2 Afterfeast of the Nativity of Christ

Why does he say that children are fit for the kingdom of heaven? Perhaps it is because they do not know spitefulness, have not learned to deceive, dare not strike back, neglect to search for wealth, and do not work after honor and ambition.… Childhood is not meant, but rather goodness rivaling childlike simplicity. It is not a virtue to be unable to sin, but to be unwilling to do so and to retain perseverance of will, so that the will imitates childhood and the person imitates nature.

They knew indeed the mystery, that to both nations the call was to be made, (for they entreated for the Canaanitish woman,) but perhaps they were still ignorant of the order. It follows, But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children, &c. One age is not preferred to another, else it were hurtful to grow up. But why does He say that children are fitter for the kingdom of heaven? It is because they are ignorant of guile, are incapable of theft, dare not return a blow, are unconscious of lust, have no desire for wealth, honours, or ambition. But to be ignorant of these things is not virtue, we must also despise them. For virtue consists not in our inability to sin, but in our unwillingness. Childhood then is not meant here, but that goodness which rivals the simplicity of childhood.

The other doctrine that your brotherhood claims they preach, that little children can attain the reward of eternal life without the grace of baptism, is very foolish. "Unless they eat of the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, they will not have life in them." It seems to me that those who claim this for them without regeneration want to nullify baptism, since they teach that these children have what they believe is not to be bestowed on them in baptism even by themselves. If they do not want anything to stand in their way, let them confess that there is no need of rebirth and that the sacred stream of regeneration has no effect. The Lord proclaims this to disarm the vicious doctrine of proud people by the swift reasoning of truth. He says, "Allow the little children, and do not forbid them to come to me."

But Jesus, calling them, said: Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them. For of such is the kingdom of God. He significantly said "of such," not "of these ones," to show that it is not age that reigns, but manners, and that the reward is promised to those who have similar innocence and simplicity. The Apostle also agrees with this sentiment: Brothers, do not be children in understanding, but be infants in malice. In understanding, however, be perfect.

Hence our Lord pointedly says, of such, not "of these," to show that to character, not to age, is the kingdom given, and to such as have a childlike innocence and simplicity is the promise of the reward.

Third, as regards the gracious reception of those brought, it is added: But Jesus, calling them together, said: Let the children come to me, and do not forbid them, whom indeed you ought rather to draw and call; hence Proverbs 9: "She sent her handmaids to call to the citadel and to the walls of the city: If anyone is a little one, let him come to me." Therefore they ought not to have forbidden these, but to have called them; Proverbs 3: "Do not forbid him who can do good; if you can, do good yourself." Hence Chrysostom: "If they are to be holy, why do you forbid children to come to their father? If they are to be sinners, why do you pronounce a sentence of condemnation before you see any fault? What they are now is mine; what they will be is their own; honor what is mine, have mercy on what will be theirs."

From which it manifestly appears that children are not to be prohibited from approaching Christ. As a sign of this also, so that he might present himself to children as an example, it is said of him above in the second chapter that "when he was twelve years old, having left his parents, he remained in Jerusalem." As a sign of this also, he accepted the martyrdom of infant children, concerning which Matthew 2: "Herod, sending forth, killed all the boys who were in Bethlehem from two years old and under." As a sign of this also, he accepted the laudatory praise of children; Matthew 21: "The chief priests, seeing the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying: Hosanna to the Son of David! were indignant. And they said to him: Do you hear what these are saying? But Jesus said to them: Have you not read, 'Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babes you have perfected praise'?" Therefore, although children are slain by Herod and repelled by the Pharisees, they are to be received by the disciples, because they are received by Christ and by God; whence the Psalm: "Praise the Lord, you children."

Fourth, with regard to the judicial approbation of the humble, it is added: For of such is the kingdom of God, that is, of those similar to children.

And note that children have certain things in themselves in which the wicked are likened to them, and certain things in which the good are likened to them. On account of which, First Corinthians 14: "Do not become children in understanding, but in malice be little ones." — For children have foolishness in reason: Proverbs 22: "Folly is bound up in the heart of a child"; Wisdom 12: "You gave judgment in mockery, as to senseless children."

They have concupiscence in affection; Ecclesiastes 10: "Woe to the land whose king is a child, and whose princes eat in the morning"; and Proverbs 29: "A child who is left to his own will shall bring shame upon his mother."

They also have instability in action: Isaiah 40: "Children shall faint and labor, and youths shall fall in their weakness"; and Ephesians 4: "Let us not be as little ones, tossed about," etc. And therefore Isaiah 65: "A child of a hundred years shall die, and the sinner," etc.

Besides these things, children have purity: Daniel 1: "The king commanded the chief of the eunuchs that he should bring in children in whom there was no blemish"; therefore First Kings 21: "If the children are clean, especially from women? And David said: Indeed, the vessels of the children were holy," etc.

They have simplicity: Proverbs 20: "A child is known by his pursuits, whether his works are right and clean"; Hosea 11: "Israel was a child, and I loved him," namely on account of his simplicity; and 1 Chronicles, last chapter: "I know, Lord, that you test hearts and love simplicity." — They have docility: Wisdom 8: "I was a clever child and obtained a good soul"; Proverbs 23: "Do not withhold discipline from a child; for if you strike him with the rod, he will not die." — They have amiability: Job 29: "The Almighty was with me, and my children were round about me"; and above, chapter 11: "Do not trouble me, for my children are with me in bed." — They have tractability: 1 Kings 2: "Samuel ministered before the Lord, a child girded with a linen ephod"; and concerning Joseph, Genesis 37: "Joseph was feeding the flock with his brothers, still a child." They have truthfulness: Daniel 13: "The Lord raised up the holy spirit of a younger child, and he said: I am clean from the blood of this one"; Jeremiah 1: "I do not know how to speak, for I am a child. And he said: Do not say that you are a child"; and above, chapter 1: "You, child, Prophet," etc. — They also have humility: Mark 7: "The little dogs eat under the table from the crumbs of the children"; and by reason of this they are especially pleasing to God, and here they are introduced as an example; and Matthew 18: "Whoever receives one such little one in my name receives me"; for "the Lord is exalted and regards the lowly"; therefore Matthew 12: "Behold, my chosen child, whom I have elected," etc.

Of such, therefore, that is, of those having purity in the flesh, simplicity in intention, docility in knowledge, amiability in affection, tractability in action, truthfulness in speech, and humility in conduct, is the kingdom of heaven. And by reason of this humility, Abraham is called a child in Scripture: the Psalm: "He was mindful of his covenant, which he made with Abraham, his child"; and above, chapter 1, he similarly calls Israel a child: "He has taken up Israel, his child." But Christ is called a child, Ecclesiastes 4: "Better is a poor and wise child than an old and foolish king," etc. And by reason of all the aforesaid, and especially by reason of humility, it is said: Of such is the kingdom of heaven. On account of which, above, chapter 1: "He has put down the mighty from their seat and exalted the humble"; and Job 22: "He who has been humbled shall be in glory; and he who has lowered his eyes, he himself shall be saved."

For why is it necessary-if (baptism itself) is not so necessary -that the sponsors likewise should be thrust into danger? Who both themselves, by reason of mortality, may fail to fulfil their promises, and may be disappointed by the development of an evil disposition, in those for whom they stood? The Lord does indeed say, "Forbid them not to come unto me." Let them "come," then, while they are growing up; let them "come" while they are learning, while they are learning whither to come; let them become Christians when they have become able to know Christ.

Thus, not having rejected the children, but having received them with pleasure, the Lord teaches humility "by deed." He also teaches "by word," saying that "of such is the Kingdom of Heaven," those who have a childlike disposition.

Lastly, our Saviour expressed this when He said, Verily I say unto you, Whosoever will not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, &c. What child were Christ's Apostles to imitate but Him of whom Esaias speaks, Unto us a Child is given? (Isai. 9:6.) Who when He was reviled, reviled not again. (1 Pet. 2.) So that there is in childhood a certain venerable antiquity, and in old age a childlike innocence.

(in Reg. Brev. ad int. 217.) We shall receive the kingdom of God as a child if we are disposed towards our Lord's teaching as a child under instruction, never contradicting nor disputing with his masters, but trustfully and teachably imbibing learning.

Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it. Just as a child does not persist in anger, does not remember being hurt, does not take delight in a beautiful woman, does not think one thing and say another, so too, unless you have such innocence and purity of mind, you will not be able to enter the kingdom of heaven. Another interpretation: We are commanded to receive the kingdom of God, that is, the teaching of the Gospel, like a child, because a child neither contradicts teachers in learning, nor composes arguments and words to resist them, but faithfully accepts what is taught, and obeys and rests with respect.

