Tuesday of the 6th week after Pentecost

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Lord clearly points out that he is the sower of good seeds. He does not cease to sow in this world as in a field. God's word is like good seed in the hearts of people, so that each of us according to the seeds sown in us by God may bear spiritual and heavenly fruit.

(Verses 24 onwards) He proposed another parable to them, saying: The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while people were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the plants sprouted and produced grain, then the weeds also appeared. So the servants of the householder came and said to him: Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? And so, where does it get the weeds? And he said to them: An enemy has done this. The servants said to him: Do you want us to go and gather them up? And he said: No, lest while you gather up the weeds, you root up the wheat with them. Allow both to grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will say to the reapers: Gather up first the weeds, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn. This is the second parable with its interpretation not immediately stated, but delivered after other parables were interjected. For here it is proposed, and afterwards the crowds having been dismissed, they come to his house, and his disciples come up to him, asking: Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field, and the rest. Therefore, we ought not to seek with hasty desire of understanding before his knowledge, what is to be explained by the Lord.

He set forth also this other parable, as it were a rich householder refreshing his guests with various meats, that each one according to the nature of his stomach might find some food adapted to him. He said not 'a second parable,' but another; for had He said 'a second,' we could not have looked for a third; but another prepares us for many more.

What is the difference between this, and the parable before it? There He speaks of them that have not at all holden with Him, but have started aside, and have thrown away the seed; but here He means the societies of the heretics. For in order that not even this might disturb His disciples, He foretells it also, after having taught them why He speaks in parables. The former parable then means their not receiving Him; this, their receiving corrupters. For indeed this also is a part of the devil's craft, by the side of the truth always to bring in error, painting thereon many resemblances, so as easily to cheat the deceivable. Therefore He calls it not any other seed, but tares; which in appearance are somewhat like wheat.

Then He mentions also the manner of his device. For "while men slept," saith He. It is no small danger, which He hereby suspends over our rulers, to whom especially is entrusted the keeping of the field; and not the rulers only, but the subjects too.

And He signifies also that the error comes after the truth, which the actual event testifies. For so after the prophets, were the false prophets; and after the apostles, the false apostles; and after Christ, Antichrist. For unless the devil see what to imitate, or against whom to plot, he neither attempts, nor knows how. Now then also, having seen that "one brought forth a hundred, another sixty, another thirty," he proceeds after that another way. That is, not having been able to carry away what had taken root, nor to choke, nor to scorch it up, he conspires against it by another craft, privily casting in his own inventions.

And what difference is there, one may say, between them that sleep, and them that resemble the wayside? That in the latter case he immediately caught it away; yea, he suffered it not even to take root; but here more of his craft was needed.

And these things Christ saith, instructing us to be always wakeful. For, saith He, though thou quite escape those harms, there is yet another harm. For as in those instances "the wayside," and "the rock," and "the thorns," so here again sleep occasions our ruin; so that there is need of continual watchfulness.

Something like this took place even at the beginning. Many of the prelates, I mean, bringing into the churches wicked men, disguised heresiarchs, gave great facility to the laying that kind of snare. For the devil needs not even to take any trouble, when he hath once planted them among us.

And how is it possible not to sleep? one may say. Indeed, as to natural sleep, it is not possible; but as to that of our moral faculty, it is possible.

After this He points out the thing to be superfluous too, not hurtful only; in that, after the land hath been tilled, and there is no need of anything, then this enemy sows again; as the heretics also do, who for no other cause than vainglory inject their proper venom.

Consider now, if in addition to what we have already recounted, you can otherwise take the good seed to be the children of the kingdom, because whatever good things are sown in the human soul, these are the offspring of the kingdom of God. They have been sown by God the Word who was in the beginning with God. Wholesome words about anything are children of the kingdom.

And it should be noted that, when He says, Sowed good seed, He intends that good will which is in the elect; when He adds, An enemy came, He intimates that watch should be kept against him; when as the tares grow up, He suffers it patiently, saying, An enemy hath done this, He recommends to us patience; when He says, Lest haply in gathering the tares, &c. He sets us an example of discretion; when He says, Suffer both to grow together till the harvest, He teaches us long-suffering; and, lastly, He inculcates justice, when He says, Bind them into bundles to burn.

Here He calls the Son of God Himself the kingdom of heaven; for He saith, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that sowed good seed in his field.

In the previous parable He spoke of the fourth part of the seed which fell on the good soil, while in this parable He shows that the enemy does not allow even that part which fell on good soil to remain incorrupted, because we sleep and grow indolent. The field, then, is the world, or, each one's soul. The sower is Christ. The good seed is good people, or, good thoughts. The tares are heresies, or, evil thoughts. The one who sows them is the devil. The men who were sleeping are those who by their indolence give entry to heretics and evil thoughts. The servants are the angels, who are indignant that there are heresies or any wickedness in the soul, and wish to seize and cut off from this life the heretics and those who think evil thoughts. But God does not allow the heretics to be destroyed by wars, lest the righteous suffer and be destroyed along with them. Likewise, neither does God wish to cut down a man on account of his evil thoughts, lest the wheat be destroyed along with them. If, for example, Matthew had been cut down while he was a tare, the wheat of the word which was later to spring up from him would have been cut down with him. Similarly with Paul and the thief. While they were tares they were not cut down, but were permitted to live so that later their virtue might grow. Therefore He says to the angels, At the end of the world you will gather the tares, namely, the heretics. But how? Into bundles, that is, binding them hand and foot. For at that time a man will no longer be able to do anything, but all his power to act will be bound. The wheat, namely, the saints, will be gathered by the angelic reapers into heavenly granaries. So it is with the evil thoughts which Paul had when he persecuted: they were burnt in the fire which Christ came to light upon the earth, while the wheat, that is the good thoughts, was gathered into the granaries of the Church.

