SUPPLEMENT TO THE EDITION OF J. AUBERT. THE REMAINING COMMENTARIES OF SAINT CYRIL ON MATTHEW Excerpts from the catenae of Corderius and Possinus, with the interspersion of fragments which were more recently published by J. A. Cramer from the Coislin codex and by Angelo Mai from the Vatican codices.
(1) The Gospel is a word containing the announcement of things according to the Gospel for the utility of the hearer, filling him with joy after he has received what had been announced to him; or a word indicating the presence of good things; or a word interpreting what is expected.
I, 1. *Jesu Christi.* Of Cyril of Alexandria. The Hebrews called salvation *Iao*. He said "of Christ" because it was customary for ancient kings and priests to be anointed with oil, poured upon them from a horn vessel. But our Lord Jesus Christ was called Christ not because He was anointed with a horn, but because He was anointed by the Divine Spirit; for He truly and properly possessed the Holy Spirit.
*Son of David, son of Abraham.* Abraham, being in uncircumcision, believed in God; A then, having received the promises and being circumcised, he kept his faith inviolate. It may therefore not absurdly be referred to a certain adaptation of the mystical significance concerning the Church of Christ, which has been gathered together both from the circumcision and from the Gentiles. For it is likely that in those things which were said concerning Abraham, the figure of the two peoples who believed in Christ preceded. But there, indeed, the uncircumcision was prior to circumcision. For uncircumcision is a work of nature, but circumcision is a work of precept and law; on account of this, the former preceded the latter. And after these things, circumcision turns back into uncircumcision. For it is also better that nature and law should be together, rather than be separated from one another. B But David also was a type of Christ; for when Saul was cast out, David was brought in; so also, when the first Adam was cast out of Eden on account of disobedience, the second Adam was brought in to his place, so that he might restore to the ancient order the man Adam. C
1, 18. *Now the birth of Jesus was on this wise:* For when His mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. And...
A after the betrothal she conceived, that she might appear to have conceived from him, and that the genealogy might be reckoned through him, and that she might have him as a guardian against all snares.
II, 9. *And lo, the star which they saw in the east went before them.* B The star stood still, yet it did not leave the heavens, nor did it move closer to the earth, nor was it fixed upon the roof or top of a house. For this star followed a different and unusual path, unknown to other stars.
II, 18. *A voice was heard in Rama.* Yet it is worthy noting that Nazareth was situated in the borders of Judea; by inhabiting which, Christ declares that because of the murderous Jews He will abandon Judea and migrate to the Gentiles, so that He might provide an opportunity for those desirous of being taught faith in Christ.
II, 20. *Arise and take the child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel; for they are dead who sought the child’s life.* He no longer says, "Flee," but "Go," hinting at a relaxation after the temptation. By mentioning the "soul" of the child, He overturns the opinion of Apollinarius, who said that the Lord had assumed flesh devoid of mind and soul. C In the economic descent of Christ into Egypt, and His return thence again to Judea, God recounts in summary the captivity of the people, and delivers him from snares, leading him back to his own possessions.
3 II, 23. *And coming, he dwelt in a city called Nazareth.* Nazareth was situated at the outermost borders of Judea. Moreover, Christ, having left Judea and set out for Nazareth, clearly prefigured that He would one day abandon the Jews and transfer religion to the Gentiles; at the same time, He would give to those desiring knowledge a faith by which they might believe in Him.
III, 9. *And think not to say within yourselves: We have Abraham for our father; for I say to you, that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.* Someone might say that the fruits of repentance are primarily faith in Christ, and then, alongside this, the evangelical way of life, which consists in the newness of life and is free from the D coarseness of the letter. Do not, therefore, He says, put forward your customary excuses, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the nobility of your ancestors: He said these things forbidding them to trust in these while being entirely careless of the virtue that is proper to the soul; and bringing forward what they had in their minds, and prophesying future things; for they appear to have said afterwards: "We have Abraham as our father, and we have never been enslaved to anyone." Since, therefore, this was what they especially...
puffed them up with pride and brought them to ruin, he first restrains them. See, moreover, how with honor for the patriarch he institutes a correction for these matters, saying: "Do not suppose that you can say, We have Abraham for a Father." He did not say, "The patriarch can help you nothing," but he insinuated this in a milder way, saying: "God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham." Some, therefore, say that he is speaking about the Gentiles, calling them stones metaphorically. But I say that there is another meaning underlying this statement as well. And what is this? Do not suppose, he says, that if you perish, you will leave the patriarch childless; it will not be so, for it will by no means come to pass; for it is possible for God even from stones to give him children and to bring them into his lineage, since even from the beginning it was so. For to be born of stones is similar to this: that a child should come forth from the womb of Sarah that barren woman. Which thing indeed the prophet also hinted at when he said: "Look unto the solid rock from which you were hewn, and to the pit of the cistern from which you were dug. Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah who gave you birth." B He reminds them, therefore, of this prophecy, showing that if from the beginning He so marvelously made him a father—as if He had made him from stones—it is possible for this to happen now as well. And see how he both terrifies them and cuts them off. For he did not say that He had already raised them up, so that they might not despair of themselves, but that He is able to raise them up. And he did not say that He is able to make men from stones, but what was far greater: even kinsmen and children of Abraham. You see how he has for the time being led them away from the imagination of bodily descent and from seeking refuge in their ancestors, so that they might have the hope of salvation in their own repentance and self-control.
As He turned the wife of Lot into a stone, C thus it was possible for Him to make men from stones, just as He made Adam from the earth. Observe, therefore, also from what follows how he increases their fear and intensifies the struggle. For having said, "For God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham," he subjoined: "And now the axe is laid to the root of the trees." D But if you wish, understand by the axe the excision of the unhealable soul. The axe is Christ Himself, sharper than a two-edged sword, who is about to cut off the unbelieving Jews from the honor and communion of the patriarchs, as if from a certain root, in order to graft into it those from the Gentiles who have believed.
What does he call the axe? Nothing else than that which is to cut off from the patriarchs those who boast in vain and beyond measure of their lineage, while they neglect the imitation of them and do nothing good themselves. For it is most equitable that branches grown from such fruitful trunks, being sterile by their own vice, should be cut off and cast into the fire.
A
III, 11. *He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.* The Baptist joined the signification of fire to that of the Spirit, not saying that we are to be baptized in fire through Christ, but signifying the life-giving energy of the Spirit through the representation of fire.
III, 12. *Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner.* He snatches the righteous into the city above, but he delivers sinners to be burned by fire.
IV, 1. *Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.* He was being led, consenting.
IV, 3. *And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.* Christ did not obey the devil to turn the stones into bread, because this miracle would not have been for the benefit of him who asked. For he was not asking this so that he might believe and thus return to the angelic dignity he had lost—being indeed incapable of repentance—but so that he might draw Christ into vainglory. The Savior, understanding this, did not comply with him.
IV, 12. *Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee.* B He did not depart out of fear, but to instruct us through his actions to yield to persecutors. He withdraws from Judæa to the Gentiles, showing that he departs from them not only now, when the Jews are insulting God himself, but also when they sin against the holy prophets. But the great light is Christ our Lord, and the brightness of the evangelical proclamation. Therefore, the law was represented as a lamp; and for this reason a perpetual lamp was lit in the tabernacle, to signify the slight splendor of the law, which could not expand its light beyond the bounds of Judæa. C This withdrawal of Jesus is our instruction; for the Scripture clearly teaches here that no one ought to approach the teaching office unless he has first been baptized and has received the Holy Spirit, and has fasted completely, and has overcome every kind of temptation, just as Christ—the type of the truth—began his work.
IV, 16. *The people which sat in darkness saw great light.* By darkness here he does not mean the sensible kind, but error and idolatry. Therefore he adds: *To them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.* D Soon, to show that they did not find it by their own searching, but that God offered it to them from above, he says, "The light itself has arisen."
A For humanity was in darkness before the coming of Christ; indeed, they did not walk in darkness, but they sat in it, which was a sign that they did not hope to be delivered from their condition.
"And his fame went into all Syria, and they brought to him all who were ailing, held by various diseases and torments, and those possessed by demons, and lunatics, and paralytics, and he healed them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and from beyond the Jordan."
You must also understand the psychic passions, anger and desire, as those which turn men away from the Gospel way of life. But if someone asks what the difference is between a sickness and an infirmity, we answer that an infirmity is a temporary inequality of the body, while a sickness is a disproportion of the elements within the body. It should also be noted that the inheritance of the tribe of Zebulun and Naphtali extended up to Sidon, a gentile city, and that the Jews henceforth dwelt mixed among the Gentiles. B *Zebulun* is interpreted as "successful journey" and "blessing," and *Naphtali* as "an extended stock," that is, a plant reaching far. These have become those who believe in Christ; for by walking rightly they were deemed worthy of the divine blessing, and all those who were previously in Galilee—which is called "the place of rolling down," that is, those rolling down into the pits of perdition—were filled with all good things. C
*Blessed are the peacemakers.* Peacemakers are also those who persuade the unbelievers to believe, as they are making those who were once enemies of God to be at peace with him.
*You are the light of the world.* Again, he calls them the light of the world, not of one nation or of twenty cities, but of the entire inhabited earth; and it is an intellectual light, and much better than the sun's rays. Just as there is also spiritual salt, and first salt, and then light, so that you may know the great gain of things that astringe and the benefit of holy teaching; for it stings, and does not allow anything to flow away, and it leads the way by guiding toward virtue. D The words, "A city cannot be hidden," and the rest, indicate that you will be, he says, conspicuous to the whole world, just like a city situated on the top of a mountain, and shining like a lamp on a lampstand.
*You are the salt of the earth.* He calls wisdom "salt."
*One iota or one serif will not pass away from the law.*
It is clear that the Jews did not do everything; or even if they did, they ceased to do so, no longer being permitted to perform them, partly because of the fear of kings, and partly because the temple, in which alone it was necessary that sacrifices be performed, had been destroyed.
V, 19. *Whoever breaks one of these least commandments.*
He who deletes even one commandment of the law is deleted by God, as one who is an adversary to God and acts against His law. And now, he further incurs a punishment from the evangelical law which the ancient law did not impose. And so, consistently, Christ says: *I have not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.* For what was said there has been fulfilled here; for example, it was said in the law: *Rise up before the gray-headed,* and B *If you see the donkey of your enemy fallen under its burden, help him to lift it up.* If anyone had transgressed these commandments, there was no punishment fixed by the law; but fulfilling this, Christ says that such a man will be considered lowly in the kingdom of God. Therefore, even if it is the least commandment, for which no punishment for transgression was formerly brought, he who breaks it will be punished under the new covenant.
*But whoever does them and teaches them, he will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.*
I think that the cloven hoof in the law also signifies this: that we must proceed through both word and action, and neither act thoughtlessly, nor have theory without practice. But if one of these is to be separated from the other, it would be more tolerable to have practice alone than idle knowledge. For knowledge that indulges curiously and lazily in speculation is of an unbridled and stubborn nature, and has driven many who are addicted to it headlong; but an active life does not. C
V, 23. *If, therefore, you bring your gift to the altar.*
God has devised repentance as a method of obtaining salvation and avoiding punishment for sinners, and has declared that reconciliation with the injured party shall be a remission of punishment; since he who does not love his brother does not love the Lord. Therefore, he reasonably does not accept him who harbors an offense against his brother, as one not sincerely approaching Him. D
V, 24. *Leave your gift there before the altar, and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.*
A The Savior teaches us here how we might escape punishment if we have fallen into sin. For repentance regarding sins, and the entreaty made toward one who has been offended by us, and the request for the forgiveness of the sin, appease both the brother who has been injured and God.
*V, 25. Lest the adversary deliver you to the judge, etc.*
Suppose there is someone in a position of authority who, for some reason, brings charges against you, and therefore orders his attendants to drag you to the tribunal. While you are still on the way with him, He says—that is, before you reach the judge—make an effort, that is, strive with all diligence, to be reconciled with him. For if this does not happen, you will be presented to the judge; and once you are found liable for the debts, you will be delivered to the officer, that is, to the collectors, and they, having cast you into chains, will compel you to pay even the B last penny. Indeed, as many of us as live in the world are ensnared in sins, and the adversary and accuser of each one is Satan; for he is an enemy and an avenger. As long, therefore, as we are on the way—that is, before we have reached the end of this present life—let us free ourselves from him, let us purge our individual faults, let us grasp the grace through Christ which delivers us from every debt and vengeance, and sets us beyond punishment and fear, lest, having the stain unwashed, we be dragged before the Judge and delivered to the officers, or rather to the tormentors, whose severity no one can escape; rather, we shall pay the penalties for every transgression, small and great. But those who have rightly valued the time of Christ’s presence, and have not been ignorant of the mystery concerning Him, will be far from this calamity.
*V, 26. Amen I say to you, you shall not go out from there until you pay the last quadrant.*
What He says has this meaning: He urges us to be placable and easy to reconcile, and not to be too confident regarding the outcome of the judgment. For if something happens contrary to expectation and you are seized by the judge's order, you will not be released until you pay the last obol; for this is what is called a quadrant. D A quadrant signifies the fourth part of a measure; this, according to the Hebrew tongue, makes two obols, which Luke, clarifying, called a *lepton*. Let us, therefore, be delivered from the enemy and avenger—that is, from the devil—while we are on this way, and from the passions of shame, which are our adversaries. For there is no other adversary against us if we do not, through these things, become adversaries to ourselves; nor let our conscience condemn us as if we were despising its admonition, lest we be delivered to the Judge, the God of all, having been rebuked by our conscience, and He deliver us to the officers—the tormenting angels—and we be required to give satisfaction for every transgression, small and great. For if we have called a brother foolish, which is a small—
A thing, we shall be dragged away into hell. But if calling one "fool" drags a person to hell, then when we name someone a malefactor, or envious, or vainglorious, and count up and name ten thousand other such things, how much fire of hell do we heap up for ourselves! For "fool" and "raca" B are much lighter in the category of insults than the things mentioned above. Therefore, passing over those, Christ set these down, so that you might learn that if the utterance of a lighter word draws hell upon the one who speaks it, much more do the weightier ones accomplish this. But we count this a ridiculous matter; for we often abstain from the name "fool," yet we inflict other, more bitter insults, as if only that one name had punishment attached to it. But this is not so; rather, every accuser and reviler is worthy of the ultimate punishment. "Do not be deceived," He says; "neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers will inherit the kingdom of God." 1 Corinthians 6:9. If, however, these precepts seem burdensome to you and to contain much toil, consider that you are doing these things for Christ’s sake, and the bitter things will become sweet, and the labor will no longer appear as labor, but the more intense it is, the sweeter and more pleasant it becomes. And God has not only made virtue light through the hope of things to come, but He also assists us in another way, being present with us everywhere and ready to help.
V. 27. You have heard that it was said: "You shall not commit adultery."
There are perhaps some who have received such grace that they are immune to desire itself. But Christ, C through whom human nature has been improved, enjoins certain things that are above the law, as being now possible. For if this was impossible for those who lived before Christ, it is now easy for the faithful to cut away evil desires.
V. 30. Cyril, John, Isidore, Theodore of Heraclea. Saying, "If your eye causes you to stumble," and so forth: by "eye," He means the thought of desire, which He says must be cut away.
Another view. By the same authors. By the term "eye" and "hand," a friend is understood. For if you love someone like a right eye, and you deem him as useful as a right hand, and he harms your soul, tear them from you and separate yourself from them. D For when you cannot save one another, but rather both are about to perish together while remaining in mutual association, it is better that, once separated, even one may be saved.
V. 31. It was said: "Whoever shall divorce his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce."
He who casts out a chaste wife gives her license to marry another, which is a kind of adultery, as if the bond had not yet been dissolved; for the certificate of divorce does not dissolve marriage before God, but rather the evil manner of acting.
V. 34, 35. "Neither by heaven, because it is God’s throne; nor by the earth."
A For this reason He forbids us to swear by heaven and by earth, so that we may not attribute to the creature an honor beyond that of the creature, by deifying it. For those who swear by it, the Apostle says, "swear by the greater."
V. 42. "Give to him who asks you, and do not turn away him who wants to borrow from you."
Be, says Christ, not ready to receive, but to give. For the former separates us from God; the latter, by its nature, unites us to Him—and especially when the one who asks is worthy, and the request is just. We must not dwell on the bare wording, but precisely examine the scope of the commandment. For He does not command us to give to everyone who asks, even if one has nothing—for this is impossible—nor indeed if one has, but a person asks for a bad reason. For the gift is worse when the one asks for the sake of vice, and you, by giving, provide the material for such lack of restraint.
V. 44. "But I say to you, Love your enemies." B
But perhaps someone may bring before us the blessed Paul, who invoked vengeance from God upon Alexander the coppersmith, and may try to persuade us not to love our enemies. To whom it must be answered that Paul did not curse Alexander as his own private enemy, but as an enemy of Christ and of the Gospel, teaching that one must always wage war against such people.
We ought to love our enemies, not insofar as they are adulterers or murderers, but as they are human beings. For sinning is a matter of action, not of essence; and therefore sin is not the work of God.
VI. 1. "Take heed that you do not perform your charitable deeds before men." C
He who cultivates virtue solely for the sake of what is honorable deserves excellent praise.
VI. 7. "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathens do."
For this reason, Christ commands that prayers be made briefly, since He knows that the mind is easily distracted and wanders away through vain thoughts and cares, especially in the time of prayer. He commands, therefore, that a person should ask God for what he needs soberly and quickly, and not announce everything that he wants; for this would be the height of folly, since God knows even before we ask what we need. The Greeks call "battology" what the Latins call "multiloquy," derived from a certain Battus, a Greek who composed long hymns of many lines to the idols, filled with repetitions. Battology is speech that goes beyond what is good.
VI. 10. "Your kingdom come." D
Since Christ is God by nature, and man by nature, He is called King by economy—that is to say, as man; for this reason, the just pray for themselves...
A that this may come to pass; and even for the unbelievers, that by seeing and believing in Him, they too may have and acknowledge the same Christ as their own King.
VI, 14. "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you." Jesus can also, as God, forgive sins, but since the disciples were still imperfect, He had not yet delivered a discourse concerning His own divinity.
VI, 24. "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other."
And to speak simply, no one who has not separated himself from affection for material things can sincerely love either God or his neighbor. A good master is a mind free from avarice, but a bad one is a lover of money; therefore, one should be addicted to the one. For it is not possible to please two masters who are of a different and contrary disposition. B
VI, 25. "Therefore I say unto you, be not anxious for your soul, what you shall eat, and what you shall drink, nor for your body, what you shall put on."
The soul is more precious than the substance of the body, as it is the image and breath of God; the body, moreover, is its instrument and a fellow-worker toward the highest goods. We ought, therefore, to care for both, the body at the same time as the soul; for the body only so far as is sufficient for it, and so that it does not become an impediment to the soul; but to the soul, one must always give what is proper to it and take care of it in every way; and it must be led back through the virtues toward its own cause, namely the God who created it. C
VI, 31. "Therefore be not anxious, saying: What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or with what shall we be clothed?"
To those who seek what pertains to the soul, God gives also what is necessary for the body; so that we, by being anxious for such things more than is fitting, may not be hindered from the most excellent works.
VII, 2. "For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged; and with what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again."
Those who are instructed in piety apply the bridle of good sense to their tongue, allowing it to speak only those things which cause no harm; teaching this, one of the wise men said: "My son, if thou hast a word of understanding, answer; but if not, let thy hand be upon thy mouth; for death and life are in the power of the tongue," D that is, under its authority; "and they that have the power over it shall eat the fruits thereof." And because it is not very easy to have power over the tongue, the Psalmist teaches us to ask for this from above, saying: "Set, O Lord, a watch before my mouth"; that we may not, clearly, speak against one another, nor condemn our brothers. For he who is governed by understanding, does not
gaze upon the sins of others, A but fixes his gaze upon his own evils; he will bring forth tears for them, that he may obtain remission from God. For it is impossible for men, being so weak, not to fall into small faults at all. But not to fall at all belongs by nature only to God. It is necessary for us who are in sins, not to take pleasure in the evils of others, but to be anxious as to how we ourselves might be delivered from the wicked.
"Hypocrite, cast out first B the beam out of your eye; and then you shall see to cast out the mote out of your brother’s eye." "Cast out first the beam out of your eye," that is, show yourself clean from the greater sins, and then you shall be a counselor to him who sins in a small thing. But if you do not cast out the beam, yet condemn him who has the mote, you will justly hear the apostolic word: "You who say do not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who say do not steal, do you steal?" Therefore, a wise man will be a teacher to himself, but he will not condemn another. For this is what the law given through Moses C also enjoins, saying: "Take heed to yourself," he says, not to another; for "take heed" is put in place of "look to what concerns you." Thus, one who is sensible will train himself, not looking into the faults of others, but busying himself with his own, and repenting for them to God. There are some, indeed, who do not see their own slips, but laugh broadly at the stumbling of others; those who lie upon the ground mock those who are standing; those smeared with mud from head to foot condemn those who are spotted with some small stain. For sometimes they are accustomed to say about someone: "Such a one is D hard, inhuman, given to filthy lucre, avaricious, cruel, and foolish." Then, imposing these things upon others, they do not perceive that they are depicting the character of their own habits. How great a harm it is to judge others, we have learned from the Pharisee who despised the Publican. Having therefore removed all these things through this good legislation, he added another command, saying:
"If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask Him?"
He calls "good gifts" the spiritual graces; but Luke said "Holy Spirit" instead of "good things"; and there is no difference; for the Holy Spirit is that which is by nature good; wherefore He also bestows good on those who are partakers of Him. But to those who are exceedingly wicked, because of their sinning without restraint, in a certain way wickedness becomes their nature, such as is Satan and the demons; for it is possible to call even these evil by nature, for
they were not created A evil by nature, but have become hardened by an act of voluntary malice.
VII, 15. *Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing.*
These are heretics, who deceive some with false and colored speech; to whom, if they yield credence, they then urge them to perform things which are not fitting.
VII, 26. *And everyone who hears these words of mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand.*
He who is only a hearer of the word, and not a doer, is likened to a house built upon the sand, which falls in the time of temptation and is overturned, when the fathers of iniquity breathe upon it, when the turbulent waters rise up even to the soul, and the muddy torrent of lawlessness disturbs him B and agitates the danger surrounding his final ends. Well did He say regarding the wise man, *I will liken him*, but regarding the foolish, *He will be likened*. For the worker of virtue has all power in Christ who strengthens him, from whom comes all that is rightly done among men, from whom come wisdom and understanding and assimilation to every good thing. But the wicked man does not have God as the author of his own depravity and folly: rather, he is likened to the fool who abstains from those things which are according to nature, and does those things which are contrary to nature.
Well C did He call him foolish. For what could be more senseless than to build a house upon the sand, in which labor is expended, but no fruit or rest is acquired, nay, even detriment is sustained? Truly, that wicked men also weary themselves, everyone sees; yet they gain no profit from these labors, but also suffer grave loss; for as Paul says: *He who sows in the flesh, will from the flesh reap corruption.*
VIII, 3. *I will, be cleansed.*
The Savior, by touching the leper, healed him, showing that the Spirit who is in Him heals diseases; and that His very body imparts sanctification by its touch.
What, however, was the gift offered by the leper D according to the law? Two birds, one of which the priest slaughtered over living water, and taking cedar wood, and scarlet wool, and hyssop; and the other bird, the living one, which he dipped in the blood of the slaughtered bird over the living water, and anointed the right ear, hand, and foot of the leper being cleansed; but the living bird he sent out of the city into the fields. Observe, therefore, how in these things which have been said, the whole Christ is depicted. For by the living bird, you will understand the living and heavenly Word; by the blood of the slaughtered one, the precious blood of the suffering temple.
For we say that he suffered in the flesh, yet as in his own body. By the hyssop, we understand the fervor of the Spirit (for the herb is hot and cleansing of cold diseases; such is the energy and power of the Holy Spirit); by the scarlet, the confession of the covenant in blood; by the living water, the life-giving grace of baptism, through which the one leprosied by sin is cleansed; by the release of the living bird outside the city, we are taught the departure from this world and the Ascension of Christ into the heavens: for thus, becoming before God and the Father, he makes propitiation for us all, and we shall be cleansed; by the anointing of the right ear, hand, and foot of the leper, that we must be engaged in contemplation, action, and progress in divine things. B
The Lord brought about the cleansing of this leper through the touch of his hand, showing that his holy flesh is also useful for sanctification. For while the Spirit cleanses, the communion of the Spirit imparts sanctification.
From Cyril, from the fifth book of the Commentaries on the Gospel according to Matthew. (Matt. viii, 15)
After bestowing the benefit out of his benevolent will, he touched him also with his hand, so that we might learn that his holy body has the power of cleansing, and that it very usefully contributes along with the divine will to our sanctification. For our cleansing comes from the Spirit, which the body of our Savior confers, bearing the efficacy of the Spirit who dwells within it. C
From Cyril, from the same book.
For he bestowed healing as God, granting the touch of his own hand to the one lying there. And for what reason? That he might show his own body to be equal in power to his own nature—I mean that of the Godhead—so far as regards the efficacy of healing the sick; for this body is not that of any common man, but of the Word himself, who accomplishes and empowers all things.
From Cyril, from the same book.
By word, therefore, he is seen to be active again; and at one time he works miracles by this, at another by that, showing that even the body itself, which was taken by him for our sake, is active of itself because of the indwelling Word, and the Word no less so, even if no bodily contact were made with any.
VIII, 16. And when evening had come, they brought to him many who were possessed by demons.
DWhy did they not bring the sick during the day? Either because they revered the Scribes and Pharisees, or perhaps again because they were ashamed of their infirmities, or because
they had no one to bring the infirm to Jesus. A VIII, 18. *But Jesus seeing many crowds around him, commanded them to go to the other side.*
Christ withdrew from the crowds, lest he should appear to be a lover of glory, delighting in the praises of the many, and lest the Pharisees should be angry against him (for the fact that many followed him caused them great grief), and that he might shine his own saving light upon the neighboring cities.
*From the second book of Cyril’s Commentary on Matthew* (Matt. viii, 23).
The disciples therefore B embark on the boat with him; and he allows sleep to steal upon him, and by a dispensational method he permits his flesh at that time to suffer those things which are proper to itself, although by the efficacious power and nature of his divinity he pervaded the heavens and the earth and all things that are beyond them.
VIII, 25. *Lord, save us, we perish.*
Observe with faith the smallness of their faith. For they believe that he is able to save: but as men of little faith they say, “Save us, we perish”; for there was no danger of perishing when He who could do all things was present with them.
23 VIII, 29. *And behold they cried out saying: What have we to do with thee, Jesus, Son of God? Art thou come hither to torment us before the time?*
But they are led away into C a certain region, from which there is no longer power for them to return, but they await that terrible day. But you, weigh for me the boldly timid race of demons: for just as they approach with boldness, saying, “What have we to do with thee?” so they end in fear. Because the divine nature of the Only-Begotten condemned them with flames of incorruptible fire, they cry out: “Art thou come hither to torment us before the time?” For they knew from the prophetic words that Christ was to come, and that He would judge them. But that they also said “before the time,” as if blaming the time of the incarnation as untimely, is nothing wonderful, since being evil, they dare to say even this; and certainly, knowing that they will be punished, they say as though they were despisers: “What have we to do with thee?” For the judge has a case against us, from the time we transgressed his commands.
24 IX, 2. *Have confidence, son.*
He called the paralytic son by reason of creation: or because he had believed in him, and had acknowledged him as Lord D and Creator.
IX, 6. *Then he saith to the paralytic: Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thy house.*
He sent forth the word, and the miracle followed. But why did he say that the Son of man forgives sins, when the manifestation of his divinity had already been accomplished? Or was it to show that he had brought into human nature the dignity of the divinity through in—
Adiscreet union with it? For if, he says, though I have become man, being the Word of God, and live and walk upon earth according to the dispensation—yet none the less do I perform signs exceeding reason, and bestow the forgiveness of sins; for I have not been shorn of any of the attributes of the Godhead, nor have I been diminished by having become, immutably and truly, the Son of man upon earth according to the flesh. And after a little: Economically he says ‘on earth,’ that he might show that even having become man and having been seen upon the earth, he was God by nature.
[XI, 17. Neither do they put new wine into old bottles.]
The Pharisees, who are like a torn garment or old bottles, cannot receive the new teaching.
Cyril from the second book of the commentary on Matthew, on the daughter of the priest (Matt. IX, 18).
For who would not be astonished to see death overcome, and yet not perceive with the sense of his eyes some divine and ineffable majesty that achieved the victory? Nay, but a man like any one of us, in no respect differing from us at all, as far as what is seen is concerned, in the humiliation and nature of his flesh.
[IX, 20. She came behind him and touched the hem of his garment.]
It is shown C that no one who suffers from an involuntary disease is unclean before God; which is why the Lord also calls to him the woman with an issue of blood, in order to transfer the typical law into a spiritual interpretation.
[IX, 23. And when he saw the minstrels and the crowd making a tumult.]
It is a custom among men to lament unmarried maidens who die at the time when they were about to be married, through symbolic weddings; and therefore the minstrels were inside, even if the Jews were doing this at that time contrary to the Jewish commandment.
[IX, 26. And this fame went abroad into all that land.]
Do not disparage the achievement of Christ; for he even conquered death. For having laid down his body, he took it up again with greater glory, thereby offering you here also goodly hopes. These things, if you consider yourself a believer, do not deplore. But if you do deplore them, how will you be able to persuade the Gentile that you believe? And why do you lament at all? If the one who is dead departed as a sinner, he has ceased from his wickedness—for if he had known that he would be converted, he would not have cut short his time for repentance; but if it is a just man who has died, he possesses his good things in security.
[IX, 37. The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few.]
He calls his disciples laborers, whom, though they were few in number, he sent into all the world under heaven.
X, 6. *But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.* It was necessary that they be preached to the Jews first, for to them the promises had been made, since from them Christ was to appear according to the flesh; and when they did not believe, then it was time to go to the nations. He also joins the Samaritans to those from the nations, since they too were from the nations, being Babylonians by race and residing in Judea. A
X, 7. *And as you go, preach, saying, that the kingdom of heaven has drawn near.* He says that the kingdom of heaven has drawn near, that is, the grace through faith and the adoption of sons through the Spirit, which unites man to God. The Law had prefigured and the prophets had foreannounced these twelve disciples; for it is written, etc., and he brought to God everyone who was under heaven. B
X, 10. *Do not take a bag for the journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor a staff; for the laborer is worthy of his food.* This passage urges the abandonment of possessions with incredible rigor, cutting to the quick and forbidding the possession of anything at all, from gold down to a staff, for the reason that the desire to possess is the greatest impediment to virtue and piety. He leaves only the one thing necessary—food—in such a way as to suggest that if it were possible for our life to be sustained without food, he would have forbidden this as well. C
X, 23. *When they persecute you in this city, flee into the other.* He instructs the disciples to flee from one city to another, and from that one to yet another. He says this not to teach them cowardice or weak-hearted fear, but to admonish them that they must not commit themselves to throwing their own selves into dangers, courting death without cause, and thus proving a loss to those who were to be imbued with the evangelical doctrine through their ministry.
X, 27. *What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach upon the housetops.* Concerning the boldness of the apostles in preaching, the marvelous Habakkuk also foretold: *For they shall open their bridles, like a poor man eating in secret.* D That is to say, those apostles who at first were speaking only to a few and in secret, and had been sustained by the faith of the believers, these men will later, after breaking the bridle of fear placed upon them, fill everything under heaven with their voice. But since the Lord has thus far exalted them, he once again foretells the dangers that they do not desire, but to the contrary, he does not wish them to offer themselves up to death through a craving for the things hoped for, and to deprive those who were to profit from their preaching. He does not desire them to fear, but rather, on the contrary, not to rush toward death out of a desire for the future, lest it be a loss to those who should have benefited from their teaching.
again and the dangers, lifting up their A mind and making them superior to all. For what does He say? "The disciple is not above his master." He teaches one to bear every kind of reproach patiently, and not to think oneself above the Master. "In the day of judgment all things shall be revealed"; for I do not attend to reproaches, but to hearts. "Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men." He who confesses that Christ is God, humbling himself, shall deserve to have Christ bear witness of him to the Father, because he is a faithful servant. "He that findeth his life shall lose it; and he that loseth his life for My sake shall find it." He who loves the temporary life here, He says, and prefers it to Me, is not worthy of Me; but he who neglects this life that passes away B quickly, and holds Me and My commandments in high esteem, shall find eternal life. "He that receiveth you receiveth Me, and he that receiveth Me receiveth Him that sent Me." He who receives you, He says, you who preach the truth, receives that very Deity itself; that is to say, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit; for this is what He means: "He that receiveth you receiveth Me, and he that receiveth Me receiveth Him that sent Me." "Art Thou He that should come, or do we look for another?" He asked, not because He was ignorant that He was the Christ, or because He was about to descend into Hades, as some say (for he knew of His passion, and therefore also called Him the Lamb); but in order that, while still alive, He might confirm them in the faith, and that after His death they might not C cleave to another master. For this is He of whom it is written: "Behold, I send My messenger before Thy face, which shall prepare Thy way before Thee." He prepared the way of the Lord, that is, he prepared the men to receive the legislation of God. Christ therefore showed from this also the pre-eminence of John. He does not stop here, however, but adds his own judgment thereafter, saying: "Amen I say to you, there has not risen among them that are born of women a greater than John the Baptist." And look how He confirms what is said about John by an oath. "For Amen," He says, "I say, that there has not risen a greater than he." He said "has risen" as though of some illustrious king, or as if of a plant of great height, D and one that has grown up in virtues to a great altitude. "But he that is lesser in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."
