Lazarus Saturday

And he said to them: The harvest indeed is great, but the laborers are few. Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest that he send laborers into his harvest. The great harvest signifies a multitude of peoples. The few laborers signify a scarcity of teachers. These are the laborers spoken of by the Psalmist: Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. Going forth they went and wept, carrying their seeds. But coming back they will come with exultation, carrying their sheaves (Psalm 126). And to speak more clearly, the great harvest is the whole crowd of believers. The few laborers are the apostles and their imitators who are sent into the harvest.

Third, with regard to the acceleration of the foregoing toward the salvation of the elect, it is added: And he said to them: The harvest indeed is great, that is, a multitude prepared for conversion. Whence in John 4, when the Samaritans had believed, the Lord said: "Look at the fields, for they are already white for the harvest." This harvest was sown in the law of nature, and grew in the law of figure, but was gathered in the time of grace. Whence it is said in John 4: "I sent you to reap that which you did not sow; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors." Now the gathering of this harvest is twofold: universal in the last time, of which in Revelation 14 it is said to the Angel: "Put forth your sickle and reap, for the hour has come to reap, because the harvest of the earth is ripe"; the other is a particular gathering or harvesting in the preaching of the Gospel.

But because there are few good harvesters, he therefore adds: But the laborers are few; he pointedly says laborers, because for the sickle of preaching to gather the harvest, it is necessary that the hand of work hold it, according to what Gregory says on Ezekiel: "In order that the truthfulness of preaching be preserved, loftiness of living is necessary." Those who do what they say with their mouth are laborers and are to be rewarded by the Lord, according to that passage in Matthew 20: "Call the laborers and pay them their wages." But few are zealous laborers, while more are malicious, according to that passage in Second Corinthians 11: "They are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into Apostles of Christ." But very many are slothful; whence in Matthew 20 the Lord said to the laborers: "Why do you stand here idle all day?" Very many are like those of whom it is said in Matthew 23: "They say and do not do. For they bind heavy and unbearable burdens; but they are unwilling to move them with their own finger."

And since the harvest is lost when good laborers are lacking, he therefore adds: Ask therefore the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into his harvest, namely good preachers, who carry the sword of the divine word, by which the crops are reaped, not only in their mouth but also in their hand. Whence concerning good preachers in the Psalm: "The praises of God in their throats, and two-edged swords in their hands." Whence preaching is a sword which, unless it is held by the hand, does not terrify the adversary. This was well prefigured in Nehemiah 4 concerning those rebuilding Jerusalem, and there it is said that "each one was doing the work with one hand, and with the other held a sword." Such laborers are given by God, according to what is signified in Genesis 2, that "God placed man in the paradise of pleasure, that he might work and guard it"; and therefore they must be sought from the Lord, that he may hire them by promising and send those hired by commanding, according to that passage in Matthew 20: "Who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. And having made an agreement," etc.

If, then, "the harvest is plenteous, but the labourers few," it is incumbent on us "to pray" that there may be as great abundance of labourers as possible.

When the preachers were sent, let us hear what he says: "The harvest indeed is great, but the laborers are few. Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he send laborers into his harvest." For the great harvest the laborers are few, which we cannot speak of without heavy grief, because even if there are those who hear good things, there are none to speak them. Behold, the world is full of priests, yet in God's harvest a worker is found very rarely, because we have indeed taken up the priestly office, but we do not fulfill the work of the office. But consider, dearest brothers, consider what is said: "Pray the Lord of the harvest, that he send laborers into his harvest." Petition on our behalf, that we may be able to work worthily for you, lest our tongue grow sluggish from exhortation, lest after we have taken up the place of preaching, our silence condemn us before the just judge. For often the tongue of preachers is restrained because of their own wickedness; but often indeed it happens through the fault of those subject to them that the word of preaching is withdrawn from those who are in charge. Indeed the tongue of preachers is restrained because of their own wickedness, as the Psalmist says: "But to the sinner God said: Why do you declare my justices?" And again, because of the fault of those subject to them, the voice of preachers is forbidden, as the Lord says to Ezekiel: "I will make your tongue cleave to your palate, and you shall be mute, and not as a man who rebukes, because it is a provoking house." As if he were to say openly: Therefore the word of preaching is taken from you, because while the people provoke me in their actions, they are not worthy to receive the exhortation of truth. From whose fault, therefore, the word is withdrawn from the preacher is not easily known. But it is known most certainly that the silence of the Pastor sometimes harms himself, but always harms those subject to him.

The Lord sends them "by two" so that they might be safer and assist one another. They went before His face, that is, like John they taught: "prepare the way of the Lord" (Matt. 3:3). Note how He first said: "pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers," and then He Himself by His own authority sends them. For He, as true God, is truly the Lord of the harvest, that is, of the believers.

To the seventy disciples He says, those whom He designated and sent two by two before His face. And in what manner did He send them two by two? Because two animals were sent into the ark, that is, the female with the male: unclean according to number, but cleansed by the sacrament of the Church. This was accomplished by the prophecy which Saint Peter received, when the Holy Spirit said to him: What God has cleansed, do not call common (Acts 10:15). And it is understood that this was said about the Gentiles, who followed more the succession of bodily generation than of spiritual grace. He redeemed them and made them heirs of his passion.

Therefore, Jesus sent his disciples into their own harvest, which, though planted with the word of God, still required the laborious work and diligent task of the worker; so that the birds of the sky would not scatter the seeds that were scattered, thus: Behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.

These animals are contrary to each other, so that some devour others. But a good shepherd does not fear wolves for his flock: and therefore these disciples are directed not to prey, but to grace; for the solicitude of a good shepherd makes it so that wolves cannot dare anything against the lambs. Therefore, he sends lambs among wolves, so that that may be fulfilled: Then the wolves and the lambs will feed together.

Now these animals are at variance among themselves, so that the one is devoured by the other, the lambs by the wolves; but the good Shepherd has no fear of wolves for His flock. And therefore the disciples are appointed not to make prey, but to impart grace. For the watchfulness of the good Shepherd causes the wolves to attempt nothing against the lambs; He sends them as lambs amid wolves that that prophecy might be fulfilled, The wolf and the lamb shall feed together. (Isaiah 65:25.)

Or the heretics are compared to wolves. For wolves are beasts who lay in wait near the sheep folds, and prowl about the shepherds' cottages. They dare not enter the abodes of men, they pry out sleeping dogs, absent or slothful shepherds; they seize the sheep by the throat, that they may quickly strangle them; ravenous beasts, with bodies so stiff that they cannot easily turn themselves, but are carried along by their own impetus, and so are often deceived. If they are the first to see a man, it is said, they by a certain natural impulse, tear out his voice; but if a man first sees them, they quake with fear. In like manner the heretics lurk about Christ's sheep folds, howl near the cottages at night time. For night is the time for the treacherous who obscure the light of Christ with the mists of false interpretation. The inns of Christ, however, they dare not enter, and therefore are not healed, as he was in an inn who fell among thieves. They look out for the shepherds' absence, for they can not attack the sheep when the shepherds are by. Owing also to the inflexibility of a hard and obstinate mind, they seldom if ever turn from their error, while Christ the true interpreter of Scripture mocks them, so that they vent forth their violence in vain, and are not able to hurt; and if they overtake any one by the subtle trickery of their disputations, they make him dumb. For he is dumb who confesses not the word of God with the glory which belongs to it. Beware then lest the heretic deprive you of your voice, and lest you detect him not first. For he is creeping on while his treachery is disguised. But if you have discovered his unholy desires, you can not fear the loss of a holy voice. They attack the throat, they wound the vitals while they seek the soul. If also you hear any one called a priest, and you know his robberies, outwardly he is a sheep, inwardly a wolf, who is longing to gratify his rage with the insatiable cruelty of human murder.

Go, behold I send you as lambs among wolves. He calls the wolves the scribes and Pharisees, who are the clergy of the Jews.

Or He especially gives the name of wolves to the Scribes and Pharisees, who are the Jewish clergy.

Fourth, however, with regard to the strengthening of those dispatched against the fury of persecutors, he adds: Go: behold, I send you as lambs among wolves. Go, that is, swiftly, like those living creatures in Ezekiel 1: "The living creatures went and returned in the likeness of flashing lightning"; and Proverbs 6: "Run about, make haste, rouse your friend." Or go, that is, expose yourselves to dangers for the salvation of the sheep, according to that passage in John 10: "The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. But the hireling sees the wolf coming and abandons the sheep and flees"; as if to say: go to mourning, that you may bring back joy, according to that passage in the Psalm: "Going they went and wept, casting their seeds; but coming they shall come with rejoicing," etc.; or go to battle, that you may bring back triumph, according to that passage in Joshua 1: "Go armed before your brothers, all you who are strong of hand, and fight for them."

And because the strongest armor is meekness and patience, therefore he says: As lambs among wolves, that is, as pious, humble, and meek ones among the impious, proud, and malicious, so that you may conquer them by meekness, just as Christ also did, according to that passage in Isaiah 53: "Like a lamb before its shearer he was silent and did not open his mouth." Thus the Apostles by lamb-like meekness tamed wolfish ferocity, and that passage in Isaiah 11 was fulfilled: "The wolf and the lamb shall dwell together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox"; and chapter 65: "The wolf and the lamb shall feed together." Whence Christ by his meekness converted Paul the wolf into a lamb, and that passage in the second-to-last chapter of Genesis was fulfilled in him: "Benjamin, a ravenous wolf, in the morning shall devour the prey and in the evening shall divide the spoils." For first he persecuted Christ as a wolf, afterward he suffered persecutions for him as a lamb. Such ought the prelates of the Church to be, according to that passage in First Peter 5: "Elders, feed the flock that is among you, exercising oversight," etc.; and afterward: "Neither as lording it over the clergy, but being made a pattern of the flock from the heart": as if to say: do not be as wolves among lambs, but rather lambs among lambs and wolves, so that you may cherish the good and bear with the wicked. Whence Chrysostom says: "The grace of God is stronger than nature: while we are sheep, we conquer, even if there be many wolves; but if we become wolves, we are conquered, and the aid of the supreme Shepherd departs from us."

How then does he command the holy apostles, who are innocent men and "sheep," to seek the company of wolves, and go to them of their own will? Is not the danger apparent? Are they not set up as ready prey for their attacks? How can a sheep prevail over a wolf? How can one so peaceful conquer the savageness of beasts of prey? "Yes," he says, "for they all have me as their Shepherd: small and great, people and princes, teachers and students. I will be with you, help you, and deliver you from all evil. I will tame the savage beasts. I will change wolves into sheep, and I will make the persecutors become the helpers of the persecuted. I will make those who wrong my ministers to be sharers in their pious designs. I make and unmake all things, and nothing can resist my will."

Luke next relates, that the seventy disciples obtained for themselves from Christ apostolical learning, lowliness, innocency, justice, and to prefer no worldly things to holy preachings, but to aspire to such fortitude of mind as to be afraid of no terrors, not even death itself. He adds therefore, Go.

Thus He had already commanded them to have no care for these persons, when He said, I send you as lambs among wolves.

He sent them two by two, in his likeness. He sent them preaching without a salary, as he had done.…"Behold, I am sending you forth like lambs among the wolves," to show that as long as the Shepherd was with them they would not be harmed. To encourage them, he said, "He who receives you, receives me." … He forbid them to take money for fear they would be considered businessmen and not announcers.

(Orat. 2.) The sum of which is, that men ought to be so virtuous that the Gospel should make no less progress through their way of life than their preaching.

(ubi sup.) The Lord gave them these commands also for the glory of the word, lest it should seem that enticements could more prevail over them. He wished them also not to be anxious to speak to others.

But would that if we are not sufficient for the power of preaching, we might at least maintain the duty of our position in innocence of life. For it is added: Behold, I send you as lambs among wolves. But many, when they receive the rights of governance, burn to tear apart their subjects, display the terror of power, and harm those whom they ought to have benefited. And because they do not have the bowels of charity, they desire to be seen as lords, they do not at all recognize themselves to be fathers, they change the place of humility into the exaltation of domination, and if ever they flatter outwardly, inwardly they rage. Concerning whom the Truth says elsewhere: They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. Against all these things, we must consider that we are sent as lambs among wolves, so that, preserving the sense of innocence, we may not have the bite of malice. For he who undertakes the position of preaching ought not to inflict evils, but to endure them, so that by his very meekness he may soften the anger of those who rage, and he himself, wounded by afflictions, may heal the wounds of sins in others. And if ever the zeal of righteousness demands that he rage against his subjects, let that fury be from love, not from cruelty, so that he may both display the rights of discipline outwardly, and inwardly love with fatherly affection those whom he chastises as if pursuing them outwardly. This a Ruler exhibits well when he does not know how to love himself through private affection, when he desires nothing of the things of the world, when he in no way bends the neck of his mind to the burdens of earthly desire.

(ubi sup.) Hereby also the people must be induced to pray for their pastors, that they may he able to work what is good for them, and that their tongue grow not lifeless in exhortation. For often for their own wickedness their tongue is tied. But often for the fault of the people it comes to pass that the word of preaching is withdrawn from their rulers.

(Hom. 17. in Ev.) For many when they receive the right of rule, are vehement in persecuting their subjects, and manifesting the terrors of their power. And since they have no bowels of mercy, their desire is to seem to be masters, forgetting altogether that they are fathers, changing an occasion for humility, into an exaltation of power. We must on the other hand consider, that as lambs we are sent among wolves that preserving the feeling of innocence, so we should make no malicious attacks. For he who undertakes the office of preacher ought not to bring evils upon others, but to endure them; who although at times an upright zeal demands that he should deal harshly with his subjects, should still inwardly in his heart love with a fatherly feeling those whom outwardly he visits with censure. And that ruler gives a good example of this, who never submits the neck of his soul to the yoke of earthly desire. Hence it is added, Carry neither purse nor scrip.

(Hom. 17. in Ev.) For the preacher (of the Gospel) ought to have such trust in God, that although he has provided not for the expenses of this present life, he should still be most certainly convinced that these will not fail him; lest while his mind is engaged in His temporal things, he should be less careful for the spiritual things of others.

(ubi sup.) If any one would have these words taken also allegorically, the money shut up in a purse is the hidden wisdom. He then who has the word of wisdom, and neglects to employ it for his neighbour, is like one who keeps his money tied up in his purse. But by the scrip is meant the troubles of the world, by the shoes (made of the skins of dead animals) are signified the examples of dead works. He then who undertakes the office of preacher ought not to bear the burden of business, lest while this presses down his neck he should not rise to the preaching of heavenly things; nor ought he to behold the example of foolish works, lest he think to shield his own works as by dead skins, that is, lest because he observes that others have done these things, he imagine that he also is at liberty to do the same.

(ubi sup.) Now every one who salutes on the way does so from the accident of the journey, not for the sake of wishing health. He then who not from love of a heavenly country, but from seeking reward, preaches salvation to his hearers, does as it were salute on the journey, since accidentally, not from any fixed intention, he desires the salvation of his hearers.

(l. i. ep. 438.) Denoting the simplicity and innocence in His disciples. For those who were riotous, and by their enormities did despite to their nature, He calls not lambs, but goats.

Denoting the simplicity and innocence in His disciples. For those who were riotous, and by their enormities did despite to their nature, He calls not lambs, but goats.

(Hom. 33. in Matt.) For their comfort amid every danger was the power of Him who sent them. And therefore saith He, Behold, I send you; as if he said, This will suffice for your consolation, this will be enough to make you hope, instead of fearing the coming evils which He signifies, adding, as lambs among wolves.

(Hom. 33 in Matt.) For this was a clear announcement of glorious triumph, that the disciples of Christ, when surrounded by their enemies as lambs among wolves, should still convert them.

I relate all those things on the authority of well-informed persons; and I thought it proper to commit them to writing exactly as they happened, lest the memory of events so important should perish, and lest any future historian of the persecutors should corrupt the truth, either by suppressing their offences against God, or the judgment of God against them. To His everlasting mercy ought we to render thanks, that, having at length looked on the earth, He deigned to collect again and to restore His flock, partly laid waste by ravenous wolves, and partly scattered abroad, and to extirpate those noxious wild beasts who had trod down its pastures, and destroyed its resting-places.

He tells them beforehand about persecutions and about the fact that they will be as lambs among wolves, so that these things, having come upon them unexpectedly, would not trouble them by their suddenness.

Consider it is not only "Salute no man," but "by the way" is not carelessly added. When Elisha sent his servant to lay his staff on the body of the dead child, he also commanded him not to salute any man he met. He ordered him to hurry to go in order to perform the office of proclaiming the resurrection, lest he be turned from the duty laid upon him by conversation with someone along the way. The zeal of greeting is not taken away here, but an obstacle to the practice of piety is removed. When divine commands are given, human obligations are surrendered for a little while. Salutation is fine, but the performance of duties to God is finer because it is more fitting. Hindrance of these duties has often brought offenses. Even honorable acts are prohibited, for fear that the grace of ceremony deceive and hinder the ministry of the task, delay in which is sinful.

Our Lord did not then forbid these things because the exercise of benevolence was displeasing to Him, but because the motive of following after devotedness was more pleasing.

Our Lord also would have nothing human in us. For Moses is bid to loose off the human and earthly shoe when he was sent to deliver the people. (Exod. 3:5) But if any one is perplexed why in Egypt we are ordered to eat the lamb with shoes on, (Exod. 12:11.) but the Apostles are appointed to preach the Gospel without shoes: he must consider, that one in Egypt ought still to beware of the serpent's bite, for there were many poisonous creatures in Egypt. And he who celebrates the Passover in figure may be exposed to the wound, but the minister of truth fears no poison.

Do not carry a purse, nor a bag, nor sandals, and greet no one on the road. Such must be the preacher's confidence in God that, though he does not foresee the necessities of this present life, he must most certainly know that they will not be lacking for him. So that, while his mind is occupied with temporal matters, he may be less able to foresee the eternal for others. It is also permitted for him to greet no one on the road, to show how urgently he must continue on his journey of preaching. If anyone wishes to understand these words even allegorically, in the purse money is enclosed. Hidden money is hidden wisdom. Therefore, he who has the word of wisdom but neglects to dispense it to his neighbor is as if he holds money tied up in a purse. And it is written: "Hidden wisdom and hidden treasure, what use is there in both?" But what does the bag signify if not the works of the world? And what do sandals signify in this context if not the examples of dead works? Therefore, he who undertakes the office of preaching is not worthy to carry the burden of worldly affairs, lest, while this weighs down his neck, he fails to rise up to preach the heavenly matters. Nor should he look at the examples of foolish works, lest he believes that his own works, as if from dead skins, are fortified. Anyone who greets on the way greets from the occasion of the journey, not from the pursuit of obtaining that same greeting. Therefore, he who preaches salvation to listeners not out of love for the eternal homeland but out of greed for rewards, greets as if on a journey, since he wishes salvation to listeners out of occasion and not out of intention.

Do not carry, etc. After the sending of the accompanying disciples, he adds the instruction for those who go forth. Now this part has two sections, in the first of which is set forth a common instruction with respect to all; second, a particular instruction with respect to particular persons, at: And into whatever city you enter. Now by the general instruction he invites us to four things, namely, to embracing mendicancy, to avoiding loquacity, to showing kindness, and displaying maturity.

First, therefore, with regard to embracing mendicancy, he says: Do not carry a purse, namely for storing money. For purse is taken to mean a money-bag, according to Proverbs 7: "He took a bag of money with him." Nor a knapsack, for keeping bread, according to Matthew 6: "Do not be anxious about tomorrow, saying: What shall we eat?" etc. Nor sandals, namely for covering the feet; for in Mark 6 it is said: "But only shod with sandals." For sandals protect the foot from injury but do not cover it, as is the case with the soles of the friars. Now the Lord wished to enjoin this upon the disciples so that they would not only be poor but also appear poor, and call others to poverty more by examples than by words. "Poverty, as Seneca says, is a hateful good," and therefore, since it appears base and contemptible, the Lord attached to it the greatest dowry, so that through it poverty might at least be taken in marriage, when he said in Matthew 5: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Second, with regard to avoiding loquacity, he adds: And greet no one along the way. On this passage the Gloss says that he says this "lest he be deflected from his enjoined office by the conversation of someone met along the way." For he was sending them in haste, just as Elisha sent his servant, in 4 Kings 4: "If you meet a man, do not greet him; and if anyone greets you, do not answer him." Now the Lord enjoined this not to avoid a sign of affability, since he himself was most kind and most courteous, but to avoid much speaking, about which it is said in Proverbs 10: "In much speaking, sin will not be wanting"; and therefore in Ecclesiasticus 19: "He who hates loquacity extinguishes malice." Now this is very common among travelers and is frequently an occasion for quarrels; whence it is said in Mark 9 concerning the disciples: "For they had disputed among themselves along the way, which of them was the greatest." On account of which, in Genesis 45, it is said that "Joseph said to his brothers as they departed: Do not quarrel along the way."

Now according to the spiritual understanding, he forbids desiring the salvation that belongs to the way, not the salvation that belongs to the homeland; which is indicated when he says: Along the way. For salvation is to be desired for all, as it is said in 1 Timothy 2 that "God wills all men to be saved," and this because he himself is salvation and savior. But that salvation ought to be desired of which the Psalm says: "But the salvation of the just is from the Lord." This the Apostles always desired, and concerning this it is said in Ecclesiasticus 22: "Do not be ashamed to greet a friend"; and in Romans 16: "Greet one another with a holy kiss"; and in the Psalm: "You are my king and my God, who commands the salvations of Jacob."

It can be explained otherwise, so that it is said: Greet no one along the way, that is, do not yet declare anyone saved, since he can still be condemned as long as he is on the way: for Matthew 10: "He who perseveres to the end, he shall be saved." Therefore salvation is at the end of the way, not in the middle or at the beginning.

Or otherwise: Greet no one along the way, that is, on account of the fellowship of the way, but on account of the fellowship of life. From which it is apparent that salvation does not come to men through conversation with the Saints, but through the imitation of them: whence Matthew 7: "Not everyone who says to me: Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father, who is in heaven."

Again, Luke 10: Do not carry a purse or a bag. The Gloss: "So great ought the preacher's trust in God to be that, even if he does not foresee the expenses of the present life, he nonetheless knows most certainly that they will not fail him, lest, while the mind is occupied with temporal things, he preach eternal things less effectively." Therefore, it contributes to a more unhindered preaching of the truth that one not make provision of temporal things for oneself, but expect them to be given by others when one is in need: therefore such a mode of living is consonant with truth and evangelical perfection.

Look, for instance, to Elias the Thesbite, in whom we have a beautiful example of frugality, when he sat down beneath the thorn, and the angel brought him food. "It was a cake of barley and a jar of water." Such the Lord sent as best for him. We, then, on our journey to the truth, must be unencumbered. "Carry not," said the Lord, "purse, nor scalp, nor shoes; " that is, possess not wealth, which is only treasured up in a purse; fill not your own stores, as if laying up produce in a bag, but communicate to those who have need. Do not trouble yourselves about horses and servants, who, as bearing burdens when the rich are travelling, are allegorically called shoes.

When preaching to people everywhere the Word that he spoke and calling the inhabitants of the whole earth to salvation, he requires them to travel about without purse, bag or shoes. They are to travel rapidly from city to city and from place to place. Let no one say that the object of his teaching was to make the holy Apostles refuse the use of the ordinary articles of equipment. What good or what harm would it do them to have shoes on their feet or go without them? By this command, he does wish them to learn and to attempt to practice that they must lay all thought of their livelihood on him. They must call to mind the saint who said, "Cast your care on the Lord, and he will feed you." He gives what is needful for life to the saints.

And He also forbade all care about what is external to the body, by saying, Take neither purse nor scrip. Nor did He allow men to take with them any of those things which were not attached to the body. Hence He adds, Nor shoes. He not only forbade them to take purse and scrip, but He did not allow them to receive any distraction in their work, such as interruption by greetings on their way. Hence He adds, Salute no one by the way. Which had long ago been said by Elisha. (2 Kings. 4:29.) As if He said, Proceed straight on to your work without exchanging blessings with others. For it is a loss to waste the time which is fitter for preaching, in unnecessary things.

Hence it is also added: "Do not carry a money bag, nor a wallet, nor sandals, and greet no one along the way." For the preacher ought to have such great trust in God that, although he does not provide for the expenses of the present life, he nevertheless knows most certainly that these will not be lacking to him, lest while his mind is occupied with temporal things, he provide less for others concerning eternal things. He is also permitted to greet no one along the way, to show with what great haste he ought to proceed on the journey of preaching. If anyone wishes to understand these words also allegorically: in a money bag, money is enclosed; but enclosed money is hidden wisdom. Therefore, whoever has the word of wisdom but neglects to distribute it to his neighbor holds money bound up in a bag, as it were. Hence it is written: "Hidden wisdom and a concealed treasure, what profit is there in either?" And what is signified by the wallet, except the burdens of the world; and what in this place by sandals, except the examples of dead works? Therefore, whoever undertakes the office of preaching, it is not fitting that he carry the burden of worldly affairs, lest while this weighs down his neck, he not rise up to preach heavenly things. Nor ought he to look upon the examples of foolish works, lest he believe he is protecting his own works, as it were, with the skins of dead animals. For there are many who defend their own depravity from the depravities of others. Because they consider that others have done such things, they think they may do these things freely. What else do these people do except try to protect their feet with the skins of dead animals? But everyone who greets on the way greets by occasion of the journey, not from zeal for wishing that same salvation. Therefore, whoever preaches salvation to his hearers not from love of the eternal homeland but from ambition for rewards greets, as it were, on the journey, because he wishes salvation for his hearers by occasion and not by intention.