Above he set down a parable in which the impediment to the evangelical doctrine from an extrinsic cause was shown; here another parable is set down, in which the impediment to hearing the doctrine that is from an intrinsic cause is set down, because in this parable those things are drawn to us by which minds are accustomed to be preoccupied. First, therefore, he teaches about the origin of good and evil; secondly, about their progress; thirdly, about their end. The second is at and when the blade was sprung up etc. The third at and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers etc. Regarding the first, two things are noted. First, about the origin of good; secondly, of evil, at but while men were asleep etc. He says therefore, he proposed another parable to them. And to whom? To them. I say not to the apostles only, but also to the crowds. Hence, when he had expounded the first parable in the boat to the apostles, he turned to the crowds. Another: not a second; because he proposed not only two parables, but several; whereas "the other" is said of one of two. But he set down several, so as to provide for diverse dispositions. For some are moved by one thing, and some by another. The kingdom of heaven is likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field. In the kingdom are contained the king and those who are ruled: and these are heavenly men, who have been made equal to the angels; Psalm 90:11: he has given his angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways etc. A man who sowed good seed. Three parables are set down consecutively about seed. The first about seed that is sown; the second about seed that is introduced; the third about seed that is multiplied. According to the intention of the letter, seed is taken differently here than above. For the seed that is sown in a man is the word of God, as is found in Luke 22. But here the man himself, in whom the seed is sown, is what is meant. And this is clear, because below he says that this seed is the children of the kingdom; hence no other exposition should be made than the one the Lord himself made. And it is called seed, because just as seed is the beginning of propagation, so good men are the foundation of the entire faith; hence from the apostles the whole Church sprouted forth. Hence Isaiah 1:9: unless the Lord of hosts had left us seed, we had been as Sodom. And this was good seed, concerning which Isaiah 6:13 says: the holy seed shall be what stands therein. Christ sowed this, and where? In his field, i.e., in the world. For the world is called a field, in which there are good and evil, which the Lord brought forth by creation; hence John 1:10: the world was made through him. And Psalm 49:11: the beauty of the field is with me.

(Quaest. in Matt. q. 11.) He says, While men slept, for while the heads of the Church were abiding in supineness, and after the Apostles had received the sleep of death, then came the Devil and sowed upon the rest those whom the Lord in His interpretation calls evil children. But we do well to enquire whether by such are meant heretics, or Catholics who lead evil lives. That He says, that they were sown among the wheat, seems to point out that they were all of one communion. But forasmuch as He interprets the field to mean not the Church, but the world, we may well understand it of the heretics, who in this world are mingled with the good; for they who live amiss in the same faith may better be taken of the chaff than of the tares, for the chaff has a stem and a root in common with the grain. While schismatics again may more fitly be likened to ears that have rotted, or to straws that are broken, crushed down, and cast forth of the field. Indeed it is not necessary that every heretic or schismatic should be corporally severed from the Church; for the Church bears many who do not so publicly defend their false opinions as to attract the attention of the multitude, which when they do, then are they expelled. When then the Devil had sowed upon the true Church divers evil errors and false opinions; that is to say, where Christ's name had gone before, there he scattered errors, himself was the rather hidden and unknown; for He says, And went his way. Though indeed in this parable, as we learn from His own interpretation, the Lord may be understood to have signified under the name of tares all stumbling-blocks and such as work iniquity.

Understand that the men who are asleep are the leaders of the Churches. Do not welcome servants of the household of the father except for the angels, who daily see the Father's face (Matt. XVIII). But the devil is called the enemy of man because he stopped being God. And it is written of him in the ninth psalm: Arise, O Lord, let not man prevail (Psalm IX, 20). Therefore, let the one who is placed over the Church not sleep, lest through his negligence the enemy sows weeds, that is, the dogmas of heretics.

The Devil is called a man that is an enemy because he has ceased to be God; and in the ninth Psalm it is written of him, Up, Lord, and let not man have the upper hand. (ver. 19) Wherefore let not him sleep that is set over the Church, lest through his carelessness the enemy should sow therein tares, that is, the dogmas of the heretics.

But while people are asleep they do not act according to the command of Jesus, "Watch and pray that you enter not into temptation." At that point the devil on the watch sows what are called tares—that is, evil opinions—over and among the good seeds that are from the Word. According to this the whole world might be called a field, and not the church of God only. For the Son of Man sowed the good seed throughout the entire world, but the wicked one sowed tares—that is, evil words—which, springing from wickedness, are children of the evil one.

So that you need not be afraid to ascribe to him the mastery and dominion over that second, later, and deteriorated nature (of which we have been speaking), when you read of him as "the sewer of tares, and the nocturnal spoiler of the crop of corn.

