Luke § 16

St. Luke did well to first set before us the man freed from a spirit of wickedness, then substituted the healing of a woman. The Lord had come to heal both sexes, and man must first be cured because he was created first. But woman, who had sinned by an uncertain mind rather than depravity, must not be overlooked.

Luke having first introduced a man delivered from an evil spirit, goes on to relate the healing of a woman. For our Lord had come to heal each sex, and he ought first to be healed who was first created. Hence it is said, And he arose out of the synagogue, and entered into Simon's house.

But if we weigh these things with deeper thoughts, we shall consider the health of the mind as well as the body; that the mind which was assailed by the wiles of the devil may be released first. Eve was not a hungered before the serpent beguiled her, and therefore against the author of evil himself ought the medicine of salvation first to operate. Perhaps also in that woman as in a type our flesh languished under the various fevers of crimes, nor should I say that the fever of love was less than that of bodily heat.

Rising from the synagogue, he entered Simon's house. Now Simon's mother-in-law was suffering from a severe fever. If we say that a man delivered from a demon signifies a mind morally cleansed from unclean thoughts, it follows that the woman afflicted with a fever, but cured by the command of the Lord, represents the flesh restrained from the fervor of its own desires by the precepts of continence. For all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and blasphemy are the fury of unclean spirits. And fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry (Eph. IV), represent the fever of enticing flesh.

And they asked him concerning her. Standing over her, he rebuked the fever, and it left her. Now the Savior, being asked, sometimes cures the sick voluntarily, showing that he always responds to the faithful for the passions of sins by prayers, and grants understanding in things they least comprehend in themselves, or even absolves the things not understood. As the Psalmist requests: "Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults" (Ps. XVIII).

At one time at the request of others, at another of his own accord, our Saviour cures the sick, showing that He is far aloof from the passions of sinners, and ever grants the prayer of the faithful, and what they in themselves little understand He either makes intelligible, or forgives their not understanding it. As, Who understands his errors? Lord, cleanse me from my secret faults. (Ps. 19:12.)

For if we say that a man released from the devil represents morally the mind cleansed from unclean thoughts, consequently a woman vexed by fever, but cured at our Lord's command, represents the flesh controlled by the rules of continence in the fury of its own lust.

After the miraculous healing of the male sex from a demon, there follows here the miraculous healing of the female sex from a fever: which is described by the Evangelist in this order. First is noted the distress of the fever itself; second, the aid of intercession; third, the remedy of healing; fourth, the sign of perfect liberation. For these four things concurred in the demonstration of this miracle.

As regards, therefore, the distress of the fever, which compelled Simon's mother-in-law to lie in the house, it is said: But Jesus, rising from the synagogue, entered into the house of Simon, so that his power, which had been publicly manifested before all, might be more secretly manifested in the house before the simple and before his followers. The woman was to be healed in the house, not in the synagogue, to intimate what is said in First Timothy two: "But I do not permit a woman to teach." Mercy moved him to this entrance for the sake of relieving the woman's misery, which he expresses when he says: But Simon's mother-in-law was held by great fevers, in which is designated the gravity of the illness, which disposes to grace, according to that saying of Ecclesiasticus thirty-one: "Grave illness makes the soul sober." But although it was grave, nevertheless that saying of John eleven could be said of it: "This illness is not unto death, but that the glory of God may be manifested"; which glory he was bound to show not only in one sex but in both, because, just as each had fallen, so each pertained to the redemption. Whence at the nativity of Christ, Joseph was with Mary; at the preaching of Christ, disciples and women, as is said below in chapter eight; at the passion, Mary and John, John nineteen; at the resurrection, the disciples and Magdalene, John twenty. Thus man and woman are healed for the showing forth of God's glory, and the woman from a graver illness than the man, because she is subject to more penalties: Genesis three: "I will multiply your sorrows and your conceptions; in sorrow you shall bring forth children, and you shall be under the power of your husband."

As for the aid of intercession, it is added: And they asked him on her behalf, the disciples and those who were present. For although the Lord wishes to give, he nonetheless wishes to be asked, according to that word of the Psalm: "In the day of your tribulation, call upon me: I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me"; Isaiah fifty-eight: "You shall call, and the Lord will hear; you shall cry out, and he will say: Behold, I am here," "because I am merciful, the Lord your God."

