then made friends with Pilate was son of this Herod and brother to Archelaus; for Archelaus was banished to Lyons in Gaul, and his father Herod made king in his room, as we read in Josephus.

From this we see that not Herod only, but also the Priests and Scribes had sought the Lord's death at that time.

"But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph saying, Arise, and take the young Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel."

He no more saith "fly," but "go." Seest thou again after the temptation refreshment? then after the refreshment danger again? in that he was freed indeed from his banishment, and came back again to his own country; and beheld the murderer of the children brought to the slaughter; but when he hath set foot on his own country, he finds again a remnant of the former perils, the son of the tyrant living, and being king.

See how Joseph was set for ministering to Mary; when she went into Egypt and returned, who would have fulfilled to her this so needful ministry, had she not been betrothed? For to outward view Mary nourished and Joseph defended the Child; but in truth the Child supported His mother and protected Joseph. Return into the land of Israel; for He went down into Egypt as a physician, not to abide there, but to succour it sick with error. But the reason of the return is given in the words, They are dead, &c.

And that is said to have been done by the counsel of God for their conspiring with Herod against the Lord; as it is said, Herod was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

(De Cæl. Hierarch. 4.) See how Jesus Himself, though far above all celestial beings, and coming unchanged to our nature, shunned not that ordinance of humanity which He had taken on Him, but was obedient to the dispositions of His Father made known by Angels. For even by Angels is declared to Joseph the retreat of the Son into Egypt, so ordained of the Father, and His return again to Judæa.

Rachel is well set for a type of the Church, as the word signifies 'a sheep' or 'seeing;' (vid. note i, p. 19.) her whole thought being to fix her eye in contemplation of God; and she is the hundredth sheep that the shepherd layeth on his shoulder.

But if they were many who sought his destruction, how came they all to have died in so short a time? As we have related above, all the great men among the Jews were slain at Herod's death.

Or the Evangelist uses a figure of speech, by which the plural is used for the singular. These words, the Child's life, (or soul, i. e. the Apollinarians.) overthrow those heretics who taught that Christ did not take a soul, but had His Divinity in place of a soul.

But when Herod was dead. Herod came to a bitter end. For with fever, torment of the bowels, itching, swelling of the feet, rotting of the private parts, breeding of worms, difficulty in breathing, trembling and spasms in every member, he cast off his evil soul.

Behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, Arise, and take the young Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel. He did not say "flee" but "go," for there was no longer any need for fear. For they are dead which sought the young Child's soul. Where is Apollinarius, who said that the Lord did not have the soul of a man? For here he is reproved.

(19) Then he deals with Christ's being called back; hence, when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph. First, he mentions that the angel appeared; secondly, the angel's command; thirdly, the execution of the angel's command.

In regard to the first, three things are done: first, the time is described; secondly, the person; thirdly, the manner of the appearance.

He says, therefore, But when Herod died: not the one involved in Christ's death, because that was his son; behold an angel appeared.

It should be noted that all trouble in the Church is terminated by the death of the persecutors: "When the wicked perish, there are shouts of gladness" (Pr 11:10). Note, also, that when the unbelief of the Jews has ended, Christ will return to them: "And then all Israel will be saved" (Rom 11:26).

Behold... appeared. It should be noted that the order between men and angels is such that divine illuminations are produced in us only by angels: "Are they not administering spirits sent forth to serve for the sake of those who are to obtain salvation?" (Heb 1:14). Hence, even Christ as man willed to be announced by angels.

The manner: in a dream to Joseph in Egypt.

(Verse 20) For those who sought the child's life are dead. From this we understand that not only Herod, but also the priests and scribes at the same time had planned the death of the Lord.

(20) The command: Rise, take the child and his mother. He does not say, "son" or "wife", but child, in order to designate the dignity of the child and the purity of the mother. In this is shown that Joseph was not given to her for the purpose of carnal intercourse but to minister and guard. And he assigns the cause: for those who sought the child's life are dead.

But one might ask why he says, are, for Herod alone had died. This is answered in two ways: first, because he had done so much evil that the Jews rejoiced in his death. When he had a foreboding of his death, he commanded his sister to kill the nobler Jews when he died. These had sought the life of the child with Herod: for those who sought the child's life are dead. Or another way: It is the custom of Sacred Scripture to use the plural for the singular: hence, they are dead, i.e. he is dead. Hence, the statement that those who sought the child's life destroys Apollinaris' error, that the godhead was in Christ in place of a soul.