But while men were asleep etc. Having treated the origin of good, here he treats of the origin of evil. And first the occasion of the evil inflicted is set down; secondly, the manner. And first a twofold occasion is set down: one on the part of the guardians, the second on the part of the sower. On the part of the guardians he says, but while men were asleep etc., i.e., the overseers of the human race, who were appointed to guard, were sleeping, namely, by the sleep of death. The holy apostles, namely, who knew that heretics had mingled themselves with the wheat in the Church; hence Paul says: I know that after my departure ravening wolves will enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Then another occasion is set down; hence he says, his enemy came etc., i.e., the devil; Psalm 73:23: the pride of them that hate you ascends continually: of those who hate you, i.e., of the demons. Now this enmity is according to the perversity of the will. But there is a question. Is it true that any creature hates God? It should be said that love is only of a thing known. Now God can be known in two ways: in himself, or in his effects. In himself, it is impossible that he not be loved; for whatever is loved is loved under the aspect of good. Since therefore he is the first goodness, he cannot be hated. But in his effects, it is not impossible. For the demons, insofar as they exist, love him from whom they are; but certain effects displease them, namely, that they are punished against their will, that they do not punish men according to their will, and similar things. There follows the manner: and oversowed cockle. The individual words have great significance. Let us see therefore what is sown and what the manner is. What is sown is cockle, which is similar to wheat and is called darnel. What is signified by the cockle? The children of wickedness, and all who love iniquity, especially heretics. There are three kinds of evil persons: wicked Catholics, schismatics, and heretics. Wicked Catholics are signified by the chaff, concerning which it was said above in chapter 3:12: the chaff he will burn with fire. Schismatics by the husks. Heretics by the cockle. They are sown therefore in the field, i.e., in this world. Likewise, cockle has a resemblance to wheat; so these men put on an appearance of goodness, as is found in 1 Timothy 1:7: desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither the things they say, nor whereof they affirm. And note that above it says he sowed, and here it does not; because Catholics existed before heretics. For the devil, seeing the Church expand, envied it and sowed what was corruptive, and stirred the hearts of heretics so as to do greater harm; hence they went out from us, according to what is found in 1 John 2:19, but they were not of us, for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have remained with us. Likewise, he says in the midst of the wheat. The devil does not care that some are heretics among the Gentiles, because he possesses them all, but in the midst of the wheat and the faithful people. And this is what is said in Job 4:18: and in his angels he found wickedness. And Augustine says that no society is so good that there is not someone wicked in it; hence in the company of the apostles one was wicked, namely, Judas. Likewise, he says, and went his way: where the malice of the devil is signified. He went his way, i.e., he made himself hidden. For when he instigates, he does not always cooperate; for if everything were to succeed according to his wish, he could easily be discerned; therefore he sometimes yields to his own malice; Psalm 9:9: he lies in ambush in secret, like a lion in his den.

The Lord points out that our foe the devil sows the weeds of his wickedness and malice to choke the seed of God in us. Thus he says, "But while men were asleep, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away." The Lord indicates that the devil sows weeds among sleeping people—that is, among those who through negligence are overcome by their infidelity as in a kind of lethargy and fall asleep amid the divine injunctions. The apostle says concerning them: "For they who sleep, sleep at night, and they who are drunk, are drunk at night. Therefore let us not sleep as do the rest, but let us be wakeful and sober."Those foolish virgins about whom we read in the Gospel, weighed down by their lethargy and infidelity, not having taken oil for their vessels, were unable to go forth and meet the bridegroom. Hence it is always uppermost in the mind of this devil—the enemy of the human race—to sow weeds among the wheat. But he who awaits the Lord faithfully, once the sleep of infidelity has been banished from him, will not be bothered by this nighttime sower.… According to the Lord's interpretation, the good seed represents the children of the kingdom and the weeds represent the wicked children.

And not by this only, but by what follows likewise, He depicts exactly all their acting. For, "When the blade was sprung up," saith He, "and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also;" which kind of thing these men also do. For at the beginning they disguise themselves; but when they have gained much confidence, and some one imparts to them the teaching of the word, then they pour out their poison.

Consequently, the progress of good and evil is treated. And when the blade was sprung up. And that you may understand, three things are considered. First, the manifestation of the good from the evil is set down; secondly, the zeal of the good against the evil; thirdly, tolerance. He says therefore, when the blade had sprung up and had brought forth fruit, then appeared the cockle also etc. For at the beginning, when it is sown, it does not appear, but when the blade grows. And this can be referred to both, both to the wheat and to the cockle. Augustine expounds it of the wheat, because when a man is small, he cannot discern; but when he grows and bears fruit and becomes spiritual, then he knows; 1 Corinthians 2:15: the spiritual man judges all things. Chrysostom expounds it of the cockle, because at first it does not appear, because heretics at first hide their teaching, because first they say and preach certain good things to the laity, and afterwards introduce certain evil things about the clergy, which are willingly heard; and so they turn the people away from love of the clergy, and so consequently from the Church. But afterwards, when they gain acceptance for their doctrine, they manifest their malice. For at first they say nothing but mild things, but afterwards they manifest themselves and their doctrine, which is understood by the wine; concerning which wine Proverbs 23:31 says: it goes in pleasantly, but in the end it will bite like a serpent.

