2 Afterfeast of the Nativity of Christ

And Jesus said to them: The children of this age marry, and are given in marriage. When the Lord says: Do not give what is holy to dogs, nor cast your pearls before swine (Matthew 7), because He is found to have said certain things either here about the glory of the resurrection, or elsewhere about the mystery of His dispensation or even His divinity, which many who were present either by resisting or by scorning did not receive, He is not to be thought as having given what is holy to dogs, or cast pearls before swine. For He did not give to those who could not grasp it, who, due to the impurity of others, ought not to be neglected. Indeed, when the tempters were questioning Him, and He was responding to them in such a way that they had nothing to contradict, even though they would rather languish in their own venom than be satisfied with His food, yet others who were able to grasp it heard many things usefully because of them.

And Jesus said to them, etc. After the erroneous inquiry, he here subjoins the truthful response. Concerning which four things are introduced, namely the assertion of truth, the reason for the assertion, the confirmation of the reason, and the commendation of the confirmation.

First, as regards the assertion of truth, he says: And Jesus said to them: The children of this world marry and are given in marriage, for the sake of having succession, as in Tobit 8: "You, Lord, know that not for the sake of lust do I take my sister as wife, but solely out of love of posterity, in which your name may be blessed forever and ever." And this marriage, although it could belong to spiritual men, is nevertheless only among those living in the flesh; whence children of this world does not connote vice. But others marry for the sole fulfillment of pleasure, concerning whom Genesis 6: "The sons of God, seeing the daughters of men that they were fair, took to themselves wives of all whom they chose"; and above in chapter 14: "I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come." And then children of this world connotes vice, as also above in chapter 16: "The children of this world are more prudent than the children of light," etc. And these are the children of the bondwoman, concerning whom Galatians 4: "The son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman." But neither of these will exist in the resurrection, neither succession nor carnal pleasure.

Against conjugal chastity it is objected: Luke 20: The children of this age marry and are given in marriage, etc.: but the children of this age are not children of God: therefore through the conjugal act which they exercise, they are not children of God: therefore conjugal continence is repugnant to the law of God.

To that which is objected concerning the children of this world, it must be said that the children of the world are sometimes distinguished from the children of light, as in Luke 16: The children of this world are more prudent than the children of light, etc.; sometimes they are distinguished from the children of the other world or of the resurrection, as here. In the first way, the children of this world are called those who conform themselves to this world and love it above all: and thus it has the sense of vice. In the second way, the children of this world are called those who live in this world, or pass away with the world; and thus it has the sense of infirmity. Whence from this it is not established that marriage is blameworthy, but that it has an infirmity attached to it.

And those whose life is common, have common graces and a common salvation; common to them are love and training. "For in this world," he says, "they marry, and are given in marriage," in which alone the female is distinguished from the male; "but in that world it is so no more." There the rewards of this social and holy life, which is based on conjugal union, are laid up, not for male and female, but for man, the sexual desire which divides humanity being removed.

If anyone ponders over this answer about the resurrection of the dead, he will find that the Lord is not rejecting marriage but is purging the expectation of physical desire in the resurrection. The words "the children of this age" were not spoken in contrast to the children of some other age. It is like saying, "those born in this generation," who are children by force of birth, being born and engendering themselves, since without the process of birth no one will pass into this life. This process of birth is balanced by a process of decay and is no longer in store for the person who has once been cut off from life here.

Of the benefit of virginity and of continency. In Genesis: "Multiplying I will multiply thy sorrows and thy groanings, and in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children; and thy turning shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee." Of this same thing in the Gospel according to Matthew: "All men do not receive the word, but they to whom it is given: for there are some eunuchs who were born so from their mother's womb, and there are eunuchs who have been constrained by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He who can receive it, let him receive it." Also according to Luke: "The children of this world beget, and are begotten. But they who have been considered worthy of that world, and the resurrection from the dead, do not marry, nor are married: for neither shall they begin to die: for they are equal to the angels of God, since they are the children of the resurrection. But, that the dead rise again, Moses intimates when he says in the bush, The Lord, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto Him." Also in the first Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: "It is good for a man not to touch a woman. But, on account of fornication, let every man have his own wife, and every woman have her own husband. Let the husband render what is due to the wife, and similarly the wife to the husband. The wife hath not power over her own body, but the husband. And in like manner, the husband hath not power over his own body, but the wife. Defraud not one the other, except by agreement for a time, that ye may have leisure for prayer; and again return to the same point, lest Satan tempt you on account of your incontinency. This I say by way of allowance, not by way of command. But I wish that all men should be even as I am. But every one has his proper gift from God; one in one way, but another in another way." Also in the same place: "An unmarried man thinks of those things which are the Lord's, in what way he may please God; but he who has contracted marriage thinks of those things that are of this world, in what way he may please his wife. Thus also, both the woman and the unmarried virgin thinketh of those things which are the Lord's, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit; but she that hath married thinks of those things which are of this world, in what way she may please her husband." Also in Exodus, when the Lord had commanded Moses that he should sanctify the people for the third day, he sanctified them, and added: "Be ye ready, for three days ye shall not approach to women." Also in the first book of Kings: "And the priest answered to David, and said, There are no profane loaves in my hand, except one sacred loaf. If the young men have been kept back from women, they shall eat." Also in the Apocalypse: "These are they who have not defiled themselves with women, for they have continued virgins; these are they who follow the Lamb whithersoever He shall go."