Joseph was not disobedient to the angelic warning, but he arose, and took the young Child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. The Angel had not fixed the particular place, so that while Joseph hesitates, the Angel returns, and by the often visiting him confirms his obedience.

But the figurative interpretation holds good any way. Joseph represents the Apostles, to whom Christ is entrusted to be borne about. These, as though Herod were dead, that is, his people being destroyed in the Lord's passion, are commanded to preach the Gospel to the Jews; they are sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

(Verse 21.) He rose and took the child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. He did not say, 'I took my son and my wife,' but the child and his mother, as if a foster father, not a husband.

And he arose, and took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither. Herod left three sons: Philip, Antipas, and Archelaus. He had directed Archelaus to be king, and the other two, tetrarchs. Joseph was afraid to go into the land of Israel, that is, Judea, because Archelaus was similar to Herod, his father. Antipas was the young Herod who slew the Forerunner. And being warned by God in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee. Galilee was not of the land of Israel, but of the Gentiles, and for this reason the Jews considered the Galileans an abomination.

(21) Then he mentions the execution of the command: and he rose and took the child and his mother. In regard to this he does three things: first, he shows how he returned to the land of Israel (v. 21); secondly, the section he avoided (v. 22); thirdly, the section he chose (v. 22b). He says, therefore, and he rose. Note that the angel did not say: "Go into the land of Judah," or "into Jerusalem," but universally, to the land of Israel, under which even Galilee can be included. Hence, it can be said that Joseph entered the boundaries of the land which Judah inhabited.

(De Con. Evan. ii. 10.) Here it may be asked, How then could his parents go up every year of Christ's childhood to Jerusalem, as Luke relates, if fear of Archelaus now prevented them from approaching it? This difficulty is easily solved. At the festival they might escape notice in the crowd, and by returning soon, where in ordinary times they might be afraid to live. So they neither became irreligious by neglecting the festival, nor notorious by dwelling continually in Jerusalem. Or it is open to us to understand Luke when he says, they went up every year, as speaking of a time when they had nothing to fear from Archelaus, who, as Josephus relates, reigned only nine years. There is yet a difficulty in what follows; Being warned in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee. If Joseph was afraid to go into Judaea because one of Herod's sons, Archelaus, reigned there, how could he go into Galilee, where another of his sons Herod was tetrarch, as Luke tells us? As if the times of which Luke is speaking were times in which there was any longer need to fear for the Child, when even in Judaea things were so changed, that Archelaus no longer ruled there, but Pilate was governor.

(De Con. Evan. ii. 9.) This may perhaps occur to some, that Matthew says His parents went with the Child Jesus to Galilee because they feared Archelaus, when it should seem most probable that they chose Galilee because Nazareth was their own city, as Luke has not forgot to mention. We must understand, that when the Angel in the vision in Egypt said to Joseph, Go into the land of Israel, Joseph understood the command to be that he should go straight into Judaea, that being properly the land of Israel. But finding Archelaus ruling there, he would not court the danger, as the land of Israel might be interpreted to extend to Galilee, which was inhabited by children of Israel. Or we may suppose His parents supposed that Christ should dwell no where but in Jerusalem, where was the temple of the Lord, and would have gone thither had not the fear of Archelaus hindered them. And they had not been commanded from God to dwell positively in Judaea, or Jerusalem, so as that they should have despised the fear of Archelaus, but only in the land of Israel generally, which they might understand of Galilee.

(De Con. Evan. ii. 5.) The whole of this history, from the account of the Magi inclusively, Luke omits. Let it be here noticed once for all, that each of the Evangelists writes as if he were giving a full and complete history, which omits nothing; where he really passes over any thing, he continues his thread of history as if he had told all. Yet by a diligent comparison of their several narratives, we can be at no loss to know where to insert any particular that is mentioned by one and not by the other.

(ord.) But then we might ask, why was he not afraid to go into Galilee, seeing Archelaus ruled there also? He could be better concealed in Nazareth than in Jerusalem, which was the capital of the kingdom, and where Archelaus was constantly resident.

But finding the seed of their hereditary unbelief still abiding, they fear and withdraw; admonished by a vision, to wit, seeing the Holy Ghost poured upon the Gentiles, they carry Christ to them.

