FROM-THE- LIBRARY-OF TRINITYCOLLEGE-TORDNTO

PRESENTED A.D.

BY Professor D.D.C. Chambers

COMMENTARY

FOUE GOSPELS,

COLLECTED OUT OF THE

WORKS OF THE FATHERS

S. THOMAS AQUINAS.

VOL. I. ST. MATTHEW. PART III.

OXFORD,

JOHN HENRY PARKER J

J. G. F. AND J. RIVINGTON, LONDON.

MDCCCXUI.

(64!

J.I p(r. 3

BAXTER, PRINTER, OXFORD.

1J.0773

MAR 4

ADVERTISEMENT.

THE following Compilation not being admissible into the Library of the Fathers from the date of some few of the authors introduced into it, the Editors of the latter work have been led to publish it in a separate form, being assured that those who have subscribed to their Translations of the entire Treatises of the ancient Catholic divines, will not feel less interest, or find less benefit, in the use of so very judicious and beautiful a selection from them. The Editors refer to the Preface for some account of the natural and characteristic excellences of the work, which will be found as useful in the private study of the Gospels, as it is well adapted for family reading, and full of thought for those who are engaged in religious instruction.

Oxford, May 6, 1841.

COMMENTARY

GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW.

VOL. I. PART III.

VOL. I. 3 B

CHAP. XXII.

1. And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said,

2. The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,

3. And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding : and they would not come.

4. Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner : my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready : come unto the marriage.

5. But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise :

6. And the remnant took his servants, and en treated them spitefully, and slew them.

7. But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth : and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.

8. Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy.

9. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.

10. So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good : and the wedding was furnished with guests.

VER. 1 14. ST. MATTHEW. 739

11. And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment :

12. And he saith unto him, Friend, how earnest thou in hither not having a wedding garment ? And he was speechless.

13. Then said' the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness ; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

14. For many are called, but few are chosen.

CHRYS. Forasmuch as He had said, And it shall be given chrys. to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof, He now pro- H?m- ceeds to shew what nation that is. GLOSS. Answered, that Gloss. is, meeting their evil thoughts of putting Him to death. AUG. ^*" ™'e This parable is related only by Matthew. Luke gives onec°c»- like it, but it is not the same, as the order shews. GREG. Greg. Here, by the wedding-feast is denoted the present Church ; **om. in there, by the supper, the last and eternal feast. For into xxxviii. this enter some who shall perish; into that whosoever has2' once entered in shall never be put forth. But if any should maintain that these are the same lessons, we may perhaps explain that that part concerning the guest who had come in without a wedding garment, which Luke has not mentioned, Matthew has related. That the one calls it supper, the other dinner, makes no difference ; for with the ancients the dinner was at the ninth hour, and was therefore often called supper. ORIGEN ; The kingdom of heaven, in respect of Him who reigns there, is like a king ; in respect of Him who shares the kingdom, it is like a king's son ; in respect of those things which are in the kingdom, it is like servants and guests, and among them the king's armies. It is specified, A man that is a king, that what is spoken may be as by a man to men, and that a man may regulate men unwilling to be regulated by God. But the kingdom of heaven will then cease to be like a man, when zeal and con tention and all other passions and sins having ceased, we

3 B 2

740 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXII.

shall cease to walk after men, and shall see Him as He is. For now we see Him not as He is, but as He has been made Greg, for us m Our dispensation. GREG. God the Father made a p* a marriage feast for God the Son, when He joined Him to human nature in the womb of the Virgin. But far be it from us to conclude, that because marriage takes place between two separate persons, that therefore the person of our Redeemer was made up of two separate persons. We say indeed that He exists of two natures, and in two natures, but we hold it unlawful to believe that He was compounded of two persons. It is safer therefore to say, that the marriage feast was made by the King the Father for the King the Son when He joined to Him the Holy Church in the mystery of His incarnation. The womb of the Virgin Mother was the bride- chamber of this Bridegroom. PSEUDO-CHRYS. Otherwise ; When the resurrection of the saints shall be, then the life, which is Christ, shall revive man, swallowing up his mortality in its own immortality. For now we receive the Holy Spirit as a pledge of the future union, but then we shall have Christ Himself more fully in us. ORIGEN ; Or, by the marriage of Bridegroom with Bride, that is, of Christ with the soul, understand the Assumption of the Word, the produce whereof is good works. HILARY ; Rightly has the Father already made this wedding, because this eternal union and espousal of the new body is already perfect in Christ. PSEUDO-CHRYS. When the servants were sent to call them, they must have been invited before. Men have been invited from the time of Abraham, to whom was promised Christ's incarnation. JEROME; He sent his servant, without doubt Moses, by whom He gave the Law, to those who had been invited. But if you read servants as most copies have, it must be referred to the Prophets, by whom they were invited, but neglected to come. By the -servants who were sent the second time, we may better understand the Prophets than the Apostles ; that is to say, if servant is read in the first place ; but if ' servants,' then by the second servants are to be understood the Apostles; PSEUDO-CHRYS. whom He Mat. 10, sent when He said unto them, Go not into the way of the 6* Gentiles, but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. ORIGEN ; Or ; The servants who were first sent to

VER. 1 — 14. ST. MATTHEW.

call them that were bidden to the wedding, are to be taken as the Prophets converting the people by their prophecy to the festival of the restoration of the Church to Christ. They who would not come at the first message are they who refused to hear the words of the Prophets. The others who were sent a second time were another assembly of Prophets. HILARY ; Or ; The servants who were first sent to call them that were bidden, are the Apostles ; they who, being before bidden, are now invited to come in, are the people of Israel, who had before been bidden through die Law to the glories of eternity. To the Apostles therefore it belonged to remind those whom the Prophets had invited. Those sent with the second injunction are the Apostolic men their successors,

GREG. But because these who were first invited would Gr.e&- not come to the feast, the second summons says, Behold, I have prepared my dinner. JEROME ; The dinner that is prepared, the oxen and the fallings that are killed, is either a description of regal magnificence by the way of metaphor, that by carnal things spiritual may be understood ; or the greatness of the doctrines, and the manifold teaching of God in His law, may be understood. PSEUDO-CHRYS. When therefore the Lord bade the Apostles, Go ye and preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand, it was the same message as is here given, I have prepared my dinner ; i. e. I have set out the table of Scripture out of the Law and the Prophets. GREG. By the oxen are signified the Fathers Greg, of the Old Testament; who by sufferance of the Law gored ubisup' their enemies with the horn of bodily strength. By failings are meant fatted animals, for from ' alere', comes ' altilia,' as it were * alitilia' or ' alita.' By the fallings are intended the Fathers of the New Testament ; who while they receive sweet grace of inward fattening, are raised by the wing of contemplation from earthly desires to things above. He says therefore, My oxen and my fallings are killed; as much as to say, Look to the deaths of the Fathers who have been before you, and desire some amendment of your lives. PSEUDO-CHRYS. Otherwise ; He says oxen and failings, not as though the oxen were not fatted, but because all the oxen were not fat. Therefore the failings denote the Prophets who were filled with the Holy Spirit; the oxen

742 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXII.

those who were both Priests and Prophets, as Jeremiah and Ezeldel ; for as the oxen are the leaders of the herd, so also the Priests are leaders of the people. HILARY ; Or other wise ; The oxen are the glorious army of Martyrs, offered, like choice victims, for the confession of God ; the fatlings are spiritual men, as birds fed for flight upon heavenly food, that they may fill others with the abundance of the food they Greg, have eaten. GREG. It is to be observed, that in the first lp' invitation nothing was said of the oxen or fatlings, but in the second it is announced that they are already killed, because Almighty God when we will not hear His words gives examples, that what we suppose impossible may become easy to us to surmount, when we hear that others have passed through it before us. ORIGEN; Or; The dinner which is prepared is the oracle of God ; and so the more mighty of the oracles of God are the oxen ; the sweet and pleasant are the fatlings. For if any one bring forward feeble words, without power, and not having strong force of reason, these are the lean things ; the fatlings are when to the establish ment of each proposition many examples are brought for ward backed by reasonable proofs. For example, supposing one holding discourse of chastity, it might well be repre sented by the turtle-dove ; but should he bring forward the same holy discourse full of reasonable proof out of Scripture, so as to delight and strengthen the mind of his hearer, then he brings the dove fatted. PSEUDO-CHRYS. That He says, And all things are now ready, means, that all that is re quired to salvation is already filled up in the Scriptures j there the ignorant may find instruction ; the self-willed may read of terrors ; he who is in difficulty may there find pro- Gloss, mises to rouse him to activity. GLOSS. Or, All things are interim. n()/U} reaay^ j. e. The entrance into the kingdom, which had been hitherto closed, is now ready through faith in My incar- Pseudo- nation. PSEUDO-CHRYS. Or He says, All things are now Chrys. reaiiy wnich belong to the mystery of the Lord's Passion,

mm occ. y *• j j

sed vid. and our redemption. He says, Come to the marriage, not with your feet, but with faith, and good conduct. But they made light of it ; why they did so He shews when He adds, And they went their way, one to his farm, another to his merchandize. CHRYS. These occupations seem to be

VER. 1 — 14. ST. MATTHEW. 743

entirely reasonable; but we learn hence, that however ne cessary the things that take up our time, we ought to prefer spiritual things to every thing beside. But it seems to me that they only pretended these engagements as a cloak for their disregard of the invitation. HILARY; For men are taken up with worldly ambition as with a farm ; and many through covetousness are engrossed with trafficking. PSEUDO- CHRYS. Or otherwise ; When we work with the labour of our hands, for example, cultivating our field or our vineyard, or any manufacture of wood or iron, we seem to be occupied with OUT farm ; any other mode of getting money unattended with manual labour is here called merchandize. O most miserable world ! and miserable ye that follow it ! The pursuits of this world have ever shut men out of life. GREG. Whosoever then intent upon earthly business, or devoted to the actions of this world, feigns to be meditating upon the mystery of the Lord's Passion, and to be living accordingly, is he that refuses to come to the King's wedding on pretext of going to his farm or his merchandize. Nay often, which is worse, some who are called not only reject the grace, but become persecutors, And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them despitefully^ and slew them. PSEUDO-CHRYS. Or, by the business of a farm, He denotes the Jewish popu lace, whom the delights of this world separated from Christ ; by the excuse of merchandize, the Priests and other ministers of the Temple, who, coming to the service of the Law and the Temple through greediness of gain, have been shut out of the faith by covetousness. Of these He said not, ' They were filled with envy,' but They made light of it. For they who through hate and spite crucified Christ, are they who were filled with envy; but they who being entangled in busi ness did not believe on Him, are not said to have been filled with envy, but to have made light of it. The Lord is silent respecting His own death, because He had spoken of it in the foregoing parable, but He shews forth the death of His disciples, whom after His ascension the Jews put to death, stoning Stephen and executing James the son of Alphaeus, for which things Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans. And it is to be observed, that anger is attributed to God figu ratively and not properly; He is then said to be angry when

744 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXII.

He punishes. JEROME ; When He was doing works of mercy,

homini and bidding to His marriage-feast, He was called a man; now when He comes to vengeance, the man is dropped, and He is called only a King. ORIGEN; Let those who sin against the God of the Law, and the Prophets, and the whole creation, declare whether He who is here called man, and is said to be angry, is indeed the Father Himself. If they allow this, they will be forced to own that many things are said of Him applicable to the passible nature of man; not for that He has passions, but because He is represented to us after the manner of passible human nature. In this way we take God's anger, repentance, and the other things of the like sort in the Prophets. JEROME; By His armies we understand the Romans under Vespasian and Titus, who having slaughtered the inhabitants of Judaea, laid in ashes the faithless city. PSEUDO-CHRYS. The Roman army is

Ps. 24, called God's army; because The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; nor would the Romans have come to

Greg. Jerusalem, had not the Lord stirred them thither. GREG.

ubi SUP' Or, The armies of our King are the legions of His Angels. He is said therefore to have sent His armies, and to have destroyed those murderers, because all judgment is executed upon men by the Angels. He destroys those murderers, when He cuts off persecutors; and burns up their city, because not only their souls, but the body of flesh they had tenanted, is tormented in the everlasting fire of hell. ORIGEN; Or, the city of those wicked men is in each doctrine the assembly of those who meet in the wisdom of the rulers of this world; which the King sets fire to and destroys, as consisting of evil buildings.

Greg. GREG. But when He sees that His invitation is spurned at, ubi sup. jje wyj not have jjis Son's marriage-feast empty; the word of God will find where it may stay itself. ORIGEN ; He saith to His servants, that is, to the Apostles; or to the Angels, who were set over the calling of the Gentiles, The wedding is ready. REMIG. That is, the whole sacrament of the human dispens ation is completed and closed. But they which were bidden,

Kom 10 ^at ig> the JGWS> were not worthy, because, ignorant of the

3. righteousness of God, and going about to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted themselves to the

VER. 1 14. ST. MATTHEW. 745

righteousness of God. The Jewish nation then being rejected, the Gentile people were taken in to the marriage-feast; whence it follows, Go ye out into the crossings of the streets, and as many as ye shall jfind, bid to the wedding. JEROME ; For the Gentile nation was not in the streets, but in the cross ings of the streets. REMIG. These are the errors of the Gentiles. PSEUDO-CHRYS. Or; The streets are all the pro fessions of this world, as philosophy, soldiery, and the like. And therefore He says, Go out into the crossings of the streets, that they may call to the faith men of every con dition. Moreover, as chastity is the way that leads to God, so fornication is the way that leads to the Devil ; and so it is in the other virtues and vices. Thus He bids them invite to the faith men of every profession or condition. HILARY; By the street also is to be understood the time of this world, and they are therefore bid to go to the crossings of the streets, because the past is remitted to all. GREG. Or otherwise; Greg. In holy Scripture, way is taken to mean actions; so that p' the crossings of the ways we understand as failure in action, for they usually come to God readily, who have had little prosperity in worldly actions. ORIGEN ; Or otherwise ; I suppose this first bidding to the wedding to have been a bidding of some of the more noble minds. For God would have those before all come to the feast of the divine oracles who are of the more ready wit to understand them; and forasmuch as they who are such are loth to come to that kind of summons, other servants are sent to move them to come, and to promise that they shall find the dinner pre pared. For as in the things of the body, one is the bride, others the inviters to the feast, and they that are bidden are others again ; so God knows the various ranks of souls, and their powers, and the reasons why these are taken into the condition of the Bride, others in the rank of the servants that call, and others among the number of those that are bidden as guests. But they who had been thus especially invited contemned the first inviters as poor in understanding, and went their way, following their own devices, as more delighting in them than in those things which the King by his servants promised. Yet are these more venial than they who ill-treat and put to death the servants sent unto them;

746 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXII.

those, that is, who daringly assail with weapons of conten tious words the servants sent, who are unequal to solve their subtle difficulties, and those are illtreated or put to death by them. The servants going forth are either Christ's Apostles going from Judaea and Jerusalem, or the Holy Angels from the inner worlds, and going to the various ways of various manners, gathered together whomsoever they found, not caring whether before their calling they had been good or bad. By the good here we may understand simply the more humble and upright of those who come to the worship of Rom. 2, God, to whom agreed what the Apostle says, When the Gentiles which have not the Law do by nature the things contained in the Law, they are a law unto themselves. JEROME; For there is an infinite difference among the Gentiles themselves ; some are more prone to vice, others are endowed with more incorrupt and virtuous manners. Greg. GREG. Or; He means that in this present Church there ubisup. cannot De bad without good, nor good without bad. He is not good who refuses to endure the bad. ORIGEN ; The marriage-feast of Christ and the Church is filled, when they who were found by the Apostles, being restored to God, sat down to the feast. But since it behoved that both bad and good should be called, not that the bad should continue bad, but that they should put off the garments unmeet for the wedding, and should put on the marriage garments, to wit, bowels of mercy and kindness, for this cause the King goes out, that He may see them set down before the supper is set before them, that they may be detained who have the wedding garment in which He is delighted, and that he may condemn the opposite.

PSEUDO-CHRYS. The King came in to see the guests ; not as though there was any place where He is not ; but where He will look to give judgment, there He is said to be present; where He will not, there He seems to be absent. The day of His coming to behold is the day of judgment, when He will visit Christians seated at the board of the Scriptures. ORIGEN; But when He was come in, He found there one who had not put off his old behaviour ; He saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment. He speaks of one only, because all, who after faith continue to serve that wickedness which they had before the faith, are but of one

VER. 1 14. ST. MATTHEW. 747

kind. GREG. What ought we to understand by the wedding Greg, garment, but charity? For this the Lord had upon Him, ubl sup* when He came to espouse the Church to Himself. He then enters in to the wedding feast, but without the wedding garment, who has faith in the Church, but not charity. AUG. Aug. Or, he goes to the feast without a garment, who goes seeking F°au3't his own, and not the Bridegroom's honour. HILARY ; Or ; xx»« 19. The wedding garment is the grace of the Holy Spirit, and the purity of that heavenly temper, which taken up on the confes sion of a good enquiry is to be preserved pure and unspotted for the company of the kingdom of heaven. JEROME; Or? The marriage garment is the commandments of the Lord, and the works which are done under the Law and the Gospel, and form the clothing of the new man. Whoso among the Christian body shall be found in the day of judgment not to have these, is straightway condemned. He saith unto him, Friend, how earnest thou in hither, not having a wedding garment ? He calls Trim friend, because he was invited to the wedding as being a friend by faith; but He charges him with want of manners in polluting by his filthy dress the elegance of the wedding entertainment.

ORIGEN ; And forasmuch as he who is in sin, and puts not on the Lord Jesus Christ, has no excuse, it follows, But he was speechless. JEROME ; For in that day there will be no room for blustering manner1, nor power of denial, when all the Angels and » al. pee- the world itself are witnesses against the sinner. ORIGEN ; He mtentlffi- who has thus insulted the marriage feast is not only cast out therefrom, but besides by the King's officers, who are set over his prisons, is chained up from that power of walking which he employed not to walk to any good thing, and that power of reaching forth his hand, wherewith he had fulfilled no work for any good ; and is sentenced to a place whence all light is banished, which is called outer darkness. GREG. The hands and feet are then bound by a severe sen- Greg, tence of judgment, which before refused to be bound from ubi SUP* wicked actions by amendment of life. Or punishment binds them, whom sin had before bound from good works. AUG. Aug. de The bonds of wicked and depraved desires are the chains Jrin-xi- which bind him who deserves to be cast out into outer darkness. GREG. By inward darkness we express blindness, Greg.

ubi sup.