Let us also see what Christ said to them. He says, "The children of this world that lead worldly, fleshly lives full of fleshly lust marry and are married for the procreation of children. Those who have maintained an honorable and chosen life, full of all excellence, and have been accounted worthy of attaining to a glorious and marvelous resurrection, certainly will be raised far above the life which people lead in this world. They will live as is suitable for saints who already have been brought near to God. They are equal with the angels and are the children of God. Since all fleshly lust is taken away and no place whatsoever is left in them for bodily pleasure, they resemble the holy angels, fulfilling a spiritual and not a material service suitable for holy spirits. They are at the same time counted worthy of a glory like the angels enjoy.

And our Lord Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, for no other reason than that He might destroy the begetting by lawless desire, and might show to the ruler that the formation of man was possible to God without human intervention. And when He had been born, and had submitted to the other conditions of the flesh,-I mean food, drink, and clothing,-this one condition only of discharging the sexual function He did not submit to; for, regarding the desires of the flesh, He accepted some as necessary, while others, which were unnecessary, He did not submit to. For if the flesh were deprived of food, drink, and clothing, it would be destroyed; but being deprived of lawless desire, it suffers no harm. And at the same time He foretold that, in the future world, sexual intercourse should be done away with; as He says, "The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage; but the children of the world to come neither marry nor are given in marriage, but shall be like the angels in heaven." Let not, then, those that are unbelieving marvel, if in the world to come He do away with those acts of our fleshly members which even in this present life are abolished.

But because the Lord says in Matthew, which is here omitted, Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, (Mat. 22:29.) I ask the question, where is it so written, They shall neither marry, nor be given in marriage? for as I conceive there is no such thing to be found either in the Old or New Testament, but the whole of their error had crept in from the reading of the Scriptures without understanding; for it is said in Esaias, My elect shall not have children for a curse. (Isai. 65:23.) Whence they suppose that the like will happen in the resurrection. But Paul interpreting all these blessings as spiritual, knowing them not to be carnal, says to the Ephesians, Ye have blessed us in all spiritual blessings. (Eph. 1:3.)

He had nobody to fear; that it should seem advisable for Him either to evade their questions, or to make them the occasion of indirectly mooting a subject which He was not in the habit of teaching publicly at any other time. He therefore gave His answer, that "the children of this world marry." You see how pertinent it was to the case in point.

God; who have restored the honour of their flesh, and who have already dedicated themselves as sons of that (future) age, by slaying in themselves the concupiscence of lust, and that whole (propensity) which could not be admitted within Paradise! Whence it is presumable that such as shall wish to be received within Paradise, ought at last to begin to cease from that thing from which Paradise is intact.

But the Lord refutes their premise and declares that life there is not bodily. And together with this weak premise and assumption He destroys their teaching as well, saying: you are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures and misinterpreting their meaning. "The children of this age," that is, those who beget and are begotten in this world, "marry and are given in marriage," that is, "are wed." But the sons of that age do none of such things, for they cannot even die; therefore there is no marriage there either, but life is angelic, divine. Here there is marriage because there is death, and there is death because there is marriage. But there, when death is abolished, what need is there for marriage? For marriage was established as an aid to mortality and to make up for what is lacking. And where there is no lack whatsoever, what need is there for replenishment?

But our Lord shows that in the resurrection there will be no fleshly conversation, thereby overthrowing their doctrine together with its slender foundation; as it follows, And Jesus said unto them, The children of this world marry, &c.

What did the Lord say to the Sadducees? He said, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures or the power of God. For in the resurrection they marry neither husbands nor wives; for neither do they start dying again, but they will be equal to the angels of God." The power of God is great. Why do they not marry husbands or wives? They will not start dying again. When one generation departs, another is required to succeed it. There will not be such liability to decay in that place. The Lord passed through the usual stages of growth, from infancy to adult manhood, because he was bearing the substance of flesh that still was mortal. After he had risen again at the age at which he was buried, are we to imagine that he is growing old in heaven? He says, "They will be equal to the angels of God." He eliminated the assumption of the Jews and refuted the objection of the Sadducees, because the Jews did indeed believe the dead would rise again, but they had crude, fleshly ideas about the state of humanity after resurrection. He said, "They will be equal to the angels of God." …It has already been stated that we are to rise again. We have heard from the Lord that we rise again to the life of the angels. In his own resurrection, he has shown us in what specific form we are to rise again.

(de Quæst. Ev. l. ii. cap. 49.) For marriages are for the sake of children, children for succession, succession because of death. Where then there is no death, there are no marriages; and hence it follows, But they which shall be accounted worthy, &c.

But those who are considered worthy of that age and the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. This is not to be understood as if only the worthy will either rise again or be without marriage, and the unworthy, that is, sinners, are either believed not to rise again or to rise for the sake of marriages; rather, it should be understood that all will both rise again and remain without marriages in that age. But the Lord and Savior, to incite souls to seek the glory of the resurrection, wished only to speak of the elect. If, however, in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, then the bodies that rise are ones that can marry and be given in marriage, that is, bodies of men and women distinguished by specific members, but bound by no pleasure or necessity of intercourse. For no one says about a stone or a tree, and these things which do not have genital members, that they do not marry nor are given in marriage, but about those who, when they can marry, do not for another reason.

Which must not be taken as if only they who are worthy were either to rise again or be without marriage, but all sinners also shall rise again, and abide without marriage in that new world. But our Lord wished to mention only the elect, that He might incite the minds of His hearers to search into the glory of the resurrection.