(Verse 22) But hearing that Archelaus was reigning in Judea, in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned in a dream, he withdrew to the region of Galilee. Many fall into error due to ignorance of history, thinking that he is the same Herod who mocked the Lord in his passion, and who is reported to be dead now. Therefore, this Herod, who later became friends with Pilate, is the son of that Herod, the brother of Archelaus; and Tiberius Caesar himself, the city of Lugdunum, which is in Gaul, banished him, and made his brother Herod successor to the kingdom. Read the story of Joseph.

But how did Archelaus reign over Judaea, when Pontius Pilate was governor? Herod's death had recently taken place, and the kingdom had not yet been divided into many parts; but as he had only just ended his life, the son for a while kept possession of the kingdom "in the room of his father Herod;" his brother also bearing this name, which is the reason why the evangelist added, "in the room of his father Herod."

It may be said, however, "if he was afraid to settle in Judaea on account of Archelaus, he had cause to fear Galilee also on account of Herod." I answer, By his changing the place, the whole matter was thenceforward thrown into shade; for the whole assault was upon "Bethlehem and the coasts thereof." Therefore now that the slaughter had taken place, the youth Archelaus had no other thought, but that the whole was come to an end, and that amongst the many, He that was sought had been destroyed. And besides, his father having come to such an end of his life before his eyes, he became for the future more cautious about further proceedings, and about urging on that course of iniquity.

Joseph therefore comes to Nazareth, partly to avoid the danger, partly also delighting to abide in his native place. To give him the more courage, he receives also an oracle from the angel touching this matter. Luke, however, doth not say that he came there by Divine warning, but that when they had fulfilled all the purification, they returned to Nazareth. What then may one say? That Luke is giving an account of the time before the going down to Egypt, when he saith these things. For He would not have brought them down thither before the purification, in order that nothing should be done contrary to the law, but he waited for her to be purified, and to go to Nazareth, and that then they should go down to Egypt. Then, after their return, He bids them go to Nazareth. But before this they were not warned of God to go thither, but yearning after their native place, they did so of their own accord. For since they had gone up for no other cause but on account of the taxing, and had not so much as a place where to stay, when they had fulfilled that for which they had come up, they went down to Nazareth.

Herod had nine wives, by seven of whom he had a numerous issue. By Josida, his first born Antipater—by Mariamine, Alexander and Aristobulus—by Mathuca, a Samaritan woman, Archelaus—by Cleopatra of Jerusalem, Herod, who was afterwards tetrarch, and Philip. The three first were put to death by Herod; and after his death, Archelaus seized the throne by occasion of his father's will, and the question of the succession was carried before Augustus Cæsar. After some delay, he made a distribution of the whole of Herod's dominions in accordance with the Senate's advice. To Archelaus he assigned one half, consisting of Idumæa and Judæa, with the title of tetrarch, and a promise of that of king if he showed himself deserving of it. The rest he divided into two tetrarchates, giving Galilee to Herod the tetrarch, Ituræa and Trachonitis to Philip. Thus Archelaus was after his father's death a duarch, which kind of sovereignty is here called a kingdom.

Or, we may apply it to the last times of the Jewish Church, when many Jews having turned to the preaching of Enoch and Elijah, the rest filled with the spirit of Antichrist shall fight against the faith. So that part of Judæa where Archelaus rules, signifies the followers of Antichrist; Nazareth of Galilee, whither Christ is conveyed, that part of the nation that shall embrace the faith. Galilee means 'removal;' Nazareth, 'the flower of virtues;' for the Church the more zealously she removes from the earthly to the heavenly, the more she abounds in the flower and fruit of virtues.

(22) Then he mentions the area he avoided: when he heard that Archelaus reigned in Judea. Here the history of Herod should be noted. For he had six sons, and before his death he killed Alexander and Aristobulus; at his death he commanded that Antipater be killed. Thus three remained, among whom Archelaus was the firstborn and usurped the kingdom; but he was later accused before Caesar Augustus by the Jews and his kingdom was taken away. It was then divided into four parts. Two were given to Archelaus and one each to Herod and Philip, as Luke (3:1) says. Archelaus himself was sent into exile after reigning for nine years.

Being warned in a dream. First the angel had said that he should go to the land of Israel, but because Joseph had not yet understood, the angel's message made explicit what was previously implicit. And this is indicated, when he says, being warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee.