(ubi sup.) Now every one who salutes on the way does so from the accident of the journey, not for the sake of wishing health. He then who not from love of a heavenly country, but from seeking reward, preaches salvation to his hearers, does as it were salute on the journey, since accidentally, not from any fixed intention, he desires the salvation of his hearers.

"I will go and bid farewell to the children of my house," but Christ said unto him, "Thou hast no peace with them," for "Ye shall salute no man by the way"; and the meaning of this speech is that Christ thereby denied His disciples also that salutation of the peace of the world. These things were said in the person of one disciple unto every man, that is to say, unto all those who have dedicated themselves unto discipleship, for it is better that a man should not be a disciple unto God in name, being in truth a disciple of the world, and that he should not hire himself unto One, and serve the other.

When the children of Israel went out of Egypt, the Creator brought them forth laden with their spoils of gold and silver vessels, and with loads besides of raiment and unleavened dough; whereas Christ commanded His disciples not to carry even a staff for their journey.

For it was He under whose very protection the people wore not out a shoe, even in the wilderness for the space of so many years. "No one," says He, "shall ye salute by the way." What a destroyer of the prophets, forsooth, is Christ, seeing it is from them that He received his precept also! When Elisha sent on his servant Gehazi before him to raise the Shunammite's son from death, I rather think he gave him these instructions: "Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thine hand, and go thy way: if thou meet any man, salute him not; and if any salute thee, answer him not again.

Since the Lord intends to send the disciples to preach the Gospel, He says to them: "take neither a bag," nor this, nor that; for it is sufficient for you to be devoted to the word. And if you carry a bag, it is obvious that you will be occupied with it, and will begin to neglect the word. Otherwise: since those whom you teach will feed you, what need have you of a bag or a knapsack, or of sandals? For those whom you instruct will supply your every need for them. He commands them this for the purpose that they would not occupy themselves with human greetings and courtesies and thereby place obstacles in the way of the work of preaching. For it is likely that one who received a greeting would respond with a greeting in return, and perhaps would enter into a prolonged conversation, as travelers usually do, and then, as if having already become friends, would talk about something even more at length, and thus the apostle would fall into ordinary human relations and would neglect the word. For this reason the Lord forbids the disciples from greeting anyone on the road.

That in truth we should convey the message of peace, and that our very first entrance be attended with the blessing of peace.

But the Lord says: "When ye enter into an house, say, Peace be to this house. And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it; but if it be not worthy, your peace shall return to you."

Our Lord said to his disciples, "Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this house!' And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but, if not, it will return to you." …Since we do not know who is a son of peace, it is our part to leave no one out, to set no one aside, but to desire that all to whom we preach this peace be saved. We are not to fear that we lose our peace if he to whom we preach it is not a son of peace, and we are ignorant of the fact. Our peace will return to us. That means our preaching will profit us, not him. If the peace we preach rests upon him, it will profit both him and us.

In whatever house you enter, first say: Peace be to this house. And if a son of peace be there, your peace will rest on him. But if not, it will return to you. The peace which is offered from the mouth of the preacher either rests in the house if there is a son of peace there, or it returns to the same preacher, for everyone is either predestined to life and follows the heavenly word that he hears, or if no one wants to listen, the preacher himself will not be without fruit, because the peace returns to him, since it is recompensed to him by the Lord for the labor of his work. Behold, however, he who prohibited carrying a purse and bag, grants expenses and sustenance from the same preaching. For it follows:

Third, as regards showing kindness, he adds: And into whatever house you enter, first say: Peace to this house: so that it may appear that you are men who love and announce peace, according to that passage of Isaiah 52: "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who announces and preaches peace"! This peace the Lord made, according to that passage of Colossians 1: "Making peace through the blood of his cross," etc.: the Lord also left it: John 14: "Peace I leave to you, my peace I give to you"; the Lord announced it; John 20: "Jesus stood in the midst and said to them: Peace to you"; the Lord commanded and proclaimed peace, as is said in Ephesians 2: "Coming, he proclaimed peace to you who were far off, and peace to those who were near."

There follows: Into whatsoever house you enter, first say: Peace be to this house. The peace which is offered from the mouth of the preacher either rests in the house, if there be a son of peace in it, or returns to the same preacher; because either someone will be predestined to life, and follows the heavenly word which he hears; or if no one shall have been willing to hear, the preacher himself will not be without fruit, because peace returns to him, since a reward is recompensed to him from the Lord for the labor of his work.

(Hom. 35. in Matt.) Peace is the mother of all good things, without it all other things are vain. Our Lord therefore commanded His disciples on entering a house first to pronounce peace as a sign of good things, saying, Into whatever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house.

(Hom. 32. in Matt. Orat. cont. Jud. 3.) And hence he who presides in the Church gives it, saying, Peace unto all. Now holy men ask for peace, not only that which dwells among men in mutual intercourse, but that which belongs to ourselves. For oftentimes we wage war in our hearts, and are disturbed even when no one troubles us; bad desires also frequently rise up against us.

(ubi sup.) But lest any one should say, I am spending my own property in preparing a table for strangers, He first makes them offer the gift of peace, to which nothing is equal, that you may know that you receive greater things than you give.

Therefore, standing and seeing all the people gazing upon him in profound silence, and Simon the magician standing in the midst, he began to speak thus: "Peace be to all you who are in readiness to give your right hands to the truth of God, which, being His great and incomparable gift in the present world, He who sent us, being an infallible Prophet of that which is supremely profitable, gave us in charge, by way of salutation before our words of instruction, to announce to you, in order that if there be any son of peace among you, peace may take hold of him through our teaching; but if any of you will not receive it, then we, shaking off for a testimony the road-dust of our feet, which we have borne through our toils, and brought to you that you may be saved, will go to the abodes and the cities of others. "

For what is a wayside blessing but a mutual salutation as men meet? So also the Lord commands: "Into whatsoever house they enter, let them say, Peace be to it." Herein He follows the very same example.

But again, when received yourself by brethren, you will not make earthly refreshments prior to heavenly, for your faith will forthwith be judged. Or else how will you-according to the precept -say, "Peace to this house," unless you exchange mutual peace with them who are in the house?

"Into whatever house you enter," He says, "first say: peace be to this house," that is, greet those who are in the house.

But it is said, Peace be to this house, that is, to them that dwell in the house. As if he says, I speak unto all, both the greater and the less, yet should not your salutation be addressed to them that are unworthy of it.

And because they might fear that they would offer peace in vain, therefore he adds: And if a son of peace be there: of peace according to eternal foreknowledge, of whom it is said in John 11 that "Jesus suffered, that he might gather together the children of God who were scattered"; of whom it is said in 2 Timothy 2: "The Lord knows who are his." Such are sons of peace, because it is said in Matthew 5: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God." — In such a one the word of preaching has efficacy: on account of which he adds: Your peace shall rest upon him, that is, the peace announced by you: whence Isaiah 66, according to another translation: "Upon whom shall my spirit rest, if not upon the humble and quiet one"? Assuredly the peace of Christ that was announced rests upon those predestined by God, according to that passage of Acts 13: "As many as were preordained to life believed"; and John 10: "You do not believe, because you are not of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice."

It is useful therefore to speak the Gospel of peace to the predestined; it is also useful to speak to the foreknown; and therefore he adds: But if not, it shall return to you, according to that passage of the Psalm: "My prayer shall return into my own bosom"; and this, because a work of piety and mercy is always useful to the one doing it and returns to the doer, according to that passage of Ecclesiasticus seventeen: "The alms of a man is as a purse with him, and shall preserve the grace of a man as the apple of the eye; and afterward he shall rise up and shall render retribution to each one upon his own head."

And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon him; but if not, it shall return to you. The peace which is offered from the mouth of the preacher either rests in the house, if there be a son of peace in it, or returns to the same preacher; because either someone will be predestined to life, and follows the heavenly word which he hears; or if no one shall have been willing to hear, the preacher himself will not be without fruit, because peace returns to him, since a reward is recompensed to him from the Lord for the labor of his work.

(Hom. 17. in Ev.) For the peace which is offered by the mouth of the preacher shall either rest on the house, if there be any one in it predestined to life, who follows the heavenly word which he hears; or if no one be willing indeed to hear, the preacher himself shall not be without fruit, for the peace returns to him, while the Lord gives him the recompense of reward for the labour of his work.

"Into whatever house you enter," He says, "first say: peace be to this house," that is, greet those who are in the house; then, showing that this is not merely a greeting but also a blessing, He says: if the householder is worthy, then he will be blessed, and if he is an offender and incapable of receiving peace, if he is an enemy and opponent of your word and teaching, then the blessing will not come to him, but "will return to you."

Hence it is added, And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it. As if he says, You indeed shall utter the word, but the blessing of peace shall be applied wherever I shall deem men worthy of it. But if any one is not worthy, ye are not mocked, the grace of your word has not perished, but is returned unto you. And this is what is added, But if not, it shall return unto you again.

Another virtue is added, that we should not go about easily, changing from house to house. For it follows, Go not from house to house; that is, that we should preserve a consistency in our love towards our hosts, nor lightly loose any bond of friendship.

Let the bishop esteem such food and raiment sufficient as suits necessity and decency. Let him not make use of the Lord's goods as another's, but moderately; "for the labourer is worthy of his reward." Let him not be luxurious in diet, or fond of idle furniture, but contented with so much alone as is necessary for his sustenance.

In the same house, remain, eating and drinking what things they have. If our peace is received, it is fitting that we remain in the same house, eating and drinking what things they have, so that we may receive earthly provisions from them, to whom we offer the rewards of the heavenly homeland. Therefore Paul, also receiving these things as of little value, says: If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things (1 Corinthians 9)? And it should be noted what follows:

For the worker is worthy of his wages. Because now the wages of the work itself are the supports of sustenance, so that here the reward of the labor of preaching begins, which there is perfected by the vision of truth. In this matter it is considered that two rewards are due for one work of ours, one on the journey, the other in the homeland: one that sustains us in labor, the other that rewards us in the resurrection.

Fourth, indeed, as regards showing maturity, he adds: But remain in the same house, as mature men, lest perhaps you be noted for instability; whence Ecclesiasticus twenty-one: "The foot of a fool is quick into his neighbor's house." Therefore Bede says: "It is foreign to a preacher to run about through houses and to change his lodging." And because they might believe that lodging should be changed on account of food, therefore he adds: Eating and drinking such things as are with them, without discrimination of foods, as First Corinthians ten: "Whatever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience's sake"; also without rejection of foods, according to that passage of First Timothy four: "Every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected which is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer"; also without demanding of foods, according to that passage of Ecclesiasticus thirty-one: "You have sat down among many; do not stretch out your hand before them, nor be the first to ask for drink."

And because they might believe that it was not permitted to be fed from another's substance, therefore he adds: For the laborer is worthy of his hire, not only in the homeland for remuneration, but also on the way for sustenance. Whence First Corinthians nine: "The Lord ordained that those who preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel"; and Galatians six: "Let him who is instructed in the word communicate to him who instructs him in all good things"; whence First Corinthians nine says: "If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great matter if we reap your carnal things?" And the Apostle proves there that such a laborer is worthy, both by authorities and by many reasons, as is evident there. Since therefore he is worthy of refreshment, on account of that it is not necessary to change one's lodging.

Therefore at the end he adds: Do not pass from house to house; lest you appear wandering, lest you be like that wandering woman of whom it is said in Proverbs seven, that "she is loud, wandering, impatient of quiet, not able to stand still in her house with her feet." Such are heretics; whence Second Timothy three: "Of these are they who creep into houses and lead captive silly women laden with sins." Preachers of truth ought not be such; whence Ambrose: "One must not move from house to house with wandering fickleness, so that constancy may be preserved in hospitable love, lest the close bond of friendship that has grown together be easily dissolved."

On that passage in Luke 10: The laborer is worthy of his hire: the Gloss says: "Two rewards are owed to the preacher: one on the way, which sustains him in labor; the other in the homeland, which recompenses him in the resurrection"; but what is owed to someone, he is not bound to acquire by bodily labor: therefore a poor preacher is not bound to work manually for the sustenance of the body.

But every true prophet that willeth to abide among you is worthy of his support. So also a true teacher is himself worthy, as the workman, of his support. Every first-fruit, therefore, of the products of wine-press and threshing-floor, of oxen and of sheep, thou shalt take and give to the prophets, for they are your high priests. But if ye have not a prophet, give it to the poor. If thou makest a batch of dough, take the first-fruit and give according to the commandment. So also when thou openest a jar of wine or of oil, take the first-fruit and give it to the prophets; and of money (silver) and clothing and every possession, take the first-fruit, as it may seem good to thee, and give according to the commandment.

Behold, however, he who forbade carrying a purse and bag grants expenses and food from that same preaching. For it is added: "And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as are with them. For the laborer is worthy of his hire." If our peace is received, it is fitting that we remain in the same house eating and drinking such things as are with them, so that we may obtain earthly provisions from those to whom we offer the rewards of the heavenly homeland. Hence Paul also, receiving these very things as of little account, says: "If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things?" And it should be noted what is added: "The laborer is worthy of his hire," because the very food for sustenance is already part of the wages of the work, so that here the reward from the labor of preaching may begin, which is perfected there in the vision of truth. In this matter it should be considered that two rewards are owed to our one work: one on the way, the other in the homeland; one which sustains us in labor, another which recompenses us in the resurrection. Therefore the reward which is received in the present ought to accomplish this in us: that we may strive more vigorously toward the subsequent reward. Therefore every preacher should not preach in order to receive a reward in this time, but should receive a reward in order to continue preaching. For whoever preaches in order to receive here a reward of either praise or gift, without doubt deprives himself of the eternal reward. But whoever desires that what he says please men so that, while what is said pleases, through those same words not he himself but the Lord may be loved, or who therefore obtains earthly provisions in preaching lest he be wearied from the voice of preaching through want—for this one without doubt nothing stands in the way of receiving the reward in the homeland, because he took expenses on the way.

But what do we—and I cannot say this without grief—what do we, O Pastors, do, who receive wages and yet are by no means workers? For we receive the fruits of holy Church in daily payment, yet we labor not at all in preaching for the eternal Church. Let us consider what condemnation it is to receive here the wages of labor without the labor. Behold, we live from the offerings of the faithful, but what do we labor for the souls of the faithful? We take for our payment those things which the faithful offered for the redemption of their sins, and yet we do not sweat against those same sins with the zeal of prayer or preaching, as is fitting. We scarcely rebuke anyone openly for their fault. And still—what is more serious—sometimes if a person is powerful in this world, their errors are perhaps praised, lest, if opposed, they withdraw in anger the gift they were bestowing. But we must remember without ceasing what is written about certain ones: They shall eat the sins of my people. Why are they said to eat the sins of the people, unless because they encourage the sins of transgressors, lest they lose their temporal payments? But we also who live from the offerings of the faithful, which they offered for their sins, if we eat and remain silent, we without doubt eat their sins. Let us consider, therefore, what a crime it is before God to eat the price of sins and to do nothing against sins by preaching. Let us hear what is said in the voice of blessed Job: If my land cries out against me, and its furrows weep together with it, if I have eaten its fruits without payment. For the land cries out against its possessor when the Church justly murmurs against its pastor. Its furrows also weep if the hearts of hearers, which have been plowed by the preceding fathers with the voice of preaching and the vigor of rebuke, see something to mourn in the life of their pastor. The good possessor does not eat the fruit of this land without payment, because the discerning pastor invests the talent of the word, lest he take the payment of sustenance from the Church to his own damnation. For we eat the fruits of our land with payment when, receiving ecclesiastical support, we labor in preaching. For we are heralds of the coming Judge. Who then will announce the coming Judge if the herald is silent?

(Hom. 17. in Ev.) But if our peace is received, it is meet that we should obtain earthly supplies from those to whom we offer the rewards of a heavenly country. Hence it follows: And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give. Mark, that He who forbade them to carry purse and scrip, allows them to be an expense to others, and to receive sustenance from preaching.

(ubi sup.) For now the very food which supports him is part of the wages of the labourer, as in this life the hire commences with the labour of preaching, which in the next is completed with the sight of truth. And here we must consider that two rewards are due to one work of ours, one on the journey, which supports us in labour, the other in our country, which recompenses us at the resurrection. Therefore the reward which we receive now ought so to work in us, that we the more vigorously strive to gain the succeeding reward. Every true preacher then ought not so to preach, that he may receive a reward at the present time, but so to receive a reward that he may have strength to preach. For whoever so preaches that here he may receive the reward of praise, or riches, deprives himself of an eternal reward.

" Such will be rather our Antitheses; they compare Christ with, instead of sundering Him from, the Creator. "The labourer is worthy of his hire." Who could better pronounce such a sentence than the Judge? For to decide that the workman deserves his wages, is in itself a judicial act.

He commands not to go from house to house, so that the apostles would not appear to be gluttons, would not give many an occasion for scandal, and would not offend those who received them in the beginning.

See then how He taught His disciples to beg, and wished them to receive their nourishment as a reward. For it is added, For the labourer is worthy of his hire.

Or else; Since you are not appointed judges as to who are worthy and who are unworthy, eat and drink what things they offer to you. But leave to me the trial of those who receive you, unless you happen also to know that the son of peace is not there, for perhaps in that case you ought to depart.

And into whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat what is set before you, etc. Having described the various entertainments of different houses, he teaches what they ought to do even in cities, namely, to communicate with the pious in all things, but to separate themselves entirely from the society of the impious.

Now having described the reception from different houses, he teaches them what they ought to do in the cities; namely, to have intercourse with the good in all, but to keep from the society of the wicked in every thing; as it follows, But into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you.

And into whatever city you enter. After the common instruction of the disciples, the Evangelist here subjoins a special instruction according to the diversities of the hearers. And since some were prepared to receive them, as the faithful, but others to repel them, as the unfaithful, whose guilt increased from contempt of divine grace and disregard of apostolic authority; therefore this part has four sections. In the first of which is set forth the instruction with respect to the faithful; in the second, with respect to the rebellious, at: Into whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you; in the third is added the rebuke of the contemptuous, at: Woe to you, Chorazin, etc.; in the fourth is subjoined the authentication of the preachers, at: He who hears you, etc. Concerning the instruction with respect to the faithful, two things are introduced; the first of which is the reception of temporal sustenance, the second is the communication of spiritual benefit.

First, therefore, regarding the reception of temporal sustenance, he instructs, when he says: And into whatever city you enter, namely to preach the truth, as it is said in Jonah 3, that "Jonah began to enter the city, a day's journey, and he cried out." So also these men ought to rouse the city at their entrance by the cry of the divine word, according to what is said of Philip the disciple in Acts 8, that "going down to the city of Samaria, he preached Jesus to them. And the crowds gave heed to those things which were said by Philip."

And since it belongs to the faithful to give heed to divine words, therefore he adds: And they receive you, namely through faith and love, as messengers of Christ; since, in Matthew 18, "whoever receives one such little child in my name, receives me." But he receives the preacher who accepts his doctrine with meekness and patience, according to what is said in James 1: "Receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls." And since from those who receive spiritual teachings, bodily nourishment can be received, therefore he adds: Eat such things as are set before you, namely to relieve necessity, so that you may labor more vigorously, according to that of the Psalm: "You shall eat the labors of your hands; blessed are you, and it shall be well with you." Whence, on that passage of 1 Corinthians 9: "A dispensation is entrusted to me," the Gloss says: "We ought not to evangelize in order that we may eat, but rather to eat in order that we may evangelize, so that food is not a good that is sought after, but a necessity that is added."

And note that he says: What is set before you, and this with cheerfulness; because, Proverbs fifteen, "it is better to be invited to vegetables with love than to a fatted calf with hatred." Eat also what is set before you, not what you yourselves prepare: which he says to avoid gluttony, concerning which Seneca says: "They heap costly things into the belly as though it would preserve what is heaped in: what does it matter what it receives, since it will lose everything that it receives?" And therefore it is said in Sirach two: "Accept whatever is brought upon you." This, however, especially pertains to the poor, that they should be content with humble refreshment as those who hunger: because it is said in Proverbs twenty-seven: "The hungry soul will take even the bitter for sweet"; and Job six: "The things which my soul previously refused to touch are now my food in my distress."

"Eat," He says, "and drink what they have," that is, whatever they set before you, and even if it be little and poor, do not demand more. Accept food in place of a reward, that is, do not seek to receive food and payment separately, but accept the food itself as your reward. See how He makes His disciples firm against poverty.

Secondly, with regard to the communication of spiritual benefit, it is added: And heal the sick who are in it: and this through the power conferred upon you by the Holy Spirit, concerning which First Corinthians twelve: "To another is given the grace of healings in one spirit, to another the working of powers." This the Lord gave to the lesser disciples for the confirmation of his teaching; whence Jerome: "Because no one would believe rustic men without the charm of eloquence promising the kingdom of heaven, he gives them the power of working miracles." This gift of power he had previously granted, just as also to the Apostles above in chapter nine: "He gave them power over all demons, and to cure diseases"; but here he commands that they use the gift they have received, according to what is said in First Peter four: "As each one has received grace, ministering it to one another," etc. — And because bodily healing was ordered to the illumination of the mind, therefore he adds: And say to them: The kingdom of God has drawn near to you: in which is simultaneously enclosed the truth of doctrine, the goodness of grace, and the sublimity of glory, according to what was thus expounded and the Interlinear Gloss says: "The kingdom of God is Christ, or eternal life, or the knowledge of the Scriptures." And thus it drew near when he was among them, according to what is said below in chapter seventeen: "The kingdom of God is within you." Truly it drew near, since he was already present, of whom it is said in Revelation nineteen, that "he had on his garment and on his thigh the inscription: King of kings and Lord of lords." And he says pointedly: To you, that is, to those who receive the word of God through faith, of whom Revelation five: "You have made us a kingdom for our God, and we shall reign over the earth"; and through the grace of faith, according to that passage in Colossians one, "he has delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of his love."

Thus therefore it is clear how they ought to conduct themselves toward the faithful, because they ought to receive the stipend of sustenance and minister the benefit of healing and instruction. Those therefore who do not minister these spiritual benefits receive bodily stipends unworthily. Whence Gregory: "What do we teachers say to these things, we who, running before the coming of Christ, undertake the ecclesiastical office and eat bread in silence?" And Bernard: "They will come before the tribunal of the judge, where there will be a harsh plea of the poor, a grave accusation, on whose stipends they lived yet did not wash away their sins."

(Hom. 32. in Matt.) Now mark the excellence of the Apostles. They are bid to utter nothing relating to sensible things, such as Moses and the Prophets spoke of, namely, earthly goods, but certain new and marvellous things, namely, the kingdom of God.

(Cap. Theol. 191.) Which it is said is come nigh, not to show the shortness of time, for the kingdom of God cometh not with observation, but to mark the disposition of men towards the kingdom of God, which is indeed potentially in all believers, but actually in those who reject the life of the body, and choose only the spiritual life; who are able to say, Now I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. (Gal. 2:20.)

That the kingdom of God was neither new nor unheard of, He in this way affirmed, whilst at the same time He bids them announce that it was near at hand. Now it is that which was once far off, which can be properly said to have become near.

He commands to heal the sick who are in the cities, so that the apostles through their miracles might draw people to the preaching. For see what He says: "and say to them: the Kingdom of God has drawn near to you." For if you first heal and then begin to teach, your preaching will be successful, and people will believe that the Kingdom of God has reached them. For they would not have been healed if some Divine power had not accomplished this. And the Kingdom of God drew near to the sick when they were healed in soul. For it is far from the sick person over whom sin still reigns.

Although they be few and poor, ask for nothing more; He also tells them to work miracles, and their word shall draw men to their preaching. Hence he adds, And heal the sick that are therein, and say to them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. For if you first heal and then teach, the word will prosper, and men believe that the kingdom of God is come nigh. For they would not be cured unless by the working of some divine power. But also when they are healed in their soul, the kingdom of God comes nigh unto them, for it is far off from him over whom sin has the dominion.

He next teaches them to shake off the dust from their feet when the men of a city have refused to entertain them, saying, Into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you not, shake off the dust.

Into whatever city you enter. After the instruction regarding the faithful, there follows the instruction regarding the rebellious, concerning which two things are introduced: the first is the attestation of the truth of the Gospel, the second is the threatening of the severity of judgment.

