Christ cleanses the leper, heals the centurion’s servant, Peter’s mother-in-law, and many others: he stills the storm at sea, drives the devils out of two men possessed, and suffers them to go into the swine.
Immediatly after his Sermon (to confirme his doctrine with a miracle) he cureth a Leper. 5 But aboue him and al other Iewes, he cōmendeth the faith of the Centurion, who was a Gentil: and foretelleth by that occasion, the vocation of the Gentiles, and reprobation of the Iewes. 14 la Peters house he sheweth great grace. 18 In the way to the sea he speaketh with two, of folowing him: 23 and vpon the sea commaundeth the tempest: 28 and beyond the sea he manifesteth the deuils malice agaynst man, in an heard of svvine.
1And when he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him:E sceso ch'egli fu dal monte, lo seguirono molte turbe.AND vvhen he vvas come dovvne from the mountaine, great multitudes folovved him:Cum autem descendisset de monte, secutæ sunt eum turbæ multæ: 2And behold a leper came and adored him, saying: Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.Quand'ecco un lebbroso accostatosegli lo adorava, dicendo: Signore, se vuoi, puoi mondarmi.And behold a leper came and adored him saying, Lord, if thou vvilt, thou canst make me cleane.et ecce leprosus veniens, adorabat eum, dicens: Domine, si vis, potes me mundare. 3And Jesus stretching forth his hand, touched him, saying: I will, be thou made clean. And forthwith his leprosy was cleansed.E Gesù stesa la mano lo toccò, dicendo: Lo voglio: sei mondato. E subito fu mondato dalla sua lebbra.And IESVS stretching forth his hand, touched him, saying. I vvil. be thou made cleane. And forthvvith, his leprosy vvas made cleane.Et extendens Jesus manum, tetigit eum, dicens: Volo. Mundare. Et confestim mundata est lepra ejus. 4And Jesus saith to him: See thou tell no man: but go, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.E Gesù gli disse: Guardati di dirlo a nessuno; ma va a mostrarti al sacerdote, e offerisci il dono prescritto da Mosè in testimonianza per essi.And IESVS sayth to him, See thou tel no body: but goe, shevv thy self to the priest, & offer the gift vvhich Moyses commaunded for a testimonie to them.Et ait illi Jesus: Vide, nemini dixeris: sed vade, ostende te sacerdoti, et offer munus, quod præcepit Moyses, in testimonium illis. 5And when he had entered into Capharnaum, there came to him a centurion, beseeching him,Ed entrato che fu in Capharnaum, andò a trovarlo un centurione, raccomandandosegli.And vvhen he vvas entred into Capharnaum, there came to him a Centurion, beseeching him,Cum autem introisset Capharnaum, accessit ad eum centurio, rogans eum, 6And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, and is grievously tormented.E dicendo: Signore, il mio servo giace in letto malato di paralisia nella mia casa, ed è malamente tormentato.& saying, Lord my boy lieth at home sicke of the palsey, & is sore tormēted.et dicens: Domine, puer meus jacet in domo paralyticus, et male torquetur. 7And Jesus saith to him: I will come and heal him.E Gesù gli disse: io verrò, e lo guarirò.And IESVS sayth to him, I vvil come, & cure him.Et ait illi Jesus: Ego veniam, et curabo eum.
8And the centurion, making answer, said: Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant shall be healed.Ma il centurione rispondendo disse: Signore, io non son degno, che tu entri sotto il mio tetto: ma di solamente una parola, e il mio servo sarà guarito.And the Centurion making ansvver, sayd, Lord I am not vvorthie that thou shouldest enter vnder my roofe: but only say the vvord, and my boy shal be healed.Et respondens centurio, ait: Domine, non sum dignus ut intres sub tectum meum: sed tantum dic verbo, et sanabitur puer meus. 9For I also am a man subject to authority, having under me soldiers; and I say to this, Go, and he goeth, and to another Come, and he cometh, and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.Imperocché io sonò un uomo subordinato ad altri, e ho sotto di me dei soldati, e dico a uno: Va, ed egli va; e all'altro: Vieni, ed egli viene; e al mio servitore: Fa la tal cosa ed ei la fa.For I also am a man subiect to authoritie, hauing vnder me souldiars: and I say to this, goe, and he goeth: and to an other, come, & he cometh: and to my seruant, doe this, & he doeth it.Nam et ego homo sum sub potestate constitutus, habens sub me milites, et dico huic: Vade, et vadit: et alii: Veni, et venit: et servo meo: Fac hoc, et facit. 10And Jesus hearing this, marvelled; and said to them that followed him. Amen I say to you, I have not found so great faith in Israel.Gesù udite queste parole ne restò ammirato, e disse a coloro, che lo seguivano: In verità io vi dico, che non ho trovato fede si grande in Israele.And IESVS hearing this, marueiled: and sayd to them that folovved him, Amen I say to you, I haue not found so great faith in Israel.Audiens autem Jesus miratus est, et sequentibus se dixit: Amen dico vobis, non inveni tantam fidem in Israël. 11And I say to you that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven:E io vi dico, che molti verranno dall'oriente, e dall'occidente, e sederanno con Abramo, e Isacco, e Giacobbe nel regno de' cieli:And I say to you, that many shal come from the East and West, and shal sitte dovvne vvith Abraham & Isaac & Iacob in the kingdom of heauen:Dico autem vobis, quod multi ab oriente et occidente venient, et recumbent cum Abraham, et Isaac, et Jacob in regno cælorum: 12But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into the exterior darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.Ma i figliuoli del regno saranno gittati nelle tenebre esteriori: ivi sarà pianto, e stridore di denti.but the children of the kingdom shal be cast out into the exteriour darkenesse: there shal be vveeping & gnashing of teeth.filii autem regni ejicientur in tenebras exteriores: ibi erit fletus et stridor dentium.
13And Jesus said to the centurion: Go, and as thou hast believed, so be it done to thee. And the servant was healed at the same hour.Allora Gesù disse al centurione: Va, e ti sia fatto, conforme hai creduto. E nello stesso momento il servo fu guarito.And IESVS said to the Centurion, Goe: and as thou hast beleeued, be it done to thee. And the boy vvas healed in the same houre.Et dixit Jesus centurioni: Vade, et sicut credidisti, fiat tibi. Et sanatus est puer in illa hora. 14And when Jesus was come into Peter’s house, he saw his wife’s mother lying, and sick of a fever;Ed essendo andato Gesù a casa di Pietro, vide la suocera di lui giacente colla febbre:And vvhen IESVS was come into Peters house, he savv his vviues mother layde, & in a fitte of a feuer:Et cum venisset Jesus in domum Petri, vidit socrum ejus jacentem, et febricitantem: 15And he touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she arose and ministered to them.E toccolle la mano, e la febbre se ne andò: ed ella si alzò, e serviva ad essi.and he touched her hand, and the feuer left her, and she arose, and ministred to him.et tetigit manum ejus, et dimisit eam febris, et surrexit, et ministrabat eis. 16And when evening was come, they brought to him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word: and all that were sick he healed:Venuta poi la sera gli presentarono molti indemoniati: ed egli cacciava colla parola gli spiriti, e sanò tutti i malati:And vvhen euening vvas come, they brought to him many that had diuels: and he cast out the spirites vvith a vvord: and al that vvere il at ease he cured:Vespere autem facto, obtulerunt ei multos dæmonia habentes: et ejiciebat spiritus verbo, et omnes male habentes curavit: 17That it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophet Isaias, saying: He took our infirmities, and bore our diseases.Affinchè si adempisse quello, che fu detto da Isaia profeta, il quale dice: Egli ha prese le nostre infermità; e ha portato i nostri malori.that it might be fulfilled vvich vvas spoken by Esay the Prophete saying, He tooke our infirmities, and bare our diseases.ut adimpleretur quod dictum est per Isaiam prophetam, dicentem: Ipse infirmitates nostras accepit: / et ægrotationes nostras portavit. 18And Jesus seeing great multitudes about him, gave orders to pass over the water.Vedendo poi Gesù una gran turba intorno a se, dette ordine per passare all'altra riva.And IESVS seeing great multitudes about him, commaunded to goe beyond the vvater.Videns autem Jesus turbas multas circum se, jussit ire trans fretum.
19And a certain scribe came and said to him: Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou shalt go.E accostatosegli uno scriba, gli disse: Maestro io ti terrò dietro, dovunque anderai.And a certaine Scribe came, and sayd to him, Master, I vvil folovv thee vvithersoeuer thou shalt goe.Et accedens unus scriba, ait illi: Magister, sequar te, quocumque ieris. 20And Jesus saith to him: The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.E Gesù gli disse: Le volpi hanno le loro tane, e gli uccelli dell'aria i loro nidi: ma il figliuolo dell'uomo non ha dove posare la testa.And IESVS sayth to him, the foxes haue holes, and the foules of the ayre nestes: but the sonne of man hath not vvhere to lay his head.Et dicit ei Jesus: Vulpes foveas habent, et volucres cæli nidos; Filius autem hominis non habet ubi caput reclinet. 21And another of his disciples said to him: Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.E un altro de' suoi discepoli gli disse: Signore, dammi prima licenza di andare a seppellire mio padre.And an other of his Disciples sayd to him, Lord, permit me first to goe & burie my father.Alius autem de discipulis ejus ait illi: Domine, permitte me primum ire, et sepelire patream meum. 22But Jesus said to him: Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead.Ma Gesù gli disse: Sieguimi, e lascia, che i morti seppelliscano i loro morti.But IESVS sayd to him, Folovv me, and let the dead burie their dead.Jesus autem ait illi: Sequere me, et dimitte mortuos sepelire mortuos suos. 23And when he entered into the boat, his disciples followed him:Ed essendo montato nella barca, lo seguirono i suoi discepoli.And vvhen he entered into the boate, his Disciples folovved him:Et ascendente eo in naviculam, secuti sunt eum discipuli ejus: 24And behold a great tempest arose in the sea, so that the boat was covered with waves, but he was asleep.Quand'ecco una gran tempesta si sollevò nel mare; talmente che la barca era coperta dall'onde: ed egli dormiva.and loe a great tempest arose in the sea, so that the boate vvas couered vvith vvaues, but he slept.et ecce motus magnus factus est in mari, ita ut navicula operiretur fluctibus, ipse vero dormiebat. 25And they came to him, and awaked him, saying: Lord, save us, we perish.E accostatisi a lui i suoi discepoli, lo svegliarono dicendogli: Signore, salvaci: ci perdiamo.And they came to him, and raised him, saying, Lord, saue vs, vve perish.Et accesserunt ad eum discipuli ejus, et suscitaverunt eum, dicentes: Domine, salva nos, perimus. 26And Jesus saith to them: Why are you fearful, O ye of little faith? Then rising up, he commanded the winds, and the sea, and there came a great calm.E Gesù disse loro: Perché temete, o uomini di poca fede? Allora rizzatosi, comandò ai venti, e al mare; e si fe' gran bonaccia.And he saith to them, Why are you fearful O ye of litle faith? Then rising vp he commaunded the vvindes & the sea, and there ensued a great calme.Et dicit eis Jesus: Quid timidi estis, modicæ fidei ? Tunc surgens imperavit ventis, et mari, et facta est tranquillitas magna.
27But the men wondered, saying: What manner of man is this, for the winds and the sea obey him?Onde la gente ne restò ammirata, e dicevano: Chi è costui, a cui ubbidiscono i venti, e il mare?Moreouer the men marueled saying, What an one is this, for the vvindes and the sea obey him?Porro homines mirati sunt, dicentes: Qualis est hic, quia venti et mare obediunt ei ? 28And when he was come on the other side of the water, into the country of the Gerasens, there met him two that were possessed with devils, coming out of the sepulchres, exceeding fierce, so that none could pass by that way.Ed essendo egli sbarcato al di là del lago nel paese de' Geraseni, gli vennero incontro due indemoniati, che uscivano dalle sepolture; ed erano tanto furiosi, che nissuno poteva passare per quella strada.And vvhen he vvas come beyond the vvater into the countrey of the Gerasens, there mette him tvvo that had diuels, coming forth out of the sepulcres, exceding fierce, so that none could passe by that vvay.Et cum venisset trans fretum in regionem Gerasenorum, occurrerunt ei duo habentes dæmonia, de monumentis exeuntes, sævi nimis, ita ut nemo posset transire per viam illam. 29And behold they cried out, saying: What have we to do with thee, Jesus Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?E si misero tosto a gridare: Che abbiam noi che fare con teco, o Gesù figliuolo di Dio? Sei tu venuto qui avanti tempo per tormentarci?And behold they cried saying, What is betvvene vs and thee IESV the sonne of God? art thou come hither to torment vs before the time?Et ecce clamaverunt, dicentes: Quid nobis et tibi, Jesu fili Dei ? Venisti huc ante tempus torquere nos ? 30And there was, not far from them, a herd of many swine feeding.Ed eravi non lungi da essi un gregge di molti porci, che pascolava.And there vvas not farre frome them an heard of many svvine feeding.Erat autem non longe ab illis grex multorum porcorum pascens. 31And the devils besought him, saying: If thou cast us out hence, send us into the herd of swine.Or i demoni lo pregavano dicendo: Se ci cacci di qui, mandaci in quel gregge di porci.And the diuels besought him saying, If thou cast vs out, send vs into the heard of svvine.Dæmones autem rogabant eum, dicentes: Si ejicis nos hinc, mitte nos in gregem porcorum. 32And he said to them: Go. But they going out went into the swine, and behold the whole herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea: and they perished in the waters.Ed egli disse loro: Andate. E quegli essendo usciti, entrarono ne' porci, e immediatamente tutto il gregge con grand'impeto si precipitò nel mare, e perì nell'acqua.And he said to thē, Goe. But they going forth vvent into the svvine, and behold the whole heard vvent vvith a violence headlong into the sea: and they dyed in the vvaters.Et ait illis: Ite. At illi exeuntes abierunt in porcos, et ecce impetu abiit totus grex per præceps in mare: et mortui sunt in aquis.
33And they that kept them fled: and coming into the city, told every thing, and concerning them that had been possessed by the devils.E i pastori si fuggirono, e andati in città raccontarono tutte queste cose, e il fatto di quelli, che erano stati posseduti dai demonj.And the svvineheardes sled: and comming into the citie, told al, and of them that had been possessed of diuels.Pastores autem fugerunt: et venientes in civitatem, nuntiaverunt omnia, et de eis qui dæmonia habuerant. 34And behold the whole city went out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart from their coasts.E subitamente tutta la città uscì intorno a Gesù: e vedutolo, lo pregarono di ritirarsi da' loro confini.And behold the vvhole citie vvent out to meete IESVS, and vvhen they savv him, they besought him that he vvould passe from their quarters.Et ecce tota civitas exiit obviam Jesu: et viso eo, rogabant ut transiret a finibus eorum.
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St. Augustine
And when he was come down from the mountain. St. Matthew says, that Jesus Christ ascended the mountain, and sat down to teach the people; while St. Luke affirms, that he descended, and stood in a plain place. But there is no contradiction; for he first ascended to the top of the mountain, and then descended to an even plain, which formed part of the descent. Here he stood for a while, and cured the sick, as mentioned by St. Luke; but afterwards, according to the relation of St. Matthew, he sat down, which was the usual posture of the Jewish doctors. (St. Augustine)
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about the year A.D. 31.
Bible de Vence
As the three evangelists relate the cure of the leper in nearly the same words, and with the same circumstances, we may conclude they speak of the same miracle. St. Matthew alone seems to have observed the time and order of this transaction, viz. after the sermon of the mount; the other two anticipate it. The Bible de Vence seems to infer, from the connection St. Matthew makes between the sermon of the mount and the cure of the leper, that it was not the same leper as that mentioned, Mark 1:40.; Luke 5:12. (Bible de Vence)
Witham
Adored him. In St. Mark it is said, kneeling down, Matthew 1:40. In St. Luke, prostrating on his face. It is true, none of these expressions do always signify the adoration or worship which is due to God alone, as may appear by several examples in the Old and New Testament; yet this man, by divine inspiration, might know our blessed Saviour to be both God and man. (Witham)
Bible de Vence
"Make me clean;" literally, "purify me;" the law treated lepers as impure. (Bible de Vence)
The leper, by thus addressing our Saviour acknowledges his supreme power and authority, and shews his great faith and earnestness, falling on his knees, as St. Luke relates it. (St. Chrysostom, hom. xxvi.) Our prayer should be such with great faith and confidence, qualified with profound humility, and entire diffidence of self.
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Witham
Jesus, stretching forth his hand, touched him. By the law of Moses, whosoever touched a leper, contracted a legal uncleanness: but not by touching in order to heal him, says Theophylactus. Besides, Christ would teach them that he was not subject to this law. (Witham)
St. Ambrose
"Touched him." To shew, says St. Cyprian, that his body being united to the Divinity, had the power of healing and giving life. Also to shew that the old law, which forbad the touching of lepers, had no power over him; and that so far from being defiled by touching him, he even cleansed him who was defiled with it. (St. Ambrose)
St. Chrysostom
When the apostles healed the lame man, they did not attribute it to their own power, but said to the Jews: Why do you wonder at this? Or, why look you at us, as if by our power or strength we have made this man to walk? But when our Saviour heals the leper, stretching out his hand, to shew he was going to act of his own power, and independently of the law, he said: "I will. Be thou clean;" to evince that the cure was effected by the operation of his own divine will. (St. Chrysostom, hom. xxvi.)
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Witham
For a testimony to them. That is, when the priest finds thee truly cured, make that offering which is ordained in the law. (Witham)
Menochius
He did this to give us an example of humility, and that the priests, by approving of his miracle, and being made witnesses to it, might be inexcusable, if they would not believe him. (Menochius)
He thus shews his obedience to the law, and his respect for the diginity of priests. He makes them inexcusable, if they can still call him a transgressor of the law, and prevaricator. He moreover gives this public testimony to them of his divine origin. (St. Chrysostom, hom. xxvi.) St. Chrysostom, in his third book on the priesthood, says: "the priests of the old law had authority and privilege only to discern who were healed of leprosy, and to denounce the same to the people; but the priests of the new law have power to purify, in very deed, the filth of the soul. Therefore, whoever despiseth them, is more worthy to be punished than the rebel Dathan and his accomplices." Our Saviour willeth him to go and offer his gift or sacrifice, according as Moses prescribed in that case, because the other sacrifice, being the holiest of all holies, viz. his body, was not yet begun. (St. Augustine, lib. ii. et Evang. 2:3. et cont. adver. leg. et Proph. lib. 1:chap. 19, 20.)
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Witham
A centurion. The same who (Luke 7:3,) is said to have sent messengers to our Saviour. But there is no contradiction: for what a man does by his servants, or friends, he is many times said to do himself. He came not in person out of humanity, but by his message shewed an extraordinary faith. (Witham)
Menochius
The centurion shews a much stronger faith in the power of Christ, than those who let down the sick man through the roof, because he thought the word of Christ alone sufficient to raise the deceased. And our Saviour, to reward his confidence, not only grants his petition, as he does on other occasions, but promises to go with him to his house to heal his servant. St. Chrysostom, hom. xxvii. The centurion was a Gentile, an officer in the Roman army. According to St. Luke he did not come to him in person, but sent messengers to him, who desired him to come down and heal his servant, whereas he seems here not to wish him to come: "Lord, I am not worthy," etc. These difficulties may be easily removed. A person is said to appear before the judge, when his council appears for him; so he may be said to have come to Jesus, when he sent his messengers. Or it may be that he first sent his messengers, and afterwards went himself. As to the second difficulty, it may be said the messengers added that of their own accord, as appears from the text of St. Luke. (Menochius)
St. Augustine is of opinion that he did not go himself in person, for he thought himself unworthy, but that he sent first the ancients of the Jews, and then his friends, which last were to address Jesus in his name and with his words. ( lib. ii de cons. Evang. ch. XX.) Thus we see that the request of the two sons of Zebedee was made by themselves to Jesus Christ, according to St. Mark 10:35, and by the mouth of their mother, according to St. Matthew, 20:20.
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On this occasion our Saviour does what he never did before: every where indeed he meets the will of his supplicants, but here he runs before his request, saying: "I will come;" and this he does to teach us to imitate the virtue of the centurion.
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Bristow
Origen says, when thou eatest and drinkest the body and blood of our Lord, he entereth under thy roof. Thou also, therefore, humbling thyself, say: Domine, non sum dignus; Lord, I am not worth, etc. So said St. Chrysostom in his mass, Litturg. Groec. sub finem; and so doth the Catholic Church say at this day in every mass. (See St. Augustine, Ep. cxviii. ad Janu.) (Bristow)
See Luke 7:6.
8:10
Menochius
Christ here compares the faith of the centurion with that of the people in general, and not with that of his blessed mother and the apostles, whose faith was beyond a doubt much greater. (Menochius)
The Greek says, "neither in Israel."
Jesus hearing this, marvelled. That is, by his outward carriage, says St. Augustine seemed to admire: but knowing all things, he could not properly admire any thing.