748 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXII.

of heart; outer darkness signifies the everlasting night of damnation. PSEUDO-CHRYS. Or, it points to the difference of punishment inflicted on sinners. Outer darkness being the deepest, inward darkness the lesser, as it were the out skirts of the place. JEROME ; By a metaphor taken from the body, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, is shewn the greatness of the torments. The binding of the hands and feet also, and the weeping of eyes, and the gnashing of teeth, understand as proving the truth of the resurrection of the

Greg. body. GREG. There shall gnash those teeth which here ' delighted in gluttony; there shall weep those eyes which here roamed in illicit desire ; every member shall there have its peculiar punishment, which here was a slave to its peculiar vice. JEROME ; And because in the marriage and supper the chief thing is the end and not the beginning, therefore He adds, For many are called, but few chosen. HILARY ; For to invite all without exception is a courtesy of public bene volence ; but out of the invited or called, the election will be

Greg, of worth, by distinction of merit. GREG. For some never begin a good course, and some never continue in that good course which they have begun. Let each one's care about himself be in proportion to his ignorance of what is yet to come. PSEUDO-CHRYS. Or otherwise ; Whenever God will try His Church, He enters into it that He may see the guests ; and if He finds any one not having on the wedding garment, He enquires of him, How then were you made a Christian, if you neglect these works ? Such a one Christ gives over to His ministers, that is, to seducing leaders, who bind his hands, that is, his works, and his feet, that is, the motions of his mind, and cast him into darkness, that is, into the errors of the Gentiles or the Jews, or into heresy. The nigher darkness is that of the Gentiles, for they have never heard the truth which they despise ; the outer darkness is that of the Jews, who have heard but do not believe ; the outermost is that of the heretics, who have heard and have learned.

15. Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk.

16. And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou

VER. 15 — 22. ST. MATTHEW. 749

art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man : for thou regardest not the person of men.

17. Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not ?

18. But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites ?

1 9. Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny.

20. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription?

21. They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Csesar's ; and unto God the things that are God's.

22. When they had heard these words, they mar velled, and left him, and went their way.

PSEUDO-CHRYS. As when one seeks to dam a stream of running water, as soon as one outlet is stopped up it makes another channel for itself; so the malevolence of the Jews, foiled on one hand, seeks itself out another course. Then went the Pharisees ; went to the Herodians. Such as the plan was, such were the planners ; They send unto Him their disciples with the Herodians. GLOSS. Who as un- Gloss. known to Him, were more likely to ensnare Him, and soor ' through them they might take Him, which they feared to do of themselves because of the populace. JEROME ; Lately under Caesar Augustus, Judsea, which was subject to the Romans, had been made tributary when the census was held of the whole world ; and there was a great division among the people, some saying that tribute ought to be paid to the Romans in return for the security and quiet which their arms maintained for all. The Pharisees on the other hand, self- satisfied in their own righteousness, contended that the people of God who paid tithes and gave first-fruits, and did all the other things which are written in the Law, ought not to be subject to human laws. But Augustus had given the Jews

750 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXII.

as king, Herod, son of Antipater, a foreigner and proselyte ; he was to exact the tribute, yet to be subject to the Roman dominion. The Pharisees therefore send their disciples with the Herodians, that is, with Herod's soldiers, or those whom the Pharisees in mockery called Herodians, because they paid tribute to the Romans, and were not devoted to the Chrys. worship of God. CHRYS. They send their disciples and Horn. Herod's soldiers together, that whatever opinion He might give might be found fault with. Yet would they rather have had Him say somewhat against the Herodians ; for being themselves afraid to lay hands on Him because of the popu lace, they sought to bring Him into danger through His liability to pay tribute. PSEUDO-CHRYS. This is the com monest act of hypocrites, to commend those they would ruin. Thus, these break out into praises of Him, saying, Master, we know that Thou art true. They call Him Master, that, deceived by this shew of honour and respect, He might in simplicity open all His heart to them, as seeking to gain them Gloss, for disciples. GLOSS. There are three ways in which it is non occ- possible for one not to teach the truth. First, on the side of the teacher, who may either not know, or not love the truth ; guarding against this, they say, We know that Thou art true. Secondly, on the side of God, there are some who, putting aside all fear of Him, do not utter honestly the truth which they know respecting Him; to exclude this they say, And teachest the way of God in truth. Thirdly, on the side of our neighbour, when through fear or affection any one with holds the truth ; to exclude this they say, And carest for no man, for Thou regardest not the person of man. CHRYS. This was a covert allusion to Herod and Cajsar. JEROME ; This smooth and treacherous enquiry was a kind of challenge to the answerer to fear God rather than Caesar, and imme diately they say, Tell us therefore, what thinkest Thou ? Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar or not ? Should He say tribute should not be paid, the Herodians would immediately accuse Him as a person disaffected to the Emperor. CHRYS. They knew that certain had before suffered death for this very thing, as plotting a rebellion against the Romans, there fore they sought by such discourse to bring Him into the same suspicion. PSEUDO-CHRYS. He makes an answer not

VER. 15 22. ST. MATTHEW. 751

corresponding to the smooth tone of their address, but harsh, suitable to their cruel thoughts; for God answers men's hearts, and not their words. JEROME; This is the first excellence of the answerer, that He discerns the thoughts of His examiners, and calls them not disciples but tempters. A hypocrite is he who is one thing, and feigns himself another. PSEUDO-CHRYS. He therefore calls them hypocrites, that seeing Him to be a discemer of human hearts, they might not be hardy enough to carry through their design. Observe thus how the Pharisees spoke fair that they might destroy Him, but Jesus put them to shame that He might save them; for God's wrath is more profitable to man, than man's favour. JEROME; Wisdom does ever wisely, and so the tempters are best confuted out of their own words ; therefore it follows, Shew me the tribute money ; and they brought unto Him a denarius. This was a coin reckoned equivalent to ten ses terces, and bore the image of Caesar. Let those who think that the Saviour asks because He is ignorant, learn from the present place that it is not so, for at all events Jesus must have known whose image was on the coin. They say unto Him, Caesar's; not Augustus, but Tiberius, under whom also the Lord suffered. All the Roman Emperors were called Caesar, from Caius Caesar who first seized the chief power. Render therefore unto C&sar the things which are C&sar's; i. e. the coin, tribute, or money. HILARY ; For if there remain with us nothing that is Caesar's, we shall not be bound by the condition of rendering to him the things that are his; but if we lean upon what is his, if we avail ourselves of the lawful protection of his power, we cannot complain of it as any wrong if we are required to render to Caesar the things of Caesar. CHRYS. But when you hear this command to render to Caesar the things of Csesar, know that such things only are intended which in nothing are opposed to religion; if such there be, it is no longer Caesar's but the Devil's tribute. And moreover, that they might not say that He was subject ing them to man, He adds, And unto God the things thai are God's. JEROME ; That is, tithes, first-fruits, oblation, and victims; as the Lord Himself rendered to Caesar tribute, both for Himself and for Peter ; and also rendered unto God the things that are God's in doing the will of His Father.

752 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXII.

HILARY; It behoves us also to render unto God the things that are His, namely, body, soul, and will. For Caesar's coin is in the gold, in which His image was pourtrayed, that is, God's coin, on which the Divine image is stamped; give there fore your money to Caesar, but preserve a conscience void of offence for God.

ORIGEN; From this place we learn by the Saviour's example not to be allured by those things which have many voices for them, and thence seem famous, but to incline rather to those things which are spoken according to some method of reason. But we may also understand this place morally, that we ought to give some things to the body as a tribute to Caesar, that is to say, necessaries. And such things as are congenial to our souls' nature, that is, such things as lead (o virtue, those we ought to offer to God. They then who without any moderation inculcate the law of God, and command us to have no care for the things required by the body, are the Pharisees, who forbad to give tribute to i Tim. Caesar, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain 4' 3' from meats, which God hath created. They, on the other hand, who allow too much indulgence to the body are the Herodians. But our Saviour would neither that virtue should be enfeebled by immoderate devotedness to the flesh; nor that our fleshly nature should be oppressed by our unremitting efforts after virtue. Or the prince of this world, that is, the Devil, is called Caesar; and we cannot render to God the things that are God's, unless we have first rendered to this prince all that is his, that is, have cast off all wickedness. This moreover let us learn from this place, that to those who tempt us we should neither be totally silent, nor yet answer openly, but with caution, to cut off all occasion from those who seek occasion in us, and teach without blame the things which may save those who are willing to be saved. JEROME; They who ought to have believed did but wonder at His great wisdom, that their craft had found no means for ensnaring Him: whence it follows, When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left Him, and went their way, carrying away their unbelief and wonder together.

23. The same day came to him the Sadducees,

VER. 23 — 33. ST. MATTHEW. 753

which say that there is no resurrection, and asked him,

24. Saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.

25. Now there were with us seven brethren : and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and, having no issue, left his wife unto his brother t

26. Likewise the second also, and the third, unto the seventh.

27. And last of all the woman died also.

28. Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven ? for they all had her.

29. Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God.

30. For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.

31. But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying,

32. I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob ? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.

33. And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his doctrine.

CHRYS. The disciples of the Pharisees with the Herodians being thus confuted, the Sadducees next offer themselves, whereas the overthrow of those before them ought to have kept them back. But presumption is shameless, stubborn, and ready to attempt things impossible. So the Evangelist, wondering at their folly, expresses this, saying, The same day came to him the Sadducees. PSEUDO-CHRYS. As soon as the Pharisees were gone, came the Sadducees ; perhaps with like intent, for there was a strife among them who should be the

VOL. i. 3 c

GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXII.

first to seize Him. Or if by argument they should not be able to overcome Him, they might at least by perseverance wear out His understanding. JEROME ; There were two sects among the Jews, the Pharisees and the Sadducees ; the Pharisees pretended to the righteousness of traditions and observances, whence they were called by the people ' separate.' The Sadducees (the word is interpreted ' righteous') also passed themselves for what they were not; and whereas the first believed the resurrection of body and soul, and confessed both Angel and spirit, these, according to the Acts of the

Acta 23, Apostles, denied them all, as it is here also said, Who say that there is no resurrection. ORIGEN; They not only denied the resurrection of the body, but took away the immortality of the soul. PSEUDO-CHRYS. For the Devil finding himself unable to crush utterly the religion of God, brought in the sect of the Sadducees denying the resurrection of the dead, thus breaking down all purpose of a righteous life, for who is there would endure a daily struggle against him-

Greg. self, unless he looked to the hope of the resurrection ? GREG.

xiv. 55. But there are who observing that the spirit is loosed from the body, that the flesh is turned to corruption, that the corrup tion is reduced to dust, and that the dust again is resolved into the elements, so as to be unseen by human eyes, despair of the possibility of a resurrection, and while they look upon the dry bones, doubt that they can be clothed with flesh, and

Aug. be quickened anew to life. AUG. But that earthy matter

88nc r< of which the flesh of men is made perishes not before God ; but into whatsoever dust or ashes reduced, into whatsoever gases or vapours dispersed, into whatsoever other bodies incorporated, though resolved into the elements, though become the food or part of the flesh of animals or men, yet is it in a moment of time restored to that human soul, which at the first quickened it that it became man, lived and grew. PSEUDO-CHRYS. But the Sadducees thought they had now discovered a most convincing argument in favour of their

Chrys. error. CHRYS. For because death to the Jews, who did all

)ce* things for the present life, seemed an unmixed evil, Moses

ordered that the wife of one who died without sons should be

given to his brother, that a son might be born to the dead

man by his brother, and his name should not perish, which

VER. 23 33. ST. MATTHEW. 755

was some alleviation of death. And none other but a brother or relation was commanded to take the wife of the dead ; otherwise the child born would not have been considered the son of the dead ; and also because a stranger could have no concern in establishing the house of him that was dead, as a brother whose kindred obliged him thereto. JEROME ; As they disbelieved the resurrection of the body, and supposed that the soul perished with the body, they accordingly invent a fable to display the fondness of the belief of a resurrection. Thus they put forward a base fiction to overthrow the verity of the resurrection, and conclude with asking, in Hie resurrec tion it-hose shall site be ? Though it might be that such an instance might really occur in their nation.

AUG. Mystically ; by these seven brethren are understood the Aug- wicked, who could not bring forth the fruit of righteousness in Ev.i.32. the earth through all the seven ages of the world, during which, this earth has being, for afterwards this earth also shall pass away, through which all those seven passed away unfruitful.

PSEUDO-CHRYS. Wisely does He first convict them of folly, in that they did not read ; and afterwards of ignorance, in that they did not know God. For of diligence in reading springs knowledge of God, but ignorance is the offspring of neglect. JEROME ; They therefore err because they know not the Scriptures ; and because they know not the power of God. ORIGEN; Two things there are which He says they know not, the Scriptures and the power of God, by which is brought to pass the resurrection, and the new life in it. Or by the power of God, which the Lord here con victs the Sadducees that they knew not, He intends Himself, who was the power of God; and Him they knew not, as i Cor. 1, not knowing the Scriptures which spoke of Him ; and thence24' also they believed not the resurrection, which He should effect. But it is asked when the Saviour says, Ye do err not knowing the Scriptures, if He means that this text, They neither marry, nor are given in marriage, is in some Scripture, though it is not read in the Old Testament? We say that these very words are indeed not found, but that the truth is in a mystery implied in the moral sense of Scripture ; the Law, which is a shadow of good things to come, whenever it speaks of husbands and wives, speaks chiefly of spiritual

3 c 2

756 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXII.

wedlock. But neither this do I find any where spoken in Scripture that the Saints shall be after their departure as the Angels of God, unless one will understand this also to be Gen. is, inferret[ morally; as where it is said, And thou shall go to Gen. 25, thy fathers, and He was gathered to his people. Or one 8> may say; He blamed them that they read not the other Scriptures which are besides the Law, and therefore they erred. Another says, That they knew not the Scriptures of the Mosaic Law, for this reason, that they did not sift their divine sense. PSETJDO-CHRYS. Or, when He says, In the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in mar riage, He referred to what He had said, Ye know not the power of God ; but when He proceeded, / am the God of Abraham, 8$c. to that Ye know not the Scriptures. And thus ought we to do; to cavillers first to set forth Scripture authority on any question, and then to shew the grounds of reason ; but to those who ask out of ignorance to shew first the reason, and then the authority. For cavillers ought to be refuted, enquirers taught. To these then who put their question in ignorance, He first shews the reason, saying, In the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage. JEROME ; In these words the Latin language cannot follow the Greek idiom. For the Latin word 'nubere' is correctly said only of the woman. But we must take it so as to understand marry of men, to be given in marriage of women. PSEUDO-CHRYS. In this life that we may die, therefore are we born ; and we marry to the end that that which death consumes, birth may replenish; therefore where the law of death is taken away, the cause of birth is taken away likewise. HILARY; It had been enough to have cut off this opinion of the Sadducees of sensual enjoyment, that where the function ceased, the empty pleasure of the body accompanying it ceased also ; but He adds, But are as the Angels of God in heaven. CHRYS. Which is an apt reply to their question. For their reason for judging that there would be no resurrection, was that they supposed that their condition when risen would be the same ; this reason then He removes by shewing that their condition would be altered. PSEUDO-CHRYS. It should be noted, that when He spoke of fasting, alms, and other spiritual virtues, He did not bring

VER. 23 - 33. ST. MATTHEW. 757

in the comparison of Angels, but only here where He speaks of the ceasing of marriage. For as all acts of the flesh are animal acts, but this of lust especially so ; so all the virtues are angelic acts, but especially chastity, by which our nature is bound to the other virtues. JEROME ; This that is added, But are as the Angels of God in heaven, is an assurance that our conversation in heaven shall be spiritual. DIONYS. Dionys. For then when we shall be incorruptible and immortal, by Nom. i.

the visible presence of God Himself we shall be filled with most chaste contemplations, and shall share the gift of light to the understanding in our impassible and immaterial soul after the fashion of the exalted souls in heaven ; on which account it is said that we shall be equal to the Angels. HILARY ; The same cavil that the Sadducees here offer respecting marriage is renewed by many who ask in what form the female sex shall rise again. But what the authority of Scripture leads us to think concerning the Angels, so must we suppose that it will be with women in the resur rection of our species. AUG. To me they seem to think Aug. de most iustly, who doubt not that both sexes shall rise ClY:D,e,i>

J J ... XXll. I/.

again. For there shall be no desire which is the cause of confusion, for before they had sinned they were naked; and that nature which they then had shall be preserved, which was quit both of conception and of child-birth. Also the members of the woman shall not be adapted to their former use, but framed for a new beauty, one by which the beholder is not allured to lust, which shall not then be, but God's wisdom and mercy shall be praised, which made that to be which was not, and delivered from corruption that which was made. JEROME ; For none could say of a stone and a tree or inanimate things, that they shall not marry nor be given in marriage, but of such things only as having capacity for marriage, shall yet in a sort not marry. RABAN. These things which are spoken concerning the conditions of the resurrection He spoke in answer to their enquiry, but of the resurrection itself He replies aptly against their unbelief. CHRYS. And because they had put forward Moses in their question, He confutes them by Moses, adding, But concern ing the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read. JEROME ; In proof of the resurrection there were many plainer passages

758 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXII.

Is. i6 which He might have cited ; among others that of Isaiah, 29. jut- The dead shall be raised; they that are in the tombs shall rise Dan! again : and in another place, Many of them that sleep in the 12> 2- dust of the earth shall awake. It is enquired therefore why the Lord should have chosen this testimony which seems ambiguous, and not sufficiently belonging to the truth of the resurrection; and as if by this He had proved the point adds, He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. We have said above that the Sadducees confessed neither Angel, nor spirit, nor resurrection of the body, and taught also the death of the soul. But they also received only the five books of Moses, rejecting the Prophets. It would have been foolish therefore to have brought forward testimonies whose authority they did not admit. To prove the immortality of &ouls there fore, He brings forward an instance out of Moses, / am the God of Abraham, 8fc. and then straight subjoins, He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; so that having established that souls abide after death, (forasmuch as God could not be the God of those who had no existence any where,) there might fitly come in the resurrection of bodies which had toge ther with their souls done good or evil. CHRYS. How then Rom. is it said in another place, Whether we live or die. we are the

14 8

Lord's. This which is said here differs from that. The dead are the Lord's, those, that is, who are to live again, not those who have disappeared for ever, and shall not rise again. HILARY; It should be further considered, that this was said to Moses at a time when those holy Patriarchs had gone to their rest. They therefore of whom He was the God were in being ; for they could have had nothing, if they had not been in being ; for in the nature of things that, of which somewhat else is, must have itself a being ; so they who have a God must themselves be alive, since God is eternal, and it is not possible that that which is dead should have that which is eternal. How then shall it be affirmed that those do not, and shall not here after, exist, of whom Eternity itself has said that He is ? ORIGEN ; Ex. 3, God moreover is He who says, / am that I am; so that it is impossible that He should be called the God of those who are not. And see that He said not, I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. But in another place He said thus,

VER. 23 — 33. ST. MATTHEW. 759

The God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee. For they Exod- who in comparison of other men are most perfect before God, ' have God entirely in them, wherefore He is not said to be their God in common, but of each in particular. As when we say, That farm is theirs, we shew that each of them does not own the whole of it ; but when we say, That farm is his, we mean that he is owner of the whole of it. When then it is said, The God of the Hebrews, this shews their imperfec tion, that each of them has some small portion in God. But it is said, The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, because each one of these possessed God en tirely. And it is to the no small honour of the Patriarchs that they lived to God. AUG. Seasonably may we confute Aug. the Manichaeans by this same passage by which the Sadducees were then confuted, for they too though in another manner deny xvi- the resurrection. ID. God is therefore called in particular Aug. in The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God o Jacob, because in these three are expressed all the modes of begetting the sons of God. For God begets most times of a good preacher a good son, and of a bad preacher a bad son. This is signified in Abraham, who of a free woman had a believing son, and of a bondslave an unbelieving son. Some times indeed of a good preacher He begets both good and bad sons, which is signified in Isaac, who of the same free woman begot one good and the other bad. And sometimes He begets good sons both of good and bad preachers ; which is signified in Jacob, who begot good sons both of free women and of bondmaids. PSEUDO-CHRYS. And see how the assault of the Jews against Christ becomes more faint. Their first challenge was in a threatening tone, By what authority doest thou these things, to oppose which firmness of spirit was needed. Their second was with guile, to meet which was needed wisdom. This last was with ignorant presumption which is easier to cope with than the others. For he that thinks he knows somewhat, when he knows nothing, is an easy conquest for one who has understanding. Thus the attacks of an enemy are vehement at first, but if one endure them with a courageous spirit, he will find them more feeble. And ivJien the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at his doctrine, REMIG. Not the Sadducees but the multitudes

760 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXII.

were astonished. This is daily done in the Church ; when by Divine inspiration the adversaries of the Church are over come, the multitude of the faithful rejoice.