Therefore he adds: But they who shall be accounted worthy of that age and of the resurrection from the dead shall neither marry nor take wives: neither shall they marry, as regards women, nor take wives, as regards men. He calls the just worthy of the resurrection. For he speaks here specifically about the resurrection of the just, who will not only rise again but will also be changed, according to that passage of First Corinthians fifteen: "We shall all indeed rise again, but we shall not all be changed." "For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall rise incorruptible." Therefore, although the wicked shall rise with the good, as is said in John five: "The hour comes, in which all who are in the tombs shall hear the voice of the Son of God"; nevertheless he speaks specifically of the good, who will be elevated above time and temporal movements, and thereby above marriage and every carnal act.

In us it is not only the spirit which ought to be sanctified, but also our behaviour, manner of life, and our body. What does the apostle Paul mean when he says that the wife is sanctified by the husband and the husband by the wife? And what is the meaning of the Lord's words to those who asked concerning divorce whether it is lawful to put away one's wife as Moses commanded? "Because of the hardness of your hearts," he says, "Moses wrote this; but have you not read that God said to the first man, You two shall be one flesh? Therefore he who divorces his wife except for fornication makes her an adulteress." But "after the resurrection," he says, "they neither marry nor are given in marriage."

I salute you, dearest and most blessed brethren, myself also desiring to enjoy the sight of you, if the state in which I am placed would permit me to come to you. For what could happen to me more desirable and more joyful than to be now close to you, that you might embrace me with those hands, which, pure and innocent, and maintaining the faith of the Lord, have rejected the profane obedience? What more pleasant and sublime than now to kiss your lips, which with a glorious voice have confessed the Lord, to be looked upon even in presence by your eyes, which, despising the world, have become worthy of looking upon God? But since opportunity is not afforded me to share in this joy, I send this letter in my stead to your ears and to your eyes, by which I congratulate and exhort you that you persevere strongly and steadily in the confession of the heavenly glory; and having entered on the way of the Lord's condescension, that you go on in the strength of the Spirit, to receive the crown, having the Lord as your protector and guide, who said, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." O blessed prison, which your presence has enlightened! O blessed prison, which sends the men of God to heaven! O darkness, more bright than the sun itself, and clearer than the light of this world, where now are placed temples of God, and your members are to be sanctified by divine confessions!

Hold fast, O virgins! hold fast what you have begun to be; hold fast what you shall be. A great reward awaits you, a great recompense of virtue, the immense advantage of chastity. Do you wish to know what ill the virtue of continence avoids, what good it possesses? "I will multiply," says God to the woman, "thy sorrows and thy groanings; and in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee." You are free from this sentence. You do not fear, the sorrows and the groans of women. You have no fear of child-bearing; nor is your husband lord over you; but your Lord and Head is Christ, after the likeness and in the place of the man; with that of men your lot and your condition is equal. It is the word of the Lord which says, "The children of this world beget and are begotten; but they who are counted worthy of that world, and of the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage: neither shall they die any more: for they are equal to the angels of God, being the children of the resurrection." That which we shall be, you have already begun to be. You possess already in this world the glory of the resurrection. You pass through the world without the contagion of the world; in that you continue chaste and virgins, you are equal to the angels of God. Only let your virginity remain and endure substantial and uninjured; and as it began bravely, let it persevere continuously, and not seek the ornaments of necklaces nor garments, but of conduct. Let it look towards God and heaven, and not lower to the lust of the flesh and of the world, the eyes uplifted to things above, or set them upon earthly things.

Just as our Lord also said, 'They shall neither marry nor be given in marriage, but shall be equal to the angels, the children of the God of the resurrection.'

"But they whom God shall account worthy of the possession of that world and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; forasmuch as they cannot die any more, since they become equal to the angels, being made the children of God and of the resurrection." If, then, the meaning of the answer must not turn on any other point than on the proposed question, and since the question proposed is fully understood from this sense of the answer, then the Lord's reply admits of no other interpretation than that by which the question is clearly understood.

"And all that glory shall serve Him; His dominion shall be an everlasting one, which shall not be taker from Him, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed," because in it "men shall not die, neither shall they marry, but be like the angels." It is about the same advent of the Son of man and the benefits thereof that we read in Habakkuk: "Thou wentest forth for the salvation of Thy people, even to save Thine anointed ones, -in other words, those who shall look up and lift their heads, being redeemed in the time of His kingdom.

With what consistency do we mount that (future) judgment-seat to pronounce sentence against those whose gifts we (now) seek after? For you too, (women as you are, ) have the self-same angelic nature promised as your reward, the self-same sex as men: the self-same advancement to the dignity of judging, does (the Lord) promise you.

"But if 'in that age they will neither marry nor be given in marriage, but will be equal to angels,' is not the fact that there will be no restitution of the conjugal relation a reason why we shall not be bound to our departed consorts? "Nay, but the more shall we be bound (to them), because we are destined to a better estate-destined (as we are) to rise to a spiritual consortship, to recognise as well our own selves as them who are ours.

But the sons of that age do none of such things, for they cannot even die; therefore there is no marriage there either, but life is angelic, divine. Here there is marriage because there is death, and there is death because there is marriage. But there, when death is abolished, what need is there for marriage? For marriage was established as an aid to mortality and to make up for what is lacking. And where there is no lack whatsoever, what need is there for replenishment?

As if He said, Because it is God who worketh in the resurrection, rightly are they called the sons of God, who are regenerated by the resurrection. For there is nothing carnal seen in the regeneration of them that rise again, there is neither coming together, nor the womb, nor birth.

How do we understand these two resurrections? Do we, it may be, understand that they who rise now will not rise then; that the resurrection of some is now, of some others then? It is not so. For we have risen in this resurrection, if we have rightly believed; and we ourselves, who have already risen, are looking for another resurrection in the end. Moreover, both now are we risen to eternal life, if we perseveringly continue in the same faith; and then, too, we shall rise to eternal life, when we shall be made equal with the angels.