Witham
I have not found so great faith in Israel. This need not be understood of every one, but of those whom he had cured. (Witham)
8:11
Bible de Vence
In consequence of the faith of this Gentile, Jesus Christ takes occasion to declare that many Gentiles would be called to sit at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven, which is frequently represented under the figure of a feast. See Matthew 22:2; Luke 13:29.; Luke 14:16; Apocalypse 19:9. In ancient times, the guests were reclined on beds when they took their meals. (Bible de Vence)
8:12
Bible de Vence
Whilst the Jews, who glory in descending from the patriarchs, and who, on this title, are children and heirs of the celestial kingdom which had been promised them, shall be excluded for having rendered themselves unworthy by their unbelief. (Bible de Vence)
Witham
Shall be cast out into exterior darkness. This is spoken so as to imply a comparison to a supper in a great room, with a number of lights, when they who are turned out in the night, stand without, starving, weeping, and gnashing their teeth. (Witham)
8:14
Witham
Into Peter's house. That is, which had been Peter's house; for now he had quitted house, and all things to follow Christ. (Witham)
Bible de Vence
According to St. Mark 1:29, and St. Luke 4:38, the cure of Peter's mother-in-law seems to have been performed previously to the sermon on the mount, of which St. Luke makes mention (Luke 6.) We may suppose that St. Matthew mentions it in this order, on occasion of the miracle performed in the same place on the centurion's servant. (Bible de Vence)
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Menochius
In the Greek of the seventy-two interpreters, for infirmities we have amartias, sins; but the evangelist refers this to our bodily infirmities, because, as St. Chrysostom observes, diseases are the punishment of sins, and frequently arrive from the diseases of the soul. (Menochius)
Bible de Vence
The text of Isaias here quoted, regards the Messias literally. (Bible de Vence)
Witham
He took our infirmities. The words signify both the distempers of the body and the infirmities of the soul, for Christ cured both. (Witham)
8:20
St. Augustine
By the fox is meant craft and cunning, by the birds pride. Thus then our blessed Lord answered him; pride and deceit dwell in your heart, but you have left no place for the Son of Man to rest his head, who can rest only in the meek and humble. (St. Augustine)
Menochius
Jesus Christ rejected this scribe, because he wished to follow Jesus rather through the desire of glory and wealth, hoping to be great in his kingdom, than with the design of perfecting himself in virtue; so that our Saviour answers him: You cannot expect riches from me; who am poorer than the beasts of the field, or birds of the air; they have a place of rest, whereas I have none. (Menochius)
8:22
Witham
Let the dead bury their dead. The first words, let the dead, cannot mean those that were dead by a corporal death; and therefore must needs be understood of those who were spiritually dead in sin. (Witham)
Bible de Vence
Two similar answers are mentioned in Luke 9:57, 60. Jesus Christ may have given the same answers on two different occasions. (Bible de Vence)
St. Chrysostom
God will not suffer us to go and bury a deceased parent, when he calls us to other employments. (St. Chrysostom)
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Haydock
This bark is the Catholic Church. The sea denotes the world, the winds and tempests shew the attempts of the wicked spirits to overturn the Church. The Lord seems to sleep, when he permits his Church to suffer persecution and other trials, which he permits, that he may prove her faith, and reward her virtue and merits. (St. Chrysostom, hom. xxiii. in Mat. viii.) The apostles had followed their divine Master. They were with him, and executing his orders, and it is under these circumstances they are overtaken with a storm. If their obedience to Jesus Christ, if his presence did not free them from danger, to what frightful storms do those persons expose themselves, who undertake the voyage of the present life without him? What can they expect but to be tossed to and fro for a time, and at last miserably to founder? Faithful souls ought, from the example here offered them, to rise superior to every storm and tempest, by invoking the all-powerful and ever ready assistance of heaven, and by always calling in God to their help before they undertake any thing of moment. (Haydock)
8:25
Haydock
Should God appear to sleep, with the apostles, we should approach nearer to him, and awaken him with our repeated prayers, saying: "Lord, save us, or we perish." (Haydock)
St. Chrysostom
Had our Saviour been awake, the disciples would have been less afraid, or less sensible of the want of his assistance: he therefore slept, that they might be better prepared for the miracle he was about to work. (St. Chrysostom, hom. xxviii.)
8:26
Haydock
Why are you fearful, having me with you? Do you suppose that sleep can take from me the knowledge of your danger, or the power of relieving you? (Haydock)
Witham
He commanded the winds. Christ shewed himself Lord and Master of the sea and winds. His words in St. Mark 4:39, demonstrate his authority: Rising up he rebuked the wind, and said to the sea: Peace, be still. (Witham)
Haydock
As before our Lord restored Peter's mother-in-law on the spot, not only to health, but to her former strength; so here he shews himself supreme Lord of all things, not only by commanding the winds to cease, but, moreover, by commanding a perfect calm to succeed. (St. Chrysostom, hom. xxix.) How many times has he preserved his Catholic Church, when (to all human appearance, and abstracting from his infallible promises) she has been in the most imminent danger of perishing? How many times by a miracle, or interposition of his omnipotence, less sensible indeed, but not less real, has he rescued our souls, on the point of being swallowed up in the infernal abyss? (Haydock)
He commands the mute elements to be subservient to his wish. He commands the sea, and it obeys him; he speaks to the winds and tempests, and they are hushed; he commands every creature, and they obey. Man, and man only, man honoured in a special manner by being made after the image and likeness of his Creator, to whom speech and reason are given, dares to disobey and despise his Creator. (St. Augustine, hom. in Mat.) From this allegory of the ship and the storm, we may take occasion to speak of the various senses in which the words of Scripture may be occasionally taken. ... The sense of Scripture is twofold, literal and spiritual. The literal is that which the words immediately signify. The spiritual or mystic sense is that which things expressed by words mean, as in Genesis xxii, what is literally said of the immolation of Isaac, is spiritually understood of Christ; and in Colossians 2:12, by the baptism of Christ, St. Paul means his burial. The spiritual sense in its various acceptations, is briefly and accurately given in the following distich: Littera gesta docet, quid credas allegoria, Moralis quid agas, quo tendas anagogia. [The Letter speaks of deeds; Allegory to faith; The Moral how to act; Anagogy our destiny.]
8:28
Witham
Two that were possessed with devils. St. Mark (Mark 5.) and St. Luke (Luke 8.), in the same passage, mentions but one man, who is also said to be possessed with a legion of devils. Those evangelists seem to make mention only of one of them, because he might be much more fierce and famous than the other. (Witham)
Bible de Vence
These sepulchres were caverns excavated in the rocks, which served them as places of retreat. (Bible de Vence)
8:29
Bible de Vence
Before the time which God has marked to drive us from the world, and to bury us for ever in the prison of hell. (Bible de Vence)
Witham
What have we to do with thee? Or what hast thou to do with us? what harm have we done thee? Art thou come hither to torment us before the time? That is, before the time and day of judgment, after which the torments and punishments of the devils will be increased. (Witham)
8:30
Witham
And not far from them.[Ver. 30. Erat non longè, but now in all Greek copies, erat longè, en de makran. Beza says the reading in the Latin is to be followed, repugnante fide omnium Graecorum Codicum, sed rectiùs.] In all Greek copies at present we read, There was afar off. Beza himself here owns, that the Latin Vulgate is to be preferred before all Greek copies and manuscripts. (Witham)
Bible de Vence
The Greco-Latin manuscript of Cambridge has not the word non in the Latin; but in the Latin of the ancient Vulgate it occurs. (Bible de Vence)
8:31
Menochius
"Send us into the herd of swine." According to St. Luke, they begged of him two things; the first, that they might not be sent into hell, there to be tormented with more grievous torments, as they will be at the end of the world; the second, that they might be permitted to go into the herd of swine, that these being destroyed, the inhabitants of that country might be ill affected towards our Saviour, and refuse to receive him. The event seems to confirm this opinion. (Menochius)
8:32
Menochius
Many reasons might be brought why our Saviour suffered the devils to enter into the swine: 1. To shew that the devils had no power even over swine without his permission. 2. That such as were freed from their power, might acknowledge the greatness of the favour done them, by seeing from how great a multitude they were liberated. 3. To punish those Jewish citizens, who fed upon swine's flesh contrary to their law. And, 4. To shew how willingly the devils dwell in the hearts of those who are addicted to the voluptuous and carnal life, aptly designated by the swine. (Menochius)
Haydock
St. Chrysostom says that our Saviour permitted the devils to enter the swine, not for their own sakes, but for our instruction. 1. That we might know how very desirous the enemy of our salvation is to bring upon us the greatest evils. 2. That the devil has not any power, even over swine, without the permission of God. And, 3. That these cruel fiends would, if the Almighty allowed them, inflict still more grievous torments on their unhappy slaves. (Hom. xxix.) Jesus Christ here confutes the Sadducean doctrine, which denies the existence of spirits, good or bad. (Haydock)
8:34
Witham
That he would depart from their coasts. St. Jerome thinks these people did this out of a motive of humility, looking upon themselves unworthy of his presence: others judge that the loss of the swine made them apprehend lest Christ, being a Jew, might do them greater damages. (Witham)
Bible de Vence
The fear lest his presence might cause them some fresh loss, seems to have overbalanced, in their estimation, the advantages they might have expected from his visit. (Bible de Vence)
Haydock
How often has our good Lord wished to visit us, to honour us with his sacred presence, to enrich us with his divine inspirations; and how often, like these Gerasens, have we desired him to depart from our territories? Some worldly interest, sensual enjoyment, or supine listlessness on our part, has occasioned us to neglect the proffered advantages. Oh! can there be more marked ingratitude than this! Oh! how shall we one day grieve for having lost, by our culpable indifference, immense spiritual treasures, which have been made over to others far more deserving than ourselves! Yes, the day will certainly arrive, when we shall value a single additional degree of the divine favor and grace, infinitely more than all the united honours, riches, and pleasures of this world. (Haydock)
8:1
In the liturgy The Gospel on the 3. Sunday after the Epiphanie.
8:2
Concordance Mr. 1, 40.
Concordance Lu. 5, 12.
8:4
4 Priest.] The Priests of the old law (saith S. Chrysostome) had authoritie and priuilege only to discerne who where healed of leprosie, and to denounce the same to the people: but the Priests of the new law haue power to purge in very deede the filth of the soule. Priests forgiue sinnes. Therefore whosoeuer despiseth them, is more vvorthie to be punished then the rebel Dathan and his complices. S. Chryso. li. 3. de Sacerd.
4. Gift.] Our Sauiour willeth him to goe and offer his gift or sacrifice according as Moyses prescribed in that case, because the other sacrifice being the holiest of al holies, which is his body, was not yet begonne. So saith S. Aug. li. 2. q. Euang. q. 3. & Cont. Aduers. leg. & Preph. li. •. c. 19. 20.
•. Not worthy.] Orig. ho. 5. in diuers. When thou eatest (saith he) and drinkest the body and bloud of our Lord, DOMINE, non sum dignus. he entereth vnder thy roofe. Thou also therefore humbling thy self, say: Lord I am not worthy. &c. So said Liturg. S. Chrys. Graec. sub finem. S. Chrysostom in his Masse, and so doeth the Cath. Churche vse at this day in euery Masse, See S. Augustine ep. 118 ad Ianu.
Concordance Leu. 14, 2.
8:5
THE GOSPEL vpon the thursday after Ashwensday. And also in Masse for the sicke.
Concordance Lu. 7, 1.
8:14
14. His Wiues mother. Priests mariage.) Of Peter specially among the rest it is euident that he had a wife, but (as S. Hierom sayth) after they were called to be Apostles, Lib. 1. adu. they had no more carnal companie with their wiues, Iou. c. 14. as he proueth there by the very wordes of our Sauiour, He that hath left wise &c. Mt. 19, 29. And so in the Latin Churche hath been alwayes vsed, that maried men may be and are daily made Priests, Epiph. hae. 59. either after the death of the wife, or with her consent to liue in perpetual continencie. And if the Greekes haue Priests that doe otherwise, S. Epiphanius a Greeke Doctor telleth them that they doe it agaynst the ancient Canons, and Sozom. li. 1. c. 22. Paphnutius plainely signifieth the same in the first Councel of Nice. But this is most playne, that there was neuer either in the Greeke Church or the Latin, Socrat. li. 1. c. •. authentical example of any that married after holy Orders.
Concordance Mr. 1, 29.
Concordance Lu. 4, 38.
8:16
Concordance Esa. 53, 4.
8:17
Concordance 1. Pet. 2, 24.
8:18
Concordance Lu. 9, 57.
8:20
Concordance Luc. 9, •9.
8:22
22. Let the dead.) By this we see that not only no wordly or carnal respect, but no other laudable dutie toward our parents, ought to stay vs from folowing Christ, and choosing a life of greater perfection.
THE GOSPEL on the 4 Sunday after the Epiphanie.
8:23
Concordance Mar. 4, 36.
Concordance Lu. 8, 22.
8:26
26. He commaunded.) The Churche (here signified by the boate or shippe) and Catholikes, are often tossed with stormes of persecution, but Christ who seemed to sleepe in the meane time, by the Churches prayers awaketh, and maketh a calme.
8:28
Concordance Mr. 5, 1.
Concordance Luc. 8, 26.
8:1
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 11
[3] And when he descended from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 25
… for when the heart and mind is candid, it is easily persuaded by the words of the truth. And this is just why one sort, even when the miracles were proclaiming His power, were offended; while the other on hearing mere words were persuaded and followed Him. This, I would add, the evangelist too is intimating, when he saith, “great multitudes followed Him,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Harmony of the Gospels 2.19
… For this is how Matthew gives the history there: “Now, when He was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him; and, behold, there came a leper, and worshipped Him, saying, Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean;”
8:2
Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John 6.28
… the office of the prophet is to direct to the healing agency. Naaman then says, not understanding the great mystery of the Jordan, “Behold, I said that he will certainly come out to me, and will call upon the name of the Lord his God, and lay his hand upon the place, and restore the leper.” For to put his hand on the leprosy
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Festal and Personal Letters of Athanasius 60
… ‘Leave the Body that I may worship Thee;’ or so impious as to join the senseless Jews in saying, on account of the Body, ‘Why dost Thou, being a man, make Thyself God ?’ But the leper was not one of this sort, for he worshipped God in the Body, and recognised that He was God, saying, ‘Lord, if Thou wilt Thou canst make me clean
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 2.6
51. Again, what was the will of the Father, but that Jesus should come into the world and cleanse us from our sins? Hear the words of the leper: “If Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean.”
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 2.13
122. As for me, Lord Jesu, though I am conscious within myself of great sin, yet will I say: “I have not denied Thee; Thou mayest pardon the infirmity of my flesh. My transgression I confess; my sin I deny not. If Thou wilt Thou canst make me clean.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 26
… And the multitudes were astonished at His doctrine, because He taught as one having authority;” and so far from blaming them, He both took them with Him when He came down, and by His words of cleansing to the leper, confirmed their judgment. Again, that leper said, “If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean;”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 55
And because he had said, “Of a child,” and, “If thou canst help me,” Christ saith, “To him that believeth, all things are possible,” again giving the complaint a turn against him. And whereas when the leper said, “If Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean,”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Colossians 5
… ii. 4 .), how comes it not to pass? But to will is one thing, to operate, another. To will then is not sufficient for operation. How then saith the Scripture, “He hath done whatsoever He willed”? ( Ps. cxv. 3 .) And again, the leper saith unto Christ, “If Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean.” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 40.22
22. “Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me” ( ver. 13 ). As if he were saying, “‘If Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean.’
8:3
Origen † AD 254 Origen Against Celsus i.48
… And so also Isaac smelled the savour of his son’s divine garments, and added to the spiritual blessing these words: “See, the savour of my son is as the savour of a full field which the Lord blessed.” And similarly to this, and more as a matter to be understood by the mind than to be perceived by the senses, Jesus touched the leper,
St Basil the Great † AD 379 De Spiritu Sancto 8
Give careful heed, too, to the words of the Lord, and note how, whenever He instructs us about His Father, He is in the habit of using terms of personal authority, saying, “I will; be thou clean;”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 29
Forasmuch then as they had evinced so great faith, He also evinces His own power, with all authority absolving his sins, and signifying in all ways that He is equal in honor with Him that begat Him. And mark; He implied it from the beginning, by His teaching, when He taught them as one having authority; by the leper, when He said, “I will, be thou clean,”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 3
… 15 .) “I and My Father are One.” ( x. 30 .) And everywhere by putting the “as,” and the “so,” and the “being with the Father,” He declares His undeviating likeness to Him. His power in Himself He manifests by these, as well as by many other words; as when He says, “Peace, be still.” ( Mark iv. 39 .) “I will, be thou clean.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 24
… And therefore in many places he appears in words confined by limits, but in His actions He doth not so. For when He worketh a miracle, He doth all with power, saying, “I will, be thou clean.” (
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 13.15
… For when one believed that for the cure of his leprosy the will of Christ alone was sufficient He healed him by the simple consent of His will, saying: “I will, be thou clean.”
St John of Damascus † AD 749 An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 3.15
… And so in connection with our Lord Jesus Christ, the power of miracles is the energy of His divinity, while the work of His hands and the willing and the saying, I will, be thou clean
St John of Damascus † AD 749 An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 3.17
… And so it was that, though He wished, He could not of Himself escape , because it pleased God the Word that the weakness of the human will, which was in truth in Him, should be made manifest. But He was able to cause at His will the cleansing of the leper
8:4
Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John 2.28
… The Saviour gives the name of martyr to every one who bears witness to the truth He declares; thus at the Ascension He says to His disciples: “You shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judæa and in Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.” The leper who was cleansed
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 The Epistles of Cyprian 54.4
… “They have not despised thee, but they have despised me.” And the Lord also in the Gospel says, “He that heareth you, heareth me, and Him that sent me; and he that rejecteth you, rejecteth me; and he that rejecteth me, rejecteth Him that sent me.” And when he had cleansed the leprous man, he said, “Go, show thyself to the priest.”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 The Epistles of Cyprian 64.2
… For when He had cleansed the leper, He said to him, “Go, show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 25
“Tell no man, but show himself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 26
“For I also am a man under authority, having under me soldiers; and I say to this man, go, and he goeth; and to another, come, and he cometh; and to my servant, do this, and he doeth it.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 29
Thus everywhere His will is to offer proofs clear and indisputable; as when He saith, “Go thy way, show thyself to the priest;”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 9
… And for what reason? For the sake of their reputation. But He Himself made them objects of reverence. “The scribes and the pharisees sit in Moses’ seat; all therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that do ye, but after their works do ye not.” ( Matt. xxiii. 2 .) And again in another place, “Go thy way, show thyself to the priest.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on First Thessalonians 10
… All things therefore whatsoever they bid you, these do and observe: but do not ye after their works.” ( Matt. xxiii. 2, 3 .) And again, when He healed the leper, He said, “Go thy way, show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded for a testimony unto them.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 37
… And this Christ often doth, effectually silencing those who would fain be insolent. So in the case of the loaves, that no one might assert that the men had been merely satisfied, and that what was done was an illusion, He caused that there should be many relics of the loaves. So to the leper that was cleansed He said, “Go, show thyself to the priest” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 16.10
… But all these names are found also in the New Testament. "Destroy," Christ says, "this temple, and in three days I will raise it up;" and again, "When thou offerest thy gift at the altar;" and again, "Go, show thyself to the priest, and offer for thyself a sacrifice as Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them."
8:5
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 11
… but the children of the kingdom shall be cast [15] forth into the outer darkness: and there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said to that chief, Go thy way; as thou hast believed, so shall it be unto thee. [16] And his lad was healed in that hour. And that chief returned to the house and found that sick servant healed.
Tertullian † AD 220 On Idolatry 19
… and the People warred: if it pleases you to sport with the subject. But how will a Christian man war, nay, how will he serve even in peace, without a sword, which the Lord has taken away? For albeit soldiers had come unto John, and had received the formula of their rule; albeit, likewise, a centurion had believed;
Tertullian † AD 220 Against the Valentinians 28
… actually have to make some announcement himself by the prophets, but is quite incapable of even this part of his duty (because they divide authority over the prophets between Achamoth, the Seed, and the Demiurge), no sooner heard of the advent of Soter ( Saviour ) than he runs to him with haste and joy, with all his might, like the centurion in the Gospel.
Tertullian † AD 220 On Baptism 11
… Of course, his words are not so to be understood, but as simply spoken after an ordinary manner; just as, for instance, we say, “The emperor set forth an edict,” or, “The prefect cudgelled him.” Pray does the emperor in person set forth, or the prefect in person cudgel? One whose ministers do a thing is always said to do it.
Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John 10.10
… For the Word of God does not show forth His own beauty so much in healing the sick, as in His tendering the temperate draught to make glad those who are in good health and are able to join in the banquet.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 35
This person certainly was of royal race, or possessed some dignity from his office, to which the title “noble” was attached. Some indeed think that this is the man mentioned by Matthew (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Of Holy Virginity 32
… The faith of that Centurion He on this account chiefly praised, and said that He had not found in Israel so great faith, because he believed with so great humility as to say, “I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 33.2
… while Luke says he did not, but sent elders of the Jews, and that they, in case Jesus should despise the centurion as a Gentile (for they will have Jesus to be a thorough Jew), set about persuading Him, by saying that he was worthy for whom He should do this, because he loved their nation, and had built them a synagogue;
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 33.7
… and that when He came near the house he sent others, through whom he said that he was not worthy that Jesus should come into his house, and that he was not worthy to come himself to Jesus. How, then, do we read in Matthew, "He came to Him, beseeching Him, and saying, My servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, and grievously tormented?"
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Harmony of the Gospels 2.20
… “And when Jesus was entered into Capharnaum, there came unto Him a centurion, beseeching Him, and saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, and he is grievously tormented;” and so forth, on to the place where it is said, “And his servant was healed in the self-same hour.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 16.6
… Where, “shall sit down? In the kingdom of heaven.” And how will it be with them who came of the stock of Abraham? What will become of the branches with which the tree was full? What but to be cut off, that these may be grafted in? Show us that they shall be cut off: “But the children of the kingdom shall go into outer darkness.”
8:6
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 29
“But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power to forgive sins upon the earth (then saith He to the sick of the palsy), Arise, and take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.”
8:7
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 11
… and he besought him, and said, My Lord, my boy is laid in the house paralysed, and he is suffering grievous [7] torment. And the elders urgently requested of him, and said, He is worthy that [8] this should be done unto him: for he loveth our people, and he also built the synagogue [9, 10] for us.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 52
For if He had not meant to give, neither would He have given afterwards, nor would He have stopped her mouth again. But as He doth in the case of the centurion, saying, “I will come and heal him,”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 62
… but when He said, “He is dead,” He added not, “I go to raise him”; for He would not foretell in words what He was about to establish certainly by works, everywhere teaching us not to be vainglorious, and that we must not make promises without a cause. And if He did thus in the case of the centurion when summoned, (for He said, “I will come and heal him
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 27.12
… who when he desired that his servant might be healed by the Lord, and the Lord said, “I will come and heal him,” answered, “Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof, but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 13.14
… “Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only and my servant shall be healed,” the Lord marvelled at him and praised him, and put him before all those of the people of Israel who had believed, saying: “Verily, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith in Israel.”
8:8
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 11
… and he besought him, and said, My Lord, my boy is laid in the house paralysed, and he is suffering grievous [7] torment. And the elders urgently requested of him, and said, He is worthy that [8] this should be done unto him: for he loveth our people, and he also built the synagogue [9, 10] for us. Jesus said unto him, I will come and heal him.