A Since the law perfected nothing, John indeed was born of a woman, but those who have embraced the faith are no longer called born of women, but have been born of God. But when Christ, having risen, had despoiled Hades, then the Spirit of the adoption of sons was given; but blessed John departed before the Spirit was given; so that although we be lesser than those who had attained the justice of the law, yet in greater things have we been established through Christ.
XI, 14. *And if you will receive it, this is Elias which was for to come.*
This the angel Gabriel also said concerning him, thus: *He shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias*; showing him to be this person, even if another than he was the one seen. Wherefore he did not even say simply, "This is Elias," but, *If you will receive it, this is he*; that is, if with a well-disposed mind you attend to the things that are done; nor did he stand here, but showing how much intelligence is needed, he added:
XI, 16, 17. *It is like (this generation) unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows, and saying, We have piped unto you, and you have not danced; we have mourned, and you have not lamented.*
For just as children, whether dancing or lamenting, perform neither B in unity—since both sides blame their fellows for not agreeing with them—so have the Jews been affected, approving neither the austerity of John nor the liberality of Christ, nor deriving any profit from this or that. For John, leading an ascetic life, mortified the flesh, in no way helping them by his ascetic labors... C Furthermore, John, preaching the baptism of repentance, brought the Jews to sadness, who, of course, upon receiving his preaching, ought to have lamented; but Christ, preaching the kingdom of heaven, displayed joy within Himself. By which He describes to the faithful the future life and the joy which awaits them.
30. XI, 18, 19. *For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He has a devil. The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners.*
Consider, moreover, how they were led from another side into contrary opinions. For having said of John that he has a devil, they did not stop there; but even regarding Christ, who was D choosing the contrary, they said that very same thing again. Thus they were always being carried around into conflicting opinions.
A It befitted John, as a servant, to mortify the affections of the flesh through a very harsh manner of life: but Christ, as free, to subdue the motions of the flesh with the power of His divinity, just as one possessing authority, and not to be helped in this by ascetic labors. John indeed, preaching a baptism of repentance, offered himself as a pattern to those who ought to mourn. But the Lord, preaching the kingdom of heaven, rightly displayed in Himself that which is unburdened and joyful, through which He described for the faithful the future ineffable life, the life free from labor.
Cyril’s Commentaries on Matthew. (Matth. xi, 18).
For John came neither eating nor drinking, as it is written; but the Son of Man came eating and drinking. And I shall endeavor to explain the cause of this, as far as it is possible to do so. For the Word of God became man, and has borne all that is ours, with the exception of sin alone. But as regards the physical movements of the body, how would He have needed the curb customary to us—namely, labor and fasting—seeing that He is God by His very nature, and superior to sin, and by His own grace calms the passions within us, rendering dead and idle the desire of the body within us, even if it were somehow poured out into absurd pleasures? For the Word of God B dwelt among us, and made human flesh His own, so that, because a certain untamable law of sin was preying upon it (for it has played the tyrant in the members of the flesh, warring against the law of the mind, and taking us captive into its own power), He might abolish it through Himself; and having first mortified it in His own flesh, He might thereafter transmit the participation of the grace regarding this to us, inasmuch as we also are of the same kind as He, as far as pertains to the nature of the flesh. For Christ is the first-fruits 17 of our nature, and became a second Adam after him who was from the beginning; and he appeared as the first man on earth, no longer earthly, but rather divine and heavenly, knowing no sin; on account of which He alone is free among the dead. Therefore, our nature having been reformed in the first Christ to the holiness which existed in the beginning, let no one doubt that the grace of this reformation has been extended to the entire human race. For the Word, being God and the C unchangeable image of the Father’s property, did not reform Himself, but we were reformed with Him toward God through the sanctification that is above nature, the law of sin being henceforth mortified in our members. It would, therefore, be highly absurd if the passions were not rather mortified in the body of Christ by the energy of the divinity, but if He had instead sought the help of fasting, so as to wither the flesh as if by force and necessity; for where would the power of the indwelling Word of God be, if He had settled the passions by labors and fasting, just as it happens to us?
A
XI, 25. *Confiteor tibi, Pater.* "I confess to You," He says, according to human custom—as if to say, "I give thanks," or, "I glorify You." For it is the manner of divine Scripture to receive the name of confession in such a way. For it is written: "Let them confess to Your great name, O Lord, for it is terrible and holy" (Ps. xcvi, 3). And again: "I will confess to You, O Lord, with my whole heart" (Ps. cx, 1). But those of perverted mind say: "Behold, the Son confesses gratitude to the Father; how then is He not less than He?" To this, anyone who knows well how to defend the dogmas of the truth might say: O excellent men, what prevents the consubstantial Son from receiving and praising His own Father, who through Him saves all that is under heaven? But if you think that because of this confession He is less than the Father, look also at what follows. For He calls the Father "Lord of heaven and earth," and yet the Son of the omnipotent God surely rules over all things with Him, not as one who is lesser or of a different substance, but as God from God, crowned with equal titles, and in all respects substantially equal with Him. B
*Cyril from the seventh book of the commentaries on the Gospel of Matthew, upon that word: "Confiteor tibi, Pater."*
Therefore, in so far as He is God, He executed judgment upon the nations, while the Father both willed it and performed all things through Him. Yet in so far as He is of our number, on account of the nature of the flesh, C bearing the perfect habit of humanity, He offered excellent prayers to the Father.
XI, 27. *Nemo novit Filium, nisi Pater, neque Patrem quis novit, nisi Filius.*
He who sees the Son, bearing the image of the Father within Himself, sees the Father Himself, because He is before the Father as a prototype, and in turn represents the archetype in His own form. These things, however, must be understood in a manner worthy of God. For because He had said, "All things have been handed over to me," so that He might not seem to be of a different race and less than the Father, He added these words in order to show that His own nature is ineffable and incomprehensible, as is that of the Father. For the divine nature of the Trinity alone knows itself; the Father alone knows His own Son, the fruit of His own nature; the divine Offspring alone knows the Parent from whom He was begotten; D the Holy Spirit alone knows the depths of God, namely, the mind of the Father and of the Son.
"Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest" [Matt. 11:28]. He, then, who hears the call, and approaches, and cleaves to Him who gave the command, this one finds rest. "Forsaking," He says, "a mind that loves sin and a love of the flesh, and turning toward things worthy of praise, approach me that you may become partakers of the divine nature and of the Holy Spirit" [2 Pet. 1:4]. A Yet He calls all, and not only those from Israel, as the Creator and Lord of all. He calls those "laboring" that are Jews, who are unable to bear the small yoke, and those "burdened" to be idolaters, who were oppressed by the devil and weighed down by the multitude of their sins. "Do you, therefore," He says, "O Jews, incline toward the truth, and recognize me as your guardian and Master, and from near at hand gather the profit of your approach. For I release you from the servitude under the Law, in which you undergo much toil, being neither able to accomplish it easily, and building up for yourselves a very great burden of sins, in as much as it was fitting for you to keep more things while performing what was consistent with the Law."
"For my yoke is kindly, and my burden is light" [Matt. 11:30]. B The yoke of Christ is light; since it does not punish us as the Law does, demanding a state of sinlessness and passionlessness, but in simple words contains the promise and the pattern of virtue.
"But the Pharisees, seeing it, said to Him: Behold, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath" [Matt. 12:2]. For where nothing great and noble happens, they are at rest; but where they see some being saved, they are altogether more troublesome. Such are these enemies of human salvation and ignorant of the holy Scriptures. If there is a new law besides the first, which was proclaimed through Jeremiah, it is altogether necessary not to use the ancient laws, but the new ones. C But the Pharisees, not wishing to understand this, lie in wait for the holy apostles, and say concerning them to Christ: "Behold, we see those tutored by you acting contrary to the legal precepts. For while the law commands resting on the Sabbath, and that no labor at all be touched, the disciples pluck ears of grain with their hands." But you yourself, tell me, O Pharisee, when setting a Sabbath table for yourself, do you not break the bread? Why then do you blame others? And how does the Savior defend them? D "How much then is a man better than a sheep? Therefore, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath" [Matt. 12:12]. Being impious, the Pharisees feigned piety in order to destroy the pious. Therefore, they also attempted to slander Christ, and his disciples,
upon seeing them being made glorious by miracles. A
From the Seventh Book of Cyril’s Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, on the text: "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God" [Matt. 12:28].
Let no one be scandalized, even if he hears our common Savior, Christ, asserting and saying that he casts out demons by the Spirit of God. Do not, I say, be troubled by the Son saying that he works in the Spirit; consider rather who he is and in what regard he spoke in that manner at that time. He was in the flesh for our sake, and was in truth a man just as we are, clothed not in the glory that naturally befits his divinity, but in this base and humble form of our nature. For this reason, he says that he works by the Spirit of God. B Indeed, it is not by the natural operation of the flesh nor by the power of humanity that he defeats Satan and prevails against Beelzebul. Otherwise, let someone explain, if they wish, what hinders those who desire to do so from having authority over spirits, if this is a work of the nature of the flesh. For we are all in the flesh, and the definition of humanity is the same in all. But in truth it is neither uniquely a work of the flesh nor of human nature to prevail against spirits, since not all are able to do so; rather, we see that this achievement is a result of the working of the Spirit. Therefore, the Savior rightly said, insofar as he is understood as flesh and a human being, that a work of this kind is performed by the Spirit, and not that the flesh or humanity itself is powerful against demons. C For the body of Christ is confessedly holy, and possesses every power against every disease; but it was and is holy not because it is considered simply as flesh, existing within the standard of its own nature, but because it is the temple of the Word of God dwelling within it, who sanctifies his own flesh through the Holy Spirit. Therefore, he himself said in his prayer for us to the heavenly Father: "I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in one" [John 17:19].
And after other things:
Since you do not shudder to place faith in the incarnation, why do you not marvel at the man who became like us, so that what he possessed naturally as God, he might also receive as man for our sake—I mean the Spirit—so that he might transmit the grace to us? D For nature, having lost the grace of the Spirit on account of the transgression at the beginning, has regained it again through the first, and in the first, Christ. For he appeared as the heavenly man and the second Adam, recreating the nature for himself unto newness of life. Since, therefore, Christ always possesses his own Spirit, as he is understood to be and is God by nature, and is said to have received it insofar as he became man, the kingdom of God has reached us. For the fact that we become participants of the Spirit,
nothing else will it be than to participate in the kingdom of God. A
Cyril from the same book on the text: "And whoever speaks a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him." (Matt. xii, 32).
He who obtained an ineffable generation from God the Father, and for this reason is God by nature, being the Only-begotten, underwent the human form, and was born as we are of a woman, and came under the law, although he was Lord of the law, and was accounted a servant, he who had all things under his feet and was borne by the highest powers; and he came into this world, having a power most fitting to himself, yet concealing the dignity of his own nature by human littleness and the clothing of the flesh. For it was a time of emptying, and the mystery to be performed for our sake required the form of a servant, B so that he might suffer on our behalf the venerable cross, and by the death of his own flesh might destroy the common death of all. The emptying was therefore necessary, and the occasion of ignominy through the flesh. Wherefore the mystery was obscure to many.
Cyril from the same book (Matt. xii, 33).
How then could it be thought, according to reasonable judgment, that natural goodness or evil exists in us, and not rather that it is voluntary and placed in the choice of each person? Since there is one human nature, and it has one standard among the whole race, yet some are of good habits, and others are wicked; C human nature is in no way seen to differ regarding its own principles, nor does it have a constitution warring against its own properties.
When someone sinned against a man, it was possible to invoke God on his behalf; but when they uttered blasphemies against him, it was not permitted to invoke him on their behalf. But since the Son of God was seen as a man, even if he was God by nature, he was not very well known to the unintelligent; therefore, he grants pardon to those who sin against him out of ignorance; but to those who sin against the Spirit—meaning by Spirit the entire Godhead of the Trinity—he says that the punishment remains perpetual; yet to those who repent, D remission is given through the grace of the Spirit. But wishing to show the magnitude of the sin, Christ spoke thus; for there is no sin which God does not remit, if one repents legitimately and worthily.
XII, 35. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.
When he says "treasure," he indicates the multitude of thoughts and wills situated in the conscience. But lest some might say that we men are evil by nature, he declares against the Pharisees that it is possible for one and the same man at one time to be good, and at another evil, by saying: The good man speaks out of the abundance of his heart, and similarly the evil man.
And he answering said to them: A wicked generation
A and adulterous generation seeks a sign, and a sign shall not be given to it, except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For they did not believe the Father, and they departed from Christ himself, who had betrothed humanity to himself and joined it to himself, according to what was said: "And I will betroth you to myself forever." But they clung to Satan, admitting a mode of spiritual fornication. He shows himself to be again equal to the Father, inasmuch as he says that the Jewish race becomes an adulteress also in this point, because it does not believe in him. Then, having been provoked by injury, what does he say? "And no sign shall be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah."
XII, 45. *When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, it walks through waterless places, seeking rest, and finds none.*
And deservedly so. For when someone, once rescued from evils, does not return to a better way of life, he will suffer things far more grievous than the former ones. For this reason he said: "He finds no rest," in order to show that such a person must necessarily be captured by the snares of demons. B For he had two incitements here to good: the experience of the former evil and the benefit of deliverance. Moreover, a third is added: the threat of suffering worse things. Yet, they became better by none of these. The wicked spirit dwelt in them, and when they were sacrificing in Egypt and living with the Egyptians according to their customs and laws, they were full of every uncleanness. After they were delivered through Moses, and had the law as a tutor calling them to the light of the knowledge of the true God, the profane and unclean spirit was cast out. But since they did not believe in Christ, the demon invaded them again; for he found their heart bare and empty of all piety and, as it were, swept clean, and he dwelt in them. For just as the Holy Spirit, when he sees a man's heart empty of all uncleanness, both dwells, and takes up his hall, and rests in him, C so the unclean spirit loves to dwell in the souls of the reprobate.
XIII, 3. *And he spoke to them many things in parables, saying: Behold, the sower went out to sow.*
For this reason, Christ speaks in parables, so that he might show through these things also that he was the one who was prophesied, about whom David said: "I will open my mouth in parables." And another of the prophets said: "Behold, a just king shall reign, and princes shall rule with judgment, and the man shall be one hiding his words."
XIII, 12. *For whoever has, it shall be given to him, and he shall have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.*
D In those who are docile and well-disposed toward the reception of divine teachings, the Holy Spirit will dwell, increasing his gifts within them. Truly, however,
A in those who have had but a single spark of light and have neglected to stir it up, it will itself be extinguished entirely, and that very minimum which they previously possessed will be taken away from them. This has happened to the Jews. For when they had received the light of the Law, they did not multiply it by a proper use of it; on the contrary, they voluntarily blinded themselves to the truth that was arising and pressing upon them, and enveloped themselves in their own darkness. Thus, they were deprived of the meager light they had previously held. To you, however, he says, who have believed, grace has been given; to the others, this is not so. Indeed, even if they have some ray of light, it will be extinguished for them, because they did not take care to join use to their possession. For God, being just, renders to each man justly what he deserves.
Those words, “Lest I should turn and heal B them,” signify an intense perversity; yet they are also words of one drawing them on and inciting them. For he hints that if they were to turn, he would heal them; nor does he say these things except for their salvation. Otherwise, he should have said nothing at all, but remained silent; yet he does all things not for his own glory, but for their salvation. He declares them blessed, therefore, as those who have been accounted worthy to hear the voice of the Son and to enjoy his vision, through whom and in whom they perceived the nature of the Father and of God intelligibly, which was not granted to the saints of the Old Testament, even though they possessed a most full joy in the possession of good things.
He spoke another parable to them.
Do not be surprised if, while discoursing about the kingdom, he mentioned the mustard seed and the leaven; for he was speaking to men who were ignorant and unlearned, and who needed to be led by such things. For they were so simple that, even after all these things, they still stood in need of much interpretation.
And they shall cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall be weeping C and gnashing of teeth. (Matt. XIII, 50).
That the calling through Christ has become universal, he himself is believed to have explicitly stated: because the net of the evangelical preachings gathers from every kind. And just as those who are skilled in the catching of fish and intent upon their maritime craft cast the net without making distinctions—but whatever is caught in the meshes, this they drag to land indiscriminately and altogether—so too, the power of the preaching and the wonderful and multifarious teaching of the sacred dogmas, which the good fisherman-apostles have woven together, draws from every kind and gathers to God. And it gathers until the time which will be fulfilled at the time of the consummation, when the angels of God, ordained for this task, drawing the captured out from [this] life, will make the discernment of all, separating the wicked from the midst of the righteous.
But he said to them: Therefore, every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who brings out of his treasure D things new and old. (Matt. XIII, 52).
A scribe is one who, through constant reading of the Scriptures of the New and the Old Testament, [gathers] a treasure
for himself. Therefore, he blesses those who bring into themselves both legal and evangelical instruction, so as to bring forth from their treasure things new and old; just as he says elsewhere: "I will send unto you wise men and scribes." Do you see how he does not reject the Old [Testament], but even praises it, calling it a treasure? So that those who are unacquainted with the divine Scriptures could not be masters of a house, nor rich, those who neither possess them themselves nor receive them from others, but see themselves perishing from famine. And not only these, but heretics also are far from this beatitude. For they do not bring forth new and old; nor do they even have the old, and therefore not the new. Wherefore, those who do not have the new, like the Jews, do not have the old either, but are deprived of both, for these things are bound and woven together with one another. Let us hear, therefore, we who neglect the reading of the Scriptures, what damage we suffer, what poverty; for we never grasp the manner of life [ordered] by works, we who do not even know the laws themselves by which it is necessary to live. But those who are rich constantly shake out their garments, so that they may not become food for moths. Whereas we, seeing the oblivion that ruins our soul, which is worse than the moth, do not busy ourselves with the books through which the soul is adorned. B
XIII, 54. *And coming into his own country.* He confesses Nazareth to be his own city, insofar as he was limited in a defined body, and limited only by the flesh, he who was otherwise unmeasurable as God. For since he is at once God and man, at one time indeed, as he is the Word shining forth from the Father, he is understood entirely as such even in the flesh; conversely, at another time, in that he has become flesh, although in his nature he is the Word and exists in his natural union, he is wont to be understood as if he were entirely man. So that the attributes of divinity are naturally applied to him as one who is in the flesh as if he were without flesh; and conversely, the attributes of humanity are assigned as if he did not possess the properties of the divine nature, C even though he is in truth God by his own nature. Therefore, in that he is understood as God, he has no place of rest, for he is above all place and circumscription and measure and figure. But in that he is understood as man like us, it is clear that he is in the flesh and in places, and he is said to have had his own city. D
XIV, 15. *Dismiss the multitudes.* Let us inquire diligently what this "dismiss" means. For some of those who followed Christ and were held under the power of wicked parents asked to be delivered from them; others sought release from other infirmities.
A As if the disciples knew that by a mere nod He brings to completion what those who are suffering desire, "Dismiss them," they say, not because they themselves are distressed by the lateness of the hour, but rather, held by love for the crowds, and, as it were, already practicing the pastoral science and beginning to care for the people.
XIV, 19. *And when He had commanded the crowds to sit down upon the grass, taking the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke, and gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples to the crowds.*
Fulfilling the mystery of the Economy, the Savior looks up to heaven; for although He was God by nature, He had put on the form of a servant. And through the hands of the disciples He gives the food to the crowds, hinting at the intimacy of the saints with God. Wherefore those who were not such stood apart from Him.
That He might in every way be recognized as God by nature, He multiplies the small amount, and looks to heaven, as if seeking the blessing for them from above. He did this economically for our sake. For He Himself is the one who fills everything with the blessing from above and from the Father. But that we might learn that when we begin a meal and are about to break bread, we ought to offer it to God, holding our hands upward as if presenting them, and bring down upon them the blessing from above.
*And they all ate, and were filled, and they took up the surplus of the fragments, twelve baskets full.*
The fact that the fragments of the bread remained over, after such a great multitude of men had been satisfied, would be a clear proof that hospitality receives a rich recompense from God. It is possible to see these new events as conforming to the ancient miracles, and as works of one and the same power. He rained manna in the desert for the children of Israel; but look, again in the desert, as they were in need of food, He supplied it abundantly, as if letting it down from heaven. For to multiply the little, and to feed such a great multitude from, as it were, nothing, would not be unlike the first sign.
*And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.*
The male sex is always chosen by God, as being the most combative, and capable of reaching maturity—that is to say, spiritual fitness—and is able to sow the word,1 and to teach the rest, and is strong enough to measure up to the stature of the fullness of Christ.
*And having dismissed the crowds, He went up into the mountain by Himself to pray. And when evening had come, He was there alone.*
He prays, not as God who is in need of anything, but as High Priest performing intercessions on our behalf; although, in that He is understood to be and is God by nature, He Himself grants the requests to the saints. He prays until
A evening, to show that one must not easily become impatient regarding Him, but ought to wait and show long-suffering. He therefore went up there, and prayed. But the disciples are again tossed by the waves and endure a storm as they did before. Yet then, indeed, they suffered this while having Him in the boat, but now they are by themselves, alone. For gently and little by little He leads them to greater things, and trains them to bear all things nobly. Therefore, when first they were about to be in danger, He was present, but He was asleep, so that He was not ready to bring them comfort; but now, leading them to greater patience, He does not even do this, but departs, and in the middle of the sea allows the storm to arise, so that they had no hope of salvation to expect from anywhere; and all night He lets them be tossed, stirring up, as I suppose, their hardened heart. For such is the fear that the time and the storm created; but through this compunction He also cast them into a greater desire for Himself, and into lasting remembrance; for this reason He did not immediately stand by them.
XIV, 27. Confidite, ego sum.
By saying, "Take courage," He demands the faith through which everyone who sincerely believes in Christ is saved; and by adding, "It is I," He dissolves every fear; for "I am," He says, "I who can do all things."
XV, 7. You have made void the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition.
Certain of the Jews approached and sought to consecrate their souls to God, as though still in a type and shadow; yet in accordance with the Law, as they confessed, they brought the C price of their own selves to the priests and to the divine altar. But some desired this glory—I mean, to be holy, sacred, and a divine offering—but a lack of money cut off their desire. When the Scribes and Pharisees, however, encouraged them to this (for these were exceedingly greedy of money), they would offer the excuse of reverence toward their parents, and speaking truly, they said they could scarcely provide what was necessary even for themselves and for them. But the others, on the contrary, dared to urge them that money was to be considered as nothing for the sake of God, and if their parents came requesting the customary provision from them, they taught them to say to father or mother: "Whatever would have profited you from me is a 'Gift'—that is, whatever you might have received from me, know that it has been dedicated, as a divine offering, and that hands have been laid upon sacred funds. For I have consecrated myself and have dedicated myself to God as a gift." But the parents, fearing the damage D of sacrilege and terrified by the laws enacted regarding these matters, would endure it with patience while groaning, and would allow their piety toward God to become for them a pretext for hunger, perhaps even murmuring against the divine commandment for harming them in their most critical needs.
A “Why, then,” he says, “have you invalidated the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?” For it was necessary—it was necessary, indeed, to honor one’s parents, but not for the sake of piety toward God to break the law regarding them. Therefore, things pertaining to God must not be neglected because of human affairs, nor, on the other hand, should men be completely neglected for the sake of God. Rather, one must distribute exceptional love toward the Principle of all things—that is, God—just as, in the second rank, one should immediately bestow it upon one’s neighbor, and especially bestow proper honors upon those who are the authors of one’s life.
*Nondum intelligitis.* B The Lord says the disciples were without understanding, being occupied with the body, just like the Pharisees, and not yet ascending to the inner man. Foods, therefore, he says, provide fullness for the body, but they do not touch the heart. That which does not touch the heart cannot make the true man common, nor render him unclean.
*Fiat tibi sicut vis.* C When he says, “Be it done,” he speaks royally—not accomplishing the vision through prayer, but through power befitting God. Once the word is spoken, the work does not delay; for it is God who speaks, and his word is active, and his power is everywhere.
*Ita ut turbæ mirarentur.* They had not yet discerned the dignity of the Lord—that he is God; rather, they supposed him to be merely a plain man. Therefore, they were sending up the glory to the God of Israel.
*Erant autem, qui manducaverunt quatuor millia hominum extra parvulos et mulieres.* By many things he shows that he is God, and no less so from his feeding the crowd in the desert. For he presents this—as if, in a certain manner, reluctantly—to show that he was performing the miracle of the loaves because of necessity and the want of food and the difficulty of obtaining it: a thing he did not do in the city, where there is an abundance of goods for sale. Yet, while he could have strengthened the crowds with a word, he does not do so, because that would have been unnoticed; but he did the one concerning the loaves as a manifest demonstration, showing forth the glory befitting him as God.
*Respondens autem Simon Petrus dixit: Tu es Christus Filius Dei vivi.* D Peter did not say, “You are a Christ” or “a Son of God,” but “The Christ, the Son of God.” For while there are many Christs by grace, and possessing the dignity of adoption as sons, there is only one who is the Son of God by nature. Therefore, he spoke with the article: “The Christ, the Son of God.” And by calling him the Son of the living God, he shows that he himself is life, and that death does not hold dominion over him. For even if for a short time the flesh was weakened by dying, yet it rose again, since the Word that was in it could not be restrained by the bonds of death.
*Et portæ inferi non prævalebunt adversus eam.*
A Just as those who, by adding fuel to a fire, cause the flame to grow greater, so too did those who sought to destroy the Church of Christ by persecution actually lead it to greater glory and power. If, he says, they shall not prevail against the Church, they shall much less prevail against me. Therefore do not be afraid, Peter, when you are about to hear that I am to be betrayed and crucified. Then he offers another honor:
XVI, 18. *Upon this rock I will build my Church. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven.*
B Note how the Lord declares himself to be the absolute master of heaven and earth. For he promises things that are above our nature, and indeed above the angelic condition, which it is proper to attribute only to the Nature and Majesty that excels all—namely, that the Church is in his power, whereas Holy Scripture asserts that it is subject to God rather than to any man. For Paul says that Christ acquired it for himself, without spot or wrinkle; he also says that he founded it, attributing firmness to it, since he himself is the Lord of virtues, and he has appointed Peter as a shepherd over it. Then he adds: *And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven.* No angel or any other rational power can utter this voice. It befits rather God, the ruler of all, who holds the power of heaven and earth. The time of the gift, however, was the hour of the resurrection, when he said: *Receive the Holy Spirit; whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them, and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.*
XVI, 27. *For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father.*
He calls the transfiguration and transformation of our nature "glory," which shall have a glory incomparable to any form currently visible.
XVI, 24, 25, 28. *Let him deny himself... For he that will save his life shall lose it; but he that shall lose his life for my sake shall find it... There are some of them that stand here that shall not taste death.*
Since the disciples had not yet received the power from on high, it was likely that they D might fall into human infirmities, and thinking something similar, might say: "How shall a man deny himself? Or how shall he who has lost his own life find it? And what equal reward is there for those who suffer these things?" Therefore, to turn them away from such thoughts, and to arm them in a way for fortitude by exciting in them a desire for the glory that was to come, he says: *There are some of them that stand here,* etc., hinting at Peter and the sons of Zebedee; for they were taken up together in the transformation, which
A he calls the kingdom, as indicating the ineffable power and the unchangeable genuineness of the Son towards the Father. And in it, he also indicated the dignity of the second coming, and its terrible beginning, showing it as a kind of confirmation of that one; for he will come in the glory of God and the Father, not in our triviality.
XVII, 1. On a high mountain.
He ascends the mountain, showing that the earthly mind could not be fit for contemplation, but rather one that has been set apart, and established in quietude, outside of worldly cares.XVII, 2. And he was transfigured before them.
We say that the transformation took place, not in that the human body changed into another body, but rather that a certain light-like glory surrounded it; for while the body remained in its [original] figure, its features were imbued B more gloriously by a light-like color.XVII, 4. But Peter answering said to Jesus: Lord, it is good for us to be here: if you will, let us make here three tabernacles, one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.
He knew not what he said. For before the passion and resurrection of the Savior, and the destruction of death and the corruption of our bodies, it was impossible for Peter to be with Christ and to enjoy the heavenly tabernacles. For these things must come to pass after the Savior's resurrection and ascension into heaven.XVII, 6. And the disciples hearing it fell upon their face and were afraid exceedingly.
The voice of God and the Father is indeed good and worthy of admiration; but the disciples fall, already struck by sheer fear, so that again and through this we might learn how C extremely necessary it is that for those who are on earth, the mediation of our Savior should appear, understood precisely according to the manner of the incarnation. For if he had not become like us, who among us could have received him as he descended from above, and [who could have borne] his ineffable glory, which perhaps none of those who are born can endure, [when it is made] manifest? For the blessed Paul said that he inhabits inapproachable light 51.XVII, 13. Then the disciples understood that he had said this to them of John the Baptist.
Christ shows the Jews to be in a thick and slothful ignorance of the Scriptures, from which they did not know John; that is, the first Elias, the one who prepared the way of the Lord; [the man] whom, by ignoring and killing, D the forerunner of Christ, they also ignored the Lord himself and killed him.XVII, 17. O incredulous and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you?
How long, he says, shall I dwell with you who are soA insulting and incredulous? showing that his presence in the flesh compelled him to associate with those who were not good, that he might correct them.
The unbeliever will be also, in a way, perverse, and knowing how to walk uprightly in no respect. Yet Christ does not deign to be with such, or, if something must be said in human language, he expresses disregard; nevertheless, this is not aimed merely at his person, lest you suspect the man, but at all the Jews. For it was likely that many of those present would be scandalized and think things not proper regarding them. When, however, he says, "How long shall I be with you?", to those who were thus insulting and incredulous, he shows that the time of his presence in the flesh required him to associate with those who were not good, with a gentleness befitting God, that he might correct them through what he does. And he shows that death was welcome to him, and that he desires the event and longs for the departure, and that it is not being crucified, but being with them, that is burdensome. Yet he did not stop at these reproaches. But what does he say? "Bring him here to me."
XVII, 18. And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon went out of him, and the boy was cured from that hour.
Although it was proper that the father of the demoniac should depart saddened, not having obtained his request, as one who had not approached without fault, but had accused the choir of the apostles, having complained that they could not rebuke the demon, thereby also slandering the Lord of the powers himself. For he who said that they were weak and impotent against the unclean spirits, whereas they had received from Christ the power to cast them out, B is accusing the grace rather than those who received it; on account of which that unbelieving father, and for that reason perverse, ought to have been dismissed empty-handed. But lest anyone should think that Christ himself was also weak toward the accomplishment of this miracle, he rebuked the unclean spirit, and the boy was immediately freed from the sickness, and he gave him back to his father; for before he was cured, he was not the father's, but the spirit's who was dominating him.
C (CAP. XVII, passim.)
And so, he brought the foremost of them up to the mountain, and showed them the glory with which he will shine upon the whole world in his own time. Then, descending from the mountain, he set a certain man free from an evil and cruel spirit. But it was absolutely necessary for him to endure the saving passion for our sake, and to suffer the perversity of the Jews; which having come to pass, it is not unlikely that the disciples were disquieted, and perhaps thinking and saying among themselves: "He who raises so many dead with a certain divine power, who rebukes the sea and the winds, who destroys Satan with a word, how is he now taken and fallen into the snares of those who commit murder? We were therefore deceived in thinking him to be God." In order, therefore, that they might know what was to happen in every way and altogether, he foretells to them the mystery of the passion.