And note that the Lord healed someone without prayers, as the demoniac previously; another by the prayers of others, as here; another by his own prayers, as below in the fifth chapter, the leper. In this it is signified that the grace of the Savior heals sinful souls in a threefold manner: now through the intercession of the sole benignity of his clemency; Romans two: "Do you not know that the benignity of God leads you to repentance?" Now through the intervention of the prayer of the Church: James five: "Is anyone among you sick? Let him bring in the priests of the Church, and let them pray over him, and the prayer of faith shall save the sick man." Now indeed through the intervention of one's own groaning: Exodus six: "I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel"; 4 Kings twenty: "I have heard your prayer and seen your tears, and I have healed you." And therefore the holy soul said in the Psalm: "But I cried out to the Lord, and the Lord saved me."

Jesus arrived at Simon's house and found Simon's mother-in-law sick of a fever. He stood and rebuked the fever, and it left her. Matthew and Mark say that the fever left her. There is no hint of any living thing as the active cause of the fever. But Luke's phrase says that he stood over her, and rebuked the fever, and it left her. I do not know whether we are not compelled to say that that which was rebuked was some living thing unable to sustain the influence of him who rebuked it. It is not reasonable to rebuke a thing without life, and unconscious of the rebuke.

Now see how Christ abides in the house of a poor man, suffering poverty of His own will for our sakes, that we might learn to visit the poor, and despise not the destitute and needy. It follows: And Simon's wife's mother was taken with a great fever: and they besought him for her.

Let us therefore receive Jesus. For when He has visited us, we carry Him in our heart and mind; He will then extinguish the flames of our unlicensed pleasures, and will make us whole, so that we minister unto Him, that is, do things well-pleasing to Him.

"Now Simon's mother-in-law was kept in her bed sick with a fever." May Christ come to our house and enter in and by his command cure the fever of our sins. Each one of us is sick with a fever. When-ever I give way to anger, I have a fever. There are as many fevers as there are faults and vices. Let us beg the apostles to intercede for us with Jesus, that he may come to us and touch our hand. If he does so, at once our fever is gone. He is an excellent physician and truly the chief Physician. Moses is a physician. Isaiah is a physician. All the saints are physicians, but he is the chief Physician.

(Hom. 27. in Matt.) For He honoured His disciples by dwelling among them, and so making them the more zealous.

(ut sup.) Because Matthew is silent on the point of asking Him, he does not differ from Luke, or it matters not, for one Gospel had brevity in view, the other accurate research. It follows: And he stood over her, &c.

(ut sup.) For since the disease was curable, He showed His power by the manner of the cure, doing what art could never do. For after the allaying of the fever, the patient needs much time ere he be restored to his former health, but at this time all took place at once.

We must know also that many now have devils, namely, such as fulfil the desires of devils, as the furious have the dæmon of anger; and so of the rest. But the Lord came into the synagogue when the thoughts of the man were collected, and then says to the dæmon that dwelt there, Hold thy peace, and immediately throwing him into the middle he departs out of him. For it becomes not a man always to be angry, (that is, like the brutes,) nor always to be without anger, (for that is want of feeling,) but he must take the middle path, and have anger against what is evil; and so the man is thrown into the midst when the unclean spirit departs from him.

And immediately she rose and served them. It is natural for those recovering from fever, as health begins, to feel faint and sense the discomfort of their illness, but the health granted by the Lord's command returns fully at once. Not only does it return entirely, but it comes with such strength that she immediately serves those who had aided her. And, according to the laws of allegory, the members that served impurity unto iniquity to bear fruit unto death should now serve righteousness unto eternal life (Rom. VI).

As for the remedy of healing, it is added: And standing over her, he commanded the fever, and it left her. He commands, moreover, as lord and king, as in Ecclesiastes five: "Moreover, the king of the whole earth commands the one who serves"; and because "no word is impossible for him," therefore "he spoke, and it was done." Whence at his command the fever departed, according to that word of the Psalm: "He established a decree, and it shall not pass away." Nor is this surprising, because "all things whatsoever he willed, he has done in heaven and on earth, in the sea and in all the depths"; and Jeremiah five: "Will you not therefore fear me, says the Lord, and will you not tremble before my face? I who set the sand as a boundary for the sea, an everlasting decree which it shall not pass beyond." Whence in a wondrous manner the obstinacy of the human will is hereby convicted and shown to be reprehensible, in that every sensible creature, and what is more, even penal affliction obeys the divine commands, which miserable man resists.