(de Quæst. Ev. l. ii. cap. 49.) As our discourse is made up and completed by departing and succeeding syllables, so also men themselves whose faculty discourse is, by departure and succession make up and complete the order of this world, which is built up with the mere temporal beauty of things. But in the future life, seeing that the Word which we shall enjoy is formed by no departure and succession of syllables, but all things which it has it has everlastingly and at once, so those who partake of it, to whom it alone will be life, shall neither depart by death, nor succeed by birth, even as it now is with the angels; as it follows, For they are equal to the angels.

For they can no longer die. Because marriages are for the sake of children. Children are for the sake of succession. Succession is for the sake of death. Therefore, where there is no death, neither are there marriages.

For they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. Equal to angels and sons of God, who, renewed by the glory of the resurrection, without any fear of death, without any stain of corruption, without any act of earthly state, enjoy the perpetual vision of God, to which, whoever desires to ascend to the equality of angelic dignity must now condescend to the least of the brothers.

Or they are equal to the angels, and the children of God, because made new by the glory of the resurrection, with no fear of death, with no spot of corruption, with no quality of an earthly condition, they rejoice in the perpetual beholding of God's presence.

Second, as regards the reason for the assertion, he adds: For neither can they die anymore; from which it follows that they will not have wives. Hence Bede: "Since marriages exist for the sake of children, children for the sake of succession, and succession exists on account of death: where therefore there is no death, neither are there marriages."

But then it can be argued from this that since in paradise there was no death before sin, marriages would not have existed.

And the response to this is that although there was no death by necessity, as there is now, there was nevertheless death by possibility, because the first parents had an animal body, but after the resurrection the body will be spiritual, according to that passage of First Corinthians fifteen: "It is sown an animal body, it shall rise spiritual: it is sown in weakness, it shall rise in power: it is sown in dishonor, it shall rise in glory."

Therefore he adds: For they are equal to the Angels and are sons of God, since they are sons of the resurrection, that is, just as the Angels are immortal, incorruptible, above time and the variations of temporal movements, so shall the good be, because after the resurrection we shall then be equal to the Angels according to the dignity of glory; on account of which, Revelation twenty-one: "The measure of a man, which is that of an Angel." Nor is this surprising, because then we shall be made like God through glory, according to that passage of First John three: "Now we are sons of God, and it has not yet appeared what we shall be. We know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is." Hence Rabanus: "They are as the Angels of God in heaven, who, renewed by the glory of the resurrection, without any fear of death, without any stain of corruption, without any act of earthly condition, enjoy the perpetual vision of God. To which equality of angelic dignity, whoever desires to ascend must condescend to the least of the brethren by acting piously." And he rightly says this, because one who does not wish to be made like the Angels in ministry cannot be like them in glory.

Faith is then, so to speak, a comprehensive knowledge of the essentials; and knowledge is the strong and sure demonstration of what is received by faith, built upon faith by the Lord's teaching, conveying the soul on to infallibility, science, and comprehension. And, in my view, the first saving change is that from heathenism to faith, as I said before; and the second, that from faith to knowledge. And the latter terminating in love, thereafter gives the loving to the loved, that which knows to that which is known. And, perchance, such an one has already attained the condition of "being equal to the angels." Accordingly, after the highest excellence in the flesh, changing always duly to the better, he urges his flight to the ancestral hall, through the holy septenniad of heavenly abodes to the Lord's own mansion; to be a light, steady, and continuing eternally, entirely and in every part immutable.

even the Lord manifestly hints obscurely at this when He says: At the resurrection they are equal to the angels.

For as the multitude of the angels is indeed very great, yet they are not propagated by generation, but have their being from creation, so also to those who rise again, there is no more necessity for marriage; as it follows, And are the children of God.

My God, however, who formed that which He had taken out of the dust of the ground in the true quality of flesh, although not issuing as yet from conjugal seed, was equally able to apply to angels too a flesh of any material whatsoever, who built even the world out of nothing, into so many and so various bodies, and that at a word! And, really, if your god promises to men some time or other the true nature of angels (for he says, "They shall be like the angels"), why should not my God also have fitted on to angels the true substance of men, from whatever source derived? For not even you will tell me, in reply, whence is obtained that angelic nature on your side; so that it is enough for me to define this as being fit and proper to God, even the verity of that thing which was objective to three senses-sight, touch, and hearing.

For this corruptible"-and as he spake, the apostle seemingly pointed to his own flesh-"must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." in order, indeed, that it may be rendered a fit substance for the kingdom of God. "For we shall be like the angels." This will be the perfect change of our flesh-only after its resurrection.

To this discussion, however, our Lord's declaration puts an effectual end: "They shall be," says He, "equal unto the angels." As by not marrying, because of not dying, so, of course, by not having to yield to any like necessity of our bodily state; even as the angels, too, sometimes.

But to Christians, after their departure from the world, no restoration of marriage is promised in the day of the resurrection, translated as they will be into the condition and sanctity of angels. Therefore no solicitude arising from carnal jealousy will, in the day of the resurrection, even in the case of her whom they chose to represent as having been married to seven brothers successively, wound any one of her so many husbands; nor is any (husband) awaiting her to put her to confusion.

"For they are equal to the Angels and are sons of God." Why? Because they are sons of the resurrection. These words have the following meaning: I, He says, called them sons of God because in their birth nothing bodily is perceived, but everything is divine. For in the resurrection there is no preceding of union, nor seed, nor womb, nor conception, but God gives birth to our bodies in a way known to Him. Since God acts in the resurrection, those who are reborn through the resurrection are rightly called sons of God.