34. But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together.

35. Then one of them, which was a Lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,

36. Master, which is the great commandment in the Law ?

37. Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38. This is the first and great commandment.

39. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

40. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.

JEROME. The Pharisees having been themselves already confuted (in the matter of the denarius), and now seeing their adversaries also overthrown, should have taken warning to attempt no further deceit against Him ; but hate and jealousy are the parents of impudence. ORIGEN ; Jesus had put the Sadducees to silence, to shew that the tongue of falsehood is silenced by the brightness of truth. For as it belongs to the righteous man to be silent when it is good to be silent, and to speak when it is good to speak, and not to hold his peace ; so it belongs to every teacher of a lie not indeed to be silent, but to be silent as far as any good purpose is concerned. JEROME ; The Pharisees and Sadducees, thus foes to one an other, unite in one common purpose to tempt Jesus. PSEUDO- CHRYS. Or the Pharisees meet together, that their numbers may silence Him whom their reasonings could not confute ; thus, while they array numbers against Him, shewing that truth failed them; they said among themselves, Let one speak for all, and all speak, through one, so if He prevail, the victory may seem to belong to all ; if He be overthrown, the defeat may rest with Him alone ; so it follows, Then one of

VER. 34 — 40. ST. MATTHEW. 761

them, a teacher of the Law, asked him a question, tempting him. ORIGEN; All who thus ask questions of any teacher to try him, and not to learn of him, we must regard as brethren of this Pharisee, according to what is said below, Inasmuch Matt. as ye have done it unto one of the least of mine, ye have done it unto me. AUG. Let no one find a difficulty in this, that Aug. de Matthew speaks of this man as putting his question to tempt EV. ii. the Lord, whereas Mark does not mention this, but concludes 73> with what the Lord said to him upon his answering wisely, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. For it is pos- Mark sible that, though he came to tempt, yet the Lord's answer may have wrought correction within him. Or, the tempting here meant need not be that of one designing to deceive an enemy, but rather the cautious approach of one making proof of a stranger. And that is not written in vain, WJioso believeth lightly, he is of a vain heart. ORIGEN ;Ecclus. He said Master tempting Him, for none but a disciple would thus address Christ. Whoever then does not learn of the Word, nor yields himself wholly up to it, yet calls it Master, he is brother to this Pharisee thus tempting Christ. Perhaps while they read the Law before the Saviour's coming, it was a question among them which was the great commandment in it ; nor would the Pharisee have asked this, if it had not been long time enquired among themselves, but never found till Jesus came and declared it. PSEUDO-CHRYS. He who now enquires for the greatest commandment had not observed the least. He only ought to seek for a higher righteousness who has fulfilled the lower. JEROME ; Or he enquires not for the sake of the commands, but which is the first and great commandment, that seeing all that God commands is great, he may have occasion to cavil whatever the answer be. PSEUDO-CHRYS. But the Lord so answers him, as at once to lay bare the dissimulation of his enquiry, Jesus saith unto him, Thou, shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. Thou shalt love, not 'fear,' for to love is more than to fear; to fear belongs to slaves, to love to sons ; fear is in compulsion, love in freedom. Whoso serves God in fear escapes punishment, but has not the reward of righteousness because he did well unwillingly through fear. God does not desire to be served servilely by

762 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXII.

men as a master, but to be loved as a father, for that He has given the spirit of adoption to men. But to love God with the whole heart, is to have the heart inclined to the love of no one thing more than of God. To love God again with the whole soul is to have the mind stayed upon the truth, and to be firm in the faith. For the love of the heart and the love of the soul are different. The first is in a sort carnal, that we should love God even with our flesh, which we cannot do unless we first depart from the love of the things of this world. The love of the heart is felt in the heart, but the love of the soul is not felt, but is perceived because it consists in a judgment of the soul. For he who believes that all good is in God, and that without Him is no good, he loves God with his whole soul. But to love God with the whole mind, is to have all the faculties open and unoccupied for Him. He only loves God with his whole mind, whose intellect ministers to God, whose wisdom is em ployed about God, whose thoughts travail in the things of God, and whose memory holds the things which are good. Aug. , AUG. Or otherwise ; You are commanded to love God with Christ^ a^ thy heart, that your whole thoughts — with all thy soul, i. 22. that your whole life — with all thy mind, that your whole understanding — may be given to Him from whom you have that you give. Thus He has left no part of our life which may justly be unfilled of Him, or give place to the desire after 1 alia re any other final good l ; but if aught else present itself for the ' soul's love, it should be absorbed into that channel in which the whole current of love runs. For man is then the most perfect ' al. bo- when his whole life tends towards the life* unchangeable, and ^|m> clings to it with the whole purpose of his soul. GLOSS. Or, with interim, all thy heart, i. e. understanding; with all thy soul, i. e. thy will ; with all thy mind,i. e. memory; so you shall think, will, remem ber nothing contrary to Him. ORIGEN ; Or otherwise ; With all thy heart, that is, in all recollection, act, thought ; with all thy soul, to be ready, that is, to lay it down for God's religion ; with all thy mind, bringing forth nothing but what is of God. And consider whether you cannot thus take the heart of the understanding, by which we contemplate things intellectual, and the mind of that by which we utter thoughts, walking as it were with the mind through each expression,

VER. 34 — 40. ST. MATTHEW. 763

and uttering it. If the Lord had given no answer to the Pharisee who thus tempted Him, we should have judged that there was no commandment greater than the rest. But when the Lord adds, This is the first and great command ment, we learn how we ought to think of the commandments, that there is a great one, and that there are less down to the least. And the Lord says not only that it is a great, but that it is the first commandment, not in order of Scripture, but in supremacy of value. They only take upon them the greatness and supremacy of this precept, who not only love the Lord their God, but add these three conditions. Nor did He only teach the first and great commandment, but added that there was a second like unto the first, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. But if Whoso loveth iniquity hath Ps.n,5. hated his own soiil, it is manifest that he does not love his neighbour as himself, when he does not love himself. AUG. Aug.de It is clear that every man is to be regarded as a neighbour,

because evil is to be done to no man. Further, if every one i- 30.

• via,

to whom we are bound to shew service of mercy, or who is Rom.is, bound to shew it to us, be rightly called our neighbour, it is 10- manifest that in this precept are comprehended the holy Angels who perform for us those services of which we may read in Scripture. Whence also our Lord Himself would be called our neighbour ; for it was Himself whom He repre sents as the good Samaritan, who gave succour to the man who was left half-dead by the way. ID. He that Aug. de loves men ought to love them either because they are^j[|ng righteous, or that they may be righteous ; and so also ought he to love himself either for that he is, or that he may be righteous. And thus without peril he may love his neighbour as himself. ID. But if even yourself you ought not to love Aug. de for your own sake, but because of Him in whom is the rightful end of your love, let not another man be displeased 22. that you love even him for God's sake. Whoso then rightly loves his neighbour, ought to endeavour with him that he also with his whole heart love God. PSEUDO-CHRYS. But who loves man is as who loves God ; for man is God's image, wherein God is loved, as a King is honoured in his statue. For this cause this commandment is said to be like the first. HILARY ; Or otherwise ; That the second command is like

0

764 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXII.

the first signifies that the obligation and merit of both are alike ; for no love of God without Christ, or of Christ without God, can profit to salvation.

It follows, On these two commandments hang all the Law

Aug. and the Prophets. AUG. Hang, that is, refer thither as their

EvTsa. end. RABAN. For to these two commandments belongs the

whole decalogue ; the commandments of the first table to

the love of God, those of the second to the love of our

neighbour. ORIGEN; Or, because he that has fulfilled the

things that are written concerning the love of God and our

neighbour, is worthy to receive from God the great reward,

that he should be enabled to understand the Law and the

Au&'- Prophets. AUG. Since there are two commandments, the

viii. 7. love of God and the love of our neighbour, on which hang

the Law and the Prophets, not without reason does Scripture

put one for both ; sometimes the love of God ; as in that,

Rom. 8, we know that all things work together for good to them that

love God ; and sometimes the love of our neighbour; as in

Gal. 5, that, All the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, Thou

shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. And that because if a

man love his neighbour, it follows therefrom that he loves

God also ; for it is the selfsame affection by which we love

God, and by which we love our neighbour, save that we love

God for Himself, but ourselves and our neighbour for God's

Aug. De sake. ID. But since the Divine substance is more excellent

Christ, i. an(l higher than our nature, the command to love God is

30.et26. distinct from that to love our neighbour. But if by yourself,

you understand your whole self, that ig both your soul and

your body, and in like manner of your neighbour, there is no

sort of things to be loved omitted in these commands. The

love of God goes first, and the rule thereof is so set out to us

as to make all other loves center in that, so that nothing seems

said of loving yourself. But then follows, Thou shalt love

thy neighbour as thyself, so that love of yourself is not

omitted.

41. While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them,

42. Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he ? They say unto him, The Son of David.

VER. 41 — 46. ST. MATTHEW. 765

43. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying,

44. The Lord saith unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool ?

45. If David then call him Lord, how is he his son ?

46. And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.

PSEUDO-CHRYS. The Jews tempted Christ, supposing Him to be mere man ; had they believed Him to be the Son of God, they would not have tempted Him. Christ therefore, willing to shew that He knew the treachery of their hearts, and that He was God, yet would not declare this truth to them plainly, that they might not take occasion thence to charge Him with blasphemy, and yet would not totally conceal this truth ; because to that end had He come that He should preach the truth; He therefore puts a question to them, such as should declare to them who He was; What think ye of Christ? whose Son is He? CHRYS. He first asked HisChrys. disciples what others said of Christ, and then what th themselves said; but not so to these. For they would have said that He was a deceiver, and wicked. They thought that Christ was to be mere man, and therefore they say unto Him, The Son of David. To reprove this, He brings forward the Prophet, witnessing His dominion, proper Sonship, and His joint honour with His Father. JEROME; This passage is out of the 109th Psalm. Christ is therefore called David's Lord, not in respect of His descent from him, but in respect of His eternal generation from the Father, wherein He was before His fleshly Father. And he calls Him Lord, not by a mere chance, nor of his own thought, but by the Holy Spirit. REMIG. That He says, Sit thou on my right handy is not to be taken as though God had a body, and either a right hand or a left hand; but to sit on the right hand of God is to abide in the honour and equality of the Father's majesty. PSEUDO-CHRYS. I suppose that He formed this question, not only against the Pharisees, but also against the heretics ; for

766 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. CHAP. XXII.

according to the flesh He was truly David's Son, but his Lord according to His Godhead. CHRYS. But He rests not with this, but that they may fear, He adds, Till I make thine enemies thy footstool ; that at least by terror He might gain them. ORIGEN; For God puts Christ's enemies as a footstool beneath His feet, for their salvation as well as their destruction. REMIG. But till is used for indefinite time, that the meaning be, Sit Thou for ever, and for ever hold Gloss, thine enemies beneath thy feet. GLOSS. That it is by the selnf D" Fat^ier that the enemies are put under the Son, denotes not the Son's weakness, but the uuion of His nature with His Father. For the Son also puts under Him the Father's enemies, when He glorifies His name upon earth. He concludes from this authority, If David then call Him Lord, how is He his son? JEROME; This question is still available for us against the Jews; for these who believe that Christ is yet to come, assert that He is a mere man, though a holy one, of the race of David. Let us then thus taught by the Lord ask them, If He be mere man, and only the Son of David, how does David call Him his Lord? To evade the truth of this question, the Jews invent many frivolous answers. They allege Abraham's steward, he whose son was Eliezer of Damascus, and say that this Psalm was composed in his person, when after the overthrow of the five kings, the Lord God said to his lord Abraham, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool. Let us ask how Abraham could say the things that follow, and compel them to tell us how Abraham was born before Lucifer, and how he was a Priest after the order of Melchisedech, for whom Mel- chisedech brought bread and wine, and of whom he received tithes of the spoil ? CHRYS. This conclusion He put to their questionings, as final, and sufficient to stop their mouth. Henceforward accordingly they held their peace, not by their own good-will, but from not having aught to say. ORIGEN ; For had their question sprung of desire to know, He would never have proposed to them such things as should have deterred them from asking further. RABAN. Hence we learn that the poison of jealousy may be overcome, but can hardly of itself rest at peace.

CHAP. XXIII.

1. Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,

2. Saying, The Scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat :

3. All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do ; but do not ye after their works : for they say, and do not.

4. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders ; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

PSEUDO-CHRYS. When the Lord had overthrown the Priests by His answer, and shewn their condition to be irremediable, forasmuch as clergy, when they do wickedly, cannot be amended, but laymen who have gone wrong are easily set right, He turns His discourse to His Apostles and the people. For that is an unprofitable word which silences one, without conveying improvement to another. ORIGEN ; The disciples of Christ are better than the com mon herd; and you may find in the Church such as with more ardent affection come to the word of God ; .these are Christ's disciples, the rest are only His people. And sometimes He speaks to His disciples alone, sometimes to the multitudes and His disciples together, as here. The Scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses1 seat, as professing his Law, and boasting that they can interpret it. Those that do not depart from the letter of the Law are the Scribes ; those who make high professions, and separate themselves from the vulgar as better than they, are called Pharisees, which signi-

768 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXIII.

fies ' separate.' Those who understand and expound Moses according to his spiritual meaning, these sit indeed on Moses' seat, but are neither Scribes nor Pharisees, but better than either, Christ's beloved disciples. Since His coming these have sat upon the seat of the Church, which is the seat of Christ. PSEUDO-CHRYS. But regard must be had to this, after what sort each man fills his seat; for not the seat makes the Priest, but the Priest the seat ; the place does not conse crate the man, but the man the place. A wicked Priest Chrys. derives guilt and not honour from his Priesthood. CHRYS.

TT

Ixxii. But that none should say, For this cause am I slack to practise, because my instructor is evil, He removes every such plea, saying, All therefore whatsoever they say unto you, that observe and do, for they speak not their own, but God's, which things He taught through Moses in the Law. And look with how great honour He speaks of Moses, shew ing again what harmony there is with the Old Testament. ORIGEN ; But if the Scribes and Pharisees who sit in Moses' seat are the teachers of the Jews, teaching the commandments of the Law according to the letter, how is this that the Lord bids us do after all things which they say ; but the Apostles Acts is, in the Acts forbid the believers to do according to the letter 19* of the Law. These indeed taught after the letter, not under standing the Law spiritually. Whatsoever they say to us out of the Law, with understanding of its sense, that we do and keep, not doing after their works, for they do not what the law enjoins, nor perceive the veil that is upon the letter of the Law. Or by all we are not to understand every thing in the Law, many things for example relating to the sacrifices, and the like, but such as concern our conduct. But why did He command this not of the Law of grace, but of the doctrine of Moses ? Because truly it was not the time to publish the commandments of the New Law before the sea son of His passion. I think also that He had herein some thing further in view. He was about to bring many things against the Scribes and Pharisees in His discourse following, wherefore that vain men might not think that He coveted their place of authority, or spoke thus out of enmity to them, he first puts away from Himself this suspicion, and then begins to reprove them, that the people might not fall into their

VER. 1 4. ST. MATTHEW. 760

faults ; and that, because they ought to hear them, they should not think that therefore they ought to imitate them in their works, He adds, But do ye not after their works. What can be more pitiable than such a teacher, whose life to imitate is ruin, to refuse to follow is salvation for his disciples? PSEUDO-CHRYS. But as gold is picked out of the dross, and the dross is left, so hearers may take doctrine and leave prac tice, for good doctrine oft comes from an evil man. But as Priests judge it better to teach the bad for the sake of the good, rather than to neglect the good for the sake of the bad ; so also let those who are set under them pay respect to the bad Priests for the sake of the good, that the good may not be despised because of the bad ; for it is better to give the bad what is not their due, rather than to defraud the good of what is justly theirs. CHRYS. Look with what He begins His reproof of them, For they say, and do not. Every one who transgresses the Law is deserving of blame, but especially he who has the post of instruction. And this for a threefold cause ; first, because he is a transgressor ; secondly, because when he ought to set others right, he himself halts ; thirdly, because, being in the rank of a teacher, his influence is more corrupting. Again, He brings a further charge against them, that they oppress those that are put under them ; They bind heavy burdens ; in this He shews a double evil in them ; that they exacted without any allowance the utmost rigour of life from those that were put under them, while they allowed themselves large licence herein. But a good ruler should do the contrary of this, to be to himself a severe judge, to others a merciful one. Observe in what forcible words He utters His reproof; He says not they cannot, but they will not ; and not, lift them, but touch them with one of their fingers. PSEUDO-CHRYS. And to the Scribes and Pharisees of whom He is now speaking, heavy burdens not to be borne are the commandments of the Law ; as St. Peter speaks in the Acts, Wliy seek ye to put a yoke Actsi5, upon the neck of the disciples, which neither we nor our ' fathers were able to bear ? For commending the burdens of the Law by fabulous proofs, they bound as it were the shoul ders of the heart of their hearers with bands, that thus tied as though with proof of reason to them, they might not fling

VOL. I. 3D

770 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXIII

them off; but themselves did not in the least measure fulfil them, that is, not only did not wholly, but did not so much Gloss. as attempt to. GLOSS. Or, bind burdens, that is, gather traditions from all sides, not to aid, but to burden the con science. JEROME ; But all these things, the shoulders, the finger, the burdens, and the bands with which they bind the burdens, have a spiritual meaning. Herein also the Lord speaks generally against all masters who enjoin high things, but do not even little things. PsEUDO-CHRYS. Such also are they who lay a heavy burden upon those who come to peni tence, so that while men would avoid present punishment, they overlook that which is to come. For if you lay upon a boy's shoulders a burden more than he can bear, he must needs either cast it off, or be broken down by it ; so the man on whom you lay too grievous a burden of penance must either wholly refuse it, or if he submit himself to it will find himself unable to bear it, and so be offended, and sin worse. Also, if we should be wrong in imposing too light a penance, is it not better to have to answer for mercy than for severity ? Where the master of the household is liberal, the steward should not be oppressive. If God be kind, should His Priest be harsh ? Do you seek thereby the character of sanctity ? Be strict in ordering your own life, in that of others lenient; let men hear of you as enjoining little, and performing much. The Priest who gives licence to himself, and exacts the utmost from others, is like a corrupt tax-gatherer in the state, who to ease himself taxes others heavily.