Aphrahat † AD 346 Aphrahat: Select Demonstrations 1.17
… That blind man said to Him:— Yea, Lord, I believe . And his faith opened his eyes. And to him whose son was sick, He said:— Believe and thy son shall live. He said to Him:— I believe, Lord; help thou my feeble faith . And by his faith his son was healed. And also when the nobleman
St Basil the Great † AD 379 The Letters 42.2
… any one, for true pity’s sake, invite you with many pleas to enter his house, let him be told to follow the faith of the centurion, who, when Jesus was hastening to him to perform an act of healing, besought him not to do so in the words, “Lord I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof, but speak the word only and my servant shall be healed,”
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 39.5
… and when I say Peter, I am speaking of the man who walked upon the waves; or like Paul would be stricken in eyes, as he was before he was cleansed from the guilt of his persecution, when he conversed with Him Whom he was persecuting—or rather with a short flash of That great Light; or like the Centurion
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 3
It was in this way that the centurion also said, “I am not fit that thou shouldest enter under my roof;” because of this, he became worthy, and was “marvelled at”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 26
What then saith the centurion? “I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 27
Therefore neither doth he himself bring Him in, but He entered of His own accord (after the centurion had said, “I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 29
… And mark; He implied it from the beginning, by His teaching, when He taught them as one having authority; by the leper, when He said, “I will, be thou clean,” by the centurion, when upon his saying, “Speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed, He marvelled at him,”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 52
For if He had not meant to give, neither would He have given afterwards, nor would He have stopped her mouth again. But as He doth in the case of the centurion, saying, “I will come and heal him,” that we might learn the godly fear of that man, and might hear him say, “I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof;”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 62
… Wherefore before the raising of the dead He teacheth heavenly wisdom by words. But if He is “the Resurrection,” and “the Life,” He is not confined by place, but, present everywhere, knoweth how to heal. If therefore they had said, as did the centurion, “Speak the word, and my servant shall be healed” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 54.4
… There was no controversy between those two mentioned in the Gospel, Zacchæus and the Centurion; nor did either of them think himself better than the other, though, whereas the former received the Lord joyfully into his house, the latter said, “I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 189.4
… for I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it;” and concerning whom the Lord said: “Verily, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Profit of Believing 32
… either we must make no account of that saying, “Believe ye God, believe also Me;” or we must charge him with rashness, who willed not that He should come into his house, believing that the disease of his servant would depart at His mere command.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Of Holy Virginity 36
… Let him hear this, laboring and laden, who is weighed down by his burthen, so as not to dare to lift up his eyes to heaven, that sinner beating his breast, and drawing near from afar. Let him hear, the centurion, not worthy that Thou shouldest enter under his roof.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 12.0
On the words of the Gospel, Matt. viii. 8 , “I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof,” etc., and of the words of the apostle, 1 Cor. viii. 10 , “For if a man see thee who hast knowledge sitting at meat in an idol’s temple,” etc.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 12.1
1. We have heard, as the Gospel was being read, the praise of our faith as manifested in humility. For when the Lord Jesus promised that He would go to the Centurion’s house to heal His servant, He answered, “I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and he shall be healed.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 12.3
… He was in his house, as I have said, and was not in his heart. But into this centurion’s house He entered not, yet He possessed his heart. Zacchæus again received the Lord both in house and heart. Yet the centurion’s faith is praised for its humility. For he said, “I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof;”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 27.15
… why the wild olive tree to be grafted in, except for humility? Whence also that woman said, “Truth, Lord, yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” And thereupon she hears, “O woman, great is thy faith.” And so again that centurion, “I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 13.15
… “I will, be thou clean.” When another prayed that He would come and raise his dead daughter by laying His hands on her, He entered his house as he had hoped, and granted what was asked of Him. When another believed that what was essential for his salvation depended on His command, and answered: “Speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed,”
8:9
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 1.7.4
… But they relate that when the Saviour came, the Demiurge learned all things from Him, and gladly with all his power joined himself to Him. They maintain that he is the centurion mentioned in the Gospel, who addressed the Saviour in these words: “For I also am one having soldiers and servants under my authority; and whatsoever I command they do.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 26
… For if I (said he), being equal in honor to them whom I command, and under authority, yet by reason of the trifling superiority of my rank am able to do such great things; and no man contradicts me, but what I command, that is done, though the injunctions be various (“for I say to this man, go, and he goeth; and to another, come, and he cometh”:
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 22.74
… Again, in the case of the centurion who said, "I am a man under authority, and have soldiers under me: and I say to one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it," Christ gave due praise to his faith;
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 12.4
4. But whence did he get such confidence? “I also,” saith he, “am a man set under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh: and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 7.5
… “For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.”
Pseudo-Clement The Recognitions of Clement 4.33
… For as he who has soldiers under him, although he may be inferior, and they superior to him in strength, yet ‘says to this one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to another, Do this, and he doeth it;’
8:10
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 11
… And I also am a man in obedience to authority, having under my hand soldiers: and I say to this one , Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant that he do this, [12] and he doeth it . And when Jesus heard that, he marvelled at him, and turned and said unto the multitude that were coming with him,
Archelaus † fl. AD 278 The Acts of the Disputation with the Heresiarch Manes 42
… but Jesus receives them even from those who have not. But this man says, further, that it is written, that “except a man shall forsake all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.” Well, I observe again, that the centurion, a man exceedingly wealthy and well dowered with worldly influence, possessed a faith surpassing that of all Israel;
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 26
… Again, that leper said, “If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean;” and so far from rebuking, He on the contrary cleansed him by such treatment as He had said. Again, this centurion saith, “Speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed:” and “marvelling” at him, He said, “I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 29
… and what is truly marvellous, not by His friends only, but also by His enemies; for this is the excellency of His wisdom. By His friends on the one hand, when He said, “I will, be thou clean,” and when He said, “I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel;”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 22
This man is not a Jew, nor of those under the Law, but he had already forestalled our manner of life.
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 79.2
… On the other hand nothing is gained by men who while they affect coarse mantles, sombre tunics, dirt, and poverty, belie by their deeds their lofty pretensions. Of another centurion we find in the gospel this testimony from our Lord:—“I have not found so great faith, no not in Israel.”
St Jerome † AD 420 The Dialogue Against the Luciferians 1
… If they flatter themselves that they have on their side that verse of the gospel, “Howbeit when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” let me remind them that the faith in question is that of which the Lord himself said, “Thy faith hath made thee whole.” And elsewhere, of the centurion,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 22.13
… For they acknowledge Christ as God, and use this as a bait to entice Christ’s followers into their snares. God, then, was astonished when Christ was astonished. For we read in the Gospel, that when Christ heard the faith of a certain centurion, He was astonished, and said to His disciples, "Verily I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel."
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 12.3
… But into this centurion’s house He entered not, yet He possessed his heart. Zacchæus again received the Lord both in house and heart. Yet the centurion’s faith is praised for its humility. For he said, “I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof;” and the Lord said, “Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel;”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 27.15
… Whence also that woman said, “Truth, Lord, yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” And thereupon she hears, “O woman, great is thy faith.” And so again that centurion, “I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof.” “Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 38.10
… “O woman, great is thy faith, be it unto thee even as thou wilt.” For of this people also was that centurion of whom the same Lord saith, “Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.” Because he had said, “I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof, but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.”
8:11
St Justin Martyr † AD 165 Dialogue with Trypho 76
… ‘They shall come from the east [and from the west ], and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven: but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness.’
St Justin Martyr † AD 165 Dialogue with Trypho 120
… ‘For they shall come,’ He said, ‘from the west and from the east, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness.’
St Justin Martyr † AD 165 Dialogue with Trypho 140
… But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness.’
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 11
… and I say to this one , Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant that he do this, [12] and he doeth it . And when Jesus heard that, he marvelled at him, and turned and said unto the multitude that were coming with him, Verily I say unto you, I have [13] not found in Israel the like of this faith.
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 4.8.1
… him for righteousness.” And the Lord [also bears witness to him,] in the first place, indeed, by raising up children to him from the stones, and making his seed as the stars of heaven, saying, “They shall come from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south, and shall recline with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven;”
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 4.36.8
… in addition to what has been already said, He truly declared, “Many shall come from the east and from the west, and shall recline with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall go into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 5.30.4
… but bringing in for the righteous the times of the kingdom, that is, the rest, the hallowed seventh day; and restoring to Abraham the promised inheritance, in which kingdom the Lord declared, that “many coming from the east and from the west should sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 On the Lord's Prayer 13
… even as the Lord sets forth and proves: “Many,” says He, “shall come from the east and from the west, and shall recline with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 1.24
In the Gospel the Lord says: “Many shall come from the east and from the west, and shall lie down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven; but the children of the kingdom shall go out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 On Virginity 20
… As for family distinction, he will not vaunt that which comes by the mere routine of devolution even to numbers of the worthless, but that which is gained by the successful efforts of his own zeal and labours; a distinction which only those can boast of who are “sons of the light” and children of God, and are styled “nobles from the sunrise
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Decease of His Brother Satyrus 2.101
101. We see, then, that heaven is open to virtue, and that this is the privilege not only of a few: “For many shall come from the east and from the west, and the north and the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God,”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 16
… It doth not now bring in them who live after the coming of Christ, favored as they are with more strength, and bound to strive for greater things: since as to its own foster-children, them it doth bring in one and all. Yea, for “many shall come,” saith He, “from east and west, and shall lie down in the bosoms of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 26
“Many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down in the bosoms of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob; but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 31
But of our state there, no such word at all is spoken, but all the contrary; that “grief and sorrow and sighing have fled away.” And that “men shall come from the east and from the west, and shall recline in the bosoms of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 61
… but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 14
… For “He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out the vineyard to other husbandmen” ( Matt. xxi. 41 ): and before this, He said that “many shall come from the East and from the West, and shall sit down with Abraham, but the children of the Kingdom shall be cast out.” (
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 71.1
… I hasten to embrace with the arms of love one whom my eyes have never seen, and silently say to myself:—‘“oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I flee away and be at rest.”’ Then would I find him “whom my soul loveth.” In you the Lord’s words are now truly fulfilled: “many shall come from the east and west and shall sit down with Abraham.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 93.30
… “for the desolate hath more sons than she which hath an husband,” and “many shall come from the east and from the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of God.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Good of Marriage 35
… of a truth, that, unto themselves and unto all the faithful, beloved and chosen members of Christ, coming many from the East, and from the West, although shining with light of glory that differeth one from another, according to their deserts, there is this great gift bestowed in common, to sit down in the kingdom of God with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 33.1
1. Faustus said: You quote from the Gospel the words, "Many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven,"
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 12.6
6. See ye how that which ye have heard out of the Gospel was at that time to come is now present. Therefore, said He, on occasion of the commendation of the Centurion’s faith, as in the flesh an alien, but of the household in heart, “Therefore I say unto you, Many shall come from the east and west.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 27.13
13. Lastly, mark what follows. “Therefore,”—that is, because “I have not found so great faith in Israel,” that is, so great humility with faith,—“Therefore I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 27.14
… and though he die somewhat more slowly, does he on that account not die? Where then is there true health, except where there is true immortality? But if it be true immortality, and no corruption, no wasting, what need will there be there of nourishment? Therefore, when you hear it said, “They shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob;”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 38.22
… whom it was said,” Earth thou art, and unto earth shalt thou return;” yet because of the abundance of the good also, and because of him to whom it was said, “Thy seed shall be as the stars of heaven, and as the sand of the sea;” is that also written, “Many shall come from the East and West, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, in the kingdom of God.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 40.4
… How do we prove that in themselves they are many? “Many shall come from the East and from the West.” Whither shall they come? To that feast, into which both good and bad enter. But speaking of another feast, He subjoined, “and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 53.6
… What is, “to sit down to meat,” but to rest? What is, “He will pass by and serve them”? First, He passeth by, and so serveth. And where? In that heavenly Banquet, of which he saith, “Verily I say unto you, Many shall come from the East and West, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 61
… So large a mass is to come out of this floor, as to fill the garner of heaven. For the Lord Christ would not contradict Himself, who hath said, “Many there are who enter in by the narrow gate, many who go to ruin through the wide gate;” contradict Himself, who hath in another place said, “Many shall come from the East and West.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 39.18
… for it was by a certain “pride” that he offended; so as to require to be chastened by humility. All proud persons call themselves strong men. Therefore have many “come from the East and the West,” and have attained “to sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of Heaven.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 69.1
… wherein already the leaven, which at first was contemptible, hath leavened three measures, that is, the whole round world repeopled by the three sons of Noe: for from East and West and North and South shall come they that shall sit down with the Patriarchs,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 105.6
… and appointed the same unto Jacob,” that is, Jacob himself, “for a law.” These are the very three patriarchs, whose God He calleth Himself in a special sense, whom the Lord also doth name in the New Testament, where He saith, “Many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.”
Pseudo-Clement The Clementine Homilies 8.4
Then Peter, wondering at the eagerness of the multitudes, answered, “You see, brethren, how the words of our Lord are manifestly fulfilled. For I remember His saying, ‘Many shall come from the east and from the west, the north and the south, and shall recline on the bosoms of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob.’
8:12
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 11
… And when Jesus heard that, he marvelled at him, and turned and said unto the multitude that were coming with him, Verily I say unto you, I have [13] not found in Israel the like of this faith. I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall recline with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob [14] [Arabic, p. 43] in the kingdom of heaven:
Tertullian † AD 220 On the Resurrection of the Flesh 35
… for if they were to be lost, where would be the use of having taken such a numerical care of them? Surely the only use lies (in this truth): “That of all which the Father hath given to me, I should lose none,” —not even a hair, as also not an eye nor a tooth. And yet whence shall come that “weeping and gnashing of teeth,”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 40
… Why, what can be worse than this madness? Therefore, you see, whoremongers and publicans were able to enter into the kingdom, but the envious, being within it, went out: For “the children of the kingdom,” it is said, “shall be cast out.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 3
… xi. 32 .) And now indeed to many such things usually seem to come not of the wrath from above, but of the malice of man. But then the punishment from God shall be manifest, when the Judge, sitting upon the fearful tribunal, shall command some to be dragged to the furnaces, and some to the outer darkness,
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 130.7
… Otherwise he may some day deliver you to the judge and prove that you have taken what is his; and then the judge will deliver you to the officer—at once your foe and your avenger—and you will be cast into prison; into that outer darkness
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount 1.11
… “And angels,” it is said, “ministered unto Him:” and we believe that He will come with His angels to judge the quick and the dead. I understand what is meant by the prison: evidently the punishments of darkness, which He calls in another passage the outer darkness:
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 49.26
… and so they lost both. For the Romans, after our Lord’s passion and entrance into glory, took from them both their place and nation, when they took the one by storm and transported the other: and now that also pursues them, which is said elsewhere, “But the children of the kingdom shall go into outer darkness.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 47.10
… yet shall they come and sit down with him in the kingdom of heaven, and be his sons. Whereby his sons? Not as born of his flesh, but by following his faith. “But the children of the kingdom,” that is, the Jews, “shall be cast into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
8:13
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 11
… I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall recline with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob [14] [Arabic, p. 43] in the kingdom of heaven: but the children of the kingdom shall be cast [15] forth into the outer darkness: and there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 4.37.5
… And again, “All things are possible to him that believeth;” and, “Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee.”
St Basil the Great † AD 379 The Letters 42.2
… as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee,”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 26
“Go thy way; as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 13.15
… When another believed that what was essential for his salvation depended on His command, and answered: “Speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed,” He restored to their former strength the limbs that were relaxed, by the power of a word, saying: “Go thy way, and as thou hast believed so be it unto thee.”
8:14
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Harmony of the Gospels 2.17
… and after that the story of Peter’s mother-in-law. In these things, moreover, Luke is in accord with him. But Matthew has given us no notice of the evil spirit here. The story of Peter’s mother-in-law, however, he has not omitted, only he brings it in at a later stage.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Harmony of the Gospels 2.21
51. Matthew proceeds in the following terms: “And when Jesus was come into Peter’s house, He saw his wife’s mother laid, and sick of a fever. And He touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them.”
8:15
Tertullian † AD 220 A Treatise on the Soul 17
… lest perchance it should be said that He did not really “behold Satan as lightning fall from heaven;” that He did not really hear the Father’s voice testifying of Himself; or that He was deceived in touching Peter’s wife’s mother;
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 27
“And when Jesus was come into Peter’s house, He saw his wife’s mother laid and sick of a fever: and He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she arose and ministered unto Him.”
8:16
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 6
[47, 48] And Jesus came to the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. And Simon’s wife’s mother was oppressed with a great fever, and they besought him for [49] her. And he stood over her and rebuked her fever, and it left her, and immediately [50] she rose and ministered to them.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 27
2. “When the even was come, they brought unto Him many that were possessed with devils: and He cast out the spirits from them with a word, and healed all that were sick: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Prophet Esaias, that He took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Harmony of the Gospels 2.22
53. Matthew, accordingly, continues his narration thus: “Now when the even was come, they brought unto Him many that were possessed with devils; and He cast out the spirits with His word, and healed all that were sick: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Harmony of the Gospels 2.24
… Some parts of these stories are expressed, indeed, in different terms by the different writers, but the sense remains the same. This is the case, for example, when Matthew represents the Lord to have said, “Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?”
8:17
St Ignatius of Antioch † AD 108 Epistle to Polycarp: Shorter and Longer Versions 1
… Implore additional understanding to what thou already hast. Be watchful, possessing a sleepless spirit. Speak to every man separately, as God enables thee. Bear the infirmities of all, as being a perfect athlete [in the Christian life], even as does the Lord of all. For says [the Scripture], “He Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.”
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 6
… And at even they brought to him many that had [51] demons: and he cast out their devils with the word. And all that had sick, their diseases being divers and malignant, brought them unto him. And he laid his hand [52] on them one by one and healed them:
Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John 2.21
… For if Jesus was in the likeness of the flesh of sin and for sin, and condemned sin by taking upon Him the likeness of the flesh of sin, then it cannot be said of Him, absolutely and directly, that there was no darkness in Him. We may add that “He
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 2.55
… He even was exceedingly bold on behalf of his brethren according to the flesh, if I may myself be bold enough to say so, in his loving prayer that they might in his stead be brought to Christ. What magnanimity! what fervor of spirit! He imitates Christ, who became a curse for us, who took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses;
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 39.5
… Wilt thou not give any place to weeping? Wilt thou shed no tear? Mayest thou not meet with a Judge like thyself? Art thou not ashamed by the mercy of Jesus, Who took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses;
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 42.13
… as the cuttlefish are said to cast forth ink before them, in order to escape from their pursuers, or themselves to hunt others when unperceived. But we show that our warfare is in behalf of Christ by fighting as Christ, the peaceable and meek, Who has borne our infirmities, fought.
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 Against Eunomius 2.11
… For it was when He came in the form of a servant to accomplish the mystery of redemption by the cross, Who had emptied Himself, Who humbled Himself by assuming the likeness and fashion of a man, being found as man in man’s lowly nature—then, I say, it was that He became obedient, even He Who “took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 91.3
… And He healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils.” And Matthew, in giving us the same account, has also added the prophetic testimony, when he says: “That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sickness.”
8:18
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 11
… but thou, [29] follow me and preach the kingdom of God. And another said unto him, I will follow [Arabic, p. 44] thee, my Lord; but first suffer me to go and salute my household and [30] come. Jesus said unto him, There is no one who putteth his hand to the plough and looketh behind him, and yet is fit for the kingdom of God.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 27
3. “Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave commandment to depart unto the other side.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Harmony of the Gospels 2.22
… and thereafter, instead of subjoining the notice of the morning , goes on with his account in these terms: “Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave commandment to depart unto the other side of the lake.”
8:19
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Concerning Repentance 2.5
… But let them consider concerning whom the words were spoken: of Simon, who did not believe through faith, but was meditating trickery. So too the Lord to him who said, “Lord, I will follow Thee withersoever Thou goest,” replied, “Foxes have holes.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 27
“Master, I will follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Of Holy Virginity 52
… For also a certain proud and crafty person had said to Him, “Lord, I will follow Thee whithersoever Thou shalt have gone;”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Harmony of the Gospels 2.23
54. He next appends the following statement: “And a certain scribe came and said unto Him, Master, I will follow Thee whithersoever thou goest;” and so on, down to the words, “Let the dead bury their dead.”
8:20
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 11
[24] And when Jesus saw great multitudes surrounding him, he commanded them to [25] depart to the other side. And while they were going in the way, there came one of the scribes and said unto him, My Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou [26] goest.
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 3.12
… that, when he cometh and knocketh, they may open to him. Blessed are those servants, whom their lord, when he cometh, shall find watching.” Of this same thing in Matthew: “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the heaven have nests; but the Son of man hath not where He may lay His head.”
Aphrahat † AD 346 Aphrahat: Select Demonstrations 6.9
9. Let us take pattern, my beloved, from our Saviour, Who though He was rich, made Himself poor; and though He was lofty, humbled His Majesty; and though His dwelling place was in heaven, He had no place to lay His head;
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Duties of the Clergy 3.11
75. The Lord also in the Gospel rejected those coming to Him with guile, saying: “The foxes have holes,”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Against Marcionists and Manichæans 4
… Again He said to His disciples “Get you no gold nor silver neither brass in your purses,” thus training them for poverty: and this also He taught by His example, thus saying, “Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 9
… and His disciples also He choses out of Galilee; everywhere cutting off the pretexts of them who are disposed to be remiss, and giving tokens that we have no need of outward things, if we practise virtue. For this cause He doth not choose for Himself so much as a house; for “the Son of Man,” saith He, “hath not where to lay His head;”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 22
… Where then did He confirm it by His actions? Hear Him saying, “The Son of Man hath not where to lay His head.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 27
For “the foxes,” saith He, “have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 61
… I mean, that not only one of them overlooked shuts Heaven against us, but though it be done, yet not in due perfection and abundance, it produces the selfsame effect again. “For except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of Heaven.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 86
… It is manifest that it is the insulted person. But then, the one, covetousness, urges to insult the other; poverty persuades to endure. “But the poor man suffers hunger,” thou wilt say. Paul also suffered hunger, and was in famine. “But he has no rest.” Neither “had the Son of Man where to lay His head.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 1
But consider how Christ accredited his words by His deeds. Thus He saith, “Learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart.” ( Ib. xi. 29 .) He taught men to be poor, and exhibited this by His actions: “For the Son of Man,” He says, “hath not where to lay His head.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on First Corinthians 24
… What pardon then canst thou have? what excuse? Knowest thou not that all this worldly luxury is loathsome to thy Lord? Was it not for this that on His birth He was laid in a manger, and took to Himself a mother of low estate? Did He not for this say to him that was looking after gain, “But the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head?” (St.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 31
… And this He ever teacheth, that a man should work for himself, go without superfluities, and not have many wants. Nay, so desirous is He that we should be alienated from superfluities, that He abridgeth many even of necessary things. Wherefore He said, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Epistle to the Hebrews 18
But wilt thou hear the praises of poverty? Christ sought after it, and saith, “But the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Epistle to the Hebrews 28
They had not even raiment, he says, through the excess of affliction, no city, no house, no lodging-place; the same which Christ said, “but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head.” (
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 14.6
6. See how Peter left his net; see how the publican rose from the receipt of custom. In a moment he became an apostle. “The Son of man hath not where to lay his head,”
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 22.21
… Then were the words heard: “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” For no soldier goes with a wife to battle. Even when a disciple would have buried his father, the Lord forbade him, and said: “Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 13.23
… although now spiritual and renewed in the knowledge of God after His image that created him, ought yet to be the “doer of the law, not the judge.” Neither doth he judge of that distinction of spiritual and carnal men, who are known to Thine eyes, O our God, and have not as yet made themselves manifest unto us by works, that by their fruits we may know them;
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 22.48
… There must have been this desire of glory in the man whom the Lord in the Gospel checks in his desire to follow Him, saying, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay His Head."