As if He said, Because it is God who worketh in the resurrection, rightly are they called the sons of God, who are regenerated by the resurrection. For there is nothing carnal seen in the regeneration of them that rise again, there is neither coming together, nor the womb, nor birth.

But that the dead rise again, even Moses showed at the bush, as he says, "The Lord God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." To confirm the truth of the resurrection, he could have used much more obvious examples, among which is this: "The dead shall be raised, and those who are in the tombs shall arise." Therefore it is questioned why the Lord chose to bring forth this testimony, which seems ambiguous or not sufficiently relevant to the truth of the resurrection. But the Sadducees accepted only the five books of Moses, rejecting the prophecies of the prophets. Thus, it was foolish to bring forth testimonies from there whose authority they did not follow. Furthermore, to prove the immortality of souls, he used the example from Moses: "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" (Exodus III)...

Or He says this, that after having proved that the souls abide alter death, (which the Sadducees denied,) He might next introduce the resurrection also of the bodies, which together with the souls have done good or evil. But that is a true life which the just live unto God, even though they are dead in the body. Now to prove the truth of the resurrection, He might have brought much more obvious examples from the Prophets, but the Sadducees received only the five books of Moses, rejecting the oracles of the Prophets.

Third, as to the confirmation of reason, he adds: That the dead truly rise, even Moses showed at the bush, that is, the word of the Lord which he spoke to Moses in the vision of that burning and unconsumed bush, according to what is said in Exodus 3: "The Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of the bush, and he saw that the bush burned and was not consumed"; and it follows that the Lord spoke the words which follow here: As he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob: Exodus 3: "The Lord called Moses from the midst of the bush" "and said: I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob."

The Savior also demonstrated the great ignorance of the Sadducees by bringing forward their own leader Moses, who was clearly acquainted with the resurrection of the dead. He set God before us saying in the bush, "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." Of whom is he God, if, according to their argument, these have ceased to live? He is the God of the living. They certainly will rise when his almighty right hand brings them and all that are on the earth there.For people not to believe that this will happen is worthy perhaps of the ignorance of the Sadducees, but it is altogether unworthy of those who love Christ. We believe in him who says, "I am the resurrection and the life." He will raise the dead suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye, and at the last trumpet. It shall sound, the dead in Christ shall rise incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For Christ our common Savior will transfer us into incorruption, glory and to an incorruptible life.

(de Anna, Serm. 4.) As the saints claim as their own the common Lord of the world, not as derogating from His dominion, but testifying their affection after the manner of lovers, who do not brook to love with many, but desire to express a certain peculiar and especial attachment; so likewise does God call Himself especially the God of these, not thereby narrowing but enlarging His dominion; for it is not so much the multitude of His subjects that manifests His power, as the virtue of His servants. Therefore He does not so delight in the name of the God of heaven and earth, as in that of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Now among men servants are thus denominated by their masters; for we say, 'The steward of such a man,' but on the contrary God is called the God of Abraham.

For since the Sadducees indeed denied the resurrection, whilst the Lord affirmed it; since, too, (in affirming it, ) He reproached them as being both ignorant of the Scriptures-those, of course which had declared the resurrection-as well as incredulous of the power of God, though, of course, effectual to raise the dead, and lastly, since He immediately added the words, "Now, that the dead are raised," (speaking) without misgiving, and affirming the very thing which was being denied, even the resurrection of the dead before Him who is "the God of the living,"-(it clearly follows) that He affirmed this verity in the precise sense in which they were denying it; that it was, in fact, the resurrection of the two natures of man.

To His logical argument the Lord also adds testimony from Scripture. Moses says that God said to him from the bush: "I am the God of Abraham" and so forth (Exod. 3:6).

Or to the reason above given the Lord added the testimony of Scripture, Now that the dead are raised, Moses also showed at the bush, (Exod. 3:6.) as the Lord saith, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. As if he said, If the patriarchs have once returned to nothing so as not to live with God in the hope of a resurrection, He would not have said, I am, but, I was, for we are accustomed to speak of things dead and gone thus, I was the Lord or Master of such a thing; but now that He said, I am, He shows that He is the God and Lord of the living.

For those that have believed in God, although they are asleep, are not dead. For our Saviour says to the Sadducees: "But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which is written, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God, therefore, is not the God of the dead, but of the living; for all live to Him." Wherefore, of those that live with God, even their very relics are not without honour. For even Elisha the prophet, after he was fallen asleep, raised up a dead man who was slain by the pirates of Syria. For his body touched the bones of Elisha, and he arose and revived. Now this would not have happened unless the body of Elisha were holy.

"God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." To prove that souls remain after death, something which they denied along with other things (for it could not be that he is the God of those who do not exist at all), the resurrection of bodies would consequently be inferred, which, with the souls, have done good or evil.

For all live to him. All those, indeed, whose Lord is God. They live to him, truly the life by which the just live even when they die in the body. About this elsewhere the Lord says: "He who believes in me, even if he dies, shall live" (John XI). Believe, therefore, and if you die, you shall live. But if you do not believe, even when you live, you are dead. For the widow who lives in pleasure is dead while she lives (I Timothy V).