Finally, as to the sign of perfect liberation, there is added: And immediately rising, she ministered. For this is a certain sign of perfect healing, that no remnants of the illness remained, because she was immediately made capable of movement and capable of service. Whence she arose and ministered as a good matron and as another Martha, of whom below in the tenth chapter: "But Martha was busy about much serving." And such women merit the divine benefit: in Fourth Kings, chapter four, Elisha says to the Shunammite woman: "Behold, you have diligently ministered to us in all things; what do you wish that I should do for you?" The Apostle said that such a widow should be chosen, in First Timothy, chapter five: "Let a widow be chosen who is not less than sixty years old, having testimony in good works, if she has raised children, if she has received guests, if she has washed the feet of the saints, if she has ministered to those suffering tribulation, if she has followed after every good work."

Moreover, it should be noted here regarding the allegorical sense that the healing of the man from the demon signifies the healing of the gentile people from error; in figure of which it is said in Isaiah, chapter thirty-four: "Demons shall meet there; the onocentaur and the hairy one shall cry out one to another." This is said of Idumea under the figure of the gentile nations. This demon is cast out through faith in Christ, according to that passage in Mark, the last chapter: "In my name they shall cast out demons, they shall speak in new tongues, they shall take up serpents," etc.: those serpents spreading the poison of error, as the serpent of whom in Second Corinthians, chapter eleven: "I fear lest, as the serpent seduced Eve by his cunning, so your senses may be corrupted and fall from the simplicity which is in Christ." By the healing of Simon's mother-in-law from the fever is signified the healing of the synagogue from the burning heat of carnal concupiscence, with which that carnal people burns: Hosea, chapter seven: "All of them committing adultery, like an oven heated by the baker." And therefore the healing of the man is placed first, because, as it is said in Romans, chapter eleven, "when the fullness of the gentiles shall have entered, then all Israel shall be saved."

According to the moral sense, the healing of the man from the demon signifies the healing from spiritual sins, according to what is said in 1 Kings 16: "An evil spirit from the Lord troubled Saul"; and below in the eleventh chapter: "When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he walks about" etc. The healing of the woman from the fever is the healing of the soul from carnal sins; Ecclesiasticus 23: "A heated soul like a burning fire will not be quenched until it devours something." Whence Bede: "The man from the demon is freed when the mind is purged from unclean thought: the woman from the fevers, when the flesh is restrained from the heat of concupiscence." And therefore the man is healed in the midst of the synagogue, because he who is detained by spiritual sins needs to be humbled in the sight of men: the Psalm: "The Lord guards the little ones"; but she, with the Lord standing over her in the house, because together with divine grace the guardianship of discipline is necessary: Ecclesiasticus 26: "Over a daughter who does not turn herself away, set a firm guard, lest, having found an occasion, she abuse herself"; and therefore 1 Corinthians 9: "I chastise my body and bring it into subjection" etc.

Here Luke speaks figuratively, as of a command given to a sensible being, saying, that the fever was commanded, and neglected not the work of Him who commanded it. Hence it follows: And she arose, and ministered unto them.

When the sun was setting, all those who had sick people with various diseases brought them to him. And he, laying hands on each of them, cured them. The setting of the sun signifies the passion and death of the one who said: "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." And as the sun sets, more demoniacs than before, more sick are healed. Because he, living temporally in the flesh, taught few of the Jews, but having trampled the kingdom of death, he transmitted the gifts of faith and salvation to all the nations throughout the world. Of which ministers, as if heralds of life and light, the Psalmist sings: "Prepare the way for him who rides upon the sunset." (Psalm 67). Indeed, the Lord ascended upon the sunset, because from where he lay down in the passion, from there he manifested his greater glory by rising again.

The devils confess the Son of God, and as it is afterwards said, they knew him to be Christ; for when the devil saw Him distressed by fasting, he perceived Him to be truly man, but when he prevailed not in his trial he doubted whether or not He were the Son of God, but now by the power of Christ's miracles he either perceived or suspected Him to be the Son of God. He did not then persuade the Jews to crucify Him because he thought Him not to be Christ or the Son of God, but because he did not foresee that by this death he himself would be condemned. Of this mystery hidden from the world the Apostle says, that none of the princes of this world knew, for if they had known they would never have crucified the Lord of Glory. (1 Cor. 2:8.)