Therefore, the Lord explained to us what he proposed. See what we choose to be in his field: see what kind of people the harvest finds us to be. For the field, which is the world, is the Church spread throughout the world. Whoever is wheat, let him persevere unto the harvest; whoever are tares, let them be changed into wheat. For this is the difference between humans and true grains and true tares, because those in the field, what is grain is grain; what are tares are tares. However, in the field of the Lord, that is the Church, sometimes what was wheat turns into tares; and sometimes what were tares change into wheat: and no one knows what will happen tomorrow. Therefore, the laborers indignant with the paterfamilias, when they wanted to go and remove the tares, were not permitted; for they wanted to remove them, but were not allowed to separate the tares. They did what they were capable of, they reserved the separations for the angels. And indeed, they did not wish to reserve the separations of the tares for the angels; but the paterfamilias, who knew all and that a separation was to be sent, commanded them to tolerate the tares, not to separate them: "No," he said—when they had said: "Do you want us to go and gather them?"—"no: lest perhaps, when you would gather the tares, you uproot the wheat with them." Therefore, Lord, will tares also be with us in the barn? "At the time of harvest," I will say to the reapers: "Gather first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them"; tolerate in the field what you will not have with you in the barn.

(Quaest. in Matt. q. 12.) Or otherwise; When a man begins to be spiritual, discerning between things, then he begins to see errors; for he judges concerning whatsoever he hears or reads, whether it departs from the rule of truth; but until he is perfected in the same spiritual things, he might be disturbed at so many false heresies having existed under the Christian name, whence it follows, And the servants of the householder coming to him said unto him, Didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? whence then hath it tares? Are these servants then the same as those whom He afterwards calls reapers? Because in His exposition of the parable, He expounds the reapers to be the Angels, and none would dare to say that the Angels were ignorant who had sowed tares, we should the rather understand that the faithful are here intended by the servants. And no wonder if they are also signified by the good seed; for the same thing admits of different likenesses according to its different significations; as speaking of Himself He says that He is the door, he is the shepherd.

But wherefore doth He bring in the servants, telling what hath been done? That He may pronounce it wrong to slay them.

And He calls him "an enemy," because of his harm done to men. For although the despite is against us, in its origin it sprang from his enmity, not to us, but to God. Whence it is manifest, that God loves us more than we love ourselves.

And see from another thing also, the malicious craft of the devil. For he did not sow before this, because he had nothing to destroy, but when all had been fulfilled, that he might defeat the diligence of the Husbandman; in such enmity against Him did he constantly act.

And mark also the affection of the servants. I mean, what haste they are in at once to root up the tares, even though they do it indiscreetly; which shows their anxiety for the crop, and that they are looking to one thing only, not to the punishment of that enemy, but to the preservation of the seed sown. For of course this other is not the urgent consideration.

Wherefore how they may for the present extirpate the mischief, this is their object. And not even this do they seek absolutely, for they trust not themselves with it, but await the Master's decision, saying, "Wilt Thou?"

They came to the Lord not with the body, but with the heart and desire of the soul; and from Him they gather that this was done by the craft of the Devil, whence it follows, And he saith unto them, An enemy hath done this.

And the servants of the master of the house came etc. Here the zeal of the good against the evil is set down. And first they inquire about the origin of the evil; secondly, they are moved by zeal for the extirpation of the evil, at and the servants said etc. He says, and they came etc. First, let us see who these servants are. Below he speaks of the reapers; but these are not servants, but angels. These are good men: and this is not unfitting, since the Lord is called both the door and the doorkeeper. And the servants came, by faith; Psalm 33:6: come to him and be enlightened. They said: Lord, did you not sow good seed in your field? Did not the apostles sow good doctrine? Indeed they did. God saw all the things that he had made, and they were very good, Genesis 1:31. From where then does it have cockle? A similar question is found in Jeremiah 2:21: I planted you a chosen vineyard; how then are you turned unto me into the depraved ways of a strange vineyard?

(ubi sup) And when the servants of God knew that it was the Devil who had contrived this fraud, whereby when he found that he had no power in open warfare against a Master of such great name, he had introduced his fallacies under cover of that name itself, the desire might readily arise in them to remove such men from out of human affairs if opportunity should be given them; but they first appeal to God's justice whether they should so do; The servants said, Wilt thou that we go and gather them out?

As I said before, we must adapt our faith to those things that the Lord explained. Those things which he did not mention and which he left to our intelligence will be briefly touched on here. Think of those who were asleep as signifying the teachers of the different churches. Think of the householder's servants as none other than the angels who daily look upon the Father's face. Think of the enemy who sowed the weeds as the devil because he wanted to be a god.

The Lord answers, and he said to them: an enemy has done this. And note that this is not from the original creation, but is what exists in men from the devil; Wisdom 2:24: by the envy of the devil, death came into the world. The devil is called a man on account of his falling away from divinity; Psalm 9:20: arise, O Lord, let not man be strengthened. This man is called an enemy on account of his consummate malice; Genesis 3:15: I will put enmities between you and him. And the servants said. Here it is said that the servants are moved by zeal for the extirpation of the evil. Will you that we go and gather it up? Two praiseworthy things are said of them here: that they are moved to destroy evil; 1 Corinthians 5:13: put away the evil one from among yourselves. Likewise, another praiseworthy thing, that they did not wish to do this of their own initiative, but by the command of the Lord; hence Tobit 4:20: bless God at all times, and let all your counsels abide in him.