First therefore, as regards the attestation of the truth of the Gospel, it is said: Into whatever city you enter, for the proclamation of truth, according to that passage in Acts 17: "When they had come to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews, Paul went in to them and reasoned with them from the Scriptures." And they do not receive you, through the hearing of the truth, which is to be granted to preachers, as is said in the Third Epistle of John: "We ought to receive such as these, that we may be fellow workers of the truth. I would perhaps have written to the Church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us."

Going out into its streets, as a testimony to the truth, on account of which it is said in Matthew 10: "What I tell you in darkness, speak in the light, and what you hear in the ear, preach upon the housetops."

"Shake off the dust of your feet" shows that he will require vengeance on those who receive the disciples poorly. The disciples will throw back on these people that very dust which adhered to them from the path. They will return it back on them, so that these might learn that those who pass through their paths will return by them. Since these received the dust of the just, they will merit the vengeance of the just, unless they repent. Only their dust defiled them, not their mire. It will be easier for Sodom, because the angels who went there did not perform a sign in Sodom but made Sodom itself a sign for creation. …Move to another city away from whatever town that does not receive you. If they persecute you in that one, flee to another. The Lord did not extend this word to everyone, but only to his disciples because it was the beginning of the new preaching, and these people were few.

For in the city of Sodom Angels were not without entertainment, but Lot was found worthy to receive them into his house. (Gen. 19.) If then at the coming of the disciples into a city there shall not be found one to receive them, will not that city be worse than Sodom? These words persuaded them to attempt boldly the rule of poverty. For there could not be a city or village without some inhabitants acceptable to God. For Sodom could not exist without a Lot found in it, at whose departure the whole was suddenly destroyed.

By wiping off the dust of their feet against them, they in some sort say, The dust of your sins shall deservedly come upon you. And mark that the cities which receive not the Apostles and sound doctrine have streets, according to Matthew, Broad is the way which leadeth to destruction. (Matt. 7:13.)

"If," He says, "they do not receive you, then, going out into the street, say" to them that we have nothing in common with you, we have nothing from your city, even the dust that has clung to us we sweep off, that is, shake off, clean off, and throw back upon you.

Into whatever city you enter and they do not receive you, going out into its streets, say: Even the dust that clings to us from your city, we wipe off against you. Either as a witness to the earthly labor they undertook for them in vain, or to show that they sought nothing earthly from them, to the extent that they would not allow even the dust from their land to adhere to them. Alternatively: The feet of the disciples signify the very work and journey of preaching. The dust with which they are sprinkled is the lightness of earthly thought, from which even the highest teachers cannot be exempt when they incessantly attend to the healthful cares for the listeners, and as if along the roads of the world, they gather the dust of the earth scarcely with a single heel. Therefore, those who receive the word turn the afflictions and cares of the teachers, which they endured for them, into a testament of humility. But those who spurn the teaching transform the labors and dangers and weariness of the solicitude of the teachers into a testimony of their condemnation. And this is the dust that is wiped off against those who scorn the Gospel, and from which the feet of the evangelists are commanded to be washed by good listeners, or even narrated to be washed by the Savior himself.

Either as a testimony to the earthly toil which they had in vain undergone for them, or to show that so far from seeking any thing earthly from them, they suffer not even the dust from their land to cleave to them. Or by the feet is meant the very labour and walking to and fro of preaching; but the dust with which they are sprinkled is the lightness of worldly thoughts, from which even the greatest teachers cannot be free. Those then who have despised the teaching, turn the labours and dangers of the teachers into a testimony of their condemnation.

Say: Even the dust from your feet that clings to us from your city, we wipe off against you, on account of contempt of the truth, which is a sin greatly to be detested, according to that passage in John 15: "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin." And therefore, for the detestation of this offense, he says the dust is to be wiped off, as Peter said to Simon in Acts 8: "May your money be with you unto destruction."

Yet know this, that the kingdom of God has drawn near, that is, the truth of the Gospel, according to that passage in Matthew 24: "This Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations," so that no one may be able to excuse himself through ignorance. And for this reason, so that this may be done publicly, he commands the dust to be wiped off in the streets, concerning which Jerome says that he commands this "as a testimony that their preaching reached even to that city." And thus they have no excuse for their unbelief.

But according to the spiritual understanding, the feet of the Apostles are the affections of preachers, to which a threefold dust is wont to cling, namely of vain glory, concerning which in the Psalm: "Let him bring down my glory to the dust"; of indignation and impatience, concerning which at Micah 7: "They shall lick the dust like a serpent"; of cupidity and avarice, according to that passage of Ecclesiasticus 27: "In the shaking of the sieve the dust remains." The first dust clings to the feet of those preaching when they are praised: but it is shaken off through consideration of oneself, according to that passage of Matthew 10: "It is not you who speak"; and First Corinthians 12: "No one says: 'Lord Jesus,' except in the Holy Spirit"; and First Corinthians 4: "What do you have that you have not received?" Therefore Ecclesiasticus 10: "Why are you proud, O earth and ashes?" — The second dust clings when they are not accepted: but this is shaken off through remembrance of Christ, according to that passage of John 15: "Remember my word which I spoke to you: A servant is not greater than his master. If they have persecuted me, they will persecute you also," etc.

The third dust clings when gifts are offered, which blind the eyes of leaders, according to that passage of Baruch 6: "Their eyes are full of dust from the feet of those entering"; but this is shaken off through the memory of our death. Jerome: "He easily despises all things who always thinks himself about to die"; and in First Timothy, last chapter: "We brought nothing into this world; without doubt, neither can we carry anything away."

(Cap. Theol. 191.) Which it is said is come nigh, not to show the shortness of time, for the kingdom of God cometh not with observation, but to mark the disposition of men towards the kingdom of God, which is indeed potentially in all believers, but actually in those who reject the life of the body, and choose only the spiritual life; who are able to say, Now I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. (Gal. 2:20.)

He likewise adds, that they should say to such as would not receive them: "Notwithstanding be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you." If He does not enjoin this by way of a commination, the injunction is a most useless one.

How, if there can be a threat without its accomplishment, can you have in a threatening god, one that executes also, and in both, one that is a judicial being? So, again, He commands that the dust be shaken off against them, as a testimony,-the very particles of their ground which might cleave to the sandal, not to mention any other sort of communication with them. But if their churlishness and inhospitality were to receive no vengeance from Him, for what purpose does He premise a testimony, which surely forbodes some threats? Furthermore, when the Creator also, in the book of Deuteronomy, forbids the reception of the Ammonites and the Moabites into the church, because, when His people came from Egypt, they fraudulently withheld provisions from them with inhumanity and inhospitality, it will be manifest that the prohibition of intercourse descended to Christ from Him.

Here someone will ask: how does the Lord say that the Kingdom of God has drawn near both to those who receive the apostles and to those who do not receive them? It must be said that He in no way contradicts Himself. For to those who receive the apostles, the Kingdom draws near with benefactions, and to those who do not receive them, with condemnation. For, I ask you, imagine that at some spectacle there are many who are condemned and others who are not condemned, for example, senators, generals, and noblemen, and then some herald announces to all together, both the condemned and the honored: the king has drawn near to you! Does he not mean that to some of them the king has drawn near for punishment, and to others, to show them honor and favor? Understand it in the same way here as well.

And as they who receive the Apostles are said to have the kingdom of God come nigh unto them as a blessing, so those who do not receive them are said to have it nigh unto them as a curse. Hence He adds, Notwithstanding, be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you, as the coming of a king is to some for punishment, but to some for honour. Hence it is added respecting their punishment, But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom, &c.

But I say to you that it will be more bearable for Sodom in that day than for that city. The Sodomites, indeed, amidst so many flagrant vices of flesh and soul, with which they insatiably burned, were also inhospitable, as testified by Ezekiel, but they had no such guests among them as the prophets among the Jews, nor apostles. And Lot indeed was just in sight and hearing, but he is not reported to have taught anything or performed any signs there. And therefore, to whom much is given, much will be required from him (Luke 12), and the powerful will suffer powerful torments (Wisdom 6).

The men of Sodom, although they were hospitable in the midst of all their wickedness of soul and body, yet were there no such guests found among them as the Apostles. Lot indeed was righteous both in seeing and hearing, yet he is not said to have taught or worked miracles.

Secondly, with regard to the threatening of the severity of judgment, he adds: I say to you, that for Sodom in that day it shall be more tolerable than for that city: from which the magnitude of the punishment is apparent. For it is said in the Epistle of Jude that "Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring cities were made an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire." Whence the Lord was also most strongly indignant against them, according to what is said in Genesis nineteen, that "the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire and overthrew these cities and the entire surrounding region." The magnitude of the guilt is also apparent from this, because contempt of truth is a greater fault than the lust of carnality. Now the reason for this is that so great a grace was not offered to them; and according to what is said below in chapter twelve, "to whom much has been given, much will be required of him." Whence Hebrews two: "For if the word spoken through Angels was made firm, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which, having first begun to be declared by the Lord, was confirmed unto us by those who heard?" — Another reason is on account of greater knowledge of the truth; whence Gregory: "Where the gift of knowledge is greater, there the transgressor is subject to greater guilt"; because it is said in James four: "To him who knows to do good and does not do it, it is sin." — And that the greatest punishment is owed to contemners of truth is clear from what is said in Romans one concerning certain ones who, "although they knew God, did not glorify Him as God," that "God delivered them over to a reprobate mind." And the reason for this is given, because "they did not see fit to have God in their knowledge."

And it was He who rained fire and brimstone from heaven, in the days of Lot, upon Sodom and Gomorrah, "an example of the righteous judgment of God," that all may know, "that every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be cut down, and cast into the fire." And it is He who uses [the words], that it will be more tolerable for Sodom in the general judgment than for those who beheld His wonders, and did not believe on Him, nor receive His doctrine. For as He gave by His advent a greater privilege to those who believed on Him, and who do His will, so also did He point out that those who did not believe on Him should have a more severe punishment in the judgment; thus extending equal justice to all, and being to exact more from those to whom He gives the more; the more, however, not because He reveals the knowledge of another Father, as I have shown so fully and so repeatedly, but because He has, by means of His advent, poured upon the human race the greater gift of paternal grace.

If the Father, then, does not exercise judgment, [it follows] that judgment does not belong to Him, or that He consents to all those actions which take place; and if He does not judge, all persons will be equal, and accounted in the same condition. The advent of Christ will therefore be without an object, yea, absurd, inasmuch as [in that case] He exercises no judicial power. For "He came to divide a man against his father, and the daughter against the mother, and the daughter-in-law against the mother-in-law;" and when two are in one bed, to take the one, and to leave the other; and of two women grinding at the mill, to take one and leave the other: [also] at the time of the end, to order the reapers to collect first the tares together, and bind them in bundles, and burn them with unquenchable fire, but to gather up the wheat into the barn; and to call the lambs into the kingdom prepared for them, but to send the goats into everlasting fire, which has been prepared by His Father for the devil and his angels. And why is this? Has the Word come for the ruin and for the resurrection of many? For the ruin, certainly, of those who do not believe Him, to whom also He has threatened a greater damnation in the judgment-day than that of Sodom and Gomorrah; but for the resurrection of believers, and those who do the will of His Father in heaven. If then the advent of the Son comes indeed alike to all, but is for the purpose of judging, and separating the believing from the unbelieving, since, as those who believe do His will agreeably to their own choice, and as, [also] agreeably to their own choice, the disobedient do not consent to His doctrine; it is manifest that His Father has made all in a like condition, each person having a choice of his own, and a free understanding; and that He has regard to all things, and exercises a providence over all, "making His sun to rise upon the evil and on the good, and sending rain upon the just and unjust."

Sodom also, and Gomorrah, would have escaped if they had fasted. This remedy even Ahab acknowledges.

"It shall be more tolerable," He says, "for Sodom... than for that city" which did not receive you. Why? Because apostles were not sent to Sodom, and therefore those who did not receive the apostles are worse than the Sodomites. Notice also that the city which does not receive the apostles has wide streets; and the wide path leads to destruction. Thus, whoever walks on the wide roads that lead to destruction does not receive the apostolic and Divine teaching.

He also teaches that those who judged that the gospel should not be followed should be subjected to a harsher punishment than those who thought that the law should be dissolved.

Our Lord warns us that they will meet with a heavier punishment who have refused to follow the Gospel than those who have chosen to break the law; saying, Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida!

Woe to you, Chorazin, woe to you, Bethsaida. Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, also Tiberias, which John names, are cities of Galilee, situated on the shore of the lake of Gennesaret, which is formed by the flowing Jordan, and even by the evangelists is also called the sea of Galilee, or the sea of Tiberias. The Lord therefore laments the cities which, after so many miracles and powers, did not repent. And worse than the Gentiles, who destroyed only the natural law, after the contempt of the written law, did not fear to trample also on the Son of God, and to despise grace with ingratitude.

For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented sitting in sackcloth and ashes. We see today the fulfillment of the Savior's saying, because indeed Chorazin and Bethsaida did not want to believe with the Lord present. Tyre and Sidon, however, were once friendly to David and Solomon, and later believed in the disciples of Christ who were preaching. And they accepted the faith with such devotion, that all the citizens of Tyre, accompanying Paul the apostle as he was leaving, with their wives and children, followed him outside the city, and in a most beautiful spectacle, such a multitude of people escorted a very few guests, but the most illustrious for Christ's faith, up to the ships to bid farewell. But why the gospel was not preached to those who could believe earlier, truly it is to know for those to whom it was preached, while the Jews did not want to believe, it is to know for Him, whose all ways are mercy and truth (Psalm XXIV). Surely what the Lord says: Sitting in sackcloth and ashes they would have repented: in sackcloth, which is woven from goat hairs, signifies the harsh memory of the pricking sin, with which the left part is to be dressed on the day of judgment; in ashes, however, demonstrates the consideration of death, through which the whole mass of the human race is to be reduced to dust. Moreover, in the sitting denoted the humiliation of own conscience. Of which the Psalmist: Arise after you have sat (Psalm CXXVI), which is to say: Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you in the time of visitation (1 Peter V).

Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, Tiberias also which John mentions, are cities of Galilee situated on the shore of the lake of Gennesaret, which is called by the Evangelists the sea of Galilee or Tiberias. Our Lord thus mourns over these cities which after such great miracles and wonders repented not, and are worse than the Gentiles who break through the law of nature only, seeing that after despising the written law, they feared not to despise also the Son of God and His glory. Hence it follows, For if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented sitting in sackcloth and ashes, &c. By sackcloth, which is woven together from the hairs of goats, he signifies a sharp remembrance of previous sin. But by ashes, he hints at the consideration of death, by which we are reduced to dust. Again, by the sitting down, he implies the lowliness of our conscience. Now we have seen in this day the word of the Saviour fulfilled, since Chorazin and Bethsaida, though our Lord was present among them, believed not, and Tyre and Sidon were friendly both to David and Solomon, (1 Kings 5.) and afterwards believed in the disciples of Christ who preached the Gospel there.

Woe to you, Chorazin etc. Here in the third place is subjoined the rebuke of the contemners, who are shown to be deserving of rebuke by the Lord on two accounts and are convicted as damnable, namely on account of hardness of heart and on account of loftiness of mind: hardness of heart rendered them impenitent, but loftiness rendered them arrogant.

First, therefore, rebuking the hardness of heart, he says: Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! which were two cities of Galilee, where He had performed very many signs, and yet hardness still remained in them.

On account of which he adds: Because if in Tyre and Sidon had been done the mighty works that have been done in you, that is, if the Lord had shown them such great miracles before their overthrow, which the Lord threatened through Ezekiel twenty-seven: "You, son of man, take up a lamentation over Tyre," and at the end of the chapter: "You are brought to nothing and shall not be forever" — they would not have been overthrown, and this because they would have repented.

Whence he adds: They would long ago have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes, as the Ninevites did, concerning whom Jonah three says that "they proclaimed a fast and were clothed in sackcloth from the least to the greatest."

And note that he says three things, in which he expresses the perfection of penance, namely sackcloth, ashes, and sitting. For in the penitent there ought to be sorrow from the consideration of the divine offense, and this in sackcloth; fear, from the consideration of vengeance, and this in ashes, which presents the image of death; there ought to be shame in the consideration of the consequence or of one's vileness, and this in sitting. Therefore Jerome says that "ashes and sackcloth are the weapons of the penitent." And for this reason, Jeremiah 6: "O daughter of my people, gird yourself with sackcloth and sprinkle yourself with ashes; make for yourself the mourning of an only child, bitter lamentation." And on account of the shame of humility, which ought to accompany it, it is said in Jeremiah 13: "Say to the king and to the queen: Humble yourselves, sit down, for the crown of your glory shall descend from your head." If therefore they had done such penance, they would not have such great hardness of heart, and consequently neither so harsh a sentence.

(Hom. 38. in Matt.) Our Lord mourns over these cities for our example, because shedding tears and bitter lamentations over those who are insensible to grief, is no slight antidote, tending both to the correction of the insensible, and to the remedy and consolation of those who mourn over them. Again, He draws them over to what is good, not only by lamenting over them, but also by alarming them. Hence it follows, But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon, &c. This we ought also to listen to. For not upon them alone, but upon us also, He hath passed sentence, if we receive not the guests who come to us, since He commanded them to shake off the very dust from their feet.

It is enough for me that even John, when "strewing the Lord's ways," was the herald of repentance no less to such as were on military service and to publicans, than to the sons of Abraham. The Lord Himself presumed repentance on the part of the Sidonians and Tyrians if they had seen the evidences of His "miracles."

Tyre and Sidon were pagan cities, while Bethsaida and Chorazin were Jewish. Therefore, He says that at the judgment it will be more tolerable for the pagans than for you, who saw miracles and did not believe; for if they had seen them, they would have believed.

And therefore he adds: Nevertheless, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you: because, according to what is said below in chapter 12, "the servant who knew the will of his lord and did not do it shall be beaten with many stripes." The reason for this, however, is excessive hardness against such great benefits; whence in Romans 2 it is said: "Do you not know that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? But according to your hardness and impenitent heart, you treasure up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and of the revelation of the just judgment of God"; because in Ecclesiasticus 3 it is said: "The hard heart shall fare ill at the last" and "the sinner shall add sin to sin."

And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to hell. There is a double meaning in this sentence. Either you will be brought down to hell because you have most arrogantly resisted my preaching; or because, having been exalted to heaven by my residence, from my signs and miracles having had such privilege, you will be punished with greater torments, since you refused to believe even these. And lest anyone think that this rebuke applies only to those cities or persons who, seeing the Lord in the flesh, despised Him, and not to all who even today despise the words of the Gospel, He added, saying:

This sentence admits of two meanings: Either for this reason shalt thou be thrust down into hell, because thou proudly resisted My preaching; that in truth she might be understood to have raised herself up to heaven by her pride. Or, because thou art exalted to heaven by My dwelling in thee, and by My miracles, shalt thou be beaten with more stripes, since even these thou refusedst to believe. And that no one should suppose that this interpretation applied only either to the cities or the persons who, seeing our Lord in the flesh despised Him, and not to all also who now despise the words of the Gospel, He proceeds to add these words, He that heareth you, heareth me.

But secondly, rebuking with regard to the loftiness of mind, he adds: And you, Capernaum, exalted even unto heaven, namely through arrogance, you shall be thrust down even unto hell, by divine sentence. Whence Obadiah 1: "If you shall be exalted as the eagle and shall set your nest among the stars, thence will I drag you down"; and Job 20: "If his pride shall ascend even to heaven and his head shall touch the clouds, he shall be destroyed at the end like a dunghill." Now Capernaum is said to have been exalted on account of the very many miracles that were done in it, on account of which it grew more proud than it profited; whence above in chapter 4 it is said: "How great things we have heard done by you in Capernaum," etc. First, therefore, it was exalted on account of the gifts of divine grace, but afterwards it was plunged down by the desert of its pride. And this had been foretold in Isaiah 9: "At the first time the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali were lightened," namely by the preceding miracles, "and at the last the way of the sea was heavily burdened," that is, cast down in judgment on account of its sins, as the Gloss there explains. And therefore divine gifts are to be received with fear and great reverence, as Gregory says that "when gifts are increased, the accounts for those gifts also grow."

And in another place: Now when our Lord had done many mighty works in Capernaum, and had Himself dwelt there, it seemed to be exalted above the other cities, but through unbelief fell to destruction. Hence it follows, And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shall be thrust down to hell; that, in fact, the judgment might be in proportion to the honour.

And you, Capernaum, exalted to the heavens, as one glorified by the many miracles performed in you, shall be brought down to Hades; you will be condemned for the very reason that even after so many miracles you do not believe.

"But when Jesus heard that, He said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified." Such a glorifying of Himself did not add to His dignity, but benefited us. Hence He says, "is not unto death," because even that death itself was not unto death, but rather unto the working of a miracle whereby men might be led to faith in Christ, and so escape the real death. And mark how the Lord, as it were indirectly, called Himself God, for the sake of some who deny that the Son is God. For there are heretics who make such a denial, that the Son of God is God. Let them hearken here: "This sickness" He says. "is not unto death, but for the glory of God." For what glory? For the glory of what God? Hear what follows: "That the Son of God may be glorified." "This sickness," therefore, He says, "is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified thereby." By what? By that sickness.

(Tr. xlix. 6) When Jesus heard that, He said, This sickness is not unto death. For this death itself was not unto death, but to give occasion for a miracle; whereby men might be brought to believe in Christ, and so escape real death. It was for the glory of God, wherein observe that our Lord calls Himself God by implication, thus confounding those heretics who say that the Son of God is not God. For the glory of what God? Hear what follows, That the Son of God might be glorified thereby, i. e. by that sickness.

But when Jesus heard it, he said to them. Here the third point is touched upon, namely the reason for the infirmity, which the Lord intimates to those seeking healing; on account of which he said to them: This infirmity is not unto death, but for the glory of God. He says this according to the divine dispensation; on account of which he adds: That the Son of God may be glorified by it, that is, that through this work he may manifest his glory, because in the raising he manifested his power, and through this his glory; whence above in chapter two: "This sign Jesus performed and manifested his glory" before his disciples. But why glory was to be manifested in him, the Evangelist secretly hints: on account of a special love toward those persons.

There is a manifold infirmity, namely that of the grace of virtue, to be embraced: and this is fourfold: of humility: Proverbs 30: "The ants are a feeble people, who prepare their food in the summer"; 1 Corinthians 1: "God chose the weak things of the world and the contemptible things," etc.; Matthew 11: "Because you have hidden these things from the wise and the prudent, and have revealed them to little ones." Of penitence; Ecclesiasticus 31: "A grievous sickness makes the soul sober"; concerning this in the Psalm: "Who heals the broken of heart and binds up their wounds," or infirmities, of theirs, according to another reading. Of patience; 2 Corinthians 12: "Power is made perfect in infirmity," namely of patience, because James 1: "Patience has a perfect work." Therefore it is said in 2 Corinthians 12: "Gladly will I glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may dwell in me." Of fellow-suffering or compassion; 2 Corinthians 11: "Who is weak, and I am not weak?" and 1 Corinthians 9: "I became weak to the weak, that I might gain the weak."

Likewise, there is an infirmity of the perversity of fault, to be fled: and this is fourfold, namely of cupidity: Ecclesiastes 5: "There is also another most grievous infirmity that I have seen under the sun: riches gathered to the harm of their owner, for they perish in most grievous affliction." Of carnal pleasure; Isaiah 24: "The vintage has mourned, the vine has grown weak, all who rejoiced in heart have groaned." Of pride; Isaiah 24: "The height of the people of the earth has been weakened, and the earth has been polluted by its inhabitants." Of obstinacy; Deuteronomy 7: "The Lord will take away all sicknesses, and the most grievous infirmities of Egypt, which you have known, He will not bring upon you." The infirmities of Egypt are obstinacies in evil.

Likewise, there is an infirmity of the difficulty of following, to be relieved: and this is fourfold: for resisting the evil of fault; Lamentations 1: "My strength has been weakened; the Lord has given me into a hand from which I cannot rise"; and Isaiah 40: "The youths shall fall in their infirmity." For enduring the evil of punishment; 1 Thessalonians, last chapter: "Comfort the fainthearted, support the weak": against which Ezekiel 34: "That which was weak you did not strengthen." For undertaking the good: Ecclesiasticus 31: "In all your works be swift, and no infirmity shall come upon you"; Romans 14: "But receive him who is weak in faith." For persevering in the good: 1 Kings 2: "She who had many children has grown weak." All these infirmities are to be relieved; Romans 8: "The Spirit Himself helps our infirmity."

Likewise, there is an infirmity of the passibility of punishment, to be borne: and this is fourfold, namely of that contracted on account of transgression; the Psalm: "Who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your infirmities"; Romans 14: "Let him who is weak eat herbs." Of that assumed for our redemption; Isaiah 53: "We saw him the lowest of men, a man of sorrows and knowing infirmity." Of that inflicted for purgation; the Psalm: "Their infirmities were multiplied; afterwards they hastened." Of that brought about for the manifestation of divine glory, as above in the same place: This infirmity is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.