But the Apostles themselves are commanded to be silent concerning Him, lest by proclaiming His divine Majesty, the dispensation of His Passion should be delayed.

Here after the healing of the male and the female sex is subjoined the universal healing with respect to every sex, age, and infirmity. In which the admirable power of Christ is manifested from four things, namely, from the variety of diseases, from the ease of the healings, from the confession of the demons, from the restraining of the unclean spirits. First, therefore, the variety of diseases is introduced in what is said: Now when the sun had set, those who had people sick with various diseases brought them to him, that he might heal them: and rightly so, because, Isaiah 53, "truly he himself bore our diseases" etc.; and Acts 10: "He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil"; and without distinction, because he had power equally over all things: whence Wisdom 16: "Neither herb nor poultice healed them, but your word, O Lord, which heals all things"; whence also in Matthew 4 it is said that "he healed every disease and every infirmity."

And note that they brought them after the setting of the sun, to show that Christ was not only by day but also by night solicitous and powerful concerning the salvation of the human race. This was prefigured in Genesis 31 in Jacob: "By day and by night I was scorched by heat and frost, and sleep fled from my eyes"; and in the last chapter of Wisdom: "In all things you magnified your people, O Lord, and exalted them, at all times and in every place standing by them." Or therefore after the setting of the sun, to show that the glory of men is to be avoided: whence he rebukes the Pharisees in Matthew twenty-three, because "they do all their works so that they may be seen by men." Or therefore after the setting of the sun, to signify that through the passion the universal remedy was to be obtained. For Christ is the sun, according to that passage in Malachi four: "The sun of justice shall arise for you who fear my name"; this sun set in the passion: whence Amos eight: "The sun shall set for them at midday"; and then more were healed, which was prefigured in Judges sixteen in the death of Samson, who is interpreted as their sun. Whence Bede: "The setting of the sun is the passion of Christ, through which more demoniacs and sick are healed than before."

Second, the ease of the healings is added, when it is added: But he, laying hands on each one, healed them all. He healed easily, because he healed without interruption, but by the laying on of hands alone. Nor is this surprising, because, as is said in Isaiah fifty-nine, "the hand of the Lord is not shortened, so that he cannot save." And he could not only do this by himself, but also communicate it to others, according to that passage in the last chapter of Mark: "They shall lay hands upon the sick, and they shall recover." And note that he is said to have laid hands on each one without exclusion, as is said in Acts ten: "God is no respecter of persons"; and therefore in the Psalm: "You open your hand and fill every living thing with blessing." And this is what is said in Wisdom six: "He himself made both the small and the great, and he has equal care for all." And therefore it is said: He healed all, namely those coming to him, because it is said in John six: "Everyone who comes to me, I will not cast out." Nor is this surprising, because "the same Lord of all is rich unto all who call upon him," Romans ten.

There is an activity of God displayed throughout creation, a wholesale activity let us say which men refuse to recognize. The miracles done by God incarnate, living as a man in Palestine, perform the very same things as this wholesale activity, but at a different speed and on a smaller scale. One of their chief purposes is that men, having seen a thing done by personal power on the small scale, may recognize, when they see the same thing done on the large scale, that the power behind it is also personal – is indeed the very same person who lived among us two thousand years ago. The miracles in fact are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see...

The miracles of healing fall into the same pattern. This is sometimes obscured for us by the somewhat magical view we tend to take of ordinary medicine. The doctors themselves do not take this view. The magic is not in the medicine but in the patient's body. What the doctor does is to stimulate Nature's functions in the body, or to remove hindrances. In a sense, though we speak for convenience of healing a cut, every cut heals itself; no dressing will make skin grow over a cut on a corpse. That same mysterious energy which we call gravitational when it steers the planets and biochemical when it heals a body is the efficient cause of all recoveries, and if God exists, that energy, directly or indirectly, is His. All who are cured are cured by Him, the healer within. But once He did it visibly, a Man meeting a man. Where He does not work within us in this mode, the organism dies. Hence Christ's one miracle of destruction is also in harmony with God's wholesale activity. His bodily hand held out in symbolic wrath blasted a single fig tree; but no tree died that year in Palestine, or any year, or in any land, or even ever will, save because He has done something, or (more likely) ceased to do something, to it.