From this, however, the Lord wishes to infer the future resurrection, when he adds: But God is not of the dead, but of the living. For all live to him. From which it follows that they live to him either in act or in potency; but all these were actually dead; therefore they were living to God as to power and disposition. It is therefore necessary to posit a future resurrection. There are, moreover, many testimonies in the Old Testament by which the resurrection of the dead can be proved: Isaiah 26: "Your dead shall live, my slain shall rise again"; and Ezekiel 37: "Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord: Behold," etc.; likewise, Daniel 12: "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake"; likewise, Job 19: "I know that my Redeemer lives, and on the last day I shall rise from the earth"; likewise, Hosea 6: "After two days he will revive us, on the third day he will raise us up"; likewise, Joel 3: "Let them rise up and let the nations ascend into the valley of Jehoshaphat," etc.; likewise, 2 Maccabees 7: "He himself will give you spirit and life with mercy." But the Lord introduced none of these seven witnesses, because the Sadducees, to whom he was responding, accepted only the Pentateuch; whence the Gloss: "He could have given clearer testimonies of the resurrection from the Prophets, but the Sadducees do not accept the Prophets." Or because through this he proves the life of souls after death, which the Sadducees denied, and this was the root of their error. Or because in the citation of this word there is simultaneously enclosed the mystery of the Trinity in the threefold repetition of God, the mystery of the threefold virtue, namely of faith, hope, and charity, in the three aforementioned Patriarchs, the mystery of the Incarnation in the burning bush and also the mystery of the Passion, and in the entire authority the mystery of the Resurrection, and thus, as it were, the whole mystery of the Christian faith; because every figure of mysteries and variety of words has been consummated in the incarnate Word, according to that passage in Isaiah 28: "I have heard of consummation and abbreviation," etc.; and Hebrews 1: "In many ways," etc.

The prophet's words are applicable to those who sin without perceiving their sin. A sinner who has received baptism, although he may be dead toward his soul because he does not perceive his sin, he is alive to God because of the grace of baptism that he possesses. This agrees with the words "God is not of the dead but of the living, for they are all living in him."

If the patriarchs had been utterly destroyed and were not alive before God by the hope of the resurrection, He would not have said "I am," but "I was." For concerning things damaged and lost we usually say: I "was" the owner of such-and-such a thing. But now, when God said "I am," He showed that He is the Lord and God of the living, and not of those who have been utterly destroyed. For although they have died, yet by the hope of the resurrection they are alive, just as Adam, although he was alive, was nevertheless mortal, and it is said of him that he died at the very moment he tasted the forbidden fruit.

This is what follows, But he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him. For though they have departed from life, yet live they with Him in the hope of a resurrection.

Before summarizing his commandments, the Lord included the faith and mercy preceding his passion at the end of his testament. Faith is that we believe Christ is our Lord and God and sits at the right hand of God. … He rebukes those who say that Christ is the Son of David. How then did that blind man deserve healing by acknowledging the Son of David?44 How did the children, saying "Hosanna to the Son of David," give the glory of their lofty proclamation to God? Here Jesus did not rebuke them because they acknowledged the Son of David but because they do not believe him to be the Son of God. The true faith does not confess one versus the other but both. Although at the beginning we judged to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified, yet now since we are near the judgment, we already do not know Christ only crucified but also wait for him coming in the clouds. The unbeliever looks on the wounds. The faithful one is taken up and runs to meet Christ in the air. Let us therefore believe that Christ is God and man.

They are not blamed here because they acknowledge Him to be David's Son, for the blind man for so doing was thought worthy to be healed. (Luke 18:42.) And the children saying, Hosanna to the Son of David, (Matt. 21:9.) rendered to God the glory of the highest praise; but they are blamed because they believe Him not to be the Son of God. Hence it is added, And David himself saith in the book of Psalms, The Lord said unto my Lord. (Ps. 110:1.) Both the Father is Lord and the Son is Lord, but there are not two Lords, but one Lord, for the Father is in the Son, and the Son is in the Father. He Himself sits at the right hand of the Father, for He is coequal with the Father, inferior to none; for it follows, Sit thou at my right hand. He is not honoured by sitting at the right hand, nor is He degraded by being sent. Degrees of dignity are not sought for, where is the fulness of divinity.

And since they had been defeated in argument, they ask Him no further questions, but seize Him, and deliver Him up to the Roman power. From which we may learn, that the poison of envy may indeed be subdued, but it is a hard thing to keep it at rest.

And he said to them: How do they say, etc. After he refuted those erring concerning the mystery of the resurrection, here he refutes those erring concerning the mystery of the incarnation, who namely do not believe Christ to be true man and God. Now Christ does this by inquiring and introducing a question which is impossible to resolve unless it is believed and understood that Christ is of a twofold nature. In this question, therefore, Christ, the master of faith, proposes the carnal generation of Christ himself, commonly believed by the Jews; second, he assumes the eternal generation foretold by the Prophet; and he concludes with the apparent controversy between the two.

First, therefore, as to the carnal generation of Christ commonly believed, he says: But he said to them: How do they say that Christ is the son of David? All the Jews commonly say this, and also all Christian men. For to David himself the promise concerning Christ was made, as it is said in the Psalm: "Of the fruit of your womb I will set upon your throne"; and in 2 Kings 7: "I will raise up your seed after you, who shall come forth from your womb, and I will establish his kingdom and make firm the throne of his kingdom forever." This cannot be said except of Christ, as the Angel attests, according to that passage above in chapter one: "The Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he shall reign in the house of Jacob forever." Therefore rightly "the crowds cried out: Hosanna to the son of David; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" Matthew 21. And the Apostle preached this according to that passage in 2 Timothy 2: "Remember that the Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead, of the seed of David, according to my Gospel"; and in Acts 2, Peter said: "Therefore, since he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath that of the fruit of his loins one would sit upon his throne, foreseeing this he spoke of the resurrection."