Question. Likewise it is asked concerning what he says: This sickness is not unto death—because he died. Whence Chrysostom asks: How were the women not scandalized, when what the Lord had foretold to them did not come to pass? I respond: It must be said that the meaning is: it is not unto death, that is, unto the final end of life, so that he would live no more; yet it was unto death, that is, unto the separation of the soul from the body. As to the question: why were the women not scandalized? It must be said that they still hoped that the Lord would raise him. Or they believed, since it did not come to pass literally, that the Lord had spoken parabolically.

The Lord now says this, not that the men may go away and report it to the sisters of Lazarus, but as God foretelling what should come to pass, because He saw that the conclusion of the affair would be for the glory of God; not that the sickness came upon the man for this reason, that He should be glorified; for it would be silly to say this; but since it had come, He also saw that it would result in a wonderful end. And He says that Himself is in His Nature God, for that which is done, is done for His glory. For after saying that the sickness was for the glory of God, He added: That the Son of God may be glorified thereby, speaking concerning Himself.

And if He Himself said that the sickness of Lazarus was not unto death, and yet his death took place, there is nothing to marvel at. For looking on to the final result of the affair, and seeing that He was going to raise him up after a little time, we do not consider anything that took place in the interval, but only how the end would result. For the Lord determined to set forth the weakness of death, and to show forth all that happened as for the glory of God, that is, of Himself.

Jesus saw that in the end, Lazarus's illness and death would be for the glory of God. This is not to say that the sickness came on Lazarus so that God should be glorified, for it would be silly to say this, but rather, since the sickness had come upon Lazarus, Jesus foresaw the wonderful conclusion to Lazarus's illness.

"This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby." Observe how He again asserteth that His glory and the Father's is One; for after saying "of God," He hath added, "that the Son of God might be glorified."

"This sickness is not unto death." Since He intended to tarry two days where He was, He for the present sendeth away the messengers with this answer. Wherefore we must admire Lazarus' sisters, that after hearing that the sickness was "not unto death," and yet seeing him dead, they were not offended, although the event had been directly contrary. But even so they came to Him, and did not think that He had spoken falsely.

The expression "that" in this passage denotes not cause, but consequence; the sickness happened from other causes, but He used it for the glory of God.

Since Jesus intended to remain in that place for two days, He says that "this sickness is not unto death," although it did lead to death; He says this in order to encourage the messengers and to give them a kind of consolation, so that they would not persist in urging Him and would not grieve. It is for this reason that He says: "This sickness is not unto death."

And in another way. If you look carefully, this sickness was not unto death—the kind of death by which many die, that is, unto a prolonged death, but unto a temporary one that lasted four days. Since Lazarus was raised on the fourth day, looking at the outcome of the matter, we say: this sickness is not unto death. "But for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified through it." Do you see that the Father and the Son have one glory? For having said "for the glory of God," He added "that the Son of God might be glorified," for the glory of God, that is, of the Father, in no way differs from the glory of the Son. Consequently, the Son is properly and truly God just as the Father is, for those who have one glory have one Essence as well.

Let the Arians be put to shame by this saying as well. "That He may be glorified." Understand this not as a cause, but as an event and outcome of the matter (as we have said more than once). For Lazarus was not sick in order that God might be glorified, but sickness befell Lazarus, and the Lord turned it to the glory of God.

1476 Now we have the reasons for the foregoing: first, the illness of Lazarus; secondly, the reason why, according to Augustine, his sisters did not come in person to Christ (v 5).

1477 The reason for the illness of Lazarus is the glorification of the Son of God; thus the Evangelist says, when Jesus heard it he said, This illness is not unto death; it is for the glory of God. Here we should note that some physical illness is unto death and some is not. Those are unto death which are not ordained to something else. Further, every evil of punishment is inflicted by divine providence: "Does evil befall a city, unless the Lord has done it?" (Amos 3:6). But as for the evil of fault, God is not the author, but the punisher. Now all things that are from God are ordered. Consequently, every evil of punishment is ordered to something: some to death, and some to something else. This illness was not ordered to death, but to the glory of God.

1478 But Lazarus did die! Yes, otherwise he would not have had the odor of one four days in the tomb, nor would his raising have been a miracle. I answer that his illness was not ordained to death as a final end, but to something else, as has been said, that is, that he who was raised, chastened as it were, might live a holy life for the glory of God, and that the Jewish people who saw this miracle might be converted to the faith: "The Lord has chastened me sorely but he has not given me over to death" (Ps 118:18). Thus he adds, it is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by means of it.

In this passage, according to Chrysostom, the words "for" and "that" do not indicate the reason for the events, but their sequence. For Lazarus was not made ill so that from it God might be glorified; rather, his illness came from some other cause, and from it the fact followed that the Son of God would be glorified insofar as Christ used it for the glory of God by raising Lazarus.

This is true in one way, but not in another. It is possible to consider two reasons for Lazarus' illness. One is the natural cause, and from this point of view the statement of Chrysostom is true, because Lazarus' illness, considering its natural causes, was not ordained to his rising from the dead. But we can consider another reason, and this is divine providence; and then Chrysostom's statement is not true. For under divine providence an illness of this kind was ordained to the glory of God. And so according to this, the "for" and the "that" do indicate the reason. It is the same as saying: it is for the glory of God, because although it was not ordained to this from the intent of its natural cause, yet from the intent of divine providence it was ordained to the glory of God, insofar as, once the miracle had been performed, people would believe in Christ and escape real death. So he says, so that the Son of God may be glorified by means of it.

Here our Lord clearly calls himself the Son of God: for he was to be glorified in the resurrection of Lazarus because he is true God: "that we may be in his true Son" (1 Jn 5:20); "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest in him" (9:3).

Then after these things he said to his disciples. After the announcement of the illness has been made, the arrival of the Physician is described here. First, therefore, is noted Christ's security, on account of which he exhorts his fearful disciples, saying: Then after these things he said to his disciples, namely Jesus: Let us go into Judea again. He exhorted them for this reason, because they were fearful; and this is evident from their response.

Now when the Lord said: Let us go into Judaea again, He seems almost to declare "Even though the people there are unworthy of kindness, yet now that an opportunity presents itself of conveying them some advantage, let us go back to them;" but the disciples in their love for Him think it right to try to hinder Him, and moreover as men they suppose that He would be unwilling to put Himself in peril by going amongst the Jews. Wherefore also they remind Him of the madness of the Jews against Him, all but saying: "Why again dost Thou seek to be amidst the unbelieving and ungrateful people who are not softened either by Thy words or even by Thy works? who even yet are of murderous intent against Thee, and who are boiling with passionate rage?" Either then they say this, or their language signifies that He is leading them into evident danger. Nevertheless, they are obedient to their Teacher, as to One Who knows what is best.

"Then saith He to his disciples, Let us go into Judea." Why, when He never in other places told them beforehand where He was going, doth He tell them here? They had been greatly terrified, and since they were in this way disposed, He forewarneth them, that the suddenness might not trouble them.

In other cases the Lord never stated beforehand where He intended to go, but only here does He announce in advance, it seems, because His disciples were very afraid to go to Judea. He announces beforehand so that they would not be troubled by the unexpectedness, if He were to suddenly lead them into a country which they were afraid to enter.

1482 Here (v 7) our Lord declares his intention to go to the place where Lazarus died. First, we see our Lord's plan; secondly, we see the fear in the disciples (v 8); and thirdly, we have our Lord dispelling their fear (v 9).

1483 With respect to the first the Evangelist says, Then after this, the prolonged delay, he said, Jesus did, to the disciples, Let us go into Judea again. One might ask here why Christ made a point of mentioning to the apostles that he was about to go into Judea again, since he had not done this on other occasions. The reason for this was that the Jews had just recently persecuted Christ in Judea and had almost stoned him; indeed, that is why he had left. So it was to be expected that when Christ wanted to go there again, the disciples would become fearful. And because "Darts that are foreseen do not strike and foreseen evils are more easily borne," as Gregory says, our Lord mentioned his planned journey to them to calm their fears. As to the mystical sense, we can understand by the fact that Christ is returning once again to Judea, that he will return again at the end of the world to the Jews, who will be converted to Christ: "A hardening has come upon part of Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles come in" (Rom 11:25).

Consider what I have said, that the Light is Christ. Everyone who will walk in his commandments will not be laid hold of by evil. These twelve hours that are in the day are the twelve apostles. The devil … is compared with the night. He who walks in the will of the devil will stumble because he does not have the light of Christ.

Jesus answered: Are there not twelve hours of the day? in which, namely, to walk is good and safe; whence he says: If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. This light is Christ: above in chapter 8: "I am the light of the world." He who walks after this light does not stumble, because, as is said above in chapter 8, "he who follows me does not walk in darkness"; and therefore he does not stumble. Therefore Wisdom says in Proverbs 4: "I will lead you through the paths of equity, which when you have entered, your steps shall not be straitened, and running you shall have no stumbling block."

Spiritually, three things are to be noted: first, what does it mean that Lazarus is loved by the Lord? Second, what does it mean that he grows sick, dies, and is found four days dead? Third, what does it mean that the Lord exhorts his disciples to walk in the day?

Lazarus is interpreted as helped by the Lord. He signifies the man who has helping grace, according to that passage of Isaiah chapter forty-nine: "In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you." He loves the Lord, and therefore is also loved: Proverbs chapter eight: "I love those who love me."

This Lazarus grows sick in the delight of sin, concerning which sickness Ecclesiasticus chapter ten says: "A prolonged sickness burdens the physician": because it scarcely happens that lingering delight does not plunge one into mortal sin. But he dies in consent, because then sin is consummated interiorly: James chapter one: "Concupiscence, when it has conceived, brings forth sin; but sin, when it has been consummated, begets death." And he becomes four days dead and foul-smelling, when from consent one arrives at the deed, from the deed to habit, from habit to shamelessness of sin, when the forehead of a harlot becomes the man's, so that he no longer wishes to blush; and then he is foul-smelling, because now his sin spreads to others: Amos 4: "I made the stench of your camps rise up into your nostrils," etc.

To raise this sinner from the dead, the Lord stirs up his disciples, whom he had also ordained as prelates: Proverbs 6: "Run about, make haste, rouse your friend." And he exhorts that they walk by day. Day is called the time of meriting, because when the sun rises, man goes out to his work, and the demons hide themselves: Psalm: "The sun has risen, and they were gathered together," etc.; and afterward: "Man shall go forth to his work," etc. This day lasts from the coming of Christ until the day of judgment; because above in chapter nine: "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world"; and he himself is in the world until the consummation of the age; Matthew, last chapter: "Behold, I am with you all days until the consummation of the age." And this must be done, so that sinners may be raised: Galatians 6: "Let us work good toward all, but especially toward those of the household of faith."

The twelve hours of this day can be called the twelve states of Christ, concerning which was treated above in chapter four. Or they can be called the twelve Apostles, who were also signified by the twelve stones, by the twelve springs at Elim, by the twelve oxen around the bronze sea of Solomon, by the twelve precious stones, and now by the twelve hours. Or the twelve hours are the twelve virtues which were in Christ, namely the four cardinal virtues, one theological virtue, and the seven gifts. Or the twelve hours are called the twelve fruits of the Spirit, concerning which Revelation 22: "The tree of life bearing twelve fruits, yielding its fruit each month."

Perhaps He compares to the ever-moving course of the day, the easily-swayed and novelty-loving mind of men, which is not established in one opinion, but vacillates from one way of thinking to another, just as the day changes from one hour to another. And thus also thou wilt understand the words: Are there not twelve hours in the day? That is, "I," says He, "am the Day and the Light. Therefore, just as it is not possible for the light of the day to fail, without having completed its appointed time; so it is not among possibilities that the illumination which proceeds from Me should be shrouded from the Jews, without having fully reached its fitting measure of philanthropy." And He speaks of the time of His presence as "day," and of that before it as "night;" as also when the Lord says: We must work the works of Him that sent us, while it is day. This therefore is what He here says: "It is not now a time for Me to separate Myself from the Jews, even though they be unholy, but I must do all things that pertain to their healing. For they must not now be punished, by having the Divine grace (like the light of the sun) withdrawn from them. But just as the light of the day does not fail until the twelve hours have been completed, so the illumination that proceeds from Me is not shrouded before the proper time; but until I am crucified I remain among the Jews, sending forth unto them like light the understanding of the knowledge of God. For since the Jews are in the darkness of unbelief, and so stumble at Me as at a stone, I must go back to them and enlighten them, that they may desist from their madness in fighting against God."

Perhaps he compares to the ever-moving course of the day, the easily-swayed and novelty-loving mind of people, which is not established in one opinion but vacillates from one way of thinking to another, just as the day changes from one hour to another. This is also how the words "are there twelve hours in the day" can be understood. In other words, "I," he says, "am the Day and the Light. Therefore, just as it is not possible for the light of the day to fail without having completed its appointed time, so it is not among possibilities that the illumination that proceeds from me should be shrouded from the Jews without having fully reached its fitting measure of love for humankind." And he speaks of the time of his presence as "day," and of that before it as "night," as the Lord also does when he says, "We must work the works of him that sent us while it is day." This therefore is what he says here: "This is not the time for me to separate myself from the Jews, even though they are unholy. Instead, I must do everything that I can for their healing. For they must not now be punished by having the divine grace (like the light of the sun) withdrawn from them. But just as the light of the day does not fail until the twelve hours have been completed, so the illumination that proceeds from me is not shrouded before the proper time. However, until I am crucified I remain among the Jews, sending forth unto them like light the understanding of the knowledge of God. For since the Jews are in the darkness of unbelief, and so stumble on me as on a stone, I must go back to them and enlighten them so that they may desist from their madness in fighting against God."

"Are there not twelve hours of the day?" He either saith this, that "he who is conscious to himself of no evil, shall suffer nothing dreadful; only he that doeth evil shall suffer, so that we need not fear, because we have done nothing worthy of death"; or else that, "he who seeth the light of this world is in safety; and if he that seeth the light of this world is in safety, much more he that is with Me, if he separate not himself from Me." Having encouraged them by these words, He addeth, that the cause of their going thither was pressing, and showeth them that they were about to go not unto Jerusalem, but unto Bethany.

As the day is divided into twelve hours, accordingly the twelve patriarchs and the choir of the apostles are equal in number with the hours of the day, having as their Sun Christ our God, who is also the spiritual Day, from whom there is learning and the enlightenment of its knowledge.

The Lord encourages them and says: "Just as one who sees the light does not stumble, but the one who walks at night stumbles, so too the one who does good and walks in deeds of light will not suffer any misfortune, while the one who does evil will suffer misfortune; therefore you have no need to fear, for we have done nothing deserving of death."

Or yet another way: "If he who sees this light does not stumble, how much more will he not stumble who abides with Me, provided he himself does not fall away from Me. Therefore you also, abiding with Me, the true Light, are afraid in vain."

Others understand "day" as the time before the suffering, and "night" as the time of the suffering. So, He says, as long as the "day" goes on, that is, while the time of suffering has not yet come, you will not stumble, for you will encounter neither persecution from the Jews nor any other unpleasantness. But when the "night" comes, that is, My suffering, then you, thrown into confusion, will gather in one small house out of fear of the Jews. From that time you will experience sorrows and afflictions, and much hostility and trouble. When I, the Light, am no longer living with you bodily, the night of sorrows will envelop you.

Some understand the day to be the time preceding the Passion, the night to be the Passion. In this sense, while it is day, would mean, before My Passion; Ye will not stumble before My Passion, because the Jews will not persecute you; but when the night, i. e. My Passion, cometh, then shall ye be beset with darkness and difficulties.

1485 Our Lord dispels this fear by strengthening them. The Evangelist says, Jesus answered, his disciples, Are there not twelve hours in the day? First, we see something about the time; secondly, what time is suited for walking; thirdly, what time is not.

1486 To understand this passage we should note that it has been explained in three ways. The first way is that of Chrysostom, and is this. Are there not twelve hours in the day? is like saying: You hesitate to go up to Judea because the Jews recently wanted to stone me; but the day has twelve hours, and what happens at one hour does not happen in another. So, although they would have stoned me before, they would not want to do this at another hour: "For everything there is a season" (Eccl 3:1); "Every matter has its time and way" (Eccl 8:6).

1487 A literal question arises because he is speaking here either of the natural or of the artificial day. If he is speaking of the natural day, then what he says is false: because the natural day does not have twelve but twenty-four hours. Again, if he is speaking of the artificial day, his statement is false: because it is true only at the equinox, for not all artificial days have twelve hours. I answer that we should understand this to refer to the artificial day, because all artificial days have twelve hours. For the hours of such days are distinguished in two ways. Some are equal in length and some are not. Those equal in length are distinguished according to the circle of the equator: and according to this not all days have twelve hours, but some have more and some less, except at the equator. The hour not equal in length are more distinguished according to the ascensions of the zodiac on account of its obliquity: because the zodiac does not ascend equally in all its parts, but at the equator equally. Now each artificial day has twelve of these unequal hours, because every day has six signs which ascend during the day, and six at night; but those which ascend in summer have a slower motion than those which ascend in winter, and of course the ascent of each sign makes up two hours.

1488 If any one walks in the day, that is, honorably, and without consciousness of any evil - "Let us conduct ourselves becomingly as in that day" (Rom 13:13) - he does not stumble, that is, he does not come upon anything that might harm him. And this is because he sees the light of this world, i.e., the light of righteousness is in him: "Light dawns for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart" (Ps 97:11). It is like our Lord were saying: We can go securely because we are walking during the day.

But if he walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him; Matthew 15: "If the blind lead the blind, both fall into the pit"; on account of which it is said below in chapter 12: "Walk while you have the light, lest the darkness overtake you."

1489 But if any one walks in the night, that is, in the night of iniquities, he will easily find dangers. Concerning this night we read: "Those who sleep at night" (1 Thess 5:7). But such a one, he stumbles, that is, strikes against something, because the light, of righteousness, is not in him.

1490 A certain Greek, Theophylactus, explains this another way. Beginning at If any one walks in the day, he says that the "day" is the presence of Christ in the world, and the "night" is the time after Christ's passion. So the meaning is this: The Jews are not to be feared because as long as I am in the world it is not you, but I, who am in danger. Thus, when the Jews wanted to arrest Christ, he said to the crowd: "If you seek me, let these men go. This was to fulfill the word which he had spoken, 'Of those whom you gavest me I lost not one'" (18:8). But if any one walks in the night, that is, in the time after the passion, you should be afraid to go into Judea, because you will suffer persecution from the Jews: "Strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered."

1491 Augustine explains it another way, so that the "day" indicates Christ: "We must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day" (9:4), and "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world" (9:5). The twelve hours of this day are the twelve apostles: "Did I not choose you, the twelve?" (6:71). But what should we say of what follows: "And one of you is a devil?" Judas, therefore, was not an hour of this day because he gave no light. We should say that our Lord spoke these words [about the twelve] not in reference to Judas, but to his successor, who was Matthias. Thus, the sense of Are there not twelve hours in the day? is as though he were saying: You are the hours, I am the day. Just as the hours follow the day, so you must follow me. So, if I wish to go to Judea you ought not to precede me or change my will, but you should follow me. He said something similar to Peter: "Get behind me, Satan!" (Matt 16:23), i.e., do not go ahead of me, but follow me by imitating my will. If any one walks in the day is the same as saying: You should not fear any danger, because you are going with me who am the day. So just as one who walks in the day does not run into anything, that is, does not stumble, so also you who walk with me: "If God is for us, who is against us?" (Rom 8:31). And this is because he sees the light of this world in me. But if any one walks in the night, in the darkness of ignorance and sin, then he stumbles; and this is because the spiritual light is not in him, not because of a defect in the light, but because of his own rebellion: "There are those who rebel against the light" (Job 24:13).

(Tr. xlix. c. 9) It was really true that He was sleeping. To our Lord, he was sleeping; to men who could not raise him again, he was dead. Our Lord awoke him with as much ease from his grave, as thou awakest a sleeper from his bed. He calls him then asleep, with reference to His own power, as the Apostle saith, But I would not have you to be ignorant, concerning them which are asleep. (1 Thess. 4:13) Asleep, He says, because He is speaking of their resurrection which was to be. But as it matters to those who sleep and wake again daily, what they see in their sleep, some having pleasant dreams, others painful ones, so it is in death; every one sleeps and rises again with his own account.a

These things he said, and after this he said to them. Here the second point is touched upon, namely the necessity of coming on account of Lazarus, who, being dead, could not be raised except by him. Therefore he says: Lazarus our friend sleeps: but I go, that I may awaken him from sleep: he speaks most properly, because for God to die is to sleep; whence Augustine says: "To men he was dead, who could not raise him: but to the Lord he was sleeping, who awakened him from the tomb with such ease as you do not use to awaken one sleeping from a bed"; therefore the Lord said in Matthew 9: "The girl is not dead, but sleeps." But the disciples did not understand this.

"A worthy cause draws Me towards Jerusalem;" for so much is signified by the words: Our friend is fallen asleep; "and if we should let it pass neglected, we should incur the reputation of being devoid of compassion. Wherefore we must avoid the disgrace of such conduct, and run to the help of our friend, despising the plots of the Jews." And showing His own God-befitting power, He calls the departure of the human soul from the body by the name of sleep, and very rightly: for He does not think it proper to call it death, Who created man for immortality, according as it is written, and made the generations of the world to be healthful. Moreover, the language is also true, because the temporary death of our body is in the sight of God really a sleep and nothing different, brought to an end by a mere and single sign from that which is by nature Life, namely, Christ. And notice that He did not say: "Lazarus is dead and I go to raise him to life," but says: "He is fallen asleep," avoiding boastfulness, for our instruction and profit; for [without some such good reason] He would not have uttered a sentence so obscure in its hidden meaning that not even the disciples themselves understood what was said. For He did not say: "I go to quicken him into life" or "to raise him up from the dead," but "that I may awake him out of sleep;" which was at the time insufficient to suggest His real meaning.

For truly the death of human beings is counted with the Lord as sleep. Why does he say "I go"? Are you unable to enliven the dead while remaining here? But, [Jesus says], the Jews in my absence do not receive the grace. For perhaps on his arising they will think Lazarus has come to life by some chance. I therefore am coming so that, if I am there, they will be eyewitnesses of the miracles done by me. And when they receive this grace from me, they can then be brought to a sure and certain faith.

Having encouraged them by these words, He addeth, that the cause of their going thither was pressing, and showeth them that they were about to go not unto Jerusalem, but unto Bethany.

"Our friend Lazarus," He saith, "sleepeth, but I go that I may awake him out of sleep." That is, "I go not for the same purpose as before, again to reason and contend with the Jews, but to awaken our friend."

"Then said His disciples, Lord, if he sleep he shall do well."

This they said not without a cause, but desiring to hinder the going thither. "Sayest Thou," asks one of them, "that he sleepeth? Then there is no urgent reason for going." Yet on this account He had said, "Our friend," to show that the going there was necessary.

Since the Lord's disciples were afraid to go to Judea, He says to them: "The Jews sought to stone Me because I refuted and reproved them. But now I am going not to reprove them, but to visit My friend. Therefore there is no need to be afraid. I am going not for the same reason I went before, so as to expect danger from the Jews, but I am going to awaken a friend."

1492 Above, our Lord mentioned his intention of going to the place where Lazarus had died; now he reveals his intention to raise him. The Evangelist first mentions this intention; secondly, the attitude of the disciples (v 16). First, we see our Lord stating his intention implicitly and rather obscurely; secondly, the Evangelist mentions how slow the disciples were to understand this (v 12); and thirdly, we see our Lord stating his intention plainly (v 14).

1493 The Evangelist says, Thus he spoke, and then he said to them, that is, having said those things already mentioned, Jesus now says to his disciples, Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. According to Chrysostom, this seems to be a second reason for the disciples not to fear: the first was based on their innocence, because he who walks in the day does not stumble; but this reason is based on current necessity, it being necessary to go there.

1494 We see three things about this. First, he recalls his previous friendship with the dead man, saying, Our friend Lazarus. This was to say: He was a friend because of the many things and favors he did for us; so we should not neglect him in his needs: "He who overlooks his own advantage for the sake of a friend is just" (Prv 12:26).

1495 Secondly, he mentions that help is needed now, saying, has fallen asleep, and so should be helped: "A brother is born for adversity" (Prv 17:17). Lazarus has fallen asleep, with respect to the Lord, as Augustine says; but with respect to men he was dead, as they were unable to revive him. We should note that the word "sleep" can be understood in several ways. Sometimes it refers to a natural sleep: "So Samuel went and lay down [slept] in his place" (1 Sam 3:9); and "You shall sleep securely" (Job 11:18). Sometimes it indicates the sleep of death: "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 Thess 4:13). Sometimes it is understood as some kind of negligence: "Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep" (Ps 121:4). And sometimes it means the sleep of sin: "Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead" (Eph 5:14). Again, it can mean the repose of contemplation: "I slept, but my heart was awake" (Song 5:2). It can also signify the rest of future glory: "In peace I will both lie down and sleep" (Ps 4:8).