Jesus laid his hands upon the sick one by one and freed them from their malady. He demonstrated that the holy flesh, which he had made his own and endowed with godlike power, possessed the active presence of the might of the Word. He intended us to learn that, although the only-begotten Word of God became like us, yet he is nonetheless God. He wants us to know that he is easily able, even by his own flesh, to accomplish all things. His body was the instrument by which he performed miracles.

Jesus, then, entered Peter's house, where a woman was lying stretched upon a bed, exhausted with a violent fever. As God, he might have said, "Put away the disease, arise," but he adopted a different course of action. As a proof that his own flesh possessed the power of healing, because it is the flesh of God, he touched her hand. "Immediately," it says, "the fever left her." Let us therefore also receive Jesus. When he has entered into us and we have received him into mind and heart, then he will quench the fever of unbefitting pleasures. He will raise us up and make us strong, even in spiritual things, so that we might serve him by performing those things that please him. But observe again, I ask, how great is the usefulness of the touch of his holy flesh. For it both drives away diseases of various kinds, and a crowd of demons, and overthrows the power of the devil. It heals a very great multitude of people in one moment of time. Although he was able to perform these miracles by a word and the preference of his will, yet to teach us something useful for us, he also lays his hands upon the sick. For it was necessary, most necessary, for us to learn that the holy flesh which he had made his own was endowed with the activity of the power of the Word by his having implanted in it a godlike might. Let it then take hold of us, or rather let us take hold of it by the mystical "giving of thanks." May we do this so that it might free us also from the sicknesses of the soul, and from the assault and violence of demons.

Let us therefore receive Jesus. For when He has visited us, we carry Him in our heart and mind; He will then extinguish the flames of our unlicensed pleasures, and will make us whole, so that we minister unto Him, that is, do things well-pleasing to Him.

But although as God He was able to drive away diseases by His word, He nevertheless touches them, showing that His flesh was powerful to apply remedies, since it was the flesh of God; for as fire, when applied to a brazen vessel, imprints on it the effect of its own heat, so the omnipotent Word of God, when He united to Himself in real assumption a living virgin temple, endued with understanding, implanted in it a participation of His own power. May He also touch us, nay rather may we touch Him, that He may deliver us from the infirmities of our souls as well as the assaults of the evil spirit and pride! For it follows, And devils also came out.

It was ordered about sun-set, that is, when the day was gone, that they should bring them out, either because during the day they were employed about other things, or because they thought that it was not lawful to heal on the sabbath. But He healed them, as it follows, But he laid his hands upon every one of them.

In short, He did himself touch others, upon whom He laid His hands, which were capable of being felt, and conferred the blessings of healing, which were not less true, not less unimaginary, than were the hands wherewith He bestowed them.

His successor was Ebion, not agreeing with Cerinthus in every point; in that he affirms the world to have been made by God, not by angels; and because it is written, "No disciple above his master, nor servant above his lord, " sets forth likewise the law as binding, of course for the purpose of excluding the gospel and vindicating Judaism.

We must observe the zeal of the multitude, who after the sun had set bring their sick unto Him, not deterred by the lateness of the day; as it is said, Now when the sun was setting, they brought their sick.

Because, "praise is not seemly in the mouth of a sinner." Or, because He did not wish to inflame the envy of the Jews by being praised of all.

Even when the demons spoke the truth, for they spoke the truth when they said, "Thou are the Son of God," the Lord himself silenced them and forbade them to speak. He did this to keep them from sowing their own wickedness in the midst of the truth. He also wished us to get used to never listening to them even though they seem to speak the truth. LIFE OF ST.

What irreverent men do not believe, the spirits see—that he is God. So they flee and fall down at his feet, saying just what they uttered when he was in the body.