5. But all their works they do for to be seen of men : they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,

6. And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,

7. And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.

8. But be not ye called Rabbi : for one is your Master, even Christ ; and all ye are brethren.

9. And call no man your father upon the earth : for one is your Father, which is in heaven.

VER. 5 — 12. ST. MATTHEW. 771

10. Neither be ye called masters : for one is your Master, even Christ.

11. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.

12. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

CHIIYS. The Lord had charged the Scribes and Pha risees with harshness and neglect; He now brings for ward their vain-glory, which made them depart from God. PSEUDO-CHRYS. Every substance breeds in itself that which destroys it, as wood the worm, and garments the moth ; so the Devil strives to corrupt the ministry of the Priests, who are ordained for the edification of holiness, endea vouring that this good, while it is done to be seen of men, should be turned into evil. Take away this fault from the clergy, and you will have no further labour in their reform, for of this it comes that a clergyman who has sinned can hardly perform penance. Also the Lord here points out the cause why they could not believe in Christ, because nearly all they did was in order to be seen of men; for he whose desire is for earthly glory from men, cannot believe on Christ who preaches things heavenly. I have read one who interprets this place thus. In Moses' seat, that is, in the rank and degree instituted by Moses, the Scribes and Phari sees are seated unworthily, forasmuch as they preached to others the Law which foretold Christ's coming, but them selves did not receive Him when come. For this cause He exhorts the people to hear the Law which they preached, that is, to believe in Christ who was preached by the Law, but not to follow the Scribes and Pharisees in their disbelief of Him. And He shews the reason why they preached the coming of Christ out of the Law, yet did not believe on Him ; namely, because they did not preach that Christ should come through any desire of His coming, but that they might be seen by men to be doctors of the Law. ORIGEN ; And their works likewise they do to be seen of men, using outward circumcision, taking away actual leaven out of their houses,

3 D2

772 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXIII.

and doing such like things. But Christ's disciples fulfil the Rom. 2, Law in things secret, being Jews inwardly, as the Apostle speaks. CHRYS. Note the intensive force of the words of His reproofs. He says not merely that they do their works to be seen of men, but added, all their works. And not only in great things but in some things trivial they were vainglo rious, They make broad their phylacteries and enlarge the borders of their garments. JEROME; For the Lord, when He had given the commandments of the Law through Moses, Deut. 6, added at the end, And thou shall bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be ever before thine eyes; the meaning of which is, Let my precepts be in thine hand so as to be fulfilled in thy works ; let them be before thine eyes so as that thou shalt meditate upon them day and night. This the Pharisees misinterpreting, wrote on parchments the Decalogue of Moses, that is, the Ten Commandments, and folding them up, tied them on their forehead, so making them a crown for their head, that they should be always before their eyes. Moses had in another place given command that Nmnb. they should make fringes of blue in the borders of their 15> 39' garments, to distinguish the people of Israel; that as in their bodies circumcision, so in their garments the fringe, might discriminate the Jewish nation. But these superstitious teachers, catching at popular favour, and making gain of silly women, made broad hems, and fastened them with sharp pins, that as they walked or sat they might be pricked, and by such monitors be recalled to the duties of God's ministry. This embroidery then of the Decalogue they called phylac teries, that is, conservatories, because those who wore them, wore them for their own protection and security. So little did the Pharisees understand that they were to be worn on the heart and not on the body ; for in equal degree may cases and chests be said to have books, which assuredly have not the knowledge of God. PSEUDO-CHRYS. But after their example do many invent Hebrew names of Angels, and write them, and bind them on themselves, and they seem dreadful to such as are without understanding. Others again wear round their neck a portion of the Gospel written out. But is not the Gospel read every day in the Church, and heard by all ? Those therefore who receive no profit from the Gospel

VEU. 5 12. ST. MATTHEW. 773

sounded in their ears, how shall the having them hung about their neck save them ? Further, wherein is the virtue of the Gospel ? in the shape of its letters, or in the under standing its meaning? If in the characters, you do well to hang them round your neck ; if in their meaning, they are of more profit when laid up in the heart, than hung round the neck. But others explain this place thus, That they made broad their teachings concerning special observances, as phylacteries, or preservatives of salvation, preaching them continually to the people. And the broad fringes of their garments they explain of the same undue stress upon such commandments. JEROME; Seeing they thus make broad their phylacteries, and make them broad fringes, desiring to have glory of men, they are convicted also in other things ; For they love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues. RABAN. It should be noted, that He does not forbid those to whom this belongs by right of rank to be saluted in the forum, or to sit or recline in the highest room ; but those who unduly desire these things, whether they obtain them or not, these He enjoins the believers to shun as wicked. PSEUDO-CHRYS. For He rebukes not those who recline in the highest place, but those who love such places, blaming the will not the deed. For to no purpose does he humble himself in place who exalts himself in heart. For some vain men hearing that it was a commendable thing to seat himself in the lowest place, chooses so to do ; and thus not only does not put away the vanity of his heart, but adds this additional vain ostentation of his humility, as one who would be thought righteous and humble. For many proud men take the lowest place in their bodies, but in haughtiness of heart think themselves to be seated among the highest; and there are many humble men who, placed among the highest, are inwardly in their own esteem among the lowest. CHRYS. Observe where vain glory governed them, to wit, in the synagogues, whither they entered to guide others. It had been tolerable to have felt thus at feasts, notwithstanding that a doctor ought to be had in honour in all places alike, and not in the Churches only. But if it be blameworthy to love such things, how wrong is it to seek to attain them ? PSEUDO-CHRYS. They love the first

774 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXIU.

salutations, first, that is, not in time only, before others ; but in tone, that we should say with a loud voice, Hail, Rabbi ; and in body that we should bow low our head ; and in place, that the salutation should be in public. RABAN. And herein they are not without fault, that the same men should be concerned in the litigations of the forum, who in the syna gogue in Moses' seat, seek to be called Rabbi by men. PSEUDO-CHRYS. That is, they wish to be called, not to be such ; they desire the name, and neglect the duties. ORIGEN ; And in the Church of Christ are found some who take to them selves the uppermost places, that is, become deacons ; next they aspire to the chief seals of those that are called pres byters ; and some intrigue to be styled among men Bishop, that is, to be called Rabbi. But Christ's disciple loves the uppermost place indeed, but at the spiritual banquet, where he may feed on the choicer morsels of spiritual food, for, with the Apostles who sit upon twelve thrones, he loves the chief seats, and hastes by his good works to render himself worthy of such seats ; and he also loves salutations made in the heavenly market-place, that is, in the heavenly congrega tions of the primitive. But the righteous man would be called Rabbi, neither by man, nor by any other, because there is One Master of all men. CHRYS. Or otherwise; Of the foregoing things with which He had charged the Pharisees, He now passes over many as of no weight, and such as His disciples needed not to be instructed in; but that which was the cause of all evils, namely, ambition of the master's seat, that He insists upon to instruct His disciples. PSEUDO-CHRYS. Be not ye called Rabbi, that ye take not to yourselves what belongs to God. And call not others Rabbi, that ye pay not to men a divine honour. For One is the Master of all, who instructs all men by nature. For if man were taught by man, all men would learn that have teachers ; but seeing it is not man that teaches, but God, many are taught, but few learn. Man cannot by teaching impart an understanding to man, but that under standing which is given by God man calls forth by schooling. HILARY ; And that the disciples may ever remember that they *nt °n' ave l^e children of one parent, and that by their new birth Helvid. they have passed the limits of their earthly origin. JEROME ;

VEIL 5 — 12. ST. MATTHEW. 775

All men may be called brethren in affection, which is of two kinds, general and particular. Particular, by which all Christians are brethren ; general, by which all men being bom of one Father are bound together by like tie of kindred. PSEUDO-CHRYS. And call no man your Father upon earth ; because in this world though man begets man, yet there is one Father who created all men. For we have not beginning of life from our parents, but we have our life transmitted through them8. ORIGEN; But who calls no man father upon earth ? He who in every action done as before God, says, Our Father, which art in Heaven, GLOSS. Because it was Gloss. clear who was the Father of all, by this which was said, no Which art in Heaven, He would teach them who was the Master of all, and therefore repeats the same command con cerning a master, Neither be ye called masters; for one is your Master, even Christ. CHRYS. Not that when Christis here said to be our Master, the Father is excluded, as neither when God is said to be our Father, is Christ excluded, Who is the Father of men. JEROME; It is a difficulty that the Apostle against this command calls himself the teacher of the Gentiles; and that in monasteries in their common conversation, they call one another, Father. It is to be cleared thus. It is one thing to be father or master by nature, another by sufferance. Thus when we call any man our father, we do it to shew respect to his age, not as regarding him as the author of our being. We also call men ' Master,' from resemblance to a real master ; and, not to use tedious repetition, as the One God and One Son, who are by nature, do not preclude us from calling others gods and sons by adoption, so the One Father and One Master, do not preclude us from speaking of

a The Catholic doctrine is, that the of the Catholic faith consistently and

man is born from his parents, by propa- truly, preaching that the souls of men,

gation, hut that the soul is immediately before they were breathed into their

created by God, the human agency bodies, were not, nor are incorporated

being but a certain disposition of mat- by any other but by God the Framer,

ter — such that according to God's good Who is Creator of them as well as

pleasure, by a law which He has ap- the bodies. Ep. 15, ad Turrib. 10.

pointed, the gift of a soul is accorded And so St. Hilary, " Every soul is the

to it. And thus, though a man's soul work of God, but the generation of the

cannot be called the son of his parents, flesh is come from the flesh." De Trin.

yet that compound nature of which the x. 20. Vide also Greg. Nyss. de Anim.

soul forms part, is such. That the soul p. 934. Ambros. de Noe. 4. Hieron.

is immediately from God by creation is in Eccles. xii. 7. the Catholic doctrine. St. Leo speaks

776 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXIII.

other fathers and masters by an abuse of the terms. CHRYS. Not only does the Lord forbid us to seek supremacy, but would lead His hearer to the very opposite ; He that is greatest among you shall be your servant. ORIGEN; Or otherwise ; And if one minister the divine word, knowing that it is Christ that makes it to be fruitful, such a one professes himself a minister and not a master; whence it follows, He that is greatest among you, let him be your servant. As Christ Himself, who was in truth our Master, professed Him- Luke self a minister, saying, / am in the midst of you as one that 22, 27. ministers. And well does He conclude this prohibition of all vain-glory with the words, And whosoever shall exalt him self shall be abased ; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. REMIG. Which means that every one who thinks highly of his own deserts, shall be humbled before God; and every one who humbles himself concerning his good deeds, shall be exalted with God.

13. But woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men : for ye neither go in yourselves, nei ther suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

ORIGEN ; Christ is truly the Son of that God Who gave the Law ; after the example of the blessings pronounced in the Law, did Himself pronounce the blessings of them that are saved ; and also after the cursings of the Law, He now sets forth a woe against sinners ; Woe unto you, Scribes and Pha risees, hypocrites. They who allow that it is compatible with goodness to utter these denunciations against sinners, should understand that the purpose of God is the same in the cursings of the Law. Both the cursing there and the woe here fall upon the sinner not from Him who denounces, but from themselves who commit the sins which are denounced, and worthily bring upon themselves the inflictions of God's discipline, appointed for the turning of men to good. So a father rebuking a son utters words of cursing, but does not desire that he should become deserving of those curses, but rather that he should turn himself from them. He adds the cause

VEU. 14. ST. MATTHEW. 777

of this woe, Ye shut up ike kingdom of heaven against men; for ye neither go in yourselves, nor suffer them that are entering to go in. These two commandments are by nature inseparable ; because not to suffer others to enter in, is of itself enough to keep the hinderer out. PSEUDO-CHRYS. By the kingdom of heaven is meant the Scriptures, because in them the kingdom of heaven is lodged ; the understanding of these is the door. Or the kingdom of heaven is the blessed ness of heaven, and the door thereof Christ, by Whom men enter in. The door-keepers are the Priests, to whom is com mitted the word of teaching or interpreting Scripture, by which the door of truth is opened to men. The opening of this door is right interpretation. And observe that He said not, Woe unto you, for ye open, but, for ye shut up; the Scriptures then are not shut up, though they are obscure. ORIGEN ; The Pharisees and the Scribes then would neither enter in, nor hear Him who said, By me if any man enter in John he shall be saved ; nor would they suffer those to enter in, ' ' who were able to have believed through the things which had been spoken before by the Law and the Prophets con cerning Christ, but shut up the door with every kind of device to deter men from entering. Also they detracted from His teaching, denied all prophecy concerning Him, and blasphemed every miracle as deceitful, or wrought by the Devil. All who in their evil conversation set an example of sinning to the people, and who commit injustice, offending the weak, seem to shut up the kingdom of heaven before men. And this sin is found among the people, and chiefly among the doctors, when they teach men what the Gospel righteous ness requires of them, but do not what they teach. But those who both teach and live well open to men the kingdom of heaven, and both enter in themselves, and invite others to enter in. Many also will not suffer those who are willing to enter into the kingdom of heaven, when they without reason excommunicate out of jealousy others who are better than themselves ; thus they refuse them entrance, but these of sober spirit, overcoming by their patience this tyranny, al though forbidden, yet enter in and inherit the kingdom. Also they who with much rashness have set themselves to the profession of teaching before they have learned, and fol-

778 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXIII.

lowing Jewish fables, detract from those who search out the higher things of Scripture ; these do, as far as in them lies, shut out men from the kingdom of heaven.

14. Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypo crites ! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pre tence make long prayer : therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.

Chrys. CHRYS. Next the Lord rebukes them for their gluttony, IxxHi. an(i what was the worst, that not from the rich but from widows they took wherewith to fill their bellies, thus burden ing the poverty of those whom they should have relieved. Gloss. GLOSS. Devour widows' houses, that is, your superstitions "' have this only aim, namely, to make a gain of the people that is put under you. PsEUDO-CHRYS. The female sex is imprudent, as not contemplating with reason all that it sees or hears ; and weak, as being easily turned either from bad to good, or from good to bad. The male sex is more prudent and hardy. And therefore pretenders to holiness practise most upon women, who are unable to see their hypocrisy, and are easily inclined to love them on the ground of religion. But widows they chiefly choose to attempt ; first, because a woman who has her husband to advise her is not so readily deceived; and secondly, she has not the means of giving, being in the power of her husband. The Lord then, whilst He confounds the Jewish Priests, instructs the Christian that they should not frequent widows rather than others, for though their purpose may not be bad, it gives occasion to suspicions. CHRYS. The manner of this plundering is griev ous, for they make long prayers. Every one who does evil deserves punishment ; but he who takes occasion for his offence from religion, deserves more severe punishment; Therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. PSEUDO- CHRYS. First, for that ye are wicked, and then because ye put on the cloak of sanctity. Your covetousness you dress up in the colour of religion, and use God's arms in the Devil's service, that iniquity may be loved while it is thought to be piety. HILARY; Or, because their observance of the king-

VER. 15. ST. MATTHEW. 779

dom of heaven proceeds hence, that they may keep up their practice of going about to widows' houses, they shall there fore receive the heavier judgment, as having their own sin and the ignorance of others to answer for. GLOSS. Or, GIOSS. because the servant that knew his Lord's will and did it}-^j£™ not, shall be beaten with many stripes. 12, 47.

15. Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypo crites ! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, you make him two fold more the child of hell than yourselves.

CHRYS. This the next charge against them is, that they are unequal to the salvation of many, seeing they need so much labour to bring one to salvation; and not only are they slack in conversion, but destroy even those whom they do convert, by corrupting them by example of evil life. HILARY; That they compass sea and land signi fies that throughout the whole world they shall be enemies of Christ's Gospel, and shall bring men under the yoke of the Law against the justification of faith. There were proselytes made into the Synagogue from among the Gentiles, the small number of whom is here denoted by what is said one proselyte. For after the preaching of Christ there was no faith left in their doctrine, but whoever was gained to the faith of the Jews became a child of hell. ORIGEN; For all who Judaize since the coming of the Saviour, are taught to follow the temper of those who cried at that time, Crucify, crucify him. HILARY; And he becomes the child of a twofold punishment, because he has not obtained remission of his Gentile sins, and because he has joined the society of those who persecuted Christ. JEROME; Or otherwise; The Scribes and Pharisees compassed the whole world to make proselytes of the Gentiles, that is, to mix the uncircumcised stranger with the people of God. PSEUDO-CHRYS. And that not of com passion from desire to save him whom they taught, but either from covetousness, that the greater number of wor shippers might increase the number of offerings made in sacrifice, or out of vain glory. For he who sinks himself in a slough of sins, how should he be desirous to rescue another

GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXIII.

out of them ? Will a man be more merciful to another than to

himself? By a man's actions therefore it may be known

whether he seeks another's conversion for God's sake, or out

Greg, of vain glory. GREG. But forasmuch as hypocrites though

xx°xi.9. they do ever crooked things, yet cease not to speak right

things, and thus by their good instructions beget sons, but

are not able to bring them up by good life, but the more

they give themselves up to worldly works, the more willingly

do they suffer those whom they have begotten to work the

same. And because their hearts are hardened, these very

sons whom they have begotten they do not own by any sign

of the affection due. Wherefore it is here said of the

hypocrites, And when he is made, ye make him twofold more

Aug. the child of hell than yourselves. AUG. This He said not

iTu't because proselytes were circumcised, but because they imi-

xvi. 29. tated the lives of those from following whom He had prohi-

cont. A-bited His disciples, saying, Do ye not after their works. Two

dimant. things are observable in this command ; first, the honour

Matt, shewn to Moses' teaching, that even wicked men when sitting

23> 3' in his seat are compelled to teach good things ; and that the

proselyte is made a child of hell, not by hearing the words

of the Law, but by following their doings. And twofold more

than they for this reason, that he neglects to fulfil what he

had undertaken of his own choice, having been not born a

Jew, but of free will become a Jew. JEROME; Or, because

before while he was a Gentile he erred in ignorance, and

was only a child of hell ; but seeing the vices of his

masters, and understanding that they destroyed in their

actions what they taught in words, he returns to his vomit,

and becoming a Gentile, he is worthy of greater punishment

as one that has deserted his cause. PSEUDO-CHRYS. Or,

because while he was a worshipper of idols, he observed

righteousness even because of men ; but when he became

a Jew, prompted by the example of evil teachers, he became

worse than his teachers. CHRYS. For a disciple imitates

a virtuous master, but goes beyond a vicious one. JEROME ;

He is called a child of hell in the same way as one is said

to be a child of perdition, and a child of this world ; every

man is called the son of him whose works he does. ORIGEN ;

From this place we learn that there will be a difference of

VER. 16 22. ST. MATTHKW. 781

torment in hell, seeing one is here said to be singly a child of hell, another twofold. And we ought to consider here whether it is possible that a man should be generally a child of hell, as a Jew, suppose, or a Gentile, or whether specially so in consequence of some particular sins ; that as a righteous man is increased in glory by the abundance of his righteousnesses, so a sinner's punishment is increased manifold by the number of his sins.

16. Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing ; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor !

17. Ye fools and blind : for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold ?

18. And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing ; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.

19. Ye fools and blind : for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift ?

20. Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.

21. And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.

22. And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.

JEROME ; As by making broad phylacteries and fringes they sought after the reputation of sanctity, and made this again a means of gain, so now He charges them with being teachers of wickedness by their fraudulent pretence of tradition. For when in any dispute or quarrel, or am biguous cause, one swore by the temple, arid was after wards convicted of falsehood, he was not held guilty. This is what is meant by that, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing, that is, he owes nothing, But if he had

782 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXVI.

sworn by the gold, or by the money which was offered to the Priests in the temple, he was immediately compelled to pay down that by which he had sworn. PsEUDO-CnRYS. The temple pertains to God's glory, and to man's spiritual sal vation, but the gold of the temple though it pertains to the glory of God, yet does it more so to the delight of man, and the profit of the Priests. The Jews then pronounced the gold which delighted them, and the gifts which fed them, to be more holy than the temple, that they might make men more disposed to offer gifts, than to pour out prayers in the temple. Whence the Lord suitably reproves them in these words. Yet have some Christians at present an equally foolish notion. See, they say, in any suit if one swear by God, it seems nought; but if one swear by the Gospel, he seems to have done some great thing. To whom we shall say in like manner, Ye fools and blind ! the Scriptures were written because of God, God is not because of the Scriptures. Greater therefore is God, than what is hallowed by Him. JEROME; Again, if one swore by the altar, none held him guilty of perjury ; but if he swore by the gift or the victims or the other things which are offered to God upon the altar, this they exacted most rigorously. And all this they did not out of fear of God, but out of covet- ousness. Thus the Lord charges them with both folly and fraud, inasmuch as the altar is much greater than the victims

Gloss. which are sanctified by the altar. GLOSS. And lest their in- 'fatuation should go so far, that they should affirm that the gold was more holy than the temple, and the gift than the altar, He argues on another ground, that in the oath which is sworn by the temple and the altar is contained the oath by the gold or by the gift. ORIGEN; In like manner the custom which the Jews had of swearing by the Heaven He reprobates. For they did not, as they supposed, avoid the danger of taking an oath by God, because, Whoso swearelh by heaven, swear - etli by the throne of God, and by hint that sitteth thereon.

Gloss. GLOSS. For whoso swears by the creature that is subject, swears by the Divinity that rules over the creation.

ORIGEN; Now an oath is in confirmation of somewhat that has been spoken. The oath here then may signify testimony of Scripture which we produce in confirmation of that word which we speak. So that Divine Scripture is the temple of God,

VER. 23, 24. ST. MATTHEW. 783

the gold is the meaning which it contains. As the gold which is outside the Temple is not sanctified, so all thoughts which are without divine Scripture, however admirable they may seem, are not hallowed. We ought not therefore to bring any speculations of our own for the confirmation of doctrine, un less such as we can shew are hallowed by being contained in divine Scripture. The altar is the human heart, which is the chief thing in man. The offerings and gifts that are hid upon the altar, are every thing which are done in the heart, as to pray, to sing, to do alms, to fast. Every offering of a man then is sanctified by his heart, by which the offering is made. There cannot therefore be a more honourable offer ing than the heart of man, out of which the offering proceeds. If then one's conscience does not smite him, he has confi dence towards God, not by reason of his gifts, but so to speak because he has rightly ordered the altar of his heart. Thirdly, we may say that over the temple, that is over every Scripture, and over the altar, that is over every heart, there is a certain meaning which is called the Heaven, the throne of God Him self, in which we shall be able to see the things that are re vealed face to face, when that which is perfect is come. HILARY ; For since Christ is come, reliance upon the Law is vain ; for not Christ by the Law, but the Law by Christ, is sanctified, in whom it rests as on a seat or throne ; so are they fools and blind, who, overlooking the sanctifier, pay honour to the things sanctified. AUG. The temple and altar we may Aug also understand of Christ Himself; the gold and the gifts, of Ev the praise and sacrifice of prayer which we offer in Him and through Him. For not He by them, but they by Him, are sanctified.

23. Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypo crites ! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cum min, and have omitted the weighter matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

24. Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.

784 GOSPEI, ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXIII.

CHRYS. The Lord had said above that they bound heavy burdens upon others, which they themselves would not touch ; He now again shews how they aimed at being correct in little things, but neglected weighty matters. JEROME ; The Lord had commanded, that for the maintenance of the Priests and Levites, whose portion was the Lord, tithes of every thing should be offered in the temple. Accordingly, the Pharisees (to dismiss mystical expositions) concerned themselves about this alone, that these trifling things should be paid in, but lightly esteemed other things which were weighty. He charges them then with covetousness in exacting carefully the tithes of worthless herbs, while they neglected justice in their transactions of business, mercy to the poor, and faith toward God, which are weighty things. PSEUDO-CHRYS. Or, because these covetous Priests, when any one did not bring his tithes of the smallest thing, made it a matter of grave reprehension ; but when one injured his neighbour or sinned against God, they were at no pains to reprove him, careful only of their own profit, neglecting the glory of God, and the salvation of men. For to observe righteousness, to do mercy, and to have faith, these things God commanded for His own glory ; but the payment of tithes He established for the support of the Priests, so that the Priests should minister to the people in spiritual things, and the people supply the Priests with carnal things. Thus is it at this time, when all are careful of their own honour, none of God's honour; they jealously protect their own rights, but will not bestow any pains in the service of the Church. If the people pay not their tithes duly, they murmur ; but if they see the people in sin, they utter not a word against them. But because some of the Scribes and Pharisees, to whom He is now speaking, were of the people, it is not unsuitable to make a different interpretation ; and ' to tithe' may be used as well of him who pays, as of him who receives, tithes. The Scribes then and Pharisees offered tithes of the very best things for the purpose of displaying their righteousness ; but in their judgments they were unjust, without mercy for their brethren, without faith for the truth.

ORIGEN ; But because it was possible that some, hearing the Lord speak thus, might thereupon neglect paying tithes

VER. 25, 26. ST. MATTHEW. 785

of small things, He prudently adds, TJiese things ought ye to have done, (i. e. justice, mercy, and faith,) and not to leave the others undone, i. e. the tithing of mint, anise, and cum min. REMIG. In these words the Lord shews that all the commandments of the Law, greatest and least, are to be ful filled. They also are refuted who give alms of the fruits of the earth, supposing that thus they cannot sin, whereas their alms profit them nothing unless they are careful to keep themselves from sin. HILARY; And because it was much less guilt to omit the tithing of herbs than a duty of benevolence, the Lord derides them, Ye blind guides, which strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel. JEROME ; The camel I suppose to mean the weighty precepts, judgment, mercy, and faith ; the gnat, the tithing of mint, anise, and cummin, and other value less herbs. The greater of God's commands we swallow and overlook, but shew our carelessness by a religious scru pulousness in little things which bring profit with them. ORIGEN ; Or, straining out a gnat, that is, putting from them small sins; swallowing a camel, that is, committing great sins, which He calls camels, from the size and distorted shape of that animal. Morally, The Scribes are those who think nothing else contained in Scripture than the bare letter exhibits ; the Pharisees are all those who esteem themselves righteous, and separate themselves from others, saying, ' Come not nigh me, for I am clean.' Mint, anise, and cummin, are the seasoning, not the substantial part of food ; as in our life and conversation there are some things necessary to justifi cation, as judgment, mercy, and faith ; and others which are like the seasoning of our actions, giving them a flavour and sweetness, as abstinence from laughter, fasting, bending the knee, and such like. How shall they not be judged blind who see not that it is of little avail to be a careful dispenser in the least things, if things of chief moment are neglected ? These His present discourse overthrows; not forbidding to observe the little things, but bidding to keep more carefully the chief things. GREG. Or otherwise; The gnat stings Greg, while it hums ; the camel bows its back to receive its load. 15°r' The Jews then strained off the gnat, when they prayed to have the seditious robber released to them ; and they swal- VOL. i. 3 E

786 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXII.

lowed the camel, when they sought with shouts the death of Him who had voluntarily taken on Him the burden of our mortality.

25. Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypo crites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.

26. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.

JEROME; In different words, but to the same purport as before, He reproves the hypocrisy and dissimulation of the Pharisees, that they shewed one face to men abroad, but wore another at home. He means not here, that their scrupulousness respecting the cup and the platter was of any importance, but that they affected it to pass off their sanctity upon men; which is clear from His adding, but inwardly ye are full of ravening and uncleanness. PSEUDO-CHRYS. Or, He means that the Jews whenever they were to enter the temple or to offer sacrifice, or on any festivals, used to wash themselves, their clothes, and their vessels, but none cleansed himself from his sins; but God neither commends bodily cleanliness, nor condemns the contrary. But suppose foul ness of person or of vessels were offensive to God, which must become foul by being used, how much more does He not abhor foulness of conscience, which we may, if we will, keep ever pure ? HILARY ; He therefore is reproving those who, pursuing an ostentation of useless scrupulosity, neglected the discharge of useful morality. For it is the inside of the cup that is used; if that be foul, what profit is it to cleanse the outside ? And therefore what is needed is purity of the inner conscience, that those things which are of the body may be clean without. PSEUDO-CHRYS. This He speaks not of the cup and platter of sense, but of that of the understand ing, which may be pure before God, though it have never

VER. 27, 28. ST. MATTHEW. 787

touched water ; but if it have sinned, then though the water of the whole ocean and of all rivers have washed it, it is foul and guilty before God. CHRYS. Note, that speaking of tithes He said, Tliese things ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone : for tithes are a kind of alms, and what wrong is it to give alms ? Yet said He it not to enforce a legal superstition. But here, discoursing of things clean and unclean, He does not add this, but distinguishes and shews that external purity of necessity follows internal ; the outside of the cup and platter signifying the body, the inside the soul. ORIGEN ; This discourse instructs us that we should hasten to become righteous, not to seem so. For whoso seeks to be thought so, cleanses the outside, and has care of the things that are seen, but neglects the heart and conscience. But he who seeks to cleanse that which is within, that is, the thoughts, makes by that means the things without clean also. All professors of false doctrine are cups cleansed on the outside, because of that show of religion which they affect, but within they are full of extortion and guile, hurrying men into error. The cup is a vessel for liquids, the platter for meat. Every discourse then of which we spiritually drink, and all speech by which we are fed, are vessels for meat and drink. They who study to set forth well wrought discourse rather than such as is full of healthful meaning, are cups cleansed without ; but within full of the defilement of vanity. Also the letter of the Law and the Prophets is a cup of spiritual drink, and a platter of necessary food. The Scribes and Pharisees seek to make plain the outward sense; Christ's disciples labour to exhibit the spiritual sense.

27. Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypo crites ! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.

28. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

3 E 2

788 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXIII.

ORIGEN ; As above they are said to be full of extortion and excess, so here they are full of hypocrisy and iniquity, and are likened to dead men's bones, and all uncleanness. PSEUDO-CHRYS. Justly are the bodies of the righteous said to be temples, because in the body of the righteous the soul has dominion, as God in His temple; or because God Him self dwells in righteous bodies. But the bodies of sinners are called sepulchres of the dead, because the sinner's soul is dead in his body; for that cannot be deemed to be alive, which does no spiritual or living act. JEROME; Sepulchres are whitened with lime without, and decorated with marble painted in gold and various colours, but within are full of dead men's bones. Thus crooked teachers who teach one thing and do another, affect purity in their dress, and humility in their speech, but within are full of all uncleanness, covet- ousness, and lust. ORIGEN ; For all feigned righteousness is dead, forasmuch as it is not done for God's sake ; yea, rather it is no righteousness at all, any more than a dead man is a man, or an actor who represents any character is the man whom he represents. There is therefore within them so much of bones and uncleanness as are the good things that they wickedly pretend to. And they seem righteous out- Ps.82, wardly, not in the eyes of such as the Scripture calls Gods,bui

I' of such only as die like men. GREG. But before their strict

"reS-

Mor. Judge they cannot have the plea of ignorance, for by assuming

in the eyes of men every form of sanctity, they witness against themselves that they are not ignorant how to live well. PSEUDO-CHRYS. But say, hypocrite, if it be good to be wicked, why do you not desire to seem that which you desire to be? For what it is shameful to seem, that it is more shameful to be; and what to seem is fair, that it is fairer to be. Either therefore be what you seem, or seem what you are.

29. Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypo crites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,

30. And say, If we had been in the days of our

VER. 29 31. ST. MATTHEW. 789

fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.

31. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.

JEROME; By a most subtle syllogism He proves them to be the sons of murderers, while to gain good character and reputation with the people, they build the sepulchres of the Prophets whom their fathers put to death. ORIGEN ; With out just cause He seems to utter denunciations against those who build the sepulchres of the Prophets ; for so far what they did was praiseworthy; how then do they deserve this woe ? CHRYS. He does not blame them for building the Chrys. sepulchres, but discovers the design with which they built ixxjv* them; which was not to honour the slain, but to erect to themselves a triumphal monument of the murder, as fearing that in process of time the memory of this their audacious wickedness should perish. PSEUDO-CHRYS. Or, they said within themselves, If we do good to the poor not many see it, and then but for a moment; were it not better to raise buildings which all may see, not only now, but in all time to come ? O foolish man, what boots this posthumous memory, if, where you are, you are tortured, and where you are not there you are praised? While He corrects the Jews, He instructs the Christians ; for had these things been spoken to the former only, they would have been spoken, but not written ; but now they were spoken on their account, and written on ours. When one, besides other good deeds, raises sacred buildings, it is an addition to his good works ; but if without any other good works, it is a passion for worldly renown. The martyrs joy not to be honoured with money which has caused the poor to weep. The Jews, moreover, have ever been adorers of saints of former times, and contemners, yea persecutors, of the living. Because they could not endure the reproaches of their own Prophets, they persecuted and killed them ; but afterwards the succeeding generation perceived the error of their fathers, and thus in grief at the death of innocent Prophets, they built up

790 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXIII.

monuments of them. But they themselves in like manner persecuted and put to death the Prophets of their own time, when they rebuked them for their sins. This is what is meant, And ye say, ]f we had been in the days of our fathers> ue would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the Prophets. JEROME ; Though they speak not this in words, they proclaim it by their actions, in ambitious and magnifi cent structures to their memory. PSEUDO-CHRYS. What they thought in their hearts, that they spoke by their deeds. Christ lays bare here the natural habit of all wicked men ; each rea dily apprehends the other's fault, but none his own ; for in another's case each man has an unprejudiced heart, but in his own case it is distorted. Therefore in the cause of others we can all easily be righteous judges. He only is the truly righteous and wise who is able to judge himself. It follows, Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that you are the children of them which killed the Prophets. CHRYS. What kind of accusation is this, to call one the son of a murderer, who partakes not in his father's disposition ? Clearly there is no guilt in being so; wherefore this must be said in proof of their resemblance in wickedness. PSEUDO-CHRYS. The character of the parents is a witness to the sons ; if the father be good and the mother bad, or the reverse, the children may follow sometimes one, sometimes the other. But when both are the same, it very rarely happens that bad sons spring of good parents, or the reverse, though it be so sometimes. This is as a man is sometimes born out of the rule of nature, having six fingers or no eyes.

ORIGEN ; And in the prophetic writings, the historical sense is the body, the spiritual meaning is the soul; the sepulchres are the letter and books themselves of Scripture. They then who attend only to the historical meaning, honour the bodies of the Prophets, and set in the letter as in a sepulchre ; and are called Pharisees, i. e. ' cut off,' as it were cutting off the soul of the Prophets from their body.

32. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.

33. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell ?

VER. 82 36. ST. MATTHEW. 791

34. Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and Scribes ; and some of them ye shall kill and crucify ; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city :

35. That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righ teous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Bara- chias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

36. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.