XVII, 24. And when they had come to Capharnaum, D those who were receiving the didrachma came to Peter and said: "Does your teacher not pay...
[Those who received the didrachma approached Peter and said: "Does your master not pay the didrachma?" He said: "Yes."]
A It seems to me that they were demanding the didrachma in every city; that is why they came into Capharnaum, because it was thought to be Christ's native city. And craftily they questioned Peter: "Since," they said, "he is accustomed to oppose the laws of Moses, does he not even pay the didrachma?" knowing well that Christ had also said: "I have not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it," and that the manner of the dispensation demanded this. To them, therefore, Peter replied that he does pay; but to Christ he did not speak of it, perhaps blushing to discuss such matters.
XVII, 27. "But that we may not give offense to them, go to the sea, and cast a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you have opened its mouth, you will find a stater; take that and give it to them for me and for you."
B The Savior could have drawn the stater even from the earth; but He did not do this, but rather sought a sign from the sea, so that He might indicate to us a mystery full of profound contemplation. For we are the fish caught from the tempests of life and this world by the fishing of the apostolic preaching. But we have in our mouths the stater, that is to say, Christ.
From the Commentary on the Gospel according to Matthew by Saint Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria
The true and intellectual stater, set forth as in a material type, is our Lord Jesus Christ, the double character.
"Whatever you bind on earth," etc. (XVIII, 18).
Since Christ gave to those who were allotted the office of teaching the power to loose and to bind, one must respect the voices of the saints, even if those who define it might not be many, lest those who have once turned toward the pursuit of virtue should turn away. For Christ has given us assurance of this, not at all suggesting that confirmation would come from a multitude, but promising that if even two in number agree and define something circumspectly, it will reach its goal. "For I will be present," He says, "and will join in the decision, even if only two are gathered for my sake"; for He says that it is not the number of those meeting, but the power of piety and love for God that will be effective.
"He ordered him to be sold, and his wife, and his children." (XVIII, 25).
Through the sale of the wife and the others, is signified the complete removal and total deprivation of all things held dear by God. For this sale declares alienation from God.
"It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle." (XIX, 24).
He refers here to a camel—not the beast of burden—but the thick rope with which sailors fasten their anchors. By calling the matter impossible, he shows not that any kind of reward is [available] to the rich and...
to those able to live as philosophers; and for this reason he said A that this is the work of God, to show that the one who is to accomplish this requires grace.
XIX, 29. *He shall receive a hundredfold.* It must be noted that even if other believers do not obtain the same things as the disciples, they will nevertheless, instead of their kinsmen according to the flesh, possess familiarity with God, and brotherhood in the holy city, the mother of the firstborn, and will receive life without end—which is to be in enjoyment forever, and in delight, and never to be deprived of good things. For this is the true life, since sinners also live. For we shall all rise again, but because they will be in ceaseless torments, they are said to be in "death," to whom death is far better than such a state. But since Mark says B that they will receive manifold more in this age, it must be said again [that this refers to] spiritual graces, which far surpass earthly things; these are certain pledges of the good things to come, and those who possess them are in the greatest honors, with almost everyone running to the saints, so that through them they may enjoy divine grace. Therefore, he does not say that they will receive many fathers instead of one, or many mothers instead of one, or many fields instead of a few, but that they will obtain heavenly things that without controversy excel all earthly things, so that what remains for them will be far more excellent than what is spent for their sake.
XXI, 12. *And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers, and the seats of them that sold doves.* C There was indeed in the temple a multitude of merchants—money-changers, or bankers—and with them sellers of oxen and sheep, and those selling turtledoves and pigeons. These were useful for the sacrifices of the legal cult, but the time was already at hand for the shadow to be dissolved and the truth in Christ to shine forth, as he was to be honored with his own Father in the true temple. He commanded that legal sacrifices and smoke be rejected, and he showed that the temple is a house of prayer; for to strike the merchants and to drive them from the sacred precincts, [those] who were selling to others the things useful for sacrifice, is entirely and precisely this, and nothing else. But another of the evangelists D also says that Jesus made a scourge of cords and threatened them with blows; for it was necessary for those honoring the legal worship to know, after the manifestation of the truth, that those who have a spirit of slavery, and who refuse to be set free, will be under the lash and will be subjected to the punishment befitting servants. He also strengthens their accusation by [citing] Isaiah, saying, "It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer." He therefore had to be worshiped as the Lord of the temple; but they not only did not do this, but were even indignant.
A And he shows not only this, but also that he cures various diseases. For the evangelist says: *And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them.*
It was an enigma what happened: because the Jews had been cast out of the temple along with the typical sacrifices, the blind and the lame—who have the figure of the Gentiles—are healed. Let those who sell the gifts of the Spirit and the priesthood certainly learn that the Lord drove those selling doves out of the temple with a whip, and let them cease gathering income for themselves from ordinations.
B *But to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to give.* You ask, then, who are going to sit? Know that no one is. For such is the authority of the first nature alone, not of a human one. For the apostles, not understanding what it is "to sit upon twelve thrones," and that it signifies the glorification that they would then attain, were seeking such a seat.
*In what authority do you do these things?* C If you knew the inspired Scriptures, O foolish Pharisee, and the voices of the holy prophets, you would have remembered the blessed David saying to the Savior of all, Christ: *The Lord swore, and will not repent, you are a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek* (Ps. CX, 4). Tell me, I pray, who from among the Scribes or Pharisees has performed the priestly office to God according to the order of Melchizedek? Absolutely none; but even their forefather Abraham, the root of the generation of those from Israel, received a blessing from the priesthood of Melchizedek. Melchizedek, however, was a type, and his priesthood was a type of the Savior of all, Christ, who became our High Priest, bringing to God and the Father all who believe in him, perfecting them for sanctification through a worship that is above the law.
Why then are you indignant, O Pharisee? Tell me, do you accuse the Lawgiver of dissolving the law, and that he did not follow his own commandments? But God is above every law; for he who defined the laws not so much for himself as for us, changes the things ordained according to the time in which he chooses, and leads them to a better state. D There was, therefore, a time for the law, which had been in types, to cease, and for better things to be revealed. Wherefore he said somewhere through the voice of Isaiah: *The understanding of the people shall perish* (Isa. VI, 10); for they made void the new commandment which the Son himself has spoken to us.
*The baptism of John, whence was it?* Christ asked what opinion they had regarding the Baptist, because it was the custom of the Jews to call the saints liars, and to say that they fabricate prophecy from their own mind, not...
A that they were sent by God. But the Pharisees feared saying the truth, lest they hear: Why did you not believe him?
XXI, 28. Work in my vineyard. And the vineyard is Israel, as the Psalmist says: "You brought a vine out of Egypt." And Isaiah: "The vineyard," he says, "became the beloved one." God planted it and journeyed abroad for a long time, or rather, He exercised patience. Yet He appears to have been concerned for the region and kept it in mind. For there was no intermediate time during which prophets and righteous instructors were not sent by God. But they were disobedient, and having treated the sent ones with ignominy, they sent them away empty—that is, having nothing good to say about them to the God who had sent them.
XXI, 38. This is the heir; come, let us kill him. Are you then also sons of God and the Father? Does the natural inheritance fall to you if you remove the heir from the midst? How will you become masters of what you desire? And how is that not worthy of laughter? For Christ, as Son and substantially heir to the dignities of God and the Father, having become man, called those who believe in Him into the communion of His own kingdom. But the Jews wished to have the kingdom alone, which was impossible and altogether alien to the discipline. Observe, however, in these things that the Son is sent after the servants, as one who is not among the servants, but as a true Son and therefore Lord; for even if He assumed the form of a servant by dispensation, yet even so He was God, and the true Son of God and the Father, and possessed the B lordship naturally.
XXI, 42. The stone which the builders rejected, this has become the head of the corner. The blessed David marveled at this corner—that is, at the meeting of the two peoples into oneness—saying: "This has come to pass from the Lord, and it is wonderful in our eyes." Therefore, this stone is a saving one to the corner made by Him, but it is a crushing one to those who have remained outside this intellectual and spiritual meeting; for to them Christ is a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.
XXII, 8. The wedding indeed is prepared. He calls the wedding the union of the faithful with the Son, and he called the Jews to this wedding, formerly indeed through the prophets, but lately through the disciples, before the passion and the resurrection.
XXII, 13. [Having] bound his feet and hands. And in another way, it is said that the hands and feet are bound, as one is no longer able to perform any good work there; for the operation of the good extends only up to the present time.
XXII, 17. Is it lawful to pay tribute to Caesar, or not? Indeed, the God of all desired that from human C power...
A Israel should be free; but since they had trampled upon the divine laws, they came under the hand of those who were prevailing at the time. They imposed tributes upon them, and they were henceforth subject to tax, their affairs having passed to the dominion of the Romans.
XXII, 46. And no one could answer him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day to ask him any more.
Since the Sadducees had been put to shame and had departed, and the Lord was being praised, the envious Pharisees came into the midst, and a certain lawyer, deemed to be highly esteemed among them, asked what commandment was the greatest in the Law; thinking that Christ would discard the things of Moses and propose his own teaching, or say: "You shall love the Lord your God and me," joining his own glory to the glory of the Father; and thus he would find a pretext to cast him into danger, as one who makes himself God. Or if he should remain silent about this, to say: "Therefore we do not receive you as God." But the Lord said nothing new, but things of the Law, and in this way he stopped the mouths of the Pharisees.
XXIII, 10. Nor be called teachers.
Because those who teach new doctrines are almost always seen to arrive at the dignity of teaching out of a passion for vainglory and arrogance, the Lord removes this suspicion, and cuts off the path as one leading to destruction. If, therefore, he says, you desire glory and primacy, seek the rank of servants and those who are last, and practice humility.
Woe to you. C
Woe therefore to you, you lawyers, because while you confess that the Law is burdensome, you inflict the penalty of death upon others who demand it, yet you yourselves do not even touch the Law.
And he who swears in heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him who sits upon it.
For this reason the Scriptures call heaven the throne of God, because in the powers above God rests. For in heaven are the angels who do his will and are always glorifying him; for this is his rest. But the earth is the footstool of his feet, for upon it he dwelt with men in the flesh. And the foot of God is preeminently called his holy flesh, and it is named in various ways.
XXIII, 23. Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you tithe mint and dill, and have left undone the weightier things of the Law, judgment and mercy and faith; these you ought to have done, and not to leave the others undone.
See how he strikes them. You demand, he says, O Pharisees, tithes perhaps even of minute herbs, passing over the commandments in which the greater guilt lies. What are these commandments? Judgment, that is to say
and mercy, and faith in God. For these are better than tithes and first-fruits. Hence, the Lord of all says through the prophet: "And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to do judgment, and to love, and to seek mercy, and to be ready to walk with your God?" B
XXIII, 26. "Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup and of the dish, that the outside of them may be clean also." He does not speak of a cup or a dish—that is, a platter—but discourses of the soul and the body, calling that which is on the outside the body, and that which is within, the soul. But if that which is inside the dish has need of cleansing, much more does that which is within you. "But you," he says, "do the contrary," observing the small and external things, while neglecting the greater and internal ones; whence the greatest harm arises. By these things he depicts the life of the Pharisees, exhorting them not to be mere fabrications of outward appearance only, but to have their inward parts, their mind and spirit, clean.
XXIII, 32. "And you, fill up the measure of your fathers."
Let us diligently investigate what it is that the Savior says. The fathers of the Jews at various times killed the holy prophets who announced the divine law to them; yet those who were born of them, confessing that the prophets had been venerable and honorable, adorned them with crowns—that is to say, with monuments—bestowing upon the saints a most fitting honor. While they themselves believed them to have been prophets and holy men, they became judges of those who had killed them; for by those very means through which they thought to honor those who had been slain, they accused the slayers as having acted impiously. But those who supported their own fathers in such heinous murders were destined to be subject to equal evils, or rather, to even worse ones. For they killed the Author of life. And they added to the impieties against him other murders against his divine disciples. For as long as someone, judging by natural reason the iniquities of others, inquires into them, he sees what is evil and reproves it; but he himself, being brought to the same passions, is carried toward these things as if blind. C
XXIII, 37. "As a hen gathers her chicks under her wings."
In saying this, he shows the character of divinity in himself, although he is in human form. For concerning God, Moses said: "Expanding his wings, he took them up"; and again David: "And the sons of men shall hope in the shelter of your wings." D
XXIV, 5. "For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will lead many astray."
The Lord, in view of the purpose of those who propose the question
A continues to speak regarding the consummation of the present age. For before His descent from the heavens occurs, certain precursors will appear, false Christs and false prophets, assuming His own person to themselves; but He says, "Do not follow them."
XXIV, 20. "Pray that your flight may not be in winter, or on a Sabbath."
This is what Christ hints at: that we ought to pray that our departure from the body may not occur at a time when there will be for us a cessation of the works of virtue; for the Sabbath signifies such a cessation. Nor, again, that death should then overwhelm us when we are being tossed about by worldly turmoils and disturbances, which is what winter denotes.
B Perhaps the statement also contains a riddle, such that we should pray that we might not depart from the body while idle from good work, which the Sabbath indicates, nor in a state of barrenness, which winter denotes. It is to be noted, however, that God did not make winter a source of evils. We are in winter whenever the passions of the flesh hold dominion over us.
XXIV, 29. "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken."
How could they not tremble at the heaven and earth being changed in their elements according to the will of God? For it is not possible to say anything precise about such things. The sun and C the moon will indeed be obscured; but the stars will fall like flowers, as the One who created them changes them back according to His will; even these elements will be disturbed. For while humanity is being renewed, the creation that was fashioned for the sake of man is also being summed up and restored.
XXIV, 36. "But concerning that day and hour no one knows."
Since the disciples desired to hear things beyond their capacity, He finds a suitable reason to restrain their curiosity, by saying that He does not know, insofar as He was man. He even adds that not even the holy angels who dwell in the heavens are able to know these things.
D Cyril, from the Homily inscribed on the words: "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven. But concerning that day or hour no one knows."
Nevertheless, when He even says this, He does not altogether signify Himself. For He did not add explicitly, "nor the Son of God," but generally said, "nor the Son." You should understand it in some such way as this: the disciples were eager to know all things accurately, and they were attempting, so to speak, to investigate even the deep "mysteries" of the Lord. But the matter was far beyond them. Therefore, in order that by refusing the explanation, which they
A sought to learn, he might not seem to sadden those who hold him dear, he says obscurely: "But of that day and that hour no one knows, neither the angels, nor the Son, but the Father alone." Understand the words in this way: Even if man has been called to adoption and declared a new son, let him not therefore inquire into things that are above nature, nor deem himself worthy to know what the Father has not revealed even to the angels. If the angel does not know, neither shall man know, even if he has been called to adoption.
It was the custom of Christ our Savior to act in such a way, especially toward his holy disciples. If they asked about something that had the appearance of a desire for learning, but lacked a higher inquiry, he would indulge them with an explanation and try to expound even the smallest details B exactly. But if they should desire to learn some things beyond their measure, which exceeded their capacity, he would order them to be quiet, and persuade them to care rather for those things that are more useful to them. Since, therefore, the disciples wished to learn things that were above them, he usefully pretends, as a man, not to know, and says that not even the holy angels in heaven know, so that they might not be saddened, as if they were mistrusted beyond measure. And see how, with suitable reasoning, he persuades them to rest from that inquiry, and brings about a sense of modesty in them, as if they were seeking to know that which the Father had not revealed even to the angels, nor made known to the Son himself.
From the Commentary of Cyril on Matthew
He says that he was ignorant, but God was not ignorant. But even though he himself was God the Word, he nevertheless became and was a man, who indeed, as far as his own nature and the measure of his humanity are concerned, is ignorant of future things, but often knows them C through the revelation of God. And do not marvel if he admits the humble state of ignorance. For if, being the Master, he is called a servant for the sake of man; and being the Lord of glory, he asks for glory from the Father as if he did not have it; furthermore, if, while he is truly Life itself and gives life to all things, he is nevertheless said to have been raised by the power of the Spirit; and finally, if, while he is co-eternal with the Father, he is nevertheless as if called into being at the beginning, at the time when he was made man, and you hear the Father saying, "You are my Son, today I have begotten you," even though the word "today" signifies the present time—what is the wonder if that which naturally pertains to man in reality, namely, that he does not know some existing thing, he D also deigned to take upon himself along with his other properties? Certainly, if we are scandalized by one of these, the others also will fall away in like manner. What then? The rationale of the incarnation will henceforth be destroyed, and the mystery by which we are saved will be overturned. For we have been made like him,
A seeing that he also has become like us. Reasonably then, thinking rightly, we shall say that we know the Son insofar as he is understood and is God; but insofar as he has come to human nature, since he has also become man, he will not speak falsely when he says that he does not know. And we shall not attribute the matter to the prerogatives of divinity, but to the form of a servant and to our poverty. He attributes human things to the Word of God; for he did not come to be in some man, according to the foolish opinion of some, but he himself truly became man, while also being God by nature.
A XXIV, 40. *Then two shall be in the field; one is taken, and one is left.* Observe that the discourse divides men into two classes: that of the saved and that of the lost. And those who are saved he says are taken, while those who are lost are left, that is to say, rejected. The field must be understood here as the world, where one who sows to the spirit reaps eternal life; but another, who sows to the flesh, reaps corruption. He likens teachers to the millstones, who, in a way, by rubbing down scriptural meanings, provide divine precepts that are easy to receive and easy to understand for men. For the law, in commanding that a mill or an upper millstone not be taken as a pledge, so that by taking the instruments of food one might not hinder those who are fed by them, B enigmatically indicates the teachers.
C XXIV, 51. *And shall divide him.* Let us examine what it is to be divided. When at the beginning Adam was created, God, bestowing the most perfect beauty upon his nature, made him a partaker of his own Spirit. *For he breathed into his face the breath of life.* For the truly life-giving spirit is the Spirit of life, that is, Christ. But since he slipped into sin through deception, he was defrauded of the Spirit; but it was the good pleasure of God and the Father to sum up all things in Christ, and to restore human nature to its ancient beauty. By grace, therefore, we received that of which the incursion of sin had despoiled us; for Christ breathed upon us after the resurrection, and renewing us to our ancient beauty, he said, *Receive the Holy Spirit.* The Spirit is therefore united D to us; for he who is joined to him is one spirit. Therefore, being found in the pursuits of piety, we receive the fullness at the end, now having the Spirit as in the order of a pledge. But being accused in sins, we lose even the very pledge of the Spirit. For it is cut away and departs, as it were, at the time of judgment; and we say that this is the division of which he speaks here; for it is not possible for one to be delivered into punishment with the Spirit.
XXV, 5. *While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.* He compares to sleep and calls "slumber" the bodily...
A death, which of necessity happens both to the prudent and to the foolish; for when the slothful bring nothing with them, the soul begins to doze and, as it were, to be extinguished and to pass into insanity, and to think that it can obtain oil through the virtue of others. Therefore they are rejected, those others saying, "Lest there be not enough for us and for you." For with difficulty will each one's own virtue suffice for the salvation of his soul, because even the very righteous offend in many things. Now those who sell the oil are the prophets, the apostles, the evangelists, from whom one learns how virtue is to be practiced.
B Since it is the custom of Scripture to divide the whole of life into five periods, it assigns holy and foolish souls to each time; yet in that all went out with their lamps, it shows that all souls were illumined by God through the natural and the written law, except that some did not accept the illumination from God by living uprightly. Others, however, through good works, make the illuminating grace given to them by God shine more brightly, and they benefit both themselves and others to the glory of God. By "oil" must be understood good and diligent work; if this is wanting, the divine light that is within us passes over into a less beautiful state. By "sleep" or "slumber," He likens the death of the flesh, which of necessity comes upon all, whom the trumpet of the angels will awaken, once death has been brought to naught, and all will be prepared to render an account; for this is what it means to "trim the lamps," as each one reviews his own life.
Now the soul of wicked men begins to mourn, and as it were to pass into insanity, such that they think they can be shown mercy through the virtue of others; therefore they are rejected, for with difficulty will each one's own virtue suffice for salvation, because of failing much even among those who are very upright. The sellers are the teachers of right doctrines, through whom one learns virtue. But the time did not allow for buying, that is to say, for being taught, as it made an examination of what had been lived, not giving an opportunity for work. The present time is for work, but the future is for retribution.
C XXV, 14. *For as a man traveling into a far country.* The "man" who is the master of the house is the Creator and Lord of this universe; his "journey abroad" or departure is the ascension of Christ into heaven, that is, the secure and invisible state of the divine nature; his "possessions" are those who believe in him in every land. He calls his "servants" those whom Christ from time to time crowns with the ornament of the priesthood, to whom he also entrusts those who have been placed under them, giving spiritual grace to each according to his mind or aptitude. We say that this is the distribution of the talents, not distributed to all the servants in *equal measure* because of the variety of their minds. D "And immediately going forth they worked," he says; by that "immediately" it is signified to us here that without any hesitation we must perform the things that are of God, since those who are given over to lethargy and sloth will be in the direst evils. "He dug," he says, "and hid the talent given to him in the earth."
that is, he kept the grace given to him idle and useless to others. The talent shall therefore be taken from him and given to him who has in abundance; for the spirit of such men shall not be revived, nor the distribution of divine gifts; but to those who have labored in love, there shall be a more abundant bestowal of gifts. A
XXV, 31. But when the Son of Man shall come in His glory.
How then will He come? In what guise will He be present? Assuredly, as He Himself said elsewhere: "And then they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with power and great glory." For He shall come no longer in lowliness nor in the meanness of our human state, but in the glory and power of His divinity. And you must understand the word "much" as applying to both qualities: for He will manifest His second theophany with much power and simultaneously with much glory, since He performed His first with weakness and obscurity, as far as it was visible to the multitude. B But why in a cloud? Because God is wont to appear in this way: "For clouds and darkness are round about Him." Item: "The Lord sitteth on a light cloud." And again: "Who makes the cloud His ascent." Item: "A cloud received Him out of their sight." Item: "As the Son of Man coming upon the clouds." Thus, then, Daniel also beholds Him; thus He will come then, not hiddenly, but as God and Lord in glory worthy of God, and He will transform all things for the better. For the dead shall rise again, and this earthen body, once subject to these passions, shall put off corruption and put on immortality, with Christ as the author thereof, rendering those who believe in Him conformed to the body of His glory. Wherefore He also calls a thing of this kind our redemption, saying: "And when these things begin to come to pass, look up and lift up your heads, for your redemption draws near." C
Just as if someone were to say of a man that he received from his father to be a rational animal, he intends by this to signify that he was begotten rational from one who is rational, so too the Only-Begotten, as God from God, and as Judge from Him who judges the whole earth, proceeded forth: and not because the Father has given all judgment to the Son is He diminished in His sovereignty; for the Only-Begotten is inseparable from God, as light is from the sun. For He is in Him naturally; so that all things which the Father has are the Son’s, and vice versa. D
XXVI, 23. He that dippeth his hand with Me in the dish, the same shall betray Me.
We do not surely understand from this that none of the other disciples, but only Judas, dipped the morsel in the dish with Him. I for my part believe that the saying has this meaning: he wishes to say, as is verisimilar, that the traitor will be he who dips...
his hand into the dish with me, that is, my fellow diner and table-companion, and partner and participant of my table and of my salt. A For thus he also reproached him through the voice of the blessed David, saying: "And thou, O man of like soul, who didst make sweet with me the same foods." And again: "He who was eating my loaves, magnified his supplanting against me." And John sets this same thing forth more clearly; for he says that the Lord had said that: "It is he to whom I shall give the morsel when I have dipped it."
XXVI, 26. And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said: Take, eat; this is my body.
After Judas had gone out, the Savior delivers to the eleven disciples the saving mystery. B For since He was about to return shortly, after rising again in His own flesh, to the Father, so that we might have the presence of the Savior (for without the presence of Christ it is impossible for a man to be saved and delivered from death and sin, with our Life not co-existing with us), He gave us His own body and blood, so that by them the power of corruption might be dissolved, and He might dwell in our souls through the Holy Spirit, and we might become participants of holiness, and be rendered supercelestial and spiritual men.
XXVI, 27. And taking the cup, He gave thanks and gave it to them, saying: Drink ye all of this.
The Lord gives thanks upon taking the cup, that is, in the form of prayer He speaks with God and the Father, C declaring Him in a manner to be a participant and co-approver of the life-giving blessing to be given to us; at the same time, however, He also gives us a pattern, first to give thanks, and thus to break and distribute the bread. Therefore, we too, placing the aforementioned things before the eyes of God, pray intensely for the spiritual blessing to be transformed for us, so that having partaken of them we may be sanctified corporally and spiritually. He said demonstratively: "This is my body," and, "This is my blood," D so that you might not think the things seen are a figure, but in some ineffable manner they are transformed by the all-powerful God into the body and blood of Christ in truth, the things offered, of which having partaken, we receive the life-giving and sanctifying power of Christ. For it was fitting that He should, through the Holy Spirit, be tempered in us in a manner befitting God to our bodies through His holy flesh and precious blood; which we have also received for a life-giving blessing, as in bread and wine, so that we might not become sluggish in seeing the flesh and blood of His set forth on the tables of the churches; for God, bowing Himself to our infirmities, pours into the things set forth the power of life, and transforms them into the efficacy of His own life; and do not doubt that this is true, for He Himself says clearly: "This is my body," and: "This [is]
my blood." Receive, rather, the word of the Savior by faith: for being Truth, He does not lie. A
XXVI, 31. *Then Jesus saith unto them: All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.*
Whence did such fear come upon Peter and the others? The disciples were troubled, not indeed like those who are soft-hearted, but because the event was full of perturbation, and the knowledge of this mystery was altogether difficult to grasp—how He who had raised the dead and wrought myriad signs beyond human power, was to be condemned to so ignominious a death. But this was He of whom it was said through the prophet: *I will smite the shepherd.* And hence David also says to the Father: *Whom thou hast smitten, they have persecuted.* Yet this did not happen altogether and in every way by the will of the Father; rather, He desired that He should not suffer, if the Jews had but accepted Him. But since they did not accept Him, but desired to kill Him, the Father consented that the Son should suffer this. And it is in this way that we must understand what was said by Christ to Pilate: *Thou couldst have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above*; that is to say: "If the Father had not consented to my choosing to suffer."
*But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee.*
He did not leave the disciples to remain in their sorrow, but announces the resurrection beforehand, dissolving their grief, and promises that He will precede them into Galilee, by which He signifies that He is about to depart from the Jews and cross over to the Gentiles. He does not appear immediately from heaven, nor does He go off into some distant land, but stays in that very nation in which He was also crucified, and in almost the same regions: so that from this [fact] they might also be assured that He who was crucified was the very same as He who had risen, and that by this reasoning He might more greatly console those affected by sadness. Therefore He also said [He would go] into Galilee, so that, freed from the fear of the Jews, they might believe the word spoken; and for this reason He also appeared there. B C
*Then saith he unto them: My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.*
He is sorrowful as man, and the One who is impassible makes the properties of the body His own, since the things of humanity are common to Him; just as the things befitting the divinity alone also became in a way common to the flesh, because of the ineffable and inexpressible union. And let not the event scandalize anyone; for the union of the Word with the flesh, in suffering its own experiences, rightly confirms in us the mystery of the incarnation.
*O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.*
By "cup" in these passages, He denotes the gravity of death, and the [force] that, as it were, brings on sleep and stupor. That D
He prays to avoid the drinking of this cup, shows that He in no wise desired to suffer by any antecedent will, A but [he suffered] for those things that would follow the fury of those crucifying Him, from whom by this saying He snatches away their excuse: for they can no longer say, "Since He Himself chose to suffer, we are rather the ministers of His will." For this prayer will convict them of having worshipped false fables.
XXVI, 42. *Again the second time he went away, and prayed, saying: O my Father, if this cup cannot pass away except I drink it, thy will be done.*
He intensifies the prayer, and on their account he weaves the lineaments of his discourse, and offers himself and his own actions as a pattern to us. I believe that we ought not to be sluggish, but rather to approach frequently, and not to blush when we ask for the same things, until our requests are finally granted to us. For this reason Christ instituted the third prayer concerning these same things, although He most clearly knew the will of God and the Father; nay, rather, by this third time He confirms that He had become man.
From Cyril's sixth book of commentary on Matthew
And indeed there is in Him the capacity to suffer on account of His humanity; yet that passion is immediately calmed by the vigor and fortitude of the indwelling Word. Observe indeed how His request demonstrates His humanity; but the firmness of the Godhead shines forth B immediately.
XXVI, 50. *Jesus said to him: Friend, whereto art thou come? Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus, and held him.*
From Cyril's commentary on Matthew
For even if what was then coming to pass was not altogether and in every way desirable to Him, yet for the sake of the salvation and life of all, He made the passion on the cross voluntary. For He knew perfectly what great goods would come from this, and that He would renew the nature of man, and acquire it for God and the Father with His own blood. For if He had not made it voluntary for Himself—although by itself it was hateful—which was the reason why He prayed, saying: "*O Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me*"—and after other things: Observe how the passion was adverse to the Savior’s will; but because it was necessary to endure the torture because of the benefits of the passion, He made it voluntary for Himself for our sake. For He did not even now rebuke the traitor, because he was perpetrating the greatest of all crimes, nor did He say it would have been better for him if he had never been born; but He did not even then deem the minister of his own will worthy of punishment, if indeed it was his will to suffer. C D
A Perhaps Judas thought he could remain hidden, proffering a kiss as a sign of love, while having a heart full of unholy designs. Therefore, like one drunk, he approaches Christ with an instrument of deceit and love, expecting to manifest his own signal virtue, and he added: "Hail, Rabbi." Do you say "Hail" to Him who has been entrapped for death by you? Do you not even blush at the very habit of betrayal? But from this it was possible to see that, having the liar within himself—that is to say, Satan—he lied even in saying "Hail," and Christ accepted the kiss, and gave Himself up willingly, and they laid hands upon Him and seized Him, on that very night upon which they ate the Passover; so much did they seethe and rage. But nevertheless, they could have done nothing if He had not allowed it; yet this does not absolve Judas of his intolerable punishment, but rather condemns him all the more, in that, having received such proof of His power and of His gentleness, and of His meekness, and of His mildness, he became more savage than any wild beast.
B At that hour Jesus said to the crowds: "Have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs to take me? Daily I sat among you teaching in the temple, and you did not seize me." Does Christ therefore accuse the teachers of the Jews because they did not prepare the snare of death for Him prematurely? He does not mean to imply this, but rather: "Since it was permitted to you to seize me daily while I was teaching in the temple, you did not do so; for I was rather storing up the necessity of suffering at the appropriate time." Therefore, Christ did not say this to accuse the madness of the Jews, nor does He reproach their slowness toward murderous bloodshed, because they had not seized Him when He was present and in their sight from the start. C But rather, He convicts them, showing that the arrest was not a work of their own power, but of His own will, as He had economically accepted this unwelcome passion and made it voluntary; not because undergoing it was a good thing, but because the events befalling Him were to restore human nature.
OF CYRIL
James, who became the first bishop of Jerusalem, was said to be the brother of the Lord according to the flesh, but a son of the carpenter Joseph, from his worldly wife, a brother of Simon and Judas and Joseph; for Joseph had four sons and two daughters, Esther and Tamar, by his wife Salome, the daughter of Haggai, the brother of Zechariah the priest; and at that time Joseph was a widower; so that Salome and John the Baptist were children of male siblings; for Haggai was the son of Barachiah, and the uncle of John; and likewise Zechariah was the brother of Haggai, and the uncle of Salome the wife of Joseph; for the midwife happened to be from Bethlehem, and she was also a cousin of Elizabeth and of the holy Virgin Mary; for there were three sisters from Bethlehem, daughters of Matthan the priest and Mary his wife, during the reign of Cleopatra, before the reign of Herod the son of Antipater; the name of the first was Mary, and the name of the second was Sophia, and the name of the third was Anna. Now the first married in Bethlehem, and she gave birth to Salome, the midwife; the second also married in Bethlehem, and gave birth to Elizabeth; and the third also married in the land of Galilee, and gave birth to Mary, the all-holy Theotokos, in Bethlehem; so that Salome the midwife, and Elizabeth, and the holy Mary the Theotokos, were daughters of three sisters. D Thence, therefore, the Baptist John and our Lord Jesus Christ are called cousins; and the Lord was supposed to be the son of Joseph, since he was also supposed to be the brother of his sons from his first wife.A restored to its pristine state, showing that this captivity was a work of his permission.