Demons also went out from many, crying out and saying: "You are the Son of God." And rebuking them, he would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Christ. Demons confessed the Son of God, and, as the evangelist bears witness, they knew he was the Christ. For the devil, having recognized a man exhausted by fasting for forty days, and being unable to tempt him, even to find out if he were the Son of God, now, through the power of signs, either understood or rather suspected that he was the Son of God. Therefore, he did not persuade the Jews to crucify him because he thought he was not Christ or the Son of God, but because he did not foresee that he would be condemned by his death. Indeed, about this mystery hidden from ages, the Apostle says: "None of the rulers of this age understood it; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory" (1 Cor. 2). And why the Lord forbids demons to speak about him, the Psalmist reveals, who says: "To the sinner, however, God said: Why do you recount my ordinances?" (Psalm 49) and so on: lest anyone, while hearing the preacher, follow the one who errs. For the devil is an unworthy teacher, who often mixes falsehood with truth, to cover the testimony of fraud with the appearance of truth. But at other times, not only demons who unwillingly confessed are commanded to be silent about Christ, but also those who willingly wanted to confess after being healed by him. Indeed, even the apostles, who were to preach about him throughout the whole world after the resurrection, were absolutely commanded to be silent about him before his passion, lest, once his divine majesty was proclaimed, the dispensation of the passion be deferred, and, with the passion delayed, the salvation of the world, which was to come through this, be denied.

Third, the confession of the demons is added, when it is added: And demons went out from many, crying out, namely from pain and fear and astonishment, Isaiah sixty-five: "You shall cry out from pain of heart and howl from anguish of spirit." But their crying was in vain: Psalm: "They cried out, and there was none to save them." Or crying out, on account of the public proclamation of the truth. And therefore the true confession is added: And saying: You are the Son of God. But they said this not from certainty, but from conjecture on account of the greatness of his power. And therefore the demon first said: "I know that you are the Holy One of God"; now, that he is the Son of God, because through greater proofs he had advanced in knowledge. But what they conjectured, they confessed not by saying it from the heart; concerning which First Corinthians twelve says: "No one can say: Lord Jesus, except in the Holy Spirit"; to which to say corresponds the word which is "knowledge with love"; they did not confess with heart and deed: concerning which First John four says: "Everyone who confesses that Christ Jesus has come in the flesh is from God"; but they spoke only with the mouth and hated in heart and denied in deed: Titus one: "They profess to know God, but in their deeds they deny him." Nor is this surprising, because, according to what is said in the Psalm, "in hell who shall confess to you?" No one, namely with meritorious confession, but all with forced and compelled confession: Wisdom five: "Saying within themselves, repenting" etc.

Lastly is added the restraining of the unclean spirits, when it is added: And rebuking them, he did not allow them to speak, so that the words of the Psalm might be fulfilled: "At your rebuke they shall flee, at the voice of your thunder they shall be afraid." He did not allow etc., because frequently the Lord sets an obstacle against the wicked: whence Second Maccabees six: "Not to allow sinners to act according to their will is a sign of great beneficence." Or he did not permit them because he did not wish to be made known through demons: whence it is also added: Because they knew that he was the Christ, that is, they conjectured with probability. "For he was not made known to the demons, as Augustine says, as splendor and light, but through a certain efficacy of his power." But the Lord did not wish the knowledge of his name to be spread abroad through demons, both because they were unworthy, and because they were hateful, and also because they were deceitful, and therefore such a confession neither befitted God nor was fitting for a demon nor was profitable to man. Bede: "The wicked teacher mixes false things with true, so that under the appearance of truth he may conceal the testimony of fraud." From which it is given us to understand that those who in preaching Christ mix false things with true are entirely to be restrained, as heretics: First Corinthians 5: "A little leaven corrupts the whole lump." But if some preach true things, yet not with right intention, they are to be tolerated: and of such it is said in Philippians 1: "Whether by occasion or by truth Christ is announced, in this I rejoice, and indeed I shall rejoice." But if they preach true and good things, and yet do not practice them, they are nonetheless to be heard: Matthew 23: "The scribes and Pharisees have sat upon the chair of Moses." And such were designated by that one of whom it is said below in chapter nine, that he was preaching Christ without following him; whom the Lord did not wish to be forbidden. From the foregoing it is clear that the power of the Savior has been manifested in every way.

He would not permit the unclean demons to confess Him; for it was not fitting for them to usurp the glory of the Apostolic office, nor with impure tongue to talk of the mystery of Christ. Yea! though they speak ought that is true, let no one put credence in them: for the light is not known by the aid of darkness, as the disciple of Christ teaches us, where he says, "For what communion hath light with darkness? or what consent hath Christ with Beliar?"