The workers of the householder wanted to go and gather up the weeds, but they were not allowed to do so. Though they indeed wanted to gather them up, they were not allowed to separate the weeds. They did what they were suited for and left it to the angels to do the separation. At first they were unwilling to leave the separation of the weeds up to the angels. But the householder, who knew them all and saw that a separation was necessary, ordered them to put up with the weeds and not to separate them. In answer to their words, "Do you want us to go and gather them up?" he replied, "No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them." "Therefore, Lord, will the weeds also be with us in the barn?" "At harvest time I will say to the reapers, 'Gather up first the weeds, and bind them in bundles to burn. Allow what you do not have with you in the barn to grow in the field.' "

(Quaest. in Matt. q. 12.) Wherein He renders them more patient and tranquil. For this He says, because good men while yet weak, have need in some things of being mixed up with bad, either that they may be proved by their means, or that by comparison with them they may be greatly stimulated and drawn to a better course. Or perhaps the wheat is declared to be rooted up if the tares should be gathered out of it, on account of many who though at first tares would, after become wheat; yet they would never attain to this commendable change were they not patiently endured while they were evil. Thus were they rooted up, that wheat which they would become in time if spared, would be rooted up in them. It is then therefore He forbids that such should be taken away out of this life, lest in the endeavour to destroy the wicked, those of them should be destroyed among the rest who would turn out good; and lest also that benefit should be lost to the good which would accrue to them even against their will from mixing with the wicked. But this may be done seasonably when, in the end of all, there remains no more time for a change of life, or of advancing to the truth by taking opportunity and comparison of others' faults; therefore He adds, Let both grow together until the harvest, that is, until the judgment.

(Cont. Ep. Parm. iii. 2.) For when any one of the number of Christians included in the Church is found in such sin as to incur an anathema, this is done, where danger of schism is not apprehended, with tenderness, not for his rooting out, but for his correction. But if he be not conscious of his sin, nor correct it by penitence, he will of his own choice go forth of the Church and be separated from her communion; whence when the Lord commanded, Suffer both to grow together till the harvest, He added the reason, saying, Lest when ye would gather out the tares ye root up the wheat also. This sufficiently shows, that when that fear has ceased, and when the safety of the crop is certain, that is, when the crime is known to all, and is acknowledged as so execrable as to have no defenders, or not such as might cause any fear of a schism, then severity of discipline does not sleep, and its correction of error is so much the more efficacious as the observance of love had been more careful. But when the same infection has spread to a large number at once, nothing remains but sorrow and groans. Therefore let a man gently reprove whatever is in his power; what is not so let him bear with patience, and mourn over with affection, until He from above shall correct and heal, and let him defer till harvest-time to root out the tares and winnow the chaff. But the multitude of the unrighteous is to be struck at with a general reproof, whenever there is opportunity of saying aught among the people; and above all when any scourge of the Lord from above gives opportunity, when they feel that they are scourged for their deserts; for then the calamity of the hearers opens their ears submissively to the words of their reprover, seeing the heart in affliction is ever more prone to the groans of confession than to the murmurs of resistance. And even when no tribulation lays upon them, should occasion serve, a word of reproof is usefully spent upon the multitude; for when separated it is wont to be fierce, when in a body it is wont to mourn.

(Ep. 93. 17.) This indeed was at first my own opinion, that no man was to be driven by force into the unity of Christ; but he was to be led by discourse, contended with in controversy, and overcome by argument, that we might not have men feigning themselves to be Catholics whom we knew to be declared heretics. But this opinion of mine was overcome not by the authority of those who contradicted me, but by the examples of those that showed it in fact; for the tenor of those laws in enacting which Princes serve the Lord in fear, has had such good effect, that already some say, This we desired long ago; but now thanks be to God who has made the occasion for us, and has cut off our pleas of delay. Others say, This we have long known to be the truth; but we were held by a kind of old habit, thanks be to God who has broken our chains. Others again; We knew not that this was true, and had no desire to learn it, but fear has driven us to give our attention to it, thanks be to the Lord who has banished our carelessness by the spur of terror. Others, We were deterred from entering in by false rumours, which we should not have known to be false had we not entered in, and we should not have entered in had we not been compelled; thanks be to God who has broken up our preaching by the scourge of persecution, and has taught us by experience how empty and false things lying fame had reported concerning His Church. Others say, We thought indeed that it was of no importance in what place we held the faith of Christ; but thanks be to the Lord who has gathered us together out of our division, and has shown us that it is consonant to the unity of God that He should be worshipped in unity. Let then the Kings of the earth show themselves the servants of Christ by publishing laws in Christ's behalf.

(Ep. 185. 32 et 22.) But who is there of you who has any wish that a heretic should perish, nay, that he should so much as lose aught? Yet could the house of David have had peace in no other way, but by the death of Absalom in that war which he waged against his father; notwithstanding his father gave strict commands to his servants that they should save him alive and unhurt, that on his repentance there might be room for fatherly affection to pardon; what then remained for him but to mourn over him when lost, and to console his domestic affliction by the peace which it had brought to his kingdom. Thus our Catholic mother the Church, when by the loss of a few she gains many, soothes the sorrow of her motherly heart, healing it by the deliverance of so much people. Where then is that which those are accustomed to cry out, That it is free to all to believe? Whom hath Christ done violence to? Whom hath He compelled? Let them take the Apostle Paul; let them acknowledge in him Christ first compelling and afterwards teaching, first smiting and afterwards comforting. And it is wonderful to see him who entered into the Gospel by the force of a bodily infliction labouring therein more than all those who are called by word only. (1 Cor. 15:10.) Why then should not the Church constrain her lost sons to return to her, when her lost sons constrained others to perish?