Fifth, with regard to the severe reprobation of the proud, it is added: Amen I say to you: Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a child shall not enter into it: as if to say: he who refuses to be humbled on account of the pride of his heart shall not enter into that kingdom by the sentence of God's truth. Whence Matthew 18: "Unless you be converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." For it is necessary that he who wishes to enter into the kingdom be as a child, that is, pure and little. Now the kingdom of heaven is called sacred doctrine, to which whoever wishes to come must make himself as a child. Whence the Gloss: "The kingdom of heaven, that is, the doctrine of the Gospel, we are commanded to receive as a child. A child in learning does not contradict his teachers, does not compose arguments and words to resist, but faithfully receives, obeys, and rests." Therefore it is said in Matthew 11: "You have hidden these things from the wise and the prudent and have revealed them to little ones"; and Daniel 1: "And to these children God gave knowledge and discipline in every book," etc.

The kingdom of heaven is also called grace, concerning which above in chapter 17: "The kingdom of God is within you." And this is not given except to children through purity and humility; James 4: "God resists the proud, but to the humble He gives grace."

The kingdom of heaven is nonetheless called eternal glory: Matthew 13: "The just shall shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." And this is not given except to little ones, according to that in Matthew 5: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven"; and also to children, who are pure: Matthew 5: "Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God." Whence the Gloss: "As a child does not persevere in anger, when harmed does not remember, does not lust after a woman, does not think or speak evil; so you, unless you have such innocence and purity, shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." He therefore who refuses the littleness of humility and the purity of holiness, despises the merit of eternal life; and therefore it is necessary that he be reprobated by divine judgment, so that he does not enter into the kingdom of heaven, but is driven far outside: Apocalypse 22: "Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the unchaste and those who serve idols." On account of which in the Psalm: "The king is not saved by great power, and the giant shall not be saved in the abundance of his strength"; therefore Judith 9: "The proud have not pleased You from the beginning, but the prayer of the humble and the meek has always pleased You." He therefore who does not wish to be damned has need to be humbled: therefore Ecclesiasticus 7: "Humble your spirit greatly, for the vengeance upon the flesh of the impious is fire and the worm."

What is there in babies that is worthy of imitation? Is it their lack of firmness and intelligence? It is incredible to affirm or imagine anything like this. Christ, however, does not wish us to be without understanding but wants us perfectly to know everything that is useful and necessary for our salvation. Wisdom even promises that she will give cleverness to the simple and the beginning of sense and understanding to the young. … How someone might at once be both simple and clever, the Savior explains to us elsewhere, saying, "Be clever as serpents and simple as doves." Blessed Paul also writes, "My brothers, do not be children in your minds, but in wickedness be babies, and in your minds grown men."It is necessary to examine the meaning of being babies in wickedness and the way a person becomes a baby, but a grown person in mind. Knowing very little or nothing at all, a baby is correctly acquitted of the charge of depravity and wickedness. It is also our duty to attempt to be like them in the very same way. We must entirely put away from us habits of wickedness, that we also may be regarded as people who do not even know the path that leads to deception. Unconscious of spite and fraud, we must live in a simple and innocent manner, practicing gentleness and a priceless humility and readily avoiding wrath and spitefulness. These qualities are found in those who are still babies.

Christianity, even enormous as was its revolution, did not alter this ancient and savage sanctity; it merely reversed it. It did not deny the trinity of father, mother, and child. It merely read it backwards, making it run child, mother, father. This it called, not the family, but the Holy Family, for many things are made holy by being turned upside down.

And it must be remembered that the most purely practical science does take this view of mental evil; it does not seek to argue with it like a heresy, but simply to snap it like a spell. Neither modern science nor ancient religion believes in complete free thought. Theology rebukes certain thoughts by calling them blasphemous. Science rebukes certain thoughts by calling them morbid. For example, some religious societies discouraged men more or less from thinking about sex. The new scientific society definitely discourages men from thinking about death; it is a fact, but it is considered a morbid fact. And in dealing with those whose morbidity has a touch of mania, modern science cares far less for pure logic than a dancing Dervish. In these cases it is not enough that the unhappy man should desire truth; he must desire health. Nothing can save him but a blind hunger for normality, like that of a beast. A man cannot think himself out of mental evil; for it is actually the organ of thought that has become diseased, ungovernable, and, as it were, independent. He can only be saved by will or faith. The moment his mere reason moves, it moves in the old circular rut; he will go round and round his logical circle, just as a man in a third-class carriage on the Inner Circle will go round and round the Inner Circle unless he performs the voluntary, vigorous, and mystical act of getting out at Gower Street. Decision is the whole business here; a door must be shut for ever. Every remedy is a desperate remedy. Every cure is a miraculous cure. Curing a madman is not arguing with a philosopher; it is casting out a devil. And however quietly doctors and psychologists may go to work in the matter, their attitude is profoundly intolerant--as intolerant as Bloody Mary. Their attitude is really this: that the man must stop thinking, if he is to go on living. Their counsel is one of intellectual amputation. If thy head offend thee, cut it off; for it is better, not merely to enter the Kingdom of Heaven as a child, but to enter it as an imbecile, rather than with your whole intellect to be cast into hell--or into Hanwell.

A child does not exalt itself, does not demean anyone, is without malice, without guile, is neither puffed up in happiness nor cast down in sorrow, but is always perfectly simple. Therefore, whoever lives humbly and without malice, and whoever receives the Kingdom of God as a child, that is, without craftiness and curiosity, but with faith, is pleasing before God. For whoever is excessively curious and always asks, "How is this?" will perish with his unbelief and will not enter the Kingdom which he was unwilling to accept in simplicity, without curiosity, and with humility. Therefore all the apostles and all who believed in Christ in simplicity of heart can be called children, as the Lord Himself called the apostles: "Children, have you any food?" (Jn. 21:5). But the pagan sages, who search out wisdom in such a mystery as the Kingdom of God and are unwilling to accept it without reasoning, are justly cut off from this Kingdom. The Lord did not say "of these" is the Kingdom, but "of such," that is, of those who have voluntarily acquired the innocence and humble-mindedness that children possess by nature. So then, let us accept without curiosity, with faith and humility, all that belongs to the Church, which constitutes the Kingdom of God. For curiosity is characteristic of conceit and self-willed reasoning.

He therefore that made the original bodies out of nothing, and fashioned various forms of them, will also again revive and raise up those that are dead. For He that formed man in the womb out of a little seed, and created in him a soul which was not in being before—as He Himself somewhere speaks to Jeremiah, "Before I formed thee in the womb I knew thee;" and elsewhere, "I am the Lord who established the heaven, and laid the foundations of the earth, and formed the spirit of man in him"—will also raise up all men, as being His workmanship; as also the divine Scripture testifies that God said to Christ, His only-begotten, "Let us make man after our image, and after our likeness. And God made man: after the image of God made He him; male and female made He them." And the most divine and patient Job, of whom the Scripture says that it is written, that "he was to rise again with those whom the Lord raises up," speaks to God thus: "Hast not Thou milked me like milk, and curdled me like cheese? Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews. Thou hast granted me life and favour, and Thy visitation hath preserved my spirit. Having these things within me, I know that Thou canst do all things, and that nothing is impossible with Thee." Wherefore also our Saviour and Master Jesus Christ says, that "what is impossible with men is possible with God."

He said to them: What is impossible with men is possible with God. It is not to be understood in such a way that the greedy and the proud, who are signified by the name of that rich man, will enter the kingdom of heaven with their greed and pride, but it is possible for God that through His word (as we also see has been done and is done daily) they may be converted from the desire for temporal things to the love of eternal things, and from destructive pride to most salutary humility.

Therefore the Lord shows the remedy through the gift of his grace, when he adds: He said to them: The things that are impossible with men, through the power of their own strength, are possible with God, that is, are made possible through his help; which he says because, although it is difficult to despise these temporal things through the force of nature, it is nevertheless made easy through the gift of grace, according to that passage in Song of Songs, last chapter: "If a man should give all the substance of his house for love, he would despise it as nothing." Hence it is not to be understood that the Lord introduces a covetous man, remaining covetous, into heaven by his power, but that through the gift of grace he converts him from vice to virtue. Hence the Gloss: "God converts from the love of earthly things to the charity of eternal things, not that the proud and covetous enter." And this is of great power, that so great a change is made, that from the covetous one a charitable one is made, from the earthly one a heavenly one, from the rich a poor man, from the proud a humble one, from a son of perdition a son of the king, so that the words of the Psalm may be said: "This is the change of the right hand of the Most High"; because he it is who can give sufficiency of heart through grace, which cannot be given through money or any creature, according to that passage in 2 Corinthians 9: "God is able to make all grace abound in you, so that in all things always having all sufficiency," etc., because, as is said above in chapter one, "no word shall be impossible with God."