But on the other hand, just as Archelaus ruled in Judea, so Philip in Galilee. But one must answer that this was immediately after the death of Herod, when Archelaus had the entire kingdom, because the division was made later. But then why did he not fear Archelaus? The answer is that Jerusalem was the seat of the kingdom; hence, he practically stayed there always. But why does Luke (2:41) state that they brought the child to Jerusalem every year? Augustine answers that it was safe to bring him on account of the vast throng that came there at that time; but it would have been dangerous, if he had tarried there for a long time. But why does the evangelist suggest that it was by accident that Joseph came to Nazareth, whereas Luke (2:39) says that he had his personal domicile in Nazareth. The answer is that the angel had told him to go into the land of Israel which, strictly speaking, did not include Galilee or Nazareth. That is the way Joseph understood it; therefore, he made no decision to go to Nazareth.

But if "the Nazarene" is interpreted to mean "holy" or, according to some, as "flower," this is the designation found in many instances. For Daniel calls him "holy" or "of the holy ones." Likewise we find in Isaiah: "A branch from the stock of Jesse and its flower." Even the Lord says of himself in the Song of Songs, "I am the bloom of the plain, the lily of the valleys."

To this he adds the Prophet's testimony, saying, That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Prophets, &c.

Matthew, also called Levi, apostle and aforetimes publican, composed a gospel of Christ at first published in Judea in Hebrew for the sake of those of the circumcision who believed, but this was afterwards translated into Greek though by what author is uncertain. The Hebrew itself has been preserved until the present day in the library at Caesarea which Pamphilus so diligently gathered. I have also had the opportunity of having the volume described to me by the Nazarenes of Beroea, a city of Syria, who use it. In this it is to be noted that wherever the Evangelist, whether on his own account or in the person of our Lord the Saviour quotes the testimony of the Old Testament he does not follow the authority of the translators of the Septuagint but the Hebrew. Wherefore these two forms exist "Out of Egypt have I called my son," and "for he shall be called a Nazarene."

(Verse 23) And coming, he lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene. If he had set a fixed example from the Scriptures, he would never have said, what was spoken by the prophets; but simply, what was spoken by the prophet: but now, calling them prophets in the plural, he shows that he did not take words from the Scriptures, but the meaning. Nazarene, interprets as holy. But all Scripture testifies that the Lord would be holy. We can also say in another way, that even in the same words, according to the Hebrew truth, it is written in Isaiah: There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Nazarene shall rise out of his roots (Isa. 11:1).

Had he meant to quote a particular text, he would not have written 'Prophets,' but 'the Prophet.' By thus using the plural he evidently does not take the words of any one passage in Scripture, but the sense of the whole. Nazarene is interpreted 'Holyd,' and that the Lord would be Holy, all Scripture testifies. Otherwise we may explain that it is found in Isaiah (c. 11:1.) rendered to the strict letter of the Hebrew. There shall come a Rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Nazarene shall grow out of His rootse.

We see here the cause why the angel also, putting them at ease for the future, restores them to their home. And not even this simply, but he adds to it a prophecy, "That it might be fulfilled," saith he, "which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene."

And what manner of prophet said this? Be not curious, nor overbusy. For many of the prophetic writings have been lost; and this one may see from the history of the Chronicles. For being negligent, and continually falling into ungodliness, some they suffered to perish, others they themselves burnt up and cut to pieces. The latter fact Jeremiah relates; the former, he who composed the fourth book of Kings, saying, that after a long time the book of Deuteronomy was hardly found, buried somewhere and lost. But if, when there was no barbarian there, they so betrayed their books, much more when the barbarians had overrun them. For as to the fact, that the prophet had foretold it, the apostles themselves in many places call Him a Nazarene.

"Was not this then," one may say, "casting a shade over the prophecy touching Bethlehem?" By no means: rather this very fact was sure greatly to stir up men, and to awaken them to the search of what was said of Him. Thus, for example, Nathanael too enters on the inquiry concerning Him, saying, "Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?" For the place was of little esteem; or rather not that place only, but also the whole district of Galilee. Therefore the Pharisees said, "Search and look, for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet." Nevertheless, He is not ashamed to be named even from thence, signifying that He needs not ought of the things of men; and His disciples also He chose out of Galilee; everywhere cutting off the pretexts of them who are disposed to be remiss, and giving tokens that we have no need of outward things, if we practice virtue. For this cause He doth not choose for Himself so much as a house; for "the Son of Man," saith He, "hath not where to lay His head;" and when Herod is plotting against Him, He fleeth, and at His birth is laid in a manger, and abides in an inn, and takes a mother of low estate; teaching us to think no such thing a disgrace, and from the first outset trampling under foot the haughtiness of man, and bidding us give ourselves up to virtue only.