CHRYS. He had said against the Scribes and Pharisees, that they were the children of those who killed the Prophets ; now therefore He shews that they were like them in wicked ness, and that that was false that they said, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the Prophets. Wherefore He now says, Fill ye up the measure of your fathers. This is not a com mand, but a prophecy of what is to be. PSEUDO-CHRYS. He foretels, that as their fathers killed the Prophets, so they also should kill Christ, and the Apostles, and other holy men. As suppose you had a quarrel with some one, you might say to your adversary, Do to me what you are about to do ; but you do not therein bid him do it, but shew him that you are aware of his manoeuvres. And in fact they went beyond the measure of their fathers ; for they put to death only men, these crucified God. But because He stooped to death of His own free choice, He does not lay on them the sin of His death, but only the death of the Apostles and other holy men. Whence also He said, Fill up, and not Fill over; for a just and merciful Judge overlooks his own wrongs, and only punishes those done to others. ORIGEN; They fill up the measure of their fathers1 sins by their not believing in Christ. And the cause of their unbelief was, that they looked only to the letter and the body, and would understand nothing spiri tual in them. HILARY ; Because then they will fill up the

792 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXIII.

measure of their fathers' purposes, therefore are they serpents, and an offspring of vipers. JEROME ; The same had been said by John the Baptist. Wherefore as of vipers are born vipers, so of your fathers who were murderers are you born murderers. PSEUDO-CHRYS. He calls them offspring of vipers, because the nature of vipers is such that the young burst the womb of their dam, and so come forth ; and in like manner the Jews condemned their fathers, finding fault with their deeds. He says, How shall ye escape the damnation of hell ? By build ing the tombs of the saints ? But the first step of piety is to love hoh'ness, the next, to love the saints ; for it is not rea sonable in him to honour the righteous, who despises righteous ness. The saints cannot be friends to those to whom God is an enemy. Shall ye be saved by a mere name, because ye seem to be among God's people ! Forasmuch as an open enemy is better than a false friend, so is he more hateful to God, who calls himself the servant of God, and does the commands of the Devil. Indeed, before God he who has resolved to kill a worm is a murderer before the deed is done, for it is the will that is rewarded for good, or punished for evil. Deeds are evidence of the will. God then does not require deeds on His own ac count that He may know how to judge, but for the sake of other men, that they may perceive that God is righteous. And God affords the opportunity of sin to the wicked, not to make them sin, but to manifest the sinner; and also to the good He gives opportunity to shew the purpose of their will. In this way then He gave the Scribes and Pharisees oppor tunity of shewing their purposes, Behold, I send unto you Prophets, and wise men, and Scribes. HILARY; That is, the Apostles, who, as foretelling things to come, are Prophets ; as having knowledge of Christ, are wise men; as understanding the Law, are Scribes. JEROME ; Or, as the Apostle writes i Cor. to the Corinthians that there are various gifts among Christ's disciples; some Prophets, who foretel things to come; some wise men, who know when they ought to speak; others Scribes taught in the Law ; of whom Stephen was stoned, Paul killed, Peter crucified, and the disciples of the Apostles beaten, in the Acts ; arid they persecuted them from city to city, driving them out of Judaea, that they might go to the Gentiles. ORIGEN; Or the Scribes who are sent by Christ,

VER. 32 — 36. ST. MATTHEW. 793

are Scribes according to the Gospel, whom the spirit quickens and the letter does not kill, as did the letter of the Law, which whoso followed ran into vain superstitions. The simple words of the Gospel are sufficient for salvation. But the Scribes of the Law do yet scourge the Scribes of the New Testament, by detracting from them in their syna gogues; and the heretics also, who are spiritual Pharisees, with their tongues murder the Christians, and persecute them from city to city, sometimes in the body, sometimes also in the spirit, seeking to drive them from their own city of the Law, the Prophets, and the Gospel, into an other Gospel. CHRYS. Then to shew them that they should not do this without punishment, He holds out an un speakable terror over them, That upon you may come all the righteous blood. RABAN. That is, all the vengeance due for the shedding of the blood of the righteous. JEROME; Concerning the Abel here spoken of, there is no doubt that it is he whom his brother Cain murdered. He is proved to have been righteous, not only by this judgment of the Lord, but by the passage in Genesis, which says that his offerings were accepted by God. But we must enquire who is this Zacharias, son of Barachias, because we read of many Zachariases; and that we might not mistake, here it is added, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Some say that it is that Zacharias who is the eleventh among the twelve Prophets, and his father's name agrees to this, but when he was slain between the temple and the altar, Scripture does not mention ; but above all, in his time there were scarce 'even the ruins of the temple. Others will have it to be Zacharias the father of John. ORIGEN; A tradition has come down to us, that there was one place in the temple in which virgins were allowed to worship God, married women being forbidden to stand there. And Mary, after the Saviour's birth, going into the temple, stood to pray in this place of the virgins. And when they who knew that she had borne a Son were hindering her, Zacharias said, that forasmuch as she was still a virgin, she was worthy of the place of the virgins. Whereupon, as though he manifestly were con travening the Law, he was slain there between the temple and the altar by the men of that generation ; and thus this

794 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXIII.

word of Christ is true which He spake to those who were standing there, whom ye slew". JEROME; Bat as this has no Scripture authority, it is as readily despised as offered. Others 2Chron.wiU have it to be that Zacharias who was killed by Joas, king of Judah, between the temple and the altar, that is, in the court of the temple. But that Zacharias was not the son of Barachias, but of Jehoiada the Priest. But Barachias in our language is interpreted ' Blessed of the Lord,' so that the righteousness of Joiada the Priest is expressed by this Hebrew word. But in the Gospel which the Nazarenes use, we find written ' son of Joiada' instead of son of Barachias. REMIG. It should be enquired too how He says, to the blood of Zacharias, since the blood of many more saints was afterwards shed. This is thus explained. Abel a keeper of sheep was killed in the field, Zacharias a priest was slain in the court of the temple. The Lord therefore names these two, because by these all holy martyrs are denoted, both of lay and priestly order. CHRYS. More over, He names Abel, to shew that it would be out of envy that they would kill Christ and His disciples. He names Zacharias, because there was a twofold resemblance in his case, the sacred place, as well as the sacred person.

ORIGEN j Zacharias is interpreted * The memory of God.' Whosoever then hastes to obliterate the memory of God, seems to those to whom he gives offence to shed the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias. For it is by the blessing of God that we retain the memory of God. Also the memory of God is slain by the wicked, when the Temple of God is polluted by the lustful, and His altar defiled by the careless ness of prayers. Abel is interpreted ' mourning.' He then who does not receive that, Blessed are they that mourn, sheds the blood of Abel, that is, puts away the truth of whole some mourning. Some also shed, as it were, the blood of the .Scriptures by putting aside their truth, for all Scripture, if it is not understood according to its truth, is dead. CHRYS.

• This tradition is mentioned also by phal books, but sets it aside and adopts

CyrilA.? adv. Anthrop.27. andPseudo- the interpretation given in the text.

Basil, Horn, de Sanct. Christ. Gen. 5. The murder of Zacharias, father of John

Theopbylact (in loc.) and Euthymius the Baptist, is related in the apocryphal

who mention it, probably derived it from Protevangelium of S. James, c. 23. but

Origen. Jerome (in loc.) gives another ascribed to a different cause, of the same character from some apocry-

VER. 37 — 39. ST. MATTHEW. 795

And to take away all excuse from them that they might not say, Because you sent them to the Gentiles thereat were we offended, He foretels that His disciples should be sent to them, and it is of their punishment that He adds, Verily I say unto you, all these things shall come upon this generation. GLOSS. He means not only those there present, but the whole Gloss. generation before and after, for all were one city and oneord' body of the Devil. JEROME; The rule of the Scriptures is only to know two generations, one of good the other of bad. Of the generation of the good it is said, The generation 0/Vg. 112 the righteous shall be blessed. And of the bad it is said in 2- the present passage, Generation of vipers. These then, because they did against the Apostles like things as Cain and Joas, are described as of one generation. CHRYS. Other wise ; Because He delayed the punishment of hell which He had threatened them with, He pronounces against them threats of present evil, saying, All these things shall come upon this generation. PSEUDO-CHRYS. As all the good things which had been merited by all the saints in each generation since the foundation of the world were bestowed upon that last generation which received Christ; so all the evil that all the wicked in every generation from the foundation of the world had deserved to suffer, came upon that last genera tion of the Jews which rejected Christ. Or thus ; As all the righteous of former saints, yea, of all the saints, could not merit that so great grace as was given to men in Christ; so the sins of all the wicked could not deserve so much evil as came upon the Jews, that they should suffer such things as these suffered from the Romans, and that in after time every gene ration of them to the end of the world should be cast off from God, and be made a mock by all the Gentiles. For what is there worse than to reject and in such sort to put to death the Son coming in mercy and lowliness ! Or thus ; Nations and states when they sin are not thereupon immediately punished by God, but He waits for many generations ; but when He sees fit to destroy that state or nation, He then seems to visit upon them the sins of all former generations, and one generation suffers the accumulation of all that former generations have deserved. Thus this generation of the Jews seems to have been punished for their fathers ; but

796 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXIII.

in truth they suffered not for others, but on their own account. CHRYS. For he who having seen many sinning yet remains unconnected, but rather does the same or worse, is obnoxious to heavier punishment.

37. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children toge ther, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not !

38. Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.

39. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me hence forth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

CHRYS. The Lord next turns to address the city, desiring to instruct His hearers thereby. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem : this repetition of the name is a mark of compassion and intense love. JEROME ; By Jerusalem He means not the stones and buildings, but the dwellers there, over whom He laments with the feeling of a Father. PSEUDO-CHRYS. Fore seeing the destruction of the city, and the blow it would receive from the Romans, He called to mind the blood of the saints which had been, and should yet be, shed in it. Thou killedst Esaias who was sent unto thee, and stonedst my servant Jeremias ; thou dashedst out the brains of Ezechiel by dragging him over stones; how shalt thou be saved, which wilt not suffer a physician to come nigh thee ? And He said not, Didst kill and stone ; but, Killest, and Stonest ; that is, This is a common and natural practice with thee to kill and stone the saints. She did to the Apostles the same things which she had once done to the Prophets. CHRYS. Having thus addressed her, and spoken of her cruel murders, He said, as justifying Himself, How often would I have gathered thy children together? as much as to say, Notwithstanding, these thy murders have not alienated Me from thee, but I would have taken thee to Me, not once or twice, but many times. The strength

VER. 37 — 39. ST. MATTHEW. 797

of His affection He shews by the comparison of a hen. AUG. Aug. This species has the greatest affection for its brood, insomuch Ev^Lse that when they are sick the mother sickens also ; and what you will hardly find in any other animal, it will fight against the kite, protecting its young with its wings. In like man ner our mother, the Wisdom of God, sickened as it were in the putting on the flesh, according to that of the Apostle, The weakness of God is stronger than men, protects our i Cor. weakness, and resists the Devil that he should not make us ' his prey. ORIGEN ; He calls them children of Jerusalem, just as we call each generation of citizens the sons of the preceding generation. And He says, How often, though it is well known that once only did He teach the Jews in the body, because Christ was ever present in Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Angels, ministering to human salvation in every generation. Whosoever shall not have been gathered in by Him shall be judged, as though he had refused to be gathered in. RABAN. Let heretics then cease Raban. to assign to Christ a beginning from the Virgin ; let them non occ* leave off to preach one God of the Law and another of the Prophets. AUG. Where is that omnipotence, by the which Aug. He did whatsoever pleased Him both in heaven and in earth, 97°° * if He would have gathered the children of Jerusalem and did not ? Was it not that she would not that her children should be gathered by Him, and yet He did, notwithstanding, gather those of her children whom He would ? CHRYS. Then He threatens the punishment of which they were ever in fear, to wit, the overthrow of the city and temple, saying, Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. PSEUDO-CHRYS. As the body, when the spirit departs, first becomes cold, and then decays and decomposes; so also your temple, when God's Spirit shall have withdrawn, shall be first filled with strife and anarchy, and after shall come to ruin.

ORIGEN ; In like manner to all such as would not be gathered under His wings Christ speaks this threat ; Behold, your house is left unto you desolate; i. e. your soul and your body. But if any one of you will not be gathered under the wings of Christ, from the very time when he shall have refused to be so gathered, (by a mental rather than a bodily act,) he shall no more see the beauty of the word, till repenting of his evil

798 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. CHAP. XXIII.

purpose he shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord. And the word of the Lord then comes with a blessing upon a man's heart, when one is turned to God. JEROME ; / say unto you, Ye shall not see Me, Sfc. That is to say, Unless ye shall do penitence, and shall con fess that I am He of whom the Prophets have spoken, the Son of the Almighty Father, ye shall not see My face. Thus the Jews have a time allowed for their repentance. Let them confess Him blessed who cometh in the name of the Lord, and they shall then behold Christ's face. CHRYS. Otherwise ; In this He covertly alludes to His second coming, when surely they shall worship Him. Henceforth, means from the time of His crucifixion.

CHAP. XXIV.

1. AND Jesus went out, and departed from the temple : and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.

2. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things ? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

ORIGEN; Christ, when He had foretold all that should come upon Jerusalem, went forth out of the temple. He, who while He was in it, had upheld the temple that it should not fall. And so each man, being the temple of God by reason of the Spirit of God dwelling in him, is himself the cause of his being deserted, that Christ should depart from him. It is worthy of note how they shew Him the buildings of the tem ple, as though He had never seen them. We reply, that when Christ had foretold the destruction that should come upon the temple, His disciples were amazed at the thought that so magnificent buildings should be utterly ruined, and therefore they shew them to Him to move Him to pity, that He would not do what He had threatened. And because the constitu tion of human nature is wonderful, being made the temple of God, the disciples and the rest of the saints confessing the wonderful working of God in respect of the forming of men, intercede before the face of Christ, that He would not forsake the human race for their sins. RABAN. The historical sense is clear, that in the forty-second year after the Lord's passion, the city and temple were overthrown under the Roman Emperors Vespasian and Titus. REMIG. So it was ordained of God, that as soon as the light of grace was revealed, the temple with its ceremonies should be taken out of the way, lest any weakling in the faith, beholding all the things

800 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXIV.

instituted of the Lord and hallowed by the Prophets yet abiding, might be gradually drawn away from the purity Chrys. of the faith to a carnal Judaism. CHRYS. How means He * this, that one stone shall not be left upon another ? Either as conveying the notion of its utter overthrow ; or with re spect to the place in which it stood, for its parts were broken up to its very foundations. But I would add, that, after the fate it underwent, the most captious might be satisfied that its very fragments have perished.

JEROME; Figuratively; When the Lord departed from the temple, all the buildings of the Law and the structure of the Commandments were so overthrown, that none of them could be fulfilled by the Jews, but, the Head being taken away, all the parts were at war among themselves. ORIGEN ; Every man also, who, by taking into him the word of God, is become a temple, if after sinning he yet retains in part the traces of faith and religion, his temple is in part destroyed, and in part standing. But he who after sin has no regard for himself is gradually alienated, until he has altogether forsaken the living God, and so one stone is not left upon another of God's commandments, which he has not thrown down.

3. And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world ?

4. And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.

5. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ ; and shall deceive many.

REMIG. The Lord continuing His walk arrives at Mount Olivet, having by the way foretold the destruction of the temple to those disciples who had shewn and commended the buildings. When they had reached the Mount they came to Him, asking Him further of this. CHRYS. They asked Him in private, because they were great things about which they were going to ask Him. They wished to know the

VER. 3 — 5. ST. MATTHEW. 801

day of His coming, for the vehement desire they had to see His glory. JEROME; They ask Him three things. First, The time of the destruction of Jerusalem, saying, Tell us when shall these things be? Secondly, The time of Christ's coming, saying, And what shall be the sign of Thy coming? Thirdly, The time of the consummation of this world, saying, And of the end of the world? CHRYS. Luke speaks of one enquiry, that concerning Jerusalem, as though the disciples supposed that Christ's coming should be then, and the end of the world should be when Jerusalem should be destroyed. Whereas Mark does not state them all to have asked con cerning the destruction of Jerusalem, but Peter, James, John, and Andrew, as having more bold and free speech with Christ. ORIGEN ; I think Mount Olivet to be a mystery of the Church out of the Gentiles. REMIG. For Mount Olivet has no un fruitful trees, but olives, which supply light to dispel darkness, which give rest to the weary, health to the sick. And sitting on Mount Olivet over against the temple, the Lord discourses of its destruction, and the destruction of the Jewish nation, that even by His choice of a situation He might shew, that abiding still in the Church He condemns the pride of the wicked. ORIGEN; For the husbandman dwelling on Mount Olivet is the word of God confirmed in the Church, that is, Christ, who ever grafts the branches of the wild olive on the good olive tree of the Fathers. They who have confidence before Christ, seek to learn the sign of the coming of Christ, and of the consummation of this world. And the coming of the Word into the "soul is of two sorts. The first is that foolish preaching conceming Christ, when we preach that Christ was born and crucified; the second its coming in perfect men, conceming which it is said, We speak 1 Cor. 2, wisdom among them that are perfect; and to this second coming is added the end of the world in the perfect man to whom the world is crucified. HILARY; And because the questions of the disciples are threefold, they are separated by different times and meanings. That con cerning the destruction of the city is first answered, and is then confirmed by truth of doctrine, that no seducer might prevail with the ignorant. CHRYS. His first answer is neither concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, nor concerning VOL. i. 3 F

802 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXIV.

His second coining, but concerning the evils which were to be immediately encountered. JEROME ; One of them of whom He speaks was Simon of Samaria, of whom we read in the Acts of the Apostles, that he gave himself out to be the great Power, leaving these things written in his works * among others, I am the Word of God, I am the Almighty, I am all things of God. The Apostle John also in his i John Epistle, Ye have heard that Antichrist shall come; even

o 10

now there are many Antichrists. I suppose all heresiarchs to be Antichrists, and under the name of Christ to teach those things which are contraiy to Christ. No wonder if we see some led away by such teachers, when the Lord has said, And shall deceive many. ORIGEN; They that are Mat. 7, deceived are many, because wide is the gate that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat. This one thing is enough to detect the Antichrists and seducers that they shall say, / am Christ, which Christ Himself is no where read to have said : for the works of God, and the word which He taught, and His power, were enough to pro duce belief that He is Christ. For every discourse which professes to expound Scripture faithfully, and has not the truth, is Antichrist. For the truth is Christ, that which feigns itself to be the truth is Antichrist. So also all virtues are Christ, all that feigns itself to be virtue is Antichrist; for Christ has in Himself in truth all manner of good for the edification of men, but the devil has forged resemblances of the same for the deceiving of the saints. We have need therefore of God to help us, that none deceive us, neither word nor power. It is a bad thing to find any one erring in his course of life ; but I esteem it much worse not to think according to the most true rule of Scripture.

6. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars : see that ye be not troubled : for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

»" The followers of Simon and Cleo- Const. The author of the Treatise bius compose books in the name of De Divinis Nomin. also mentions " Si- Christ and His disciples, which they mon's Controversial Discourses." Fa/ circulate, and so deceive men." Apostol. larsi.