But in what follows, And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak, mark the humility of Christ, who would not let the unclean spirits make Him manifest. For it was not fit that they should usurp the glory of the Apostolical office, nor did it become the mysteries of Christ to be made public by impure tongues.

Accordingly, wicked spirits (just in the manner of our former example) used to go forth with a testimony, exclaiming, "Thou art the Son of God," -of what God, is clear enough from the case itself.

(Victor Antiochenus.) He went also into the desert, as Mark says, and prayed; not that he needed prayer, but as an example to us of good works.

(ut sup.) Now when Mark says that the Apostles came to him, saying, All seek thee, but Luke, that the people came, there is no difference between them, for the people came to Him following in the footsteps of the Apostles.

But when the day came, he went out to a deserted place, and the crowds sought him, and came to him. If the death of the Lord is expressed by the setting sun, why is not his resurrection indicated by the returning day? The light revealed by which he is sought by the crowds of believers, found in the desert of the nations, is detained, lest he go away. Especially since this happened on the first day of the Sabbath, on which the resurrection was celebrated, the departure, the search, and the finding occurred.

But if the sun-setting mystically expresses the death of our Lord, the returning day denotes His resurrection, (the light of which being made manifest, He is sought for by the multitudes of believers, and being found in the desert of the Gentiles He is held back by them, lest He should depart;) especially as this took place on the first day of the week, on which day the Resurrection was celebrated.

After the communication of Christ's teaching and its authentication through the working of a miracle, there is here added thirdly the acceptance of the same by the multitude of the people. But in order that any teaching be duly accepted by its hearers, it is necessary that it be free from ostentation, from ambition, from flattery, and from respect of persons. For by these four ways the acceptance of teaching is customarily corrupted. First, therefore, ostentation is excluded from the acceptance of Christ's teaching, when it is said: And when it was day, he went out and proceeded to a desert place, wishing rather to hide himself humbly than to display himself shamelessly, according to that word of the Psalm: "I went far off fleeing and remained in solitude." A figure of this preceded in Elijah, of whom it is said in Third Kings 19 that, leaving behind his servant, he went alone into the desert, after he had worked the miracle of the fire consuming the holocaust. A figure of this also preceded in David, who said to Jonathan in First Kings 20: "Let me go, that I may hide in the field until the evening of the third day," that is, until the resurrection. For which reason also he said to the disciples in Matthew 17: "Tell the vision to no one, until the Son of Man rises from the dead"; and John 12: "Jesus spoke these things and went away and hid himself."

Now that journey into the desert and departure from the city signifies the departure from secular life and the entrance into religious life. For the desert is a place of poverty, austerity, and lowliness, against the three things that are in the world, according to that passage of First John 2: "All that is in the world is either the concupiscence of the eyes, or the concupiscence of the flesh, or the pride of life." Against these the Lord established the desert of religious life, in which is noted a threefold good opposed to them, namely continence, poverty, and obedience; therefore it is rightly called the desert. In this desert John dwelt; hence Matthew 11: "What did you go out into the desert to see? A man clothed in soft garments?" in which the austerity of poverty is evident; "a reed shaken by the wind?" in which is designated humility, which takes no delight in the wind of praises nor is cast down by the reproach of detraction and insults. In this desert was Christ, whose figure preceded in First Kings 23: "David dwelt in the desert, in the most fortified places, on the mountain of the wilderness of Ziph," because Christ held to the highest religious life. Hence Augustine in On True Religion: "Every sin arises either because we desire what Christ despised or because we flee what he endured. For the satellites of the devil desired riches, but Christ willed to be poor; they gaped after honors, but he refused to be made king; they craved pleasures, but he willed to be crucified."

Second, ambition is excluded in what follows: And the crowds sought him and came all the way to him. He did not thrust himself forward out of ambition; hence it is said in John 6: "When he knew that they were about to come to make him king, he fled." In this he taught that the office of honor is not to be assumed unless a man is sought out; hence Hebrews 5: "Nor does anyone take the honor upon himself."