They might have read this in some Prophets who are not in our canon, as Nathan or Esdras. That there was some prophecy to this purport is clear from what Philip says to Nathanael. Him of whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth. Hence the Christians were at first called Nazarenes, at Antioch their name was changed to that of 'Christians.'

And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth. How is it that Luke says that after the Lord was born, He completed the forty days, was held in the arms of Simeon, and then went down to Nazareth (Lk. 2:22-40)? But here Matthew says that after the return from Egypt He went to Nazareth? Learn, therefore, that Luke spoke those things on which Matthew was silent. I will give an example: after the birth, He completed the forty days, and then went down to Nazareth. This is what Luke says. Matthew speaks of what took place afterwards, that He fled into Egypt, and then returned from Egypt to Nazareth, which took place later. They do not contradict each other. One of them, Luke, speaks of the descent from Bethlehem to Nazareth, while the other, Matthew, speaks of the return from Egypt to Nazareth, which took place later. That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene. Which prophet said this? It is not to be found now. For many books have been lost, because of both the carelessness of the Hebrews and the frequent captivities. But perhaps this was an unwritten prophecy among the Jews. "Nazarene" means "sanctified" and as the Christ is holy, it is right that He is called "a Nazarene." For by many prophets the Lord was called "The Holy One of Israel" (Ps. 88:18, Is. 1:4, etc.)

(23) That what was spoken by the prophet might be fulfilled, "He shall be called a Nazarene." This is not found written, but it can be said that it was gathered from many passages. For Nazarene means holy; and because Christ is called holy: "Until the holy one is anointed" (Dan 9:24), therefore, he is said to be so called by the prophet. Or it can be said that by Nazarene is meant abounding with flowers, as in Is (11:1): "There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse and a flower shall grow out of his roots." This agrees with Song of Songs (2:1): "I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys."

Note all things carefully. He ascends with the apostles and descends to the crowds. How would a crowd see Christ, except at a low level? It does not follow him to the heights; it does not climb to majestic places. So when he descends, he finds the weak, for the weak cannot be high up. Thus also Matthew teaches that the weak were healed down below. First each was healed, so that little by little, with increasing virtue, he could ascend to the mountain. On the plain he heals each, that is, he calls them back from recklessness. He turns away the harm of blindness. He descends to heal our wounds, so that in an effective and abundant manner he makes us partakers in his heavenly nature.

But observe all things carefully, how He both ascends with His Apostles and descends to the multitude; for how could the multitude see Christ but in a lowly place. It follows him not to the lofty places, it ascends not the heights. Lastly, when He descends, He finds the sick, for in the high places there can be no sick.

(de Con. Ev. ii. 19.) Now this long discourse of our Lord, Luke begins in the same way as Matthew; for each says, Blessed are the poor. Then many things which follow in the narration of each are like, and finally the conclusion of the discourse is found to be altogether the same, I mean with respect to the men who build upon the rock and the sand. It might then easily be supposed that Luke has inserted the same discourse of our Lord, and yet has left out some sentences which Matthew has kept, and likewise put in others which Matthew has not; were it not that Matthew says the discourse was spoken by our Lord on the mountain, but Luke on the plain by our Lord standing. It is not however thought likely from this that these two discourses are separated by a long course of time, because both before and after both have related some things like, or the same. It may however have happened that our Lord was at first on a higher part of the mountain with His disciples alone, and that then he descended with them from the mount, that is, from the summit of the mountain to the flat place, that is, to some level ground, which was on the side of the mountain, and was able to hold large multitudes, and that there He stood until the crowds were gathered together to Him, and afterwards when He sat down His disciples came nearer, and to them, and the rest of the multitude who were present, He held the same discourse.