XXVI, 67. *What think you? But they answering, said: He is guilty of death.*
God of all said somewhere through Moses: *If a soul sin, and hear the voice of swearing, and is a witness either he hath seen or is privy to it, if he do not utter it, he shall bear his iniquity.* (Lev. V, 1). A charge of iniquity is therefore branded upon some if they offer no excuse when they hear the voice of swearing. Therefore, the crafty Caiaphas adjures the Lord, so that if he should choose to remain silent afterward, he might condemn him as one having transgressed, seeing that one who has been adjured and remains silent has become liable to punishment by the law. But if he speaks the truth, they might kill him as a false Christ, as one who says he is God, and has nothing peculiar according to the flesh and that which is seen; and therefore Christ said: *You have said.* That is, your mouth has hereafter confessed. But to make their punishment graver, in that they were unwilling to believe in him, he again renders his glory clearer to them, saying: *Henceforth you shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of the power of God.* B By the species, he says, of one born in human form, you have held me in no place as the Son of God and the Father by nature and in truth; and since you have descended to such ignorance that you were ignorant of His mystery and mine, although you were teachers of the law, I necessarily say this: that the time of your impiety against me is short and preordained, up until the precious cross. For afterward I shall immediately return to my pristine honor, I shall ascend to the glory which I had from the beginning, and I shall be a sharer of the throne of God and the Father, even with my flesh. While Christ was saying these things, Caiaphas tore his garments, C saying, *He hath blasphemed.* And he did this to make his accusation more violent and to make what was said more striking by his action. Yet what sort of blasphemy is this? For previously he had said to them when they were gathered together: *The Lord said to my Lord: Sit on my right hand* (Matt. XXII, 44; cf. Ps. CIX, 1), and he interpreted what was said, and they dared to say nothing, but remained silent. How then did they now call what was said a blasphemy? And for what reason did Christ until the last hour teach that he was the Christ, and that he would sit on the right hand of the Father, and that he would come again to judge the world? This is a sign of his demonstrating that there is great agreement between Him and the Father. Tearing his clothes, therefore, he says: *What think you?* D He does not bring the vote of condemnation by himself, but extracts it from them as if the sins and the manifest blasphemy were already confessed. For since they knew that if the matter were to come to an inquiry and an accurate examination, he would be freed from every charge, they condemn him of themselves, and pre-occupy the hearers, saying: *You have heard the blasphemy*, as if compelling in a certain way
compelling them and forcing them to cast their vote. What then do they say? “He is guilty of death,” in order that, having taken Him as a condemned man, they might thus prepare Pilate to pronounce the same. This is what those who were A privy to it say: “He is guilty of death,” those who were themselves the accusers, themselves the judges, themselves the voters, becoming everything themselves at that time. But why did they not bring forward the Sabbaths? Because He had often stopped their mouths. And besides, they wished to catch Him for condemnation from the things said at that time. Wherefore, also [Caiaphas], having taken the lead and having secured a vote from them, and having incited everyone by the rending of his own robe, thus led Him to Pilate as one already condemned, doing all things in this way. In the case of that man, however, they say nothing of the sort; but what? “If this man were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up to you,” attempting to destroy Him on charges of public crimes. But why did they not destroy Him in secret? They wanted to destroy His glory as well; for since there were many who had heard Him and admired Him, for this reason they hastened to have Him slaughtered publicly and before all. But Christ did not prevent it, but made use of their malice for the establishing of the truth; and the opposite happened to what they intended. For since they did have the authority to destroy Him themselves, hear what Pilate says: “Take him yourselves, and judge him according to your law.” But they did not want this, so that He might not appear to be put to death as a tyrant or as a seditionist. But all these things happened for the sake of the truth, so that they might not have even a shadow of any shameless excuse. For such is deceit: through the very things it uses for plots, it is destroyed; so too it happened here; for those who thought they had won were the very ones who were most put to shame, and were defeated, and perished; but He who seemed to be defeated, He shone forth the most and won a complete victory. B
Others struck Him with the palms of their hands, saying, “Prophesy to us, Christ, who is the one who struck you?”
It would be fitting to say what one of the holy prophets said: “The heaven was astonished at this, and shuddered exceedingly, says the Lord.” The God of all, the King of kings and Lord of lords, is dishonored as one of us, and endures being struck, and bears the mockery of the impious, set before us as an example of His utmost long-suffering; for He who searches hearts and reins, the bestower of all prophecy, how could He be ignorant of who it was that struck Him? C
“Then he released Barabbas to them, and having scourged Jesus, delivered Him to be crucified.”
This is a great indictment of the Jews, that they chose a robber and a murderer rather than Christ; so much did they care for justice, and thus, because of holiness D
A they were rejected, as the blessed Peter says, and they sought to have a murderer granted to them so that they might be participants in his lot.
104. The Lord reproved this manifest impiety of theirs, saying by the voice of Jeremiah: “I have forsaken my house, I have left my inheritance; it has given its voice against Me like a lion in the forest. Therefore I have hated it.” And the prophet Hosea also spoke elsewhere about the impiety of the Jews: “Woe to them, for they have departed from Me; they are miserable because they have acted impiously against Me. Yet I redeemed them, but they have spoken lies against Me. Their princes shall fall by the sword for the ignorance of their tongue.”
XXVII, 32. *And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name; him they compelled to carry His cross.*
The Savior is indeed led to the saving passion, and they laid His cross upon Simon the Cyrenian. But another of the holy evangelists said that Jesus Himself also carried the cross; and both are true in every way. For the Savior indeed carried the cross, but meeting the Cyrenian in the middle of the way, they seized him and placed the cross upon him. B For it is said concerning Him by the voice of Isaiah: “A child is born to us, and a son is given to us, whose government is upon his shoulder.” For His government became the cross, through which He has reigned over everything under heaven; if it is true that “He became obedient even unto death, even the death of the cross; therefore God also has highly exalted Him.”
XXVII, 38. *Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right, and one on the left.*
Do you see how the Creator of all and Lord corrects His own nature? For referring it to its beginnings by the fact that He became man for our sake, He suffered our passions for us; and when He was raised upon the cross, two robbers were hanged together with Him. The insult was indeed manifest, towards which the goal of the Jews was directed; but the commemoration of the prophecy is fulfilled, saying: “And He was numbered with the transgressors.” C But through His sufferings, good things flow to us. For it is true that “By His stripes we are healed.” These two robbers represented the two peoples, of whom the one manifested ingratitude until the very end, and did not even confess that he was suffering the final captivity—which they endured at the hands of the Romans as a vengeance for the fury exercised against Christ—while the other, even at the very end, did not despair of remission, but corrected himself; and to stand before the cross D of the Lord, situated in the midst of the robbers, the voluntary...
A incarnation of the Lord signifies His will to renew both those to whom He came of His own accord; although the former, like one of the robbers, refused Him, saying: "We have no king but Caesar 68," and calling down the innocent blood upon his own head, and as if exulting in a just slaughter, from which both these men and that one publicly fell from the kingdom.
XXVII, 44. And the robbers who were crucified with Him also reproached Him.
One of the robbers, indeed, nurtured by the aversions of the Jews from God, uttered the same words as they: "If indeed You are the Christ," he says, "save Yourself and us 69." The other, however, walking the B opposite path to that one, is deservedly a subject of admiration; for he believed in Him, although afflicted by such a bitter punishment, he rebukes the perverse voices of the Jews, and confessed his sin to the words of him who was crucified at the same time, that he might appear more righteous. For he bore witness that Christ was entirely blameless, and was an accuser of the madness of those who crucified Him; for this reason he snatched the lot of the saints, the registration above and in the heavens. For seeing Him crucified, he called Him King; while He was in ignominy and passion, he expected Him to come in glory, which is befitting to God; he snatched hold of the faith, although C he was not nobly nurtured.
XXVII, 45. Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.
Darkness occurred over all the earth from the sixth hour until the ninth hour, the sun failing, that they might see that He is the very One who was lifted up upon the wood, who also took up the armed creation for them when He fought against the Egyptians. But on their account the light of the sun failed; and throughout their whole region darkness was established, as the sun drew back its ray, and as it were not enduring to send it down D to those who had already become the killers of the Lord. And in another way, we say that the region of the Jews, or those who inhabit it, was darkened, because it did not receive the Sun of Righteousness and the true light.
XXVII, 50. Jesus, however, again crying out with a loud voice, yielded up the spirit.
A great and extraordinary thing was accomplished through Christ for our souls. For since we have been justified through faith in God, and in Him human nature has been found enriched with the voiding of sin, He has bestowed upon us a new benefit, that our souls, liberated from their bodies, may no longer run to Hades, as they did formerly, but rather be sent into the hands of the living God. And knowing this, the holy Stephen said: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit 70." And another of the Apostles also writes, that those who suffer according to the will of God should entrust their souls to a faithful Creator.
A XXVII, 41. *And behold, the veil of the temple was rent in two.* The rending and tearing apart of the veil was a signal that was not obscure; it was as if the temple itself were mourning, and as if those who had crucified the Lord of the temple were being brought down to destruction and ruin; or, perhaps, it was that the event itself reproved them for their impiety against Christ, in accordance with their own custom. For it was the custom among the Jews to tear their garments whenever God was blasphemed. Yet it seems that the event also intimates to us something else that is necessary for our edification. For the veil, which hid within it the Holy of Holies, was rent at that moment when it was necessary for the shadow of the Law to be withdrawn, for the ritual in types to cease, and for the Holy of Holies to be opened to those who have been justified through faith in Christ; God Himself, in a manner of speaking, showing it to those who are worthy, so that henceforth, with nothing to prevent them, those who follow in the footsteps of Christ may run to the inner tabernacle. B The earth shook, signaling a transformation for the better, or perhaps even manifesting indignation against those who had acted insolently against Christ; and the splitting of the rocks was a sign that the stony heart of the Gentiles was opened for the reception of the divine and evangelical seed. And the saints who arose and appeared to many did not receive the grace of the resurrection prematurely for themselves alone, but they were established as a sign that death had been overcome by the death of Christ. I believe the Law also looked toward this, commanding that one who had fled because of an involuntary murder should return to his country after the death of the high priest; for the death of Christ has restored the return to the heavenly Jerusalem to us who were guilty. C The crowds, too, who were present for the spectacle, returned beating their breasts, perhaps liberating themselves from the impiety against Christ, insofar as they cried out against the crucifiers, though not openly, due to the wickedness of the leaders. Such was the power of Him who was fixed to the cross that, after such drunkenness and mockery, even the centurion and the people were pricked in their hearts; and some say that this centurion later underwent martyrdom, standing manfully in the faith. For the Lord was truthful when He said, *And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself.* For behold, being lifted up on the precious cross, He began to catch many in a net unto the knowledge of the truth. He drew, therefore, the centurion, and He also drew certain of the Jews, who were beating their breasts, being altogether pricked in their hearts and, in a manner of speaking, looking unto the Lord with the eyes of their mind. D XXVIII, 7. *And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead; and behold, He goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see Him; lo, I have told you.* Since the Lord, for our sake, endured what He did upon the cross, and gave His own flesh as a ransom for the life of all,
He was in the sepulcher, as one who is "free among the dead who has no helper," according to that which is sung in the Psalms. The women ran, bringing those things which pertain to the duty of the body, and were full of spices. For they thought that He would lie there just like others, and remain dead in the sepulcher. And do not marvel if the women were ignorant that He, being God and Life, would dissolve the power of corruption and would run back again to life, when even to the apostles themselves the speech concerning His resurrection seemed to be mere nonsense and a fabricated thing, because they themselves did not understand the divinely inspired Scripture. Therefore, the women went to the tomb out of love for Him; but not finding the body of Christ there, they see a holy angel. And indeed, he became to them a messenger and herald of the resurrection. For "Do not seek," he says, "Him who is always living and is life by nature, among the dead; for He is not here," that is, in death and the tomb, "but He has arisen," having become a way of return to incorruption, not so much for Himself as for us. For this reason He emptied Himself into abasement and underwent our likeness, "that by the grace of God," as the blessed Paul says, "He might taste death for everyone," B and that this might become the death of death and a dissolution of the curse once brought upon the first-formed man. For the Lord has prepared us to enter into such a hope, saying: "Amen I say to you, he who believes in me, even if he shall die, he shall live." For one must know that as the angels announced the birth to the shepherds in Bethlehem, so now the rational powers proclaim the resurrection. Therefore, heaven has ministered to the preachings concerning Him, and the hosts of the spirits above attend the Son, as the Ruler and Lord of all, even when He became flesh, that is, became man.
"And as they were going to tell His disciples, and behold, Jesus met them, saying: 'Hail.' And they coming up held His feet and worshipped Him."
The female gender has gained both a dissolution of reproach and a reversal of the curse. For He who formerly said to them: "In pain you shall bring forth children," gave them rest by meeting them in the garden and saying: "Hail." C With overflowing joy the women, having run to Him, received Him, and through touch, both an argument and proof of the resurrection, and they worshipped Him. What then does He himself say? "Do not fear," again He Himself casts out fear, paving the way for faith, and through the women He announces the good news to the disciples. As I have often said, He honors with great honor the gender that was most dishonored, and nurtures it with good hopes, and heals what had labored. D
OTHER FRAGMENTS
From the Commentary of Saint Cyril, Archbishop of Alexandria, on the Gospel according to Matthew
AThrough all these things, he pointed to the turning toward wickedness of those from Israel, and because, having rendered themselves unworthy of the mercy from above, they failed to obtain the assistance of the Savior. By the "dew" in this passage, he means nothing other than the Spirit, or rather the life-giving energy of the Spirit, which, being poured forth through Christ upon bodies already corrupted, both expels the destructive corruption and prepares life to be introduced in its place.
It is not place or distance that keeps us from intimacy and close communion with God, but rather the love of pleasure and the impurity of worldly error. If, therefore, this intervening obstacle is removed, nothing will further prevent us from being joined to the God who loves virtue.
For [the Jewish people] was not able to perceive the mystery concerning Christ, although his divine light was already rising—the light, I say, of Christ. Yet this was granted to the nations B, even though they possessed much impiety; for they worshipped the creature rather than the Creator.
The chief fruit of true repentance is rightly the faith in Christ before all else, and the newness of the evangelical life, which, having cast off the coarseness of the letter, offers a simple and purified worship in the spirit.
It is true, therefore, to think that God no longer seeks from us primarily the types, but rather the thing signified by them, that is, the power of worship in the spirit.
For that fierce and proud Jerusalem is truly to be detested, for it drove away the Leader and dispenser of salvation and life by its extreme madness and incredible daring, and forced him, even against his will, if I may so speak, to shift to other regions. C
*Cyril, Book IX on the Gospel of Matthew.*
Not that he lost the human form of his body, but because he surrounded it with shining glory, and clothed the indecorous condition of the flesh in honorable beauty, as Paul excellently said: "It is sown in dishonor, it rises in glory." But what is the body? It is clearly naked flesh, which is surrounded by no natural glory, but rather labors only under ignominy and the infirmity of nature. Nevertheless, in the resurrection, a change worthy of God shall occur—namely, to a robe of divine and shining glory. D "For the just shall shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father," as our Savior himself says, with the glory, clearly, proper to the divine substance.
The Same Cyril in Book XIII.
For through his resurrection from the dead, human nature once again was made capable of incorruptibility; a thing which began in Christ, who for that reason is called the second Adam, the first of those who have fallen asleep, and the firstborn from the dead.
113 The Same Cyril in the same book.
Our Savior was sorrowful and grieving, and he endured our passions, even though, being God, he was free from and exalted above all sorrow, so that we might recognize the true humanity in him. For it is written that he was wearied by his journey, although he is the Lord of hosts and has power over all things. Similarly, he is said to have hungered, he who is yet the living bread that descends from heaven and gives life to the world. So too he suffered sadness, he who is otherwise wholly occupied in joy, sweetness, and gladness. Assuredly we declare that the Word of God is impassible, inviolable, and clearly God, and has never experienced passions in his own divine nature. But because those things which are proper to humanity became common to him, in turn those things which are proper to the Word of God, and which befit him alone, became common to the flesh, on account of the ineffable and inexplicable union. And when the Word descended from heaven, he does not say that his flesh descended from heaven with him: "For no one ascends into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man." After these things, he also offered himself to punishment, so that he might free us from the penalty and from sins; for "By his stripes we are healed."
OF SAINT CYRIL, ARCHBISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA, EXPLANATION OF THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE
A 114-115 CHAPTER I. *Who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word.*
When the evangelist says that the apostles were witnesses of the hypostatic and living Word, he is in agreement with John, who says that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and that His glory was seen, the glory as of the Only-Begotten from the Father. For through the flesh the Word became visible, it being visible and tangible and solid; for in Himself He was impervious to visual power. And again John says in his Epistle: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, and our hands have touched concerning the Word of life, and the life was manifested.” Do you not hear that he calls the life tangible? This is so that you may understand that the Son has made Himself man, and is visible indeed according to the flesh, but invisible according to His divinity.
V. 32. *He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest.*
For the Son, having shone forth from the Father, is rightly understood to be endowed with equal glory and to be in every respect equal to Him who begat Him. For He did not, when He was made man by a dispensational act, become in any way inferior to Him; nor did His nature suffer anything when He began to dwell among us for our sake; for the Word of God is by nature immutable. For this reason, He is proclaimed as God and Highest and Lord by the voice of the angels.
C V. 37. *For with God no word shall be impossible.*
Some again raise the question whether the universal God
A can make things that have already come to pass and been done, never to have happened; according to that saying: "No word shall be impossible for Him." For it is not of that which has not happened that we speak, but that the thing which has happened should be deemed not to have occurred from the beginning; for instance, whether He can make a harlot a virgin from her mother's womb, so that she neither ever was, nor is called, a harlot, because things impossible with men are possible with God. To these we respond that the power of God must be sought from us in a way that is great and worthy of wonder, so that the thing to be accomplished by Him is not inconsistent with the divine majesty. For just because He can do all things, it does not therefore follow that He should be regarded as the author of absurdities. For we judge it to be absurd to say: "Can God make Himself not to be God, or capable of sin, or not good, or life, or just?" One must, therefore, guard with all strength against such absurd questions. But why can God not make it so that she who has been a harlot was never a harlot? Because He cannot turn truth into falsehood. And this is not a charge of weakness, but a demonstration of a nature B that does not suffer that which is unbecoming to it; but falsehood is entirely alien to God. For it is a falsehood to make her who has played the harlot never to have played the harlot. One must, as I have said, not even entertain such simple-minded and highly absurd questions from the beginning, nor be ignorant of the divine nature, or rather, the excellent gifts of that nature.
*Blessed is the fruit of thy womb.*
Do you not hear David also chanting: "Behold, the inheritance of the Lord, children, the reward of the fruit of the womb?" For those who have been adopted as His children through faith are the inheritance of the Lord, who are also the reward of Christ, who became the fruit of the virginal womb; according to that saying: C "Ask of me, and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance."
*He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts, etc.*
By the term arm (Mary) hints at the Word born from herself. By "the proud" he means the wicked demons who fell with their own prince on account of pride; and also the wise men of the Greeks who did not accept the foolishness of the preaching, as it appeared to them; and the Jews who did not wish to believe, who were scattered, having thought unworthy thoughts concerning the Son of God; and by "the mighty" he means the scribes and the Pharisees who were chasing after the first seats. D It is, however, more fitting to understand these words concerning the wicked demons; for these the Lord, having arrived, scattered as they were acting with insolence throughout the world under heaven, and those who had been taken captive by them He transferred to His own obedience. For these things all followed the prophecy.
*He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.*
These were thinking great thoughts, who were afterwards scattered.
He brought down the demons and the devil, B and (as I have said) the wise men of the Greeks, and the Pharisees and the Scribes; but these He put down, and exalted those who humbled themselves beneath His mighty hand, having given them authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy; and He rendered ineffectual the designs fashioned against us by those who were proud in their thoughts. The Jews were once arrogant in their power; but they were brought down on account of their unbelief; while those from the Gentiles, being insignificant and lowly, were exalted through faith.
*V. 53. He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He hath sent empty away.* C
By the name of the hungry, He designates the human race. For all were truly hungering, with the sole exception of the Jews. These, you see, abounded in the legislation and the teaching of the holy prophets; for theirs was the legislation, and the adoption of sons, and the worship, and the promises. Nevertheless, these men, living luxuriously and inflated by their own dignity, because they did not approach with humility Him who became incarnate, were sent away empty, carrying nothing with them—neither faith, nor knowledge, nor any hope of good things. For they have fallen from the earthly Jerusalem, and have been alienated from the life and glory to come, since they did not receive the Author of life, but even crucified the Lord of glory, and abandoned the fountain of living water, and spurned the bread that came down from heaven. Therefore, there came upon them a famine worse than any other, and a thirst more painful than any thirst of base deceit; for it was not a famine of sensible bread, nor a thirst of water, but a famine of hearing the word of the Lord. But those from the Gentiles, who were hungering and thirsting and wasting away in their soul amid evils, because they accepted the Lord, were filled with spiritual good things; for the blessings of the Jews passed over to them.
*V. 54. He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy.* D
He hath holpen Israel—not that Israel according to the flesh, which glories in the name alone, but that Israel according to the Spirit, which preserves the power of the appellation: that is, those who look to God and believe in Him, and through Him the Son, are adopted as sons, just as the word and the promise were made to the prophets and patriarchs of old. It is possible, however, for this to apply also to Israel according to the flesh; for many myriads from among them did believe. *And He hath remembered His mercy, as He promised to Abraham.* He brought to pass as a reality the prophecy spoken to him, that *in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed*. This promise was fulfilled, as the common Savior, Christ, who is the seed of Abraham in whom the nations are blessed, was about to be born from it. *For He took hold of the seed of Abraham*, as the Apostle says, and thus He fulfilled the promise made to the fathers.
A V. 69. *He has raised up a horn of salvation for us.* The term "horn" is understood not only as power, but also as a kingdom. Both are truly Christ, who sprang for us from the family and lineage of David as Savior; for He is the King of kings and the invincible power of the Father.
V. 72. *To perform mercy.* Christ is mercy and justice. For we have obtained mercy through Him and have been justified, having washed away the stains of iniquity, through faith, evidently, in Him.
V. 73. *The oath which He swore to our father Abraham.* Cyril: Let no one, when he hears that God swore to Abraham, become accustomed to [thinking of] swearing. For just as when "wrath" is spoken of regarding God, it is not wrath, nor does it signify passion, but a punitive force or some movement of this kind; so too "an oath" is not an oath. For God does not swear, but indicates certainty that what He says will absolutely come to pass. For the oath of God is His own word, persuading those who hear, and creating faith for everyone that what He promised and said will certainly happen.
B V. 76. *And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High.* Look at this, that the Most High is Christ, of whom John ran ahead in both birth and preaching. What then will they say now, those who diminish His divinity? Why do they not wish to understand that the words, *And you will be called the prophet of the Most High*, were spoken by Zacharias just as they were by the other prophets of Him, namely of God?
V. 79. *To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death.* For the people living under the law, the Baptist was a sort of lamp in Judea, walking ahead of Christ, and regarding him God had foretold: *I have prepared a lamp for my Christ.* Moreover, a figure of him was expressed in the law, where it mandates that a burning lamp be nourished in the front part of the tabernacle. However, the Jews, having been delighted by him for a short time, while they flocked to his baptism and admired his way of life, soon cast him into death, all but extinguishing that lamp of perpetual splendor. On account of this, Christ also said concerning him: *He was the burning and shining lamp; and you were willing to rejoice for a little while in his light.*
V. 79. *To guide our feet into the way of peace.* For the world was wandering while the creature offered to the creature the worship due to the Creator; it was darkened by the shadows of ignorance, and night, as it were, falling upon the minds of all, did not allow them to behold the Creator who is by nature and truly God. But the Lord of all rose up for those from Israel like light and the sun. D
CAP. II.
V. 1. *Factum est autem diebus illis, etc.* The Evangelist has usefully—nay, necessarily—indicated the time of our Savior’s birth. For that we might learn that there was no longer a king of the family of David among the Israelites, but that their princes had failed, he rightly mentions the edicts of Caesar, as one who held Judea, along with the other nations, under his scepter; for thus he had commanded the census to be made.
V. 4. *Eo quod esset de domo et familia Davidis.* A The book of the holy Gospels, tracing the series of the lineage to Joseph, who had obtained his descent from the family of David, demonstrates at the same time that the Virgin also was of the tribe of David, just as he was, because the divine law commanded that marriages should be contracted within the same tribe. Moreover, the interpreter of heavenly dogmas, the great apostle Paul, openly declares the truth, testifying that the Lord sprang from Judah. B Yet, differing natures came together to form a true unity, and there is one God and Son from both; not that the diversity of the natures was destroyed by reason of the union, for it was rather an union of two natures that took place. Therefore, we confess one Christ, one Son, one Lord. And because of this opinion of an unconfused union, we proclaim the holy Virgin to be the Theotokos, because the Word of God was made flesh and became man, and from the very conception joined to Himself the temple taken from the Virgin. C For we perceive that two natures were joined together by an indivisible union, without confusion and inseparably. For the flesh is flesh, and not deity, even though it has become the flesh of God; and in like manner, the Word is God, and not flesh, even though for the sake of the mystery of the dispensation He made that flesh His own. And although the natures which converged to form the unity (of Christ) are both different and unequal, yet there is one, and only one, from both; and it is not permitted to divide our one Lord Jesus Christ into man separately and into God separately, but we say that one and the same is Christ Jesus, knowing the difference of the natures, and keeping them D without any mutual confusion.
V. 5. *Cum Maria desponsata sibi uxore prægnante.* The holy Evangelist says that Mary was betrothed to Joseph, to show that the conception occurred while the betrothal alone remained, and that the birth of Emmanuel was wondrous and outside the laws of human nature. For the Virgin did not bring forth the child by receiving human seed. What, then, is the account of the matter? The beginning of all
A things is Christ, the second Adam according to the Scriptures, who was begotten by the Holy Spirit so that He might transmit grace unto us also. For we were destined to be no longer children of men, but rather children of God, having obtained regeneration through the Spirit in Christ, who is the first, so that He Himself might have pre-eminence in all things, as the all-wise Paul says. Most providently, the time of the census sent the holy Virgin to Bethlehem, so that we might see another prophecy fulfilled; for it is written, as we have said: "And thou, Bethlehem, house of Ephrath, art little to be among the thousands of Judah; out of thee shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel."
— (B But to those who say that if the Virgin brought forth in the flesh, she suffered corruption, or if she did not suffer corruption, she brought forth only in appearance, we say: The Prophet says that [the Lord God of Israel] entered and went forth, and yet the gate remained shut. And if the Word became flesh without confusion, then, since He was conceived without seed, He was surely born without corruption.)
And she brought forth her firstborn Son. Who, then, is the firstborn? He calls Him firstborn, A not as the first among brothers, but as both first and unique. For there is also such a kind of meaning in the term "firstborn," since Scripture sometimes calls the only one "first," as in: "I am God the first, and besides Me there is no other." In order, therefore, to show that the Virgin did not give birth to a mere man, He added "firstborn." For remaining a virgin, she had no other son, but only the Son of the Father; concerning whom God and Father cries out through the voice of David: "And I will appoint Him firstborn, high above the kings of the earth." The all-wise Paul also mentions this, saying: "And when He bringeth the firstborn into the world, He saith: And let all the angels of God worship Him."
B But then how did He enter into the world? For He exists outside of it, not locally but rather naturally; for He is different in nature from everything contained in the whole world. He entered into it by becoming man, and began to be a part of it through the incarnation; for although He was uniquely the Only-begotten in His divinity, since He became our brother, for this very reason He was also named "firstborn," so that having become the firstfruits of the adoption of men, He might prepare us also to become children of God.
([E] So, consider that "firstborn" is spoken concerning the dispensation; for according to His divinity He is Only-begotten. Again, He is Only-begotten in that He is the Word from the Father, having no brothers by nature, nor is He counted with anyone else; for the Son of God is one and alone consubstantial with the Father. But C He is called firstborn...
A because of His B condescension toward created things. For when He is called Only-Begotten, he is designated thus absolutely, without any extraneous cause being intermingled by which He is the Only-Begotten, but rather it is said of Him simply and without qualification, that He is the Only-Begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father. But when the divine Scriptures call Him firstborn, they immediately add whose firstborn He is, and the cause for which He possesses this title as well. For they say He is "the firstborn among many brethren," and "the firstborn from the dead": the former, insofar as He was made like unto us in all things, sin excepted; the latter, insofar as He was the first to raise His own flesh to immortality. Furthermore, He exists as Only-Begotten by nature, as being alone God from God from the Father, alone from Alone, God shining forth from God, and Light from Light; but He is called firstborn for our sake, so that, because He is called the firstborn of those who have been made, whatever is of the same condition as He might be saved through Him. For if it is absolutely necessary that He be the firstborn, then those of whom He is the firstborn must also remain. But if, as Eunomius would have it, He is called the firstborn from God as if He were the first-begotten among many, and He is likewise the firstborn of the Virgin: then He would be from her also as the first before another. Since, however, He came forth from Mary as firstborn, in reality alone, and not as being prior to others, then He likewise proceeded from God as firstborn, not as the first among many, but as the only one truly begotten. Moreover, if preceding things are rightly called the cause of subsequent things, and God and the Son of God existed first, then the Son is the cause of those who are called sons, because they began to receive the name from Him. Therefore, He who is the cause of the subsequent sons would justly be called firstborn, not because He is first in order of birth among them, but because He was the cause for them to obtain the title of sons. And just as, because the Father is called first, according to the saying, "I, He says, am the first, and I am the last," we are not in the least compelled thereby to believe Him to be akin to those who come after Him; so even if the Son is called first among created things, or "firstborn before all creation," He will not in any way be one of the things that have been made. But just as the Father, in order to show Himself the principle of all things, said, "I am the first," so also the Son is called first in created things: for through Him all things have been made, and He Himself is the principle of all creatures, as Maker and Creator.
V. 7. And He laid Him in a manger.
He found man made like a beast of burden. Therefore, Jesus was placed as fodder in a manger, so that we, forsaking a beast-like life, might return to an intellect worthy of man; and that we, who have been of a feral heart, coming to this table of His manger, might no longer find hay, but the bread from heaven, the life-giving Body. D
A *And there were shepherds in the same region, keeping watch.*
B The mystery celebrated by the angels is revealed first to the shepherds, who held the figure of those who would shepherd the churches; for it was necessary that they be the first to hear: "On earth peace," because spiritual shepherds were to announce peace to all the fullness of the Church. Moreover, the person of the shepherds, and the joy that came to them through the revelation, signify clearly that the Good Shepherd has come to the wandering sheep; for nothing is known to delight shepherds so much as the finding of a lost animal—the finding of which no one could accomplish save the Prince of shepherds, Christ. Then, since Bethlehem is interpreted as the "house of bread," where were the shepherds to be gathered after the proclamation of the Gospel, if not in the spiritual house of the heavenly bread, that is, the Church, in which is mystically sacrificed every day He who descended from heaven as bread, and who gives life to the world?
C Shepherds were the first-fruits of the initiated; and again the type looks toward the truth. For Christ manifests Himself to the spiritual shepherds, so that these in turn might announce Him to others, just as, indeed, those shepherds of old were taught by the holy angels and, having run, announced the matter to others. The angels, therefore, are the ones who begin the preaching concerning Him; and they glorify as God Him who was wondrously born in the flesh from a woman. For the Lord of all things was God in our form, so that He might annul the curse upon the first woman; for it had been said to her: "In sorrow you shall bring forth children." For as they were bringing forth into death, they possessed the sting of sorrow; but since a woman has given birth in the flesh to Emmanuel, who is Life, the power of the curse has been undone, and together with death, the labor of giving birth in sorrow has also passed away for mothers on earth. Do you wish to learn another cause for this matter? Remember the most wise Paul writing concerning Christ: "For what was impossible to the law, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh, that the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to the spirit." What then is meant by saying the Son was sent in the likeness of sinful flesh? The law of sin lies hidden in the members of our flesh, and the perverse movement of the innate desires. But the Word of God, having become man, possessed flesh that was holy and truly most pure; and He was in the likeness of our flesh, yet not according to it. For He was entirely alien to the defilements inherent in our body, and to the movement and proclivity that carries us toward illicit things. Furthermore,
A this was the cause for which the Savior willed to be incarnate.