But in respect to His greatness, and His wonderful glory, "no man shall see God and live," for the Father is incomprehensible; but in regard to His love, and kindness, and as to His infinite power, even this He grants to those who love Him, that is, to see God, which thing the prophets did also predict. "For those things that are impossible with men, are possible with God." For man does not see God by his own powers; but when He pleases He is seen by men, by whom He wills, and when He wills, and as He wills. For God is powerful in all things, having been seen at that time indeed, prophetically through the Spirit, and seen, too, adoptively through the Son; and He shall also be seen paternally in the kingdom of heaven, the Spirit truly preparing man in the Son of God, and the Son leading him to the Father, while the Father, too, confers [upon him] incorruption for eternal life, which comes to every one from the fact of his seeing God. For as those who see the light are within the light, and partake of its brilliancy; even so, those who see God are in God, and receive of His splendour. But [His] splendour vivifies them; those, therefore, who see God, do receive life. And for this reason, He, [although] beyond comprehension, and boundless and invisible, rendered Himself visible, and comprehensible, and within the capacity of those who believe, that He might vivify those who receive and behold Him through faith. For as His greatness is past finding out, so also His goodness is beyond expression; by which having been seen, He bestows life upon those who see Him. It is not possible to live apart from life, and the means of life is found in fellowship with God; but fellowship with God is to know God, and to enjoy His goodness.

For, to attribute the substance of created things to the power and will of Him who is God of all, is worthy both of credit and acceptance. It is also agreeable [to reason], and there may be well said regarding such a belief, that "the things which are impossible with men are possible with God." While men, indeed, cannot make anything out of nothing, but only out of matter already existing, yet God is in this point proeminently superior to men, that He Himself called into being the substance of His creation, when previously it had no existence.

Neither the nature of any created thing, therefore, nor the weakness of the flesh, can prevail against the will of God. For God is not subject to created things, but created things to God; and all things yield obedience to His will. Wherefore also the Lord declares, "The things which are impossible with men, are possible with God." As, therefore, it might seem to the men of the present day, who are ignorant of God's appointment, to be a thing incredible and impossible that any man could live for such a number of years, yet those who were before us did live [to such an age], and those who were translated do live as an earnest of the future length of days; and [as it might also appear impossible] that from the whale's belly and from the fiery furnace men issued forth unhurt, yet they nevertheless did so, led forth as it were by the hand of God, for the purpose of declaring His power: so also now, although some, not knowing the power and promise of God, may oppose their own salvation, deeming it impossible for God, who raises up the dead; to have power to confer upon them eternal duration, yet the scepticism of men of this stamp shall not render the faithfulness of God of none effect.

It has learnt not to respect life; how much more food? [You ask] "How many have fulfilled these conditions? "But what with men is difficult, with God is easy. Let us, however, comfort ourselves about the gentleness and clemency of God in such wise, as not to indulge our "necessities" up to the point of affinities with idolatry, but to avoid even from afar every breath of it, as of a pestilence.

True enough; who can be ignorant of it? Who also can be unaware that "the things which are impossible with men are possible with God? " The foolish things also of the world hath God chosen to confound the things which are wise.

And grant that it be just as you think sufficient to meet each point is the divine declaration which has fore-run: "The foolish things of the world hath God elected to confound its wisdom; " and, "The things very difficult with men are easy with God." For if God is wise and powerful (which even they who pass Him by do not deny), it is with good reason that He lays the material causes of His own operation in the contraries of wisdom and of power, that is, in foolishness and impossibility; since every virtue receives its cause from those things by which it is called forth.

He said to them: "Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house, or parents, or brothers, or wife, or children for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive much more in this time, and in the age to come, eternal life." Some, on account of this saying, build up the Jewish fable of a thousand years after the resurrection of the just, when all things which we have abandoned for God will be rendered to us with manifold interest, and eternal life will be granted in addition. Nor do the foolish see that even if in other respects the promise is worthy, in wives it appears as a scandal a hundredfold, according to other evangelists; especially as the Lord testifies that in the resurrection there will be no marriage, and according to the evangelist Mark, that what has been left will be received in this time with persecutions: which persecutions, indeed, those chiliasts dogmatize as absent from their thousand years of troubles. The sense, therefore, is this: Whoever has despised all affections for the sake of acquiring the kingdom of God, has trampled on all the delights and luxuries of the world, will receive much more in the present because, from brothers and companions of his purpose, who are bound to him with spiritual glue, he will receive much greater charity even in this life. This charity, which is joined among parents, children, and brothers, spouses or relatives, either by the society of marriage or the necessity of consanguinity, is known to be quite brief and fragile. In fact, sometimes it is even broken for a just cause. Only those who retain the unity of perpetual conjunction, and indiscriminately possess all things, who believe that all that is theirs is the brothers', all the brothers' things are theirs. Read the Acts of the Apostles, that the heart and soul of the multitude of believers were one, and all things were common to them, and there was not a needy person among them who left their own for the Lord. Of whom Paul also says: "As having nothing, yet possessing everything" (II Cor. 6). A much greater sweetness indeed will be received from conjugal continence than that which was previously offered to them by the mingling of sexes. Before, I possessed a wife in the lascivious passion of desire; now I possess the same in the honor of sanctification and true love of Christ. There is one woman, but the merit of chastity has grown a hundredfold. For what is said according to Mark: "He will receive a hundred times as much now in this time, houses, and brothers, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and fields, with persecutions" (Mark 10), can be understood more deeply. Certainly, the number a hundred, transferred from left to right, although it appears to hold the same shape in the curve of the fingers, grows exceedingly in magnitude, because all who scorn temporal things for the kingdom of God's sake, even in this life, taste the fullest joys of that same kingdom with firm faith, and in the expectation of the heavenly homeland, they enjoy most sincerely the love of all the elect together.

The sense then is this; He who in seeking the kingdom of God has despised all earthly affections, has trampled under foot all riches, pleasures, and smiles of the world, shall receive far greater in the present time. Upon the ground of this declaration, some of the Jews build up the fable of a millennium after the resurrection of the just, when all things which we have given up for God's sake shall be restored with manifold interest, and eternal life be granted. Nor do they from their ignorance seem to be aware, that even if in other things there might be a fit promise of restoration, yet in the matter of wives, who might be according to some Evangelists an hundred fold, it would be manifestly shocking, especially since our Lord declares that in the resurrection there will be no marrying. And according to Mark, those things which have been given up, He declares shall be received at this time with persecutions, which these Jews assert will be absent for a thousand years.

Secondly, as to the approval of such a poor man by the divine judgment, it is added: Who said to them: Amen I say to you: There is no one who has left home, as to the foundation of inheritance; Jeremiah 12: "I have left my house, I have abandoned my inheritance, I have given the beloved of my soul" etc.

Or parents, as to the origin of inheritance; the Psalm: "Hear, O daughter, and see, and incline your ear, and forget your people and your father's house." — Or brothers, as to the fellowship of inheritance, namely carnal brothers, concerning whom Job 6: "My brothers have passed me by like a torrent that rushes swiftly through the valleys."

Or a wife, as to the joint ownership of inheritance, because wife and husband are one body; therefore it is said in Ephesians 5: "Husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies"; nevertheless they can be left for the love of Christ, so that they are not taken in marriage, or if they have already been taken in marriage, with their consent, or on account of the sin of fornication. For Matthew 19: "Whoever divorces his wife, except for fornication, and marries another, commits adultery." On this the Apostle says in 1 Corinthians 7: "But I say to the unmarried and to widows: it is good for them if they remain as I am." "To those who are joined in marriage I command, not I, but the Lord, that a wife is not to depart from her husband" etc. Therefore what is said about the leaving of a wife is to be understood in the manner stated above.

Or children, as to the succession of inheritance; Matthew 10: "He who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me."

Or fields, as to the expansion of inheritance: concerning which Isaiah 5: "Woe to you who join house to house and unite field to field even to the boundary of the place."

For the sake of the kingdom of God, that is, according to right intention, by which the kingdom of God is to be sought: Matthew 6: "Seek first the kingdom of God and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you." The Lord accepts that renunciation in which cupidity and carnality are abandoned together. Therefore it is said to Abraham in Genesis 12: "Go out from your land and from your kindred and from your father's house, and come into the land that I will show you." For it is not sufficient that bodily possession be relinquished unless carnal affection is also relinquished: on account of which it is said in Deuteronomy 33: "They who said to their father and mother: I do not know you, and to their brothers: I do not recognize them, and they did not acknowledge their own children: these kept your word and preserved your covenant, O Jacob, and your law and your judgments, O Israel."