VKK. 6—8. ST. MATTHEW. 803

7. For nation shall rise against nation, and king dom against kingdom : and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

8. All these are the beginning of sorrows.

AUG. To this enquiry of the disciples the Lord makes Aug. answer, declaring all things which were to come to pass from 25. that time forwards, whether relating to the destruction of Jerusalem, which had given occasion to their enquiry ; or to His coming through the Church, in which He ceases not to come to the end of time ; for He is acknowledged as coming among His own, while new members are daily born to Him; or relating to the end itself when He shall appear to judge the quick and the dead. When then He describes the signs which shall attend these three events, we must carefully consider which signs belong to which events, lest perchance we refer to one that which belongs to another. CHRYS. Here He speaks of the battles which should be fought at Jerusalem; when He says, Ye shall hear wars, and rumours of wars. ORIGEN ; To hear the shouts raised in the battles, is to hear wars ; to hear rumours of wars, is to hear accounts of wars waged afar off. CHRYS. And because this might alarm the disciples, He continues, See that ye be not troubled. And because they supposed that the end of the world would follow immediately after the war in which Jerusalem should be destroyed, He corrects their suspi cions concerning this, TJiese t/iings must come to pass, but the end is not yet. JEROME ; That is, Think not that the day of judgment is at hand, but that it is reserved against another time ; the sign of which is plainly put in what follows, For nation, shall rise against -nation, and kingdom against kingdom. RABAN.b Or, this is a warning to the Apostles not to flee from Jerusalem and Judaea in terror of these things, when they should begin to come upon them ; because the end was not immediately, but the desolation of the province, and the destruction of the city and temple should not come till the fortieth year. And we know that most grievous woes,

b From this to v. 36. the commentary edition. See Pref. of Rabanus is wanting in the printed

3 F 2

804 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXIV.

which spread over the whole province, fell out to the very letter. CHRYS. And to shew that He also should fight against the Jews, He tells them not only of wars, but of calamities inflicted by Providence, And there shall be pesti lences, andfamines, and earthquakes in divers places. RABAN. Nation shall rise against nation, shews the disquietude of men's minds ; pestilences, the affliction of their bodies ; famines, the barrenness of the soil ; earthquakes in divers places, wrath from heaven above. CHRYS. And these things shall not happen according to the order of nature before established among men, but shall come of wrath from heaven, and therefore He said not that they should come only, or come suddenly, but adds significantly, Tliese all are the beginnings of troubles, that is, of the Jewish troubles. ORIGEN ; Or otherwise ; As the body sickens before the death of the man, so it must needs be that before the consummation of this world the earth should be shaken, as though it were palsied, with frequent earthquakes, the air should gather a deadly quality and become pestilential, and that the vital energy of the soil should fail, and its fruits wither. And by consequence of this scarcity, men are stirred up to robbery and war. But because war and strife arise sometimes from covetousness, and sometimes from desire of power and empty glory, of these which shall happen before the end of the world a yet deeper cause shall be assignable. For as Christ's coming brought through His divine power peace to divers nations, so it shall be on the other hand, that when iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold, and God and His Christ shall desert them ; wars shall be again when actions which beget wars are not hindered by holiness ; and hostile powers when they are not restrained by the Saints and by Christ shall work unchecked in the hearts of men, stirring up nation against nation, and kingdom against king dom. But if, as some will have it, famine and pestilence are from the Angels of Satan, these shall then gather might from opposite powers, when the salt of the earth, and the lights of the world, Christ's disciples, shall be no longer, 1 Kings Destroying those things which the malice of daemons hatches. Jer. 14. Ofttimes in Israel famines and pestilences were caused by JamesS, ^ an(j removed by the prayers of the Saints. Well is that

VER. 9 14. ST. MATTHEW. 805

said, In dicers places, for God will not destroy the whole race of men at once, but judging them in portions, He gives opportunity of repentance. But if some stop be not put to these evils in their commencement, they will progress to worse, as it follows, These all are the beginnings of sorrows, that is, sorrows common to the whole world, and those which are to come upon the wicked who shall be tormented in most sharp pains.

JEROME; Figuratively; Kingdom rising against kingdom and pestilence of that discourse which spreadeth as a plague-spot, and hunger of hearing the word of God, and commotion throughout the earth, and separation from the true faith, may be rather understood of the heretics, who fighting among themselves give the victory to the Church. ORIGEN; This must come to pass before we can see the perfection of that wisdom which is in Christ; but not yet shall be that end which we seek, for a peaceful end is far from those men. JEROME ; These all are the beginnings of sorrows, is better understood of pains of labour, as it were the conception of the coming of Antichrist, and not of the birth.

9. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you : and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.

10. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.

11. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

12. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

13. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

14. And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations ; and then shall the end come.

RABAN. For what desert so many evils are to be brought

806 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXIV.

upon Jerusalem, and the whole Jewish province the Lord shews, when He adds, Then shall they deliver you up, Sfc. CHRYS. Or otherwise ; The disciples when they heard these things which were spoken of Jerusalem might suppose that they should be beyond reach of harm, as though what they now heard was the sufferings of others, while they themselves should meet with nothing but prosperous times, He there fore announces the grievous things which should befal them, putting them in fear for themselves. First He had bid them be on their guard against the arts of false teachers, He now foretels to them the violence of tyrants. In good season He thus introduces their own woes, as here they will receive consolation from the common calamities ; and He held out to them not this comfort only, but also that of the cause for which they should suffer, shewing that it was for His name's sake, And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. ORIGEN ; But how should the people of Christ be hated by the nations who dwelt in the uttermost parts of the earth ? But one may perhaps say, that in this place all is put hyperbolic ally for many. But this that He says, Then shall they deliver you, presents some difficulty; for before these things the Christians were delivered to tribulation. To this it may be answered, that at that time the Christians shall be more delivered to tribulation than ever. And per sons in any misfortune love to examine into the origin of them, and to talk about them. Hence when the worship of the Gods shall be almost deserted by reason of the multi tude of Christians, it will be said that that is the cause of the wars, and famines, and pestilences ; and of the earthquakes also they will say that the Christians are the cause, whence the persecution of the Churches. CHRYS. Having named two sources of opposition, that from seducers, and that from enemies, He adds a third, that from false brethren ; And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. See Paul bewailing these same 2 Cor. things, Without were fightings, within were fears ; and ?>6- in another place; In perils among false brethren, of whom 11,26. he says, Such are false Apostles, deceitful workers. REMIG. Yl 13' As the capture of Jerusalem approached, many rose up, calling themselves Christians, and deceived many ; such

VER. 9 14. ST. MATTHEW. 807

Paul calls false brethren, John Antichrists. HILARY ; Such was Nicolaus, one of the seven deacons, who led astray many by his pretences. And Simon Magus who, armed with diabolic works and words, perverted many by false miracles. CHRYS. And He adds, what is still more cruel, that such false Prophets shall have no alleviation in charity; Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. REMIG. That is, true love towards God and our neighbour, in proportion as each surrenders himself to iniquity, in that proportion will the flame of charity in his heart be extinguished. JEROME ; Observe, He says, the love of many, not ' of all,' for in the Apostles, and those like them, love would continue, as Paul speaks, Who shall Rom. 8, separate us from the love of Christ ? REMIG. Whoso shall 35' endure unto the end, i. e. to the end of his life ; for whoso to the end of his life shall persevere in the confession of the name of Christ, and in love, he shall be saved. CHRYS. Then that they should not say, How then shall we live among so many evils? He promises not only that they should live, but that they should teach every where. And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world. REMIG. For the Lord knew that the hearts of the disciples would be made sad by the destruction of Jerusalem, and overthrow of their nation, and He therefore comforts them with a promise that more of the Gentiles should believe than of the Jews should perish. CHRYS. That before the taking of Jerusalem the Gospel was preached every where, hear what Paul says, Their sound is gone out into all the earth ; and Rom. see himself travelling from Jerusalem into Spain. And if ' one had so large a province, think how much all must have done. Whence writing to certain, he says of the Gospel, It bears fruit, and increases in every creature under heaven. Col.1,6. And this is the strongest proof of Christ's power, that in thirty years or a little more, the word of the Gospel filled the ends of the world. Though the Gospel was preached every where, yet all did not believe, whence He adds, For a witness unto all nations, in accusation, that is, of such as believe not, they who have believed bearing witness against them that believed not, and condemning them. And in fit season did Jerusalem fall, namely, after the Gospel had been preached throughout the world; as it follows, And then

808 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXIV.

shall the consummation come, i. e. the end of Jerusalem. For they who have seen Christ's power shining forth every where, and in brief space spread over the whole world, what mercy did they deserve when they continued still in ingrati tude? REMIG. But the whole passage might be referred to the end of the world. For then shall many be offended, and depart from the faith, when they see the numbers and wealth of the wicked, and the miracles of Antichrist, and they shall persecute their brethren ; and Antichrist shall send false Prophets, who shall deceive many; iniquity shall abound, because the number of the wicked shall be increased; and love shall wax cold, because the number of the good shall diminish. JEROME ; And the sign of the Lord's second coining is, that the Gospel shall be preached in all the world, so that all may be without excuse. ORIGEN; And that, Ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake, might be then applied thus ; That indeed at this time all nations are conspired together against the Christians, but that when the things foretold by Christ shall have come to pass, then there shall be persecutions, not as before in places, but every Aug. where against the people of God. AUG. But that this preach- 46^ ' mS ^te Gospel of the kingdom in all the world was accom plished by the Apostles, we have not any certain evidence, to prove. There are numberless barbarous nations in Africa, among whom the Gospel is not even yet preached, as it is easy to learn from the prisoners who are brought from thence. But it cannot be said that these have no part in the promise of God. For God promised with an oath not the Romans only, but all nations to the seed of Abraham. But in what ever nation there is yet no Church established, it must needs be that there should be one, not that all the people should believe; for how then should that be fulfilled, Ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake, unless there be in all nations those who hate and those who are hated? That preaching therefore was not accomplished by the Apostles, while as yet there were nations among whom it had not begun to be fulfilled. The words of the Apostle also, Their sound hath gone out into all the world, though expressed as of time past, are meant to apply to something future, not Ps. 19, yet completed ; as the Prophet, whose words he quotes, said that the Gospel bore fruit and grew in the whole world}

VER. 9 — 14. ST. MATTHEW. 809

to shew thereby to what extent its growth should come. If then we know not when it shall be that the whole world shall be filled with the Gospel, undoubtedly we know not when the end shall be ; but it shall not be before such time. ORIGEN ; When every .nation shall have heard the preaching of the Gospel, then shall come the end of the world. For at this time there are many nations, not of barbarians only, but of our own, who have not yet heard the word of Chris tianity. GLOSS. c But it is possible to maintain both appli-Gloss-

•^ non occ.

cations of the passage, if only we will take this diffusion of Gospel preaching in a double sense. If we understand it of fruit produced by the preaching, and the foundation in every nation of a Church of believers in Christ, as Augustine (in the passage above quoted) expounds it, then it is a sign which ought to precede the end of the world, and which did not precede the destruction of Jerusalem. But if we under stand it of the fame of their preaching, then it was accomplished before the destruction of Jerusalem, when Christ's disciples had been dispersed over the four quarters of the earth. Whence Jerome says, I do not suppose that there remained any nation Hieron. which knew not the name of Christ; for where preacher hadin never been, some notion of the faith must have been commu nicated by neighbouring nations.

ORIG-EN ; Morally ; He who shall see that glorious second coming of the word of God into his soul, must needs suffer in proportion to the measure of his proficiency assaults of opposing influences, and Christ in him must be hated by all, not only by the nations literally understood, but by the nations of spiritual vices. And in such enquiries there will be few who shall reach the truth with any fulness, the more part shall be offended and fall therefrom, betraying and accusing one another because of their disagreement respecting doctrines, which shall give rise to a mutual hatred. Also there shall be many setting forth unsound words concerning things to come, and interpreting the Prophets in a manner in which they ought not ; these are the false Prophets who shall deceive many, and who shall cause to wax cold that fervour of love which was before in the simplicity of the

e This Gloss appears to be a note of this to the taking of Jerusalem, cf. Iren S. Thomas, in confirmation of the Hseres. i. 2 and 3. view of S. Chrysostom, which refers

810 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXIV.

faith. But he who can abide firmly in the Apostolic tradition, he shall be saved ; and the Gospel being preached to the minds of all shall be for a testimony to all nations, that is, to all the unbelieving thoughts of the soul.

15. When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

16. Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains :

17. Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house.

18. Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.

1 9. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days !

20. But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day :

21. For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

22. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved : but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.

CHRYS. As above He had obscurely intimated the end of Jerusalem ; He now proceeds to a more plain announcement of it, citing a prophecy which should make them believe it. JEROME; That, Let him that readeth understand, is said to call us to the mystic understanding of the place. What we Dan. 9, read in Daniel is this ; And in the midst of the week the LXX! sacrifice and the oblation shall be taken away, and in the temple shall be the abomination of desolations until the con summation of the time, and consummation shall be given Aug. upon the desolate. AUG. Luke, in order to shew that the |jp<199< abomination of desolation foretold by Daniel had reference to the time of the siege of Jerusalem, repeats these words

VER. 15 — 22. ST. MATTHEW. 811

of our Lord, Wlien ye shall see Jerusalem encompassed by Luke2i, armies, then know ye that its desolation draweth nigh. PSEUDO-CHRYS. Whence I think that by the abomination of desolation, He means the army by which the city of the holy Jerusalem was desolated. JEROME ; Or it may be understood of the statue of Caesar, which Pilate set up in the temple ; or of the equestrian statue of Adrian, which stood to the present time in the very Holy of Holies. For, according to the Old Scripture, an idol is called ' abomination ;' of desola tion is added, because the idol was set up in the desolated and deserted temple. CHRYS. Or because he who desolated the city and the temple placed his statue there. He says, Wlien ye shall see, because these things were to happen while some of them were yet alive. Wherein admire Christ's power, and the courage of the disciples, who preached through those times in which all things Jewish were the object of attack. The Apostles, being Jews, introduced new laws in opposition to the Roman authority. The Romans conquered countless thousands of Jews, but could not overcome twelve unarmed unprotected men. But because it had often hap- Chrys. pened to the Jews to be recovered in very desperate circum- lx°™'. stances, as in the times of Sennacherib and Antiochus, that no man might look for any such event now, He gave com mand to His disciples to fly, saying, Then let them which are in Jud&a flee to the mountains. REMIG. And this we know was so done when the fall of Jerusalem drew near ; for on the approach of the Roman army, all the Christians in the province, warned, as ecclesiastical history tells us, Euseb. miraculously from heaven, withdrew, and passing the Jordan, .?' g" took refuge in the city of Pella ; and under the protection of that King Agrippa, of whom we read in the Acts of the Apostles, they continued some time; but Agrippa himself, with the Jews whom he governed, was subjected to the dominion of the Romans. CHRYS. Then to shew how inevi table the evils that should come upon the Jews, and how infinite their calamity, He adds, And let him which is on the housetop, not come down to take any thing out of his house, for it was better to be saved, and to lose his clothes, than to put on a garment and perish ; and of him who is in the field He says the same. For if those who are in the

812 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXIV.

city fly from it, little need is there for those who are abroad to return to the city. But it is easy to despise money, and not hard to provide other raiment; but how can one avoid natural circumstances? How can a woman with child be made active for flight, or how can she that gives suck desert the child she has brought forth ? IVoe, therefore, to them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days; to the one, because they are encumbered, and cannot easily fly, bearing about the burden of the womb; to the other, because they are held by compassion for their children, and cannot save with them those whom they are suckling. ORIGEN ; Or because that will not be a time of shewing pity, neither upon them who are with child, nor upon them who are suckling, nor upon their infants. And as speaking to Jews who thought they might travel no more upon the sabbath than a sabbath-day's journey, He adds, But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath. JEROME; Because in the one the severity of the cold pre vents your flight to the deserts, and your lurking in moun tains and wilds ; in the other, you must either transgress the Law, if you will fly, or encounter instant death if you will stay. CHRYS. Note how this speech is directed against the Jews; for when these things were done by Vespasian, the Apostles could neither observe the Sabbath nor fly, seeing most of them were already dead, and those who survived were living in distant countries. And why they should pray for this He adds a reason, For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of Aug. the world to this time, no, nor shall be. AUG. In Luke it so. is thus read, There shall be great distress upon the earth, and

wrath upon this people, and they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations. B. J.vii. And so Josephus, who wrote the Jewish Histoiy, relates evils so great happening to this people as to seem hardly credible. Whence it was not unreasonably said, that such tribulation had never been from the beginning of creation, nor should be; for though in the time of Antichrist shall be such, or perhaps greater; yet to the Jews, of whom we must under stand this, such shall never more befal. For if they shall be the first and the chief to receive Antichrist, they will then

VER. 15 — 22. ST. MATTHEW. 813

rather inflict than suffer tribulation. CHRYS. I ask the Jews, whence canie upon them so grievous wrath from heaven more woful than all that had come upon them before ? Plainly it was because of the desperate crime1 and the denial of the Cross. lTai(t4- But He shews that they deserved still heavier punishment than f"t they received, when He adds, And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved ; that is, If the siege by the Romans should be continued longer, all the Jews would perish ; for by all Jlesh, He means all the Jewish nation, those within and those without ; for the Romans were at war not only with those in Judaea, but with the whole race wherever dispersed. AUG. Indeed some persons seem to me not unfitly to understand by these days the evils themselves, as in other places of divine Scripture evil days are spoken of; not that the days themselves are evil, but the things that are done on them. And they are said to be shortened, because they are less felt, God giving us endur ance ; so that even though grievous, they are felt as short. CHRYS. But that the Jews should not say that these evils came because of the preaching and the disciples of Christ, He shews them that had it not been for His disciples, they would have totally perished, but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. AUG. For we ought not to doubt that when Jerusalem was overthrown, there were among that people elect of God who had believed out of the circum cision, or would have believed, elect before the foundation of the world, for whose sake those days should be shortened, and their evils made endurable. Some there are who sup pose that the days will be shortened by a more rapid motion of the sun, as the day was made longer on the prayer of Jesus Naue. JEROME; Not remembering that which is written. The day continues according to thy ordinances. We mustps. 119, understand it of their being shortened not in measure, but in 91* number, lest the faith of believers should be shaken by lengthened affliction. AUG. For let us not suppose that the Aug. computation of Daniel's weeks was interfered with by thisuWsuP- shortening of those days, or that they were not already at that time complete, but had to be completed afterwards in the end of all things, for Luke most plainly testifies that the prophecy of Daniel was accomplished at the time when

814 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXIV.

Jerusalem was overthrown. CHRYS. Observe this economy of the Holy Spirit in this, that John wrote nothing of all this, that he might not seem to be writing a history after the event ; for he survived sometime the taking of Jerusalem. But these who died before it, and saw nothing of it, these write it, that the power of prophecy may shine manifestly forth. HILARY; Or otherwise; It is a sign of His future coming that the Lord gives, when He says, When ye shall see the abomination, For the Prophet spoke this of the times of Antichrist ; and he calls abomination that which coming against God claims to itself the honour of God. It is the abomination of deso lation, because it will desolate the earth with wars and slaughter; and it is admitted by the Jews, and set up in the holy place, that where God had been invoked by the prayers of the saints, into that same place admitted by the unbelievers it might be adored with the worship of God. And because this error will be peculiar to the Jews, that having rejected the truth they should adopt a lie, He warns them to leave Judaea, and flee to the mountains, that no pollution or infection might be gathered by admixture with a people who should believe on Antichrist. That He says, Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take ang thing out of his house, is thus understood. The roof is the highest part of the house, the summit and perfection of the whole building. He then who stands on the top of his house, i. e. in the perfection of his heart, aloft in the regeneration of a new spirit, ought not to come down to the lower desire of things of the world. Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his coat ; i. e. He that has attained to obedience to the command, let him not return back to his former cares, to take on him again the coat of his former sins in which he once was clothed. AUG. For 'in tribulations we must beware of coming down from the spiritual heights, and yielding ourselves to the carnal life ; or of failing and looking behind us, after having made some progress forwards. HILARY ; That which is said, Woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, is not to be taken literally as an admonition to women pregnant, but as a description of souls burdened with the weight of sin, that neither in the house, nor in the field, may escape the

VER. 15 — 22. ST. MATTHEW. 815

storm of the wrath that is in store for them. Woe also to those that are being suckled; the weak souls, that is, who are being brought to the knowledge of God as by milk, to whom it shall be woe, because they are too laden to fly, and too inexperienced to resist Antichrist, having neither escaped sin, nor partaken of the food of true bread. PsEUDO-Aue. Or, Aug. They that are with child, are they who covet what belongs to £™'f5 others ; they that give suck, are they who have already forcibly 2. taken that which they coveted ; to them shall be woe in the day of judgment. Pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, or on the sabbath day; that is, AUG. That no one Aug. be found in that day in either joy or sorrow for temporal j^j ' things. ' HILARY ; Or ; That we be not taken in the frost 37. of sins, or in discontinuance of good works, because of the soreness of the affliction ; notwithstanding that for the sake of God's elect, those days shall be shortened, that the abridg ment of the time may disarm the force of the calamities.