V. 7. And he wrapped him in swaddling clothes.
When you see an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes, do not fix your mind solely upon His birth according to the flesh, but rather ascend to the contemplation of His God-befitting majesty. Ascend into heaven; for in this way you will behold Him in the heights above, surrounded by exceeding glory. You will see Him, I say, sitting upon a throne high and lifted up; you will hear the Seraphim celebrating Him with hymns, saying that heaven and earth are full of His glory. And this took place on earth as well; for the glory of the Lord shone round about the shepherds, and a multitude of the heavenly host were praising Christ. For very many holy prophets were born through the ages, yet not one of them was ever glorified by the voice of angels; for they were men, and within our own measure, faithful servants of God. But Christ is not so; for He is God and Lord and the Sender of the holy prophets, and as the Psalmist says, "Who in the clouds shall be compared to the Lord, and who shall be likened to the Lord among the sons of God?" (Ps. LXXXVIII, 7). For to us, who are under a yoke and in servile condition, the title of sons has been attributed by Him; but Christ is the truth of the matter itself, namely, the natural Son of God the Father, even when He became flesh; for He remained what He was, even after He assumed what He was not. But that I speak the truth, the prophet Isaiah will again bear witness, saying: "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat: before he knows the evil, he will choose the good. For surely before the child knows good or evil, he refuses evil to choose the good" (Isa. VII, 14 seq.). But how is it not evident to all that a newborn and tender child, who by reason of the shortness of time and age is inept at understanding anything, is utterly unable to distinguish good from evil? For such a one is ignorant of everything. But in Christ, the Savior of all, there was a great and immense miracle. For He ate, as a child still does, butter and honey. By "butter," the prophet calls the virginal milk, because it had not been produced from feminine softness and pleasure and laxity, but was rather concrete and solid, and having no bitterness of sin, but rather the sweetness of honey; seeing that whatever is of God is sweeter than honey and the honeycomb.
B Christ having been born, the power of the devil was immediately spoiled. And he was indeed worshipped in Damascus, and had many there who adored him; but at the time when the holy Virgin gave birth, the forces of his tyranny were broken. Therefore, the Gentiles were drawn to the knowledge of the truth. It is the custom of the divinely inspired C D
Scripture to call the God of all by various names, and as if from things occurring in their own times, sometimes to devise names. This is observed even in the case of Christ himself; for he is the true God. This might be demonstrated by the words: "Make haste to take the spoils, hasten the prey" (Isa. VIII, 3). For his beginning was the cross, through which he reigned over all that is under heaven; if it is true that he became obedient to the Father even unto the death of the cross. B Observe, beloved, and understand that those who have been sanctified through faith have not passed over into the customs of the Gentiles, but rather those who were called have approached their customs. For carnivorous beasts are the wolf, the lion, the bear, and the panther, but those animals which are tame, such as kids, lambs, and calves, feed on grass. But, he says, the wild beasts will graze with the tame, and will eat their food. Therefore, those that are tame have by no means gone over to the customs of the wild ones; rather, the latter have, as I said, moved over to the ways of the former. They were changed, then, from a savage disposition to a gentleness suited to the saints; they have been transformed through Christ, and those who were wolves have become lambs: for he himself tamed them, and joined, as I said, the two peoples into a God-beloved frame of mind. This is what the hierophant Moses also proclaimed long ago, saying: "Rejoice, O nations, with his people, and let all the angels of God worship him" (Deut. XXXII, 43).
C For because God was ineffably incarnate, he alone knew what is good, and was devoid of the wickedness that is in men, which is indeed the property of the substance that is exalted above all things; for what is naturally, firmly, and immutably good, fits it alone and uniquely. "For there is no one good but one, that is, God," according to the voice of the Savior himself (Marc. X, 18). Do not, therefore, look at him simply as an infant lying in a manger, but rather as God, rich in our poverty, and for this reason praised by the holy angels themselves; of which kind that hymn was: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men" (Luc. II, 14). For the angels and all the highest powers, keeping the order assigned to them, D also maintain peace with God; they do not in any way depart from what seems good to him, but remain in stability through justice and holiness. But we, wretched as we are, having set our own desires against the Lord's commandments, have turned out like enemies before him. Nevertheless, that matter was destroyed through Christ, who is our peace, and has joined us through himself to God and the Father, taking away the sin that caused the enmity, justifying by faith, and calling near those who were far off; and in another way, creating the two peoples into one new man, making peace, and reconciling both of them in one body to the Father (Ephes. II, 15). For it pleased
A God and the Father to sum up all things in Him, to join together those things above with those below, and to make one flock, both of those in heaven and those on earth; Christ, therefore, has become our peace and good will.
V. 10. *And the angel said to them,* etc.
We must believe that this was an archangel, the herald of joy to the shepherds, who descended with his host from heaven to convey the happy news of human salvation; yet he spoke to the shepherds alone, as the host led by him did not appear to their eyes, because of the invisibility of the angelic nature.
*And when the days of their purification were fulfilled according to the law of Moses.* B
Now, therefore, we have recognized him, through what has just been read, as obedient to the laws of Moses; or rather, as the Legislator Himself and God, insofar as He is man, submissive to His own decrees. And the reason for the matter will teach us, as the wisest Paul says: "When we were children, we were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law" (Galat. IV, 3-5). Christ, therefore, redeemed from the curse of the law those who were under the law, but not those who had observed it. C But how did He redeem them? By fulfilling it Himself. Or, to speak a little differently, in order to resolve the crime of Adam's transgression, He offered Himself to God the Father as obedient and submissive for us in every regard. For it is written: "As by the disobedience of one man many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous" (Rom. V, 19). He submitted His neck to the law just as we did, doing this as well with prudent counsel; for it was fitting for Him to fulfill all righteousness. When the eighth day arrived, on which it was customary D for circumcision in the flesh to be performed according to the pleasure of the law, He is circumcised, He who gave the law to Moses, and before him to Abraham. He also receives the name, Jesus, which is interpreted as "Salvation of the people." For thus did God the Father will His Son to be named, born carnally of a woman. For He became then the salvation of the people, not of one only, but of all nations and of the whole earth. At the same time, therefore, the circumcision was being performed, and He was receiving His name.
B But what is the mystery here? Let us look again. The blessed Paul said: "Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing." Did God, the Lord of all, command through the all-wise Moses that a thing which is nothing be observed, and inflict punishment upon those who transgress it? I say indeed: as far as the nature of the thing itself is concerned, it is entirely nothing; but it travails with a type of a mystery. For on the eighth day Christ rose again from the dead, and He has given to us circumcision in the Spirit. For He commanded the holy apostles: "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." And we say that the circumcision in the Spirit is performed most especially at the time of holy baptism, when Christ also reveals us to be partakers of the Holy Spirit.
And of this, in turn, that ancient Joshua, who led the people after Moses, was a type; for he first led the sons of Israel across the Jordan; then, having sat down, he immediately circumcised them with knives of stone. C Therefore, when we cross the Jordan, then Christ circumcises us with the power of the Holy Spirit—not cleansing the flesh, but rather washing away the defilement in our souls. Christ is circumcised on the eighth day, and, as I said, He receives His name. For then, indeed just then, were we saved by Him and through Him: "In whom," says Paul, "you were circumcised with a circumcision not made by hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you also have been raised." Therefore His death took place for our sake, and the resurrection and the circumcision. For He died so that we, who have died together with Him, He having once died unto sin, might no longer live unto sin. Wherefore it is said: "If we have died together with Him, we shall also live together with Him." And He is said to have died unto sin, not because He sinned ("For He did not commit sin, nor was guile found in His mouth"), but because of my sin. D Just as, therefore, we died together with Him as He was dying, so also shall we rise together with Him.
Again, since the Son desired to dwell with us, although He was God by nature and Lord of all, because of this He did not disdain our condition, but submitted Himself with us to the same law, although He was himself the Lawgiver as God. He is circumcised on the eighth day with the Jews, that He might confirm the kinship of the race, so that they might not later wish to deny Him. For Christ was expected from the seed of David; and He showed the proof of that kinship. For if, even when He was circumcised, they would say, "We do not know where this man is from," if He had not been circumcised in the flesh and kept the law, He would have had...
A a reasonable excuse for their denial; yet after He was circumcised, circumcision ceased, since that which was signified by it, that is to say, Baptism, was introduced to us; for this reason we are no longer circumcised. For it seems to me that circumcision accomplished three things: first, that by some sign and seal it distinguished the descendants of Abraham from the other nations; second, that it foreshadowed in itself the grace and power of divine baptism; for just as he who was circumcised was of old co-opted into the people of God by that seal, so the one who is baptized, having received Christ in himself as a seal, is enrolled into the adoption of God. And third, it was a symbol of the faithful who are established in grace, insofar as they cut off and mortify the uprisings of carnal pleasures and passions by the cutting word of faith and by ascetic labors, not cutting the body, but purifying the heart, and being circumcised in spirit, not in the letter: whose praise, divine Paul testifies, does not need human judgment, but relies upon heavenly approval. B
When, therefore, the law had been issued against every woman who had brought forth a male or female, and it made an altogether universal declaration, the holy Virgin, from whom we say Christ was born in the flesh, was nonetheless free from all disgrace. Consider, if you please, the precise tenor of the law. "A woman," it says, and not just anyone indiscriminately, "but whoever conceives by seed and bears a male, shall be unclean." But here we speak of the divine body formed of the Holy Spirit, ineffably fashioned in the holy Virgin, and disregarding the laws of nature. For the first-born of the saints, the beginning of those who obtain regeneration from God through the Spirit, C was in no way in need of the seminal operation; concerning whom it is said clearly: "Who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." Therefore, the holy Virgin escaped the condemnation from the law, having in no way been inseminated, but by the operation through the Spirit having brought forth the divine infant for us.
After the circumcision, He again awaits the time of purification. And when the days were fulfilled (and the fulfillment of the days was the fortieth), then He is led up to Jerusalem, and is brought into the sight of the Father, as a man like us, He who sits with Him as God the Word, who was also inscribed among the first-born through the shadow of the law. For even before the incarnation of the Word, the first-born who were offered to Him according to the prescription of the law were devoted and consecrated to God. D O great mystery of the dispensation! O depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! He who is in the bosom of the Father, to whom all things stand in subjection as to a master, who is honored by all with sacred worship, when He happened in the
A measures of humanity, offers a sacrifice to His own Begetter. O wondrous act! He observed the types of the Law, He who is the Truth. For what reason, I ask? Because He was the Lawgiver as God, and subject to the law as man. But what did He offer? As a firstborn and male, a pair of turtledoves, and two young pigeons, according to what was proclaimed to the Law. But what is intended to be signified by these things? The turtle-dove is the most vocal among birds, while the pigeon is a gentle and mild animal. And such did the Maker and Lord of all things show Himself to be toward us, possessing extreme gentleness, yet soothing the world with His song like a turtle-dove, and filling His own vineyard with His melody, that is, us who have believed in Him. It is written, therefore, in the Song of Songs, that «The voice of the turtle-dove is heard in our land, the vines are in blossom.» For Christ has spoken to us the divine and evangelical message, the salvation of the whole world. The turtle-dove and pigeon were indeed sacrificed, so that again He might signify to us through types that He was to endure death in the flesh for the life of the world. For He is Himself the most tuneful turtle-dove, He Himself the guileless pigeon. B Therefore, Christ offered Himself at one and the same time along with the types, as the truth, into an odor of sweetness, that He might bring us through Himself to God and Father, and thus dissolve the turning away from Him that had happened to us, both because of the transgression in Adam, and the sin that tyrannized over us all, and thus make us worthy of the Father’s regard. For we were the ones who long ago cried out, «Look upon me, and have mercy on me,» as the Psalmist says. «For the eyes of the Lord,» he says, «are upon the righteous.» For the Lord does not look upon those bound by their sins, but upon him who is meek and quiet and trembling at His divine words; it was necessary, therefore, that we be cleansed first, and thus be deemed worthy of the vision of God. And we have gained this through the Savior of all, Christ, being born of a woman and becoming subject to the law.
But we must inquire first, about whom is written that concerning their purification; C second, about the presenting of Him to the Lord; and third, what is signified by the pair of turtle-doves and the two young pigeons. For if anyone thinks that that which concerns their purification is said regarding the holy Theotokos, or regarding the blessed Joseph, or regarding the Lord Himself, he will be impious. For neither did Joseph know the holy Virgin, nor did she conceive in sins, as other women do, so as to offer for their own purification; but she conceived without seed, and gave birth without corruption. Where there is no union of woman and man, D nor
A sleep nor pleasure, what need is there of purification? But neither was this said of the Lord, who is immaculate and exceeds every purity.
V. 24. *And that they might offer a sacrifice*, etc.
He paid the didrachma to the tax collectors, although he did not owe it, because he was in truth the Son; yet he paid it, since he had become subject to the law. For it was necessary, indeed it was necessary, to fulfill the economy which he had undertaken for our sake. And we shall find him, in the very payment of the didrachma, depicted as Savior and Redeemer. For the didrachma B was a type of coin bearing a royal image, which was paid according to the law for two heads. Observe, then, Christ again typified in the didrachma. For he himself, being the image of the Father, the stamp of his substance, the coin from heaven, offered himself as the ransom for the two peoples—I mean for those from the Jews and for those from the Gentiles.
V. 28. *And he took him into his arms.*
Christ was carried to the temple while he was still a small infant, yet suckling, and he offered what had been ordered by the law: a pair of turtledoves and two young pigeons. Now these were a type of temperance and gentleness. Moreover, they indicated the difference between two kinds of life, of both of which God is the legislator: namely, of marriage and of celibacy. You might say that those who are unencumbered and more spiritual, and who have chosen the solitary life, are the doves; while those who apply themselves C to the begetting of children and to other ordinary affairs are the turtledoves. But the blessed Simeon, adorned with prophetic grace, receives him into his arms, and being filled with the highest joy, blesses God, saying: *Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, O Lord.* From what, I ask, do you dismiss him? From the worldly arena; for this life is a prison, and liberation from this prison. Now, he who is to give peace to the world has come: he who joins heaven to earth, or rather, he who transforms the earth into heaven through his evangelical doctrine. *Because my eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples.* For the mystery of Christ had been prepared even before the foundation of the world; D but it was manifested in the last times of the age. And he became light to those in darkness and to those who were wandering and had fallen under the devil's hand. For they were called by God the Father to the knowledge of his Son, who is the true light; and furthermore, for the glory of Israel. For even if some of them were insolent and disobedient and had minds filled with foolishness, yet the remnant was saved, and glorified through Christ. But the first fruits of these were the holy disciples, whose splendor of glory illuminates the whole world. In another way also Christ is the glory of Israel, because from it, according to the flesh...
he came forth, although He was God over all and before the ages.
A *Behold this one is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel.*
V. 34. *Behold, this one is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel.* B Emmanuel was set by God the Father as a foundation of Sion, being a chosen, precious, cornerstone. And indeed those who believed in Him were not put to shame; but the unbelievers, and those who could not see the mystery hidden in Him, were broken by falling. For God and Father says somewhere again: "Behold, I place in Sion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and he who believes in Him shall not be put to shame; but upon whomever He falls, He will shatter him." But the prophet made the Israelites secure, saying: "Honor the Lord Himself, and He shall be your fear; and if you have trusted in Him, He will be to you for sanctification, and you will not meet Him as a stone of stumbling, nor as a rock of falling." Since Israel did not honor Emmanuel, who is Lord and God, nor did it wish to trust in Him, stumbling as if against a stone because of its unbelief, it fell and was shattered; but many rose up, that is, those who accepted faith in Him. Or, as the most wise Paul writes: "To the Jews indeed the cross is a stumbling block, but to the Gentiles foolishness." And again: "The word of the cross is to those who are perishing indeed foolishness; but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God unto salvation." For this reason the Lord is a sign that is spoken against. C
*And a sword will pass through your own soul also.*
V. 35. *And a sword will pass through your own soul.* To explain the matter briefly, by the "sword" we say is denoted here, as by a kind of blade, the temptation, or rather the very passion brought upon Emmanuel by the madness of the Jews. And thus the righteous Simeon seems to understand and speak. For the sword, as it were, was piercing the holy Virgin, as she saw Him crucified whom she had borne in the flesh. Something similar is also said by Zechariah: "Sword, awake against my shepherd," D that is, let the saving passion at last be accomplished, and let the time of the manifestation of good things arrive.
*And the child grew, etc.*
V. 40. *Puer autem crescebat*, etc. When it is said that the child was growing and being strengthened in spirit, filled with wisdom, and adorned by the grace of God, it must be believed that these things are said concerning His human nature. But do you observe with me the depth of the dispensation. He endures human birth, although by nature and time He is divinely...
A without beginning and timeless; He who is perfect as God, grows in the body; and the Incorporeal, in the robustness of limbs. He is filled with wisdom, being Himself all wisdom. And what do we say to this? Observe through these things Him who was in the form of the Father, made like unto us; the Rich in poverty; the Exalted in humility; He who is full divinely, nevertheless said to receive. To such a degree did God the Word empty Himself. For the things written concerning Him according to His humanity manifest the mode of the emptying. For it was not possible for the Word begotten of God the Father to undergo anything of this sort in His own nature; but when He became flesh, that is, a man like us, then He is born of a woman according to the flesh, and is said to endure human things. For although, being God the Word, He was able to bring His own flesh forth from the womb immediately to the measure of a perfect man, yet that thing would not have been far from a miracle. For this reason, He granted to the customs and laws of humanity to hold sway even over His own flesh. Thus also He might be said to advance in wisdom, not by receiving an addition of wisdom—in that He is understood to be God, perfect in all things, and entirely in need of no divinely befitting virtues—but because God the Word, along with the age of the body, gradually extended the manifestation of His wisdom. B Indeed, the body grows in age, but the soul in wisdom: for the Deity admits of no increase: for God the Word was in every respect most perfect. Fittingly, therefore, He coupled the increase of wisdom with the increase of the body; for according to the measure of the bodily age, the divine nature made manifest its own wisdom.
V. 42. *And when He was twelve years old, they ascending to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast day.*
The evangelist, who said that Jesus advanced in wisdom and grace before God and men, shows his statement to be true. For he brings Him to Jerusalem with the holy Virgin, the feast-time calling Him there; then he says that He remained there, and was found after these things sitting in the temple among the doctors, questioning and answering in turn the things which were formerly prescribed in the law; and finally, he says that all were astonished at His questions and answers. You see how He advanced in wisdom and grace, namely, because He became known to many as being such.
V. 48. *Thy father and I sought Thee sorrowing.*
Indeed, His mother knew that He was not the son of Joseph; C nevertheless, to avoid the suspicions of the Jews, she speaks thus. But since she had said, "Thy father," (for she knew indeed that He was not the son of Joseph, but she says this because of the suspicion of the Jews, and since she had said that "Thy
and I were seeking you in sorrow," the Savior replies to this: "Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?"
A Here, then, He makes mention of the truly [heavenly] Father more clearly for the first time, and unveils His own divinity. For since the holy Virgin said, "Son, why have you done this to us?" B then indeed, showing Himself to be beyond human measures, and teaching that she who gave birth to the flesh was a minister of the dispensation, but that He was by nature and in truth God, and the Son of the Father who is in heaven, He says: "Did you not know," etc. Here let those who follow Valentinus, hearing that it was God’s temple, and that Christ is now in His own, who also was formerly described through the Law, and fashioned as if in shadows and types, be shamed, saying that neither the Creator, nor the God of the Law, nor the God of the temple, is the Father of Christ.
"And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and men."
C The evangelist John says: "And we beheld his glory, glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." If, then, He is full of grace and truth, how will that which is full increase? Or what addition at all will it receive, beyond which there is nothing? Therefore, it is not said that He increased in so far as He is the Word and God, but that He appeared more graceful to those who saw Him, being more greatly admired at all times through His works: the capacity for wonders in the minds of the beholders increasing, if one may speak more truly, rather than the Christ Himself increasing in grace, who was perfect as God. Observe, moreover, that that which increases in any respect is distinct from that thing in which it is said to increase. If, therefore, He is said to increase in wisdom, it was not wisdom itself that increased, but the human nature in Him that had an increase of wisdom. D For as the divinity was being revealed and made manifest in Him day by day, He became always more wonderful to those who saw Him. And observe that he did not say, the Word increased, but Jesus, so that you might not conceive of the Word alone; but because He became flesh, He is said to increase, since He assumed that which is capable of increase, namely, the human [nature]. It would therefore be the property of the humanity, and the term "increased" would be reasonably applied to it. For thus each of the things said will be placed in its proper order, with neither those things which are fitting for the Word alone being dragged down to the human, nor those which are human being raised up to the concept of the divinity.
CHAPTER III.
V. 4. *As it is written in the book of the words of Isaias the prophet.*
The blessed prophet Isaias A did not fail to perceive the scope of John’s preaching; but, bearing witness from on high and long before this time, he called Christ Lord and God, while he named John His minister and servant. And he called him a lamp, having gone before the True Light; the morning star, a herald of the sun, signaling the arrival of the day that was about to shine upon us; and that he was a voice, not the Word, running before Jesus, just as in reality a voice runs before a word.
*Prepare ye the ways of the Lord, make straight his paths.*
John was chosen for the apostolate, and was the last of the holy prophets. B Therefore, as if the Lord were not yet present, he says: "Prepare the ways of the Lord," that is, prepare yourselves to receive whatever it shall seem good for Christ to ordain. Turn your hearts away from the shadow of the law; abandon the types; cease thinking distorted thoughts. Yet, at the same time, he also points to Him as present, saying: "Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world."
But what is the meaning of "make straight the paths of our God"? That path is straight, smooth, and easy which leads toward the good; but the other is distorted, that is, the one which drags those who travel upon it toward wickedness. For it is written concerning such: "Whose ways are perverse, and their paths crooked." C Therefore, the straightness of the mind is as a straight path, having nothing distorted. Such was the divine Psalmist, as he sang, saying: "A perverted heart hath not cleaved to me." Jesus, son of Nave, also said to the people: "Direct your hearts to the God of Israel." John, however, says: "Make straight your paths." Now this consists in the state of the soul being straight, so that it manifests its natural intellect just as it was created. For it was created beautiful and exceedingly straight. But when one perverts its own nature, this is called the wickedness and distortion of the soul. D The matter is not very difficult, for if we remain as we were created, we are in the midst of virtue.
But as if someone were protesting and saying: "How shall we prepare the way of the Lord? How shall we make His paths straight?" For there are many obstacles appearing to those who wish to live well, to wit, Satan, the hater of virtue, the impious crowd of evil spirits, the very law of sin which resists the mind that is striving toward the good in the members of the flesh; furthermore, many other disturbances hold sway over human thought; what then are we to do?
A given that such great difficulty exists? To these things, the word of prophecy comes to meet us, saying: "Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways into smooth ways; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God." For there are indeed some thoroughfares or paths that are not at all passable, but so rough that they sometimes leap up into mountains and hills, and at other times decline downward and are carried into precipices. Such ways as these, being in heights and depths, are extremely difficult to traverse. But if, by some means, the high and steep places were to be leveled, and those in the hollows and depths to be filled in, then the crooked would be made into a straight path, and the rough and rugged ways that were once like ravines would become smooth plains and, as it were, a level road.
This has come to pass in an intelligible sense through the power of our Savior. For formerly, the way of the evangelical life and conduct was difficult to traverse because the minds of all were occupied by worldly desires; but since God over all, having become man, has destroyed sin in the flesh, all things have become smooth and easy to travel. No height or depth encounters those who wish to excel, but all that is crooked has been transformed into a straight path. For He himself has revealed to us a smooth and most easy way to piety, having nothing steep or hollow and low, by which it had once been rough and difficult to traverse. For all that was crooked has become straight, as the prophet Isaiah himself says elsewhere: "The way of the pious has become straight, and the way of the righteous is prepared." For the crowd of demons has been driven from our midst; and the devil himself has been defeated along with them; the law of sin, too, has been mortified, and our Savior heals all our infirmities.
B "And all flesh shall see the salvation of God." Clearly, all flesh has seen the Salvation of God, that is, of the Father; for He has sent to us the Son as Savior. By "flesh" in these contexts, one must understand the whole human being, and one must mean the entire human race. "And all flesh shall see the salvation of God"; no longer Israel alone, but all flesh. For the Savior and Lord of all does not possess a limited kindness, nor did He save merely one nation, but He brought the whole world under His own sway and enlightened those who were in darkness. And this, indeed, was what was celebrated by the lyre of the Psalmist: "All the nations, as many as you have made, will come and will worship before you, O Lord." The remnant from Israel, too, has been saved together with them, just as the great Moses also proclaimed this long ago, saying: "Rejoice, O nations, with his people."
"The Baptist therefore said to the crowds coming out, etc." C Now, the blessed D Baptist, being indeed filled with the Holy Spirit...
A did not fail to know the audacity of the Jews against Christ. For he foresaw that they would also disbelieve him, and, moving their venomous tongue, would cast insults upon him. Looking therefore to those things, he rebukes them because, although they possessed the Law that speaks of the mystery of Christ, and the prophecies of the prophets that point toward this, they have become dull of hearing, and sluggish toward faith in Christ, the Savior of all. "For who has shown you to flee from the wrath to come?" Is it not the divinely inspired Scripture, which says that those who believe in Christ are blessed, while those who are unbelieving and unlearned are heralds proclaiming that they will be subject to hard and inescapable punishments?
V. 8. Bear therefore fruits worthy of repentance.
The primary fruit of repentance is faith in Christ; in addition to this, also the evangelical way of life; and generally all works of righteousness that are contrary to sin, which the penitent ought to bring forth, as is fitting for their repentance. He adds also: "And do not begin to say within yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father'; for I say to you that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham." B Do you see how most sagaciously he lowers their foolish arrogance, and shows that being born from Abraham according to the flesh is useless for their salvation? For what does nobility of the flesh profit those who have it, if they do not come forth through similar pursuits and follow in the virtue of those who begat them? "For if you were children of Abraham," the Savior said to them, "you would do the works of Abraham." God seeks a kinship in character and conduct. It is foolish, therefore, to boast of holy and good ancestors while remaining far from their virtue. But if these things are so, says the Jew, how is the seed of Abraham still being multiplied? How will God's promise to him remain, which says that his seed will be multiplied like the stars of heaven? But this, O Jew, we say is being brought to pass through the calling of the nations. For it was said to Abraham: "In Isaac shall your seed be called," and, "I have made you the father of many nations." For the phrasing "in Isaac" denotes the promise. Therefore, he has been made the father of many nations, namely, of those who believe in Christ. Concerning these, God said somewhere through the voice of Ezekiel: "And I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh, and I will give them a heart of flesh, that they may know me, and that I am the Lord." C But in order that the blessed Baptist might benefit his hearers all the more, he adds something else:
V. 9. For already the axe is laid to the root of the trees.
By the axe in this passage, he designates the most sharp wrath which God the Father brought upon the Jews on account of their impiety against Christ. For to them, like a two-edged blade, the wrath was brought down. And this, for us, Zechariah D
the prophet made manifest, saying: "There shall be a wailing of Jerusalem like the wailing of a pomegranate-tree being cut down in the plain." A And Jeremiah also said, as if addressing her: "The Lord called thy name a fair, well-shadowing olive tree; at the sound of its circumcision a fire has been kindled upon it; great is the tribulation upon thee; its branches have become useless, and the Lord of hosts who planted thee hath spoken evil against thee." You would do well to take for this also the parable about the fig tree in the Gospels. Thus, as a fruitless and no longer noble plant, it was cut down by God; yet he says the axe was not set *in* the root, but *at* the root, that is, near the root. For the branches were cut off, but the plant was not uprooted from its base. For the remnant of Israel has been saved, and it has not perished root and all. B
And the multitudes asked him.
The blessed Luke introduced three orders of men questioning John: the multitudes, the tax collectors, and thirdly, the soldiers. Just as a wise physician brings to every disease a congruent and likely remedy, so also the Baptist offered useful and appropriate counsel to the men of each profession: indeed, he bids the populace coming to repentance to foster mutual charity; he forbids the tax collectors from practicing unjust exactions; and finally, he most aptly exhorts the soldiers not to harass anyone, but to be content with their pay. C
And as the people were in expectation, and all men were musing in their hearts of John, etc.
So admirable and great was the son of Zechariah that the Jewish crowds suspected that he might perhaps be that Christ whom the shadow of the Law had delineated and the holy prophets had foreannounced. Since, therefore, some had arrived at this suspicion, he himself cuts it off, yielding as a servant to the Lordly dignity. For men are at an immense distance from God. And we shall find the holy Baptist saying these very things in the evangelical history of John, where he says thus: "Ye yourselves bear me witness that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him."
And John answered unto them all, saying: I indeed baptize you with water, etc. D
Having therefore declared that he was himself not the Christ, he proceeds next to offer arguments from which it is possible to learn that an immense distance appears between God and men, between a servant and the Lord, between one who precedes as a servant and one who shines forth with God-befitting majesty; for although the blessed Baptist was so great in virtue, he says he is not worthy, so to speak, even to touch his shoes. Then he brings forth another argument: "I indeed baptize you with water, but he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire."
A For it is the property and work of that substance alone which is superior to all things to be able to send the Holy Spirit upon some, and to make those who approach it partakers of the divine substance. Moreover, this power dwells in Christ, not because he received it from elsewhere or participated in it, but because it is his by his very nature and substantially. For he baptizes in the Holy Spirit. Therefore, he is God, and the Word made flesh is the fruit of the substance of God the Father; and he continued to do this even after he became man, since he is one Son with a flesh united to him ineffably and incomprehensibly. And indeed, when the blessed Baptist had said beforehand, "I am not worthy to loosen the thong of his sandals" (for this is what they are accustomed to call the extremity of the sandal, which ends in a point; for the barbarians are accustomed to use such), he immediately added: "He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire," clearly possessing both feet and sandals. For no one of sound mind would say that the Word, not yet incarnate and not yet dwelling among us, had feet and sandals. But because, when the Word became man, he did not lose his own deity, therefore he wrought at that time also those things worthy of God, bestowing the Spirit on those who believe in him. For the same one was at once both God and man.
C But someone will say: No, rather the Word performed divine works through the man born of the lineage of David. Yet against you who say these things we will oppose the words of John, who somewhere says to the Jews: "There comes after me a man who was made before me, because he was prior to me; and I did not know him. But he who sent me to baptize with water, he said to me, 'Upon whom you shall see the Spirit descending and remaining upon him, this is he who baptizes in the Holy Spirit'; and I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God." Behold, he manifests that the man whom he mentioned was made before him, and that he exists prior to himself, clearly pre-existing divinely, according to what was clearly said by him to the Jewish crowds: "Amen I say unto you, before Abraham was made, I am." Moreover, he says presently that the Spirit descended upon him from heaven. Do they perchance say that the Holy Spirit descended upon the Word of God as still simple and incorporeal, and do they assert that the giver of the Holy Spirit partakes of his own Spirit? Or do they rather assert that he, having received the Holy Spirit in human fashion, baptized divinely in the Holy Spirit; and that he is the one and only and truly Son of God and the Father, as the blessed Baptist himself has testified? D It should also be stated thus: Perhaps the blessed Baptist coupled the mention of fire with the term Spirit, not to affirm that we are all to be baptized with fire by Christ, but to signify through the term fire the life-giving operation of the Spirit. For according to the different operation upon the subject matter, the one Spirit takes on different appellations.
A Behold, the blessed Baptist says, that the threshing floor differs by belonging to Christ, as though it were the Lord—for this is what "his" signifies. Thus he purges it, separating and distinguishing the chaff from the wheat. He says that he will appear as a dispenser and a sort of sign-proclaimer of what is fitting for each one: so that the just and good man, like wheat, may be brought into the heavenly storehouses, while the unjust man, having been shaken off like chaff, is made fodder for fire. For the wheat, he says, is brought into the storehouse, that is, it is accounted worthy of the security afforded by God, and of His care, guarding, and love; but the chaff, as useless matter, is consumed by fire.
B Hear what God also says through Jeremiah, making a comparison between prophets and false prophets: "What is the chaff to the wheat?"—that is, what is levity compared to the truth? For the word that comes from God possesses a most nourishing power; but the word of the empty false teachers, being most fragile and chaff-like, causes no benefit to those who listen.
"And it came to pass, when all the people were baptized, and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, that the heaven was opened."