Which things must all now be considered by us, that no one may desire anything from the world that is now dying, but may follow Christ, who both lives for ever, and quickens His servants, who are established in the faith of His name. For there comes the time, beloved brethren, which our Lord long ago foretold and taught us was approaching, saying, "The time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things they will do unto you, because they have not known the Father nor me. But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them." Nor let any one wonder that we are harassed with constant persecutions, and continually tried with increasing afflictions, when the Lord before predicted that these things would happen in the last times, and has instructed us for the warfare by the teaching and exhortation of His words. Peter also, His apostle, has taught that persecutions occur for the sake of our being proved, and that we also should, by the example of righteous men who have gone before us, be joined to the love of God by death and sufferings. For he wrote in his epistle, and said, "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is thing happened unto you; but as often as ye partake in Christ's sufferings, rejoice in all things, that when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached in the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the name of the majesty and power of the Lord resteth on you, which indeed on their part is blasphemed, but on our part is glorified." Now the apostles taught us those things which they themselves also learnt from the Lord's precepts and the heavenly commands, the Lord Himself thus strengthening us, and saying, "There is no man that hath left house, or land, or parents, or brethren, or sisters, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake, who shall not receive sevenfold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting." And again He says, "Blessed are ye when men shall hate you, and shall separate you from their company, and shall cast you out, and shall reproach your name as evil for the Son of man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy; for, behold your reward is great in heaven."

What hope and reward remains for the righteous and for martyrs after the conflicts and sufferings of this present time, The Holy Spirit shows and predicts by Solomon, saying: "And although in the sight of men they suffered torments, yet their hope is full of immortality. And having been troubled in a few things, they shall be in many happily ordered, because God has tried them, and has found them worthy of Himself. As gold in the furnace, He hath tried them; and as whole burnt-offerings of sacrifice, He hath received them, and in its season there will be respect of them. They will shine and run about as sparks in a place set with reeds. They shall judge the nations, and have dominion over the peoples; and their Lord shall reign for ever." In the same also our vengeance is described, and the repentance of those who persecute and molest us is announced. "Then," saith he," shall the righteous stand in great constancy before such as have afflicted them, and who have taken away their labours; when they see it, they shall be troubled with a horrible fear: and they shall marvel at the suddenness of their unexpected salvation, saying among themselves, repenting and groaning for anguish of spirit, These are they whom we had sometime in derision and as a proverb of reproach. We fools counted their life madness, and their end to be without honour. How are they numbered among the children of God, and their lot is among the saints! Therefore have we erred from the way of truth, and the light of righteousness hath not shined unto us, and the sun hath not risen upon us. We have been wearied in the way of unrighteousness and perdition, and have walked through hard deserts, but have not known the way of the Lord. What hath pride profited us, or what hath the boasting of riches brought to us? All these things have passed away like a shadow." Likewise in the cxvth Psalm is shown the price and the reward of suffering: "Precious," it says, "in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. In the cxxvth Psalm also is expressed the sadness of the struggle, and the joy of the retribution: "They who sow," it says. "in tears, shall reap in joy. As they walked, they walked and wept, casting their seeds; but as they come again, they shall come in exultation, bearing their sheaves." And again, in the cxviiith Psalm: "Blessed are those that are undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they who search His testimonies, and seek Him out with their whole heart." Moreover, the Lord in the Gospel, Himself the avenger of our persecution and the rewarder of our suffering, says: "Blessed are they who suffer persecution for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." And again: "Blessed shall ye be when men shall hate you, and shall separate you, and shall expel you, and shall revile your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy; for, behold, your reward is great in heaven." And once more: "Whosoever shall lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it." Nor do the rewards of the divine promise attend those alone who are reproached and slain; but if the passion itself, be wanting to the faithful, while their faith has remained sound and unconquered, and having forsaken and contemned all his possessions, the Christian has shown that he is following Christ, even be also is honoured by Christ among the martyrs, as He Himself promises and says: "There is no man that leaveth house, or land, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake, but shall receive seven times as much in this present time, and in the world to come eternal life." In the Apocalypse also He says the same thing: "And I saw," saith he, "the souls of them that were slain for the name of Jesus and the word of God." And when he had placed those who were slain in the first place, he added, saying: "And whosoever had not worshipped the image of the beast, neither had received his mark upon their forehead or in their hand; "all these he joins together, as seen by him at one time in the same place, and says, "And they lived and reigned with Christ." He says that all live and reign with Christ, not only who have been slain; but even whosoever, standing in firmness of the faith and in the fear of God, have not worshipped the image of the beast, and have not consented to his deadly and sacrilegious edicts.

Of the benefits of martyrdom.

In the Proverbs of Solomon: "The faithful martyr delivers his soul from evils." Also in the same place: "Then shall the righteous stand in great boldness against them who have afflicted them, and who took away their labours. When they see them, they shall be disturbed with a horrible fear; and they shall wonder at the suddenness of their unhoped-for salvation, saying among themselves, repenting and groaning with distress of spirit, These are they whom some time we had in derision, and in the likeness of a proverb; we fools counted their life madness, and their end without honour. How are they reckoned among the children of God, and their lot among the saints! Therefore we have wandered from the way of truth, and the light of righteousness has not shined upon us, and the sun has not risen upon us. We have been wearied in the way of iniquity and of perdition, and we have walked through difficult solitudes; but we have not known the way of the Lord. What hath pride profited us? or what hath the boasting of riches brought to us? All these things have passed away as a shadow." Of this same thing in the cxvth Psalm: "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints." Also in the cxxvth Psalm: "They who sow in tears shall reap in joy. Walking they walked, and wept as they cast their seeds; but coming they shall come in joy, raising up their laps." Of this same thing in the Gospel according to John: "He who loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall find it to life eternal." Also in the same place: "But when they shall deliver you up, take no thought what ye shall speak; for it is not ye who speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you." Also in the same place: "The hour shall come, that every one that killeth you shall think he doeth service to God l but they shall do this also because they have not known the Father nor me." Of this same matter, according to Matthew: "Blessed are they which shall suffer persecution for righteousness' sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Also in the same place: "Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear Him which is able to kill the soul and body in Gehenna." Also in the same place: "Whosoever shall confess me before men, him also will I confess before my Father which is in heaven; but he who shall deny me before men, him also will I deny before my Father which is in heaven. And he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved." Of this same thing, according to Luke: "Blessed shall ye be when men shall hate you, and shall separate you (from their company), and shall drive you out, and shall speak evil of your name, as wicked, for the Son of man's sake. Rejoice in that day, and exult; for, lo, your reward is great in heaven." Also in the same place: "Verily I say unto you, There is no man that leaveth house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, and does not receive seven times as much in this present time, but in the world to come life everlasting." Of this same thing in the Apocalypse: "And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar of God the souls of them that were slain on account of the word of God and His testimony. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And unto every one of them were given white robes; and it was said to them, that they should rest still for a short time, until the number of their fellow-servants, and of their brethren, should be fulfilled, and they who shall afterwards be slain, after their example." Also in the same place: "After these things I saw a great crowd, which no one among them could number, from every nation, and from every tribe, and from every people and tongue, standing before the throne and before the Lamb; and they were clothed with white robes, and palms were in their hands. And they said with a loud voice, Salvation to our God, that sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb. And one of the elders answered and said to me, What are these which are clothed with white robes? who are they, and whence have they come? And I said unto him, My lord, thou knowest. And he said unto me, These are they who have come out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sitteth upon the throne shall dwell among them. They shall neither hunger nor thirst ever; and neither shall the sun fall upon them, nor shall they suffer any heat: for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shall protect them, and shall lead them to the fountains of the waters of life; and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes." Also in the same place: "He who shall overcome I will give him to eat of the tree of life, which as in the paradise of my God." Also in the same place: "Be thou faithful even unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." Also in the same place: "Blessed shall they be who shall watch, and shall keep their garments, lest they walk naked, and they see their shame." Of this same thing, Paul in the second Epistle to Timothy: "I am now offered up, and the time of my assumption is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. There now remains for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me in that day; and not only to me, but to all also who love His appearing." Of this same thing to the Romans: "We are the sons of God: but if sons and heirs of God, we are also joint-heirs with Christ; if we suffer together, that we may also be magnified together." Of this same thing in the cxviiith Psalm: "Blessed are they who are undefiled in the way, and walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they who search into His testimonies."

And again He says, "Whosoever shall have left lands, or houses, or parents, or brethren, or children because of Me, he shall receive in this world an hundred-fold, and in that to come he shall inherit eternal life." For what are the hundred-fold [rewards] in this word, the entertainments given to the poor, and the suppers for which a return is made? These are [to take place] in the times of the kingdom, that is, upon the seventh day, which has been sanctified, in which God rested from all the works which He created, which is the true Sabbath of the righteous, which they shall not be engaged in any earthly occupation; but shall have a table at hand prepared for them by God, supplying them with all sorts of dishes.