And he descended with them and stood on a level place, and a crowd of his disciples, and a great multitude of people. The Lord went up into the mountains to choose the apostles, but he returned to the plains to teach the crowds, for the crowds can only see Christ in humility. For this is the standard which the Apostle followed when he said: I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but as carnal ones. As infants in Christ, I fed you with milk, not solid food. For you were not yet able, but even now you are not able (I Cor. III). However, the apostles themselves, according to Matthew, being more perfect, are said to have been taught both on the mountain and with the mouth of the Savior open. Where, if anyone wishes to examine both evangelists more carefully, it can be understood that when on the mountain he chose the twelve disciples from among the many, whom he also named apostles, which Matthew omitted, then he delivered the address which Matthew included and Luke omitted, that is, on the mountain. And then when he descended, in the level place he delivered another similar address, about which Matthew was silent, but Luke was not, and both addresses concluded in the same way.

From all Judaea and Jerusalem and the maritime regions, and Tyre and Sidon, etc. I consider the maritime multitude not to be from the nearby Sea of Galilee (for he would not place this among miraculous locations), but from the great sea, in which even Tyre and Sidon could be included. Truly, because they are cities of the Gentiles, given indeed to the Jews by lot, but not possessed by them, since the enemies could not be exterminated, they are specifically mentioned by name, so that the fame and power of the Savior may be hinted at, which summon even foreign cities to obtain health and doctrine. It should be noted here that although the Lord had mercy on the Gentiles coming to him, as he healed the centurion's boy and the daughter of the Canaanite woman upon approving their faith, he is not found to have entered their cities, lest he provide a reason for complaint to the fault-finding Jews, but he rather reserved the perfect salvation of the Gentiles for the time of his passion and resurrection. When that time was imminent, and the Gentiles sought to see him, he said: Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much fruit (John XII).

By the sea coast he does not refer to the neighbouring sea of Galilee, because this would not be accounted wonderful, but it is so called from the great sea, and therein also Tyre and Sidon may be comprehended, of which it follows, Both of Tyre and Sidon. And these states being Gentile, are purposely named here, to indicate how great was the fame and power of the Saviour which had brought even the citizens of the coast to receive His healing and teaching. Hence it follows, Which came to hear him.

After the separation of the disciples, the Evangelist here subjoins the attraction of the hearers, which the Evangelist describes with respect to four things: with respect to the accompanying disciples, with respect to the people gathering together, with respect to the inciting causes, and with respect to the subsequent effects. With respect to the accompanying disciples he says: And descending, from the mountain, with them, that is, with the twelve already chosen, who always accompanied Him, according to what is said below in chapter twenty-two: "You are they who have remained with me in my trials"; He stood in a level place, that is, a flat and open place, so that all might be able to approach to hear wisdom, so that they might say: "Behold, we have heard of Him in Ephrata, we have found Him in the fields of the wood." And thus was fulfilled that passage from Proverbs one: "Wisdom preaches abroad, in the streets she utters her voice, at the head of the multitudes she cries out."

To the cry of this wisdom the disciples were especially attracted; whence he adds: And a crowd of his disciples, namely, stood with him. He says this with regard to the other disciples, inferior to the Apostles. For to the perfect disciples he had delivered the sermon on the summit of the mountain, as is said in Matthew 5: "Seeing the crowds, Jesus went up on the mountain, and when he had sat down, his disciples came to him." But to these, condescending to them as imperfect, he delivered the sermon on the descent from the mountain; whence they are called a crowd, because they were many and also close to the multitude. For the disciples of Christ were being multiplied, as is said in John 4: "The Pharisees heard that Jesus was making more disciples than John." To these, secrets were not to be communicated, because they were scandalized by hearing secrets; whence it is said in John 6 that because of the word that he had spoken, "many of his disciples went back and no longer walked with him. And Jesus said to the Twelve: Do you also wish to go away?"—with these disciples, namely. Jesus is said to stand, but with the other, perfect ones, to sit: in which he shows that "we who are stronger ought to bear the weaknesses of the weak and not please ourselves," Romans 15. And he descended with them, as an example of humility, according to that passage in Ecclesiasticus 32: "Have they made you ruler? Do not be lifted up: be among them as one of them." Whence by his kindness he attracted and gathered all together, as a hen gathers her chicks: Matthew 23: "How often I wished to gather your children, as a hen gathers her chicks," etc.