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Harmony of the Gospels 2.1
… “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” By this exordium he shows with sufficient clearness that his undertaking is to give an account of the generation of Christ according to the flesh. For, according to this, Christ is the Son of man,—a title which He also gives very frequently to Himself,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 12.2
… “Lord, I will follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest.” And the Lord seeing in his heart what was invisible, said, “Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His Head.”
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Tertullian † AD 220 On Monogamy 7
… For the reason why He recalls that young man who was hastening to his father’s obsequies,
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 14.3
… Wherefore also when some other had come unto Him, and was asking leave to bury his own father,
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 27
“Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 65
… Say not, I will speak with my wife, and I will settle my affairs first. This delay is the beginning of remissness. Hear, how one desired to bid farewell to them at his house, and the prophet suffered him not. And why do I say, to bid farewell? The disciple desired to bury his father,
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 38.5
… The publican stood up from the receipt of custom and followed the Saviour once for all. And when a disciple wished to return home, that he might take leave of his kinsfolk, the Master’s voice refused consent. A son was even forbidden to bury his father,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 49.15
… but if thou believest not, even while thou livest thou art dead. Let us prove this likewise, that if thou believest not, though thou livest thou art dead. To one who was delaying to follow Him, and saying, “Let me first go and bury my father,” the Lord said, “Let the dead bury their dead; but come thou and follow me.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 21.7
… “Thou shalt offer to the Lord thy God thy tithes and firstfruits;” but: “Go and sell all that thou hast and give to the poor, and come follow Me;” where, owing to the grandeur of perfection, to the request of the disciple there is not granted even the very short space of an hour in which to bury his father,
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St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 On the Lord's Prayer 9
… these have observed Thy precepts and have kept Thy covenant.” Also the Lord in His Gospel has bidden us to call “no man our father upon earth, because there is to us one Father, who is in heaven.” And to the disciple who had made mention of his dead father, He replied, “Let the dead bury their dead;”
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Decease of His Brother Satyrus 2.36
… Another death is the departure from this life, as the patriarch Abraham died, and the patriarch David, and were buried with their fathers; when the soul is set free from the bonds of the body. The third death is that of which it is said: “Leave the dead to bury their own dead.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 67
… For here He speaks of the dead, who are also themselves to live. And moreover too, “I am the God of Abraham,” is another thing from, “That He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.” He knew of another death too, concerning which He saith, “Let the dead bury their dead.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 11
… For there are different kinds of deadness; and one there is of the body, according to which Abraham was dead, and still was not dead. For “God,” He says, “is not a God of the dead, but of the living.” ( Matt. xxii. 32 .) Another is of the soul which Christ alludes to when He says, “Let the dead bury their dead.” (
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 14.3
… “My mother and my brethren are these whosoever do the will of my Father which is in heaven.” If they believe in Christ let them bid me God-speed, for I go to fight in His name. And if they do not believe, “let the dead bury their dead.”
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 54.2
… and that I should be transported to the ends of the earth. They may add, if they will, the title of Samaritan; for in it I shall but recognize a name given to my Lord. But one thing is certain. I do not sever the daughter from the mother, I do not use the words of the gospel: “let the dead bury their dead.”
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 122.1
… “weep ye not for the dead,” he writes, “neither bemoan him: but weep sore for him that goeth away: for he shall return no more.” The Jew and the Gentile therefore are not to be bemoaned, for they have never been in the Church and have died once for all (it is of these that the Saviour says: “let the dead bury their dead”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 164
… For it may be that the apostle intended by the word “dead” to denote unbelievers, as being spiritually dead, like those of whom it was said, “Let the dead bury their dead,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 166.3
The soul of man is in a sense proper to itself immortal. It is not absolutely immortal, as God is, of whom it is written that He “alone hath immortality,” for Holy Scripture makes mention of deaths to which the soul is liable—as in the saying, “Let the dead bury their dead;”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 5.18
… the grief of bereavement, how shall any one affirm that he had done a great thing for the preaching of the gospel, by which the citizens of the heavenly city are delivered from divers errors and gathered together from divers wanderings, to whom his Lord has said, when anxious about the burial of his father, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead?”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 20.6
… It is for the sake of making this distinction that He says, “The hour is coming, and now is.” Now this resurrection regards not the body, but the soul. For souls, too, have a death of their own in wickedness and sins, whereby they are the dead of whom the same lips say, “Suffer the dead to bury their dead,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 20.15
… When John then wished to signify that those whom Christ should find still alive in the body were to be judged along with those who should rise again, he called them dead, both the good to whom it is said, “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God,” and the wicked of whom it is said, “Let the dead bury their dead.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Holy Trinity 4.3
… But why mention more proofs respecting the difference between the death of the soul and the death of the body, when the Lord in one sentence of the Gospel has made either death easily distinguishable by any one from the other, where He says, “Let the dead bury their dead”?
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On Two Souls, Against the Manichæans 2
… For if having invoked God, I had asked myself what living is, how inscrutable it is to every bodily sense, how absolutely incorporeal it is, could not I have answered? Or would not the Manichæans also confess not only that the souls they detest live, but that they live also immortally? and that Christ’s saying: "Send the dead to bury their dead,"
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants 1.2
… “On the day ye eat thereof ye shall surely die,” not to the death of the body, but to that death of the soul which takes place in sin. It is the unbelievers who have died this death, to whom the Lord pointed when He said, “Let the dead bury their dead.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 38.3
… dost behold him living, whom thou hadst known to be dead; dost behold him hearing, whom thou hadst known to be deaf? For consider that there are who are dead in another than the ordinary sense, of whom the Lord spake to a certain man who delayed to follow the Lord, because he wished to bury his father; “Let the dead,” said He, “bury their dead.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 77.7
… So then before they believed and obeyed, they lay dead; they walked, and were dead. What availed it to them, that they walked, being dead? And yet if any among them were to die a bodily death, they would run, get ready the grave, wrap him up, carry him out, bury him, the dead, the dead; of whom it is said, “Let the dead bury their dead.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 84.3
… but fly both of you to the True Deliverer. It is but a small part of it, that they who are under sin, are called servants; they are even called dead; what a man is afraid of captivity bringing upon him, iniquity has brought on him already. For what? because they seem to be alive, was He then mistaken who said, “Let the dead bury their dead”?
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 22
… Mean while, make the transition of life now. What is thy life? Faith: “The just doth live by faith.” The unbelievers, what of them? They are dead. Among such dead was he, in the body, of whom the Lord says, “Let the dead bury their dead.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 23.9
… because if it lived wisely, and then becomes foolish, it dies for the worse; if it lived foolishly, and becomes wise, it dies for the better. For the Scripture teaches us that there is a death for the worse, and that there is a death for the better. In any case, they had died for the worse, of whom it said, “Let the dead bury their dead;”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 116.6
… For it is truly said, “I was in misery, and He delivered me;” but the Apostle saith this also truly, that we are saved by hope. And that we are delivered from death, is well said to be already fulfilled, so that we may understand the death of unbelievers, of whom he saith, “Leave the dead to bury their dead.”
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Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John 10.14
… Then He goes up into the mountain and speaks the beatitudes and what follows them; and after finishing that instruction He comes down from the mountain and enters Capernaum a second time. Then He embarked in a ship and crossed over to the other side to the country of the Gergesenes. On their beseeching Him to depart out of their coasts He embarked
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Harmony of the Gospels 2.24
55. “And when He was entered into a ship, His disciples followed Him. And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea.” And so the story goes on, until we come to the words, “And He came into His own city.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Harmony of the Gospels 2.42
… rather the occurrences which these two latter evangelists both insert in near connection [with the parables],—namely, the incidents of the ship in which Jesus was asleep, and the miracle performed in the expulsion of the devils in the country of the Gerasenes, —two events which Matthew has already recalled and introduced at an earlier stage of his record.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 13.0
On the words of the Gospel, Matt. viii. 23 , “And when he was entered into a boat,” etc.
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Tertullian † AD 220 On Baptism 12
Others make the suggestion (forced enough, clearly “that the apostles then served the turn of baptism when in their little ship, were sprinkled and covered with the waves: that Peter himself also was immersed enough when he walked on the sea.”
Aphrahat † AD 346 Aphrahat: Select Demonstrations 6.9
… though He was the fountain that quenches thirst, yet Himself thirsted and asked for water; though He was abundance and satisfied our hunger, yet He Himself hungered when He went forth to the wilderness to be tempted; though He was a Watcher that slumbers not, He yet slumbered and slept in the ship in the midst of the sea;
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 29
… Add, if you like, Servant and Obedient and Gave and Learnt, and was commanded, was sent, can do nothing of Himself, either say, or judge, or give, or will. And further these,—His ignorance, subjection, prayer, asking, increase, being made perfect. And if you like even more humble than these; such as speak of His sleeping,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 26.8
… You give, as a reason for Christ’s appearing to die, that He underwent in appearance all the experiences of humanity. But that He feigned all the experiences of humanity is only your opinion in opposition to the Gospel. In reality, when the evangelist says that Jesus slept,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 31.8
8. For wherefore art thou disturbed? Thine heart is disturbed by the pressing troubles of the world, as that ship was, in which Christ was asleep. Lo! what is the cause, stout-hearted man, that thy heart is disturbed? That ship in which Christ is asleep,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 49.19
… “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.” Therefore thy faith in Christ is Christ Himself in thy heart. This is why He slept in the ship; and why, when His disciples were in danger and already on the verge of shipwreck, they came to Him and awoke Him. Christ arose, laid His commands on the winds and waves, and there ensued a great calm.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 10.9
… The Church then labouring in such times, like a ship in great waves and tempests, awaketh the Lord as if He were sleeping, that He should command the winds, and calm should be restored.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 46.4
… “Therefore will not we fear, when the earth shall be confounded” ( ver. 2 ). Just before anxious, suddenly secure; out of too great tribulations set in great tranquillity. For in them Christ was sleeping, therefore were they tossed: Christ awoke (as but now we heard out of the Gospel), He commanded the winds, and they were still.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 55.9
… Perchance thy ship is being troubled, because He in thee is sleeping. The sea was raging, the bark wherein the disciples were sailing was being tossed; but Christ was sleeping: at length it was seen by them that among them was sleeping the Ruler and Creator of winds; they drew near and awoke Christ;
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 91.19
… yea, I am with him in trouble” ( ver. 15 ). Fear not when thou art in trouble, as if the Lord were not with thee. Let faith be with thee, and God is with thee in thy trouble. There are waves on the sea, and thou art tossed in thy bark, because Christ sleepeth. Christ slept in the ship, while the men were perishing.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 104.33
… for who numbereth the temptations that creep? They creep, but beware, lest they snatch us away. Let us keep watch on the Wood; even in the water, even on the waves, we are safe: let not Christ sleep, let not faith sleep; if He hath slept, let Him be awakened; He will command the winds; He will calm the sea;
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Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 11
… and he left the multitudes. And Jesus went up and sat in the ship, [33] he and his disciples, and there were with them other ships. And there occurred on the sea a great tempest of whirlwind and wind, and the ship was on the point of [34] sinking from the greatness of the waves. But Jesus was sleeping on a cushion in the stern of the ship;
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 14
… Jonas was asleep in the ship, and snoring amidst the stormy sea; while Jesus also slept, the sea, according to God’s providence , began to rise, to shew in the sequel the might of Him who slept. To the one they said, Why art thou snoring? Arise, call upon thy God, that God may save us ; but in the other case they say unto the Master, Lord, save us
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 28
The tempest therefore being thoroughly excited, and the sea raging, “They awake Him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish.”
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 108.28
… Hitherto the wind has been all in my favour and my keel has smoothly ploughed through the heaving waves. But now my speech is running upon the rocks, the billows are mountains high, and imminent shipwreck awaits both you and me. We must needs cry out: “Master; save us we perish:”
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 109.3
… But let us say with David: “Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.” So will the Holy One and the Watcher come to us. And if ever by reason of our sins He fall asleep, let us say to Him: “Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord;” and when our ship is tossed by the waves let us rouse Him and say, “Master, save us: we perish.”
St Jerome † AD 420 Against the Pelagians 3.6
… Without question, however much we may exercise all the care of the physician, and regulate our diet, and be free from indigestion and whatever fosters disease, the causes of which are in some cases hidden from us and known to God alone, we shiver with cold, or burn with fever, or howl with colic, and implore the help of the true physician, our Saviour, and
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Harmony of the Gospels 2.24
… “Why are ye fearful? Where is your faith, O ye of little faith?” And so one of them records one part, and another another part, of the entire saying. The same may be the case with the words spoken by the disciples when they awoke Him. Matthew gives us: “Lord, save us: we perish.”
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Archelaus † fl. AD 278 The Acts of the Disputation with the Heresiarch Manes 44
… There, Moses went without fear into the darkness of the clouds that carry water; and here, the Lord Jesus walked with all power upon the waters. There, Moses gave his commands to the sea; and here, the Lord Jesus, when he was on the sea, rose and gave His commands to the winds and the sea.
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Festal and Personal Letters of Athanasius 60
… But he worshipped the Creator of the universe as dwelling in a created temple, and was cleansed. So also the woman with an issue of blood, who believed, and only touched the hem of His garment, was healed , and the sea with its foaming waves heard the incarnate Word, and ceased its storm
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 Against Eunomius 2.15
… saying to the faint-hearted, “Fear not, for I am with thee, be not dismayed ,” as says the Psalmist, “Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me .” Nay, the Lord Himself says to the fearful,—“Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid ,” and, “Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 28
… and all the surge was straightway at an end, and not one trace of the disturbance remained. For this the evangelist declared saying, “And there was a great calm.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 55
… and having cast forth His commandment like a net into that abyss, to bring up the one that bore the piece of money; but it was of a divine and unutterable power, thus to make even the sea bear gifts, and that its subjection to Him should be shown on all hands, as well when in its madness it was silent,
St Jerome † AD 420 The Dialogue Against the Luciferians 1
… they have on their side that verse of the gospel, “Howbeit when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” let me remind them that the faith in question is that of which the Lord himself said, “Thy faith hath made thee whole.” And elsewhere, of the centurion, “I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.” And again, to the Apostles,
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 Letters of the Blessed Theodoret, Bishop of Cyprus 98
We are distressed to see the tempest of the churches, but their Master and Ruler ever through mighty billows shows to men His own wisdom and power. He rebukes the winds and brings about a calm as He did when He was in the apostles boat.
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 28
“They marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the sea and the winds obey Him?”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 50
Whereas before this they had said, “What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him!”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Harmony of the Gospels 2.24
… In the same way, too, we may deal with the exclamation on the stilling of the tempest, which, according to Matthew, was, “What manner of man is this, that the winds and the sea obey Him?”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 13.3
3. Now what I have said as to anger, hold fast as a rule in all your temptations. A temptation has sprung up; it is the wind; thou art disturbed; it is a wave. Awake up Christ then, let Him speak with thee. “Who is this, since the winds and the sea obey Him?”
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 Dialogues. The “Eranistes” or “Polymorphus” of the Blessed Theodoretus, Bishop of Cyrus 1
Orth. —If you find even the apostles before the resurrection thus saying, will you receive the interpretation? I hear them in the boat, after the mighty miracle of the calm, saying “what manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”
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Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 11
… 45] able to bind him with chains, because any time that he was bound with chains [41] and fetters he cut the chains and loosened the fetters; and he was snatched [42] away of the devil into the desert, and no man was able to quiet him; and at all times, in the night and in the day, he would be among the tombs and in the mountains;
Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John 6.24
… In the matter of proper names the Greek copies are often incorrect, and in the Gospels one might be misled by their authority. The transaction about the swine, which were driven down a steep place by the demons and drowned in the sea, is said to have taken place in the country of the Gerasenes.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Three Homilies Concerning the Power of Demons 1
… But rather indeed now it is possible to set it before you as it were by a certain small example. Certain men possessed of Demons coming forth out of the tombs met Christ, and the Demons kept beseeching him to suffer them to enter the herd of swine. And he suffered them, and they went away, and straightway precipitated them all headlong.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 42
… for we have been honored with the greatest of honors, compared with which that other is verily insult, ridicule, and mockery. And as the riches of this world compared with the riches of that are poverty, as this life apart from that is deadness, (for “let the dead bury their dead”—
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Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on Matthew 11.17
Now bring together from the Gospels those who call Him Son of David, as she, and the blind men in Jericho; and who call Him Son of God, and that without the addition “truly” like the demoniacs who say, “What have we to do with Thee, Thou Son of God;”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 2.29
… God, when Thou wentest forth in the sight of Thy people, in passing into the desert.” Also in the eighty-first Psalm: “Arise, O God; judge the earth: for Thou wilt exterminate among all nations.” Also in the Gospel according to Matthew: “What have we to do with Thee, Thou Son of David? why art Thou come hither to punish us before the time?”
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 To the Bishops of Egypt 1.3
… For He said, ‘Get thee behind Me Satan; for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve .’ And again, when He put a curb in the mouths of the demons that cried after Him from the tombs. For although what they said was true, and they lied not then, saying, ‘Thou art the Son of God,’ and ‘the Holy One of God
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 To the Bishops of Egypt 2
… but these men, as they have not a pure mind, and cannot bear to hear the words of divine men who teach of God, may be able to learn something even from the devils who resemble them, for they spoke of Him, not as if there were many besides, but, as knowing Him alone, they said, ‘Thou art the Holy One of God,’ and ‘the Son of God
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Selections from the Letters of St. Ambrose 22.16
… But this is not to be wondered at since such is the faithlessness of unbelievers that the confession of the devil is often more easy to endure. For the devil said: “Jesus, Son of the living God, why art Thou come to torment us before the time?”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 28
“What have we to do with Thee, Jesus, Thou Son of God? Art Thou come hither to torment us before the time?”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 41
… He feared as I said, the unapproachable force, and would not have had such power had he not said this. But observe how we find the demons everywhere more right minded (than the Jews), not daring to contradict nor accuse the Apostles, or Christ. There they say, “We know Thee who Thou art” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 25
… And who would say this? Who even of men that were quite crazed? or rather, which of the devils even would say this? For even they confess that there is a hell. Wherefore also they cried out and said, “Art Thou come hither to torment us before the time?” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 31
… For if thou disbelievest our words, make enquiry of Jews and Gentiles, and all heretics. And all of them as with one mouth will answer that a judgment there shall be, and a retribution. And are men not enough? Ask the devils themselves, and thou wilt hear them cry, “Why hast thou come thither to torment us before the time.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 45
… and they shall not escape.” ( 1 Thess. v. 3 .) God hath so ordered this, that we may be always struggling, and be not confident even in time of safety. What sayest thou? Dost thou not expect that there will be a Resurrection and a Judgment? The devils confess these, and art thou shameless? “Art Thou come,” they say, “to torment us before the time?” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 8.23
… who in the Spirit recognized Him when He was conceived, or Peter, who said by the revelation of the Father, “Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God.” But to this Egyptian those spirits indicated the time of their own destruction, who also, when the Lord was present in the flesh, said with trembling, “Art Thou come hither to destroy us before the time?”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 20.1
… He judges, too, not only in the mass, condemning the race of devils and the race of men to be miserable on account of the original sin of these races, but He also judges the voluntary and personal acts of individuals. For even the devils pray that they may not be tormented,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 3.34
… But if any one thinks this, he is mad enough to contend that Peter ought not to have said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God," because the devils had already said something to the same effect.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 40.8
… Was it because he said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God”? He who pronounced Him blessed, regarded not the sound of the words, but the affection of the heart. For would ye know that Peter’s blessedness lay not in these words? The devils also said the same. “We know Thee who Thou art, the Son of God.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of John 2.8
… If we have known, let us love: for knowledge without charity saveth not. “Knowledge puffeth up, charity edifieth.” If ye have a mind to confess and not love, ye begin to be like the demons. The demons confessed the Son of God, and said, “What have we to do with Thee?”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of John 10.1
… This it is to “believe that Jesus is the Christ,” as Christians believe, who are not Christians only in name, but in deeds and in life, not as the devils believe. For “the devils also believe and tremble,” as the Scripture tells us. What more could the devils believe, than that they should say, “We know who thou art, the Son of God?”
Socrates Scholasticus † AD 440 The Ecclesiastical History of Socrates Scholasticus 4.24
… Now it happened at the same time that the priest’s daughter became suddenly possessed by a demon, and began to act with great fury, and to overturn everything that came in her way; nor was any force sufficient to restrain her, but she cried with a loud voice to these saints of God, saying:—‘Why are ye come here to cast us out from hence also?’
8:30
Tertullian † AD 220 On Modesty 9
… This (“substance”), accordingly, he “squandered;” having been cast by his moral habits far from the Lord, amid the errors and allurements and appetites of the world, where, compelled by hunger after truth, he handed himself over to the prince of this age. He set him over “swine,” to feed that flock familiar to demons,
St John of Damascus † AD 749 An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 2.29
… For that which is the result of compulsion has neither reason nor virtue in it. God makes provision for all creation and makes all creation the instrument of His help and training, yea often even the demons themselves, as for example in the cases of Job and the swine
8:31
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Life of Antony. (Vita Antoni.) 16
… But having asked not once but also a second time, he shows his weakness and want of power. And it is no wonder if he could do nothing against Job, when destruction would not have come even on his cattle had not God allowed it. And he has not the power over swine, for as it is written in the Gospel, they besought the Lord, saying, “Let us enter the swine
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Three Homilies Concerning the Power of Demons 2.1
… We have said lately, that he does not overcome by force, nor by tyranny, nor through compulsion, nor through violence. Since were this so, he would have destroyed all men. And in testimony of this we brought forward the swine, against which the Demons were unable to venture anything, before the permission of the Master.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 22.72
… In the same way, this human goodness, or folly rather, might object to the Lord’s permitting the devils to enter the swine, which they asked to be allowed to do with a mischievous intent,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 43.4
… For many are heard in their prayers for many things. Let them not congratulate themselves on being heard; the devils were heard in their prayer, that they might be sent into the swine. Let us desire to be heard unto eternal life, by reason of our longing, through which we say, “Send out Thy Light and Thy Truth.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 7.22
… and it is evidenced by the confession of the same spirits contained in the records of the gospel, where they say: “If Thou cast us out, suffer us to go into the herd of swine.”