Thirdly, as to the enrichment of poverty through grace, it is added: And not receive much more in this time: which is not to be understood of temporal things, so that he would have many more wives, or children, or carnal brothers, but it is understood of the spiritual charisms of graces, by which poverty is incomparably enriched without loss to another: and this through the gift of charity, which makes all things common, according to that passage of 1 Corinthians 3: "All things are yours, whether present or future"; through the gift also of most abundant simplicity; whence 2 Corinthians 8: "Their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of simplicity"; and 2 Corinthians 6: "As needy, yet enriching many," etc. As a figure of this it is said in Genesis 26: "Isaac sowed in that land and found in that same year a hundredfold, and the Lord blessed him, and he was enriched." Whence it is said in Matthew 19: "He shall receive a hundredfold," etc.; on which passage Jerome says: "He who shall have left carnal things for the Lord shall receive spiritual things, which by comparison and by their merit shall be as though a hundredfold were compared to a small number." Whence lest it be understood of temporal enrichment, it is said in Mark 10: "There is no one who leaves," etc., "who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time, with persecutions." On which passage Bernard says: "Pointedly there is added with persecutions, for perhaps someone, when he had heard that a hundredfold is promised here, would conjecture that this is also bestowed in temporal things; but the added word persecution forestalls this understanding. For what is there of earthly consolation that persecution does not easily take away? What earthly thing did the holy Martyrs receive amid persecutions? Nevertheless, in the meantime, from whatever source they are to receive the hundredfold, provided it be a hundredfold, provided the hundredfold avail, provided it please a hundredfold, console, delight, and be loved: what madness is it that men hesitate to leave the single for the hundredfold?"

Fourth, as regards the remuneration of poverty through glory, there is subjoined: And in the age to come, life everlasting. And rightly is glory called by the name eternal life, because, just as separation from the font of life is death and eternal damnation, so union with Him is eternal life. On account of which it is pointedly said in the Psalm: "With the torrent of Your pleasure You shall give them drink; for with You is the fountain of life." And rightly is the eternity of life added, because eternity is nothing other than "the total, simultaneous, and perfect possession of unchangeable life." And such is what exceeds temporal things infinitely, so that it is truly said in Romans 8: "The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the future glory that shall be revealed in us"; because, 2 Corinthians 4, "that which is at present momentary and light of our tribulation works above measure in the sublimity of eternal glory a weight in us." This immense weight we can purchase for the light weight of things, because the reward surpasses merit in every way: above in chapter six: "Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, shall they give into your bosom." And therefore it is said in Sirach 18: "Be not hindered from praying always, nor fear to be justified even unto death, for the reward of God endures forever."

Or, He set forth the Prophets as it were winepresses, into which an abundant measure of the Holy Spirit, as of new wine, might flow in a teeming stream.

Or, The tower is the eminence of the Law, which ascended from earth to heaven, and from which, as from a watch-tower, the coming of Christ might be spied. And let it out to husbandmen.

(Verse 33.) Listen to another parable: There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and then went on a journey. This is what the Lord meant by the proverb: It is hard to kick against the goads (Acts 9:5). The chief priests and the elders of the people, who questioned the Lord, said to him, 'By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?' And they desired to attain wisdom in words, they are surpassed by their own skill; and they listen in parables, because they did not deserve to listen with an open face. This man, the head of the household, is the one who had two sons; and in another parable, he hired workers for his vineyard; who planted a vineyard, of which Isaiah speaks most fully in the Song, bringing it to a conclusion: The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel (Isaiah 5:7). And in the Psalm: You have brought a vine out of Egypt, he says, you have driven out the nations, and planted it (Psalm 80:9). And he surrounded her with a hedge, or with the walls of a city, or with the help of angels: and he dug into her a winepress, or an altar, or those things for pressing wine, which are noted in the title of three Psalms: the eightieth, and the eighty-third. And he built a tower: no doubt the temple, of which it is said through Micah: And you, O cloudy tower, daughter of Zion (Mic. 4:8). And he placed it for the farmers, whom elsewhere he called vineyard workers: who were hired at the first, third, sixth, ninth, and eleventh hour (Matt. 20). And he went on a journey: yes, not by a change of place; for how can God be absent where all things are fulfilled? And as it says through Jeremiah: I am a God who is near and not far away, says the Lord (Jeremiah 23:23). But he seems to be leaving the vineyard so as to leave the vine-dressers free will in their work.

He hath planted a vine of which Isaiah speaks, The vine of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel. (Isa. 5:7.) And hedged it round about; i. e. either the wall of the city, or the guardianship of Angels.

A winepress, that is to say, An altar; or those winepresses after which the three Psalms, the 8th, the 80th, and the 83d are entitled, that is to say, the martyrs.

And built a tower therein, that is, the Temple, of which it is said by Micah, And thou, O cloudy tower of the daughter of Sion. (Mic. 4:8.)

Not a change of place, for God, by whom all things are filled, cannot be absent from any place; but He seems to be absent from the vineyard, that He may leave the vine-dressers a freedom of acting.

Many things doth He intimate by this parable, God's providence, which had been exercised towards them from the first; their murderous disposition from the beginning; that nothing had been omitted of whatever pertained to a heedful care of them; that even when prophets had been slain, He had not turned away from them, but had sent His very Son; that the God both of the New and of the Old Testament was one and the same; that His death should effect great blessings; that they were to endure extreme punishment for the crucifixion, and their crime; the calling of the Gentiles, the casting out of the Jews.

Therefore He putteth it after the former parable, that He may show even hereby the charge to be greater, and highly unpardonable. How, and in what way? That although they met with so much care, they were worse than harlots and publicans, and by so much.

And observe also both His great care, and the excessive idleness of these men. For what pertained to the husbandmen, He Himself did, the hedging it round about, the planting the vineyard, and all the rest, and He left little for them to do; to take care of what was there, and to preserve what was given to them. For nothing was left undone, but all accomplished; and not even so did they gain, and this, when they had enjoyed such great blessings from Him. For when they had come forth out of Egypt, He gave a law, and set up a city, and built a temple, and prepared an altar.

"And went into a far country;" that He bore long with them, not always bringing the punishments close upon their sins; for by His going into a far country, He means His great long-suffering.

The householder is God, who in some parables is represented as a man. As it were a father condescending to the infant lisp of his little child, in order to instruct him.

Or, the hedge which God set round his people was His own Providence; and the winepress was the place of offerings.

Or, because God who had been with them in the cloud by day, and in the pillar of fire by night, (Exod. 13:21.) never after showed Himself to them in like manner. In Isaiah (Is. 5:7.) the people of the Jews is called the vineyard, and the threats of the householder are against the vineyard; but in the Gospel not the vineyard but the husbandmen are blamed. For perchance in the Gospel the vineyard is the kingdom of God, that is, the doctrine which is contained in holy Scripture; and a man's blameless life is the fruit of the vineyard. And the letter of Scripture is the hedge set round the vineyard, that the fruits which are hid in it should not be seen by those who are without. The depth of the oracles of God is the winepress of the vineyard, into which such as have profited in the oracles of God pour out their studies like fruit. The tower built therein is the word concerning God Himself, and concerning Christ's dispensations. This vineyard He committed to husbandmen, that is, to the people that was before us, both priests and laity, and went into a far country, by His departure giving opportunity to the husbandmen. The time of the vintage drawing near may be taken of individuals, and of nations. The first season of life is in infancy, when the vineyard has nought to show, but that it has in it the vital power. As soon as it comes to be able to speak, then is the time of putting forth buds. And as the child's soul progresses, so also does the vineyard, that is, the word of God; and after such progress the vineyard brings forth the ripe fruit of love, joy, peace, and the like. Moreover to the nation who received the Law by Moses, the time of fruit draweth near.

He is called man, by title, not by nature; in a kind of likeness, not in verity. For the Son knowing that by occasion of His human name He himself should be blasphemed as though he were mere man, spoke therefore of the Invisible God the Father as man; He who by nature is Lord of Angels and men, but by goodness their Father.

Or, by the hedge understand the protection of the holy fathers, who were set as a wall round the people of Israel.

Or, the winepress is the word of God, which tortures man when it contradicts his fleshly nature.

When, that is, Priests and Levites were constituted by the Law, and undertook the direction of the people. And as an husbandman, though he offer to his Lord of his own stock, does not please him so much as by giving him the fruit of his own vineyard; so the Priest does not so much please God by his own righteousness, as by teaching the people of God holiness; for his own righteousness is but one, but that of the people manifold. And went into a far country.

Morally; a vineyard has been let out to each of us to dress, when the mystery of baptism was given us, to be cultivated by action. Servants one, two, and three are sent us when Law, Psalm, and Prophecy are read, after whose instructions we are to work well. He that is sent is beaten and cast out when the word is contemned, or, which is worse, is blasphemed. He kills (as far as in him lies) the heir, who tramples under foot the Son, and does despite to the Spirit of grace. The wicked husbandman is destroyed, and the vineyard is given to another, when the gift of grace which the proud has contemned is given to the lowly.