Death is called a sleep because of the hope we have of a resurrection; so death has come to be called a sleep from the time that Christ died and arose: "I lie down and sleep" (Ps 3:6).

1496 Thirdly, he shows his power to raise one from death when he says, but I go to awake him out of sleep. By this he tells us that he woke him from the grave with as little effort as you wake a person who is sleeping in bed. This is not surprising because he is the one who raises the dead and gives life; so it was said above (5:28): "The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God."

(Tr. xlix. 11) He then declares His meaning openly: Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.

(Tr. xlix. 11) He had been sent for to restore Lazarus from sickness, not from death. But how could the death be hid from Him, into whose hands the soul of the dead had flown?

Then Jesus said to them. Here the third point is touched upon, namely the benefit to the disciples: therefore he repeats the death of Lazarus openly, because they did not grasp it when spoken obscurely. Therefore then Jesus said to them plainly: Lazarus is dead: therefore plainly, because, as is said in Matthew 13, "to you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven."

All physicians wear themselves out for their patient lest he die. But Lazarus's physician was waiting for his death in order to show his victory over death.

When therefore their disposition was somewhat reluctant, He said, "He is dead."

The former word He spake, desiring to prove that He loved not boasting; but since they understood not, He added, "He is dead."

"And I am glad for your sakes."

Why "for your sakes"? "Because I have forewarned you of his death, not being there, and because when I shall raise him again, there will be no suspicion of deceit." Seest thou how the disciples were yet imperfect in their disposition, and knew not His power as they ought? and this was caused by interposing terrors, which troubled and disturbed their souls. When He said, "He sleepeth," He added, "I go to awake him"; but when He said, "He is dead," He added not, "I go to raise him"; for He would not foretell in words what He was about to establish certainly by works, everywhere teaching us not to be vainglorious, and that we must not make promises without a cause.

Lazarus, this intimate friend of God, died, as is known through the testimony of the Gospel. According to John, for forty years he had compensated for the losses of the flesh by the actions of his will. And so after a quick death which was due to his earthly frame, that is, to earth itself more than humanity—according to the book of Genesis the rich fluidity of clay is responsible for us as well—while Christ the judge was far away, imparting the gifts of salvation on the borders of Judea, Lazarus was buried and placed in the tomb in order that he might begin to be what he had been—clay.

The Lord, seeing that His disciples still did not understand Him, says directly that Lazarus "has died." Why then did He previously express Himself not directly, but in a veiled manner, calling death "sleep"? For many reasons.

Firstly, out of humility, for He did not wish to appear boastful, but in a veiled manner called the resurrection an awakening from sleep. How would He have used this expression if He had not called death a sleep? And that this is true, that is, that He expressed Himself in a veiled manner out of humility, is evident from what follows. For having said that Lazarus "died," the Lord did not add "I will go and raise him." Do you see how He did not wish to boast in words about what He intended to confirm by the deed itself? At the same time, the Lord also teaches us not to be hasty in our promises. For if at the request of the centurion (for the healing of his servant) the Lord did give a promise, saying "I will come and heal him" (Matt. 8:5–7), He said this in order to reveal his faith. So then, this is the first reason why the Lord called death a sleep.

Another is to show us that every death is a sleep and a rest.

The third is that although the death of Lazarus was indeed death for everyone else, for Jesus Himself, inasmuch as He intended to raise him, it was nothing more than sleep. Just as it is easy for us to wake one who is sleeping, so, and a thousand times more so, it is easy for Him to raise the dead.

1500 Then our Lord explicitly states his intention to raise him (v 14). First, he tells them that Lazarus has died, which shows his knowledge; secondly, he mentions his attitude towards his death, which shows his providence; and thirdly, he makes known his intention to go to the place where he died, which shows his compassion or mercy.

1501 He states that Lazarus has died when he says plainly, Lazarus is dead, i.e., he has submitted to the common law of death which no one can escape: "What man can live and never see death?" (Ps 89:48).

And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that ye might believe; i. e. seeing My marvellous power of knowing a thing I have neither seen nor heard. The disciples already believed in Him in consequence of His miracles; so that their faith had not now to begin, but only to increase. That ye might believe, means, believe more deeply, more firmly.

But I am glad for your sakes, that is, for your benefit, that you may believe, because I was not there; this does not refer to faith, but to the joy, I am glad, namely, because I was not there, so that afterwards from our coming your faith may be strengthened. Therefore he says: But let us go to him, on account of safety and the need of Lazarus and your benefit. The reason why he was coming was because he was a friend: below in chapter 14: "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and will make our abode with him."

The disciples therefore not understanding that He had called death by the name of sleep, He made His meaning clearer, saying: He is dead. And He says that He is glad, not out of a love of glory, because He was going to do the marvellous deed, but because this was going to become for the disciples a ground of faith. And the words: I was not there, signify as follows: "If I had been there, he would not have died, because I should have had pity on him when he was suffering only a little; but now in My absence his death has taken place, so that, by raising him life, I shall bestow upon you much advantage through your faith in Me." And Christ says this, not as being able to do God-befitting deeds only when He was present; but because if He had been present, He could not have neglected His friend until the occurrence of death. And He says: Let us go unto him, as unto a living person; for the dead, inasmuch as they are destined to live, are alive unto Him as God.

Here it is as though Jesus says, If I had been there, he would not have died, because I would have had pity on him when he was suffering only a little. But now in my absence his death has taken place, so that, by raising him to life I shall bestow upon you a great advantage through your faith in me. And Christ says this, not to indicate that he is only able to do his divine work when present, but rather to show that if he had been present he would not have been able to neglect helping his friend who was dying.

Is he who does not desire the death of a sinner, now glad of the death of a friend? I rejoice, [Jesus says], not for my own sake, nor for the sake of the dead, but for your sake. For I need this death as the foundation for your faith.

"And I am glad for your sakes." Why "for your sakes"? "Because I have forewarned you of his death, not being there, and because when I shall raise him again, there will be no suspicion of deceit." Seest thou how the disciples were yet imperfect in their disposition, and knew not His power as they ought? and this was caused by interposing terrors, which troubled and disturbed their souls. When He said, "He sleepeth," He added, "I go to awake him"; but when He said, "He is dead," He added not, "I go to raise him"; for He would not foretell in words what He was about to establish certainly by works, everywhere teaching us not to be vainglorious, and that we must not make promises without a cause.

If any one ask, "How did the disciples imagine sleep? How did they not understand that death was meant from His saying, 'I go to awake him?' for it was folly if they expected that He would go fifteen stadia to awake him"; we would reply, that they deemed this to be a dark saying, such as He often spake to them.

"I rejoice," He says, "for your sakes," that you can henceforth be more assured of My Divine dignity from the fact that I was not there and am far away from that place, yet I tell you in advance that death has occurred in Bethany, and I say this not based on hearsay, but, as God, Myself perceiving what has happened at a great distance.

Some understood the Lord's words "I am glad for your sakes" in this way: "That I was not there will serve to strengthen you in faith. For if I had been there, I would have healed the sick man. This too would have been a miracle, but it would have shown little of My power. But now, since I was not there and the death of Lazarus followed, and I will go and raise him, you should be more firmly established in faith in Me. For you will see that I am able to do even what I have not yet manifested, namely: to restore and raise a dead man who has already decomposed and is emitting a foul odor."

And I ask you to notice that although Lazarus had died, the Lord nevertheless said "let us go to him," as if to a living person. For to Christ, as God, even Lazarus himself was alive.

Some have understood this place thus. I rejoice, He says, for your sakes; for if I had been there, I should have only cured a sick man; which is but an inferior sign of power. But since in My absence he has died, ye will now see that I can raise even the dead putrefying body; and your faith will be strengthened.

1502 He shows his own attitude towards this death, saying, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. This can be explained in two ways.

The first way is this. We have heard that Lazarus was sick. And although I was not there I have told you that he has died and for your sake I am glad, i.e., because it is for your benefit, so that you may experience my divinity, because even though I was not there I saw all this: "All are open and laid bare to the eyes of him with whom we have do to" (Heb 4:13). This is not surprising, because the divinity is present to all things: "Do I not fill heaven and earth?" (Jer 23:24). So that you may believe not as though they were to believe for the first time, but in order that they might believe more firmly and more strongly, in the sense of "I believe; help my unbelief" (Mk 9:23).

The other explanation is this: I am glad that he is dead and this is for your sake, for our benefit, so that you may believe. Accordingly, I am glad that I was not there, for if I had been there, he would not have died. But because he is now dead, it will be a greater miracle when I raise one already decomposing. As a result, your faith will be get stronger, for it is greater to raise one who is dead than to keep him from dying.

We can learn from this that evils are sometimes a reason for joy, insofar as they are directed to some good: "We know that everything works for good with those who love him" (Rom 8:28).

1503 He mentions his plan to go when he says, but let us go to him. Here we see God's mercy, for in his mercy he takes the initiative and draws to himself those living in sin, who are dead and unable of themselves to come to him: "I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore have I drawn you, taking pity on you" (Jer 31:3).

"Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again." This was ambiguous. For He said not, Even now I will raise thy brother; but, "Thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto Him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection, at the last day." Of that resurrection I am sure, but uncertain about this. "Jesus saith unto her, I am the resurrection." Thou sayest, My brother shall rise again at the last day: true; but by Him, through whom he shall rise then, can he rise even now, for "I," He says, "am the resurrection and the life." Give ear, brethren, give ear to what He says.

(Tr. xlix. 14) Shall rise again, is ambiguous: for He does not say, now.

Jesus says to her. Here the third point is touched upon, namely the amplification of the faithful confession. For Martha had confessed that the Lord could obtain her brother's resurrection; but the Lord wishes to lead her to this, that she confess that Christ can raise the dead; on account of which he says with authority: Your brother shall rise again.

His being seen in the flesh causing her to think that whatsoever He should ask as a saint, He would receive from God; not indeed knowing that, being in His Nature God and the Power of the Father, He possesses irresistible might over all things. For if she had known that He was God, she would not have said: If Thou hadst been here; for God is everywhere. Through His aversity to arrogance, however, the Lord did not say: "I will raise up thy brother," but: "He shall rise again;" all but softly rebuking her and saying: "He indeed rises again as thou wishest, but not as thou thinkest. For if thou supposest that it will be accomplished by prayer and supplication, take upon thyself the part of prayer, but do not bid Me do it, Who am a Wonder-worker, able by My own Might to raise the dead."

(Hom. lxii. 3) But our Lord taught her the truths which she did not know: Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. Observe, He does not say, I will ask God, that he may rise again, nor on the other hand does He say, I want no help, I do all things of Myself; a declaration which would have been too much for the woman; but something between the two, He shall rise again.

Martha, again you know but you do not know. Martha, again do you really know, when you do not know that your brother can rise here and now? Or is it perhaps that God who at that future time is able to raise up all is now unable to raise up even one from the dead? He is able, yes, God is able to raise up one from the dead as a sign for this time, God who will later raise up all the dead to eternal life.… Martha, right in front of you is the Resurrection that you are putting so far into the future.

From this it appears that they, even though they believed somehow in the power of the Lord, were still in doubt because of the greatness of the task.… On the one hand, she has no doubts about his promise. On the other hand, however, she considers the task superior to human power. Indeed, we said above that they still thought they were speaking to a man who does everything through his own strength. This is why she said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection of the last day."

The Lord, refuting such an understanding of hers, says: "Your brother will rise again." He did not say to her "yes, I will ask God, and He will give Me," nor did He agree with her words, but used a moderate expression.

1512 We see how she advanced when the Evangelist adds, Jesus said to her, Your brother will rise again. Because she was still imperfect in her understanding, our Lord raised her to higher things by his teaching. First, he foretells the resurrection of her brother; secondly, he shows that he has the power to resurrect (v 25). Concerning the first, he does two things. First, he foretells the coming miracle; secondly, we see Martha's understanding of the resurrection (v 24).

1513 The miracle our Lord foretold is the raising of Lazarus; thus he says, Your brother will rise again: "Thy dead shall live, their bodies shall rise" (Is 26:19). We should note here that Christ raised three persons from death: the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue (Matt 9:25); the widow's son, who was being carried outside the gate of the city (Lk 7:12); and Lazarus, who had been four days in the tomb. The girl was still in her home, the youth was outside the gate, and Lazarus was in the tomb. He raised the girl in the presence of only a few witnesses: the girl's father and mother, and the three disciples, Peter, James, and John. He raised the young man in the presence of a large group. And Lazarus was raised with a number of people standing by, and when Christ was deeply affected. These three persons represent three kinds or genera of sins. Some sin by consenting in their hearts to mortal sin; and these are signified by the girl who was dead in her own home. Others sin by outside signs and acts, and these are signified by the dead youth who was being carried outside the city gate. Finally, those who are firmly habituated to sin are buried in the tomb. Yet, our Lord raises all of them. But those who sin only by consent, and die by sinning mortally, are more easily raised. And because their sin is private, it is healed with a private corrective. When sin advances without, it needs public remedy.

I am the resurrection, because I am the life; as through Me he will rise at the general resurrection, through Me he may rise now.

For the almighty God himself will raise us up through our Lord Jesus Christ, according to his infallible promise, and grant us a resurrection with all those that have slept from the beginning of the world. And we shall then be such as we now are in our present form, without any defect or corruption. For we shall rise incorruptible: whether we die at sea, or are scattered on the earth or are torn to pieces by wild beasts and birds, he will raise us by his own power. For the whole world is held together by the hand of God.…This resurrection was not believed by the Jews, when of old they said, "Our bones are withered, and we are gone." To whom God answered and said, "Behold, I open your graves and will bring you out of them. And I will put my Spirit into you, and you shall live: and you shall know that I the Lord have spoken it and will do it." And he says by Isaiah: "The dead shall rise, and those that are in the graves shall be raised up. And those that rest in the earth shall rejoice, for the dew which is from you shall be healing to them." There are indeed many and various things said concerning the resurrection, and concerning the continuance of the righteous in glory and concerning the punishment of the ungodly, their fall, rejection, condemnation, shame, "eternal fire and endless worm." Now in order to show that it was in his power, if it had pleased him, that all men and women should be immortal, he provided the examples of Enoch and Elijah, who he did not allow to have any experience of death. Or if it had pleased him in every generation to raise those that died, that this also he was able to do he has made evident by himself and by others as when he raised the widow's son by Elijah and the Shunammite's son by Elisha. But we are persuaded that death is not a retribution of punishment, because even the saints have undergone it. In fact, even the Lord of the saints, Jesus Christ, the life of those who believe and the resurrection of the dead, [experienced it].… For it is he who raised Lazarus when he had been in the grave four days, and Jairus's daughter and the widow's son. It is he who raised himself by the command of the Father in the space of three days who is the pledge of our resurrection. For he says, "I am the resurrection and the life."

I am the voice of life that wakens the dead. I am the good odor that takes away the foul odor. I am the voice of joy that takes away sorrow and grief.… I am the comfort of those who are in grief. Those who belong to me are given joy by me. I am the joy of the whole world. I gladden all my friends and rejoice with them. I am the bread of life.

"He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die." What meaneth this? "He that believeth in me, though he were dead," just as Lazarus is dead, "yet shall he live;" for He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. Believe then, and though thou wert dead, yet shalt thou live: but if thou believest not, even while thou livest thou art dead.

(Tr. xlix. 15) He that believeth in Me, though he were dead: i. e. though his flesh die, his soul shall live till the flesh rise again, never to die more. For faith is the life of the soul.

Jesus says to her: I am the resurrection and the life: the predication is causal, that is, I cause to rise again and to live; 1 Corinthians 15: "Christ is risen from the dead, the firstfruits of those who sleep, for since by a man came death, by a man also comes the resurrection of the dead." And he makes this manifest: He who believes in me, even if he be dead, shall live: and thus I cause to rise again; above in chapter 5: "The hour comes and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear shall live."

Finally, the Apostle Paul reproaches, and rebukes, and blames any who are in sorrow at the departure of their friends. "I would not," says he, have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them which are asleep in Jesus Will God bring with Him." He says that those have sorrow in the departure of their friends who have no hope. But we who live in hope, and believe in God, and trust that Christ suffered for us and rose again, abiding in Christ, and through Him and in Him rising again, why either are we ourselves unwilling to depart hence from this life, or do we bewail and grieve for our friends when they depart as if they were lost, when Christ Himself, our Lord and God, encourages us and says, "I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he die, yet shall live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall not die eternally? " If we believe in Christ, let us have faith in His words and promises; and since we shall not die eternally, let us come with a glad security unto Christ, with whom we are both to conquer and to reign for ever.

Assuredly a fruit and reward of faith in Christ is eternal life, and in no other way does this come to the soul of man. For although we are all raised to life through Christ, yet this [eternal life given to the faithful] is the true life, namely, to live unendingly in bliss; for to be restored to life only for punishment differs nothing from death. If therefore any one notices that even the saints, who have received promises of life, die; this is nothing, for it is only what naturally comes to pass. And until the proper time has been reserved the display of the grace [of resurrection], which is powerful, not partially, but effectually, in the case of all men, even of those saints who have died in time past and are tasting death for a short time, until the general resurrection. For then, together, all will enjoy the good things. And in saying: Though he die, yet shall he live, the Saviour did not take away the death in this present world: but admits that it has such might against the faithful that it naturally happens to them, and no more; because He has reserved the grace of resurrection until the proper time. He certainly says: "He that helieveth on Me shall not be without a participation in the death of the flesh in the ordinary course of human nature, but nevertheless he will suffer nothing worthy of fear in this, as God is able easily to make alive whomsoever He will." For he that believeth on Him, hath in the world to come an endless life in bliss and perfect immortality. Wherefore let not any of the unbelieving mock: for Christ did not say: "From this present moment he shall in no wise see death," but when He said absolutely: "He shall never see death in any wise," He spake concerning the world to come, reserving the end of the promise until then. And saying unto Martha: Believest thou? He demands the confession of faith as the parent and patron of the [eternal] life; and she readily assented and accurately confesses: not simply believing that He is a Christ and a Son of God; for a prophet also can be a christ, by reason of being anointed, and the same person can be understood to be a son [of God]: but using the definite article and saying: "The Christ, the Son of God," she confessed the Only and Preeminent and True Son. Therefore her faith was on the Son, not on a creature.

He was crucified in reality, and not in appearance, not in imagination, not in deceit. He really died, and was buried, and rose from the dead, even as He prayed in a certain place, saying, "But do Thou, O Lord, raise me up again, and I shall recompense them." And the Father, who always hears Him, answered and said, "Arise, O God, and judge the earth; for Thou shall receive all the heathen for Thine inheritance." The Father, therefore, who raised Him up, will also raise us up through Him, apart from whom no one will attain to true life. For says He, "I am the life; he that believeth in me, even though he die, shall live: and every one that liveth and believeth in me, even though he die, shall live for ever." Do ye therefore flee from these ungodly heresies; for they are the inventions of the devil, that serpent who was the author of evil, and who by means of the woman deceived Adam, the father of our race.

He, then, who was adored by the prophets as the living God, He is the God of the living; and His Word is He who also spake to Moses, who also put the Sadducees to silence, who also bestowed the gift of resurrection, thus revealing [both] truths to those who are blind, that is, the resurrection and God [in His true character]. For if He be not the God of the dead, but of the living, yet was called the God of the fathers who were sleeping, they do indubitably live to God, and have not passed out of existence, since they are children of the resurrection. But our Lord is Himself the resurrection, as He does Himself declare, "I am the resurrection and the life." But the fathers are His children; for it is said by the prophet: "Instead of thy fathers, thy children have been made to thee." Christ Himself, therefore, together with the Father, is the God of the living, who spake to Moses, and who was also manifested to the fathers.

(Hom. lxii) She had often heard Christ speak of the resurrection. Jesus now declares His power more plainly: Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life. He needed therefore none to help Him; for if He did, how could He be the resurrection. And if He is the life, He is not confined by place, but is every where, and can heal every where.

(Hom. lxii) To Martha's, Whatsoever Thou shall ask, He replies, He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: showing her that He is the Giver of all good, and that we must ask of Him. Thus He leads her to the knowledge of high truths; and whereas she had been enquiring only about the resurrection of Lazarus, tells her of a resurrection in which both she and all present would share.

Now the mystery of this "sign" was in various ways predicted; (a "sign") in which the foundation of life was forelaid for mankind; (a "sign") in which the Jews were not to believe: just as Moses beforetime kept on announcing in Exodus, saying, "Ye shall be ejected from the land into which ye shall enter; and in those nations ye shall not be able to rest: and there shall be instabilityof the print of thy foot: and God shall give thee a wearying heart, and a pining soul, and failing eyes, that they see not: and thy life shall hang on the tree before thine eyes; and thou shalt not trust thy life.

And further He sets forth His power and authority much more clearly: "I," He says, "am the resurrection and the life."

So, since the woman still remained a woman, the Lord raises her up and rouses her faith, as though it had died, speaking more clearly: "You say to Me that God will give Me whatever I ask of Him. But I say to you plainly that I am the resurrection and the life, so that My power is not limited by place, but I am equally able to heal, whether present on the spot or from afar. For I bestow blessings not on behalf of anyone else, but I Myself am the resurrection and the life, I Myself have the power to raise and give life."

1515 When the Evangelist says, Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life, our Lord raises Martha to higher things. First, Jesus shows his own might and power; secondly, he mentions the effect of his power, he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live; and thirdly, he demands faith, Do you believe this?

1516 His power is life-giving; thus he says, I am the resurrection and the life. It is as though he were saying to Martha: Do you believe that your brother will rise on the last day? But this general event, that all will rise, will be caused by my power. Consequently, I, by whose power all will rise at that time, am also able to raise your brother now.

He is saying two things, namely, that he is the resurrection and the life. We should note that some need to share in the effect of life: some, indeed, because they have lost life; and others, not because they have lost it, but in order that the life they have may be preserved. In regard to the first he says, I am the resurrection, because those who have lost their life by death are restored. In regard to the second he says, and the life, by which the living are preserved.

We should note further that the statement, I am the resurrection, is a causal one. It is the same as saying: I am the cause of the resurrection, for this manner of speaking is usually applied only to those who are the cause of something. Now Christ is the total cause of our resurrection, both of bodies and souls; and so the statement, I am the resurrection, indicates the cause. He is saying: The entire fact that everyone will rise in their souls and in their bodies will be due to me: "For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead" (1 Cor 15:21).

Furthermore, the fact that I am the resurrection is due to the fact that I am the life: for it is because of life that they are restored to life, just as it is because of fire that something aflame which has been extinguished is rekindled: "In him was life, and the life was the light of men" (1:4).

1517 However, the effect corresponds to the power; thus he says, he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. First, he treats of the effect which corresponds to the first power [the power to resurrect]; secondly, the effect which corresponds to the second power [the power to give life].

The first thing he said about his power is that he is the resurrection. The effect which corresponds to this is that the dead are brought to life by him. Referring to this he says, he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. The reason for this is that I am the cause of the resurrection, and the effect of this cause is obtained by believing in me. He says, he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, because by believing he has me within himself - "that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith" (Eph 3:17). And one who has me, has the cause of the resurrection. Therefore, he who believes in me shall live. We saw before (5:25) that some will rise through faith: "the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live," with a spiritual life, by rising from the death of sin, and they will also live with a natural life by rising from the penalty of [physical] death.

Because He hath attained to the life of the Spirit, and to an immortal resurrection. Our Lord, from Whom nothing was hid, knew that she believed, but sought from her a confession unto salvation: Believest thou this? She saith unto Him, Yea, Lord, I believe that Thou art the Christ the Son of God, which should come into the world.

And whosoever liveth, in the flesh, and believeth in Me, though he die for a time in the flesh, shall not die eternally.

Not only do I make the dead rise, but I also make the living live: whence: And everyone who lives and believes in me shall not die forever; above in the sixth chapter: "Everyone who sees the Son and believes in him has eternal life." And because "with the heart one believes unto justice, but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation," therefore he says: Do you believe this?

If anyone notices that even the saints who have received promises of life die, this is no reason for concern, since it is what naturally happens. The display of the grace [of resurrection] has been reserved until the appointed time. This grace is powerful, not partially but effectually, in the case of all, even of those saints who have died in time past and are tasting death for a short time until the general resurrection. For then, together, all will enjoy the good things.

Having previously explained the force of the mystery in himself and shown plainly that he is by nature life and true God, he demands assent to the faith, furnishing in this matter a model to the churches. For we should not vainly cast our words into the air when we confess the venerable mystery but rather fix the roots of the faith in heart and mind and then allow it to bear fruit in our confession. And we ought to believe without any hesitation or double-mindedness.… Nevertheless, it is necessary to know that we make the confession of our faith to God, although we are questioned by others, I mean those whose responsibility it is to minister in sacred things, when we say the "I believe" at the reception of holy baptism. Certainly therefore to speak falsely and to slip aside toward unbelief is a most awful thing.… In a certain way, as Lazarus was lying dead, the assent to the faith is demanded of the woman on his behalf. The same can be seen in the churches when a newborn child is brought either to receive the anointing of the catechumenate or to be fully initiated into the Christian faith at holy baptism. In these instances, the person who brings the child repeats aloud the "Amen" on the child's behalf … something we also see in the case of Lazarus and his sister. Martha wisely and prudently sows the confession of faith first so that afterward she may reap the fruit of it.