Pseudo-Clement The Clementine Homilies 19.14
… What! did not the demons go out through fear and respect for Him, and others of them desired to enter into swine; but they first entreated Him before going, plainly because they had no power to enter even into swine without His permission?”
8:32
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 28
… and if we have the Spirit, we shall also have good works. As also, on the other hand, if we have no works, the Spirit flieth away. But if we be deserted by the Spirit, we shall also halt in our works. For when this hath gone, the unclean one cometh: this is plain from Saul. For what if he doth not choke
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Morals of the Manichæans 17
54. We must now notice and discuss the symbol of the hands. And, in the first place, your abstaining from the slaughter of animals and from injuring plants is shown by Christ to be mere superstition; for, on the ground that there is no community of rights between us and brutes and trees, He both sent the devils into an herd of swine,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 6.5
… You are merciful to beasts, believing them to contain the souls of human beings, while you refuse a piece of bread to a hungry beggar. The Lord Jesus, on the other hand, was cruel to the swine when He granted the request of the devils to be allowed to enter into them.
8:34
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 28
… For it is evident from the event that the inhabitants of that city were a sort of senseless people; for when they ought to have adored and marvelled at His power, they sent Him away, and “besought Him that He would depart out of their coasts.”
8:1
St Jerome † AD 420
After the preaching and teaching, is offered an occasion of working miracles, that by mighty works following, the preceding doctrine might be confirmed.
Pseudo-Chrysostom quoad sens.
Because He taught them as one having authority, that He might not thence be supposed to use this method of teaching from ostentation, He does the same in works, as one having power to cure; and therefore, When Jesus descended from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. PSEUDO-ORIGEN. (Hom. in Liv. 5.) While the Lord taught on the mount, the disciples were with Him, for to them it was given to know the secret things of the heavenly doctrine; but now as He came down from the mount the crowds followed Him, who had been altogether unable to ascend into the mount. They that are bowed by the burden of sin cannot climb to the sublime mysteries. But when the Lord came down from the mount, that is, stooped to the infirmity, and helplessness of the rest, in pity to their imperfections, great multitudes followed Him, some for renown, most for His doctrine, some for cures, or having their wants administered to.
Haymo † AD 853
Otherwise; By the mount on which the Lord sate is figured the Heaven, as it is written, Heaven is my throne. (Is. 66:1.) But when the Lord sits on the mount, only the disciples come to Him; because before He took on Him the frailty of our human nature, God was known only in Judæa; (Ps. 76:1.) but when He came down from the height of his Divinity, and took upon Him the frailty of our human nature, a great multitude of the nations followed Him. Herein it is shewn to them that teach that their speech should be so regulated, that as they see each man is able to receive, they should so speak the word of God. For the doctors ascend the mountain, when they shew the more excellent precepts to the perfect; they come down from the mount, in shewing the lesser precepts to the weak.
Pseudo-Chrysostom
Among others who were not able to ascend into the mount was the leper, as bearing the burden of sin; for the sin of our souls is a leprosy. And the Lord came down from the height of heaven, as from a mountain, that He might purge the leprousness of our sin; and so the leper as already prepared meets Him as He came down. PSEUDO-ORIGEN. (ubi sup.) He works the cures below, and does none in the mount; for there is a time for all things under heaven, a time for teaching, and a time for healing. On the mount He taught, He cured souls, He healed hearts; which being finished, as He came down from the heavenly heights to heal bodies, there came to Him a leper and made adoration to Him; before he made his suit, he began to adore, shewing his great reverence.
Pseudo-Chrysostom
He did not ask it of Him as of a human physician, but adored Him as God. For faith and confession make a perfect prayer; so that the leprous man in adoring fulfilled the work of faith, and the work of confession in words, he made adoration to him, saying; PSEUDO-ORIGEN. (ubi sup.) Lord, by Thee all things were made, Thou therefore, if thou will, canst make me clean. Thy will is the work, and all works are subject to Thy will. Thou of old cleansedst Naaman the Syrian of his leprosy by the hand of Elisha, and now, if thou will, thou canst make me clean.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407
He said not, If Thou wilt ask of God, or, If Thou wilt make adoration to God; but, If thou wilt. Nor did he say, Lord, cleanse me; but left all to Him, thereby making Him Lord, and attributing to Him the power over all.
Pseudo-Chrysostom
And thus he rewarded a spiritual Physician with a spiritual reward; for as physicians are gained by money, so He with prayer. We offer to God nothing more worthy than faithful prayer. In that he says, If thou wilt, there is no doubt that Christ’s will is ready to every good work; but only doubt whether that cure would be expedient for him, because soundness of body is not good for all. If thou wilt then is as much as to say, I believe that Thou wiliest whatever is good, but I know not if this that I desire for myself is good.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407
He was able, to cleanse by a word, or even by mere will, but He put out His hand, He stretched forth his hand and touched him, to shew that He was not subject to the Law, and that to the pure nothing is impure. Elisha truly kept the Law in all strictness, and did not go out and touch Naaman, but sends him to wash in Jordan. But the Lord shews that He does not heal as a servant, but as Lord heals and touches; His hand was not made unclean by the leprosy, but the leprous body was made pure by the holy hand. For He came not only to heal bodies, but to lead the soul to the true wisdom. As then He did not forbid to eat with unwashen hands, so here He teaches us that it is the leprosy of the soul we ought only to dread, which is sin, but that the leprosy of the body is no impediment to virtue.
Pseudo-Chrysostom
But though He transgressed the letter of the Law, He did not transgress its meaning. For the Law forbade to touch leprosy, because it could not hinder that the touch should not defile; therefore it meant not that lepers should not be healed, but that they that touched should not be polluted. So He was not polluted by touching the leprosy, but purified the leprosy by touching it.
St John Damascene † AD 749 De Fid. Orth. iii. 15.
For He was not only God, but man also, whence He wrought Divine wonders by touch and word; for as by an instrument so by His body the Divine acts were done.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407
But for touching the leprous man there is none that accuses Him, because His hearers were not yet seized with envy against Him.
Pseudo-Chrysostom
Had He healed him without speaking, who would know by whose power he had been healed? So the will to heal was for the sake of the leprous man; the word was for the sake of them that beheld, therefore He said, I will, be thou clean.
St Jerome † AD 420
It is not to be read, as most of the Latins think, ‘I will to cleanse thee;’ but separately, He first answers, I will, and then follows the command, be thou clean. The leper has said, If thou wilt; the Lord answers, I will; he first said, Thou canst make me clean; the Lord spake, Be thou clean.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407
No where else do we see Him using this word though He be working ever so signal a miracle; but He here adds, I will, to confirm the opinion of the people and the leprous man concerning His power. Nature obeyed the word of the Purifier with proper speed, whence it follows, and straight his leprosy was cleansed. But even this word straightway is too slow to express the speed with which the deed was done. PSEUDO-ORIGEN. (ubi sup.) Because he was not slow to believe, his cure is not delayed; he did not linger in his confession, Christ did not linger in His cure.
St Augustine † AD 430 De Cons. Ev. ii. 19.
Luke has mentioned the cleansing of this leper, though not in the same order of events, but as his manner is to recollect things omitted, and to put first things that were done later, as they were divinely suggested; so that what they had known before, they afterwards set down in writing when they were recalled to their minds.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407
Jesus when healing his body bids him tell no man; Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man. Some say that He gave this command that they might not through malice distrust his cure. But this is said foolishly, for He did not so cure him as that his purity should be called in question; but He bids him tell no man, to teach that He does not love ostentation and glory. How is it then that to another to whom He had healed He gives command to go and tell it? What He taught in that was only that we should have a thankful heart; for He does not command that it should be published abroad, but that glory should be given to God. (Mark 5:19.) He teaches us then through this leper not to be desirous of empty honour; by the other, not to be ungrateful, but to refer all things to the praise of God.
St Jerome † AD 420
And in truth what need was there that he should proclaim with his mouth what was evidently shewed in his body?
St Hilary † AD 367
Or that this healing might be sought rather than offered, therefore silence is enjoined.
St Jerome † AD 420
He sends him to the Priests, first, because of His humility that He may seem to defer to the Priests; secondly, that when they saw the leper cleansed they might be saved, if they would believe on the Saviour, or if not that they might be without excuse; and, lastly, that He might not seem, as He was often charged, to be infringing the Law.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407
He neither every where broke, nor every where observed, the Law, but sometimes the one, sometimes the other. The one was preparing the way for the wisdom that was to come, (ἡ μέλλουσα φιλοσοφία.) the other was silencing the irreverent tongue of the Jews, and condescending to their weakness. Whence the Apostles also are seen sometimes observing, sometimes neglecting, the Law. PSEUDO-ORIGEN. (ubi sup.) Or, He sends him to the Priests that they might know that he was not cleansed according to the manner of the Law, but by the operation of grace.
St Jerome † AD 420
It was ordained in the Law, that those that had been cleansed of a leprosy should offer gifts to the Priests; as it follows, And offer thy gift as Moses commanded for a testimony to them.
Pseudo-Chrysostom
Which is not to be understood, Moses commanded it for a testimony to them; but, Go thou and offer for a testimony.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407
For Christ, knowing beforehand that they would not profit by this, said not, ‘for their amendment,’ but, for a testimony to them; that is, for an accusation of them, and in attestation that all things that should have been done by Me, have been done. But though He thus knew that they would not profit by it, yet He did not omit any thing that behoved to be done; but they remained in their former ill-will. Also He said not, ‘The gift that I command,’ but, that Moses commanded, that in the meantime He might hand them over to the Law, and close the mouths of the unjust. That they might not say that He usurped the honour of the Priests, He fulfilled the work of the Law, and made a trial of them. PSEUDO-ORIGEN. (ubi sup.) Or; offer thy gift, that all who see may believe the miracle.
Pseudo-Chrysostom
Or; He commands the oblation, that should they afterwards seek to put him out, he might be able to say, You have received gifts on my cleansing, how do ye now cast me out as a leper?
St Hilary † AD 367
Or we may read, Which Moses commanded for a testimony; inasmuch as what Moses commanded in the Law is a testimony, not an effect.
St Bede † AD 735 Hom. in Dom. 3 Epiph.
Should any be perplexed how, when the Lord seems here to approve Moses’ offering, the Church does not receive it, let him remember, that Christ had not yet offered His body for a holocaust. And it behoved that the typical sacrifices should not be taken away, before that which they typified was established by the testimony of the Apostles’ preaching, and by the faith of the people believing. By this man was figured the whole human race, for he was not only leprous, but, according to the Gospel of Luke, is described as full of leprosy. For all have sinned, and need glory of God; (Rom. 3:23.) to wit, that glory, that the hand of the Saviour being stretched out, (that is, the Word being made flesh,) and touching human nature, they might be cleansed from the vanity of their former ways; and that they that had been long abominable, and cast out from the camp of God’s people, might be restored to the temple and the priest, and be able to offer their bodies a living sacrifice to Him to whom it is said, Thou art a Priest for ever. (Ps. 110:4.)
Remigius † AD 908
Morally; by the leper is signified the sinner; for sin makes an unclean and impure soul; he falls down before Christ when he is confounded concerning his former sins; yet he ought to confess, and to seek the remedy of penitence; so the leper shews his disease, and asks a cure. The Lord stretches out His hand when He affords the aid of Divine mercy; whereupon follows immediately remission of sin; nor ought the Church to be reconciled to the same, but on the sentence of the Priest.
The Latin text
Hieronymus
Post praedicationem atque doctrinam, signorum offertur occasio, ut per virtutum miracula praeteritus apud audientes sermo firmetur
Chrysostomus super Matth
Quia enim quasi potestatem habens docebat, ut non aestimaretur ostentatio esse hic doctrinae modus, operibus hoc idem facit, quasi potestatem habens curare; et ideo dicit cum autem descendisset Iesus de monte secutae sunt eum turbae multae
Origenes
Docente enim domino in monte, discipuli erant cum ipso, quibus erat datum caelestis doctrinae nosse secreta; nunc autem descendente eo de monte, turbae secutae sunt eum, quia in monte ascendere nequaquam poterant; quia quos delictorum sarcina deprimit, ad mysteriorum sublimia scandere non valent. Descendente autem domino, hoc est inclinante se ad infirmitatem et impotentiam ceterorum, quando misertus est imperfectioni eorum, vel infirmitati, secutae sunt eum turbae multae: quidam propter claritatem, plerique propter doctrinam, nonnulli propter curationem et administrationem
Haymo
Vel aliter. Per montem in quo dominus sedet, caelum intelligitur, de quo scriptum est: caelum mihi sedes est. Sed cum dominus in monte sedet, soli discipuli ad eum accedunt: quia antequam fragilitatis nostrae humanitatem assumeret, notus erat tantum in Iudaea Deus; at vero postquam de monte suae divinitatis descendit, et humanitatis nostrae fragilitatem assumpsit, magna turba nationum secuta est eum. Demonstratur autem doctoribus ut in praedicatione sua sermonem habeant temperatum, et sicut viderint unumquemque capere posse, ita et verbum Dei annuntient. Ascendunt enim in montem doctores, cum perfectioribus excellentia praecepta ostendunt; descendunt vero, cum infirmioribus leviora demonstrant
Chrysostomus super Matth
Inter ceteros autem qui montem non ascenderant, et leprosus sursum ascendere non valebat, quasi peccatorum baiulans pondus: lepra enim est peccatum animarum nostrarum. Ideo ergo dominus de altitudine caeli, quasi de excelso monte, descendit, ut lepram peccatorum nostrorum mundaret: et ideo quasi iam praeparatus descendenti occurrit: propter quod dicitur et ecce leprosus veniens
Origenes
Deorsum curat, et in monte nihil facit: quia tempus est omni rei sub caelo: tempus doctrinae, et tempus curationis. In monte docuit, animas curavit, corda sanavit; quibus completis, sicut de caelestibus montibus ad salvandos carnales descendente, venit ad eum leprosus, et adorabat eum. Antequam peteret, adorare coepit, cultum ostendens
Chrysostomus super Matth
Non enim illum petebat quasi hominem artificem, sed adorabat eum quasi Deum. Oratio autem perfecta est fides et confessio: unde leprosus fidei opus adorans implevit; sed opus confessionis implevit in verbis: unde adorabat eum dicens
Origenes
Domine, per te omnia facta sunt: tu ergo, si vis, potes me mundare. Voluntas tua opus est, et opera tua voluntati obediunt. Tu prius Naaman Syrum per Eliseum a lepra mundasti; et modo, si vis, potes me mundare
Chrysostomus in Matth
Non dixit: si rogaveris Deum, neque: si adoraveris; sed si volueris, potes me mundare. Neque dixit: domine, munda; sed ei totum concedit; et dominum eum facit, et potestatem universorum ei attribuit
Chrysostomus super Matth
Et ita spirituali medico spiritualem offerebat mercedem: nam sicut medici pecuniis, iste oratione placatur. Nihil enim dignius offerimus Deo quam orationem fidelem. In hoc autem quod dicit si vis, non dubitat Christi voluntatem ad omne opus bonum paratam. Sed quia non omnibus expedit corporalis integritas, nesciebat utrum ei expediret curatio illa. Dicit ergo si vis; ac si diceret: credo quia quod bonum est vis; ignoro autem si est mihi, quod desidero, bonum
Chrysostomus in Matth
Cum autem voluntate ac sermone purgare posset, manus apposuit tactum, unde sequitur et extendens manum, tetigit eum: ut ostendat quoniam non subiacet legi, et quoniam mundo iam nihil est immundum. Eliseus autem observans legis diligentiam, non exivit, et tetigit Naaman; sed mittit eum ad Iordanem lavandum. Dominus autem monstrat quoniam non ut servus, sed ut dominus, curat et tangit: non enim manus a lepra facta est immunda, sed corpus leprosum a manu sancta constitutum est mundum. Non enim corpora solum curaturus advenit, sed et animam in veram sapientiam ducturus. Sicut igitur manibus non lotis iam manducare non prohibebat, ita et hic erudit quoniam oportet animae lepram formidare solam, quod est peccatum: lepram autem corporis nullum impedimentum esse ad virtutem
Chrysostomus super Matth
Quamvis autem litteram legis solverit, propositum tamen eius non solvit. Ideo enim lex iussit non tangere lepram, quia non poterat facere ut lepra non sordidaret tangentem; ergo vetuit tangere lepram, non ut leprosi non sanarentur, sed ut tangentes non inquinarentur. Iste autem tangens non inquinatus est a lepra, sed ipsam lepram mundavit tangendo
Damascenus de fide Orth
Non enim Deus solum erat, sed homo: unde per tactum et per sermonem divina signa operabatur: ut enim per organum, ita per corpus divinae perficiebantur actiones
Chrysostomus in Matth
Cum autem leprosum tangit, nullus eum incusat, quia nondum invidia detenti erant auditores
Chrysostomus super Matth
Si autem tacite eum curasset, quis scire poterat cuius virtute sanatus esset? Igitur voluntas mundandi facta est propter leprosum, verbum autem propter spectantes; ideo dixit volo, mundare
Hieronymus
Non autem ut plerique Latinorum putant, iunctim legendum est volo mundare; sed separatim, ut prius dicatur volo, deinde ut imperans dicat mundare. Ille enim dixerat si vis; dominus respondit volo; ille praemiserat potes me mundare; dominus dixit mundare
Chrysostomus in Matth
Nusquam autem videtur dicere hoc verbum, quamvis magna signa faciens; sed hic propterea apposuit volo, ut opinionem plebis et leprosi de eius potestate confirmaret
Chrysostomus
Cessit autem mandanti natura cum decenti velocitate; et ideo sequitur et confestim mundata est lepra eius. Sed hoc quod dicit confestim, multum est tardius velocitate quae secundum opus est facta
Origenes
Quia enim non dubitavit credere, non tardatur sanatio; quia non distulit confessionem, non differtur mundatio
Augustinus de Cons. Evang
Huius autem leprosi mundati etiam Lucas meminit, non sane hoc ordine, sed ut solent praetermissa recordari, posterius facta praeoccupari, sicut divinitus suggerebantur, ut antea cognita, postea recordando rescriberent
Chrysostomus in Matth
Curans autem Iesus corpus, iubet nulli dicere; unde sequitur et ait illi Iesus: vide nemini dixeris. Quidam igitur aiunt quoniam ideo iussit hoc, ut non malignentur circa eius purgationem; quod insipienter dicitur: non enim ita mundavit ut dubitabilis esset mundatio; sed nulli dicere iubet, docens non diligere ostentationem et honorem. Qualiter igitur alii sanato iubet dicere? Sed in hoc erudivit nos bonae mentis esse; non enim illic divulgari se iussit, sed dari gloriam Deo. Per leprosum ergo hunc instruit nos non esse vane gloriosos: per illum autem non esse ingratos, sed omnia ad laudem Dei referre
Hieronymus
Et revera quid erat necesse quod sermone iactaret quod corpore praeferebat?
Hilarius in Matth
Vel ut salus haec non offerretur potius quam quaereretur, silentium imperatur. Sequitur sed vade, ostende te sacerdoti
Hieronymus
Mittit autem eum ad sacerdotes, primum propter humilitatem, ut sacerdotibus deferre videatur; deinde ut videntes leprosum mundatum, si crederent salvatori, salvarentur; si vero non crederent, inexcusabiles fierent; et simul ne quod in eo saepissime criminabantur, legem infringere videretur
Chrysostomus. In Matth
Neque enim ubique eam dissolvebat, neque ubique custodiebat; sed quandoque quidem hoc, quandoque illud faciebat: in uno quidem futurae sapientiae praeparans vitam, in altero autem inverecundam Iudaeorum cohibens linguam, et condescendens imbecillitati eorum. Unde apostoli apparent quandoque quidem observantes legem, quandoque autem eam praetermittentes
Origenes
Vel mittit ad sacerdotes, ut cognoscant quia non per legis consuetudinem mundatus est, sed per gratiae operationem
Hieronymus
Erat autem in lege praeceptum ut qui mundati fuerant a lepra, offerrent munera sacerdotibus; unde sequitur et offer munus tuum, quod praecepit Moyses, in testimonium illis
Chrysostomus super Matth
Non sic intellige, quia hoc Moyses praecepit in testimonium illis: sed vade tu, offer in testimonium illis
Chrysostomus in Matth
Praevidens enim Christus eos ex hoc nihil profecturos, non dixit: in emendationem eorum, sed in testimonium, idest in accusationem, et attestationem quoniam quae a me erant fienda, omnia facta sunt. Et licet eos praeviderit non emendari, non tamen dimisit quae facere oportebat: illi autem in propria manserunt malitia. Non autem dixit: munus quod ego iubeo, sed quod Moyses iussit, ut interim transmittat ad legem, et iniquorum obstruat ora: ut enim non dicant quoniam sacerdotum gloriam rapuit, opus quidem ipse implevit, probationem autem illis concessit
Origenes
Vel offer munus tuum, ut omnes qui vident te portare, miraculo credant
Chrysostomus super Matth
Vel ideo iubet offerri munera, ut si postmodum eum expellere vellent, dicere eis: munera quasi a mundato accepistis; et quomodo me quasi leprosum expellitis?