He also introduces a parable of the mission to the vineyard of the Son (not the Father), who was sent after so many servants, and slain by the husbandmen, and avenged by the Father.

Yet another parable He brings to them, showing that though they were deemed worthy to receive an immeasurable degree of care for their condition, they did not get better. The "man, a householder" is the Lord Who in His love for man calls Himself a man. The vineyard is the Jewish people, planted by God in the land of promise. For He says, "Bring them in and plant them in Thy holy mountain" (Ex. 15:17). The hedge is the law which prevented them from mixing with the Gentiles; or, it is the holy angels who guarded Israel. The wine-press is the altar; the tower, the temple. The husbandmen are the teachers of the people, the Pharisees and the scribes. The householder, God, went into a far country when He no longer spoke to them in a pillar of cloud. Or, the departure of God into a far country is His long-suffering; for when He is long-suffering and not in hot pursuit of wrongdoers, demanding an account, He appears to be asleep or absent on a far journey.

"Hear another parable." The Lord had asked about the baptism, and they refused to answer; but now he questions covertly, so that they may not perceive; therefore he sets forth a parable, and does two things. First, he presents the parable; secondly, he demands their verdict, at "when therefore the lord of the vineyard shall come, what will he do to those husbandmen?" Concerning the first, three things. First, the benefit conferred is presented; secondly, the demand for recompense, at "and when the time of the fruits drew near" etc.; thirdly, the ingratitude, at "and the husbandmen laying hands on his servants" etc. Concerning the first, three things. First, the planting of the vineyard is presented; secondly, its adornment; thirdly, its leasing. He says therefore "there was a man, a householder, who planted a vineyard" etc. A similar passage is found in Isa 5:1, where it says: "A vineyard was made for my beloved on a horn of an olive tree." But here he says that the householder plants a vineyard. Some say that there he inveighs against the vineyard; hence he says: "What more could I have done for my vineyard?" But here against the husbandmen. Therefore it is explained in two ways according to Jerome and Chrysostom. The vineyard is called the Jewish people; Isa 5:7: "The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel." It is against the husbandmen, because as regards the present, this malice did not proceed from the people, but from the rulers; John 7:48: "Hath any one of the rulers believed in him?" Therefore not against the vineyard. This vineyard is not the house of Israel, but the justice of God, which was secretly handed down in sacred Scripture; hence he says "there was a man, a householder, who planted a vineyard," i.e., the Jewish people; Ps 79:9: "Thou hast brought a vineyard out of Egypt." Or he placed justice in the teaching of the law. "And made a hedge round about it," for the protection of the vineyard; hence those things which are set for protection, whether they be the prayers of the saints, or the guardianship of angels, are called a hedge; hence Hosea 2:6: "I will hedge up thy way with thorns." But if the vineyard is called justice, by the hedge he means the hidden words of Scripture. For according to the mystical sense, the hidden things of Scripture are not to be disclosed to anyone, because "what is holy is not to be given to dogs," above (7:6). "And dug in it a winepress." A winepress is set up so that the wine of charity may be pressed out. If by the vineyard is understood the Jewish people, by the winepress is understood the altar of holocausts. Likewise, the martyrs are understood, who shed their blood for the faith; Isa 63:3: "I have trodden the winepress alone." Or it can also be understood as the order of prophets, in whom the wine of wisdom was pressed out. Or it can be called the depth of sacred Scripture. Likewise, all the fruit of the vineyard is gathered in the winepress: so whatever the soul can do, all should be gathered to the praise of God. "And built a tower." By the tower is understood the temple. Micah 4:8: "And thou, O cloudy tower of the flock, unto thee shall the first dominion come." Or the knowledge of God; Prov 18:10: "The name of the Lord is a strong tower." Then concerning the leasing: "and let it out to husbandmen," i.e., he established it on a fixed payment. The husbandmen are Moses and Aaron, who held the governance. Job 31:39: "If I have afflicted the soul of the tillers thereof." Gregory: those who are placed over the people. "He went abroad," the Lord, not by changing place, but by leaving man to his own free will. Sir 15:14: "God made man from the beginning, and left him in the hand of his own counsel," i.e., he dismissed him to his own free will. Hence he is said to go abroad, when he does not inflict punishment for every sin. Or he did not appear so manifestly as before, namely, as when he appeared in the bush (Exod 3:2).

At each step of their wickedness the mercy of God was increased, and at each step of the Divine mercy the wickedness of the Jews increased; thus there was a strife between human wickedness and Divine goodness.

The season of fruit, He says, not of rent-paying, because this stiff-necked nation brings forth no fruit.

Or, the first servants who were sent were the Lawgiver Moses himself, and Aaron the first Priest of God; whom, having beaten them with the scourge of their tongue, they sent away empty; by the other servants understand the company of the Prophets.

"The time of the fruit drew near" during the years of the prophets. For the servants who were sent are the prophets who were abused in various ways by the husbandmen, that is, the false prophets and false teachers of those times. One they beat, as they did to Micah when Sedek struck him on the jaw (III Kings, or I Kings, 22:24); another they killed, as they did to Zechariah [the father of John the Forerunner] between the temple and the altar; another they stoned, as they did Zechariah, the son of Jodae the high priest (II Chron. 24:21).

"And when the time of the fruits drew near." Whoever makes anyone bear fruit, expects a benefit: and so the Lord expects that benefit be rendered to him for his glory. With respect to an individual, the fruit is not in childhood, but in full age; hence when one comes to adolescence, then he demands fruit: so when the people had been planted and the law given, he demanded fruit, and they did not acknowledge him. Jer 8:7: "The kite in the air hath known her time; but my people hath not known the judgment of the Lord." "He sent his servants," i.e., the prophets, "to the husbandmen," i.e., to the Jews, "to receive the fruits thereof," i.e., to induce men to act well. Below (28:34): "I send to you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them you will kill" etc.

(Verse 35-36) And the vinedressers took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise. We read the letter of Paul to the Hebrews (Heb. XI); and from it we learn in great detail the sufferings endured by the servants of the Lord.

Beat them, as Jeremiah, killed them, as Isaiah, stoned them, as Naboth and Zacharias, whom they slew between the temple and the altar.

And "He sent His servants," that is, the prophets, "to receive the fruit;" that is, their obedience, the proof of it by their works. But they even here showed their wickedness, not only by failing to give the fruit, after having enjoyed so much care, which was the sign of idleness, but also by showing anger towards them that came. For they that had not to give when they owed, should not have been indignant, nor angry, but should have entreated. But they not only were indignant, but even filled their hands with blood, and while deserving punishment, themselves inflicted punishment.

Therefore He sent both a second, and a third company, both that the wickedness of these might be shown, and the love towards man of Him who sent them.

After this the malice is treated. And first with respect to the first group; secondly, with respect to the second; thirdly, with respect to the third. "And the husbandmen laying hands on his servants, beat one," as Micaiah, "killed another," as Isaiah, "and stoned another," as Naboth. Heb 11:37: "They were stoned, they were cut asunder, they were killed by the sword."

These more than the first who were sent, denote that time, when, after the preaching of single Prophets, a great number was sent forth together.

"Again he sent other servants." Likewise, he sent prophets individually, as Moses and Aaron and others; but after, in the time of David, he sent many companies of prophets. For the Lord wills to set his mercy against their malice. Hence "and they did to them in like manner." Deut 31:27: "You have always been contentious against the Lord."

By the Son sent at last, is denoted the advent of our Lord.

(Verse 37, 38.) But lastly, he sent his son to them, saying: They will respect my son. However, the farmers, upon seeing the son, said among themselves: This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and we shall have his inheritance. In the passage above, we read: Again, he sent other servants more than the previous ones, and they did the same to them. The patience of the householder is shown in that he sent them more frequently, in order to provoke the wicked tenants to repentance. But they treasured up wrath for themselves on the day of wrath (Rom. 2). Moreover, that which is joined: They fear for my son, he does not come from ignorance. For what does the head of the household not know, who in this place is understood as God the Father? But God is always said to be ambiguous, so that free will may be preserved for man. Let us ask Arius and Eunomius. Behold, the Father is said to be ignorant, and he tempers his judgement, and as far as you are concerned, he is proven to be lying. Whatever they may answer on behalf of the Father, let them understand it as being on behalf of the Son, who himself says that he does not know the day of consummation.

But when He says, They will reverence my Son, He does not speak as in ignorance. For what is there that this householder (by whom in this place God is intended) knows not? But God is thus spoken of as being uncertain, in order that free-will may be reserved for man.

Let us enquire of Arrius and Eunomius. See here the Father is said not to know somewhat. Whatever answer they make for the Father, let them understand the same of the Son, when He says that He knows not the day of the consummation of all things. (Mat. 22:36.)