Here he says believers live; they never die. Their bodies die but are brought back to life again.

The Savior does not inquire "Do you believe this?" in ignorance as to whether Martha did or did not believe what was said. Rather, he did so in order that we, or indeed those who were then present, might learn from her answer what her disposition was. But another will say that it is not a question but a statement: "You believe this." In this case, Martha then completes the Savior's statement saying, Yes, Lord, and not only do I believe what you now say, but I believe now that you are the Christ, something I also believed before. And I believe that you are the Son of God who comes into the world and lives with all who believe in you.

"He who believes in Me, even if he dies this bodily death, shall live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall not die a spiritual death. Therefore do not be troubled. For although your brother has died, he shall live. And why do I speak of your brother? Even you, if you believe in Me, shall not die, but shall be above spiritual death, which is far more terrible. And He who delivers from the most terrible death shall all the more easily deliver your dead brother from the less terrible death."

"Do you believe this?" the Lord asks Martha. And she, although she had heard such lofty words, nevertheless did not understand what the Lord said to her. I think that from grief she was also suffering from a lack of comprehension. For the Lord asks one thing, and she answers another. The Lord asks whether she believes that He is the resurrection and the life, and that he who believes in Him will never die, whether you understand this as spiritual death or bodily death. For of the faithful, on account of their hope in the resurrection, it is rightly said that they do not die.

The second thing he says of his power is that he is life. The effect which corresponds to this is the preservation of life. Thus he says, and whoever lives and believes in me, whoever lives a life of righteousness, "the righteous shall live by his faith" (Hab 2:4), shall never die, that is, with an eternal death. But they will have eternal life: "For this is the will of my Father, that every one who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life" (6:40). This should not be understood to mean that one will not physically die; he will die, but he will be raised up in a soul to a never-ending life, and his flesh will rise and he will never die again. Thus John continued, "and I will raise him up at the last day" (6:40).

1518 Jesus requires faith so he can bring her to perfection: thus he says, Do you believe this? First, our Lord's question is given. Our Lord does not ask this out of ignorance, because he knew her faith. Indeed, it was he who had infused the faith into her: for the act of faith is from God. But he asks this question in order that she might profess outwardly the faith she had in her heart: as we read, "For man believes with his heart and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved" (Rom 10:10).

(de Ver. Dom. s. lii) And said, Where have ye laid him? He knew where, but He asked to try the faith of the people.

(lib. 83. Quaest. qu. lxv.) The question has an allusion too to our hidden calling. That predestination by which we are called, is hidden; and the sign of its being so is our Lord asking the question: He being as it were in ignorance, so long as we are ignorant ourselves. Or because our Lord elsewhere shows that He knows not sinners, saying, I know you not, (Matt. 7:23) because in keeping His commandments there is no sin. They said unto Him, Lord, come and see.

(Tr. xlix. 20.) The Lord sees when He pities, as we read, Look upon my adversity and misery, and forgive me all my sin. (Ps. 24:18.)

He said: Where have you laid him? They say to him: Lord, come and see: and there follows the manifestation of compassion.

When therefore the Lord comes to Mary and Martha the sisters of Lazarus, seeing the crowd of the Jews, he says, "Where have they laid him?" But could the Lord truly be ignorant of where the body of Lazarus was placed, who while being absent at the death of Lazarus had already announced his death and who in his divine majesty was everywhere? But this the Lord did out of ancient custom. For to Adam he had similarly said, "Where are you, Adam?" This was not because he was ignorant of where Adam was but that he might therefore question him so that Adam would openly confess his sin … It is the same here. He does not ask because he is ignorant of Lazarus's whereabouts but so that the crowd of the Jews would follow him to Lazarus's tomb so that, seeing the divine power of Christ exhibited in the resurrection of Lazarus, they might be exposed as his enemies if they did not believe this display of his power. For the superior Lord said to them, "If you do not believe me, believe the works and know that the Father is in me and I in him."

"Where have ye laid him?" So that the question might not be attended with lamentation. But why doth He ask? Because He desired not to cast Himself on the miracle, but to learn all from them, to do all at their invitation, so as to free the miracle from any suspicion.

"Where have you laid him?" the Lord asks not because He does not know (for, being in another place and far away, He still knew that Lazarus had died), but so that they would not think that He Himself volunteers to perform the miracle of His own accord. He wishes to learn everything from them and to perform the miracle at their request, so as to free it from all suspicion.

And since there was as yet no hint of the resurrection of Lazarus and it occurred to no one that He was going to resurrect him, and not merely to weep, they say to Him: "Lord, come and see."

1536 Then our Lord shows the emotion in his own heart by words; he says, Where have you laid him? Was our Lord really ignorant of the place where he had been buried? It seems not, for just as in his absence he knew, because of his divinity, of Lazarus' death, so in the same way he knew where his tomb was. Why did he ask about something he already knew? I answer that he did not ask as though he did not know, but upon being shown the tomb by the people, he wanted them to admit that Lazarus had died and was buried. In this way he could prevent the miracle from being doubted.

There are also two mystical reasons for this. One is that a person who asks a question does not seem to know the things he asks about. Now, Lazarus in his tomb signifies those who are dead in their sins. And so our Lord presents himself as ignorant of where Lazarus is to have us understand that he does not, in a way, know sinners, according to: "I never knew you" (Matt 7:23); and in Genesis God said to Adam, "Where are you?" (3:9). The other reason is that if anyone rises from sin to the state of divine righteousness, it is due to the depths of divine predestination, the depths of which we are ignorant: "For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?" (Rom 11:34); "For who among them has stood in the council of the Lord to perceive and hear his word" (Jer 23:18). And so our Lord, implying this, acts as one who does not know, since we also do not know this. Thus our Lord's question is given, and the answer of the people, when the Evangelist says, They said to him, Lord, come and see. Come, by showing mercy; and see, by giving your attention: "Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins" (Ps 25:18).

Although according to the gospel history, we hold that Lazarus was really raised to life, yet I do not doubt that his resurrection is an allegory as well. We do not, because we allegorize facts, however, lose our belief in them as facts.

"Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto Him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days. Jesus saith unto her, Have I not said unto thee, that, if thou believest, thou shalt see the glory of God?" What does He mean by this, "thou shall see the glory of God"? That He can raise to life even one who is putrid and hath been four days dead. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; and, Where sin abounded, grace also did superabound."

(Tr. xlix. c. 22) Take ye away the stone; mystically, Take away the burden of the law, proclaim grace.

(lib. 83. Quaest. qu. 61) Perhaps those are signified who wished to impose the rite of circumcision on the Gentile converts; or men in the Church of corrupt life, who offend believers.

(de Ver. Dom. serm. lii) Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus, though they had often seen Christ raise the dead, did not fully believe that He could raise their brother; Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto Him, Lord, by this time he stinketh, for he hath been dead four days.

(in Joan. Tr. xlix) And yet our Lord loved Lazarus. For had He not loved sinners, He would never have come down from heaven to save them. Well is it said of one of sinful habits, that He stinketh. He hath a bad report already, as it were the foulest odour.

(lib. lxxxiii. Quæst. q. 65) Well may she say, He hath been dead four days. For the earth is the last of the elements. It signifies the pit of earthly sins, i. e. carnal lusts.

Jesus said: Take away the stone. And because Martha was concerned about the Lord with respect to sensible and corporeal things: therefore: Martha, the sister of him who had died, said to him: Lord, he already stinks: therefore it should not be opened: for he has been dead four days. And because Martha believed that the Lord wished to see him out of compassion, not to raise him by his power.

It is usual to refuse to believe in the possibility of great deeds, and to be somewhat reluctant to admire is a feeling which naturally is consequent upon things beyond our experience. It seems to me that even the good Martha suffered this; for the excessive greatness of the event took from her the sure confidence of faith, and the strangeness of the hope bewilders her proper reason. And it is nothing astonishing if she who had confessed her faith is again overtaken by littleness of faith through the excessive greatness of the marvellous deed. And either solely out of honour to Christ she said: By this time he stinketh; that He might not be disgusted by the bad smell of the corpse: or she says this as if from shame. For the relatives of the dead hasten, before the body becomes ill-smelling, to bury it down in the earth, out of consideration for the living, and deeming it a dishonour to the dead that it should become an object of loathing to any.

Are you—as someone who has bestowed the kind of power on your apostles that can remove mountains—are you not able to roll away a small stone from the entrance of the cave? But he chose not to roll the stone away because the spectators did not believe. Otherwise, they might have been able to say that what he did relied on trickery and deceiving the eyes. They would say there had been an apparently dead man laid in the grave, and that [Jesus] wanted to make it look like he called and the other heard. And so now he leads them to the grave, so that after they have rolled away the stone, the foul smell might reach them and furnish them with testimony that the man was actually dead. And then, once they believe Lazarus has died, they will no longer doubt his resurrection. The Lord had already planned for this when he came. Notice what immediately follows. Martha approaches the stone and says, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead for four days." But the ever-living one, who is fully conscious of his power, says, "I chose to learn this from you, [Martha]. In fact, repeat what you said about him, 'By this time he stinks.' Repeat it, proclaiming that his resurrection is real." His death was established several times in order that the fact of his resurrection might be established.… He commanded the Jews to roll away the stone with their own hands, reserving for himself the greatest sign so that they might be witnesses of the sign done by him.

"He saith, Take ye away the stone." Why did not He when at a distance summon Lazarus, and place him before their eyes? Or rather, why did He not cause him to arise while the stone yet lay on the grave? For He who was able by His voice to move a corpse, and to show it again endowed with life, would much more by that same voice have been able to move a stone; He who empowered by His voice one bound and entangled in the grave-clothes to walk, would much more have been able to move a stone; why then did He not so? In order to make them witnesses of the miracle; that they might not say as they did in the case of the blind man, "It is he," "It is not he." For their hands and their coming to the tomb testified that it was indeed he.

If they had not come, they might have deemed that they saw a vision, or one man in place of another. But now the coming to the place, the raising the stone, the charge given them to loose the dead man bound in grave-clothes from his bands; the fact that the friends who bore him from the tomb, knew from the grave-clothes that it was he; that his sisters were not left behind; that one of them said, "He now stinketh, for he hath been dead four days"; all these things, I say, were sufficient to silence the ill-disposed, as they were made witnesses of the miracle. On this account He biddeth them take away the stone from the tomb, to show that He raiseth the man. On this account also He asketh, "Where have ye laid him?" that they who said, "Come and see," and who conducted Him, might not be able to say that He had raised another person; that their voice and their hands might bear witness, (their voice by saying, "Come and see," their hands by lifting the stone, and loosing the grave-clothes,) as well as their eyes and ears, (the one by hearing His voice, the other by seeing Lazarus come forth,) and their smell also by perceiving the ill-odor, for Martha said, "He now stinketh, for he hath been dead four days."

(tom. in Joan. xxviii.) The delay in taking away the stone was caused by the sister of the dead, who said, By this time he stinketh, for he hath been dead four days. If she had not said this, it would not be said, Jesus said, Take away the stone. Some delay had arisen; it is best to let nothing come between the commands of Jesus and doing them.

In the case of Lazarus, which we may take as the most outstanding instance of a resurrection, the flesh lay prostrate in weakness, almost putrid in the dishonor of its decay. The flesh smelled of corruption, and yet it was as flesh that Lazarus rose again—with his soul, no doubt. But that soul was incorrupt. Nobody had wrapped it in its linen swathes. Nobody had deposited it in a grave. Nobody had yet perceived its "smell," nobody for four days had seen it "sown." Well, now, this entire condition, this whole end of Lazarus, is indeed what the flesh of all humanity is still experiencing, but no one's soul is experiencing it. That substance, therefore, to which the apostle's whole description clearly refers, of which he clearly speaks, must be both the natural (or animate) body when it is sown and the spiritual body when it is raised again.

"Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days." These words were spoken by the woman who doubted, but they also referred to the greatness of the miracle to be performed. Indeed, the more they knew that his body was putrefying and was in a state of mutation according to nature, the more the miracle to be performed for Lazarus appeared to be extraordinary. So the Lord by reproving her said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" From this it is evident that she was not free from doubts even when she had said the words mentioned above and seemed to assent to and believe them.

"Take away the stone," the Lord says in order to make them witnesses of the miracle, so that they could not, as before concerning the man born blind, say: "It is he; it is not he" (John 9:9). For being present at the very spot and removing the stone with their own hands was meant to shut the mouths of ill-intentioned witnesses of the miracle.

"He already stinks; for he has been in the grave four days," Martha said out of unbelief, because she considered the resurrection of her brother to be already impossible after so many days had passed since his death. So she was still not advanced in faith!

Martha said this from weakness of faith, thinking it impossible that Christ could raise her brother, so long after death.

1544 Then when he says, Jesus said, Take away the stone, he gives Christ's order to remove the stone. One might ask: Since it is a greater thing to raise the dead than to remove a stone, why did not Christ also use his power to remove the stone? Chrysostom says that this was done in order to secure greater certitude about this miracle, that is, to make them such witnesses to the miracle that they could not, like they did in the case of the blind man, say and maintain that this was not the same person.

As for the mystical sense, according to Augustine, the removing of the stone signifies the removal of the weight of the legal observances from Christ's faithful who came into the Church from the Gentiles, for some wanted to impose these observances on them. Thus St. James says: "For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things" (Acts 15:28); and Peter says in the same work: "Why do you make trial of God by putting a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear" (Acts 15:10). Concerning this our Lord says, Take away the stone, i.e., the burden of the Law, and preach peace.

Or, the stone signifies those in the Church who live wickedly, and so are a scandal to those who would believe, because they hinder their conversion. We read about this stone in Psalm 91 (v 12): "Lest you dash your foot against a stone." This is the stone that our Lord orders removed: "Remove every obstruction from my people's way" (Is 57:14).

1545 Next, we see Martha's objection. First, we see what she said; secondly, the words of Christ's answer.

1546 The Evangelist mentions Martha's words when he says, Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days. As for the literal sense, this happened in order to show the truth of the miracle, as his members were already beginning to corrupt and dissolve. As for the mystical sense, one who habitually sins is said to smell, that is, the foul odor of his reputation is spread abroad by his sins. For just as good works spread a good odor, as the Apostle says - "We are the aroma of Christ to God" (2 Cor 2:15) - so from evil works there arises an evil odor and a stench. Such a person is aptly described in terms of "four days," for he is pressed by the weight of earthly sins and sensual desires, and earth is the last of the four elements: "The stench and foul smell of him will rise" (Joel 2:20).

(Tr. xlix) Herein is the glory of God, that he that stinketh and hath been dead four days, is brought to life again. Then they took away the stone.

Jesus said to her: Did I not say to you that if you believe, you shall see the glory of God? that is, the greatness of the divine power: Acts 7: "When Stephen, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazing into heaven, saw the glory of God." And in this they knew that he had not caused it to be opened in order to see the dead man, but in order to raise him.

A most excellent thing is faith, when it is produced from an ardent mind; and it has such great power that not only is the believer healed, but in fact others also have been healed besides them that believed; as the paralytic let down [through the tiles] at Capernaum, by the faith of those who carried him; and as Lazarus, by that of his sister, to whom the Lord said: If thou believest, thou shall see the glory of God; all but saying: "Since Lazarus, being dead, is not able to believe, do thou fill up that which is lacking of the faith of him that is dead." And the form of faith is twofold: first, dogmatic, consisting of an assent of the soul to something, as: He that believeth on the Son is not judged; and secondly, a gift by the participation of grace from Christ: For to one, He says, is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom, and to another faith, which is not merely dogmatic, but also capable of effecting things beyond human power, so as even to remove mountains. The faith of Martha however, by the feebleness of her reason, fell away into unbelief. But the Lord does not permit it to remain so: He effects a speedy remedy for the suffering. For He says she must believe, that she may behold what was beyond hope. For double-mindedness is a great infirmity and deprives us of the gracious gifts of God. Wherefore, by rebuking her, [Christ] warned the whole human race not to be detected in the evil ways of double-mindedness. And shunning vainglory, the Christ did not say: Thou shalt see My glory, but: the glory of God. And the glory of God was the raising the dead. Surely therefore He Himself Who said: I am the Resurrection, is by Nature the God Whose glory He says not long afterwards the woman should see, since Thou wilt suppose that the Truth----and the Christ is the Truth----does not lie. And it was promised to her that her dead brother should rise again. And Mary, being more intelligent, utters no word of doubt; but Martha was affected by the disease of double-mindedness.

Faith is a truly excellent thing when it is produced from an ardent mind. It has such great power that not only is the believer healed but in fact others also can be healed besides those who believe. For instance … Lazarus is saved by the faith of his sister to whom the Lord said, "If you believe you shall see the glory of God," which is like saying, "Since Lazarus, being dead, is not able to believe, you then are to fill up the faith that is lacking in him that is dead."

(Hom. lxiii) She did not remember what He said above, He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. To the disciples He had said, That the Son of God might be glorified thereby; here it is the glory of the Father He speaks of. The difference is made to suit the different hearers. Our Lord could not rebuke her before such a number, but only says, Thou shalt see the glory of God.

But now, between the words "Take away the stone" and "therefore, they took away the stone," the words of the dead man's sister hindered the removal of the stone. And it would not have been taken away at all even later had not Jesus answered and said to her unbelief, "Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?" It is good, then, that nothing intervenes between Jesus' command and the action enjoined by his bidding.

Christ, reminding her of His conversation with her and as if reproaching her for her forgetfulness, says: "Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?"

To His disciples the Lord says that Lazarus died so that "the Son of God" might be glorified through this (John 11:4), but to Martha He says "you will see the glory of God," meaning the Father. He uses different expressions about one and the same thing — on account of the weakness of the listeners. Here the Jews were present. To tell Martha that she would see the glory of "the Son of God," the Lord found inappropriate, because they would have considered Him vainglorious. But now, having spoken of the glory of the Father, He made His speech moderate and easy to accept.

Christ reminds Martha of what He had told her before, which she had forgotten: Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?

1547 Christ answers her, saying, Did not I tell you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God? Here our Lord seems to reprove Martha for not remembering what Christ had said to her: "He who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live." For Martha was not certain that Christ could raise a person who had been dead four days. Although Christ had recently raised certain dead persons, this seemed impossible to believe of her brother because of the long time he had been dead. And so our Lord said, Did not I tell you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God? that is, the raising of your brother, by which God will be glorified.

Although our Lord had said to his apostles before that this miracle would be for his glory, saying, "so that the Son of God may be glorified by means of it" (11:4), that is, by means of this death, he now says to Martha that this miracle will be for the glory of God. The reason for this is that the glory of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit is the same. However, he did not mention the glory of the Son here so as not to excite the Jews who were present and ready to dispute him.

1548 These words of our Lord suggest two fruits of our faith. The first is the performing of miracles, which is due to faith: "If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move hence to yonder place,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you" (Matt 17:19). The Apostle also says: "If I have all faith, so as to remove mountains..." (1 Cor 13:2); and in Mark (16:20) we read: "And they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it." Now this working of miracles is for the glory of God; thus he says, if you would believe you would see the glory of God.

The second fruit is the vision of eternal glory, which is due as a reward to faith; thus he says, you would see the glory of God: "If you do not believe, you will not understand," as we read in Isaiah (7:9), in an alternate version; and in 1 Corinthians it is said: "For now we see in a mirror dimly," by faith, "but then face to face."

Christ, as man, being inferior to the Father, prays to Him for Lazarus's resurrection; and declares that He is heard: And Jesus lifted up His eyes, and said, Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me.

They took, then, the stone there from the mouth of the tomb. The whole crowd marveled, witnessing the smell of pus of Lazarus, who was decayed. He had rotted so that they were not able to approach within the tomb because of the smell of his body and its decay. But into the midst came Jesus, the storehouse that is full of life, the mouth that is full of sweet odor, the tongue that frightens death, the Mighty One in his commands, the joy of those who are sorrowful, the rising of those who have fallen, the resurrection of the dead, the assembly of the strong, the hope of the hopeless.He came and stood openly by the mouth of the tomb, with the preparations of salvation in his divine mouth. Now all of the crowd were standing and beholding and wondering what he would do in starting to raise him from the dead. Now the body was lying dead, but God himself was standing over it, looking down on him and grieving for him.

"Then they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up His eyes, and said, Father, I thank Thee, that Thou hast heard me. And I knew that Thou hearest me always: but because of the people that stand by I said it, that they may believe that Thou hast sent me. And when He had thus spoken, He cried with a loud voice." He groaned, He wept, He cried with a loud voice. With what difficulty does one rise who lies crushed under the heavy burden of a habit of sinning! And yet he does rise: he is quickened by hidden grace within; and after that loud voice he riseth. For what followed? "He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And immediately he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with bandages; and his face was bound about with a napkin." Dost thou wonder how he came forth with his feet bound, and wonderest not at this, that after four days' interment he rose from the dead? In both events it was the power of the Lord that operated, and not the strength of the dead.

They therefore took away the stone, in which act a manifestation was already made that the Lord wished to raise him: therefore then they believed and merited to obtain: whence it is said to Mary in Luke 1: "Blessed are you who believed, because the things that were spoken to you by the Lord shall be fulfilled in you." But Jesus, lifting up his eyes, etc. Here the third point is touched upon, namely the power of being heard in Christ, which is intimated from his words, in which he shows that he was heard and is always heard and does not ask the Father out of powerlessness: on account of which he says: But Jesus, lifting up his eyes to heaven, said: Father, I give you thanks, because you have heard me: he gives thanks for the hearing, not because the Father heard him then and not at other times.

When He was about to restore Lazarus, He prayed to the Father: but what need had He of prayer, Who said, Father, "I thank Thee, that Thou hast heard Me; and I know that Thou hearest Me always, but because of the multitude I said it, that they may believe that Thou didst send Me"? He prayed then for us, that we may know Him to be the Son; the words of prayer availed Him nothing, but He said them for the advancement of our faith. He was not in want of help, but we of teaching.

"Then they took up the stone where the dead man lay. And Jesus lifted up His eyes, and said, Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me. And I knew that Thou hearest Me always, but because of the people that stand by I said it, that they might believe that Thou hast sent Me." Let us then ask the heretic, Did He receive an impulse from the prayer, and so raise the dead man? How then did He work other miracles without prayer? saying, "Thou evil spirit, I charge thee, come out of him"; and, "I will, be thou clean"; and, "Arise, take up thy bed"; and, "Thy sins be forgiven thee"; and to the sea, "Peace, be still." In short, what hath He more than the Apostles, if so be that He also worketh by prayer? Or rather I should say, that neither did they work all with prayer, but often they wrought without prayer, calling upon the Name of Jesus. Now, if His Name had such great power, how could He have needed prayer? Had He needed prayer, His Name would not have availed.

"I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me." Who now ever prayed in this manner? Before uttering any prayer, He saith, "I thank Thee," showing that He needed not prayer. "And I knew that Thou hearest Me always." This He said not as though He Himself were powerless, but to show that His will and the Father's is one. But why did He assume the form of prayer? Hear, not me, but Himself, saying, "For the sake of the people which stand by, that they may believe that Thou hast sent Me." He said not, "That they may believe that I am inferior, that I have need of an impulse from above, that without prayer I cannot do anything; but, "That Thou hast sent Me." For all these things the prayer declareth, if we take it simply. He said not, "Thou hast sent me weak, acknowledging servitude, and doing nothing of Myself"; but dismissing all these things, that thou mayest have no such suspicions, He putteth the real cause of the prayer, "That they may not deem Me an enemy of God; that they may not say, He is not of God, that I may show them that the work hath been done according to Thy will." All but saying, "Had I been an enemy of God, what is done would not have succeeded," but the, "Thou heardest Me," is said in the case of friends and equals. "And I knew that Thou hearest Me always," that is, "in order that My will be done I need no prayer, except to persuade men that to Thee and Me belongeth one will." "Why then prayest Thou?" For the sake of the weak and grosser sort.

We must carefully observe and examine what has been written concerning the position of Jesus' eyes.… He had changed his thought from his conversation with those below and lifted it up and exalted it, bringing it in prayer to the Father who is over all.… The one who imitates Christ's prayer, lifting up the eyes of his soul and bringing them up in this way from everyday concerns, memories, thoughts and intention must in this way address to God the great and heavenly words of prayer concerning great and heavenly matters.… If indeed God makes such a promise for those who pray in a worthy manner … that "while you are still speaking, I will say, 'Here I am,' " what answer do we think our Savior and Lord would receive?