Hilarius in Matth
Vel legendum est quod Moyses praecepit in testimonium illis: quia quod Moyses in lege praecepit, testimonium est, non effectus
Beda in Hom. Dom. 3 post Epiph
Si quem autem moveat quomodo dominus cum videatur Moysi sacrificium approbare, quare id Ecclesia non recipiat, meminerit quod nondum Christus corpus suum obtulerat per passionem in holocaustum. Non autem oportebat auferri significantia sacrificia prius quam illud quod significabatur, confirmatum esset testimonio apostolorum praedicantium, et fide credentium populorum. Vir autem iste genus humanum designat, qui non solum leprosus, verum etiam, iuxta Evangelium Lucae, plenus lepra fuisse describitur. Omnes enim peccaverunt, et egent gloria Dei, illa scilicet ut extenta manu salvatoris, hoc est incarnato Dei verbo, humanamque contingente naturam, ab erroris prisci vanitate mundentur; et qui diutius abominabiles, et castris populi Dei eiecti, iam aliquando templo redditi et sacerdoti, queant offerre corpora sua hostiam viventem; illi scilicet cui dicitur: tu es sacerdos in aeternum
Remigius
Moraliter autem per leprosum designatur peccator: nam peccatum immundam et variam animam facit; qui ante Christum procidit, quando de pristinis peccatis confunditur: et tamen debet confiteri, et remedium poenitentiae postulare: nam leprosus vulnus ostendit, et remedium postulavit. Extendit autem dominus manum, quando auxilium divinae miserationis impendit: et statim consequitur remissionem delictorum; nec debet Ecclesia eidem reconciliari, nisi iudicio sacerdotis
8:5
Pseudo-Chrysostom
The Lord having taught His disciples on the mount, and healed the leper at the foot of the mount, came to Capharnaum. This is a mystery, signifying that after the purification of the Jews He went to the Gentiles.
Haymo † AD 853
For Capharnaum, which is interpreted, The town of fatness, or, The field of consolation, signifies the Church, which was gathered out of the Gentiles, which is replenished with spiritual fatness, according to that, That my soul may be filled with marrow and fatness, (Ps. 63:5.) and under the troubles of the world is comforted concerning heavenly things, according to that, Thy consolations hare rejoiced my soul. (Ps. 94:19.) Hence it is said, When he had entered into Capharnaum the centurion came to him.
St Augustine † AD 430 Serm. 62, 4.
This centurion was of the Gentiles, for Judæa had already soldiers of the Roman empire.
Pseudo-Chrysostom
This centurion was the first-fruits of the Gentiles, and in comparison of his faith, all the faith of the Jews was unbelief; he neither heard Christ teaching, nor saw the leper when he was cleansed, but from hearing only that he had been healed, he believed more than he heard; and so he mystically typified the Gentiles that should come, who had neither read the Law nor the Prophets concerning Christ, nor had seen Christ Himself work His miracles. He came to Him and besought Him, saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, and is grievously afflicted. Mark the goodness of the centurion, who for the health of his servant was in so great haste and anxiety, as though by his death he should suffer loss, not of money, but of his well being. For he reckoned no difference between the servant and the master; their place in this world may be different, but their nature is one. Mark also his faith, in that he said not, Come and heal him, because that Christ who stood there was present in every place; and his wisdom, in that he said not, Heal him here on this spot, for he knew that He was mighty to do, wise to understand, and merciful to hearken, therefore he did but declare the sickness, leaving it to the Lord, by His merciful power to heal. And he is grievously afflicted; this shews how he loved him, for when any that we love is pained or tormented, though it be but slightly, yet we think him more afflicted than he really is.
Rabanus Maurus † AD 856
All these things he recounts with grief, that he is sick, that it is with palsy; that he is grievously afflicted therewith, the more to shew the sorrow of his own heart, and to move the Lord to have mercy. In like manner ought all to feel for their servants, and to take thought for them.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. xxvi.
But some say that he says these things in excuse of himself, as reasons why he did not bring the sick man himself. For it was impossible to bring one in a palsy, in great torment, and at the point to die. But I rather think it a mark of his great faith; inasmuch as he knew that a word alone was enough to restore the sick man, he deemed it superfluous to bring him.
St Hilary † AD 367
Spiritually interpreted, the Gentiles are the sick in this world, and afflicted with the diseases of sin, all their limbs being altogether unnerved, and unfit for their duties of standing and walking. The sacrament of their salvation is fulfilled in this centurion’s servant, of whom it is sufficiently declared that he was the head of the Gentiles that should believe. What sort of head this is, the song of Moses in Deuteronomy teaches, He set the bounds of the people according to the number of the Angels. (Deut. 32:8.)
Remigius † AD 908
Or, in the centurion are figured those of the Gentiles who first believed, and were perfect in virtue. For a centurion is one who commands a hundred soldiers; and a hundred is a perfect number. Rightly, therefore, the centurion prays for his servant, because the first-fruits of the Gentiles prayed to God for the salvation of the whole Gentile world.
St Jerome † AD 420
The Lord seeing the centurion’s faith, humbleness, and thoughtfulness, straightway promises to go and heal him; Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407
Jesus here does what He never did; He always follows the wish of the supplicant, but here He goes before it, and not only promises to heal him, but to go to his house. This He does, that we may learn the worthiness of the centurion.
Pseudo-Chrysostom
Had not He said, I will come and heal him, the other would never have answered, I am not worthy. It was because it was a servant for whom he made petition, that Christ promised to go, in order to teach us not to have respect to the great, and overlook the little, but to honour poor and rich alike.
St Jerome † AD 420
As we commend the centurion’s faith in that he believed that the Saviour was able to heal the paralytic; so his humility is seen in his professing himself unworthy that the Lord should come under his roof; as it follows, And the centurion answered and said into him, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof.
Rabanus Maurus † AD 856 e Beda.
Conscious of his gentile life, he thought he should be more burdened than profited by this act of condescension from Him with whose faith he was indeed endued, but with whose sacraments he was not yet initiated.
St Augustine † AD 430 ubi sup.
By declaring himself unworthy, he shewed himself worthy, not indeed into whose house, but into whose heart, Christ the Word of God should enter. Nor could he have said this with so much faith and humility, had he not borne in his heart Him whom he feared to have in his house. And indeed it would have been no great blessedness that Jesus should enter within his walls, if He had not already entered into his heart.
St Peter Chrysologus † AD 450 Serm. 102.
Mystically, his house was the body which contained his soul, which contains within it the freedom of the mind by a heavenly vision. But God disdains neither to inhabit flesh, nor to enter the roof of our body. PSEUDO-ORIGEN. (Hom. in div. 5.) And now also when the heads of Churches, holy men and acceptable to God, enter your roof, then in them the Lord also enters, and do you think of yourself as receiving the Lord. And when you eat and drink the Lord’s Bodya, then the Lord enters under your roof, and you then should humble yourself, saying, Lord, I am not worthy. For where He enters unworthily, there He enters to the condemnation of him who receives Him.
St Jerome † AD 420
The thoughtfulness of the centurion appears herein, that he saw the Divinity hidden beneath the covering of body; wherefore he adds, But speak the word only, and my servant will be healed.
Pseudo-Chrysostom
He knew that Angels stood by unseen to minister to Him, who turn every word of his into act; yea and should Angels fail, yet diseases are healed by His life-giving command.
St Hilary † AD 367
Also he therefore says that it needed only a word to heal his son, because all the salvation of the Gentiles is of faith, and the life of them all is in the precepts of the Lord; therefore he continues saying, For I am a man set under authority, having soldiers under me; and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
Pseudo-Chrysostom
He has here developed the mystery of the Father and the Son, by the secret suggestion of the Holy Spirit; as much as to say, Though I am under the command of another, yet have I power to command those who are under me; so also Thou, though under the command of the Father, in so far as Thou art Man, yet hast Thou power over the Angels. But Sabellius perhaps affirms, seeking to prove that the Son is the same as the Father, that it is to be understood thus; ‘If I who am set under authority have yet power to command, how much more Thou who art under the authority of none.’ But the words will not bear this exposition; for he said not, ‘If I being a man under authority,’ but, ‘For I also am a man set under authority;’ clearly not drawing a distinction, but pointing to a resemblance in this respect between himself and Christ.
St Augustine † AD 430 ubi sup.
If I who am under command have yet power to command others, how much more Thou whom all powers serve!
The Gloss ord.
Thou art able without Thy bodily presence, by the ministry of Thy Angels, to say to this disease, Go, and it will leave him; and to say to health, Come, and it shall come to him.
Haymo † AD 853
Or, we may understand by those that are set under the centurion, the natural virtues in which many of the Gentiles were mighty, or even thoughts good and bad. Let us say to the bad, Depart, and they will depart; let us call the good, and they shall come; and our servant, that is, our body, let us bid that it submit itself to the Divine will.
St Augustine † AD 430 Cons. Evan. ii. 20.
What is here said seems to disagree with Luke’s account, When the centurion heard concerning Jesus, he sent unto him elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant. (Luke 7:3.) And again, When he was come nigh to the house, the centurion sent friends unto him, saying, Lord, trouble not thyself, for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407
But some say that these are two different occurrences; an opinion which has much to support it. Of Him in Luke it is said, He loveth our nation, and has built us a synagogue; but of this one Jesus says, I have not found so great faith in Israel; whence it might seem that the other was a Jew. But in my opinion they are both the same person. What Luke relates that he sent to Jesus to come to him, betrays the friendly services of the Jews. We may suppose that when the centurion sought to go to Jesus, he was prevented by the Jews, who offered to go themselves for the purpose of bringing him. But as soon as he was delivered from their importunity, then he sent to say, Do not think that it was from want of respect that I did not come, but because I thought myself unworthy to receive you into my house. When then Matthew relates, that he spoke thus not through friends, but in his own person, it does not contradict Luke’s account; for both have only represented the centurion’s anxiety, and that he had a right opinion of Christ. And we may suppose that he first sent this message to Him by friends as He approached, and after, when He was come thither, repeated it Himself. But if they are relating different stories, then they do not contradict each other, but supply mutual deficiencies.
St Augustine † AD 430 ubi sup.
Matthew therefore intended to state summarily all that passed between the centurion and the Lord, which was indeed done through others, with the view of commending his faith; as the Lord spoke, I have not found so great faith in Israel. Luke, on the other hand, has narrated the whole as it was done, that so we might be obliged to understand in what sense Matthew, who could not err, meant that the centurion himself came to Christ, namely, in a figurative sense through faith.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407
For indeed there is no necessary contradiction between Luke’s statement, that he had built a synagogue, and this, that he was not an Israelite; for it was quite possible, that one who was not a Jew should have built a synagogue, and should love the nation.
The Latin text
Chrysostomus super Matth
Postquam dominus discipulos docuit in monte, leprosum autem sanavit sub monte, venit Capharnaum in mysterio, quia post Iudaeorum mundationem venit ad gentes
Haymo
Capharnaum enim, quae villa pinguedinis interpretatur, sive ager consolationis, Ecclesiam quae ex gentibus est collecta, significat, quae spirituali pinguedine est repleta, secundum illud Ps. 62, 6: sicut adipe et pinguedine repleatur anima mea. Et inter pressuras saeculi de caelestibus consolatur, secundum illud Ps. 93, 18: consolationes tuae laetificaverunt animam meam. Unde dicitur cum autem introisset Capharnaum, accessit ad eum centurio
Augustinus de Verb. Dom
Iste centurio de gentibus erat: iam enim Iudaea gens habebat militem Romani imperii
Chrysostomus super Matth
Centurio autem iste primus fructus ex gentibus ad cuius fidei comparationem omnium Iudaeorum fides infidelitas est inventa: qui neque Christum audivit docentem, neque leprosum, cum mundaretur, aspexit, sed audita tantummodo sanitate leprosi, plus credidit quam audivit: erat enim in mysterio gentium futurarum, quae neque legem aut prophetas legerant de Christo, neque ipsum Christum mirabilia facientem viderant. Accessit ergo rogans, et dicens domine, puer meus iacet in domo paralyticus, et male torquetur. Vide autem bonitatem centurionis, qui pro salute servi sic sollicite festinabat, quasi non damnum pecuniae sed salutis passurus in morte illius. Nullam enim differentiam aestimabat inter servum et dominum: quia etsi dignitas in hoc saeculo diversa est inter illos, una tamen est illis natura. Fidem autem centurionis vide: quia non dixit: veni et salva eum; quia ille constitutus in omni loco erat praesens; sapientiam autem, quia non dixit: hic constitutus salva eum: sciebat enim quia potens est ad faciendum, sapiens ad intelligendum, misericors ad exaudiendum: ideo infirmitatem tantum exposuit, remedium autem sanitatis in potestate misericordiae eius dimisit, dicens et male torquetur: in quo apparet quia diligebat eum: nam unusquisque quem diligit, etsi modice fuerit taediatus, gravius eum putat habere quam habet
Rabanus Maurus
Omnia ista cum dolore cognominavit: et iacentem, et paralyticum, et male detentum: ideo ut animae suae angustias demonstraret, et dominum commoveret; sic debent omnes condolere servis, et eorum curam habere
Chrysostomus in Matth
Quidam autem dicunt, quoniam excusans se, hanc causam dixit propter quam non ipsum adduxit. Neque enim possibile erat dissolutum, cum torqueretur, et ad ultimas esset expirationes, portari. Ego autem signum hoc esse magnae fidei dico: quia enim sciebat quod sola iniunctio sufficeret ad restaurationem iacentis, superfluum aestimabat eum ducere
Hilarius in Matth
Iacentes autem in saeculo et peccatorum morbis dissolutae spiritualiter gentes aestimandae sunt, omnibus undique membris fluidis, et ad consistendi officium gradiendique corruptis; quarum salutis sacramentum in puero centurionis expletur, quem satis dictum sit principem esse gentium crediturarum. Quis autem sit hic princeps, canticum Moysi docet, ubi scilicet dicitur: constituit terminos gentium iuxta numerum Angelorum
Remigius
Vel per centurionem designantur qui primi ex gentibus crediderunt, et perfecti in virtute fuerunt: centurio enim dicitur qui centum militibus praeest; centenarius autem numerus perfectus est. Recte ergo centurio pro puero suo rogat, quia primitiae gentium pro salute totius gentilitatis Deum rogaverunt
Hieronymus
Videns autem dominus centurionis fidem, humilitatem et providentiam, statim se iturum et sanaturum esse promittit; unde sequitur et ait illi Iesus: ego veniam, et curabo eum
Chrysostomus in Matth
Quod numquam fecit, hic facit Iesus: ubique enim sequitur voluntatem supplicantium, hic autem praesilit, et non solum curare promittit, sed ire ad domum. Facit hoc, ut discamus centurionis virtutes
Chrysostomus super Matth
Nisi enim ille dixisset veniam, et curabo eum, numquam iste responderet non sum dignus. Deinde quoniam pro servo petebat, ideo ire promisit, ut nos doceat non colere magnos et contemnere modicos; sed pauperes et divites similiter honorare
Hieronymus
Sicut autem in centurione commendamus fidem, eo quod credidit paralyticum a salvatore posse sanari, ita patet humilitatis in hoc quod se iudicavit indignum cuius tectum dominus intraret; unde sequitur et respondens centurio, ait illi: domine, non sum dignus ut intres sub tectum meum
Rabanus Maurus
Propter conscientiam enim vitae gentilis, gravari se magis dignatione putavit, quam iuvari, cuius etsi fide praeditus, nondum erat tamen sacramentis inunctus
Augustinus de Verb. Dom
Dicendo autem se indignum, praestitit dignum, non in cuius parietes, sed in cuius cor verbum Dei Christus intraret. Neque hoc diceret cum tanta fide et humilitate, nisi illum quem timebat intrare domum suam, corde gestaret: nam non erat magna felicitas, si Iesus intraret in parietes eius, et non esset in pectore eius
Severian of Gabala
Mystice autem hoc tectum, corpus est quod tegit animam: quod libertatem mentis caelesti visione in se concludit. Sed Deus neque habitare carnem, neque tectum nostri corporis dedignatur intrare
Origenes
Nunc etiam quando sancti a Deo acceptabiles Ecclesiarum antistites sub tectum tuum intrant, tunc ibidem per eos dominus ingreditur; et tu sic aestimes quasi dominum suscipiens. Et quando corpus et sanguinem domini manducas et bibis, tunc dominus sub tectum tuum ingreditur; et tu ergo humilians teipsum dicas domine, non sum dignus. Ubi enim indigne ingreditur, ibi ad iudicium ingreditur accipienti
Hieronymus
Prudentia autem centurionis apparet in hoc quod ultra corporis tegumen latentem vidit divinitatem, unde subiungit sed tantum dic verbo, et sanabitur puer meus
Chrysostomus super Matth
Sciebat enim quoniam astabant illi invisibiliter Angeli ministrantes, qui omne verbum eius vertunt in opus; et quod si Angeli cessant, tamen infirmitates praeceptis eius vivacibus expelluntur
Hilarius in Matth
Dicit etiam centurio puerum verbo posse sanari, quia salus gentium omnis ex fide est, et in praeceptis domini vita est universorum: et ideo subiungit dicens nam et ego homo sum sub potestate constitutus, habens sub me milites; et dico huic: vade, et vadit; et alii: veni, et venit; et servo meo: fac hoc, et facit
Chrysostomus super Matth
Patris et filii mysterium spiritu sancto suggerente depinxit, ac si diceret: etsi ego sum sub potestate alterius, tamen habeo potestatem iubendi eis qui sub me sunt; sic et tu, quamvis sis sub potestate patris, scilicet inquantum homo, habes tamen potestatem iubendi Angelis. Sed forte dicet Sabellius volens ostendere eumdem esse patrem qui et filius est, sic hoc esse intelligendum: si ego sub potestate constitutus possum iubere, quanto magis tu, qui sub nullius es potestate? Sed hanc expositionem non recipit textus. Non enim dixit: si ergo homo sub potestate; sed dixit nam et ego homo sum sub potestate: in quo patet quod inter se et Christum non comparationis differentiam fecit; sed rationem similitudinis introduxit
Augustinus de Verb. Dom
Si ego, qui sum sub potestate, iubendi habeo potestatem, quid tu potes, cui omnium serviunt potestates?
Glossa
Potes per Angelorum ministeria sine corporis praesentia dicere infirmitati ut recedat, et recedet; et sanitati ut veniat, et veniet
Haymo
Possunt autem per subiectos centurionis, virtutes naturales intelligi, in quibus plurimi gentilium pollebant; vel etiam cogitationes bonae aut malae. Malis autem dicamus ut recedant, et recedent; sed bonas vocemus, et venient; servo quoque nostro, hoc est corpori, ut subiciatur voluntati divinae
Augustinus de Cons. Evang
Huic autem quod hic dicitur, videtur repugnare quod ait Lucas: cum audisset centurio de Iesu, misit ad eum seniores Iudaeorum, rogans eum ut veniret, et salvaret servum eius; et iterum quod: cum non longe esset a domo misit ad eum centurio amicos dicens: domine, noli vexari, non enim sum dignus ut sub tectum meum intres
Chrysostomus in Matth
Quidam autem dicunt, quoniam non est idem ille et hic; quod multas coniecturas habet. De illo enim ait Lucas quoniam synagogam nostram construxit, et gentem diligit; de isto autem ipse Iesus ait neque in Israel tantam fidem inveni; unde videtur Iudaeum illum esse. Mihi autem videtur idem hic et ille. Sed quando Lucas dicit quod misit ut veniat, blanditias Iudaeorum insinuavit. Conveniens enim est credere centurionem volentem abire, prohibitum esse a Iudaeis blandientibus, et dicentibus quoniam nos abimus et conducimus eum. Sed quando ab eorum imminentia erutus est, tunc misit, dicens: ne aestimes quod propter desidiam non veni, sed quia me indignum aestimavi ut te in domum meam susciperem. Quod autem Matthaeus ait non per amicos, sed per seipsum hoc eum dixisse, nihil contrarium est: uterque enim desiderium viri repraesentavit, et quoniam de Christo decentem opinionem habebat. Conveniens autem est opinari et ipsum, postquam misit amicos, ad venientem per se haec dicere. Si autem non hoc dixit Lucas, neque illud Matthaeus, non sibi contradicunt, sed complent quae ab invicem derelinquebantur
Augustinus de Cons. Evang
Matthaeus ergo accessum centurionis ad dominum per alios factum compendio dicere voluit, quia fidem eius qua vere ad Deum acceditur laudavit, ut diceret non inveni tantam fidem in Israel. Lucas autem ideo totum ut gestum est aperuit, ut ex hoc intelligere cogeremur qualiter eum accepisse dixerit Matthaeus, qui mentiri non potuit
Chrysostomus in Matth
Neque enim est contrarium quod fabricavit synagogam, secundum Lucam, et quod hic ostenditur non esse Israelita: possibile enim est Iudaeum non existentem, et synagogam fabricasse, et gentem diligere
8:10
St John Chrysostom † AD 407
As what the leper had affirmed concerning Christ’s power, If thou will, thou canst cleanse me, was confirmed by the mouth of Christ, saying, I will, be thou clean; so here He did not blame the centurion for bearing testimony to Christ’s authority, but even commended him. Nay more; it is something greater than commendation that the Evangelist signifies in the words, But Jesus hearing marvelled. PSEUDO-ORIGEN. (Hom. in Div. 5.) Observe how great and what that is at which God the Only-begotten marvels! Gold, riches, principalities, are in His sight as the shadow or the flower that fadeth; in the sight of God none of these things is wonderful, as though it were great or precious, but faith only; this He wonders at, and pays honour to, this He esteems acceptable to Himself.
St Augustine † AD 430 super Gen. c. Man. i. 8.
But who was He that had created this faith in him, but only He who now marvelled at it? But even had it come from any other, how should He marvel who knew all things future? When the Lord marvels, it is only to teach us what we ought to wonder at; for all these emotions in Him are not signs of passion, but examples of a teacher.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407
Wherefore He is said to have thus wondered in the presence of all the people, giving them an example that they also should wonder at Him; for it follows, And he said to them that followed, I have not found so great faith in Israel.
St Augustine † AD 430 cont. Faust. xxii. 74.
He praises his faith, but gives no command to quit his profession of a soldier.
St Jerome † AD 420
This He speaks of the present generation, not of all the Patriarchs and Prophets of past ages.
Pseudo-Chrysostom
Andrew believed, but it was after John had said, Behold the Lamb of God; (John 1:36.) Peter believed, but it was at the preaching of Andrew; Philip believed, but it was by reading the Scriptures; and Nathanael first received a proof of His Divinity, and then spoke forth his confession of faith. PSEUDO-ORIGEN. (ubi sup.) Jairus a prince in Israel, making request for his daughter, said not, ‘speak the word,’ but, ‘Come quickly.’ Nicodemus, hearing of the sacrament of faith, asks, How can these things be? (John 3:9.) Mary and Martha say, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died; (John 11:21.) as though distrusting that God’s power could be in all places at the same time.
Pseudo-Chrysostom
Or, if we would supposeb that his faith was greater than even that of the Apostles, Christ’s testimony to it must be understood as though every good in a man should be commended relatively to his character; as it were a great thing in a countryman to speak with wisdom, but in a philosopher the same would be nothing wonderful. In this way it may be said of the centurion, In none other have I found so great faith in Israel.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407
For it is a different thing for a Jew to believe and for a Gentile.