But what is said, 'Lest while you gather up the tares, you root up also the wheat together with them,' gives place to repentance, and we are warned not to cut off our brother immediately, because it may happen that he who is corrupt in his understanding today, may tomorrow begin to be sound and to defend the truth.

For room for repentance is left, and we are warned that we should not hastily cut off a brother, since one who is to-day corrupted with an erroneous dogma, may grow wiser tomorrow, and begin to defend the truth; wherefore it is added, Lest in gathering together the tares ye root out the wheat also.

But this seems to contradict that command, Put away the evil from among you. (1 Cor. 5:13) For if the rooting up be forbidden, and we are to abide in patience till the harvest-time, how are we to cast forth any from among us? But between wheat and tares (which in Latin we call 'lolium') so long as it is only in blade, before the stalk has put forth an ear, there is very great resemblance, and none or little difference to distinguish them by. The Lord then warns us not to pass a hasty sentence on an ambiguous word, but to reserve it for His judgment, that when the day of judgment shall come, He may cast forth from the assembly of the saints no longer on suspicion but on manifest guilt.

What then doth the Master? He forbids them, saying, "Lest haply ye root up the wheat with them." And this He said, to hinder wars from arising, and blood and slaughter. For it is not right to put a heretic to death, since an implacable war would be brought into the world. By these two reasons then He restrains them; one, that the wheat be not hurt; another, that punishment will surely overtake them, if incurably diseased. Wherefore, if thou wouldest have them punished, yet without harm to the wheat, I bid thee wait for the proper season.

But what means, "Lest ye root up the wheat with them?" Either He means this, If ye are to take up arms, and to kill the heretics, many of the saints also must needs be overthrown with them; or that of the very tares it is likely that many may change and become wheat. If therefore ye root them up beforehand, ye injure that which is to become wheat, slaying some, in whom there is yet room for change and improvement. He doth not therefore forbid our checking heretics, and stopping their mouths, and taking away their freedom of speech, and breaking up their assemblies and confederacies, but our killing and slaying them.

But mark thou His gentleness, how He not only gives sentence and forbids, but sets down reasons.

And he said to them. Note, this is the third point, namely, the tolerance of the wicked; concerning this, Ecclesiastes 8:11 says: for because sentence is not speedily pronounced against the evil, the children of men commit evils without any fear. And first he shows his purpose; secondly, he assigns the reason; thirdly, he sets down the limit of tolerance, because he will not always tolerate. He says therefore, no, i.e., I do not will that you gather them yet; 2 Peter 3:9: the Lord does not delay his promise, but deals patiently. Lest perhaps: here he sets down the reason. And at first glance you should note that good is great and victorious over evil, because good can exist without evil, but evil cannot exist without good; therefore the Lord tolerates many evils, so that they may come, or even so that many goods may not perish. Therefore he says, lest perhaps, gathering up the cockle, i.e., the wicked, or heretics etc., you root up the wheat also together with it. There are four reasons why the wicked should not be rooted up because of the good. One reason is that through the wicked, the good are exercised; 1 Corinthians 11:19: there must be heresies, that they who are approved may be made manifest among you; Proverbs 11:29: the fool shall serve the wise. If there had been no heretics, the knowledge of the saints, of Augustine and others, would not have shone forth. Hence he who would root out the wicked would root out many goods as well. Likewise, it happens that he who is now wicked later becomes good, like Paul. Hence if Paul had been killed, we would lack the teaching of so great a master, which God forbid. Therefore, if you wish to root out, you will root up the wheat as well, namely, him who will be wheat; Psalm 67:23: the Lord said: I will bring back from Basan, I will bring back into the depths of the sea. The third reason is that some seem wicked and are not; therefore if you wished to root out the wicked, you would immediately uproot many good persons. And this is apparent, because God did not wish them to be gathered until they reached perfect maturity; hence 1 Corinthians 4:5: judge not before the time. The fourth reason is that someone is sometimes of great power; therefore if he is excluded, he draws many with him, and so with that one wicked man, many perish. Therefore a congregation is not excommunicated, nor a prince of the people, lest with one many should fall. Concerning such a one is understood what is said in Apocalypse 12:4, that the dragon drew the third part of the stars with him, etc. And Genesis 18:25: far be it from you to do this thing and to slay the just with the wicked.

(Quaest. in Matt. q. 12.) It may be asked why He commands more than one bundle or heap of tares to be formed? Perhaps because of the variety of heretics differing not only from the wheat, but also among themselves, each several heresy, separated from communion with all the others, is designated as a bundle; and perhaps they may even then begin to be bound together for burning, when they first sever themselves from the Catholic communion, and begin to have their independent church, so that it is the burning and not the binding into bundles that will take place at the end of the world. But were this so, there would not be so many who would become wise again, and return from error into the Catholic Church. Wherefore we must understand the binding into bundles to be what shall come to pass in the end, that punishment should fall on them not promiscuously, but in due proportion to the obstinacy and wilfulness of each separate error.