(tom. xxviii.) He lifted up His eyes; mystically, He lifted up the human mind by prayer to the Father above. We should pray after Christ's pattern, Lift up the eyes of our heart, and raise them above present things in memory, in thought, in intention. If to them who pray worthily after this fashion is given the promise in Isaiah, Thou shalt cry, and He shall say, Here I am; (Isa. 58:9) what answer, think we, our Lord and Saviour would receive? He was about to pray for the resurrection of Lazarus. He was heard by the Father before He prayed; His request was granted before mad. And therefore He begins with giving thanks; I thank Thee, Father, that Thou hast heard Me.

And in this respect also they are to be compared to Christ God, who in some cases wrought things like a Being of power, and in others He [first] entreated and afterwards worked. He did not raise Lazarus until He had prayed; He did not bless the bread and distribute it to the multitudes until He had looked up to heaven; and He did not give the command for the ears of the deaf man to be opened until He had spit, and laid His fingers upon his ears, and looked up to heaven. For in this manner Jesus also wrought marvellous things, so that He might also bring Himself down to those whom, by His grace, He called, His "brethren"; and that it might not be grievous unto them that they were not answered until they had prayed He humbled Himself and prayed, and was afterwards answered. For the Lord took upon Himself equality with His servants in order that that which is written might be fulfilled, "In everything it was meet that He should be like unto His brethren."

Again, when Martha in a later passage acknowledged Him to be the Son of God, she no more made a mistake than Peter and Nathanµl had; and yet, even if she had made a mistake, she would at once have learnt the truth: for, behold, when about to raise her brother from the dead, the Lord looked up to heaven, and, addressing the Father, said-as the Son, of course: "Father, I thank Thee that Thou always hearest me; it is because of these crowds that are standing by that I have spoken to Thee, that they may believe that Thou hast sent me." But in the trouble of His soul, (on a later occasion, ) He said: "What shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause is it that I am come to this hour; only, O Father, do Thou glorify Thy name" -in which He spake as the Son.

His "Father" He Himself adores. When acknowledged by Peter as the "Christ (the Son) of God," He does not deny the relation.

In like manner, when they shed tears over you, it is Christ who suffers, Christ who prays the Father for mercy. What a son asks is ever easily obtained.

Why does the Lord pray, or rather, assume the appearance of prayer? Listen to what He Himself says: "For the sake of the people standing here I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me, that is, so that they would not consider Me an opponent of God, so that they would not say that I am not from God, to prove to them that this deed was accomplished by Me according to Your will."

And that He appears to be praying for this reason specifically, and not for any other — that is, for the sake of those standing by — pay attention to the prayer itself. "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me." It is clear that this is not a prayer, but only the posture and appearance of prayer. And that He has no need of prayer is evident from the fact that He accomplished many other things without prayer. For example: "I say to you, demon, come out of him" (Luke 4:35); again, "I will, be cleansed" (Matt. 8:3); again, "your sins are forgiven" (Matt. 9:2), and this is the most important of all; and to the sea: "Peace, be still" (Mark 4:39). Therefore, so that those present would believe that He is from heaven and not an adversary of God, the Lord prays. For if, despite such works of His, despite every kind of proof of His unity of mind with the Father, they said that He was not from God, what would they not have said if He had done nothing of the sort?

1549 Next, the Evangelist mentions that the command was carried out, saying, So they took away the stone. We may consider here, according to Origen, that the delay in removing the stone was caused by the sister of the deceased. Consequently, the raising of her brother was delayed as long as she detained Christ with her talk; but as soon as the command of Christ was obediently carried out, her brother was raised. And we can learn from this not to interpose anything between the commands of Christ and their execution if we desire the effect of salvation to follow at once: "As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me" (Ps 18:44).

1550 Then he considers the prayer of Christ, in which he gives thanks. The Evangelist mentions four things in this regard. First, he mentions his way of praying; secondly, the efficacy of his prayer; thirdly, he excludes Christ's need to pray; and fourthly he mentions the usefulness of his prayer.

1551 Christ's way of praying is appropriate, because Jesus lifted up his eyes, that is, he lifted up his understanding, directing it in prayer to the Father above. As for us, if we wish to pray according to the example of Christ's prayer, we have to raise the eyes of our mind to him by turning them from the memories, thoughts and desires of present things. We also lift our eyes to God when we do not rely on our own merits, but hope in his mercy alone: "To thee I lift up my eyes, O thou who art enthroned in the heavens! Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he have mercy upon us" (Ps 123:1); and "Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven" (Lam 3:41).

1552 He mentions the efficacy of this prayer when he says, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. Here we have a sign that God is quick to give, as we read: "Lord, thou wilt hear the desire of the meek" (Ps 10:17), so that he hears our desires even before they are put into words: "He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when he hears it, he will answer you" (Is 30:19); and again in the same book: "While they are yet speaking I will hear" (65:24). Therefore, with much more reason we can think that God the Father, anticipating the prayer of our Lord, the Savior, would have heard him: for the tears which Christ shed at the death of Lazarus acted as a prayer.

By giving thanks at the beginning of his prayer, Christ gives us the example that when we pray, we should thank God for the benefits we have already received before asking for new ones: "Give thanks in all circumstances" (1 Thess 5:18).

1553 If the phrase, that thou hast heard me, is interpreted as applying to Christ insofar as he is human, there is no difficulty: for as having a human nature Christ is less than the Father and, accordingly, it is appropriate for him to pray to the Father and be heard by him. But if, as Chrysostom wants, it is applied to Christ as God, then there is a problem: for as God, it is not fitting that he pray or be heard, but rather that he hear the prayers of others. Consequently, it should be said that one is heard when his will is fulfilled. Now the will of the Father is always fulfilled, because "He does whatever he pleases" (Ps 115:3). Therefore, since the will of the Father is the same as the will of the Son, whenever the Father fulfills his own will, he fulfills the will of the Son. Thus, the Son says, as Word, that thou hast heard me, i.e., that you have done those things which were in your Word to be done. For he spoke and they were done.

But I knew that you always hear me: Hebrews 5: "Offering prayers and supplications to God with tears and a loud cry, he was heard because of his reverence." Therefore I did not ask or give thanks as one in need; but on account of the people standing around, I said it, that they may believe that you sent me: and I in my works am not contrary to you, but in all things concordant: above in chapter eight: "As the Father has taught me, so I speak; and he who sent me is with me and has not left me alone, because I always do the things that are pleasing to him." And thus he gave thanks and prayed, not on account of powerlessness, but to intimate his concord with God, concerning which above in chapter five: "The Son can do nothing of himself, except what he has seen the Father doing; for whatever things he does, these the Son likewise does."

Question. Likewise it is asked concerning this, that he prayed: because he prayed insofar as he was man; and insofar as he prayed, he raised: therefore insofar as he was man he raised: therefore his manner of raising does not differ from the manner of Peter. I respond: As is clear in the text, he neither prayed nor gave thanks in order to receive the power of raising, as others did, nor in order to make himself believed to be less than the Father; because, as Chrysostom says, this was not necessary; but in order to show himself in conformity with God and his power not discordant from the Father. Therefore what he objects—that he raised insofar as he prayed—is false: because he raised insofar as he was God, and prayed insofar as he was man.

Of course it is agreeably to His self-humiliation as a Man that the Christ thus speaks in a lowly manner, not according to the excellency of the Godhead: and He offers His thanks to the Father not on account of Lazarus only, but for the life of all men. For being good, He is of one mind with the Father in bringing back to life the nature of man which had fallen into liability to corruption through its disobedience; and there is no distinction between His goodness and that of the Father. And just as we ourselves even are persuaded by our own reasonings to leave undone what we had intended to do, so also the Lord, being the Word and Counsel of the Father, has made the Father friendly to us. And of course we do not say that what is Divine indulges in anger, but that [God], being just and good, knows when it is the proper time to rebuke, and when it is the proper time to relax. However, the Lord gives thanks, and this He does as a Pattern for us, honouring the Father. But when an equal gives thanks to an equal, he by no means does this as a mark of inferiority of essence. And on this account [Jesus] notifies that because of the multitude He spake thus, all but saying: "I have simulated the outward appearance of prayer, and I gave thanks, in conformity with My assumed condition." For I knew that Thou hearest Me always. For the one Nature of the Godhead is not disobedient to itself, since the Mind of the Trinity, Father, Son, and Spirit, is One. Knowing therefore, He says, that Our purpose is one and Our will one, because of the multitude I spake thus. And the Christ thus speaks because of the Jews, giving thanks to the Father as if effecting by Him His God-befitting deeds, that they might no more say it was by Beelzebub He did signs. And He also explains His conduct with regard to the outward appearance of prayer, that we may not be caused to stumble, saying: because of the multitude I did this. Moreover, He says: Thou didst send Me, because of the suspicions of the Jews: for I came not of Myself, as do the false prophets; but with Thy approbation and good will I emptied Myself, taking the form of a servant, that I might restore the life to all. The manner of the prayer therefore was in agreement with His assumed condition and suitable to His outward appearance in the flesh, not to the excellency and incomparable splendour of the Godhead. For to ask and to receive would be actions altogether befitting a servant rather than a lord, and are usual with such as are under dominion. Nevertheless, Christ does even these things without blame; for having accepted for Himself the condition of a Man, how could He any longer decline the characteristics of humanity?

For the Son is in every respect perfect in Himself, and in no way does He lack any single excellence. For He is begotten of the Essence of God the Father, and is full of power and of God-befitting glory. Everything is under His feet and there is nothing which His power cannot effect. For, according to the voice of the saint, He can do everything. Yet, although it is true that everything is in His possession, He asks, it is said, from the Father, and receives the heathen and the uttermost parts of the earth as a glorious inheritance. But it is necessary that we should ask how He receives or when: for this is in truth fitting and necessary, I mean, that we should in such matters ask about the times, and investigate the occasions, and make a diligent inquiry as to their significations. When, therefore, He became Man; when He emptied Himself, as it is written; when He humbled Himself to the form of those to whom it is befitting that they should ask; then it was that He both did and spake those things that are befitting to men, and we are told that they were made perfect concerning Him from the Father. For where did He exhibit the outward appearance of humility, or how did that self-emptying show itself victoriously, except that contrary to His Majesty He endured something willingly, when for our sake He emptied Himself? For in the same way that He was weary from the fatigue of the journey, although He is the Lord of Powers; and as He was in need of food, although He is the Bread which came down from heaven, and giveth life to the world; and as He endured death in the flesh, although it is He in Whom we move and have our being; so it is said that He asked, although He is the Lord of all. That when the Only-Begotten became Man, He was not then at first called to His kingdom, we might easily show. But to dispute much about this would be not far removed from folly. Therefore we maintain that what thou hast spoken of was done rather for the same reason. Thinkest thou that the Lord prayed for Lazarus, and thus obtained for him life? But thou wilt not continue to think this at all, when thou art reminded of the words that remain. For He not only said: Father, I thank Thee that Thou heardest Me; but He added further: Because of the multitude which standeth around I said it, that they may believe that Thou didst send Me. And thou seest here the occasion of the prayer clearly. For because the Jews were wicked and bold, so that they made an accusation when the Lord was working miracles, and said that by Beelzebub He performed those God-befitting deeds; therefore He justly refuted the thought that was in them, and showed that He performed everything together with the Father as God, and did not (like those men the false prophets) come of His own will. Moreover, as regards His choosing to speak words which seemed not right for God, He said: Because of the multitude which standeth around I said it, that they may believe that Thou didst send Me. Had it not therefore been meet to correct the notion of those standing around, in order that it might be understood that the miracle, which He received for Lazarus' sake, was from above, and from the Father, He would not have said at all these words: Father, I thank Thee that Thou heardest Me. For He was both the Will and the Word, and the Counsel of the Father as regards all excellencies. What counsel did He ask, or what will, or what word, of Him Who begat Him, that He might receive some works,----when He had the Father in Him by Nature, and He was in the Father, because He was of His Essence? How as one far removed did He ask of the Father, or how was He not able to expel from a corpse sad death, Who even at the beginning formed man out of inanimate matter, and exhibited him animated and rational? We will accept therefore the explanation which does not err in the faith, not of those men who speak foolishly, but of the Scripture |130 spoken by the Spirit, in which there is nothing crooked or perverse.

When he was about to restore Lazarus, he prayed to the Father. But he did not need to pray.… "But for the benefit of the people standing nearby I said it, that they may believe that you have sent me." He prayed then for us so that we might know that he is the Son. His prayer did not benefit himself but benefited our faith. He did not need any help, but we needed instruction.

(lib. x. de Trin.) He did not therefore need to pray: He prayed for our sakes, that we might know Him to be the Son: But because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that Thou hast sent Me. His prayer did not benefit Himself, but benefited our faith. He did not want help, but we want instruction.

Because they considered it a blasphemy that he called God his Father, he used the tomb as a court of justice and set the truth as judge, while the surrounding unthankful multitude formed the witnesses, so that those who had said "You blaspheme by naming yourself in your own sense Son of God and him as your Father" were to see with their own eyes and hear with their own ears, while he as good as said to them, "I appeal to him here before you. If he is displeased because I call him Father, and it is a blasphemy as you think, he will not hear me. But if he hears me, it is certainly clear that he is actually my Father.… If I call the dead and he obeys my command and arises, it is not the work of a blasphemer but the command of God and of the Son of God." That this is the meaning of the prayer and that it did not spring from any deficiency on his part is shown by his words.

He was crucified in reality, and not in appearance, not in imagination, not in deceit. He really died, and was buried, and rose from the dead, even as He prayed in a certain place, saying, "But do Thou, O Lord, raise me up again, and I shall recompense them." And the Father, who always hears Him, answered and said, "Arise, O God, and judge the earth; for Thou shall receive all the heathen for Thine inheritance." The Father, therefore, who raised Him up, will also raise us up through Him, apart from whom no one will attain to true life. For says He, "I am the life; he that believeth in me, even though he die, shall live: and every one that liveth and believeth in me, even though he die, shall live for ever." Do ye therefore flee from these ungodly heresies; for they are the inventions of the devil, that serpent who was the author of evil, and who by means of the woman deceived Adam, the father of our race.

He was about to pray for the resurrection of Lazarus when the only good God and Father anticipated his prayer and heard the words about to be spoken in his prayer. So the Savior begins by giving thanks in place of prayer in the hearing of the crowd.

"I knew that you hear me always," which is reported by John as said by the Lord, makes clear that those who pray are always heard.

When Christ began to strike the doors of the underworld, to break through the gates of Tartarus, to open the entrance of death, to dissolve the old law of Gehenna, to do away with the age-old right to punish and to demand the return of Lazarus's soul, the power of Tartarus with all its fury confronted him, brandishing the edict of the Ruler of heaven, bearing the decree of the King most high, presenting the sentence rendered by the mouth of God and in effect for so many years. And on seeing the man, [Tartarus] asked who [Christ] was, what his intentions were, what his purpose was and why all by himself he was fearlessly challenging and attacking the fearsome entrance to death.As he asked who he was, the angels serving as ministers of the resurrection answered him in the words of the prophet: "He is the King of glory," he is "the One who is strong and mighty in battle." But Tartarus responded, "I know that the King of glory is in charge in heaven of all the celestial powers, and the whole of creation is unable to bear his will. However, this one that I see is one of the earthlings, made out of mud, enclosed in a mortal body, and in his human condition viler than human beings, and, in short, soon to be handed over to the grave and very shortly destined to come under my jurisdiction." But the angels persisted and kept repeating, "He is 'the Lord of hosts, he is the king of glory,' he is the Ruler of heaven, the Creator of the earth, the Savior of the world, the Redeemer of all, he is the one who rendered the death sentence that has you in a fury, he is about to tread on your head, crush your authority and issue his own judgment of condemnation on you, who, although ordered to seize the guilty, drag away the innocent, abduct the saints and now threaten the Son of God himself. So give back one before you are forced to release all."

But Tartarus, still not believing the report he received from the customary messengers, and deploring the situation, with a complaint full of envy makes this appeal to heaven: "O Lord, even though I am the lowest of your creatures, even though I am subjected to grim servitude, I am unfailing in keeping your precepts. I am ever vigilant so that no rash innovator alter the age-old authority of your sentence. But a man has appeared, who is called Christ, bragging that he is your Son, and he reprimands your priests, he rebukes your scribes, he violates your sabbath, he abolishes your law, and he compels souls, released from the flesh and assigned now to my custody for punishment, to return to the bodies in which they had lived wickedly."And his audacity, which is growing stronger day by day, has reached the point that he has broken the barriers of the underworld and is attempting to rescue Lazarus, already locked in our prison, already bound by our law and already subject to our authority. Either quickly come to the aid, or, once he opens the doors, you are now going to lose all those whom we have kept in custody for so long a time." To this the Son from the bosom of his Father responds, "Father, it is just that a prison holds not the innocent but the guilty. That punishment torments the unrighteous, not the righteous. For how long for the offense of one man, on account of Adam's guilt alone, will this executioner continue to drag down to himself with his cruel violence patriarchs, prophets, martyrs, confessors, virgins, widows, those abiding in the chastity of marriage, people of all ages and of both sexes, even little children who do not know good or evil? Father, I shall die so that all may not die. Father, I shall pay Adam's debt so that through me those who die through Adam for the underworld may live for you. Father, because of your sentence I shall shed my blood. That is how important it is to me that your creation should return to you. May the price of my blood so dear to you be the redemption of all the dead." To this the whole Trinity agreed and ordered Lazarus to leave, and Tartarus was commanded to obey Christ in giving back all the dead. This is why the Son proclaims, "Father, I thank you for having heard me." The apostle bears witness that Christ is our advocate in the presence of the Father. And so, when he is seated he judges together with the Father. When he stands, he functions in the capacity of advocate.

1554 Christ's need to pray is excluded when he says, I knew that thou hearest me always. Here our Lord vaguely shows his own divinity. As if to say: In order that my will be done I do not need prayer, because from eternity my will has been fulfilled: "In all things he was heard for his reverence" (Heb 5:7). I knew with certitude that thou hearest me, the Word, always: because whatever you do, these things are in me to be done.

1555 Again, thou hearest me in my human nature always, because my will is always conformed to your will. But I have said this on account of the people standing by, that they may believe that thou didst send me. We understand from this that our Lord did and said many things for the benefit of others: "For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you" (13:15). For every action of Christ is a lesson for us. In particular, Christ wanted to show by his prayer that he was not separated from the Father, but recognized him as his principle. And so he added, that they may believe that thou didst send me: "And this is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent" (17:3); "God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law" (Gal 4:4). And this is the benefit coming from his prayer.

Lazarus, Come out! It is the voice of the Lord, the proclamation of the king—an authoritative command. Come out! Leave corruption behind and receive the flesh of incorruption. Lazarus, Come out! Let them know that the time has come when those in the tombs will hear the voice of the Son of man. Once they have heard they will come alive. Come out! The stumbling block is taken away. Come to me—I am calling you. Come out! As a friend, I am calling you; as Lord I am commanding you.… Come out Covered with the burial cloth so that they won't think you were only pretending to be dead. Let them see your hands and feet bound and your face covered. Let them see if they still do not believe the miracle. Come out! Let the stench of your body prove the resurrection. Let the burial linen be undone so that they can recognize the one who was put in the tomb. Come out! Come alive and enliven! Come out of the tomb. Teach them how all creation will be enlivened in a moment when the trumpet's voice proclaims the resurrection of the dead. Come out! Let breath appear in your nostrils, let blood pulse through your veins, let the voice sound in your larynx, let words fill your ears, let vision enlighten your eyes, let the sense of smell fill your senses, walk as nature intended as your earthly tent is enlivened by your soul. Come out! Leave behind the burial cloth and glorify the miracle. Leave the revolting stench of death and proclaim the strength of my power. I'm calling you out! Come out. I, who said, "Let there be light, let there be firmament."

The one whom he loved and who was his friend he calls by name so that [Lazarus] serves as a sign of the resurrection of all those who are called friends by the Lord whom the apostle says have died in the Lord.

"Come forth." See, I am standing by you. I am your Lord. You are the work of my hands. Why have you not known me, because in the beginning I myself formed Adam from the earth and gave him breath? Open your mouth yourself so that I may give you breath. Stand on your feet and receive strength for yourself. For I am the strength of the whole creation. Stretch out your hands, and I shall give them strength. For I am the straight staff. I command the foul odor to depart from you. For I am the sweet odor of the trees of paradise. Behold, the prophecy of Isaiah the prophet will be fulfilled in you, namely, "I shall open your tombs, and I shall bring you forth."

(de Verb. Dom. Serm. lii) Christ went to the grave in which Lazarus slept, as if He were not dead, but alive and able to hear, for He forthwith called him out of his grave: And when He had thus spoken, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. He calls him by name, that He may not bring out all the dead.

(lib. lxxxiii. Quæst. q. 65) Although according to the Gospel history, we hold that Lazarus was really raised to life, yet I doubt not that his resurrection is an allegory as well. We do not, because we allegorize facts, lose our belief in them as facts.

(Tr. super Joan. xlix. 3) Every one that sinneth, dies; but God, of His great mercy, raises the soul to life again, and does not suffer it to die eternally. The three miraculous resurrections in the Gospels, I understand to testify the resurrection of the soul.

(Tr. xlix. 3) Or, it is death within; when the evil thought has not come out into action. But if thou actually do the evil thing, thou hast as it were carried the dead outside the gate.

(lib. lxxxiii. Quæst. q. 65) That Lazarus came forth from the grave, signifies the soul's deliverance from carnal sins. That he came bound up in grave clothes means, that even we who are delivered from carnal things, and serve with the mind the law of God, yet cannot, so long as we are in the body, be free from the besetments of the flesh. That his face was bound about with a napkin means, that we do not attain to full knowledge in this life. And when our Lord says, Loose him, and let him go, we learn that in another world all veils will be removed, and that we shall see face to face.

(Tr. xlix) Or thus: When thou despisest, thou liest dead; when thou confessest, thou comest forth. For what is to come forth, but to go out, as it were, of thy hiding place, and show thyself? But thou canst not make this confession, except God move thee to it, by crying with a loud voice, i. e. calling thee with great grace. But even after the dead man has come forth, he remains bound for some time, i. e. is as yet only a penitent. Then our Lord says to His ministers, Loose him, and let him go, i. e. remit his sins: Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (Matt. 18:18)

When he had said these things, etc. The preambles to the wondrous raising of Lazarus have been set forth; here are set forth the concomitants and consequences. First is set forth the powerful calling of Lazarus himself. The authoritative calling of Lazarus is indicated in this, that he cried out with a loud voice: Lazarus, come forth: he speaks imperiously: Come, and cries out with a loud voice, because at his voice the general resurrection will take place, according to what was foretold above in the fifth chapter: "The hour comes, in which all who are in the tombs shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who have done good shall come forth to the resurrection of life, but those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment."

I never even raised the question whether such a return, if it were possible, would be good for her. I want her back as an ingredient in the restoration of _my_ past. Could I have wished her anything worse? Having got once through death, to come back and then, at some later date, have all her dying to do over again? They call Stephen the first martyr. Hadn't Lazarus the rawer deal?

And to the dead He said, "Lazarus, go forth;" and the dead man issued from his coffin such as he was ere he died, having undergone resurrection.

O the marvel! the ill-smelling corpse, even after the fourth day from death, He brought forth out of the tomb; and him that was fettered fast and bound hand and foot, He commanded to walk! And immediately, the dead man started up, and the corpse began to run, being delivered from its corruption and losing its bad smell, and escaping through the gates of death, and without any hindrance to running being caused by the bonds. And although deprived of sight by the covering which was over his face, the dead man runs without any hindrance towards Him Who had called him, and recognises the masterful voice. For Christ's language was God-befitting and His command was kingly, having power to loose from death, and to bring back from corruption, and to exhibit energy beyond expression. The use of a piercing cry, however, was altogether strange and unwonted in the Saviour Christ. For instance, God the Father somewhere says concerning Him: He shall not strive nor cry aloud, and so on. For the works of the true Godhead are without noise or tumult of any kind; and this was the case with Christ, for He is in His Nature God of God and Very God. So then what do we say when we see that He cried aloud in an unusual manner? For surely no one will degrade himself to such a depth of folly as to say that Christ ever went beyond what was fitting or indeed ever erred from absolute perfection. How then is it to be explained? Certainly the cry has a reason and a purport, which we feel it necessary to state. It was for the good of the hearers. Christ wrought the miracle upon Lazarus as a sort of type of the general resurrection of the dead, and that which was fulfilled in the case of an individual He set forth as a beautiful image of what will be universal and common to the whole race. For it is part of our belief that the Lord will come, and we hold that there will be a cry made by the sound of a trumpet, according to the language of Paul, proclaiming the resurrection to those that lie in the earth, although it is manifest that the deed will be effected by the unspeakable power of the Almighty God.

For on this account also the Law given by Moses, when laying down directions concerning the feast of Tabernacles, says: Celebrate it as a memorial of trumpets. For when human bodies are about to be set up again, as tabernacles, and every man's soul is about to take to itself its own bodily habitation in a way as yet unknown, the masterful command will be previously proclaimed, and the signal of the resurrection will sound forth, even the trump of God, as it is said. As a type therefore of this, in the case of Lazarus Christ uttered a great and audible cry, not much heeding His usual habit, that He might exhibit the type of what is to be expected hereafter.