St Jerome † AD 420
Or perhaps in the person of the centurion the faith of the Gentiles is preferred to that of Israel; whence He proceeds, But I say unto you, Many shall come from the east and from the west.
St Augustine † AD 430 Serm. 62. 3.
He says, not ‘all,’ I but many; yet these from the east and west; for by these two quarters the whole world is intended.
Haymo † AD 853
Or; From the east shall come they, who pass into the kingdom as soon as they are enlightened; from the west they who have suffered persecution for the faith even unto death. Or, he comes from the east, who has served God from a child; he from the west who in decrepit age has turned to God. PSEUDO-ORIGEN. (ubi sup.) How then does He say in another place, that the chosen are few? Because in each generation there are few that are chosen, but when all are gathered together in the day of visitation they shall be found many. They shall sit down, not the bodily posture, but the spiritual rest, not with human food, but with an eternal feast, teeth Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven, where is light, joy, glory, and eternal length of days.
St Jerome † AD 420
Because the God of Abraham, the Maker of heaven, is the Father of Christ, therefore also is Abraham in the kingdom of heaven, and with him will sit down the nations who have believed in Christ the Son of the Creator.
St Augustine † AD 430 ubi sup.
As we see Christians called to the heavenly feast, where is the bread of righteousness, the drink of wisdom; so we see the Jews in reprobation. The children of the kingdom shall be cast into outer darkness, that is, the Jews, who have received the Law, who observe the types of all things that were to be, yet did not acknowledge the realities when present.
St Jerome † AD 420
Or the Jews may be called the children of the kingdom, because God reigned among them heretofore.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407
Or, He calls them the children of the kingdom, because the kingdom was prepared for them, which was the greater grief to them.
St Augustine † AD 430 cont. Faust. xvi. 24.
Moses set before the people of Israel no other God than the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Christ sets forth the very same God. So that so far was He from seeking to turn that people away from their own God, that He therefore threatened them with the outer darkness, because He saw them turned away from their own God. And in this kingdom He tells them the Gentiles shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, for no other reason than that they held the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. To these Fathers Christ gives His testimony, not as though they had been converted after death, or had received justification after His passion.
St Jerome † AD 420
It is called outer darkness, because he whom the Lord casts out leaves the light.
Haymo † AD 853
What they should suffer there, He shews when He adds, There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Thus in metaphor He describes the sufferings of the tormented limbs; the eyes shed tears when filled with smoke, and the teeth chatter together from cold. This shews that the wicked in hell shall endure both extreme cold and extreme heat: according to that in Job, They shall pass from rivers of snow to the scorching heat. (Job 24:19.)
St Jerome † AD 420
Weeping and gnashing of teeth are a proof of bones and body; truly then is there a resurrection of the same limbs, that sank into the grave.
Rabanus Maurus † AD 856
Or; The gnashing of teeth expresses the passion of remorse; repentance coming too late and self-accusation that he has sinned with such obstinate wickedness.
Remigius † AD 908
Otherwise; By outer darkness, He means foreign nations; for these words of the Lord are a historical prediction of the destruction of the Jews, that they were to be led into captivity for their unbelief, and to be scattered over the earth; for tears are usually caused by heat, gnashing of teeth by cold. Weeping then is ascribed to those who should be dispersed into the warmer climates of India and Ethiopia, gnashing of teeth to those who should dwell in the colder regions, as Hyrcania and Seythia.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407
But that none might suppose that these were nothing more than fair words, He makes them credible by the miracles following, And Jesus said to the centurion, Go, and be it done to thee as thou hast believed.
Rabanus Maurus † AD 856
As though He had said, According to the measure of thy faith, so be thy grace. For the merit of the Lord may be communicated even to servants not only through the merit of their faith, but through their obedience to rule. It follows, And his servant was healed in the self-same hour.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407
Wherein admire the speediness, shewing Christ’s power, not only to heal, but to do it in a moment of time.
St Augustine † AD 430 Serm. 62. 2.
As the Lord did not enter the centurion’s house with His body, but healed the servant, present in majesty, but absent in body; so He went among the Jews only in the body, but among other nations He was neither born of a Virgin, nor suffered, nor endured human sufferings, nor did divine wonders; and yet was fulfilled that which was spoken, A people that I have not known hath served me, and hath obeyed me by the hearing of the ear. (Ps. 18:43.) The Jews beheld, yet crucified Him; the world heard, and believed.
The Latin text
Chrysostomus in Matth
Sicut quod leprosus dixerat de Christi potestate, si vis, potes me mundare, Christi voce confirmatur, dicentis volo, mundare, ita et hic centurionem de Christi potestate testantem non solum non accusavit, sed etiam commendavit. Sed et amplius aliquid fecit: intensionem enim laudis Evangelista significans, dicit audiens autem Iesus miratus est
Origenes
Attende quantum sit aut quale quod Deus unigenitus miratur. Aurum, divitiae, regna, principatus in conspectu eius sunt tamquam umbra vel flos decidens: nihil ergo horum in conspectu Dei mirabile est, quasi magnum vel pretiosum, sed tantum fides: hanc miratur honorificans, hanc acceptabilem sibi aestimat
Augustinus super Genesim contra Manichaeos
Quis autem in illo fecerat illam fidem, nisi ipse qui admirabatur? Quod si et alius eam fecisset, ut quid miraretur qui praescius erat? Quod ergo miratur dominus, nobis mirandum esse significat, quibus adhuc opus est sic moveri: omnes enim tales motus eius non perturbati animi signa sunt, sed docentis magisterium
Chrysostomus in Matth
Unde plebe omni praesente admiratus esse dicitur, et aliis exemplum dedit, ut eum mirentur; sequitur enim et sequentibus se dixit: amen dico vobis: non inveni tantam fidem in Israel
Augustinus contra Faustum
Fidem laudat illius; non autem desertionem militiae imperavit
Hieronymus
Hoc autem de praesentibus loquitur, non de omnibus retro patriarchis et prophetis
Chrysostomus super Matth
Credidit enim Andreas, sed Ioanne dicente: ecce agnus Dei; credidit Petrus, sed evangelizante sibi Andrea; credidit Philippus, sed legendo Scripturas; et Nathanael prius signum divinitatis accepit, et sic fidei confessionem obtulit
Origenes
Iairus Israelis princeps pro filia sua petens, non dixit dic verbo, sed: veni velociter. Nicodemus de fidei sacramento audiens ait: quomodo potest hoc fieri? Maria et Martha dicunt: domine, si fuisses hic, frater meus non fuisset mortuus, quasi dubitantes quod ubique posset adesse Dei potentia
Chrysostomus super Matth
Aut si volumus fideliorem putare istum quam apostolos, ita testimonium Christi intelligendum est quod unumquodque bonum hominis secundum quantitatem personae illius laudatur: rusticum enim dicere aliquid sapienter, magnum est; quod de philosopho non est mirum: sic de centurione dictum est in nullo tantam fidem inveni in Israel
Chrysostomus in Matth
Non enim erit aequale Iudaeum credere et gentilem
Hieronymus
Vel forte in centurione fides gentium praeponitur Israeli; unde subdit dico autem vobis, quod multi ab oriente et occidente venient
Augustinus de Verb. Dom
Non omnes ait, sed multi; tamen ipsi ab oriente et occidente: istis duabus partibus totus orbis designatur
Haymo
Vel ab oriente veniunt qui statim illuminati transeunt; ab occidente hi qui persecutionem usque ad mortem toleraverunt pro fide; vel ab oriente quis venit, cum ab infantia Deo servire incipit; ab occidente, dum in ipsa decrepita aetate ad Deum convertitur
Origenes
Sed quomodo alibi dicit, quod pauci sunt electi? Per diversas enim generationes pauci electi sunt, simul vero congregati in tempore visitationis multi invenientur. Sequitur et recumbent, non carnaliter iacentes, sed spiritualiter requiescentes; non temporaliter potantes, sed aeternaliter epulantes cum Abraham, Isaac et Iacob in regno caelorum, ubi lux, exultatio, gloria, et longaevitas vitae aeternae
Hieronymus
Quia autem Deus Abraham caeli conditor, pater Christi est, idcirco in regno caelorum est et Abraham, cum quo accubiturae sunt nationes quae crediderunt in Christum filium creatoris
Augustinus de Verb. Dom
Sicut autem videmus Christianos vocatos ad caeleste convivium, ubi est panis iustitiae, potus sapientiae, ita videmus et Iudaeos reprobatos; unde sequitur filii autem regni eicientur in tenebras exteriores: Iudaei scilicet, qui legem acceperunt, qui celebrant figuras omnium futurorum, qui tamen praesentia non agnoverunt
Hieronymus
Vel filios regni dicit Iudaeos, quia in eis Deus ante regnavit
Chrysostomus in Matth
Vel filios regni eos dicit quibus regnum erat praeparatum; quod et magis eos mordebat
Augustinus contra Faustum
Si ergo non commendavit Moyses populo Israel Deum, nisi Deum Abraham, Isaac et Iacob, eumque ipsum Christus commendat; non est conatus illum populum avertere a Deo suo; sed ideo minatus est eos ituros in tenebras exteriores, quod aversos videret eos a Deo suo, in cuius regno gentes vocatas ex toto orbe terrarum recubituras dicit cum Abraham, Isaac et Iacob: non ob aliud quam quod fidem tenuissent Dei Abraham, Isaac et Iacob: quibus non quasi in morte correctis, vel post passionem suam iustificatis testimonium dominus perhibeat
Hieronymus
Tenebrae autem exteriores dicuntur, quoniam qui a domino expellitur foras, relinquit lumen
Haymo
Quid autem ibi passuri sint, manifestat cum subdit ibi erit fletus et stridor dentium. Per metaphoram enim membrorum poenas describit tormentorum: solent enim oculi fumo tacti lacrymas producere, dentes vero a nimio frigore stridere. Ostenditur ergo quod reprobi in Inferno et calorem intolerabilem et frigus sustinebunt, secundum illud Iob: transient ab aquis nivium ad calorem nimium
Hieronymus
Si autem fletus oculorum est, et stridor dentium ossa demonstrat, vera est corporum et eorumdem membrorum quae ceciderant resurrectio
Rabanus Maurus
Vel stridor dentium prodit indignantis affectum, eo quod sero unumquemque poeniteat, sero sibi irascatur, quod tam pertinaci improbitate deliquit
Remigius
Vel aliter. Tenebras exteriores appellat exteras nationes: quantum enim ad historiam attinet, praedicit dominus his verbis interitum Iudaeorum, quoniam propter infidelitatem ducendi erant captivi, et dispergendi per diversa regna terrarum: fletus enim ab igne solet fieri, stridor dentium a frigore. Illis ergo adscribitur fletus qui in calidioribus locis habitant, sicut in India et Aethiopia; stridor vero dentium illis adscribitur qui in frigidioribus locis commorantur, sicut est Hircania et Scythia
Chrysostomus in Matth
Ne quis autem existimet blanditiarum esse haec verba quae dicta erant, credere facit signo; unde sequitur et dixit Iesus centurioni: vade, et sicut credidisti fiat tibi
Rabanus Maurus
Quasi dicat: secundum mensuram fidei fiat tibi et ista gratia. Potest autem meritum domini etiam famulis suffragari, non solum merito fidei, sed etiam studio disciplinae; unde sequitur et sanatus est
Chrysostomus in Matth
Ubi velocitatem admirare: neque enim solum curare, sed inopinate et in momento temporis hoc facere, virtutem Christi ostendebat
Augustinus de Verb. Dom
Sicut enim dominus domum centurionis corpore non intravit, sed absens corpore, praesens maiestate, puerum sanavit, sic et in solo Iudaico populo corpore fuit; apud alias autem gentes, nec de virgine natus est, nec passus est, nec humana pertulit, nec divina mirabilia fecit; et tamen impletum est quod dictum erat: populus quem non cognovi, servivit mihi; in auditu auris obedivit mihi. Iudaea enim gens cognovit, et crucifixit; orbis terrarum audivit, et credidit
8:14
Anselm
Matthew having in the leper shewn the healing of the whole human race, and in the centurion’s servant that of the Gentiles, now figures the healing of the synagogue in Peter’s mother-in-law. He relates the case of the servant, first, because it was the greater miracle, and the grace was greater in the conversion of the Gentile; or because the synagogue should not be fully converted till the end of the age when the fulness of the Gentiles should have entered in. Peter’s house was in Bethsaida.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. xxvii.
Why did He enter into Peter’s house? I think to take food; for it follows, And she arose, and ministered to them. For He abode with His disciples to do them honour, and to make them more zealous. Observe Peter’s reverence towards Christ; though his mother-in-law lay at home sick of a fever, yet he did not force Him thither at once, but waited till His teaching should be completed, and others healed. For from the beginning he was instructed to prefer others to himself. Wherefore he did not even bring Him thither, but Christ went in of Himself; purposing, because the centurion had said, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof, to shew what He granted to a disciple. And He did not scorn to enter the humble hut of a fisherman, instructing us in every thing to trample upon human pride. Sometimes He heals by a word, sometimes He reaches forth His hand; as here, He touched her hand, and the fever left her. For He would not always work miracles with display of surpassing power, but would sometimes be hid. By touching her body He not only banished the fever, but restored her to perfect health. Because her sickness was such as art could cure, He shewed his power to heal, in doing what medicine could not do, giving her back perfect health and strength at once; which is intimated in what the Evangelist adds, And she arose, and ministered to them.
St Jerome † AD 420
For naturally the greatest weakness follows fever, and the evils of sickness begin to be felt as the patient begins to recover; but that health which is given by the Lord’s power is complete at once.
The Gloss non occ.
And it is not enough that she is cured, but strength is given her besides, for she arose and ministered unto them.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407
This, she arose and ministered unto them, shews at once the Lord’s power, and the woman’s feeling towards Christ.
St Bede † AD 735 in loc.
Figuratively; Peter’s house is the Law, or the circumcision, his mother-in-law the synagogue, which is as it were the mother of the Church committed to Peter. She is in a fever, that is, she is sick of zealous hate, and persecutes the Church. The Lord touches her hand, when He turns her carnal works to spiritual uses.
Remigius † AD 908
Or by Peter’s mother-in-law may be understood the Law, which according to the Apostle was made weak through the flesh, i. e. the carnal understanding. But when the Lord through the mystery of the Incarnation appeared visibly in the synagogue, and fulfilled the Law in action, and taught that it was to be understood spiritually; straightway it thus allied with the grace of the Gospel received such strength, that what had been the minister of death and punishment, became the minister of life and glory.
Rabanus Maurus † AD 856 e Bed.
Or, every soul that struggles with fleshly lusts is sick of a fever, but touched with the hand of Divine mercy, it recovers health, and restrains the concupiscence of the flesh by the bridle of continence, and with those limbs with which it had served uncleanness, it now ministers to righteousness.
St Hilary † AD 367
Or; In Peter’s wife’s mother is shewn the sickly condition of infidelity, to which freedom of will is near akin, being united by the bonds as it were of wedlock. By the Lord’s entrance into Peter’s house, that is into the body, unbelief is cured, which was before sick of the fever of sin, and ministers in duties of righteousness to the Saviour.
St Augustine † AD 430 De Cons. Ev. ii. 21.
When this miracle was done, that is, after what, or before what, Matthew has not said. For we need not understand that it took place just after that which it follows in the relation; he may be returning here to what he had omitted above. For Mark relates this after the cleansing of the leper, (Mark 1:30.) which should seem to follow the sermon on the mount, concerning which Mark is silent. Luke also follows the same order in relating this concerning Peter’s mother-in-law as Mark; also inserting it before that long sermon which seems to be the same with Matthew’s sermon on the mount. But what matters it in what order the events are told, whether something omitted before is brought in after, or what was done after is told earlier, so long as in the same story he does not contradict either another or himself? For as it is in no man’s power to choose in what order he shall recollect the things he has once known, it is likely enough that each of the Evangelists thought himself obliged to relate all in that order in which it pleased God to bring to his memory the various events. Therefore when the order of time is not clear, it cannot import to us what order of relation any one of them may have followed.
The Latin text
Rabanus Maurus
Postquam ostendit Matthaeus per leprosum totum genus humanum sanatum, et in servo centurionis gentilis populi sanationem, consequenter per socrum Petri designat curationem synagogae, cum dicit et cum venisset Iesus in domum Petri. Prius autem narrat de servo, quia maius miraculum fuit, et maior gratia in gentili converso; vel quia in fine saeculi synagoga est plenarie convertenda, cum plenitudo gentium subintraverit. Domus autem Petri in Bethsaida erat
Chrysostomus in Matth
Sed cur intravit in domum Petri? Mihi videtur cibum assumpturus; unde sequitur et surrexit, et ministrabat eis. Apud discipulos enim divertebat honorans eos, et avidiores ex hoc faciens. Attende autem Petri ad Christum reverentiam: habens enim socrum domi febricitantem, non traxit eum in domum, sed expectavit doctrinam compleri, et alios curari. Ab exordio enim erudiebatur quae aliorum erant sibi ipsi praeponere. Quocirca neque ipse eum inducit, sed Christus sponte adivit, postquam dixit centurio: non sum dignus ut intres sub tectum meum, monstrans quantum largiebatur discipulo. Non est autem dedignatus sub vilia tuguria piscatorum intrare, erudiens per omnia humanum conculcare tumorem. Et quandoque solum verbis curat, quandoque autem etiam manum extendit: unde et hic dicitur et tetigit manum eius, et dimisit eam febris. Non enim volebat semper cum superabundantia miracula facere: oportebat enim interim latere. Tangens autem corpus, non febrem extinxit solum, sed et puram tribuit sanitatem. Quia enim aegritudo curabilis erat, modo curationis suam virtutem ostendebat, faciendo quod ars medicinalis non operatur, ut scilicet simul perfectam restituat sanitatem; unde Evangelista hoc innuens dicit, quod surrexit, et ministrabat eis
Hieronymus
Natura enim hominum istiusmodi est ut post febrem magis lassescant corpora; et incipiente sanitate, aegrotationis mala sentiant. Verum sanitas quae confertur a domino, tota simul redit; nec sufficit esse sanatum, sed ut epitasis fortitudinis indicetur, additum est surrexit, et ministrabat eis
Chrysostomus in Matth
In hoc ergo quod dicitur, quod surrexit, et ministrabat eis, et Christi virtutis signum est, et affectus quem mulier erga Christum ostendebat
Beda
Mystice autem domus Petri, lex vel circumcisio est: socrus est synagoga, quae quodammodo est mater Ecclesiae Petro commissae. Haec febricitat, quia invidiae aestibus laborabat, persequens Ecclesiam: cuius manum dominus tangit, quando carnalia eius opera in spiritualem usum convertit
Remigius
Vel per socrum Petri potest intelligi lex, quae secundum apostolum infirmabatur per carnem, idest carnalem intelligentiam. Sed cum dominus per mysterium incarnationis visibilis in synagoga apparuit, et opere legem implevit, et spiritualiter intelligendam docuit, mox ipsa sociata gratiae Evangelii, tantum robur accepit, ut quae fuerat ministra mortis et poenae, postmodum fieret vitae et gloriae
Rabanus Maurus
Vel unaquaeque anima, quae carnis concupiscentiis militat, quasi febribus aestuat; sed manu misericordiae divinae tacta convalescit, et per continentiae frena carnis lasciviam constringit, et membris quibus servierat immunditiae, servit iustitiae
Hilarius in Matth
Vel in socru Petri vitiosa infidelitatis aestimatur affectio, cui adiacet libertas voluntatis, quae nos sibi quadam coniugii societate coniungit. Ergo ingressu domini in Petri domum, idest in corpus, curatur infidelitas peccatorum calore aestuans, et salvata officii famulatu ministrat
Augustinus de Cons. Evang
Hoc autem quando factum sit, idest post quid vel ante quid, non expressit Matthaeus: non enim post quod narratur, post hoc etiam factum necesse est intelligatur: nimirum tamen iste hic recoluisse intelligitur quod prius omiserat. Nam id Marcus hic narrat antequam illud de mundato leproso commemoret, quod post sermonem in monte habitum, de quo ipse tacuit, videtur interposuisse. Itaque et Lucas hoc post factum narrat, de socru Petri, post quod et Marcus: ante sermonem etiam quem prolixum interposuit, qui potest idem videri quem dicit habitum in monte Matthaeus. Quid autem interest, quis quo loco ponat, sive quod ex ordine inerit, sive quod omissum recolit, sive quod postea factum ante praeoccupat, dum tamen non adversetur eadem alia narranti, nec sibi nec alteri? Quia enim nullius in potestate est res opportune cognitas quo quisquam ordine recordetur, satis probabile est quod unusquisque Evangelistarum eo se ordine credidit debuisse narrare, quo voluisset Deus ea quae narrabat, eius recordationi suggerere. Quapropter ubi ordo temporum non apparet, nihil nostra interesse debet quem narrandi ordinem quilibet eorum tenuerit
8:16
St John Chrysostom † AD 407
Because the multitude of believers was now very great, they would not depart from Christ, though time pressed; but in the evening they bring unto Him the sick. When it was evening, they brought unto him many that had dœmons.
St Augustine † AD 430 Cons. Ev. ii. 22.
The words, Now when it was evening, shew that the evening of the same day is meant. This would not have been implied, had it been only when it was evening.
Remigius † AD 908
Christ the Son of God, the Author of human salvation, the fount and source of all goodness, furnished heavenly medicine, He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all that were sick. Dæmons and diseases He sent away with a word, that by these signs, and mighty works, He might shew that He was come for the salvation of the human race.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407
Observe how great a multitude of cured the Evangelist here runs through, not relating the case of each, but in one word introducing an innumerable flood of miracles. That the greatness of the miracle should not raise unbelief that so much people and so various diseases could be healed in so short a space, he brings forward the Prophet to bear witness to the things that were done, That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the Prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities.
Rabanus Maurus † AD 856
Took them not that He should have them Himself, but that He should take them away from us; and bare our sicknesses, in that what we were too weak to bear. He should bear for us.
Remigius † AD 908
He took the infirmity of human nature so as to make us strong who had before been weak.
St Hilary † AD 367
And by the passion of His body, according to the words of the Prophet, He absorbed all the infirmities of human weakness.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407
The Prophet seems to have meant this of sins; how then does the Evangelist explain it of bodily diseases? It should be understood, that either he cites the text literally, or he intends to inculcate that most of our bodily diseases have their origin in sins of the soul; for death itself has its root in sin.