C Jesus is baptized, blessing the waters and purifying them for our sake. For the Only-begotten Word of God is the Holy of Holies; and He Himself had no need of holy baptism, nor of obtaining the remission of sins, as we gain from Him—for we have all received from His fullness. The Holy Spirit indeed proceeds from God the Father; but He is also the property of the Son. For He is very often called the Spirit of Christ, being the Spirit who proceeds from God the Father. Paul will be a witness, saying at one time: "But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His." And again: "And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out: Abba, Father." Therefore, the Holy Spirit proceeds, as I said, from God the Father, but the Only-begotten Word of God, who is by nature and truly the Son and who flourishes with the dignities of the Father, supplies Him to the D creation and gives Him to the worthy. And so He was saying: "All things that the Father has are mine." Why then
A one might ask, was He baptized, and why did He receive the Spirit? We say, therefore, that the Lord did not stand in need of holy baptism, but that out of His love for mankind He devised for us a way of salvation. For believing in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and making this excellent confession before many witnesses, we both wash away every stain of sin and become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and partakers of the divine nature, and we gain the grace of adoption. It was necessary, therefore, that the Word of the Father, after He had emptied Himself and had not disdained to put on our likeness, should become for us a pattern and a path for every good work. That we might learn, therefore, the very power of holy baptism, and how much we gain by approaching such grace, He Himself begins the work, and when baptized, He prays, in order that you, beloved, might learn that for those who have once been deemed worthy of holy baptism, unceasing prayer is a most fitting thing.
The evangelist says that the heavens were opened, to signify that they had previously been closed. For Christ said: B "From now on you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man." For since one flock had now been revealed, both the upper and the lower, and one chief shepherd had been pointed out for all, heaven was opened, and the man upon earth was joined with the holy angels. And the Spirit descended again, as at the beginning of a second creation of our race, and as in the first Christ, economically receiving Him not so much for Himself, but for us; for we have become rich in all things in Him and through Him. Most economically, therefore, He endures with us human conditions. For where shall we see Him emptied, although He possesses the fullness of deity? How would He have been poor with us, unless He conformed Himself to our poverty? C The voice of God the Father was uttered over Christ at the time of holy baptism, as if through Him and in Him He were accepting the man upon earth; He said, I say: "This is my beloved Son." For the true Son by nature and only-begotten, when He became as we are, is marked out as the Son of God, not receiving this for Himself (for He was and is, as I said, true God), but that He might transmit the glory to us. For He became our beginning, and firstborn, and second Adam; for this reason it is said that all things have been made new in Him. And stripping off the oldness that was in Adam, we have acquired the newness that is in Christ.
V. 22. The Holy Spirit descended. If the Holy Spirit is received at the time of baptism, this also, beyond the other things, will pertain to the condition of human nature. For He is not sanctified as God, when He receives the Spirit (for He Himself is the one who sanctifies), but as He is by nature man. And Jesus Himself was about thirty years old, beginning. D This is the madness of the Samosatene, [(E f. 167, F f. 797)] who poorly interprets the evangelical statement, that Jesus was about thirty years of
age, and does not understand that He was, and He began, but not in the same way. For He was always as God, but He began as man, when He took on our poverty; and He begins so that you might abolish your former birth and receive a second one through regeneration. A — Great is the damage and unexpected the harm that occurs from keeping the grace of baptism for a long and undue delay. For, in the first place, hope is never secure that anyone will attain the end of his proposed intention. And then, even if by chance he achieves his goal at the end of his life, he is indeed sanctified, but he receives only the remission of his sins, and he carries back the talent to the Master fruitless, having been idle and having done nothing with it. B
CHAPTER IV.
V. 1. Jesus, however, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan. C
Observe with me here human nature, as in the first fruits in Christ, anointed by the grace of the Holy Spirit, and crowned with heavenly honors. For of old, the God of all promised, saying that it would come to pass "In those days, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh." And that which was promised has been fulfilled in us, as it was first in Christ. And concerning those of ancient times, who had incontinently declined toward a love of the flesh, God said somewhere: "My Spirit shall not remain in these men, because they are flesh." But since all things have become new in Christ, and we have obtained regeneration through the Spirit and water, and we act no longer as children of flesh and blood, but rather call God Father, for this reason, very rightly, as those who have been honored henceforth and have obtained the bright glory of adoption, we have become partakers of the divine nature through participation in the Holy Spirit. D Our Firstborn, since He began to exist among many brothers, having lowered Himself into self-emptying, receives the Spirit first—although He Himself is the giver of the Spirit—so that the dignity might redound to us also through Him, as well as the grace of communion with the Holy Spirit. Paul teaches us something like this, saying concerning both Him and us: "For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all from One; for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying: 'I will proclaim Your name to My brothers.'" Since, then, He is not at all ashamed to call us brothers, for the sake of...
A coming down to our likeness, He has transferred our poverty to Himself, and is sanctified with us, although He Himself sanctifies the whole creation; lest He who for the sake of the salvation and life of all did not shrink from becoming man appear to refuse the measure of humanity, having become in all respects like us, sin alone excepted.
V. 1. And He was led by the Spirit into the desert.
The word "was led" does not so much signify here "was carried away," but rather that He dwelt and lived there. For we ourselves are accustomed, when speaking of anyone living piously, to say: "Such a one conducts himself well." The Lord, therefore, was "conducting Himself" in the desert in the Spirit, that is, spiritually.
V. 2. And He ate nothing in those days.
The Lord fasted, therefore, supplying nothing at all to the need of the body for food; not because He Himself had need of fasting, but because He was proposing His own actions to us as a pattern and model, and fashioning an image of a select and admirable manner of life to be practiced by us. For whence could earthly men have learned that a life passed in deserts is useful or necessary for salvation? B They escape, as it were, from a tempest of waves, and from the vain cares of the present life, and—much like the blessed Joseph—they depart and release to the world everything that is its own. He shows, therefore, to those who have determined to live in this way, that self-restraint is necessary, of which fasting is the fruit. For thus the tempter, Satan, will be overcome. You too, therefore, must first be clothed with power from on high—that is, be made a partaker of the Holy Spirit—and then choose a manner of life rightly conducted, which is desirable and of the highest value before God. Then, inspired by spiritual fortitude, you will seek out desert places; then you will fast holily, and you will mortify your pleasures, and you will escape as a victor over C the tempting Satan. Behold, He who is the steward of the contests has become one of those contending, as God; He who crowns the heads of the saints obtains the crown. Let us look, therefore, at the artifice of the struggle and the overthrow of the devilish malice. When forty days had passed in fasting, afterward He hungered. And yet, He is the One who supplies food to those who are hungry; He Himself is, in fact, the bread that comes down from heaven, given to the world as the cause of life; He is, in short, the preserver of all things. But because it was necessary that He who had not despised our need should not depart entirely from the limits of humanity, D He allowed the nature of the flesh to seek that which is proper to it. In this way, we say that He hungered. When He had now fasted sufficiently, and had kept the flesh sound without drink or food with a power befitting God, He finally allowed it with difficulty to suffer its own proper things; for "He hungered," it says. And for what reason? That through both—being indeed simultaneously God and man—He might be recognized as one and the same; that divinely He is above us, and humanly He is our equal.
A And the devil said to him, etc. Then the tempter Satan approaches, hoping that the passion of hunger would be for him an auxiliary to his own wickedness; for he prevails over us often, by accepting the weaknesses within us as aids to his own designs, or rather, his machinations. He supposed that He would immediately leap at the desire to see bread lying nearby. Therefore he says: "If you are the Son of God, say that this stone may become bread." He approaches, indeed, as if toward an ordinary man and one of the saints; yet he was not without suspicion, wondering if perhaps he might be the Christ. By what reasoning, then, does he strive to learn this? He considered that it was an effect and work of divine power to change the nature of a natural thing into something else foreign to itself; for it is God who does and transforms these things. Therefore, he says, if this happens, he is absolutely that one who is expected to come against my dominion; but if He does not change it, I have to deal with a man, and I cast off fear, and have been delivered from the danger. For this reason Christ, as one indeed conscious of the beast's snares, neither changed the stone, nor yet said that He could not do this, or that He did not wish to; but rather, He repelled him as importunate and his matter as superfluous, saying: "Man shall not live by bread alone"—that is, if God grants strength to man, he is able not to eat, and to live as Moses and Elijah, who by the word of God lived for forty days without food. If, therefore, it is possible to live without bread, why should I make the stone bread? So He does not say, "I cannot," lest He deny His own power; nor does He say, "I can," lest that one, recognizing that He is God—to whom alone such things are possible—might depart from Him. B And consider with me the human nature in Christ, which casts off the causes of the incontinence in Adam. By eating in Adam we were conquered; through abstinence in Christ we have conquered. By earthly crops our earthly body is nourished, which seeks for its aid that which is akin to it; but the rational soul is strengthened for a good spiritual condition by the divine word. For foods from the earth nourish the body related to them; but those from above and from heaven strengthen the spirit. The nourishment of the mind is the word of God, and the spiritual bread that confirms the heart of man, as is sung in the book of the Psalms. We say that such also are the foods of the holy angels themselves. C And he showed him all the kingdoms of the inhabited world. But, O you evil-doer, and wicked, and godless one, how did you dare to show the Lord of all creation all the kingdoms, and to say: "All these things are mine; now, therefore, if you falling down will worship me, I will give them to you"? How do you promise things that are not yours? Who appointed you heir of the kingdom of God? Who gave you the earth
A or the world beneath the heavens to subject to yourself? You claim these for yourself fraudulently; render them, therefore, to the Son made man, the Lord of all. Hear what the prophet Isaiah says about you: "Was it prepared for you to reign? A deep valley, fire and sulphur and wood set in place; the wrath of the Lord is like a valley burning with sulphur." Since you have the inextinguishable flame as your lot, why do you promise the things of the King of all to Him? Did you expect to have as a worshipper the One whom all things tremble before, whom the Seraphim and all the angelic powers glorify? It is written: "You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve." B Touching upon His inmost being, as it were, He opportunely brought forth this commandment; for before His advent, he had ensnared the whole world with deceit: he was the one worshipped everywhere. But the law of God, driving him out of the empire he had occupied by fraud, commanded that one worship Him who is by nature and truly God, and to render service to Him alone.
V. 9. If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here.
The devil introduces a third temptation, that of vainglory; "Throw yourself down," he says, to give a demonstration of His divinity. But He was not led astray by his arrogance; rather, the tempter himself missed the mark again. "For it is said," Christ says, "You shall not tempt the Lord your God." C For God does not grant His aid to those who tempt Him, but to those who believe in Him. For just because God deems us worthy of His mercy, we ought not to indulge in ostentation. Furthermore, Christ never performed a miracle for those who tempted Him: "An evil generation," He used to say, "seeks a sign, and no sign shall be given to it." Let the tempter Satan hear this said to him now as well. Therefore, we have conquered in Christ; and he who once departed as victor in Adam, has now departed suffused with shame, so that we may hold him beneath our feet. For when Christ conquered, He then handed over to us the power to conquer as well, saying: "Behold, I have given you authority to trample upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy."
V. 10. For it is written: He will command His angels concerning you, to guard you.
D See how maliciously he attempts, through the use of the Scriptures, to destroy the glory of the Lord, as if He were in need of angelic assistance, and as if He were destined to stumble unless angels were at hand to help Him. Yet the statement of the psalm was not spoken regarding Christ; for the Lord does not stand in need of angels. Moreover, the pinnacle was a certain very high structure, built next to the side of the temple. Some incorrectly refer the psalm (xc, 9) to the person of the Lord, reading the verses in order, as follows: "Because You,"
A O Lord, are my hope, You have made the Most High your refuge." They say, therefore, that the Lord has the Most High as His refuge, meaning the Father who is in heaven. The cause of such an idea for them was Satan; for he himself understood the verses in this way, saying: "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: He shall give his angels charge concerning You." Being a slanderer and a deceiver, Satan applies to the person of Christ, the Savior of us all, things that were said about us. But we do not understand them in the way Satan is accustomed to understand; and if the Arians have understood them in this way, it is no wonder, for they follow their own father, who is a liar and in whom there is no truth, according to the utterance of the Savior. For if, according to them, such a thing is true, then we have placed our hope in Christ, but He Himself has the Father as His refuge; from which it follows that we have fled for refuge to one who is in need of help, and we call "Savior" one who is saved by another. These things are not so; God forbid. We say, therefore, to those who are accustomed to think in this way: You declare to us another error; you are walking outside the royal and straight path; you are falling into thorns and pits; you have fallen away from the truth. The Son is equal in all respects to the Father, the image of His substance, the Most High just as the Father is. Satan, therefore, used these verses as though he were dealing with the Savior as an ordinary man. For since he is all darkness and possesses a darkened mind, he did not understand the force of the words; namely, that the psalm was spoken in the person of any righteous man who is helped by that Most High who is the God of heaven. Moreover, he did not know that God the Word had become man, and B that He Himself was the one who was being tempted according to the dispensation. Satan, then, as I said, supposed that the words were spoken as if of an ordinary man, or indeed of one of the holy prophets; it would be absurd for us, who understand the mystery accurately, and believe that He is God and the Son of God, and that for our sake He has become man like us, to think that those verses were spoken about Him. It is not fitting, therefore, for the person of the Savior that it should be said: "You have made the Most High your refuge." For He Himself is the Most High, the refuge of all, the hope of all, the all-powerful right hand of the Father; and if anyone makes Him his refuge, evils will not approach him; for He Himself commands the angels, who are ministering spirits, so that they may guard the righteous man. For just as earthly C fathers, when they see a rough and difficult road, snatch their infants into their arms, lest the tender foot be harmed, as it is not yet able to walk through a hard path, so also the intellectual powers [do not allow] those who are not yet able to endure labors, because they are still of a childish mind, to be wearied beyond their strength, but they snatch them away from every temptation.
A *And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee.* B Having left off his dwelling in the cities, he remained in the desert places; there he fasted and was tempted by the devil; there he conquered for us; there he crushed the heads of the dragons; there, as the blessed David says, the swords of the enemy have failed forever, and the cities are destroyed, that is, those who were like towers and cities. Therefore, having overcome Satan, and having crowned in himself the nature of man with the spoils taken from him, he returned into Galilee in the power of the Spirit, using the power of working, performing very many divine signs, and providing much wonder. He performed the divine signs, not having received the grace of the Spirit from without and as a gift, as happened to the other saints, but as being rather by nature and truly the Son of God and the Father, and having as his own inheritance those things that are His. For he also said to Him, that “All things that are mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.” He is glorified, therefore, as using with his own power and energy that which is the consubstantial Spirit.
*And he came to Nazareth; and he entered into the synagogue.*
C Since it was necessary henceforth to manifest himself to the sons of Israel, and for the mystery of the incarnation to shine forth to those who did not know it, and that he had been anointed by God and the Father for the salvation of the world, he very wisely arranges this also. He bestows this benefit before others upon his own countrymen in Nazareth, among whom he had been brought up, according to the flesh, that is to say. Having then entered into the synagogue, he receives the book for reading; and having opened it, he chose a prophetic passage, which spoke the mystery concerning himself. D And it was most clearly he himself who was speaking through these words by the voice of the prophet, that he would also become man and would come to save the world. For we do not say that the Son was anointed in any other way than in that he became flesh, that is, was made a man just as we are. B For since he is at once God and man, the same one gives the Spirit divinely to the creation, and the same receives it from God the Father according to the human nature, he who sanctifies the whole creation; since he has shone forth from the holy Father, and he sends forth the Spirit which proceeds from him, both into the supernal powers as his own, and furthermore into those who have acknowledged his manifestation.
*The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; for which cause he has anointed me, he has sent me to preach the gospel to the poor, etc.*
He clearly demonstrates by these words that he accepted the humiliation of the emptying, and the very name and office of Christ for our sake. For he says: The Spirit, which is naturally in me by
reason of the identity of substance and deity, has come upon me even from without; just as it also descended at the Jordan in the form of a dove—not because it was not in me, but insofar as it anointed me. And why did he choose to be anointed? Because we had been bereft of the Spirit on account of that ancient decree: A “My Spirit shall not remain in these men, because they are flesh.” These things are spoken by the Word of God who became man; for being true God from the true God the Father, and having become man for our sake without change, he has been anointed with us with the oil of exultation, the Spirit having come upon him at the Jordan in the form of a dove. For in ancient times kings and priests were anointed symbolically, obtaining from this a certain participation in sanctification. But he, having become man for our sake, was anointed with the intellectual oil of exultation and by the very coming of the Spirit, receiving this not for himself, but for us. For since the Spirit had flown away from us and did not remain in us because we were flesh, the earth was full of mourning, as it was deprived of the participation of God. B He also proclaimed release to the captives, which he also achieved, binding the strong one who had tyrannically exercised dominion over our race, and plundering his vessels—namely, us.
A “As, however, the words ‘he hath anointed me’ B befit the humanity—for it is not the divine nature that is anointed, but that which is kindred to us—so also the words ‘hath sent me’ must be reckoned to the human condition.” C He made those who formerly had their hearts darkened by the gloom of the devil to be radiant, rising as a sort of sun of righteousness, and showing them to be sons not of night and darkness, but of light and day, according to the word of Paul. And those who were blind—for the apostate had blinded their hearts—recovered their sight and recognized the truth; and as Isaiah says, darkness D became light for them: that is, the ignorant became wise, and those who had formerly been led astray recognized the paths of righteousness. The Father also says somewhere to the Son himself: “I have given you as a covenant of the race, as a light of the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to lead the bound out of bonds, and those sitting in darkness out of the house of prison.” For the Only-Begotten arrived in this world, and to those of the race—that is, to those of the blood of Israel, for from them he appeared according to the flesh—he gave the new covenant, the one long ago foretold by the voice of the prophets. But the divine and heavenly light shone also upon the nations; and he went and preached to the spirits in Hades, and appeared to those imprisoned in the house of the prison, and released them all from bonds and necessity. How, then, would these things not contain clear proof that Christ is both God and by nature from God?
What is it, then, to send the broken away in remission? It is to order those to depart free whom Satan, whipping them, had spiritually shattered. What, again, is it to proclaim the year of the Lord
to preach the acceptable year of the Lord—that is, to announce his own advent, and that the time of the Lord, that is, of the Son, is at hand. For truly that time was acceptable in which Christ was crucified for us; for then we became acceptable to God the Father, being offered by Him. Whence He said: "When I shall be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to myself." A Behold, moreover, after three days He lived again, having trampled upon the power of death. Then He said to His disciples: "All power is given to me," and the rest. Therefore, that year was entirely acceptable in which we were received by lot into His intimacy, sin having been blotted out through holy baptism, and we became partakers of His divine nature through the participation of the Holy Spirit. Or the acceptable year is to be called that in which He manifested His glory by miracles exceeding human discourse. We have gladly received the time of salvation B given by Him, which also the most wise Paul hints at, saying: "Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation"; when the poor, who long labored under the lack of any good, without hope, without God in the world (for these were the heathens), became rich through faith in Him, and gained the divine and heavenly treasure, that is to say, the evangelical and saving doctrine; by the grace of which they have become partakers of the kingdom of heaven, companions of the saints, and heirs of things which exceed the mind and discourse. "For the eye," Scripture says, "has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it ascended into the heart of man, those things which God has prepared for C those who love Him." Or perhaps the evangelical discourse here also calls the abundant supply of Christ’s charisms granted to the poor in spirit.
But those crushed in heart He calls the weak and those having an unstable mind, who are not able to withstand the onset of the passions, but are so carried away by them that they appear as captives. To these He promises a remedy and remission. And to them, since they are blind, He also gives sight. For in reality they who worship the creature before the Creator, "and say to the wood, Thou art my father; and to the stone, Thou hast begotten me," and consequently do not recognize the natural and true God, why should they not be blind, and have a heart void of divine D and intellectual light? To these the Father sends the light of true knowledge of God. For they were called through faith, and they knew God, or rather were known by Him; and although they were children of the night and darkness, they have become children of light. For the day has shone upon them, the sun of justice has risen, and the bright morning star has ascended. Nor is there any difficulty if all these things are accommodated to the Israelites as well. For they were poor and crushed in heart, and as it were captives and darkened. For there was not on earth one who did good, not one; but all had turned aside, together they had become unprofitable.
A Yet Christ has come, and before all others, he brings the good news of the accomplishments of his own presence to those from Israel (and such, too, were the infirmities of the Gentiles), and they have been redeemed by him; for they have acquired the wisdom that comes from him, and have become prudent, and no longer foster an infirm and crushed mind, but one that is healthy and strong, and disposed toward the reception and accomplishment of every good and saving thing. For there was need of wisdom and understanding for those who had wandered, who because of much folly worshiped the creation instead of the Creator, and called wood and stones gods. But those who formerly did not know Christ, because they were walking in mist and darkness, afterward called him God.
When these things had been read to those who were gathered, he turned the eyes of all toward himself, they perhaps marveling how he knew letters, having never learned them. Since it was the custom for those of Israel to say that the prophecies concerning him had been fulfilled, either in some of those who had gloriously reigned among them, or at any rate in the holy prophets—for they understood nothing of what was rightly written about him, and walked another path, falling outside the mark—in order that they might not again say something of this sort concerning the aforementioned prophecy, he necessarily secures himself in advance, and says: B "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your ears," clearly setting himself forth in these words as the one foretold through the prophecy. C For he himself proclaimed the kingdom of heaven to those from the Gentiles; for they were poor, having nothing—no God, no law, no prophets—or, in general, lacking the spiritual wealth. He liberated those who were captives, destroying the apostate tyrant, that is, Satan. He caused the divine and intelligible light to shine upon those who had a darkened heart. He said, therefore: "I have come as light into this world." He released from the chains of sin, evidently, those who had a crushed heart; but he also indicated the life to come, and threatened the just judgment. He preached the acceptable year of the Lord, during which the preaching of the Savior took place; for I think the acceptable year is to be called his former coming, and the day of requital, the day of judgment.
And all bore witness to him, and marveled, etc. D For not understanding him to be the anointed and sent one, and the author of such marvelous deeds, they returned to their own disposition and heedlessly blurted out inept words; for though they had marveled at the words of grace that proceeded from his mouth, they nevertheless sought to depreciate them, as they said: "Is this not Joseph's son?" And why does this diminish the glory of the wonder-worker? What hinders him from being venerable and marvelous, even if he was the son of Joseph, as was supposed?
A Do you not see the signs from God, how Satan has been cast down, how the herds of demons have been defeated, and how many mortals have been delivered from various diseases? You praise the grace that is inherent in his teachings, and then you cavil in Jewish fashion because he was called the son of Joseph? O great senselessness! It is true to say of them: "Behold a foolish and senseless people; they have eyes and do not see; they have ears and do not hear."
V. 23. "You will certainly say to me this proverb, etc."
There was a common saying among the Jews, invented for the sake of wit. For some used to call out to physicians who were sick: "Physician, heal yourself." B Therefore, the Christ, putting forward this saying as a proverb to them, was saying that "You desire many signs to be done by me, especially among you, with whom I have been brought up. But I know the passion common to all and wont to befall everyone: for even things that are highly excellent are somehow always despised when they are not rare among some, but are had in abundance." This is what happens even with men: for he who is familiar and always before one's eyes is often denied the honor due to him by those who know him. He therefore rebuked them for speaking insensately: "Is not this the son of Joseph?" Nevertheless, he pursues the goal of his teaching and says: "Amen I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country."
V. 25. "Many widows were in the days of Elias, etc." C
Since, as I have already said, some of the Jews maintained that the prophecies uttered concerning him had reached their fulfillment either in the holy prophets or in some other men who were illustrious among them, he appropriately turns them away from such a suspicion, saying that Elias was sent to only one widow, and that only one leper, Naaman the Syrian, was healed by the prophet Elisseus; by these words, he signifies the Church of the Gentiles, which was to receive him, and to be cleansed of the disease of leprosy, while in the meantime the perception of Israel would grow dull.
V. 28-30. "And all in the synagogue were filled with wrath, etc." D
Because he had marked their wicked opinion, for this reason they were inflamed with wrath; and because he had said: "Today this scripture is fulfilled," which says, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me," and the rest. For they thought that he was making himself equal to the prophets, and they cast him out of the city; by this, they were defining the penalty more against themselves, and confirming what had been said by the Savior: for they themselves fell away from the city above, not having received Christ. But so that he might not only convince the impious with verbal arguments, he allowed their audacity to proceed as far as action, driven as they were by a blind impetus and an ungovernable envy. And so, having been led to the brow of the mountain, they wanted to cast him down headlong. But he, passing through
the midst of them, went his way, A being not in the least concerned about their conspiracy: not because he sought to avoid suffering—for he had come into the world for the sake of that very thing—but because he was awaiting the appropriate time. For now was the beginning of his preaching, and it would have been untimely to suffer before he had preached the word of truth. For suffering and not suffering were in his power, and he was Lord of the times and of events; this is proof that, even when he did suffer, he suffered willingly, and that he would not have suffered had he not surrendered himself.
And he went down to Capharnaum, a city of Galilee.
B Those whom words do not turn to a clear knowledge of who is by nature and in truth God and Lord, the demonstration of signs makes them docile. Usefully, therefore, or rather necessarily, he frequently adds miracles to his mystical teachings. For the inhabitants of Judea were unbelieving, and they despised the words of those calling them to salvation, especially those of Capharnaum above all others. Consequently, the Savior accused it, saying: "And you, Capharnaum, which are exalted to heaven, shall be brought down to hell." But although he knew that they were disobedient and stiff-necked, he approached them like an excellent physician to those languishing from an extreme malady, and he strove to free them from their disastrous condition. For he himself says: "They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." He taught, therefore, in the synagogues with great boldness; for this he had also foretold through the voice of Isaiah, saying: "I have not spoken in secret, nor in a dark place of the earth." Furthermore, he commanded his holy apostles to speak about him with great confidence, saying: "What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach upon the housetops." And on the Sabbath, when they were at rest, he discoursed to them. They were struck with wonder, then, at the power of the mystical teaching and the greatness of the authority; for his word was, it says, in authority, C not flattering, but urging toward salvation. For the Jews did not think that Christ was anything else than one of the saints, and that he had come into their midst in the order of a prophet. But in order that they might have a greater opinion and estimation of him, he exceeds the prophetic measure. For he never said, "Thus says the Lord," as was the custom of the prophets; but, as Lord of the law, he spoke of things which were above the law.
God said, therefore, through Isaiah: "I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the faithful mercies of David. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the nations, a prince and commander to the nations." For it was meet that Moses, being a servant, should become a minister of a shadow that was not to endure, but that the eternal One—I mean Christ—should be the herald of a perpetual and lasting D worship. And what is this everlasting covenant? The sacred decrees of him who is of the seed of David according to the flesh, Christ; which sanctify and make faithful
A beings; and the gospel word is called life, that is, life-giving. For, he says, "The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life," that is, spiritual and life-giving. But observe the precision of the prophecy. When Isaiah had spoken, as if from the person of God the Father concerning Christ, saying, "Behold, I have given him as a witness to the nations," testifying that these things are acceptable—lest anyone should suppose him to be one of the holy prophets—he should rather know, anyone at all, that he is distinguished by the glory of lordship. For God, when he appeared to us, is said to have been given not only as a witness, but indeed as a ruler and commander to the nations. The blessed prophets, and even Moses before them, keeping to a servile measure, would constantly cry out to the hearers, "Thus says the Lord," B not in the manner of those commanding, but as serving divine utterances. But our Lord Jesus Christ spoke words most worthy of God. The Jews themselves were amazed at him, because his speech carried a power of authority, and because he taught them as one having authority, and not as their Scribes. For his word did not follow the shadow of the law, but as he himself was the Lawgiver, he transformed the letter into truth, and types into spiritual manifestation; for he was a ruler, and he had the authority to command.
V. 35. And Jesus rebuked him, etc.
He rebuked the impure spirits with a power worthy of God. Lest we doubt, he produced miracles alongside his words. C We have seen Satan, that wicked one, defeated in the desert by Christ and crushed by three falls. We have seen his power broken again, and the hostile strength against us succumbing. We have seen, starting with ourselves in Christ as the first-fruits, the evil spirits rebuked. For that this also pertains to the honor of human nature, you will recognize from the very words of the Saviour. The Jews were lying against his glory, and were saying, "This man does not cast out demons, except by Beelzebul the prince of the demons." Then, after having said many necessary things against them, he finally said, "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has arrived upon you." For if, having become a man like you, he says, "I rebuke the impure spirits with a power and kingdom D worthy of God," then your own nature has been adorned with this same glory. For you are seen, through me and in me, to have attained the kingdom of God.
The evil demons were therefore being driven out, and having experienced his invincible power, and not bearing the assaults of the divinity, they were crying out tyrannically and craftily: "Leave us; what is there between us and you?" namely, why do you not allow us to hold our place, while you are destroying the error of irreligion? Then they pretend to be using flattering words, and call him the Holy One of God. For they thought
A that by such a eulogy they were making him a lover of vainglory, and were preparing him to abstain from rebuking them, as if he were giving grace in return for grace. But the crafty one will not attain his prey; for God is not mocked, and the Lord blocks their impure tongues. Then he commands them to depart from those they were possessing. But those who had become spectators of such great things were struck with amazement at the authority of his word; for he did not work his divine signs by offering up prayer, nor by ever asking from another the power to accomplish them, but, being himself the Word of God and the Father, living and active, through whom are all things and in whom are all things, it was he who was crushing Satan and blocking the profane mouth of the unclean demons.
He entered into the house of Simon.
B Consider, then, how he took lodging with one of his disciples, a man poor and obscure in his manner of life—he who for our sake endured voluntary poverty, that we might be enriched by his poverty, and that we might learn to be drawn along with the humble, and not be puffed up against those who are in need and affliction. Jesus stands by the house of Simon and finds his mother-in-law suffering from a fever; and standing over her, he rebuked the fever, and it left her. C Perhaps, then, in the words, "The fever left her," said by Matthew and Mark, there is no indication of any living creature causing this fever. But in the words, "Standing over her he rebuked the fever, and it left her," said by Luke, I do not know if we shall not be compelled to say that the rebuked creature was incapable of bearing the efficacy of him who rebuked it; for to say that an inanimate thing, lacking perception of a rebuke, is rebuked, is not reasonable. But it is no wonder if there are certain harmful powers of the human body, nor shall we entirely accuse the soul of those who suffer as if it were harmed by them. For neither, because the devil struck Job with a grievous ulcer, having received from God the power to tempt him through bodily affliction, D is Job to be blamed for this, having struggled and bravely endured the blow. It is only permitted to say, if at any time we are tempted by bodily pains, "But do not touch his soul." Thus also the Lord heals the possessed by rebuking.
He also lays his hands upon each one of the sick, and delivered them from their infirmity, showing that the holy flesh which he made his own bore the energy of the power of the Word, having implanted in it a power befitting God: that we might learn that, even though the only-begotten Word of God became as we are, none the less he is and so remains God, filling all things easily even through his own flesh; for it was through it also that he worked his miracles. And do not marvel greatly, but rather consider how fire, placed even in a bronze vessel, imparts to it the energy of its own heat. Thus also the almighty Word of God, having united to himself a temple truly ensouled and intellectual from the holy Virgin, of his own
and God-befitting power implanted its energy. And so, shaming the Jews, he says: A “If I do not do the works of my Father, do not believe me; but if I do them, even if you do not believe me, believe my works.” It is possible, therefore, to see the Truth himself bearing witness that the Only-begotten did not give his own glory as if to a man existing apart by himself and conceived as being from a woman; but, existing as the one Son, he was working the divine signs with the holy body united to him; and he is worshiped by creation as God.
And so, he entered into the house of Peter, since a woman lay on a bed, consumed by a violent fever; and although he could have said as God, “Dismiss the disease, arise,” he did not do this. Rather, showing his own flesh to be a worker of salvation—which was indeed the flesh of God—he touched her hand, and immediately, says the Scripture, the fever left her. B Let us also receive Jesus. For when he enters into us, and we hold him in mind and heart, then he will extinguish the flame of absurd pleasures; he will awaken us and render us robust, spiritually speaking, so that we may serve him, which is to say, fulfill the things that are pleasing to him.
C See again what great utility there is in touching his holy flesh; for it drives away manifold diseases and a crowd of demons, and it overturns the power of the devil, and heals so great a multitude in a single moment of time. Although he was able to perform miracles by words and a nod alone, he nonetheless laid his hands upon the sick, in order to teach us things that were necessary. For it was necessary, it was necessary for us to learn that the holy flesh, which he himself made his own, bore the energy of the power of the Word, he having implanted in it a power befitting God. Therefore, may Jesus touch us, or rather, may we touch him through the mystical blessing, so that he may likewise free us from the diseases of the soul, and from the assault and tyranny of the demons!