The Savior asked them, "How do they say that Christ is David's son? David himself says in the book of Psalms, 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit on my right hand until I place your enemies as a footstool under your feet." ' David therefore calls him Lord, and how is he his son?" The beginning of understanding is faith. He says, "If you will not believe, you cannot understand." The examination of important truths leads to salvation. Emmanuel is the Son and the Lord of David. If anyone would learn in what way he is to understand this, he must certainly begin the exact and blameless examination of his mystery. This was kept in silence from the foundation of the world but has been revealed in the latter ages of the world.

We also will ask the Pharisees of today a similar question. They deny that he who was born of the holy Virgin is very Son of God the Father and himself also God. They also divide the one Christ into two sons. Let these people explain to us how David's Son is his Lord, not so much as to human lordship as divine. To sit at the right hand of the Father is the assurance and pledge of supreme glory. Those who share the same throne are equal also in dignity, and those who are crowned with equal honors are understood of course to be equal in nature. To sit by God can signify nothing else than sovereign authority. The throne declares to us that Christ possesses power over everything and supremacy by right of his substance. How is the Son of David David's Lord, seated at the right hand of God the Father and on the throne of Deity? Is it not altogether according to the unerring word of the mystery that the Word as God sprung from the very substance of God the Father? Being in his likeness and equal with him, he became flesh. He became man, perfectly and yet without departing from the incomparable excellence of the divine dignities. He continued in that state in which he had always been. He still was God, although he became flesh and in form like us. He is David's Lord therefore according to that which belongs to his divine glory, nature and sovereignty. He is his son according to the flesh.

The Pharisees did not answer Christ's question. They did this in spitefulness, or rather against their own selves, for perhaps being convicted by the inquiry the word of salvation would have shined in them. They did not wish to know the truth, but sinfully seizing for themselves the Lord's inheritance, they denied the heir, or rather wickedly murdered him. They rejected the faith because of their love of leadership, greed for profit, and for their shameful gains.…To remove from them the habit of thinking and speaking of him in a derogatory and scornful manner, he asked them, "How do they say that Christ is David's Son, etc.?" As I have already remarked, they were silent from malicious motives and thereby condemned themselves as unworthy of eternal life and of the knowledge of the truth.

Or, that He sits on the Father's right hand proves His heavenly glory. For whose throne is equal, their Majesty is equal. But sitting when it is said of God signifies a universal kingdom and power. Therefore He sitteth at the right hand of the Father, because the Word proceeding from the substance of the Father, being made flesh, putteth not off His divine glory.

We then likewise in answer to the new Pharisees, who neither confess the Son of the holy Virgin to be the true Son of God, nor to be God, but divide one son into two, put the like objections: How then is the Son of David David's Lord, and that not by human lordship, but divine?

Now, He did not reject the attestation of those who had assumed His answer to bear this meaning. If, however, the Scribes thought Christ was David's Son, whereas (David) himself calls Him Lord, what relation has this to Christ? David did not literally confute an error of the Scribes, yet David asserted the honour of Christ, when he more prominently affirmed that He was his Lord than his Son,-an attribute which was hardly suitable to the destroyer of the Creator.

But how consistent is the interpretation on our side of the question! For He, who had been a little while ago invoked by the blind man as "the Son of David," then made no remark on the subject, not having the Scribes in His presence; whereas He now purposely moots the point before them, and that of His own accord, in order that He might show Himself whom the Mind man, following the doctrine of the Scribes, had simply declared to be the Son of David, to be also his Lord.

Soon about to go to His sufferings, the Lord preaches about His Divinity, and not openly or with pride, but very humbly. For He asks them and, having brought them to perplexity, leaves it to them to draw the conclusion.

Although our Lord was shortly about to enter on His Passion, He proclaims His own Godhead, and that too neither incautiously nor boastfully, but with modesty. For He puts a question to them, and having thrown them into perplexity, leaves them to reason out the conclusion; as it follows, And he said unto them, How say they that Christ is David's son?

(de Symbolo. ad Catech. l. ii. c. 7.) By the sitting we must not conceive a posture of the human limbs, as if the Father sat on the left and the Son on: the right, but the right hand itself we must interpret to be the power which that Man received who was taken up into Himself by God, that He should come to judge, who at first came to be judged.

He said to them: How do they say that Christ is the son of David, and David himself says in the book of Psalms: The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool? David therefore calls him Lord, and how is he his son? The question of Jesus profits us even today against the Jews. For those who confess that Christ is to come assert that he is a simple man and a holy man of the lineage of David. Let us therefore ask them, taught by the Lord, if he is a simple man and only the son of David, how does David call him his Lord? They are not reproved because they say he is the son of David, but because they do not believe he is the Son of God. Indeed, he is both the Lord of David, continuously being God before time, and appeared as the son of David, born as a man at the end of times. And that the enemies are subjected by the Father does not signify the weakness of the Son, but the unity of nature by which one works in the other. For the Son also subjects the enemies to the Father because he glorifies the Father on earth.

Second, as to the eternal generation foretold by the Prophet, he adds: And David himself says in the book of Psalms: The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand. Without doubt David says this word for word in the Psalm, which treats most excellently and most profoundly of the two natures of Christ. For it is established that this is understood of Christ. For God gave to no one the supreme kingdom, the eternal priesthood, and the judgment of all things except to Christ; and all this is described in that Psalm. It is necessary, therefore, that this verse be understood of Christ, in which David himself, inspired by the Holy Spirit, expresses the eternal generation of the Son in this, that he says: "The Lord said to my Lord"; for to say is nothing other than to conceive a word in the mind, which saying indeed could not exist in God except from eternity, because, as is said in Job 33, "God speaks once and does not repeat the same thing a second time." And therefore in John 1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." He spoke, therefore, eternally when he begot the Son; the Psalm: "The Lord said to me: You are my Son, today I have begotten you."