Here we have a man past the prime of life, a corpse, decaying, swollen, in fact, already in a state of dissolution, so that even his own relatives did not want the Lord to draw near the tomb because the decayed body enclosed there was so offensive. And yet, he is brought into life by a single call, confirming the proclamation of the resurrection, that is to say, that expectation of it as universal that we learn by a particular experience to entertain. For as in the regeneration of the universe the apostle tells us that "the Lord himself will descend with a shout, with the voice of the archangel," and by a trumpet sound raise up the dead to incorruption—so now too he who is in the tomb, at the voice of command, shakes off death as if it were only sleep. He rids himself of the corruption that had come on his condition of a corpse, leaps forth from the tomb whole and sound, not even hindered as he leaves by the bonds of the grave cloths round his feet and hands.

This is well signified by that resurrection of the man dead four days, which demonstrates that the Lord first called and gave life to the dead man, saying: "Lazarus, come forth"; and afterward he who had come forth alive was loosed by the disciples, as it is written: "And when he who had been bound with wrappings had come forth, then he said to the disciples: Loose him, and let him go." Behold, the disciples loose him now living, whom the Master had raised from the dead. For if the disciples had loosed Lazarus while dead, they would have shown forth a stench rather than power. From this consideration it must be observed that we ought to loose through pastoral authority those whom we recognize our Author vivifies through resurrecting grace. This vivification, indeed, before the work of righteousness is already recognized in the very confession of sin. Hence to this same dead Lazarus it is by no means said "Come back to life," but "Come forth." For every sinner, while he hides his fault within his conscience, lies hidden within, is concealed in his own inner chambers. But the dead man comes forth when the sinner voluntarily confesses his iniquities. Therefore it is said to Lazarus, "Come forth." As if it were openly said to anyone dead in fault: Why do you hide your guilt within your conscience? Come forth now through confession, you who lie hidden within yourself through denial. Let the dead man therefore come forth, that is, let the sinner confess his fault. And let the disciples loose him as he comes forth, so that the pastors of the Church may remove the punishment from him who deserved it, since he was not ashamed to confess what he did.

(iv. Moral. c. xxix.) The maiden is restored to life in the house, the young man outside the gate, Lazarus in his grave. She that lies dead in the house, is the sinner lying in sin: he that is carried out by the gate is the openly and notoriously wicked.

(v. Moral.) And one there is who lies dead in his grave, with a load of earth upon him; i. e. who is weighed down by habits of sin. But the Divine grace has regard even unto such, and enlightens them.

(xxii. Moral.) Lazarus is bid to come forth, i. e. to come forth and condemn himself with his own mouth, without excuse or reservation: that so he that lies buried in a guilty conscience, may come forth out of himself by confession.

The voice longed for Lazarus, its call freeing up the wings of the prisoner so that he rises up from the earth.

O power of the voice, arousing the four days' dead as from sleep and bringing forth from the grave as well loosed and swiftly running the one who was bound with grave bands. Give your attention, beloved, to the voice, and you will find him to be the Word that spoke at the creation.… "Lazarus, come forth," and the dead arose, and he who had reached the fourth day was equal to one who had not died at all. "Lazarus, come forth," and the soul was drawn up from the realms below … and joyfully recognized its own dwelling.

"And when He had thus spoken, He cried with a loud voice." Why said He not, "In the name of My Father come forth"? Or why said He not, "Father, raise him up"? Why did he omit all these expressions, and after assuming the attitude of one praying, show by His actions His independent authority? Because this also was a part of His wisdom, to show condescension by words, but by His deeds, power. For since they had nothing else to charge Him with except that He was not of God, and since in this way they deceived many, He on this account most abundantly proveth this very point by what He saith, and in the way that their infirmity required. For it was in His power by other means to show at once His agreement with the Father and His own dignity, but the multitude could not ascend so far. And He saith, "Lazarus, come forth."

This is that of which He spake, "The hour is coming, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live." For, that thou mightest not think that He received the power of working from another, He taught thee this before, and gave proof by deeds, and said not, Arise, but, "Come forth," conversing with the dead man as though living. What can be equal to this authority? And if He doth it not by His own strength, what shall He have more than the Apostles, who say, "Why look ye so earnestly on us as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?" For if, not working by His own power, He did not add what the Apostles said concerning themselves, they will in a manner be more truly wise than He, because they refused the glory. And in another place, "Why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions as you." The Apostles since they did nothing of themselves, spoke in this way to persuade men of this; but He when the like opinion was formed concerning Him, would He not have removed the suspicion, if at least He did not act by His own authority? Who would assert this?

(t. xxviii.) His cry and loud voice it was which awoke him, as Christ had said, I go to awake him. The resurrection of Lazarus is the work of the Father also, in that He heard the prayer of the Son. It is the joint work of Father and Son, one praying, the other hearing; for as the Father raiseth up the dead and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom He will. (5:21)

The Lord, having given thanks to the Father rather than having made a request (for, as has been said, He had no need of prayer or help from it, because He is equal in power with the Father), cried out with a loud voice, one of sovereign authority and dominion. For He did not say "in the name of My Father, Lazarus, come forth"; nor did He say "Father, raise him up"; but, as has been said, with sovereign authority, stopping the mouths of all who say that He is less than the Father. For what could be found equal to such authority, that He speaks to the dead man as to a living one: "Lazarus, come forth"?

And now the words were fulfilled in deed: "The hour is coming when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live" (John 5:25). Lest anyone think that Christ received such power from another, He foretells in advance what He was about to prove by the very deed itself.

The loud voice of the Savior, which raised Lazarus, serves as an image of the great trumpet that will sound at the general resurrection (1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Thess. 4:16). The Lord called out loudly in order to stop the mouths of the Greeks, who foolishly claim that the soul remains in the tomb (together with the body), for He calls it loudly, as though it were far away. Just as this particular resurrection was, so too the general resurrection will be "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye" (1 Cor. 15:52).

The voice which roused Lazarus, is the symbol of that trumpet which will sound at the general resurrection. (He spoke loud, to contradict the Gentile fable, that the soul remained in the tomb. The soul of Lazarus is called to as if it were absent, and a loud voice were necessary to summon it.) And as the general resurrection is to take place in the twinkling of an eye, so did this single one: And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was bound about with a napkin. Now is accomplished what was said above, The hour is coming, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. (5:25)

1556 Now the Evangelist considers the raising of Lazarus; and he does three things. First, he mentions the voice of the one awakening him; secondly, the effect of his voice (v 44); and thirdly, the command to unbind the one awakened.

1557 The voice of the one awakening Lazarus is described as loud: When he had said this, that is, Jesus, he cried with a loud voice. As for the literal sense, this was done to refute the error of certain Jews and of the Gentiles that the souls of the dead lingered in the tombs with their bodies. So, he cried with a loud voice, as though summoning from afar the soul which was not present in the tomb.

Or, and this is a better explanation, it might be said that Christ's voice is described as loud because of its great power: for its power was so great that it raised Lazarus who had been dead four days, just as one asleep is roused from sleep: "He gave power to his voice" (Ps 67:34). Further, this loud voice represents that loud voice which will sound at the general resurrection and by which all will be roused from their graves: "At midnight there was a cry" (Matt 25:6).

He cried out, I say, saying, Lazarus, come out. He called him by his own name because such was the power of his voice that all the dead without distinction would have been awakened if he had not limited it to one by mentioning his name, as Augustine says when speaking of the Word of the Lord. Again, we understand from this that Christ calls sinners to come out from living in sin: "Come out of her, my people" (Rev 18:4). We are also called to let our sins come out of concealment by revealing them in confession: "If I have concealed my transgressions from men" (Job 31:33).

Christ awakes, because His power it is which quickens us inwardly: the disciples loose, because by the ministry of the priesthood, they who are quickened are absolved.

So someone says, "What's the use of the church, if you can confess, and be brought back to life by the voice of the Lord and come out immediately?" "What use is the church to you as you confess—the church to which the Lord said, 'What you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven?' " Look at Lazarus's case. He came out, all tied up. He was already alive, by confessing, but he was not yet walking around freely, being still entangled with the bandages. So what does the church do, told as it has been, "Whatever you loose shall be loosed"? The church does what the Lord went on at once to tell the disciples, of course: "Unbind him and let him go."

Lazarus appeared, resembling an impromptu trophy over death. He appeared without having left to Hades any of the burial wrappings. For, bound [in these], he came forth. His feet did not bear him, rather, grace provided him with wings. Lazarus appeared, having left Hades behind mourning. As he put an end to the grief of [his] brothers, he cast death into affliction.Seeing his kingdom destroyed and unable to prevent this, [death] lamented, crying, "What is this change in my affairs, what is this miraculous alliance of nature? The dead are returning to life, and the tombs have become wombs of the living. Alas, for these misfortunes! Even the tombs are faithless to me with regard to the dead, and the dead, although putrefying, are leaping out. They are all dancing in their swathing bands, mocking my laugh. Still mourned, they are going up toward those that mourn them. By showing themselves, they undo the tragedy, leaving me an heir to grief. Who is it who teaches the dead to challenge death? Who is it who is enlisting the deceased against death? Who is the One whose voice the prisons underground cannot support? Who is the One before whom the tombs tremble? He merely speaks, and I am not able to hold on to those whom I have in my power. Oh, in vain was I entrusted with a kingdom! Oh, in vain was I confident in an angry God!

And immediately he came forth. Here the second point is touched upon, namely the raising of Lazarus at the Lord's command: on account of which he says: And immediately he who had been dead came forth; in which is noted the obedience of the creature to the Creator; Mark 4: "Who, do you think, is this, that the wind and the sea obey him?" Origen: "While all things obey the Creator, the rational creature alone is found disobedient." Nor did the bonds hinder him; whence he says: Bound hand and foot with wrappings. Bound: this is a synecdochical construction: with wrappings, that is, with bandages in which the hands and feet were wrapped; and his face was bound with a cloth; and therefore he came forth not by his own movement, but by divine power. Christ used this power in his death; Matthew 27: "The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep arose." Jesus said to them: Unbind him. Here the third point is touched upon, namely the loosing of the one who was bound. In the literal sense, he is unbound by the ministers because the Lord, although he could do everything himself, nevertheless wills to communicate his power to others. Bede: "He who could raise the dead could have loosed the bandages; but on account of unity and undivided charity, he says to the ministers: Unbind him and let him go." Chrysostom: "He did not wish to lead the resurrected man with him, so that he might teach us to avoid the pomp of the world."

Morally, four things are to be noted in the raising of Lazarus: first, that the Lord asks where he is; second, he commands the stone to be removed; third, he causes him to come forth; fourth, he sets him before the disciples to be unbound.

First, therefore, the Lord asks where the sinner is when he shows him the vileness of his sin. Thus the Lord was asking of Adam in Genesis 3: "Adam, where are you?" And Jeremiah 3: "Lift up your eyes to the heights and see where you have not been made to lie down."

Second, he commands the stone to be removed, when he causes a person to cease from the habit of sin, which like a heavy stone drags downward. Therefore the penitent soul said in the Psalm: "My iniquities have gone over my head, and like a heavy burden they have weighed upon me." Augustine: "How difficult it is for him to rise whom the mass of evil habit weighs down!" Lamentations 3: "My life has fallen into the pit," that is, into the death of sin, "and they have placed a stone over me," that is, a burial. Whence it should be noted that the Lord raised one who was dead in the house, Matthew 9, that is, a sinner dead in sins through consent; outside the house, that is, through evil deed; in the tomb, through evil habit, as here.

Third, he commands him to come forth, when he causes him to confess his own iniquity. To come forth is to come from what is hidden into the open; whence Proverbs 28: He who "hides his crimes shall not prosper; but he who confesses and forsakes them shall obtain mercy." Augustine: "When you despise, you lie dead; if you greatly despise, you lie in the tomb; when you confess, you come forth."

Fourth, he entrusts the loosing to the disciples, because then comes the priestly power, which has no place before confession. But the Lord commands that they show themselves to the priests for loosing: in Luke 17, concerning the cleansed lepers, it was said to them: "Go, show yourselves to the priests"; and the Lord gave them this office, below in chapter 20: "Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained."

And it should be noted that Lazarus, having been raised, came forth bound with a threefold bond, because a threefold difficulty remains in a person after the remission of sin. For the bound face signifies difficulty in knowing, the binding of the feet signifies difficulty in willing rightly, the binding of the hands in doing good. Concerning these, Matthew 22: "Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the outer darkness." But he is loosed from these bonds when through the enjoined satisfaction he is loosed from this threefold bond and restored to his former state. Samson sought this state, Judges 16: "Remember me, O God, for good, and restore to me now my former strength."

For their good therefore He bade them with their own hands to loose him, that they might have no opportunity of misrepresenting what had been done, but might be witnesses of the miracle. And this too is representative of the general resurrection, when, being loosed from sin and the corruption of death, every one will be set free. For, falling into sin, we have wrapped the shame of it like a veil about the face of our soul, and are fast bound by the cords of death. When therefore the Christ shall at the time of the resurrection bring us out from our tombs in the earth, then in very truth does He loosen us from our former evils, and as it were remove the veil of shame, and command that we be let go freely from that time forward; not under the dominion of sin, not subject to corruption, or indeed any of the other troubles that are wont to cause suffering; so that there will be fulfilled in us that which was said by one of the holy prophets: Ye shall both go forth and leap as calves let loose from bonds.

And consider I pray you the miracle as regards its inner meaning. For if our mind be dead like Lazarus, it behoves our material flesh and our nobler soul, like Martha and Mary [respectively,] to approach the Christ with a confession of faith, and to entreat His help. Then He will stand by us, and command the hardness that lies upon our 1 memory to be taken away, and cry with the loud voice of the Evangelic trumpet: "Come forth from the distractions of the world," and loose the cords of our sins; so that we may be able in full vigour to devote ourselves to virtue.

To every sinner the first step of enlightenment is the humility of confessing, in that he now refuses to spare himself, who does not blush to avow the evil that he has done, and he who by defending himself might have been laid open to be accused, by accusing himself defends himself most quickly. And hence to dead Lazarus, who was kept down by a great weight, it is not said, 'be thou restored to life;' but, "Come forth," by which same rising again, which was carried on in the body of that man, it is signified in what way we ourselves rise again in the heart, i.e. when it is said to the dead man, "Come forth;" that is to say, that man being dead in his sin, and through the mass of bad habit already buried, because he lies hidden from sight within his own conscience by wickedness, should go forth from himself without by confession. For to the dead man it is said, "Come forth," that from the excusing and concealing of sin he may be called forth to come out to the accusing of himself with his own lips.

Let our opponents-that is, they who speak against their own salvation-inform us [as to this point]: The deceased daughter of the high priest; the widow's dead son, who was being carded out [to burial] near the gate [of the city]; and Lazarus, who had lain four days in the tomb,-in what bodies did they rise again? In those same, no doubt, in which they had also died. For if it were not in the very same, then certainly those same individuals who had died did not rise again. For [the Scripture] says, "The Lord took the hand of the dead man, and said to him, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. And the dead man sat up, and He commanded that something should be given him to eat; and He delivered him to his mother." Again, He called Lazarus "with a loud voice, saying, Lazarus, come forth; and he that was dead came forth bound with bandages, feet and hands." This was symbolical of that man who had been bound in sins. And therefore the Lord said, "Loose him, and let him depart." As, therefore, those who were healed were made whole in those members which had in times past been afflicted; and the dead rose in the identical bodies, their limbs and bodies receiving health, and that life which was granted by the Lord, who prefigures eternal things by temporal, and shows that it is He who is Himself able to extend both healing and life to His handiwork, that His words concerning its [future] resurrection may also be believed; so also at the end, when the Lord utters His voice "by the last trumpet," the dead shall be raised, as He Himself declares: "The hour shall come, in which all the dead which are in the tombs shall hear the voice of the Son of man, and shall come forth; those that have done good to the resurrection of life, and those that have done evil to the resurrection of judgment."

"He called, and the dead man came forth wrapped." Then that the matter might not seem to be an appearance, (for his coming forth bound did not seem to be less marvelous than his resurrection,) Jesus commanded to loose him, in order that having touched and having been near him, they might see that it was really he. And He saith, "Let him go." Seest thou His freedom from boastfulness? He doth not lead him on, nor bid him go about with Him, lest He should seem to any to be showing him; so well knew He how to observe moderation.

They saw Lazarus, who was made an exile from the region of death.

Now, we ought to be aware that there are some Lazaruses even now who, after they have become Jesus' friends, have become sick and died, and as dead persons they have remained in the tomb and the land of the dead with the dead who were later made alive by Jesus' prayer. They were summoned from the tomb to the things outside it by Jesus with his loud voice. He who trusts in Jesus comes forth wearing bonds worthy of death from his former sins and still bound around his face, so that he can neither see nor walk nor do anything because of the bonds of death until Jesus commands those who are able to loose him and let him go.

Pray, brothers, that we who have taken a sip of the resurrection with Lazarus offering the toast at Christ's return may merit drinking the whole draft of the universal resurrection.

"He came out," it says, "the dead man, bound hand and foot." For the bound man to come out seemed no less wondrous than to rise from the dead. Thus, to the miracle of the resurrection was added yet another miracle — that one completely bound was able to move.

The Lord commands to unbind him, so that those who approached and touched him would see that it is he himself.

"Let him go," He says. This is out of a lack of love for glory. For He does not lead him out (Himself), nor command him to walk with Him, so as to be seen.

1558 Then (v 44), the effect of this voice is given: first, the resurrection of the dead man; secondly, his condition. The resurrection of the dead man was immediately after our Lord's command: immediately the dead man came out. For such was the power of Christ's voice that it gave life without any delay, as will happen at the general resurrection when the dead will rise in the twinkling of an eye when they hear the sound of the trumpet: "And the dead in Christ will rise first" (1 Thess 4:16). For Christ's mission was already being anticipated, as it was stated above: "The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live" (5:25). In this way what our Lord said was fulfilled: "I go to awake him" (11:11).

As to the condition of the one rising, he is described as having his hands and feet bound with bandages, with which the people of ages past wrapped their dead, and his face wrapped with a cloth, in order to hide his gruesome appearance. He was commanded to rise bound and wrapped to provide a greater proof of the miracle.

1559 When Jesus says, Unbind him and let him go, he orders that he be unbound so that those who do this may be more reliable witnesses to the miracle and have it more forcefully impressed on their memory. Furthermore, when they approach and touch him, they can see that is really he. He adds, and let him go, to show that this miracle is not an illusion: for at times certain magicians have seemed to raise the dead, but those who were raised could not live as they formerly had because their raising was not real but illusory.

1560 Augustine gives a mystical explanation to this entire verse beginning at The dead man came out. He does this in two ways, depending on two ways of coming out. The sinner comes out when by repenting he passes from the practice of sin to the state of righteousness: "Come out from them, and be separate from them" (2 Cor 6:17). However, his hands are bound with bandages, i.e., with carnal desires, because, although he is rising from his sins, he cannot escape such annoyances as long as he lives in the body. Thus the Apostle says: "I of myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin" (Rom 7:25). His face being wrapped with a cloth signifies that in this life we cannot have full knowledge of God: "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face" (1 Cor 13:12). Christ commands them to unbind him and let him go because after this life all the veils are lifted from those who rise from sin, so that they may contemplate God "face to face" (1 Cor 13:12). Then we will be unbound from the corruptibility of the flesh which is like a chain binding and weighing down the soul and keeping it from full and clear contemplation: "Loose the bonds from your neck, O captive daughter of Zion" (Is 52:2). This is one way to come out in a spiritual manner, and is given by Augustine in his work, The Book of Eighty-Three Questions.

Another way to come out is by confession, about which it is said: "He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy" (Prv 28:13). One comes out in this way by leaving his secret sins by disclosing them in confession. Now that one confesses is due to God calling him with a loud voice, that is, by grace. And the one who confesses, as still guilty, is the dead person still wrapped in bandages. In order for his sins to be loosed, the ministers are commanded to loose him and let him go. For the disciples loose those whom Christ by himself vivifies inwardly, because they are absolved, being vivified by the ministry of the priests: "Whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matt 16:19).

1561 Some who consider this mystery say that just as Christ by himself vivified Lazarus, and once he was vivified he was ordered to be loosed by the disciples, so God vivifies a soul from within by grace by remitting its guilt and absolving it from the debt of eternal punishment; but priests, by the power of the keys, absolve in regard to the temporal punishment. But this position attributes too little to the keys of the Church. For it is proper to the sacraments of the New Law that in them grace is conferred. But the sacraments exist in the administration of the ministers. Thus, in the sacrament of penance, contrition and confession behave materially on the part of the one receiving the sacrament; but the causative power of the sacrament lies in the absolution of the priest, by the power of the keys, through which he somehow applies the effect of our Lord's passion to the one he absolves so that he obtains remission. Therefore, if the priest only absolved the punishment, the sacrament of penance would not confer a grace by which guilt is remitted; and consequently it would not be a sacrament of the New Law. Therefore, one must say that just as in the sacrament of baptism, the priest, by pronouncing the words and washing outwardly, exercises the ministry of baptism, while Christ baptizes inwardly, so the priest, by the power of the keys, outwardly administers the ministry of absolution, while Christ remits the guilt by grace.

1562 Yet a difficulty arises from the fact that those who usually come for baptism are children who have not been justified before baptism, but obtain the grace of remission in baptism, whereas those who come for absolution are adults, who usually have obtained the remission of their sins beforehand by contrition; consequently, the absolution that follows seems to contribute nothing to the remission of sins.

If this matter is carefully considered as affecting adults, in both cases it will be seen that there is a perfect parallel. For it happens that certain adults having a desire to be baptized obtain the remission of their sins by the baptism of desire before they actually receive the sacrament of baptism; and yet the baptism which follows, so far as what it is of itself is concerned, effects the remission of sins, although it does not so function in a person whose sins are already remitted, but he obtains only an increase of grace. However, if an adult was not perfectly disposed before baptism to obtain the remission of his sins, still in the very act of being baptized he obtains their remission by the power of baptism, unless he places some obstacle to the Holy Spirit by his insincerity. The same must be said of penance. For if a person was fully contrite before the absolution of the priest, he obtains the remission of his sins by having the desire to subject himself to the keys of the Church, without which there would not be true contrition. But if there was not beforehand a full contrition sufficient for remission, he obtains the remission of his guilt in the absolution, unless he puts an obstacle to the Holy Spirit. And the same is true in the Eucharist and in the Anointing of the Sick, and in the other sacraments.

And he said to them: Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave from there. In Matthew it is written thus: Whatever town or village you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave (Matthew 10). He gives a general command of constancy, that they should observe the laws of hospitality, asserting that it is unbecoming for the preacher of the kingdom of heaven to rush from house to house and lose the rights of an inviolate hospitality. Nor is it idle according to Matthew that the house into which the apostles should enter is to be chosen, so that the reason for changing hospitality and violating the bond of hospitality does not stand.

He bids them remain in one house, lest people think they change places for the sake of gluttony, wandering from one house to another.

That is, lest they should be accused of gluttony in passing from one to another.

And whoever does not receive you or listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them. Dust is shaken off the feet as a testimony of one's work, showing that they have entered the city and that the apostolic preaching has reached them. Or the dust is shaken off so that nothing is taken from them, not even what is necessary for sustenance, by those who have rejected the Gospel.

(Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.) Or else, that it might be a witness of the toil of the way, which they sustained for them; or as if the dust of the sins of the preachers was turned against themselves.

Therefore, standing and seeing all the people gazing upon him in profound silence, and Simon the magician standing in the midst, he began to speak thus: "Peace be to all you who are in readiness to give your right hands to the truth of God, which, being His great and incomparable gift in the present world, He who sent us, being an infallible Prophet of that which is supremely profitable, gave us in charge, by way of salutation before our words of instruction, to announce to you, in order that if there be any son of peace among you, peace may take hold of him through our teaching; but if any of you will not receive it, then we, shaking off for a testimony the road-dust of our feet, which we have borne through our toils, and brought to you that you may be saved, will go to the abodes and the cities of others. "

From those who would not receive them, they were to shake off the dust from their feet, according to the Lord's words, as a sign that they had made a long journey for their sake and yet without benefit to them, or as a sign that they took nothing from them, not even the dust itself, but on the contrary shook even that off, so that it might serve as a testimony against them, that is, as a reproach. "Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment" than for those who do not receive you. For the Sodomites, having been punished here, will be punished more lightly there; moreover, the apostles were not sent to them. On the contrary, those who rejected the apostles will endure torments more severe than theirs.

And whoever shall not receive you, &c. This the Lord commanded them, that they might show that they had walked a long way for their sakes, and to no purpose. Or, because they received nothing from them, not even dust, which they shake off, that it might be a testimony against them, that is, by way of convicting them.