In this also the devotion of the people is commended, because they sought him who wished to remain hidden, while there was time: Isaiah 55: "Seek the Lord while he can be found"; and Hosea 10: "It is time to seek the Lord, when he shall come who will teach you justice"; and the holy soul in the Psalm: "My face has sought you." And that they sought him devoutly is apparent, because they came all the way to him, according to that passage of Isaiah 21: "If you seek, seek; be converted and come"; hence Matthew 11: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened," etc. Hence because they sought devoutly, they found, according to that passage of Wisdom 1: "Seek him in simplicity of heart." And because perfect devotion not only causes one to seek, but to hold fast to what has been found, therefore it is added: And they detained him, lest he should depart from them, according to that passage in Song of Songs 3: "I found him whom my soul loves: I held him and will not let him go," etc. Nor is this surprising, because, Proverbs 3, "she is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her, and whoever holds her fast is blessed." Whence they could say that word of the holy soul in the Psalm: "Do not forsake me, O Lord; my God, do not depart from me." In this it is shown that Christ neither sought honor before they offered it, nor even once it was offered, because he was detained as if by force. The figure of this preceded in Genesis 32: "Let me go, for the dawn is breaking," which the Angel said to Jacob.

When he had bestowed sufficient favour upon the people by miracles, it was necessary for Him to depart. For miracles are always thought greater when the worker is gone, since they themselves are then the more heeded, and have in their turn a voice; as it is said, But when it was day, he departed, and went.

(Hom. 25. in Matt.) The Pharisees indeed, seeing how that the miracles themselves published His fame, were offended at His power. But the people hearing His words, assented and followed; as it is said, And the multitudes sought him, not indeed any of the chief priests, or scribes, but all those who had not been blackened with the dark stain of malice, and preserved their consciences unhurt.

He fell, too, into another false position -of prevarication, when he permitted himself to be feared by the demons as the Son of the Creator, that he might drive them out, not indeed by his own power, but by the authority of the Creator. "He departed, and went into a desert place." This was, indeed, the Creator's customary region.

"He departed, and went into a desert place." This was, indeed, the Creator's customary region. It was proper that the Word should there appear in body, where before he had appeared in a cloud. To the gospel also was suitable that condition of place which had once been prophesied for the law. "Let the wilderness and the solitary place, therefore, be glad and rejoice"; so had Isaiah promised.

When "stayed" by the crowds, He said," I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also." Had He displayed His God anywhere yet? I suppose as yet nowhere.

Fourth, respect of persons is excluded in that which follows: And he was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee, namely to all without distinction: Matthew 9: "Jesus went about all the cities and towns, teaching in their synagogues." This it befits a good preacher to do, according to that passage in Proverbs 5: "Let your fountains be dispersed abroad, and in the streets divide your waters"; and Isaiah 32: "Blessed are you who sow beside all waters." "The seed, however, is the word of God," below in chapter 8. Whence the good preacher, an imitator of Christ, ought to be a common person, as Paul says in Romans 1: "To Greeks and barbarians, to the wise and the foolish I am a debtor, so that, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you also who are at Rome." This was signified in Zechariah 6 by the horses bearing the chariot, that is, the evangelical law, where it is said that these are they whom the Lord sent to "traverse the earth"; whence at the end of Matthew it is said to the preachers: "Go, teach all nations"; and at the end of Mark: "Go into the whole world, preach the Gospel to every creature."

From the foregoing it is gathered that a good preacher, if he is accepted by men, in order that he may be accepted by God and His Angels, ought to be free from ostentation in outward sign, from ambition in spirit, from flattery in word, from respect of persons in deed or practice. And the Apostle touches upon these four in 2 Corinthians 2: "We are not," he says, "as many, adulterating the word of God"; which is done in the four ways aforesaid: "but from sincerity," without respect of persons, "as from God," without ambition, "before God," without ostentation, "we speak in Christ," without flattery: for Christ is the truth.

(Hom. 48. in Matt.) Observe also, that He might, by abiding in the same place, have drawn all men over to Himself. He did not however do so, giving us an example to go about and seek those who are perishing, as the shepherd his lost sheep, and as the physician the sick. For by recovering one soul, we may be able to blot out a thousand sins. Hence also it follows, And he was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee. He frequently indeed went to the synagogues, to show them that He was no deceiver. For if He were constantly to dwell in the desolate places, they would spread abroad that He was concealing Himself.