ORIGEN; Mystically; In the holy place of the Scriptures, both Old and New Testament, Antichrist, that is, false word, has often stood ; let those who see this flee from the Judaea of the letter to the high mountains of truth. And whoso has been found to have gone up to the house-top of the word, and to be standing upon its summit, let him not come down thence as though he would fetch any thing out of his house. And if he be in the field in which the treasure is hid, and return thence to his house, he will run into the temptation of a false word ; but especially if he have stripped off his old garment, that is, the old man, and should have returned again to take it up. Then the soul, as it were with child by the word, not having yet brought forth, is liable to a woe ; for it casts that which it had conceived, and loses that hope which is in the acts of truth ; and the same also if the word has been brought forth perfect and entire, but not having yet attained sufficient growth. Let them that flee to the mountains pray that their flight be not in the winter or on the sabbath-day, because in the serenity of a settled spirit they may reach the way of salvation, but if the winter over take them they fall amongst those whom they would fly from. And there be some who rest from evil works, but do not good works; be your flight then not on such sabbath

816 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXIV.

when a man rests from good works, for no man is easily

overcome in times of peril from false doctrines, except he is

unprovided with good works. But what sorer affliction is

there than to see our brethren deceived, and to feel one's self

shaken and terrified? Those days mean the precepts and

1 Tim. dogmas of truth ; and all interpretations coming of science

' falsely so called are so many additions to those days, which

God shortens by those whom He wills.

23. Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there ; believe it not.

24. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders ; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

25. Behold, I have told you before.

26. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert ; go not forth : behold, he is in the secret chambers ; believe it not.

27. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west ; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

28. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

CHRYS. When the Lord had finished all that related to Jerusalem, He came in the rest to His own coming, and gives them signs thereof, useful not for them only, but for us and for all who shall be after us. As above, the Evangelist Mat. 3, said, In those days came John the Baptist, not implying im- *' mediately after what had gone before, but thirty years after ; so here, when He says Then, He passes over the whole interval of time between the taking of Jerusalem and the beginnings of the consummation of the world. Among the signs which He gives of His second coming He certifies them concerning the place, and the deceivers. For it shall not be then as at His former coming, wrhen He appeared in Bethlehem, in a corner of the world, unknown of any ; but

VER. 23 — 28. ST. MATTHEW. 817

He shall come openly so as not to need any to announce His approach, wherefore, If any man shall say unto you, Lo,here is Christ, or there, believe not. JEROME; Wherein He shews that His second coming shall be not in lowliness as His first, but in glory ; and therefore it is folly to seek in places little and obscure for Him who is the Light of the whole world. John 8, HILARY; Notwithstanding, by reason of the great tribulation in 12- which men shall be cast, false prophets promising to shew aid present from Christ, will falsely affirm that Christ is present in divers places, that they may draw into the service of Antichrist men discouraged and distracted. CHRYS. He speaks here of Antichrist, and of certain his ministers, whom He calls false Christs and false prophets, such as were many in the time of the Apostles ; but before Christ's second cf. coming there shall come others more bitter than the former, And ^ ^hes. they shall shew great signs and wonders. AUG. Here the Aug. Lord forewarns us that even wicked men shall do some ~ib> ®3

Qusest.

miracles which the saints cannot do, yet are they not there- q. 79 fore to be thought to have a higher place in the sight of God. For the Egyptian magi were not more acceptable to God than the people of Israel, because they could do what the Israelites could not ; yet did Moses, by the power of God, work greater things. This gift is not bestowed on all the saints, lest the weak should be led astray by a most destructive error, supposing such powers to be higher gifts than those works of righteousness by which eternal life is secured. And though magi do the same miracles that the saints do, yet are they done with a different end, and through a different authority ; for the one do them seeking the glory of God, the others seeking their own glory ; these do them by some special compact or privilege * granted to the Powers, i al. ve- within their sphere, those by the public dispensation andneficia< the command of Him to whom all creation is subject f. For it is one thing for the owner of a horse to be compelled to give it up to a soldier, another for him to hand it over to a purchaser, or to give or lend it to a friend ; and as those evil soldiers, who are condemned by the imperial discipline, employ the imperial ensigns to terrify the owners of any property, and to extort from them what is not required by

f See above on chap. vii. 22. VOL. I. 3 G

818

GOSPEL ACCORDING TO

CHAP. XXIV.

Trin.iii. 8.

the public service ; so some evil Christians, by means of the name of Christ, or by words or sacraments Christian, compel somewhat from the Powers; yet these, when thus at the bidding of evil men, they depart from their purpose, they depart in order to deceive men in whose wanderings they rejoice. It is one way then in which magi, another in which good Christians, another in which bad Christians, work miracles; the magi by a private compact, good Chris tians by the public righteousness, evil Christians by the . signs of public righteousness. 'And we ought not to wonder at this when we believe not unreasonably that all that we see happen is wrought by the agency of the inferior powers Aug. de0f this air. AUG. Yet are we not therefore to think that this visible material world attends the nod of the disobedient angels, but rather the power is given them of God. Nor are we to suppose that such evil angels have creative power, but by their spirituality they know the seeds of things which are hidden from us, and these they secretly scatter by suitable adaptations of the elements, and so they give occasion both to the whole being, and the more rapid increase of sub stances. For so there are many men who know what sort of creatures use to be generated out of certain herbs, meats, juices and humours, bruised and mingled together in a certain fashion ; save only that it is harder for men to do these things, inasmuch as they lack that subtlety of sense, and penetrativeness of body in their limbs dull and of earthly mould. GREG. When then Antichrist shall have wrought wonderful prodigies before the eyes of the carnal, he shall draw men after him, all such as delight in present goods, surrendering themselves irrevocably to his sway, Insomuch that if it were possible the very elect should be led astray. ORIG. That, If it were possible, is spoken hyperbolically ; not that the elect can be led astray, but He wishes to shew that the discourse of heretics is often so persuasive, as to al. au- have force to prevail even with those who act2 wisely. GREG. Or, because the heart of the elect is assailed with fearful thoughts, yet their faithfulness is not shaken, the Lord com prehends both under the same sentence, for to waver in thought is to err. He adds, If it were possible, because it is not possible that the elect should be taken in error

Greg.

Mor.xv.

61.

diunt.

Greg.

Mor.

xxxiii

36.

VER. 23 — 28. ST. MATTHEW. 819

RABAN. He says not this because it is possible for the divine election to be defeated, but because they, who to men's judgment seemed elect, shall be led into error. GREG. Greg. And as darts, when foreseen, are less likely to hit, He adds, jn EV° Lo, I have told you. Our Lord announces the woes which are to precede the destruction of the world, that when they come they may alarm the less from having been foreknown. HILARY; The false prophets, of whom He had spoken above, shall say of Christ one while, Lo, He is in the desert, in order that they may cause men to wander astray ; another while, Lo, He is in the secret chambers, that they may enthral men under the dominion of Anti christ. But the Lord declares Himself to be neither lurking in a remote corner, nor shut up to be visited singly, but that He shall be exhibited to the view of all, and in every place, As the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. CHRYS. As He had above described in what guise Antichrist should come, so here He describes how He Himself shall come. For as the lightning needeth none to herald or announce it, but is in an instant of time visible throughout the whole world, even to those that are sitting in their chambers, so the coming of Christ shall be seen every where at once, because of the brightness of His glory. Another sign He adds of His coming, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together. The eagles denote the company of the Angels, Martyrs, and Saints. JEROME ; By an instance from nature, which we daily see, we are instructed in a sacrament of Christ. Eagles and vultures are said to scent dead bodies even beyond sea, and to flock to feed upon them. If then birds, not having the gift of reason, by instinct alone find out where lays a dead body, separated by so great space of country, how much more ought the whole multitude of believers to hasten to Christ, whose lightning goeth forth out of the east, and shines even to the west? We may understand by the carcase here, or corpse1, which in the Latin is morei expressively ' cadaver,' an allusion to the passion of Christ's death. HILARY; That we might not be ignorant of the place in which He should come, He adds this, Wheresoever

3 G 2

820 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXIV.

the carcase, fyc. He calls the Saints eagles, from the spiritual flight of their bodies, and shews that their gathering shall be to the place of His passion, the Angels guiding them thither; and rightly should we look for His coming in glory there, where He wrought for us eternal glory by the suffering of His bodily humiliation. ORIGEN ; And observe, He says not vultures or crows, but eagles, shewing the lordliness and royalty of all who have believed in the Ps. 103, Lord's passion. JEROME; They are called eagles whose 3j 8' ' youth is renewed as the eagle's, and who take to themselves Greg, wings that they may come to Christ's passion. GREG. We may understand this, Wheresoever the carcase is, as

*3- meaning, I who incarnate sit on the throne of heaven, as soon as I shall have loosed the souls of the elect from the flesh, will exalt them to heavenly places. JEROME ; Or otherwise ; This may be understood of the false prophets. At the time of the Jewish captivity, there were many leaders Joseph, who declared themselves to be Christs, so that while the B. J.v.i. Romans were actually besieging them, there were three factions within. But it is better taken as we expounded it above, of the end of the world. Thirdly, it may be under stood of the warfare of the heretics against the Church, and of those Antichrists, who under pretext of false science, fight against Christ. ORIGEN ; The genus of Antichrist is one, the species many, just as all lies are of one sort. As all the holy Prophets were Prophets of the true Christ, so understand that each false Christ shall have his own false Prophets, who shall preach as true the false teachings of some Antichrist. When then one shall say, Lo, here is Christ, or lo, there, we need not look abroad out of the Scriptures, for out of the Law, the Prophets, and the Apostles, they bring the things which seem to favour their lie. Or by this, Lo, here is Christ, or lo, there, they shew that it was not Christ, but some impostor under the same title, such for example as Marcion, or Valentinus, or Basilides taught. JEROME ; If then any one assert to you that Christ tarries in the desert of the Gentiles, or in the teaching of the Philosophers, or in the secret chambers of the heretics, who promise the hidden things of God, believe Him not, but believe that the Catholic Faith shines from east to west in

VER. 23 28. ST. MATTHEW. 821

the Churches. AUG. By the east and west, He signifies Au8- the whole world, throughout which the Church should be. EvT.38. In the same way as He said below, Hereafter shall ye .seeMat.26, the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven, so now He likens His coming to lightning, which uses to flash out of the clouds. When then the authority of the Church is set up clear and manifest throughout the whole world, He suitably warns His disciples that they should not believe schismatics and heretics. Each schism and heresy holds its own place, either occupying some important position in the earth, or ensnaring men's curiosity in obscure and re mote conventicles. Lo, here is Christ, or lo, there, refers to some district or province of the earth ; the secret chambers, or the desert, signify the obscure and lurking conventicles of heretics. JEROME ; Or by this, in the desert, or in the secret chambers, Ele means that in times of persecution and distress, the false Prophets always find place for deceiving.

ORIGEN ; Or, when they allege secret and before unpublished Scriptures, in proof of their lie, they seem to say, Lo, the word of truth is in the desert. But when they produce ca nonical Scripture in which all Christians agree, they seem to say, Lo, the word of truth is in the chambers. Or wishing to point out such discourses as are altogether without Scrip ture, He said, If they shall say to you, Lo, he is in the secret chambers, believe it not. Truth is like the lightning that cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west. Or this may mean, that truth can be supported out of every passage of Scripture. The lightning of truth comes out of the east, that is, from the first beginnings of Christ, and shines throughout even to His passion, which is His setting ; or from the very beginning of creation, to the last Scripture of the Apostles. Or, the east is the Law, the u'est is the end of the Law, and of John's prophecy. The Church alone neither takes away word or meaning from this lightning, nor adds aught to its prophecy. Or He means that we should give no heed to those who say, Lo, here is Christ, but shew Him not in the Church, in which alone is the coming oi the Son of Man, who said, Lo, I am with you always, M.at.28 even to the end of the world. JEROME ; We are invited 20- to flock to Christ's passion wheresoever in Scripture it is

B22 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXIV.

read of, that through it we may be able to come to God's word.

29. Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken :

30. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven : and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn.

non occ.

™ °!!L GLOSS. As soon as the Lord has fortified the believers against the arts of Antichrist and his ministers, by shewing that His coming would be public, He proceeds to shew the order and method of His coming. CHRYS. By the tribu lation, He means the times of Antichrist and the false Prophets ; for when there are so many deceivers, the tribu lation will be great. But it shall not extend through any great length of time. For if for the elect's sake the Jewish war is shortened, much more shall this tribulation be shortened for their sakes; for which reason He said not After, but Immediately after, for He shall come immediately after. HILARY; The darkening of the sun, the failing of the moon, and the fall of the stars, indicate the glories of His coming. ORIGEN ; One will say, As at the breaking out of great con flagrations, great darkness is at the first caused by the smoke, so when the world shall be consumed by fire, which shall be kindled, even the great luminaries shall be darkened; and when the light of the stars is decayed, the rest of their substance, incapable of exaltation, shall fall from heaven into what it was, when it was first raised aloft by the light. When this shall have taken place, it follows that the rational heavenly powers shall suffer dismay and derangement, and shall be suspended from their functions. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, that sign by which the heavenly things were made, that is, the power which the Son wrought when He hung upon the cross. And the sign shall appear in heaven, that men of all tribes

VER. 29, 30. ST. MATTHEW. 823

who before had not believed Christianity when preached, then by that sign, acknowledging it as made plain, shall grieve and mourn for their ignorance and sins. Others will think otherwise, that as the light of a lamp dies away by degrees, so when the supply of the heavenly luminaries shall fail, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon and the light of the stars shall grow dim, and that which in their com position is earthy shall fall from heaven. But how can it be said of the sun that its light shall be darkened, when Esaias the Prophet declares, that in the end of the world, is. so, there shall be light proceeding forth from the sun ? And of the moon he declares that it shall be as the sun. But concerning the stars, there are some that endeavour to con vince us that all, or many of them, are larger than the whole earth. How then shall they fall from heaven, when this earth would not be large enough to contain them ? JEROME; These things, therefore, shall not come to pass by any dimi nution of light, for in another place we read that the light of the sun shall be sevenfold ; but by comparison with real light, all things shall seem dim. RABAN. But nothing hinders our supposing that the sun and moon with the other stars shall for a time lose their light, as we know did the sun at the time of the Lord's passion ; as Joel also says, joel 2, The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into31- blood, be/ore the great and manifest day of the Lord come. But when the day of judgment is passed, and the life of future glory shall dawn, and there shall be a new heaven and a new earth, then shall that come to pass of which Isaiah is. 30, speaks, The light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold. T/te stars shall fall from heaven, is expressed in Mark; There shall Mark be stars falling from heaven, that is, lacking their proper 13> 2 * light. JEROME ; By the powers of heaven, we understand the bands of the Angels. CHRYS. Very fitly shall they be shaken and dismayed, seeing so mighty a change being wrought, their fellow-servants punished, and the universe standing before a terrible tribunal. ORIGEN ; But as, at the dispensation of the Cross, the sun was eclipsed, and darkness was spread over the earth ; so when the sign of the Son of Man appears in heaven, the light of the sun, moon, and

824 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXIV.

stars, shall fail, as though waning before the might of that

sign. This we understand to be the sign of the cross, that

Zech. the Jews may see, as Zacharias and John speak, Him whom

12 JO

Johni9 they have pierced, and the sign of victory. CHRYS. But 37' because the sun will be darkened, the cross would not be seen, if it were not far brighter than the rays of the sun. That the disciples might not be ashamed, and grieve over the cross, He speaks of it as a sign, with a kind of distinction. The sign of the cross will appear to overthrow the shame- lessness of the Jews, when Christ shall appear in the judg ment, shewing not only His wounds, but His most ignominious death, And then all the tribes of the earth shall mourn. For when they shall see the cross, they shall bethink them how they have gained nought by His death, and that they have crucified Him whom they ought to have worshipped. JEROME ; Rightly does He say, the tribes of the earth, for they shall mourn who have no citizenship in heaven, but Jer. 1 7, are written in earth. ORIGEN ; Morally, one may say that the sun, which shall be darkened, is the Devil, who shall be convicted in the end of the world, that whereas he is darkness, he has feigned himself to be the sun ; the moon, which seems to receive its light from this sun, is the Church of the wicked, which professes to have and to give light, but then convicted with its sinful dogmas, shall lose its brightness ; and all those who, either by false teaching, or false virtues, promised truth to men, but led them astray by lies, these are fitly called stars falling from, so to say, their own heaven, where they were raised on high, exalting themselves against the knowledge of God. For illustration of this discourse, we may apply that place in Proverbs, which Prov. 4, says, The light of the just is unquenchable, but the light of the wicked shall be quenched. Then the brightness of God shall appear in every one who has borne the image of the heavenly ; and they of heaven shall rejoice, but they of earth Aug. shall lament. AUG. Or, the Church is the sun, moon, and Ep. 199, starS) to which it is said, Fair as the moon, bright as the

BVi

Song of sun. Then shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall

6 i°o!°n/l0^ 9*ve her light, because in that ungoverned fury of wicked

persecutors, the Church shall not be seen. Then shall the

stars fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be

VER. 30. ST. MATTHEW. 825

shaken, because many, who seemed to be shining in God's grace, shall give way to their persecutors, and shall fall, and even the stoutest believers shall be shaken. And these things shall be after the tribulation of those days, not because they shall happen when the whole persecution is overpast, but because the tribulation shall be first, that the falling away may come after. And because it shall be so throughout all those days, it shall be after the tribulation of those days, yet on those very days.

And they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

CHRYS. He adds this, that having heard of the cross, they should not now imagine a similar degradation. AUG. The Aug. first and most apparent meaning of this is of that time when 41P> ' He shall come to judge the quick and the dead in His body