But when the servants of the householder, namely, on the part of the apostles, ask the Lord whether they should separate the weeds from the wheat, he allowed them both to grow together until the harvest—that is, until the end of time. He clearly indicated that he would send reapers at that time, namely, angels, so that, once they have separated the wheat from the weeds—that is, once the holy ones have been separated from the wicked—they may gather the righteous in heavenly kingdoms, like wheat in barns. All the wicked and sinners will burn amid the punishments of hell like weeds in the fire, where the Lord declares they will forever weep and grind their teeth, saying, "There shall be weeping and grinding of teeth." And when the Lord says there will be weeping and grinding of teeth, he is undoubtedly pointing to the future resurrection not only of the soul (as certain heretics would have it) but also of the body. Indeed, weeping and grinding of teeth are properly so-called punishments of the body. Therefore the gravity of the error that has a hold on heretics of this type can be seen from these words of the Lord, for they do not believe in the future resurrection of the body.

The words the Lord spoke—"Lest gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them"—leave room for repentance. We are advised not to be quick in cutting off a fellow believer, for it may happen that one who has been corrupted today by evil may recover his senses tomorrow by sound teaching and abide by the truth. And that which follows, "Let both grow together until the harvest," seems to be contrary to the other precept: "Put away evil from your midst," whereby there must be no fellowship with those who are called believers but who are adulterers and fornicators. If uprooting is forbidden and patience must be kept until harvest time, how are some people to be removed from our midst? Between wheat and weeds there is something called darnel, when the plant is in its early growth and there is no stalk yet. It looks like an ear of corn, and the difference between them is hardly noticeable. The Lord therefore advises us that we should not be quick to judge what is doubtful but should leave judgment up to God. So when the day of judgment comes, he may not cast out from the body of saints those who are suspected of misdeeds but those who are obviously guilty. As to his words that the bundles of weeds are to be consigned to the fire and the wheat is to be gathered in the barn, it is clear that all heretics and hypocrites are to be burned in the fires of hell. But the holy ones, who are called wheat, are to be gathered up in barns—that is to say, heavenly mansions.

Also that which follows: 'Allow both to grow until the harvest,' seems to be contrary to this precept: 'Take away the evil from among you'; and there is to be no fellowship with those who are called brethren, and are adulterers and fornicators. For if eradication is prohibited, and patience must be maintained until the harvest, how are certain ones to be expelled from among us? Between wheat and weeds, which we call darnel, as long as it is grass and the stem has not yet come to the ear, there is a great similarity, and in distinguishing, either no difference or a very difficult one. Therefore, the Lord warns us not to quickly pronounce judgment when there is any ambiguity, but to reserve the judgment of God: so that when the day of judgment comes, he may expel not suspicion of crime, but a clear guilt from the assembly of the saints.

But what he said, that the bundles of weeds are to be burned with fire, and the wheat is to be gathered into barns, it is clear that the heretics and hypocrites are to be burned with the fires of hell; but the saints who are called wheat are to be received into the barns, that is, the heavenly mansions.

In that He says that the bundles of tares are to be cast into the fire, and the wheat gathered into barns, it is clear that heretics also and hypocrites are to be consumed in the fires of hell, while the saints who are here represented by the wheat are received into the barns, that is into heavenly mansions.

What then, if the tares should remain until the end? "Then I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them." He again reminds them of John's words, introducing Him as judge; and He saith, So long as they stand by the wheat, we must spare them, for it is possible for them even to become wheat; but when they have departed, having profited nothing, then of necessity the inexorable punishment will overtake them. "For I will say to the reapers," saith He, "Gather ye together first the tares." Why, "first?" That these may not be alarmed, as though the wheat were carried off with them. "And bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn."

And at the end of things, which is called "the consummation of the age," there will of necessity be a harvest, in order that the angels of God who have been appointed for this work may gather up the bad opinions that have grown upon the soul, and overturning them may give them over to fire which is said to burn, that they may be consumed. And so the angels and servants of the Word will gather from Christ's entire kingdom all things that cause a stumbling block to souls and their reasonings that create iniquity, which they will scatter and cast into the burning furnace of fire. Then those who become conscious that they have received the seeds of the evil one in themselves, because of their having been asleep, shall wail and, as it were, be angry with themselves. This is the "gnashing of teeth." Similarly it is said in the Psalms, "They gnashed me with their teeth." Then above all "shall the righteous shine," no longer differently as at the first but all "as one sun in the kingdom of their Father." Then, as if to indicate that there was indeed a hidden meaning, perhaps in all that is concerned with the explanation of the parable, maybe most of all in the saying "Then shall the righteous shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father," the Savior adds, "He that has ears to hear, let him hear." The Lord thereby teaches those who are attentive that in the exposition, the parable has been set forth with such perfect clearness that it can be understood by the novice.

It follows, And in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them. The harvest is the season of reaping which here designates the day of judgment, in which the good are to be separated from the bad.

But again shall it be rooted up, if the Lord will, even now; but if not now, in the day when all bundles of tares shall be gathered together, and along with every other stumbling-block shall be burnt up with unquenchable fire.