As for the peoples gathering together, it is added: And a great multitude of the people, namely stood with him, who had gathered from diverse places: they had gathered both from nearby places, regarding which he says: from all Judea and Samaria and Jerusalem, which were within the kingdom of Israel: Judea is the name of the kingdom, Samaria the principal city in the kingdom of the ten tribes, and Jerusalem the principal city in the kingdom of the two tribes: from all these they flowed together to Christ, according to that passage in Isaiah 2: "It shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared on the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it"; as well as from remote places, regarding which he says: And the sea coast and of Tyre and Sidon. And it should be repeated: a great multitude of the people from the sea coast, and a great multitude of Tyre and Sidon, that is, from Tyre and Sidon. And these were remote places, as Bede says in the Gloss, that "the sea coast is not named from the nearby sea of Galilee, but from the great sea"; Isaiah 60: "Then you shall see and abound, and your heart shall wonder and be enlarged, when the multitude of the sea shall be converted to you, the strength of the nations shall come to you." This was prefigured in Solomon, in 3 Kings 10, where it is said that "all desired to see the face of Solomon and to hear his wisdom."

Spiritually, note here that hearers who come to Christ are drawn from six places, namely from three of the Jews and three of the Gentiles. By the places of the Jews are signified the just, by the places of the Gentiles sinners. Now three places of the Jews are set down according to the threefold state of the just. Judea is interpreted as confessing and signifies the state of active persons, who confess Christ by good works: Hosea 10: "Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his furrows"; Tobit 13: "Confess to him and exalt the King of ages in your works." Samaria, which is interpreted as custody, signifies the state of prelates. For to them it is said in 3 Kings 20: "Guard this man, for if he escapes, your life shall be for his life." Jerusalem, which is interpreted as vision of peace, signifies the state of contemplatives: Isaiah 60: "Arise, be enlightened, Jerusalem, for your light has come"; Tobit 13, it is said of Jerusalem: "Blessed are all who love you and rejoice in your peace."

Three places of the Gentiles are also set forth according to the threefold state of sinners. The seacoast, which is windy and frequently turbulent, signifies the vanity and turbulence of the proud: Isaiah 57, "The wicked are like the raging sea, which cannot rest." Tyre, which is interpreted as distress, signifies the anxiety and distress of the covetous: Sirach 27: "Between buying and selling, sin will be pressed in"; Sirach 5: "Do not be anxious for unjust riches." Sidon, which is interpreted as hunting, signifies the desire and concupiscence of the carnal: whence in the Psalm: "They shall return at evening and shall suffer hunger like dogs and shall go around the city." All these flock to Christ, but the just as to a teacher, that they may be taught wisdom, because, according to that passage of Proverbs 9, "teach a just man, and he will make haste to receive"; and Deuteronomy, the penultimate chapter: "Those who draw near to his feet shall receive of his teaching." But sinners as to a friend, that they may obtain mercy; below in chapter 15: "The publicans and sinners were drawing near to Jesus, to hear him"; from whom, first, demons are cast out through the expulsion of guilt; second, they are healed by touch through the curing of the aftereffects, according to what is said in the Psalm: "Who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your infirmities."

When the ordination of the Apostles was accomplished, and great numbers were collected together from the country of Judæa, and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, (who were idolaters,) he gave the Apostles their commission to be the teachers of the whole world, that they might recal the Jews from the bondage of the law, but the worshippers of devils from their Gentile errors to the knowledge of the truth. Hence it is said, And he came down with them, and stood in the plain, and a great multitude from Judæa, and the sea coast, &c.

That is, for the cure of their souls; and that they might be healed of their diseases, that is, for the cure of their bodies.

As for the inciting causes, it is added: Who had come to hear him, as regards the illumination of truth in the mind, and to be healed of their infirmities, as regards the cure of health in the flesh. And this was a right intention, according to that passage in Hosea 6: "Come and let us return to the Lord, for he has taken and he will heal us"; and afterward: "And we shall live in his sight, we shall know and we shall follow on, that we may know the Lord." In this they showed that they were of the sheep of Christ, because they gathered to him to receive truth and salvation: John 10: "My sheep shall hear my voice, and I know them, and they shall follow me, and I give them eternal life." Therefore the love of understanding truth and of obtaining health drew them to come to Christ, as to a master and as to a physician. To the first the Savior invites in the Psalm: "Come, children, hear me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord"; to the second in Matthew 11: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you."