He also expresses the equality of the Son with the Father, when he says: "Sit at my right hand," that is, equal to me: Hebrews 1: "Who, being the brightness of glory and the figure of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, making purgation of sins, sits at the right hand of the Majesty on high," etc., up to: "This day have I begotten thee." Therefore Philippians 2: "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God." That sitting therefore does not signify a local position, but rather supreme rest, dignity, and authority, and through this also equality, which belongs to the Son alone. Therefore Lucifer fell, who desired it: Isaiah 14: "How art thou fallen, O Lucifer, who didst rise in the morning, who didst say in thy heart: I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit upon the mountain of the testament, and I will be like the Most High."

He manifests then that He is not opposed to the Father, but agrees with Him, since the Father resists the Son's enemies, Until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

We must believe then that Christ is both God and man, and that His enemies are made subject to Him by the Father, not through the weakness of His power, but through the unity of their nature, since in the one the other works. For the Son also subjects enemies to the Father, in that He glorifies the Father upon earth. (John 17:6.)

He expresses nonetheless the universal dominion of the Son of God himself, when he adds: Until I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet: The Psalm: "Thou hast subjected all things under his feet," etc., because by his almighty power he both governs the good and tramples the wicked. Whence 1 Corinthians 15: "He must reign, until he hath put his enemies under his feet"; "for he hath subjected all things under his feet"; Isaiah 45: "Thus saith the Lord to my anointed Cyrus, whose right hand I have taken hold of, that I may subdue all nations and turn the backs of kings," etc. For of Christ it is said in Apocalypse 19: "He had on his garment and on his thigh written: King of kings," etc.

Third, as regards the apparent controversy of both, he adds: David therefore calls him Lord, and how is he his son? For it is impossible to say that according to his human nature Christ was the lord of David, because Christ was not yet born nor conceived; and moreover, a son is never called the lord of his father; and again, since David was an exalted king, it does not seem that he had any mere man as his lord. It remains therefore that, since Christ according to the same nature cannot be said to be at once the true son and lord, of King David, it is necessary that he be at once God and man. And this indeed is true, which no one can deny unless he wholly overthrows Scripture and the faith received from the Fathers.

Now there are manifold testimonies in Scripture concerning this twofold nature of Christ, but he chose this testimony especially, both because David among the Prophets prophesied most excellently concerning Christ, and also because that Psalm from which this verse is taken most excellently expresses the mystery of the entire truth of faith. Whence Cassiodorus also says of that Psalm that "it is a mirror of the heavenly mystery, a treasury of the Sacred Scriptures, where everything is said in summary that is proclaimed in the narrative of both Testaments."

For the intention of the whole of both testaments principally concerns the twofold nature of Christ, concerning which David himself says: "He shall come down like rain upon a fleece"; and afterwards: "Let his name be blessed forever"; and again: "Beautiful in form above the sons of men"; and afterwards: "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever"; and Baruch chapter three: "This is our God, and no other shall be esteemed against him." "After these things he was seen upon the earth and conversed with men"; and Isaiah chapter seven: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel"; and Isaiah chapter nine: "A little child is born to us, and a son is given to us, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, God, the Mighty," etc. Likewise, Isaiah chapter fifty-three: "He shall grow up like a tender plant"; and afterwards: "Who shall declare his generation?" And Micah chapter five: "And you, Bethlehem Ephratha, you are small among the thousands of Judah; for from you shall come forth he who is to be ruler in Israel, and his going forth is from the beginning, from the days of eternity." Therefore, Romans chapter one: "Who was made for him from the seed of David according to the flesh, who was predestined the Son of God in power, according to the spirit of sanctification," etc.; and Romans chapter nine: "Whose is the adoption of sons and the glory and the covenant and the giving of the law and the worship and the promises, whose are the fathers, from whom is Christ according to the flesh, who is over all things God blessed." And this is expressly stated in John chapter one: "In the beginning was the Word"; and afterwards: "The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory," etc. Finally, Christ himself, in John chapter eight: "The Beginning, who also speak to you"; and Apocalypse, the last chapter: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." "I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright and morning star."

In this, therefore, "he established the end of his teaching," as Ambrose says, because in this is the foundation of the Christian religion, in which is rooted and enclosed everything to be believed, namely, that Christ is believed to be man and God. For all the articles of faith are reduced either to the Divinity or to the humanity; and therefore the Apostle said in First Corinthians chapter three: "As a wise architect I have laid the foundation; but no other foundation can anyone lay besides that which has been laid, which is Christ Jesus." And he himself is also the completion, according to that passage in Ecclesiasticus chapter forty-three: "We say many things and fall short in words, but the consummation of our discourse is he himself."

David in truth was both the Father and the servant of Christ, the former indeed according to the flesh, the latter in the Spirit.

David, He says, calls Him Lord (Ps. 109:1): how then is He merely his Son? He was indeed a son of David according to the flesh, but at the same time also his God, yet they considered Him only the son of David. Therefore He refutes this opinion of theirs, that Christ is merely a son of David, and declares that He is not opposed to the Father, but has great unity of mind with Him, for the Father vanquishes His enemies. This He said to the scribes.

Therefore He asks the question, and having excited their doubts, leaves them to deduce the consequence; as it follows, David therefore calleth him Lord, how is he then his son?

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."