But will they always be spared? No, but until a time; hence he says, let both grow until the harvest etc. A similar statement is found in Apocalypse 22:11: he that hurts, let him hurt still; and he that is filthy, let him be filthy still. Let both grow until the harvest. Against this statement it is objected that Isaiah 1:16 says: take away the evil of your thoughts etc. Likewise, 1 Corinthians 5:7: purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened etc. What then does he mean by let them be etc.? Chrysostom says that he is speaking about killing. Hence heretics are not to be killed, because many evils would follow from it. Augustine, in a certain letter, says that it once seemed to him that they should not be killed; but afterwards he learned by experience that many are converted through force: for the Lord draws some by force, as he drew Paul. Hence this one who was converted by compulsion profited more than all the others who believed voluntarily. And Augustine treated this opinion (or question). Hence according to Chrysostom's view, if it cannot be done without danger, it should not be done, except where a greater danger is feared. And this is clear by induction in all cases, because even if they are wicked, they are useful for the exercise of the good. Yet because it is more to be feared that the evangelical doctrine may perish through them in others, therefore, etc. Likewise, some who are now wicked later become good. It is true that they should not be killed immediately, but, as is found in Titus 3:10, a man that is a heretic, after the first and second admonition, avoid. To the other objection, the third one, that many seem wicked who are good, it is true if it were done indiscriminately, as is found in 1 Timothy 4. Likewise, as to what was said, that a prince of the people should not be excommunicated, if you see that the scandal would be greater if he were excommunicated than in the offense he commits, he should not be excommunicated; but if he had done something that endangered the faith, without doubt he should be excommunicated, whatever damage might follow. And in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers etc. Above, the Lord expounded parabolically the origin of good and evil, and the progress of each; here the end of each is treated. And first the time of the end is set down; secondly, the ministers are set down; thirdly, the manner and order, each of which is ordered to the end. The time is touched on when he says, in the time of the harvest etc. The time of harvest is the time of the gathering of the fruit that is expected from the seeds. Now there is a twofold gathering: one in the present Church, another in the heavenly Church. And therefore there is a twofold harvest: one of the gathering of fruits in the present; concerning this, John 4:35: lift up your eyes and see the countries, for they are white already to harvest. Likewise, the time of harvest in the Church triumphant; hence below, in the same place, it is said that the harvest is the consummation of the world; therefore it is deferred until that time. Who are the ministers? The reapers. Hence, I will say to the reapers. The reapers of the first harvest were the apostles: for they gathered and converted the whole world, of whom John 4:38 says: I have sent you to reap that which you did not sow. In the second harvest the reapers will be angels; Apocalypse 14:15, it was said to a certain angel: thrust in your sickle and reap, for the hour is come to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe etc. For those things which are done through God are to be believed to be done through the ministry of angels; hence it is said of the angels in Psalm 102:21: his ministers, who do his will. But let us see the order, and in what way they attain the end, and what end. And first concerning the wicked; secondly, concerning the good. Concerning the wicked, it should be known that first they are gathered; secondly, they are bound; thirdly, they are burned. In the first is the separation of the wicked from the good. As long as this present time endures, the wicked are with the good, the cockle with the wheat, the lily among thorns, as is found in Song of Songs 2:2; below at 25:31: when the Son of man shall come, he shall separate the good from the wicked, the goats from the lambs. Hence he says, gather up first the cockle etc. At present, good things and evil things fall upon the good and the wicked almost indiscriminately: and this is what is said in Ecclesiastes 9:3, that this is the worst among all things that are done under the sun, that the same things happen to all; but then good things shall be rendered to the good, and evil things to the evil. Therefore, lest they be entangled, they must be separated and bound. Hence, and bind it into bundles. In the binding is signified the perpetuity of punishment; Psalm 149:8: to bind their kings in fetters etc.; below at 22:13: bind his hands and feet and cast him into the exterior darkness, which signifies the impenitence and irrevocability of eternal damnation. Into bundles. All will be separated from the vision of God: the punishment of loss will be equal for all; therefore they will be placed in bundles, as is found in Leviticus 13, where it is taught to discern between blood and blood, between leprosy and leprosy; and Isaiah 27:8: in measure against measure. And for what purpose? To burn them, i.e., they shall be delivered to eternal fire. Concerning this, Luke 16:24 says: I am tormented in this flame. Then when he says, but gather the wheat into my barn, the end of the good is set down; and, conversely, three things are set down, namely, purity, unity, and tranquility. Purity, when he says wheat. But note that the cockle was bound, and therefore was not winnowed; but the wheat was winnowed. And this signifies that the wicked will be sent to hell with their defilements; but the good will be thoroughly purified; Isaiah 35:8: it shall be called the holy way; the unclean shall not pass over it. Likewise, there is among them unity; hence gather. Among the wicked there are always quarrels, and therefore they have no unity; but the good are gathered together; Psalm 49:5: gather together his saints to him, who set his covenant above sacrifices etc.; and below at 24:28: wherever the body shall be, there shall the eagles also be gathered together. Likewise, there shall be among them tranquility; hence he says into my barn. A barn is made for the preservation of the harvest; so that homeland will be the barn of the saints, where they shall be with praise and everlasting joy, as is found in Isaiah 35:10.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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