V. 41. *And rebuking them he did not permit them to speak.* D He did not permit the unclean demons to confess him; for it was not right that they should usurp the glory of the apostolic ministry, nor was it right that the mystery of Christ should be spoken by an unclean tongue. Wherefore, even if they say something true, let no one believe; for the light is not known through darkness. The disciple of Christ will teach this, saying: “For what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what agreement has Christ with Belial?”
CHAPTER V
V. 2. *And he saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had descended from them and were washing their nets.*
Let us admire the skill of the divine plan for ensnaring those who in turn were to ensnare the world,
I mean the holy apostles, who, skilled in fishing, became as a net for Christ; so that they, too, casting the dragnet of evangelical preaching, might bring to Him those from all over the earth. And indeed, He said somewhere through one of the holy prophets: "Behold, I am sending many fishermen, saith the Lord, and they shall fish for them; and after this I will send many hunters, and they shall hunt them." A And by the fishermen, He means the holy apostles; but by the hunters, he means those who, throughout the ages, would be the rulers and mystagogues of the holy Churches.
But do you observe with me how He not only preaches, but also performs signs, providing tokens of His own power, and by the display of miracles confirming what is said? For since He had addressed the crowds sufficiently, He turns again to His customary wonder-working, and by means of the fisherman’s craft He fishes for His disciples; so that they might know that His will possesses all-power, and that creation obeys His divine nods.
"And when He had ceased speaking, He said to Simon, 'Put out into the deep,' etc."
And thus, after His sufficient instruction, since it was also necessary to add a divine work to His words for the benefit of those watching, He commanded those with Simon to move a little way from the land, and to cast the net for a catch. And although they claimed to have labored through the whole night and caught nothing, nevertheless, in the name of Christ, they cast the net, and immediately they had it full of the catch; so that, through an evident fact, and as if by example and image of what was miraculously accomplished, they might be fully persuaded that their labor would not be without reward, nor would the zeal they would exert in spreading the net of the evangelical mystery be fruitless; but that within it, in every way and altogether, they would gather the flocks of the nations.
B But mark this: for when Simon and those with him were unable to haul in the net, and for that reason, astonished by fear, they dared not speak—for astonishment had struck them dumb—they signaled, he says, to their partners, clearly those of the fisherman's craft, so that they might assist them and help them bring the catch to safety. For many have helped and still help in the labors of the holy apostles, and before others, those who examine for us the sacred Scriptures of the holy Gospels, and after them other pastors and teachers, and leaders of peoples, and those skilled in the doctrines of the truth; for the net is still being cast, with Christ bringing it to fulfillment, and calling to repentance those who are in the depths of the sea, according to what is written, that is, those who are in worldly storms and waves. C D
A V. 8. *Quod cum vidisset Simon Petrus, etc.* Therefore, Peter too, having brought his former sins to mind, trembles and fears; and, as one who is impure, he does not dare to receive the Pure One, because of a praiseworthy fear. For he had learned, according to the Law, to distinguish between the holy and the profane.
V. 12. *Et ecce vir plenus lepra, etc.* Nevertheless, the faith of him who approached is worthy of all praise. For he has testified that Emmanuel is able to bring all things to a successful conclusion, and he asks to be relieved by divine nods, although the disease was incurable. For leprosy is not accustomed to yield to the remedies of physicians. "Yet I have seen," he says, "impure demons driven out by divine power, and other men freed from various diseases. I have understood that such things happen by some divine and invincible hand. I see, moreover, that you are good and most ready, and that you pity those who come to you. What, then, prevents me also from obtaining mercy?"
What, then, does Christ do in response to this? He confirms the faith in him, and brings about certainty in him regarding himself. For he accepts the request, and confesses that he has the power, and says: "I will; be thou made clean." He also bestows upon him the touch of his holy and most powerful hand; and immediately the leprosy departed from him, and the disease vanished.
B Do you, however, marvel with me in these things at Christ, who acts at once divinely and corporally. For it is divine to will in such a way that all things whatsoever he willed are at his disposal; but it is human to stretch out a hand. Therefore, one Christ is understood from both, inasmuch as the Word was made flesh.
V. 14. *Et ipse præcepit illi ut nemini diceret.* It would have sufficed, even had the leper been silent, for the very nature of the deed performed to manifest the power of the Healer to all who had known the leper. Yet he commands him to tell no one. Why? So that those in receipt of the grace of healings from God might learn from this not to seek applause from those who are healed, nor to crave praise from anyone, lest by chance they fall into pride, which is the most shameful of all evils.
C He wisely commands the leper to offer a gift to the priests according to the prescription of the Mosaic Law. For he indeed wished, without doubt, to remove the shadow and to transform the figures into spiritual worship; but because the Jews, not yet believing in him, were adhering to the precepts of Moses as if the old law still stood, he permits the leper to do this as a testimony unto them.
What, furthermore, is this? Since the Jews always used their obedience toward the Law as a pretext, and D would it be? They are also accustomed to have the same substance for all things that are of the same power. Marvel, however, at Christ in these things, acting divinely and corporally: for it is divine to will so that all things are at hand, but human to extend a right hand. One Christ, therefore, is perfected from both, in that the Word was made flesh.
A And what is this? Always making a pretext of their respect for the Law, and saying that Moses, the hierophant, had become the minister of the commandment from above, they sought to think little of Christ, the Savior of us all; and they would say plainly, "We know that God has spoken to Moses; but as for this man, we do not know where he is from." B It was necessary, therefore, for them to be convinced by the very deeds themselves that the measure of Moses comes behind the glory of Christ; for the one was as a faithful servant in His house, but the other as the Son, in the Father’s house. And it is possible to see, even from this healing of the leper, and very clearly, that Christ exists in incomparable superiority to the laws of Moses. For Miriam, the sister of Moses, became leprous, because she had spoken against him; and Moses was greatly stung by this; but because he was not able to remove the disease from the woman, he fell down before God, saying, "O God, I beseech you, heal her." B Pay close attention, therefore: the petition was there, and by prayer he sought to obtain the kindness from above; but the Savior of all, with authority worthy of God, said, "I will, be cleansed." Therefore, the casting off of the leprosy was a testimony to the priests, and it was possible from this for those who attributed the better portion to Moses to know that they were walking far from the truth; for it was necessary, it was necessary to admire Moses as a minister of the Law, and a servant of the grace that was spoken through angels, but to over-admire Immanuel, and to glorify Him as the true Son of God and Father.
C One might see the deep and great mystery concerning Christ, which is written for us in Leviticus; for the Law through Moses declares the leper to be contaminated, and orders him to be cast out of the camp as unclean; but when the disease happens to subside, then, indeed, it commands him to be received. Then it also explains in what way he will be pure, saying, "This is the law of the leper, on the day he is cleansed, and he shall be brought to the priest; and the priest shall go outside the camp, and the priest shall see, and behold, the plague of leprosy is healed from the leper; and the priest shall command, and they shall take for the one who has been cleansed two D living, clean birds; and the priest shall command, and they shall slaughter the one into an earthen vessel over living water; and he shall take the living bird, and shall dip it into the blood of the bird that was slaughtered over the living water, and shall sprinkle seven times upon the one who has been cleansed from the leprosy, and he shall be cleansed; and he shall send forth the living bird into the field." There were, therefore, two birds, sincere, that is to say clean, and having not even one reproach from the Law; and one remained outside the slaughter, then having been bathed in the blood of the one that had died, it was sent forth.
The type would indeed indicate to us the great and venerable mystery of our Savior; for the Word was from above, that is, from the Father and from the heavens; for this reason, He is very fittingly compared to a bird. And He descended economically, into the likeness of us, and of a servant.
A Yet even so, He was from above. Wherefore, speaking plainly to the Jews, He said: "You are from below, I am from above; I am not of this world." [John viii, 23] And again: "No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven, the Son of man." [John iii, 13] For as I said just now, having become flesh—that is, a perfect man—He was not earthly, nor made of clay as we are, but heavenly and supramundane, in as much as He is understood as God.
Yet it is possible to see in the birds B Him who suffered in the flesh according to the Scriptures, while remaining even beyond suffering; dying as to humanity, but living as to divinity, for the Word is Life. And indeed the all-wise disciple said that He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit. [1 Pet. iii, 18] But even if the Word, in His own nature, was incapable of suffering death, nevertheless He makes the suffering of His own flesh His own. For the living bird was sprinkled with the blood of the one that had been slain; and having been stained with the blood, and having all but participated in the suffering, it was sent forth into the desert. For the only-begotten Word of God returned to the heavens, with the flesh united to Him; and the spectacle in the heavens was strange. The multitude of the angels, therefore, was struck with awe, seeing in our form the King of the earth and Lord of the powers; and they even asked: "Who is this that comes from Edom?" [Isa. lxiii, 1]—that is, from the earth—"Red is his garment from Bosor," [Isa. lxiii, 1] which is interpreted as flesh, or constraint and affliction. Then they asked further: "What are these wounds in the midst of your hands?" [Zach. xiii, 6] And He said to them: C "Those with which I was struck in the house of my beloved." [Zach. xiii, 6] For just as, with the greatest economy, He showed His hands to the doubting Thomas after the resurrection from the dead, and commanded him to touch the signs of the nails and the piercings in His side, [John xx, 27] so also, having returned to heaven, He assured the holy angels that Israel had deservedly been cast out from His grace and had fallen. For this reason, He showed His garment stained with blood and the wounds in His hands—not because He could not have wiped them away (for having been raised from the dead, He had stripped off corruption, and with it whatever arises from it), but so that, according to the plan of the incarnation, the manifold wisdom of God might now be known to the principalities and powers through the Church, which He wrought in Christ.
But perhaps someone will say: D "Why then do you call one and the same Person the Son and Lord Jesus Christ, when two birds were offered? Does the law not perhaps from this indicate, not at all obscurely, that there are altogether two sons and two Christs?" Indeed, some have already fallen into such impiety as to think and say that Christ is one thing, specifically the Word from God the Father, and another thing again is He who was born from the seed of David. But we say to those who, because of their own ignorance, think that matters stand in this way—we say, I repeat, what the divine Paul writes: "One Lord, one faith, one baptism." [Eph. iv, 5] If, therefore, they say there are two sons, they altogether affirm two...
lords, two faiths, and just as many baptisms. The one who has Christ speaking within himself, as He Himself says, would therefore be teaching a falsehood; but these things are not so, God forbid! We know one Lord, that is, the only-begotten Word of God incarnate; we do not place man and God separately, but we affirm that the Word of God the Father Himself became man, while remaining God. A Since those who B hold the opposite view say: "If they say there are two sons, one specifically of the seed of David, and another again, separately, the Word of God the Father, is not the Word of God the Father better by nature than that son born of David?" But come now, what shall we do when we look at the two birds, which are not of a different nature from one another, but rather of the same species and differing from each other in nothing, at least as regards their being what they are? Therefore, let them concede, on account of the uniformity of the birds, that the Word of God differs in no way from man. But they will gain nothing; for there is a great distance between divinity and humanity. However, examples must be understood in a manner appropriate to the subject; for they are inferior to the truth, and only occasionally provide a partial demonstration of the reality they signify. We say, then, that the Law C was a shadow and a likeness, and as it were a certain painting laid out for the view of those who see the things. The shadows in the technique of painters are the first of the colors; and when the bloom of colors is applied to these, then at last the elegance of the painting will shine forth. Since, therefore, it was necessary for the Law given through Moses to delineate clearly the mystery of Christ, it signifies Him, not in one bird dying and living at the same time, lest the action appear as some sort of theatrical monstrosity; but it considered Him in one bird as though subject to death, and in the other it demonstrated the same one as living and released.
To explain the rationale of this matter in a not unlikely way, I shall try through another history. For if any one of us desired to see the history of Abraham depicted as if D upon a tablet, how would a painter have inscribed it? Would he paint him doing everything in a single action? Or gradually, and differently, that is to say, appearing in manifold ways in many places? For instance, I say: at one time mounted on the donkey, with the boy as companion and the servants following; at another time again, with the donkey remaining below with the servants, and he having laden Isaac with the wood, and holding the sword and the fire in his hands; and indeed, in another part, the same one in yet a different guise, having bound the lad upon the wood, his right hand armed with the sword, that he might strike the blow. Yet it was not one Abraham and then another, even though he is represented manifoldly in the same painting; but it was the same one everywhere, the art of the painter always accommodating itself to the needs of the events. For it was not possible that one might see Abraham at once
A doing all the things that have been mentioned. The Law was a painting and a type, subsequently bringing forth the truth in the outcome of events; so that, even if there were a pair of birds, one was nevertheless represented by them—Christ, both suffering and outside of suffering, both dying and also superior to death; finally, even ascending into heaven, an offering as it were of a second humanity renewed unto immortality. For He Himself paved for us the path to things above, and we shall follow Him in due time. At any rate, that one of the birds should be slaughtered, but the other sprinkled with the blood of the one slaughtered and escape the slaughter free, all this is to be held as a type of the true realities. For Christ died for us, and we have been baptized into His death, and He has saved us by His own blood.
V. 17. *Ipse docebat, erantque Pharisæi sedentes*, etc.
Circumstumbling him was a theater of envious men, the Scribes, that is, and the Pharisees, who had been spectators of the miracles and were listening to Him as He taught. And there was, says the Evangelist, the power of the Lord with Him to heal: was it because God had given to Him the power of miracles, or because He had borrowed that power from someone else? Truly, who would dare to say these things? For He worked rather by His own power, as being a partaker of divine grace. For men are often deemed worthy of spiritual gifts; but yet it is possible to see them sometimes powerless, as it may have pleased the Giver of divine gifts. Nevertheless, in our universal Savior there was nothing of this kind; but it was not so much a human as a divine and invincible power C that was directed toward healing. For He was God and the Son of God. Christ alone, as Teacher and as the Wisdom of the Father, teaches; for all the others teach what they receive from Him. There was, however, says the Evangelist, the power of the Lord also on Him to heal all, that is, it was not a human power of healing that He possessed, but a certain divine and invincible one. For other holy men indeed sometimes receive the ability to perform healings, and sometimes not. But Jesus, as God and being the power of the Father, always healed everyone.
V. 18. *Et ecce viri ferentes in lecto hominem paralyticum*, etc.
Then, with a not insignificant number of Scribes and Pharisees gathered around, behold men carrying on a bed a man who was paralyzed; and not being able to enter through the door, D they carried him up onto the roof, having attempted an unusual and novel deed. For having torn off the tiles, they removed the material that was between; and yet, while these things were being done, Jesus remained patient, and the bystanders were silent, wishing to see the outcome of the matter, and to see what Jesus would say or do. Having therefore opened up the roof, they let down the cot, and placed the paralytic in the midst. What then does the Lord do? Seeing their faith,
A not his, but of those who brought him—for it is possible for one to be healed through the faith of others—or perhaps He also healed the paralytic himself because he believed. Someone might say that the place was an unroofed area, into which they lowered the cot of the paralytic through the tiles without entirely tearing down the roof. The Savior said to him, "Man, your sins are forgiven you," speaking this generally to humanity; for those who were to believe in Him, having been healed of the passions of the soul, were to lay aside the sins they had previously committed. Or He means this: "It was necessary for Me to heal your soul before your body. For if this is not done, you would sin more grievously, having received the strength to walk." For even though you did not ask for this, yet I, as God, know the passions of the soul, from which the illness has also befallen you.
B Excellently, therefore, the Savior, because it was necessary, with no small multitude of Scribes and Pharisees gathered, that something most worthy of God should take place for their benefit—for they thought little of Him—it was arranged again that one of the wonders should occur. For a man, a paralytic, lay on a cot, seized by an incurable disease; and since he could not be helped by the craft of physicians, he was carried by his own people to the physician from above and from the heavens. And when he stood in the sight of Him who had the power to heal, his faith was found worthy of regard; and that He is the destroyer of sin, Christ shows immediately. For He proclaimed to the one lying there, "Your sins are forgiven you." C But, as I suppose, someone will say to this: "He wished to be delivered from the disease, and how did Christ announce to him the forgiveness of his sin?" That you may learn that God silently and without noise observes human affairs, and keeps watch over the path of each one’s life. For so it is written: "For the ways of a man are before the eyes of God, and He watches over all his paths." But because He is good, and desires all men to be saved, He often cleanses those entangled in sins, bringing infirmity upon the body. For so He says somewhere by the voice of Jeremiah: "By pain and scourge you shall be instructed, Jerusalem." And the author of Proverbs says somewhere: "My son, do not disregard the discipline of the Lord, nor grow weary when you are reproved by Him; for whom the Lord loves, He disciplines; and He scourges every son whom He receives." D Excellently, therefore, Christ promises to cut away beforehand the causes of being sick, and, so to speak, the root of the passion, which is sin; for when this is removed—on account of which the passion also exists—the disease had necessarily to be removed as well.
And the Scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, etc.
He, therefore, as it has been said, [having] a power worthy of God, [was promising] the forgiveness of sins, etc.
But this discourse once again disturbs the unteachable and envious workshop of the Pharisees; for they were saying to one another, "Who is this that speaks blasphemies?" But you would not speak these things, O Pharisee, concerning Him, if you understood the divine Scriptures, if you remembered the prophetic words, if you understood the venerable and great mystery of the Incarnation. They charge Him with the crime of blasphemy, determining for Him the ultimate penalty and condemning Him to death; for the law given through Moses ordered that he who uttered blasphemies against God should suffer death. Since, however, they have dared this once, He shows immediately that He is God, in order to convict those who are irreverently blaspheming. "For why," He says, "do you harbor evil thoughts in your hearts?" B Therefore, when you say, O Pharisee, "Who can forgive sins, but God alone?" I also say to you: "Who can know hearts and perceive the thoughts in the depths of the mind, but God alone?" For He Himself says somewhere through the voice of the prophets, "I the Lord, searching the hearts and testing the reins" (Jerem. xvii, 10). And David also says somewhere regarding both Him and us: "He who fashioned their hearts individually" (Psal. xxxii, 15). Therefore, He who knows hearts and reins as God, He also forgives sins as God. "But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority," etc. C Then, since in saying, "Your sins are forgiven you," there is often room for disbelief—for a man does not see forgiven sins with the bodily eyes—but the paralytic, having had his disease driven away, rising and walking, clearly demonstrates a power worthy of God; He adds: "Arise, take up your bed, and go to your home," which was indeed accomplished in reality; for the man, freed from so long an illness, departed to his home. It has been demonstrated, therefore, by the deed itself, that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. But of whom, then, does He say this? Is it of Himself, or also of us? Both are true. For He, as God having become man and as Lord of the Law, forgives sins; but we also have received from Him so splendid and wonderful a grace; D for He wished to adorn human nature even with this dignity. Therefore, He says to the holy apostles, "Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matth. xviii, 18). And again, "Whose sins you remit, they are remitted to them; and whose sins you retain, they are retained" (Joan. xx, 23). And when is He found saying these things to them? Truly, when, having trampled the power of death and being risen from the dead, He breathed upon them, saying, "Receive the Holy Spirit" (ibid. 22). For having shown them to be partakers of His own nature, and having caused the Holy Spirit to dwell in them, He then made them participants of His own majesty, granting them the power to...
remit or even to retain sins. A Since then we have been commanded to fulfill this very thing, how much more does He remit sins, who granted to others the power to be able to do this?
V. 27. *And He saw a publican named Levi.* For Levi was a publican, a man insatiable for gain, unbridled in his avarice, an unjust seeker of things that did not belong to him; for this is the profession of publicans. Nevertheless, he was snatched from the workshop of iniquity and saved beyond expectation when our common Savior Christ called him, who said to him, "Follow me." And he, leaving all, followed Him. Do you see how truly the most wise Paul speaks, that Christ came to save sinners? Do you see how the only-begotten Word of God, having become man, transferred the vessels of the devil to Himself? And although Levi was saved, this matter has created for us good hope. For we have been taught by the actual event that repentance saves. But the Lord and Master of all Himself will also bear witness through the voice of the prophet, saying, "Turn to me, and you shall be saved, all who are from the end of the earth." B But none of this moved the Pharisees; rather, they reproached the disciples. For hear: *And their scribes and the Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying,* etc.
V. 30. *And the Scribes of them and the Pharisees murmured, saying to his disciples, etc.*
C But there are some who strive to rob those who have entangled themselves in sins of the divine clemency; for they do not admit repentance, but in a way reproach the Savior, who seeks His own and gathers from everywhere that which is dispersed. To whom we shall speak thus: The Pharisees murmured before you, seeing Levi called, and a crowd of publicans gathered and feasting with our common Savior Christ. Then, approaching the holy apostles, they complained, saying: "Why do you eat and drink with the publicans?" But they heard: "Those who are healthy have no need of a physician." For the Savior of all, inasmuch as He is the physician of spirits, does not flee from those who seek Him; D but because He was able to cleanse them, He conversed with prudent counsel with those not yet cleansed. Now let us see, O Pharisee, the swelling of your mind. Let us hear Him who knows all things, Christ, narrate how great a crime your pride against sinners has been accounted to you. For He said concerning
the Pharisee who gloried in his prayer, and concerning the publican who accused himself: "Amen I say to you, this man went down justified into his house, more than that Pharisee." A Thus, the publican became just, having confessed his sin, more so than the arrogant Pharisee.
Wherefore, then, do the Pharisees blame the Savior for eating with sinners? Because the law commanded that a distinction be made between holy and profane, that is, that a sanctified thing should not be mixed with the polluted. They, upholding this law, were accusing Him; but in reality, their motive was envy and caviling against the Lord. He declares to them, therefore, that He is not present now as a judge, but as a physician: and He performs the office of a physician, associating with those who are in need of healing. Being repelled, therefore, from this first accusation, they intend another, complaining that the disciples do not fast, and thereby clutching at an opportunity to calumniate Jesus also. B
And you may see the persistence of their malice. After they received an answer to their first question, they pass on to another, seeking entirely for a handle by which they might accuse the holy disciples and Jesus Himself with them, as though they held the law of Moses in no account. But they hear the answer: "Now it is time for marriage, it is the time of calling, it is the time of teaching; the children are being reared, the called are being suckled; it is not the time for fasting." "And yet," they say, "you feast with publicans and sinners, even though the law forbids the clean to be mixed with the impure." And indeed, in order to transgress the law, you hold up charity toward men as a pretext. Why, then, at least do you not fast, as is the custom for pious men living according to the rule of the law? C But to these things, one might answer thus: "Do you altogether know, O Jew, the way of fasting? Have you ever fasted according to the will of God? For as the prophet Isaiah says: 'In the days of your fasts you find your own wills, and you goad all those who are under you. Even for quarrels and fights you fast, and you strike the humble with your fists; to what end do you fast to Me? I have not chosen this fast,' says the Lord." Then, how do you who do not know the way of fasting blame the holy apostles because they do not fast according to your rule? D But otherwise, those who are instructed in the new covenant in Christ fast rationally—namely, by humbling themselves before the eyes of God, and imposing upon themselves a voluntary punishment, an affliction and abstinence from food, in order that they may obtain forgiveness for their faults, or at least gain some other spiritual gift, or finally that they may mortify the law of sin which is in the members of the flesh. You do not know this way, O Pharisee: for you have not admitted the bridegroom who has come from heaven, the sower and teacher of all virtue, Christ, that is to say. Furthermore, the saints fast for this reason, that by macerating the body, they may calm the passions within it. But Christ has no need of fasting to fulfill the duties of virtue, since as God He is devoid of every passion:
A yet, neither did His companions, having partaken of the grace that comes through Him, and being strengthened, and working virtue even without fasting, have need of it. But if Christ did fast for forty days, it was not to mortify the passions in Himself, but to describe in Himself the law of continence for men. Deservedly, therefore, He defends Himself by saying those words which the evangelist now adds:
V. 34. And He said to them: Can you make the sons of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them?
B Observe for me, again, how Christ proves that they were not participants in the feast, but altogether destitute of its joy, and placed outside the oecumenical panegyris. For the manifestation of our Savior in this world was nothing other than a panegyris, which joined human nature to Him intellectually, as a sort of bride: so that she who was once barren might thenceforth become fruitful and most productive. Therefore, all those are sons of the bridechamber who have been called by Him through the new and evangelical preaching; but not also the Scribes and Pharisees, who adhere only to the shadow of the Law.
C Since, however, He had once conceded to the sons of the bridechamber that they ought not to labor, as if in a season and time of need, because they were celebrating a spiritual festival—lest fasting should appear wholly rejectable to us—He adds most prudently:
The days will come when indeed the bridegroom shall be taken away from them; then they shall fast in those days.
For all things are good in their own season. And what is it for the bridegroom to be taken away from them? Obviously, to be taken up into heaven.
D And He told them also a parable, etc.
That the ordinances given through Christ are unacceptable to those who hold to the legal conduct, and that they are in some way incomprehensible to the hearts of men who have not yet obtained the renewal through the Holy Spirit, the Lord demonstrates by saying that a piece of a garment cannot be attached to a new one, nor can old wineskins hold new wine. For the first covenant had grown old, and was not without reproach; therefore, those who sit attached to it, and have in mind the commandment that has grown old, are participants in nothing of the newness in Christ. "For all things have become new in Him." And having a mind that has grown old, they are incompatible and cannot be joined to the ministers of the New Covenant. And indeed, through one of the holy prophets, the God of all said somewhere concerning them, "A new heart and a new spirit I will give them." And David also sings: "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within my inward parts." Further, we are commanded also to put off the old man, and to put on the new, him who is renewed after the image of his Creator. Paul also urges us, saying:
A "Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God." Those, therefore, who have not yet obtained the renewal in the Spirit do not even know how to prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. The old wineskin, then, is the heart of the Jews, and it does not contain the new wine, that is, the evangelical and saving law which gladdens the heart of man. But Christ has made us to abound in such good things.
CHAPTER VI.
V. 2. *Why do you do what is not lawful to do on the Sabbaths?*
God promises to us a new covenant, as the first is growing old and is soon to pass away, according to the word of the divine Paul. And indeed, through one of the holy prophets, God had already said: "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, and I will make with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah a new covenant; not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt." If, therefore, this other covenant is different from the first, it is absolutely necessary that those who wish to follow it should no longer use the ancient laws, but rather those which are able to bring them to the newness of the evangelical life. But it is evident that the Scribes and Pharisees do not ponder anything of this kind in their minds, for they are entirely ignorant of the sacred Scriptures; their one endeavor is to always disparage the divine and heavenly proclamation. They lie in wait, therefore, for the holy apostles B who follow our Savior Christ inseparably, and say to Him regarding them: "Behold, we see those who are tutored by you acting in opposition to the precepts of the Law; for they do what is not lawful to do on the Sabbaths; since the Law commands to rest on the Sabbath and not to touch any labor at all, the disciples are crushing ears of corn with their hands." But you yourself, O Pharisee, when you set out your Sabbath table for yourself, do you not break bread? Why, therefore, do you accuse others? But that we may oppose to you the very words of the Savior, hear:
V. 3. *And Jesus answering them said: Have you not read even this, which David did?* etc.
And although David acted in this way contrary to the completely literal pleasure of the law, he is held by us in the highest esteem, and rightly and deservedly so; for he was truly a saint and a prophet. C When, therefore, the Law of Moses clearly commands to judge with righteous judgment and to have no respect of persons in judgment, why, He says, have you condemned My disciples; when, nevertheless, you respect the blessed David in the place of a saint and prophet, who D did these things contrary to what seemed good to the law, yet he is deemed worthy of all honor among us? And rightly and justly so; for he was truly a saint and a prophet. Therefore, since the Law given through Moses says clearly, "Judge righteous judgment, and you shall not respect persons in judgment," how, He says, have you condemned My disciples, while to this day you admire as a saint and prophet the blessed David…
even though he did not keep the command of Moses? A Clearly, the bread of the proposition signifies to us the heavenly bread afterward to be set before us on the holy tables of the churches. How many vessels of the table, by which the mystical service is fulfilled, would be a clear type of the divine treasures among us! B Spiritually, moreover, the twelve loaves signify the twelve apostles, of whom it will be spoken hereafter, when our discourse comes down to the disciples themselves.
And he was teaching. And there was a man there, and his right hand was withered. A He was teaching, surely, the things above the mind, and as many things as made manifest the way of salvation offered by Him to those who were hearing; thereafter, immediately following the instruction, He made a demonstration of God-befitting power, having, as it were, leveled the path to belief by His word; for a miracle sometimes converts to faith, even if perhaps a word is not believed. But the Pharisees were watching Him, whether He would heal on the Sabbath. For such is the envious man: he makes the good reputation of others food for his disease, and is wickedly incensed at the glory of others. And what, to this, does He again, who knows all things, who searches hearts and knows what is within them? “For the light is with Him,” according to that which is written. He said to the man who had his hand withered: B “Stand in the midst.” And what is the reason for this action? Perhaps that He might call unto mercy the cruel and unmerciful Pharisee; perhaps also that the poor condition of the man might move them, and persuade them to let the flames of envy be at rest.
I will ask you a question: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good, or to do evil? etc. C A most wise question, and a proposal suited to their foolishness. For if it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath, and nothing prevents God from having mercy on the sick, cease gathering pretexts for calumny against Christ, and pouring upon your own head the punishment which the Father has held in store for those who dishonor the Son. You heard Him saying concerning Him through the voice of David: “And I will strike His enemies from His face, and I will put to flight those who hate Him.” But if it is not lawful to do good on the Sabbath, and the law has forbidden the saving of a life, you have become an accuser of the Lawgiver; you have disparaged the commandment, for which the ministry through Moses is also honored. D But, He says, the God of all things did not establish the law of the Sabbath for Himself, but rather for us who have bowed our necks to Him. You speak well; I praise your words; therefore, the Divine is devoid of necessity and law. Why, then, do you accuse Christ, who wishes to have mercy and save the life of someone? Nay, if we even wish to investigate the law of the Sabbath itself, we shall find it ordained by God for the sake of mercy. For to rest on the Sabbath and
to abstain from all labor, and to grant rest even to the irrational beasts themselves, is a command: for He said, "That thy man-servant and thy maid-servant may rest, and thy ox, and thine ass, and all thy cattle" (Deut. v, 14). Since He has mercy on the ox and the other cattle, how would He not have had mercy on a man who had fallen on the Sabbath into a grievous and incurable malady? But they were filled with madness. A
V. 11. They were filled with madness. Does the miracle not suffice for thy faith? Seest thou Him acting in a manner worthy of God, and with supreme authority healing those who are in infirmities, while thou art bringing forth murder from envy and malice?
V. 12. He went out into the mountain to pray. Christ performed all things for our edification and for the profit of those who believe in Him; and by setting forth His own actions as a kind of image of the spiritual life, He desired to make us true worshippers. Let us see, therefore, as in an image and a type of the things accomplished through Christ, in what manner it befits us to perform our supplications to God. We ought to pray secretly and in hiding, and while no one is looking; for this is what the withdrawal of Jesus into the mountain and His praying as if in retirement signifies—a thing He Himself also taught us in words, saying, "But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet" (Matt. vi, 6). B For we must pray with hands lifted up in holiness and without vainglory; and just as the mind springs up as if toward some summit to the contemplation of God, it must withdraw from all tumult, and run away from worldly cares. But one must do this neither fastidiously nor with weak pusillanimity, but rather strongly and zealously, and with no common patience. For thou hast heard that Christ not only prayed, but that He passed the whole night in prayer. C
Perhaps, however, the enemy of the truth will not endure our saying these things. For he says: "Jesus prays, and asks from the Father the things which He does not have. How then do you say that He is consubstantial with the Father, and equal to Him in all things, and differing in nothing?" For it is beyond all controversy that the lesser is blessed by the greater (Hebr. vii, 7), and he who gives is altogether greater than he who asks to receive something. Come then, let these subverters of orthodoxy first instruct us: in what they think the Son is in need? And what was it that He, as if lacking it, was asking to receive? He was the true Light, Life by His own nature, and Life-giver, Lord of virtues, Wisdom and Justice, Creator and Maker of all things, superior to every creature, King of all, Steward of heaven and earth, and the Giver of every good thing together with God the Father. And thou shalt learn this from the blessed Paul, who writes to some: "Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. i, 7). D
A He sits fittingly upon the highest thrones, and is glorified by every rational creature. He is, therefore, the substantial heir of all the honors befitting God the Father. And so He said to Him: "All mine are thine, and thine, mine; and I am glorified in them" (John xvii, 10). Now, if He who possesses all things that are the Father’s as His own, what lack remains for Him? But if it is said that He lacks something in any way, and if they say this to be true, there is nothing to prevent us from saying that the Father Himself labors under the need of something. For if all things of the Son are the Father’s, yet the Son lacks something, then the Father is likewise of such a nature; for all that belongs to the Son is His. But the Father is perfect in every way and lacks none of the goods befitting God; therefore, the Son is perfect, as possessing all things of the Father, being the image and character of His substance B (Hebr. i, 3). And in the character, the prototype is entirely seen, and in the prototype, the character. And let these things be said against those.