And wherefore sent He not His Son immediately? In order that they might condemn themselves for the things done to the others, and leave off their wrath, and reverence Him when He came. There are also other reasons, but for the present let us go on to what is next. But what means, "It may be they will reverence?" It is not the language of one ignorant, away with the thought! but of one desiring to show the sin to be great; and without any excuse. Since Himself knowing that they would slay Him, He sent Him. But He saith, "They will reverence," declaring what ought to have been done, that it was their duty to have reverenced Him. Since elsewhere also He saith, "if perchance they will hear;" not in this case either being ignorant, but lest any of the obstinate should say, that His prediction was the thing that necessitated their disobedience, therefore He frames His expressions in this way, saying, "Whether they will," and, "It may be." For though they had been obstinate towards His servants, yet ought they to have reverenced the dignity of the Son.

He sent Him not as the bearer of a sentence of punishment against the guilty, but of an offer of repentance; He sent Him to put them to shame, not to punish them.

But some say, that it was after His incarnation, that Christ was called a Son in right of His baptism like the other saints, whom the Lord refutes by this place, saying, I will send my Son. Therefore when He thus meditated sending His Son after the Prophets, He must have been already His Son. Further, if He had been His Son in the same way as all the saints to whom the word of God was sent, He ought to have called the Prophets also His sons, as He calls Christ, or to call Christ His servant, as He calls the Prophets.

Later the Son of God was sent and He appeared in the flesh. He said, "They will reverence My Son," not unaware that they would kill Him, but signifying what ought to be. For, He says, they ought to honor the dignity of the Son even if they had killed the servants.

There follows thirdly: "and last of all he sent to them his son" etc., which was the height of consummate malice. And he does three things. First, the mercy of the Lord is presented; secondly, their malice; thirdly, the execution of the wicked plan. "And last of all he sent to them his son." Heb 1:1: "God, who, at sundry times and in divers manners, spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, last of all, in these days, hath spoken to us by his Son." "He sent to them his son, saying: they will reverence my son." But what is it that he says, "they will?" Did he not know? Jerome says that this doubtful way of speaking signifies the freedom of the will, to show what they were going to be; because he who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father. Or he speaks thus because some did reverence him.

What then do these? When they ought to have run unto Him, when they ought to have asked pardon for their offenses, they even persist more strongly in their former sins, they proceed to add unto their pollutions, forever throwing into the shade their former offenses by their later; as also He Himself declared when He said, "Fill ye up the measure of your fathers." For from the first the prophets used to charge them with these things, saying, "Your hands are full of blood;" and, "They mingle blood with blood;" and, "They build up Sion with blood."

But they did not learn self-restraint, albeit they received this commandment first, "Thou shalt not kill;" and had been commanded to abstain from countless other things because of this, and by many and various means urged to the keeping of this commandment.

Yet, for all that, they put not away that evil custom; but what say they, when they saw Him? Come, let us kill Him. With what motive, and for what reason? what of any kind had they to lay to His charge, either small or great? Is it that He honored you, and being God became man for your sakes, and wrought His countless miracles? or that He pardoned your sins? or that He called you unto a kingdom?

But see together with their impiety great was their folly, and the reason of His murder was full of much madness. "For let us kill Him," it is said, "and the inheritance shall be ours."

And where do they take counsel to kill Him? "Out of the vineyard."

Seest thou how He prophesies even the place where He was to be slain. "And they cast Him out, and slew Him."

Or we may suppose this fulfilled in the case of those Jews who, knowing Christ, believed in Him. But what follows, But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir, come let us kill him, and let us seize on the inheritance, was fulfilled in those who saw Christ, and knew Him to be the Son of God, yet crucified Him.

After His entry into the Temple, and having cast out those who sold the animals for the sacrifices, then they took counsel to kill Him, Come, let us kill him. For they reasoned among themselves, It will happen that the people hereby shall disuse the practice of sacrificing, which pertains to our gain, and shall be content to offer the sacrifice of righteousness, which pertains to the glory of God; and so the nation shall no more be our possession, but shall become God's. But if we shall kill Him, then there being none to seek the fruit of righteousness from the people, the practice of offering sacrifice shall continue, and so this people shall become our possession; as it follows, And the inheritance shall be ours. These are the usual thoughts of all worldly Priests, who take no thought how the people shall live without sin, but look to how much is offered in the Church, and esteem that the profit of their ministry.

By what they say, This is the Son, He manifestly proves that the rulers of the Jews crucified the Son of God, not through ignorance, but through jealousy. For they understood that it was He to whom the Father speaks by the Prophet, Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance (Ps. 2:8.) The inheritance given to the Son is the holy Church; an inheritance not left Him by His Father when dying, but wonderfully purchased by His own death.

Or, The Jews endeavoured by putting Him to death to seize upon the inheritance, when they strove to overthrow the faith which is through Him, and to substitute their own righteousness which is by the Law, and therewith to imbue the Gentiles. It follows, And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.

But the husbandmen saw Him and said, "This is the heir; come, let us kill Him." The Jews, too, said, "This is the Christ," and they crucified Him. They cast Him out of the vineyard, for the Lord was slain outside of the city. But since we would also say that the vineyard is the people, Christ was slain by the Pharisees, the evil husbandmen, outside the vineyard, that is, outside and apart from the will of the guileless people.

Then the purpose of malice is presented. And first, the scheming is presented; secondly, the plan; thirdly, the malice. "But the husbandmen seeing the son, said among themselves: this is the heir; come, let us kill him, and we shall have his inheritance;" for the son is truly the heir of his father, because what he asks, he obtains. Ps 2:8: "Ask of me, and I will give thee the Gentiles for thy inheritance." Likewise, he is the heir because whatever the Father has, he also has: for he is not called an heir as someone else who receives his inheritance upon the father's death, but because what is the Father's is always also his. But against this: "if they had known it, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory" (1 Cor 2:8). This is true if they had truly known; but they knew by conjecture. There follows the plan: "come, let us kill him." Wis 2:20: "Let us condemn him to a most shameful death." And what is the plan? "We shall have his inheritance." For they knew from the law that he was to rule over the Jewish people. Hence they feared lest he impose upon them the yoke of the law, and destroy their traditions. Therefore they would not endure the yoke of Christ; hence they endured the yoke of the Romans. Hence John 11:48: "Lest perhaps the Romans come, and take away our place and nation."

The householder in this parable is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The vineyard he planted represents the Jewish people who were begotten from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, multiplied like the stars in the sky and the sand of the shore, liberated from the land of Egypt and the yoke of slavery, and led through the sea to the promised land, as the prophet said: "You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it." The Lord planted the Jewish people in the promised land, flowing with milk and honey, so that they would bear the fruit of the commandments of God. "He surrounded it with a hedge" means that God fortified it with the protection of angels. The wine press he dug signifies the holy church, where the fruits of righteousness and holiness are gathered; just as the grapes are pressed only with great toil and effort, so also the holy martyrs are crushed like grapes and shed their blood only through great persecutions and tortures. The tower constructed in the middle of the vineyard is our Lord himself, who appeared like a strong tower in the midst of the holy church through the Virgin. Because of his presence, all the saints and martyrs are protected with spiritual weapons from their most wicked enemy, who is the devil. "When harvest time drew near, he sent his servants," that is, the prophets, "to the tenants," who were the teachers of the law, "to collect the fruit of the vineyard." He had already sent the prophets to them repeatedly to collect his fruit, but they were disdainful and rebellious toward the Lord and greeted his prophets with swords, beatings, stonings and other persecutions. They killed Isaiah, stoned Jeremiah, pursued Elijah and beheaded John the Baptist. Every nation that persecutes its teachers and fails to produce the fruit of the gospel is an accomplice to the Jews. "Finally, therefore, he sent his only son to them, saying, 'surely they will respect my son.' " The "only son" of the householder is the Lord, the Son of God, who came by the will of the Father to his vineyard, which is the Jewish people. "But when the tenants," who are the teachers of the law, "saw his son, they said to themselves, 'this is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours,' and they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him." They also crucified our Lord outside the city, while they shouted, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" Yet they did not in fact come to possess the inheritance of the law; instead, they sentenced themselves to death, for the Lord asked, "What will the owner of the vineyard do to the tenants when he comes?" They responded, "He will destroy the evil tenants and give the vineyard to other tenants who will produce its fruit in a timely manner." They condemned themselves by their own words, as the Lord implies when he speaks about himself and their faithlessness: "The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; therefore, I say to you that the kingdom of God will be removed from you and given to a people producing its fruits."

Christ was cast out of Jerusalem, as out of the vineyard, to His sentence of punishment.