As for the subsequent efficacies, it is added: And those who were vexed by unclean spirits were cured: wherein is touched upon the efficacy of power with respect to unclean spirits: Zechariah 13: "I will take away the unclean spirit from the land." These unclean spirits vex those whom they possess: Matthew 15: "My daughter is grievously vexed by a demon." This vexation compelled them to flee to Christ, because, according to what is said in Isaiah 28, only "vexation will give understanding to the hearing"; moreover, as Gregory says, "the evils that press upon us here compel us to go to God." Certainly, while they compel us toward God, they lead to a good disposition, according to that passage in Wisdom 3: "Having been afflicted in few things, in many they shall be well disposed."

And all the crowd sought to touch him, because power went out from him and healed all. And before, the leper was cleansed by the Lord's touch, and here, the whole crowd that could touch him is healed by the power of his spirit. The touch of the Savior, therefore, is the work of salvation. To touch him is to believe in him faithfully. To be touched by him is to be strengthened by his gift. But each person abounds in their own understanding. The crowds that come from afar to hear are cured by the touch of the Lord descending into the plain. The disciples who are already trained in lesser things are brought to greater things upon the mountaintop. From these, there are also chosen those who will secretly witness his transfiguration on the mount. One above all, as if to be inebriated from the fountain of higher wisdom, rests upon the master's chest. And you will rarely find either crowds following the Lord to higher things, or anyone sick being cured on the mount, but with the fever of lust extinguished, and the light of knowledge kindled, each one gradually climbs to the pinnacle of virtues. For in the Old Testament, Moses alone ascended the mountain of God with Joshua; to govern the people in the plain until they returned, he appointed Aaron and Hur. Aaron, indeed, who is interpreted as "mountain of strength," signifies the unparalleled excellence of the Lord's Incarnation. Hur, who is called "fire," represents the gift of the Holy Spirit. For many in the Church, though they cannot accompany the teachers to penetrate the mysteries of the highest Divinity, can nonetheless be redeemed by the sacraments of the Lord's Incarnation and be marked by the fervor of the Holy Spirit.

You will scarcely find any where that the multitudes follow our Lord to the higher places, or that a sick person is healed on a mountain; but having quenched the fever of lust and lit the torch of knowledge, each man approaches by degrees to the height of the virtues. But the multitudes which were able to touch the Lord are healed by the virtue of that touch, as formerly the leper is cleansed when our Lord touched him. The touch of the Saviour then is the work of salvation, whom to touch is to believe on Him, to be touched is to be healed by His precious gifts.

Nor was the efficacy only upon the soul, but also upon the body through the very body of Christ: which is noted when he adds: And the whole crowd sought to touch him, namely out of faith and devotion, like that woman of whom it is said in Matthew 9: "If I touch the hem of his garment, I shall be saved." And rightly were they devout: whence it is added: Because power from him went forth and healed all, that is, the operation of power: below in chapter 8: "I knew that power went forth from me." Then power goes forth when, hidden in itself, it is manifested in its work, according to that passage in Wisdom 12: "You show your power, you who are not believed to be consummate in power." Then also it goes forth when it communicates itself to others, according to that passage in Isaiah 40: "He gives power to the weary and multiplies strength and vigor for those who have none." And great was this power, which had power over all, according to that passage in Wisdom 14: "You have power to heal from all things"; and chapter 16: "He who turned was healed not by what he saw, but by you, the Savior of all." And this especially drew all to Christ: whence it is said in John 6: "A great multitude followed him, because they saw the signs that he performed upon those who were infirm."

When he had appointed the holy apostles, he performed very many wonderful miracles, rebuking demons, delivering from incurable diseases whoever drew near to him, and displaying his own most divine power. He did these works so that both the Jews, who had run together to him, and those from the country of the Greeks might know that Christ was not some ordinary man of those in our degree but, on the contrary, God. He honored these chosen disciples with the dignity of the apostolate. He was the Word that was made man but retained nevertheless his own glory. "For power went forth from him and healed all." Christ did not borrow strength from some other person, but being himself God by nature, even though he had become flesh, he healed them all, by the demonstration of power over the sick.

But after that the High Priest had made publicly known His choice of Apostles, He did many and great miracles, that the Jews and Gentiles who had assembled might know that these were invested by Christ with the dignity of the Apostleship, and that He Himself was not as another man, but rather was God, as being the Incarnate Word. Hence it follows, And the whole multitude sought to touch him, for there went virtue out of him. For Christ did not receive virtue from others, but since he was by nature God, sending out His own virtue upon the sick, He healed them all.