But those also who have been swept away by the empty doctrines of Nestorius say that it is altogether inappropriate for the Son, who is God by nature, to pray; they say this is more fitting for the man conjoined to Him by conjunction, that is, for him who is of the seed of David. He, therefore, was the one who was offering up the prayer. What then shall we say to this? You have utterly ignored the mystery of the Incarnation of the Only-begotten. Remember the words of the blessed evangelist John, who says: C "And the Word was made flesh" (John i, 14). This also the all-wise Paul has made clear to us, saying about Him: "For nowhere does He take hold of angels, but He takes hold of the seed of Abraham; whence He ought to have been made like His brethren in all things, that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest toward God, to propitiate the sins of the people" (Hebr. ii, 16, 17). Since, then, He who was born divinely as the Word from God and the Father, lowered Himself unto emptying, and unto brotherhood with us, by the fact of becoming as we are, and being made like unto those on earth in all things, sin alone excepted, He is brought down to the measures of humanity. Because He has become like us, out of His very great gentleness and love for mankind, He does not disdain human things; by making His own conduct a pattern for us of the kindness that He brought to fulfilment, let us strive D to follow in His footsteps.
V. 15. "And when it was day, He called His disciples; and having chosen twelve from them, etc."
Having spent the whole night in prayer, our Lord Jesus Christ—and in an ineffable and incomprehensible way, as He alone knows, having conversed with the heavenly Father and God, as I said—sets Himself as an example to us to follow in His footsteps.
A Having held these discussions, and having presented Himself as a model to us of a life-giving way of conducting oneself—for He taught in what way it is right and blamelessly to perform prayers—He descends from the mountain and appoints the mystagogues of the world. For He says to them: "You are the light of the world." The blessed David also makes mention of this appointment of the holy apostles, as if addressing Christ: "You shall make them princes over all the earth; they shall remember Your name in every generation and generation." For indeed, while they were yet in the body, they were mindful of the glory of Christ, proclaiming His mystery to cities and regions. And after they were called to the realms above, none the less do they speak to us of Him, through the all-wise Scriptures which they composed concerning Him. And while those priests who were elected according to the Mosaic law—Aaron, clearly, and those with him—were adorned outwardly with sacred vestments, the divine disciples, B shining with spiritual gifts, were entrusted with the ministry of the evangelical oracles. For it has been said to them: "Heal the sick, cast out demons, cleanse lepers, raise the dead." And in truth, wearing the power of Christ, they struck the whole world with amazement. But observe the extreme circumspection of the evangelist. For he did not say simply that the apostles were elected, but he mentioned these first ones by name, so that no one might perchance dare to inscribe himself into the choir of the elect. For as Paul says: "No man takes the honor to himself, but he who is called by God." And indeed, though the holy apostles were called by name to this great and brilliant dignity, some have from time to time yielded to such insanity and audacity as to name themselves apostles of Christ and to seize an honor not granted to them. The divine disciples made mention of these, saying: "Such pseudo-apostles are deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And it is no wonder; for Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light: it is therefore no great thing if C">
On the election of the twelve apostles
Seek the words regarding the election of the twelve apostles in the 19th chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew, and about the middle of the 7th chapter of the present evangelist, where Christ, having taken the book of the prophet Isaiah, read. For you will find there a marvelous explanation by Saint Cyril, which he makes concerning the "proclaiming the acceptable year of the Lord"; likewise also in the 39th chapter of this same evangelist. One must know that the number of the apostles is also defined according to the pattern of the twelve oxen that supported the sea constructed by Solomon; for three multiplied by four bore the preaching of the holy Trinity, and the carrying forth of the four Gospels through them to the four ends of the earth. For indeed, by that sea, the intelligible sea of baptism is prefigured—that which cleanses the world from sins—and which was established by the spiritual Solomon. Recall what was said above in the note on the 4th chapter of Luke, verse 18.A and deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of righteousness. And no wonder, for Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. It is no great thing, therefore, if his ministers also transform themselves into apostles of righteousness. We know or will receive no one, then, except only those named in the evangelical scriptures, and that most wise Paul who was manifested after them; of whom the Savior himself bore witness, saying: "For he is a chosen vessel of mine to carry my name before all nations."
A These B (apostles) the Law prefigured, and the prophets also foretold. It is written, then, in the Mosaic book: "And you shall take fine flour, and you shall make twelve loaves of it; and you shall put them in two rows upon the pure table before the Lord; and you shall put frankincense and salt upon the row; and they shall be for loaves, as a memorial set before the Lord." For who could the Bread that descended from heaven and gives life to the world be, other than the Savior of all, Christ? And in imitation of him, the blessed disciples are also called loaves; for having become partakers of him who feeds us unto eternal life, they themselves also feed those who hunger and thirst for righteousness with their own writings. And just as the Savior, being the true light, named his disciples light—saying, "For you are the light of the world"—so also he, being the Bread of Life, granted to his own disciples to be considered in the rank of loaves. And look at the cleverness of the Law. For he says, "You shall put frankincense and salt upon the loaves." Now frankincense is a symbol of a sweet odor; but salt, of wisdom and discernment. Both of these were present in the highest degree in the holy apostles; C for their life was fragrant, and thus they used to say: "We are the fragrance of Christ to God." And besides this, they were all-wise. I hear also the prophet David singing and saying concerning them: "There is Benjamin in ecstasy; the princes of Judah their leaders, the princes of Zabulon, the princes of Nephthalim." For the blessed disciples were chosen from almost every tribe of Israel, and they were lights of the whole world, holding the word of life. And what is paradoxical is this: the wise men of the Greeks have brilliant eloquence and speak very elegantly, D but the disciples of our Savior were laborers, and sailors, and fishermen, lacking the pomp of words and any abundance of chosen expressions. But although they were unlearned in speech, they were rich in knowledge. For behold, now the letters of the Greeks are silent, and the adornment of their language has withered; but the power of the evangelical preaching prevails in the whole world. God reminds us of this matter also through the mouth of Jeremiah, speaking of the common enemy, Satan: "Woe to him who does not multiply his own, and who..."
A weighs down his yoke heavily; for suddenly those who bite him shall arise, and your plotters shall wake up, and you shall be for a plunder to them." Satan had gathered all men upon the earth and made them his own worshippers, but the net of apostolic teaching had gathered all who had been led astray and offered them to God—all those who were under heaven—as the power B of the evangelical proclamation.
V. 17. *And he stood on a level place, and a crowd of his disciples, and a great multitude of the people.*
Observe the manner of the election; for the most wise evangelist says that the deed was not done in secrecy or in hiding, but rather with many disciples gathered, and a great number of people from the whole region of Judea, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon. These were idolaters, or rather, limping on both sides; they indeed reverenced in part the rites of the Jews, yet they did not fully abandon the crime of idolatry. Therefore, the election was carried out with all these present, and holy teachers were given to the whole world: a duty they truly undertook, calling the Jews from legal worship, and the worshippers of demons from Hellenic error, to the knowledge of the truth. Having designated the holy apostles, he became the performer of very many and admirable signs, rebuking demons, freeing those who came to him from incurable diseases, and demonstrating a power most appropriate to God. C Thus those who had flocked to him—both the Jews and those from the land of the Greeks—might know that they had been honored with the dignity of the apostolate by Christ, not as by some common man among us, but rather as by God the Word incarnate, who preserved his own majesty. "For power went out from him, and healed all." For Christ did not borrow strength from another, but being himself by nature God, even if he had become flesh, he breathed his own power onto the sick and healed them all.
And if you wish also to know the interpretation of the apostolic names, know that Peter signifies "loosing" or "one who knows"; Andrew, "comely power" or "responding"; James, "supplanter of labor"; John, "grace of the Lord"; Matthew, "given"; Philip, "mouth of hands" or "mouth of the lamp"; D Bartholomew, "son suspending the waters"; Thomas, "abyss" or "twin"; James of Alphaeus, "supplantation of the walking life"; Judas, "confession"; and Simon, "obedience."
V. 20. Beati pauperes.
A Therefore, instructing His disciples in the newness of the evangelical life after their election, the Savior speaks thus. But it is necessary to know whom He designates by the term "poor." For among Matthew He says that the poor in spirit shall be blessed, and that to them belongs the kingdom of heaven; so that we may understand the poor in spirit to be one who is modest and possesses, as it were, a disciplined mind; for such a man is illustrious and worthy of God’s regard. Wherefore He also says through one of the holy prophets: "Upon whom shall I look, if not upon the humble and the quiet and him who trembles at my words?" The prophet David also says: "A contrite and humble heart God will not despise." Nay, even the Savior Himself says: "Learn from me, for I am meek and humble in heart."
However, in the reading lately set before us, He says that the poor are blessed, without that addition, "in spirit." But the evangelists speak in this way, not as contradicting one another, but often distributing the narrative between themselves. For at times they proceed together on the same points; at other times, one supplements in his own writings what was omitted by the other, so that nothing necessary or useful might be hidden from those who believe in Christ. It seems, therefore, that in this place He calls those "poor" who restrain the love of gain and are in their habits not at all avaricious. B And so, the most wise Paul appears as the instructor of the best teachings for us, saying: "Let your conduct be without avarice, being content with what is present." He added besides: "Having food and clothing, with these we shall be content." For it was necessary, entirely necessary, that those who were to preach the saving and evangelical message should have a mind free from the desire for riches, and a spirit eager for better things. Yet this discourse does not strike at all who live in abundance, but only those who have possessed themselves with a longing for money. Who, then, are these? Truly they are those to whom it was said by the voice of the Lord: "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth," etc.
V. 21. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied.
C And yet, again, in Matthew He says: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they themselves shall be satisfied," whereas here He says simply that those who hunger are blessed. We say, therefore, that it is a great and excellent thing to hunger and thirst for righteousness—that is, to desire to use works of piety as if they were food and drink; for this the word "righteousness" signifies. But since it is necessary to present also an opinion consistent with the explanations just now stated, we affirm again that those are called blessed by the Savior who follow voluntary poverty, so that they may discharge the apostolic course well and without any distraction. For to those who do not have gold or silver in their purses, nor two tunics, it plainly happens that they are...
forced to endure the greatest hardship, and can with difficulty obtain food. But this is burdensome to those in poverty and under persecution; therefore, the One who knows the heart very appropriately forbids them from being discouraged by the accidents of poverty. For those who are now hungry for the sake of piety toward Him, He says they shall be filled; that is, they shall pleasantly enjoy the goods that will be given to them, meaning, of course, things intellectual and spiritual.
B Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. He declares those blessed who weep, and says that they shall laugh. But we say "to weep" does not refer only to those who simply shed tears from their eyes; for this happens commonly to both the faithful and the unbelievers, if anything occurs that is accustomed to cause grief. Rather, we say that these words are spoken concerning those who flee a life that is joyful, vain, and given over to carnal delights. These, I say, we declare shall be happy and laugh. The Savior calls those blessed who refuse to live in luxury and indulge in carnal things, and who, as it were, weep through their hatred of the things of this world. Since He has commanded them to be poor, He crowns with rewards those things that follow upon poverty; these are: the lack of things suited for luxury, and sadness on account of affliction. For it is written that "many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord shall deliver them out of them all."
V. 22. Blessed are you, when men shall hate you, etc.
C Even now the Lord announces the persecution before He sends out the apostles. He anticipates the outcome of the Gospel; for it was necessary that they, while spreading the evangelical preaching, and while drawing the Jews away from the legal cult so that they might recognize the way of evangelical righteousness, and while ensnaring the worshippers of idols into the knowledge of the truth, would of necessity incur the offense of many who are enemies of God and impious men. For these stir up wars and D persecutions against the heralds of Jesus, pursuing after piety itself. Therefore, so that when the time comes in which these things were to be done by some, they might not fall into thoughtless dejection, He usefully forewarns them that the onset of these hardships will also be profitable to them and not without reward. For, He says, they will revile you as deceivers and impostors; they will separate you from themselves, that is, they will exclude you from their friendship and communion. But, He says, have no regard for things of this kind. For who could the intemperance of their tongues harm if the mind is firm? For to those who know how to live religiously, He says that their patience will not be fruitless, but the reconciler of supernal joy. Moreover, He aptly demonstrates that nothing new will happen to them when they suffer such things; rather, they will be imitators of those who, before them, brought to the sons of Israel the words divinely entrusted to them from above.
they were persecuted, they were sawn asunder, they died by the edge of the sword, they endured insults unjustly inflicted upon them. Therefore, He intends for them to understand that those of whom they have been imitators, they shall also be participants, and they shall not be lacking in the prophets' crowns if they have run their course by treading the path that those others trod. A
V. 24. Woe to you, rich men!
Having previously spoken of poverty for God’s sake—the cause of every good thing—and having declared that hunger and weeping will not be without reward for the saints, He transfers His discourse to matters that are the opposites of these and demonstrates that they entail punishment and vengeance. He does this so that, through the desire for crowns and the yearning for blessedness, they might be drawn toward labors and be willing to embrace poverty for the love of God, and conversely, through the fear of the impending punishment, they might shrink from being rich and from existing in luxuries and laughter—that is, in worldly delights. And He says that the former will be heirs of the kingdom of heaven, whereas the latter will be subject to extreme calamities: “For you have,” He says, “your consolation.” B One may see this as if depicted on a beautifully painted tablet in the parable concerning the rich man and Lazarus. “You received,” He says to the rich man, “your good things in your life, and Lazarus the bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are tormented.” But come, let us test this for ourselves. Is it the case that if someone is rich in the world, he has completely fallen away from the hope of receiving mercy from God? We do not say that; rather this: it was possible for the rich man to have shown mercy to Lazarus, and thus to have become a participant in that same consolation. For behold, the Savior pointed out a way of salvation to those who possess earthly riches, saying: “Make for yourselves friends by means of the mammon of unrighteousness, so that they may receive you into their own dwellings.” C
V. 27. Love your enemies.
The blessed Paul speaks truly when he says: “If any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; for all things have become new in Him and through Him, and the covenant, and the law, and the way of life.” And notice how highly appropriate this manner of living and life is for holy masters of mysteries, who were about to proclaim the saving preaching to people everywhere on earth. And from this it was to be expected that there would be not a few who would persecute them and plot against them in many ways. But if it had happened that the disciples were oppressed by such tribulations, and then had wished to avenge themselves on those who had caused them pain, they would have kept silent and passed them by, having subsequently neglected the preaching among them and not having called them to the knowledge of the truth. It was therefore necessary for the minds of the holy masters of mysteries to be checked by such hallowed forbearance, so that they might bear all things that occurred courageously, even if some insulted them and plotted impious traps against them. And indeed, Jesus Himself behaved in this way before others, D
as a model for us; for while He was still hanging from the precious Cross, and the crowd of the Jews was mocking Him, He offered prayers to God the Father for them, saying: "Forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And the blessed Stephen, although he was being struck with stones, bent his knees and prayed, saying: "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." And the divine Paul also says: "When we are reviled, we bless; when we are slandered, we entreat." Therefore, this exhortation of the holy apostles is necessary, and it is most useful even for us, for the purpose of living rightly and admirably; for it is full of every philosophy. But evil preconceptions and the unconquerable tyranny of the passions within us make it difficult for our minds to accomplish it. Therefore, knowing that the natural man does not accept these things, considering the oracles of the Spirit to be folly B and impossible to perform, He separates such people from those who are able to hear, saying: "I say to you who are listening," and who are prepared to do what is said. For excellence in spiritual courage is manifested in temptations and labors. Imitate Christ, therefore, in these things, "who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but handed Himself over to Him who judges justly." But perhaps you will say to yourself: "Christ was God, but I am a weak man, endowed with a weak mind, which is not able to master greed and grief." You say correctly, for the human mind is prone to sin. But I say this: the Lord has not abandoned you, nor does He withhold His protection and benevolence. You have Him with you, that is, within you, through the Holy Spirit; for we are His dwelling place, and He dwells in the souls of those who love Him. He strengthens you so that you may bear C the evils that happen to you bravely and resist the onset of temptations manfully: "Do not, therefore, be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good."
V. 29. "To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also."
The most wise Paul said that Christ is the end of the law and the prophets; for the law acts as a tutor towards His mystery. But as the blessed Paul says again, when faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor; for it is not that we have childish minds, but rather we have grown into a perfect man, into the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Therefore, we did not need milk any longer, but rather more solid food; this Christ grants to us, showing the way of righteousness that is above the law. For He Himself said to the holy apostles: "Amen I say to you, unless your righteousness abounds more than the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven."
A Next, it is necessary to say what this abundance of righteousness is, according to the evangelical doctrine of the Savior. The law laid down by Moses to the ancients commanded that things be handled with equal measures. For it forbade committing injury, but it did not yet command one to bear offenses patiently—which, however, the law of the Gospel desires to happen. "For you shall not kill," it says, "you shall not steal, you shall not perjure yourself." And furthermore, besides these: "An eye for an eye, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot, a wound for a wound, a bruise for a bruise." These things were said by one commanding not to injure others; or at least, if one had been injured first, not to extend one’s anger against the one who committed the offense beyond the measure of equality. But the power of a life lived according to that law was not entirely pleasing to God; rather, it served for the ancients in the manner of a pedagogue, gradually accustoming them to a commensurate righteousness and prudently leading them up to the complete attainment of the good. For it is written: "The beginning of a good way is to do just things." But all subsequent perfection is accomplished in Christ and His precepts. "For to him who strikes you," He says, "on the cheek, offer the other also." In these things, the way of ultimate patience is pointed out to us. He desires, moreover, that a man be a despiser of riches, so that, if he should happen to have only one cloak, he might not count it an unbearable thing to let go of his tunic along with it, if need be. This is a virtue of a soul entirely turned away from the passion of avarice. "For do not demand," He says, "if anyone takes something of yours; but also to everyone who asks of you, give"—which is a mark of charity and kindness toward the poor. Now, it is necessary for the merciful man to be at the same time one who forgets injuries, so that he may behave toward enemies as he does toward friends.
"As you wish that men should do to you, do you also to them likewise." B It was likely that the holy apostles might think these things perhaps difficult to perform. Therefore, He who knows all things takes the self-love within us as the arbiter and definer of those things that one would wish to obtain from others. Be yourself, He says, such to others as you would wish them to be toward you. If you wish them to be harsh, uncompassionate, bold, irascible, vengeful, and wicked, then be such yourself. But if, on the contrary, you wish them to be kind, forgetful of injuries, do not think it unbearable that you should be such yourself. And perhaps for those who are so disposed, the law is superfluous, since God writes the knowledge of His own will into our hearts. "For in those days," says the Lord, "I will give my laws into their mind, and I will write them upon their heart." C
"Be merciful, therefore." D Great is the glory of mercy. And indeed it is written: "A man is a great thing, and a merciful man is something precious." For virtue fashions us toward God, and imprints upon our souls, as it were, certain characters of the highest nature.
A
V. 37. *Judge not, and ye shall not be judged.*
He cuts off from our minds a dire passion, the beginning and cause of pride. For while some ought to be examining themselves and living according to God, they do not do this, but rather pry into the affairs of others; and if they see any who are laboring under any fault, as if forgetting their own infirmities, they seize upon it as an occasion for blaming and a subject for slander. For they condemn them, not reflecting that, since they suffer from the same infirmity as those whom they rebuke, they condemn themselves. For thus also the most wise Paul writes: "For in that you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge perform the same things." Yet rather it were fitting to have pity on the infirm, as those who have been laid low by the incursions of passions, and are inevitably entangled in the snares of sin, and to pray on their behalf, and to comfort them, and to exhort them to repent, and to take heed lest we fall into the same faults. For, "He who judges his brother," says the disciple of Christ, "slanders the law, and judges the law. But there is one B lawgiver and judge." It is necessary, therefore, that he who judges a sinful soul be superior to it. But you, while not being of this sort, why do you judge your neighbor? The one who sins will answer the one who judges him. But if you nevertheless dare to condemn, even though you have not the authority for this matter, you yourself shall be condemned the rather, because the law does not permit one to pass judgment upon others. He who is governed by a right understanding, however, does not look upon the sins of others, nor does he pry into what is wrong in his neighbor, but rather considers his own evils. Thus the blessed Psalmist conducted himself, supplicating God for his own sins and saying: "If you, O Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?" C Sometimes, too, again, putting forward the infirmity of human nature, he asked for appropriate forgiveness, saying: "Remember that we are dust."
V. 38. *Give, and it shall be given unto you.*
Following the aforementioned acts of kindness, he introduced a discourse on almsgiving. For it is an excellent thing, and most pleasing to God, and most becoming to holy souls. "Be ye therefore," says he, "merciful, as your Father is." And that we shall receive our recompense with a more generous hand from God, who abundantly bestows all things upon those who love Him, He Himself has assured us, saying: "A good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall they give into your bosom." But the latter seems in some way to contradict the former. For if we are to receive a superabundant reward, how can it be that with the same measure with which we have measured, it shall be measured back to us? D For in these words, equality rather than any redundancy of the reward to be given us seems to be signified. What then, shall we say? The most wise Paul will relieve us of all difficulty, providing an answer to the questions. For he said: "He who sows sparingly," that is, with a moderate and drawn-back hand, "shall also reap sparingly; but he who sows in blessings, in blessings..."
A shall also reap." This means that if anyone does not have the means, he does not sin by not providing this, for in as much as one has, one becomes acceptable, not in as much as one does not have. This was also prefigured by the law given through Moses. For those who were under the law used to bring to God as a sacrifice, according to their means and strength, some calves, others rams, or lambs, or turtledoves, or pigeons, or fine flour steeped in oil. Yet he who offered even this, so small and easily procured, because he did not have a calf, was equal to the rich man in terms of intention.
And he told them a parable.
B He added this most necessary parable to what had been said. The blessed disciples were about to be the initiators and teachers of those under the heavens; it was necessary, therefore, that they appear fully perfect in piety before all men, that they be known to be familiar with the way of the evangelical life, and to be craftsmen for every good work, and to impart an accurate and saving doctrine, refined for the truth, to those being instructed; for they had already looked forward, and had their minds illuminated by the divine light, so that they might not be blind leaders of the blind. For those who are held in the darkness of ignorance would not be able to lead those afflicted with the same state into the knowledge of the truth; for if they should wish to do this, both will roll into the pit of the passions. Then, abolishing the common passion of arrogance, so that they would not wish to exceed the honor of their teachers, he added: "A disciple is not above his teacher." And even if it should happen that some proceed to such a point as to acquire a virtue equal C to those who instruct them, they shall take their stand at the measure of their teachers and be their imitators; and Paul confirms this again, saying: "Be imitators of me, as I also am of Christ." Therefore, since the teacher does not yet judge, why do you yourself judge? For he did not come to judge the world, but to show mercy. According to the former sense, he says: If I, he says, do not judge, neither should you, the disciple. But if you are held by greater things than those for which you judge another, how would you not be ashamed when you come to your senses? The Lord sets this forth by another parable, saying: "Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye?"
D By manifest syllogisms he persuades us that we should abstain from wishing to judge others, and should rather examine our own hearts and strive to be freed from the passions that dwell within them, asking this of God; for He himself is the one who heals the brokenhearted and frees us from the diseases of the soul. For why, if you yourself are suffering from things even greater and more grievous than those present in others, do you neglect your own sins and censure them? Therefore, this command is necessary for the benefit of all who wish to be pious, and especially for those who have been entrusted with the task of instructing others. For if they are good and diligent, exhibiting themselves as a kind of image of the evangelical life, they will certainly [lead those who...]
do not wish to conduct themselves in like manner, will confidently rebuke others, as if they were those who do not express in their own lives the manners of their teachers, which are rooted in piety. But if they are slothful and subject to base pleasures, how can they rebuke others who are suffering from the same ailments? Therefore, the blessed disciples wisely wrote and said: “Be not many masters, my brethren, knowing that we shall receive the greater judgment,” as Christ said, the distributor of rewards and the one who inflicts punishments upon those who sin: “Whosoever shall do and teach, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven;” but he who does not but teaches, he shall be the least. For how can you, who are suffocated by many and great sins, condemn one who is guilty of a few faults? How will you say to your brother: “Let me cast out the mote out of your eye, when you yourself have a beam in your own,” B you who are burdened with great sins? For this is what the beam signifies. How, I say, do you condemn him who has sinned only in trivial matters, or perhaps not at all?
V. 42. Cast out first the beam out of your own eye.
This is to say: show yourself to be clear of great sins, and then at last you will give counsel to him who has sinned in small things. And so, he who is wise is his own teacher, and will not condemn another. This is also what the law given through Moses commands, saying: “Take heed to yourself,” it says, “and not to another.” And the expression “Take heed” is used instead of “look well to your own affairs.” C But, O Lord, one might say, I suppose, how then shall we distinguish between him who has a beam in his own eye and yet rebukes those who have a mote and are only partially infirm? There is no difficulty in this, He says; for it is set before those who wish to see it easily. Therefore, the life of each individual will be the indicator of his own ways; for the beauty of a truly good life is not characterized by outward adornment and feigned gentleness, but is demonstrated by the works that each one performs. Christ said this again elsewhere: “Beware of those who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” Behold, D Christ commands again that they are to be recognized not by their clothing, but by what those who come to us truly are. “For by the fruit,” He says, “the tree is known.” Just as it is foolish to seek the choicest of ripe fruits among thorns—I mean by this grapes and figs—so it is ridiculous to think it possible to find among hypocrites and the profane any of those things that are to be admired, that is to say, nobility of virtue; one might call these men thistles and brambles. Among such people there is nothing sweet, but everything is bitter and base; for a fig does not grow on thorns, nor is a grape produced from a bramble. Therefore, a teacher is not to be judged by his external appearance, but by the life lived by each one. These things were also said in the fifth chapter of Matthew. Yet, while it was a matter there of deceivers, here it is a matter of the pure and those who purify others and of
the
impure who attempt to purify others. A He called these trees parabolically, and their actions fruits; and he exhorts us to pay attention to these actions, which are fruit, and not to the words, which are leaves.
V. 45. “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth that which is good.” Having demonstrated in what has preceded how the good man and the bad may be distinguished, specifically by their works, as a tree is distinguished by its fruit, he now provides this same proof by another sign. For he says that the good man, as if from a good treasure-house of the heart, pours forth good things; but he who is not such, having a mind possessed by baseness and wickedness, will inevitably give vent to what is hidden in its depths. For that which is in the mind and heart leaps forth through the word that runs to the surface. Therefore, the virtuous man speaks things that are becoming to him, but the base and wicked man will belch forth the impurity lying in his depths.
V. 46. “But why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord’?” B Indeed, the name and reality of lordship befit only the nature that is above all and supreme; for he rules and has authority over all things. “For there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism.” And again: “If there are many gods and many lords in heaven and on earth, yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things.” Knowing him, therefore, as the only Lord by nature and in truth, who reigns with God the Father as God the Word, we address him thus; but, “Why then,” he says, “do you call me ‘Lord,’ but do not do what I say?” For it is true what was spoken by one of the holy prophets: C “If I am a Father, where is my honor? And if I am a Lord, where is my fear? A son honors his father, and a servant his master,” says the Lord Almighty. It is therefore dangerous and worthy of the ultimate punishment to be unwilling to be subject to Christ, who rules over all. One might perceive this from many other arguments, yet also from these: for the faithful servant is crowned with exceptional honors, but the disobedient and slothful one is cast into the outer darkness. For those who received the talents and doubled what was given to the master have been adorned with praises; but the one who hid the gift in the earth, as slothful, was struck by a severe and inexorable sentence. D I think that this also must be added to what has been said: for in wanting to be subject to the words of our Savior and to serve him, we shall be enriched, according to his own will, with the dignity of freedom. He said, therefore, to those who believed in him: “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth; and the truth will make you free.” Therefore
we gain the gift of freedom through obedience; this is the service under him; this also makes us sons and heirs of God, and co-heirs of Christ himself. A And he will certify this to you again, saying: “Everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin; the slave does not remain in the house for ever; the son remains for ever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” If, therefore, we call Christ, the Savior of all, our Master, let us do what he says. “For not everyone,” he says, “who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” B And what the genuineness of wanting to keep the commandments is, and what harm might occur in not wanting to be subject, the Savior himself taught, saying:
V. 47, 48. Everyone who comes to me is like a man building a house, etc.
An obedient and docile man, one who is not so much a hearer of the law as a doer of works, will have a most firm stability in every fair and good endeavor, and will be like a house well established, having an unshakable foundation: so that even if temptations should rush in like a torrent or an overflowing of waters, and the fury of our passions, he will experience nothing calamitous. C But he who only lends an ear to the words of Christ, but stores nothing in his mind, nor executes any part of the precepts, he, in turn, will be like a house that verges on ruin: for he will be dragged where he ought not to go, with pleasure driving him and leading him down into the pits of sin. For it is necessary through daily exercise to confirm ourselves in the Lord’s precepts, lest pleasure, rushing in like the violence of waters, should dissipate the shaky doctrines within us. But rather, let invincible virtue shine through contrary acts, so that we may become famous, not by chance, but by victory. For the fall of those who possessed much learning becomes notorious if they ever fall from a great height. D Negligence of labors, and languor and instability of judgment, make men miserable. These are like those foolish ones who laid the foundation of their spiritual edifice on the sand of their weak opinion; which a few drops of temptations, and a small torrent of diabolical illusions impinging, moves and breaks the base, so that it cannot stand even for a short time against rain and winds.
CAP. VII.
V. 9. Even in Israel I have not found such faith.
By the holy decree of God, therefore, from his intimacy
Israel slipped away; but the Gentiles were called and admitted, since they had a heart more prepared to believe in him. The divine Psalmist will again confirm this for us, saying of them, at one time: "For thy ear hearkened to the preparation of their heart," and at another: "Their infirmities were multiplied, afterwards they hastened." For A even though they were weighed down by many sins, nevertheless they hastened toward the reception of Christ's teachings. But concerning Israel, the prophetic word says: "God will cast them off because they did not listen to him, and they shall be wanderers among the Gentiles."
V. 11. They went into a city called Nain. Observe B how he joins wonders to wonders. For there, indeed, he encounters them by invitation; but here he arrives uninvited; for no one called him to the raising of the dead, but he arrives for this of his own accord. It seems to me most wise that he linked this to the first [miracle]; for there was nothing improbable in thinking that some adversary of the Savior's glory would rise up and say: "What, I pray, was the miracle performed for the centurion's boy? He was sick, he was not in any way going to die; and the evangelist wrote this, storytelling more for the sake of kindness than for the sake of truth." Therefore, so that he might stop the unbridled tongue of such men, he says that Christ met the dead youth, the only son of a widow; the tragedy was pitiable and capable of stirring up lamentation, and [was] an opportunity for tears; and following the tragedy was the woman, resolved in tears and grief, and many with her.
V. 14. Coming up he touched the bier. C Why did he not perform the miracle by word alone, but also touched the bier? So that you might know that the holy body of Christ is effective for the salvation of man; for it is the body of life, and the flesh of the Word who is all-powerful, and it carried his power. For just as iron, having come into contact with fire, acts with the fire's power and fulfills its function, so, since the flesh of the Word who makes all things alive became his own, it is for this reason also vivifying and destructive of death and corruption. For we believe the body of Christ to be truly vivifying, since it is the temple and dwelling-place of the living Word, containing his entire efficacy. It was not enough, therefore, for Christ to command—although he was accustomed D to accomplish whatever he wished by word—but he also laid his hands upon the bier, showing clearly that his body also possesses vivifying power.
V. 16. And fear took hold of all, and they glorified God, etc. Great is this [praise] for an unfeeling and ungrateful people; for a little later they consider him neither a prophet nor even someone who had appeared for the salvation of the nation; but they deliver the destroyer of death to death, not knowing that then, at that very time, he was destroying death, when he accomplished his resurrection.