(Verse 39) And they apprehended him, cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. And the Apostle speaks, that Jesus was crucified outside the gate (Heb. 13). We can also understand it differently; that he was cast out of the vineyard, and there he was killed: so that when the gentiles received him, the vineyard would be given to others.

Or, what He says, And cast him out of the vineyard, seems to me to be this; As far as they were concerned they judged Him a stranger both to the vineyard, and the husbandmen. When therefore the Lord of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?

Then the execution is presented: "and taking him, they cast him forth out of the vineyard, and killed him," because they crucified him outside the gate of the city, and so they killed him as though a stranger to the vineyard. Isa 53:7: "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter" etc. That they cast him out of the vineyard is found in John, that whoever confessed the name of Christ was cast out of the synagogue.

(de Cons. Ev. ii. 70.) Mark does not give this as their answer, but relates that the Lord after His question put to them, made this answer to Himself. But it may be easily explained, that their words are subjoined in such a way as to show that they spoke them, without putting in 'And they answered.' Or this answer is attributed to the Lord, because, what they said being true, might well be said to have been spoken by Him who is truth.

(ubi sup.) This troubles us more, how it is that Luke not only does not relate this to have been their answer, but attributes to them a contrary answer. His words are, And when they heard it they said, God forbid. (Luke 20:16.) The only way that remains for understanding this is, therefore, that of the listening multitudes some answered as Matthew relates, and some as Luke. And let it perplex no one that Matthew says that the Chief Priests and elders of the people came to the Lord, and that he connects the whole of this discourse in one down to this parable of the vineyard, without interposing any other speaker. For it may be supposed that He spoke all these things with the Chief Priests, but that Matthew for brevity's sake omitted what Luke mentions, namely, that this parable was spoken not to those only who asked Him concerning His authority, but to the populace, among whom were some who said, He shall destroy them, and give the vineyard to others. And at the same time this saying is rightly thought to have been the Lord's, either for its truth, or for the unity of His members with their head. And there were also those who said, God forbid, those namely, who perceived that He spoke this parable against them.

(Verse 40, 41.) When therefore the Lord of the vineyard shall come, what will he do to those farmers? They say to him: He will destroy those wicked men and will lease out his vineyard to other farmers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons. The Lord asks them not because he doesn't know what they will answer, but in order to condemn them by their own response. And a vineyard has been leased to us, and it has been leased under the condition that we render to the Lord the fruits in their seasons, and we should know at all times what we must either say or do.

The Lord asks them not as though He did not know what they would answer, but that they might be condemned by their own answer.

And Luke indeed saith, that He declared what these men should suffer; and they said, "God forbid;" and He added the testimony of Scripture. For "He beheld them, and said, What is it then that is written? The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner; and every one that falleth upon it shall be broken." But Matthew, that they themselves delivered the sentence. But this is not a contradiction. For indeed both things were done, both themselves passed the sentence against themselves; and again, when they perceived what they had said, they added, "God forbid;" and He set up the prophet against them, persuading them that certainly this would be.

Nevertheless, not even so did He plainly reveal the Gentiles, that He might afford them no handle, but signified it darkly by saying, "He will give the vineyard to others." For this purpose then did He speak by a parable, that themselves might pass the sentence, which was done in the case of David also, when He passed judgment on the parable of Nathan. But do thou mark, I pray thee, even hereby how just is the sentence, when the very persons that are to be punished condemn themselves.

"When He cometh." When? At the second coming? It seems to have this meaning, but a better meaning is this: the lord of the vineyard is God the Father Who sent His Son Who was slain by them. When He comes, that is, when He looks down on the lawlessness which the Jews committed, then He will miserably destroy them by sending the Roman army. And His vineyard, that is, His people, He will give to other husbandmen, that is, to apostles and teachers. Understand the vineyard to mean also the Divine Scriptures, in which the hedge is the letter, and the wine-press that is dug is the depth of the Spirit; the tower is theology, lofty and exalted. These Scriptures, then, were first possessed by bad husbandmen, the Pharisees; but God has let them out to us who cultivate them well. But they slew the Lord outside the vineyard, that is, outside those things of which Scripture spoke.

Then he demands their verdict: "when therefore the lord of the vineyard shall come, what will he do to those husbandmen?" So subtly does the Lord ask that they judge against themselves, as Nathan did with David when he sinned with Bathsheba.

He is become the head of the corner, because He is the union of both sides between the Law and the Gentiles.

(Verse 42.) Jesus said to them: Have you never read in the Scriptures: The stone which the builders rejected, the same has become the head of the corner? This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes. (Psalm 118:22-23). Various parables and different teachings are woven into this story. For those whom he previously called workers, vine-dressers, and farmers, he now calls builders, that is, masons. Hence the Apostle says: You are God's field, you are God's building. (1 Corinthians 3:9). So just as bricklayers and vine-growers take possession of a vineyard, they also took possession of a stone, which they either place in the foundations, next to the architect Paul (Ibid.), or in the corner, to join together two walls, that is, both peoples (Ephesians 2), who were rejected by them, became the cornerstone. And this was done by the Lord, not by human strength, but by the power of God. Peter also confidently speaks of this stone of support: This stone, which was rejected by you builders, has become the cornerstone (1 Peter 2:7). And Isaiah said: Behold, I will send a chosen, precious, corner stone into the foundations of Zion: and he that believeth in him, shall not be confounded (Isa. II, 16).

The same things are treated under various figures; whom above He called labourers and husbandmen, He now calls builders.

Then that they might learn that not only the nature of justice requires these things, but even from the beginning the grace of the Spirit had foretold them, and God had so decreed, He both added a prophecy, and reproves them in a way to put them to shame, saying, "Did ye never read, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner? this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes;" by all things showing, that they should be cast out for unbelief, and the Gentiles brought in. This He darkly intimated by the Canaanitish woman also; this again by the ass, and by the centurion, and by many other parables; this also now.

Wherefore He added too, "This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes," declaring beforehand that the believing Gentiles, and as many of the Jews as should also themselves believe, shall be one, although the difference between them had been so great before.

Then, that they might learn that nothing was opposed to God's will of the things doing, but that the event was even highly acceptable, and beyond expectation, and amazing every one of the beholders (for indeed the miracle was far beyond words), He added and said, "It is the Lord's doing." And by the stone He means Himself, and by builders the teachers of the Jews; as Ezekiel also saith, "They that build the wall, and daub it with untempered mortar." But how did they reject Him? By saying, "This man is not of God;" "This man deceiveth the people;" and again, "Thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil."

That is, the stone is the gift of God to the whole building, and is wonderful in our eyes, who can discern it with the eyes of the mind.

When they seemed discontent, He brings forward Scripture testimony; as much as to say, If ye understood not My parable, at least acknowledge this Scripture.

As much as to say, How do ye not understand in what building that stone is to be set, not in yours, seeing it is rejected, but in another; but if the building is to be other, your building will be rejected.

But despite of their displeasure, the same stone furnished the head stone of the corner, for out of both nations He has joined by faith in Him as many as He would.

The stone means Christ Himself; the builders are the teachers of the Jews who rejected Him as if He were useless, saying, "Thou art a Samaritan and hast a demon." But when He rose from the dead, He was set in place as the head of the corner, that is, He became the head of the Church, joining Jews and Gentiles in one faith. For as the stone which forms the corner of a building makes continuous the walls leading to it and from it, so Christ has bound all together in one faith. This corner is marvelous, and is the Lord's doing (Ps. 117:22-23). For the Church which connects us and makes us one in faith is the Lord's doing, and is worthy of all wonder, so well is it built. And in another sense is it marvelous, because the Word of Christ has been confirmed and substantiated by marvels, that is, miracles, so that the composition of the Church is marvelous.

"Jesus saith to them." Here the confirmation is presented. And first the authority; secondly, the exposition. He says "have you never read in the Scriptures" (this is read in Ps 117:22): "the stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner?" And he presents four things. First, the rejection; secondly, the dignity; thirdly, the cause; fourthly, the wonder. He says "the stone" etc. The stone is Christ, who is called a stone from many likenesses. Isa 28:16: "Behold I will lay in the foundations of Sion a cornerstone" etc. The builders are the apostles. "Let each one see how he builds." Hence that stone which they rejected, i.e., cast out, "the same is become," i.e., was established, "the head of the corner," i.e., the head of Jews and Gentiles. Hence he was made the head of the Church. But they could say: he made himself the head; therefore he says "by the Lord this has been done." Ps 117:16: "The right hand of the Lord hath wrought strength" etc. And what is this exaltation like? "And it is wonderful in our eyes;" Hab 1:5: "Behold among the nations, and see: wonder, and be astonished: for a work is done in your days, which no man will believe, when it shall be told." For so great was the dignity, that it would not have been done, had not the grace of God accomplished it. Eph 2:8: "For by grace you are saved through Christ."