St Jerome † AD 420
It should be noted, that all the sick were healed not in the morning nor at noon, but rather about sunset; as a corn of wheat dies in the ground that it may bring forth much fruit.
Rabanus Maurus † AD 856
Sunset shadows forth the passion and death of Him Who said, While I am in the world, I am the light of the world. (John 9:5.) Who while He lived temporally in the flesh, taught only a few of the Jews; but having trodden under foot the kingdom of death, promised the gifts of faith to all the Gentiles throughout the world.
The Latin text
Chrysostomus in Matth
Quia multitudo credentium erat iam aucta, neque tempore impellente a Christo abscedere patiebantur, vespere ei infirmos adducunt; unde dicitur vespere autem facto obtulerunt ei Daemonia habentes
Augustinus de Cons. Evang
Per hoc autem quod dicit vespere autem facto, ad eiusdem diei tempus hoc pertinere satis indicatur, quamvis necesse non sit, ubi dicitur vespere facto, eiusdem diei vesperum accipere
Remigius
Christus autem Dei filius auctor humanae salutis, fons et origo totius pietatis, caelestem medicinam tribuebat; unde sequitur et eiciebat spiritus verbo, et omnes male habentes curavit. Daemones enim et morbos solo verbo repellebat, ut his signis et virtutibus ostenderet se ad salutem generis humani venisse
Chrysostomus in Matth
Intende autem quantam multitudinem curatam transcurrunt Evangelistae; non unumquemque curatum enarrantes, sed uno verbo pelagus ineffabile miraculorum inducentes. Ne autem magnitudo miraculi incredulitatem immittat, si tantam plebem et varias aegritudines uno temporis momento curavit, inducit prophetam attestantem his quae fiebant; unde sequitur ut adimpleretur quod dictum est per Isaiam prophetam dicentem: ipse infirmitates nostras accepit
Rabanus Maurus
Non ut sibi haberet, sed ut nobis auferret; et aegrotationes nostras portavit, ut quod pro imbecillitate virium ferre non poteramus, ille pro nobis portaret
Remigius
Quia humanae naturae infirmitatem ad hoc suscepit ut nos infirmos faceret fortes atque robustos
Hilarius in Matth
Et passione corporis sui, secundum prophetarum dicta, infirmitates humanae imbecillitatis absorbuit
Chrysostomus in Matth
Hoc autem de peccatis magis a propheta dictum esse videtur. Qualiter igitur Evangelista de aegritudinibus hoc exponit? Sed sciendum, quod vel historiae hic testimonium adaptavit, vel ostendit quoniam plures aegritudines ex peccatis sunt animarum: nam et ipsa mors a peccatis habet radicem
Hieronymus
Attendendum autem, quod omnes non mane, non meridie, sed ad vesperam curantur, quando sol occubiturus est, et quando granum tritici in terram moritur, ut multos afferat fructus
Rabanus Maurus
Solis enim occubitus passionem et mortem designat illius qui dixit: quamdiu sum in mundo, lux sum mundi; qui temporaliter vivens in carne, paucos Iudaeorum docuit; calcato autem regno mortis, omnibus per orbem gentilibus fidei dona promisit
8:18
St John Chrysostom † AD 407
Because Christ not only healed the body, but purified the soul also, He desired to shew forth true wisdom, not only by curing diseases, but by doing nothing with ostentation; and therefore it is said, Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he commanded his disciples to cross over to the other side. This He did at once teaching us to be lowly, softening the ill-will of the Jews, and teaching us to do nothing with ostentation.
Remigius † AD 908
Or; He did this as one desiring to shun the thronging of the multitude. But they hung upon Him in admiration, crowding to see Him. For who would depart from one who did such miracles? Who would not wish to look upon His open face, to see His mouth that spoke such things? For if Moses’ countenance was made glorious, and Stephen’s as that of an Angel, gather from this how it was to have been supposed that their common Lord must have then appeared; of whom the Prophet speaks, Thy form is fair above the sons of men. (Ps. 45:2.)
St Hilary † AD 367
The name disciples is not to be supposed to be confined to the twelve Apostles; for we read of many disciples besides the twelve.
St Augustine † AD 430 ubi sup.
It is clear that this day on which they went over the lake was another day, and not that which followed the one on which Peter’s mother-in-law was healed, on which day Mark and Luke relate that He went out into the desert.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407
Observe that He does not dismiss the multitudes, that He may not offend them. He did say to them, Depart ye, but bade His disciples go away from thence, thus the crowds might hope to be able to follow.
Remigius † AD 908
What happened between the command of the Lord given, and their crossing over, the Evangelist purposes to relate in what follows; And one of the Scribes came to him and said, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.
St Jerome † AD 420
This Scribe of the Law who knew but the perishing letter, would not have been turned away had his address been, ‘Lord, I will follow Thee.’ But because he esteemed the Saviour only as one of many masters, and was a 1man of the letter (which is better expressed in Greek, γραμματεὺς) not a spiritual hearer, therefore he had no place where Jesus might lay His head. It is suggested to us that he sought to follow the Lord, because of His great miracles, for the sake of the gain to be derived from them; and was therefore rejected; seeking the same thing as did Simon Magus when he would have given Peter money.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407
Observe also how great his pride; approaching and speaking as though he disdained to be considered as one of the multitude; desiring to shew that he was above the rest.
St Hilary † AD 367
Otherwise; This Scribe being one of the doctors of the Law, asks if he shall follow Him, as though it were not contained in the Law that this is He whom it were gain to follow. Therefore He discovers the feeling of unbelief under the diffidence of his enquiry. For the taking up of the faith is not by question but by following.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407
So Christ answers him not so much to what he had said, but to the obvious purpose of his mind. Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head; as though He had said;
St Jerome † AD 420
Why do you seek to follow Me for the sake of the riches and gain of this world, when My poverty is such that I have neither lodging nor home of My own?
St John Chrysostom † AD 407
This was not to send him away, but rather to convict him of evil intentions; at the same time permitting him if he would to follow Christ with the expectation of poverty.
St Augustine † AD 430 Serm. 100. 1.
Otherwise; The Son of man hath not where to lay his head; that is, in your faith. The foxes have holes, in your heart, because you are deceitful. The birds of the air have nests, in your heart, because you are proud. Deceitful and proud follow Me not; for how should guile follow sincerity?
St Gregory the Great † AD 604 Mor. xix. 1.
Otherwise; The fox is a crafty animal, lying hid in ditches and dens, and when it comes abroad never going in a straight path, but in crooked windings; birds raise themselves in the air. By the foxes then are meant the subtle and deceitful dæmons, by the birds the proud dæmons; as though He had said; Deceitful and proud dæmons have their abode in your heart; but my lowliness finds no rest in a proud spirit.
St Augustine † AD 430 Quæst. in Matt. q. 5.
He was moved to follow Christ because of the miracles; this vain desire of glory is signified by the birds; but he assumed the submissiveness of a disciple, which deceit is signified by the foxes.
Rabanus Maurus † AD 856
Heretics confiding in their art are signified by the foxes, the evil spirits by the birds of the air, who have their holes and their nests, that is, their abodes in the heart of the Jewish people. Another of his disciples saith unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
St Jerome † AD 420
In what one thing is this disciple like the Scribe? The one called Him Master, the other confesses Him as his Lord. The one from filial piety asks permission to go and bury his father; the other offers to follow, not seeking a master, but by means of his master seeking gain for himself.
St Hilary † AD 367
The disciple does not ask whether he shall follow Him; for he already believed that he ought to follow, but prays to be suffered first to bury his father.
St Augustine † AD 430 Serm. 100. 1.
The Lord when He prepares men for the Gospel will not have any excuse of this fleshly and temporal attachment to interfere, therefore it follows; Jesus said unto him, Follow me, and, leave the dead to bury their dead.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407
This saying does not condemn natural affection to our parents, but shews that nothing ought to be more binding on us than the business of heaven; that to this we ought to apply ourselves with all our endeavours, and not to be slack, however necessary or urgent are the things that draw us aside. For what could be more necessary than to bury a father? What more easy? For it could not need much time. But in this the Lord rescued him from much evil, weeping, and mourning, and from the pains of expectation. For after the funeral there must come examination of the will, division of the inheritance, and other things of the same sort; and thus trouble following trouble, like the waves, would have borne him far from the port of truth. But if you are not yet satisfied, reflect further that oftentimes the weak are not permitted to know the time, or to follow to the grave; even though the dead be father, mother, or son; yet are they not charged with cruelty that hinder them; it is rather the reverse of cruelty. And it is a much greater evil to draw one away from spiritual discourse; especially when there were who should perform the rites; as here, Leave the dead to bury their dead.
St Augustine † AD 430 ubi sup.
As much as to say; Thy father is dead; but there are also other dead who shall bury their dead, because they are in unbelief.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407
This moreover shews that this dead man was not his; for, I suppose, he that was dead was of the unbelieving. If you wonder at the young man, that in a matter so necessary he should have asked Jesus, and not have gone away of his own accord, wonder much more that he abode with Jesus after he was forbidden to depart; which was not from lack of affection, but that he might not interrupt a business yet more necessary.
St Hilary † AD 367
Also, because we are taught in the beginning of the Lord’s prayer, first to say, Our Father, which art in heaven; and since this disciple represents the believing people; he is here reminded that he has one only Father in heaven (Mat. 23:9.), and that between a believing son and an unbelieving Father the filial relation does not hold good. We are also admonished that the unbelieving dead are not to be mingled with the memories of the saints, and that they are also dead who live out of God; and the dead are buried by the dead, because by the faith of God it behoves the living to cleave to the living (God.)
St Jerome † AD 420
But if the dead shall bury the dead, we ought not to be careful for the dead but for the living, lest while we are anxious for the dead, we ourselves should be counted dead.
St Gregory the Great † AD 604 Mor. iv. 27.
The dead also bury the dead, when sinners protect sinners. They who exalt sinners with their praises, hide the dead under a pile of words.
Rabanus Maurus † AD 856
From this we may also take occasion to observe, that lesser goods are to be sometimes forfeited for the sake of securing greater.
St Augustine † AD 430 De Cons. Ev. ii. 23.
Matthew relates that this was done when He gave them commandment that they should go over the lake, Luke, that it happened as they walked by the way; which is no contradiction, for they must have walked by the way that they might come to the lake.
The Latin text
Chrysostomus in Matth
Quia Christus non solum corpora curabat, sed animam emendabat, et veram sapientiam monstrare voluit, non solum aegritudines solvendo, sed etiam nihil ad ostentationem faciendo; et ideo dicitur videns autem Iesus turbas multas circum se, iussit discipulos ire trans fretum. Faciebat autem hoc et simul moderata nos cupere docens, et invidiam Iudaicam mitigans, et docens nos nihil ad ostentationem facere
Remigius
Vel hoc facit quasi homo volens turbarum importunitatem declinare. Erant autem ei affixi admirantes eum, et videre ipsum volentes. Quis enim discederet a talia miracula operante? Quis non in faciem eius simplicem vellet videre, et os talia loquens? Si enim Moyses glorificatam faciem habebat, et Stephanus sicut Angeli, intellige communem dominatorem qualem decens est tunc apparuisse; unde propheta dicit: speciosus forma prae filiis hominum
Hilarius in Matth
Discipulorum autem nomen non duodecim tantum apostolis convenire aestimandum est: nam praeter apostolos plures fuisse discipulos legimus
Augustinus de Cons. Evang
Manifestum est autem alium esse diem quo iussit ire trans fretum, non eum qui sequitur illum in quo socrus Petri sanata est, quo die Marcus Lucasque eum in desertum exisse affirmant
Chrysostomus in Matth
Vide autem qualiter turbas non simpliciter abicit, ut non offendat. Non enim dixit: recedite, sed ultro discipulos iussit abire, spem dans turbae eundi etiam illuc
Remigius
Sed quid inter iussionem Dei et transfretationem gestum sit, Evangelista studuit manifestare, cum ait et accedens unus Scriba ait illi: magister, sequar te quocumque ieris
Hieronymus
Iste Scriba, qui tantum litteram noverat occidentem, si dixisset: domine, sequar te quocumque ieris, non fuisset repulsus a domino; sed quia magistrum unum de pluribus aestimat, et litterator erat (quod significantius Graece dicitur grammateus), et non spiritalis auditor, ideo non habet locum in quo possit Iesus reclinare caput suum. Ostenditur autem nobis, et ob hoc Scribam repudiatum, quod signorum videns magnitudinem sequi voluerit salvatorem, ut lucra ex operum miraculis quaereret; hoc idem desiderans quod et Simon magus a Petro emere voluerat
Chrysostomus in Matth
Vide etiam quantus est tumor: ita enim advenit et locutus est sicut dedignans cum turba annumerari, sed ostendens quoniam super multos est ipse
Hilarius in Matth
Vel aliter. Iste Scriba qui est unus ex doctoribus legis, an sit secuturus interrogat, quasi lege non contineretur hunc esse quem utiliter sequatur. Igitur infidelitatis affectum sub diffidentia interrogationis expressit: quia fidei assumptio non interroganda est, sed sequenda
Chrysostomus in Matth
Respondet autem ei Christus, non ad interrogationem verborum, sed ad consilium obvians mentis; unde sequitur et dicit ei Iesus: vulpes foveas habent, et volucres caeli nidos; filius autem hominis non habet ubi caput suum reclinet; ac si dicat
Hieronymus
Quid me propter divitias et saeculi lucra cupis sequi, cum tantae sim paupertatis, ut nec hospitiolum quidem habeam, et tecto utar non meo?
Chrysostomus in Matth
Hoc autem non erat avertentis, sed arguentis quidem malum consilium, concedentis autem si vellet cum paupertatis expectatione sequi Christum. Et ut discas eius malitiam, audiens hoc et correctus non dixit: paratus sum sequi
Augustinus de Verb. Dom
Vel aliter. Filius hominis non habet ubi caput suum reclinet, scilicet in fide tua. Vulpes enim habent foveas, in corde tuo, quia dolosus es; volatilia caeli habent nidos, in corde tuo, quia elatus es. Dolosus et elatus non me sequeris: quomodo enim dolosus sequitur simplicitatem?
Gregorius Moralium
Vel aliter. Vulpes valde fraudulenta sunt animalia, quae in fossis vel specubus absconduntur; cumque apparuerint, nunquam rectis itineribus sed tortuosis anfractibus currunt; volucres vero alto volatu se sublevant. Nomine ergo vulpium dolosa atque fraudulenta, nomine autem volucrum haec eadem superba Daemonia designantur; ac si dicat: fraudulenta et elata Daemonia in corde tuo inveniunt habitationem suam; humilitas autem mea requiem in superba mente non invenit
Augustinus de quaest. Evang
Intelligitur enim miraculis motus, propter inanem iactantiam eum sequi voluisse, quam significant aves; finxisse autem discipuli obsequium, quae fictio vulpium nomine significata est
Rabanus Maurus
Haeretici autem in sua versutia confidentes significantur per vulpes, et maligni spiritus per volucres caeli, qui in corde Iudaici populi foveas et nidos, idest domicilia habebant. Sequitur alius autem de discipulis illius ait illi: domine, permitte me ire primum, et sepelire patrem meum
Hieronymus
Quid simile est inter Scribam et discipulum? Ille magistrum vocat, hic dominum confitetur
Hilarius in Matth
Iste pietatis occasione ad sepeliendum patrem ire desiderat, ille secuturum se quolibet ierit, promittit, non magistrum quaerens, sed ex magistro lucrum. Ille etiam discipulus non interrogat an sequatur; iam enim sequi se oportere credidit; sed permitti sibi orat sepelire patrem
Augustinus de Verb. Dom
Dominus autem quando parat homines Evangelio, nullam excusationem vult interponi carnalis huius temporalisque pietatis; et ideo sequitur Iesus autem dixit ei: sequere me, et dimitte mortuos sepelire mortuos suos
Chrysostomus in Matth
Hoc autem dixit non iubens contemnere amorem qui est ad parentes, sed monstrans quoniam nihil caelestibus negotiis nobis magis necessarium esse oportet; quoniam cum toto studio his iungi debemus, et neque parum tardare, etiam si valde invitabilia et incitantia fuerint quae attrahunt. Quid enim magis necessarium erat quam sepelire patrem? Quid etiam facilius? Neque enim tempus multum consumendum erat. Per hoc etiam eum dominus a multis malis eripuit: puta luctibus et moeroribus, et ab his quae hic expectantur. Post sepulturam enim necesse iam erat et testamenta scrutari, et haereditatis divisionem, et alia huiusmodi: et ita fluctuationes ex fluctuationibus ei succedentes, longe eum a veritatis abducere portu potuerunt. Si autem adhuc tumultuaris, excogita quoniam multi infirmos non permittunt scire, nec ad momentum sequi; etiamsi pater aut mater aut filius sit qui defunctus est; nec ex hoc incusantur crudelitatis; sed contrarium crudelitatis esse. Et multo maius malum est abducere hominem a spiritualibus sermonibus, et maxime cum fuerint qui hoc compleant: erant enim qui completuri erant huius funeris sepulturam; unde dicit dimitte mortuos sepelire mortuos suos
Augustinus de Verb. Dom
Quasi dicat: pater tuus mortuus est. Sunt autem alii mortui, qui sepeliant mortuos suos, quia infideles sunt
Chrysostomus in Matth
In quo monstrat quoniam hic mortuus non erat eius: etenim qui defunctus erat, sicut aestimo, de numero infidelium erat. Si autem admiraris iuvenem, quoniam pro negotio ita necessario interrogavit Iesum, et non spontanee abiit, multo magis admirare quoniam et prohibitus permansit: quod non erat ingratitudinis, cum non propter desidiam fecerit, sed ut non intercideret negotium magis necessarium
Hilarius in Matth
Item quia accepimus in dominicae orationis exordio ita primum precandum: pater noster, qui es in caelis, et in discipulo credentis populi persona est, admonetur quod pater sibi vivus in caelis est; deinde inter fidelem filium patremque infidelem ius paterni nominis non relinqui. Admonuit etiam non admisceri memoriis sanctorum mortuos infideles, et etiam eos esse mortuos qui extra Deum vivunt: ut idcirco mortui sepeliantur a mortuis: quia per Dei fidem vivos vivo oporteat adhaerere. Si autem mortuum sepelit mortuus, non debemus curam habere mortuorum, sed viventium; ne dum solliciti sumus de mortuis, nos quoque mortui appellemur
Gregorius Moralium
Mortui etiam mortuum sepeliunt, cum peccatores peccatoribus favent. Qui enim peccantem laudibus prosequuntur, extinctum sub verborum suorum aggere abscondunt
Rabanus Maurus
Notandum est etiam in hac sententia, quia aliquando minora bona praetermittenda sunt pro utilitate maiorum
Augustinus de Cons. Evang
Quod autem Matthaeus dicit, tunc istud gestum esse quando iussit ut irent trans fretum, Lucas vero ambulantibus illis in via, non est contrarium; quia viam utique ambulabant, ut venirent ad fretum
8:23
Pseudo-Origen Hom. in div. vii.
Christ having performed many great and wonderful things on the land, passes to the sea, that there also He might shew forth His excellent power, presenting Himself before all men as the Lord of both earth and sea. And when he was entered into a boat, his disciples followed him, not being weak but strong and established in the faith. Thus they followed Him not so much treading in His footsteps, as accompanying Him in holiness of spirit.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. xxviii.
He took His disciples with Him, and in a boat, that they might learn two lessons; first, not to be confounded in dangers, secondly, to think lowly of themselves in honour. That they should not think great things of themselves because He kept them while He sent the rest away, He suffers them to be tossed by the waves. Where miracles were to be shewn, He suffers the people to be present; where temptations and fears were to be stilled, there He takes with Him only the victors of the world, whom He would prepare for strife. PSEUDO-ORIGEN. (ubi sup.) Therefore, having entered into the boat He caused the sea to rise; And, lo, there arose a great tempest in the sea, so that the boat was covered by the waves. This tempest did not arise of itself, but in obedience to the power of Him Who gave commandment, who brings the winds out of his treasures. (Jer. 10:13.) There arose a great tempest, that a great work might be wrought; because by how much the more the waves rushed into the boat, so much the more were the disciples troubled, and sought to be delivered by the wonderful power of the Saviour.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407
They had seen others made partakers of Christ’s mercies, but forasmuch as no man has so strong a sense of those things that are done in the person of another as of what is done to himself, it behoved that in their own bodies they should feel Christ’s mercies. Therefore He willed that this tempest should arise, that in their deliverance they might have a more lively sense of His goodness. This tossing of the sea was a type of their future trials of which Paul speaks, I would not have you ignorant, brethren, how that we were troubled beyond our strength. (2 Cor. 1:8.) But that there might be time for their fear to arise, it follows, But he was asleep. For if the storm had arisen while He was awake, they would either not have feared, or not have prayed Him, or would not have believed that He had the power to still it. PSEUDO-ORIGEN. (ubi sup.) Wonderful, stupendous event! He that never slumbereth nor sleepeth, is said to be asleep. He slept with His body, but was awake in His Deity, shewing that He bare a truly human body which He had taken on Him, corruptible. He slept with the body that He might cause the Apostles to watch, and that we all should never sleep with our mind. With so great fear were the disciples seized, and almost beside themselves, that they rushed to Him, and did not modestly or gently rouse Him, but violently awakened Him, His disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us, we perish.
St Jerome † AD 420
Of this miracle we have a type in Jonah, who while all are in danger is himself unconcerned, sleeps, and is awakened. PSEUDO-ORIGEN. (ubi sup.) O ye true disciples! ye have the Saviour with you, and do ye fear danger? Life itself is among you, and are ye afraid of death? They would answer, We are yet children, and weak, and are therefore afraid; whence it follows, Jesus saith unto them, Why are ye afraid, O ye of little faith? As though He had said, If ye have known me mighty upon earth, why believe ye not that I am also mighty upon the sea? And even though death were threatening you, ought ye not to support it with constancy? He who believes a little will be reasoned with; he who believes not at all will be neglected.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407
If any should say, that this was a sign of no small faith to go and rouse Jesus; it is rather a sign that they had not a right opinion concerning Him. They knew that when wakened He could rebuke the waves, but they did not yet know that He could do it while sleeping. For this cause He did not do this wonder in the presence of the multitudes, that they should not be charged with their little faith; but He takes His disciples apart to correct them, and first stills the raging of the waters. Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.
St Jerome † AD 420
From this passage we understand, that all creation is conscious of its Creator; for what may be rebuked and commanded is conscious of the mind commanding. I do not mean as some heretics hold, that the whole creation is animatec—but by the power of the Maker things which to us have no consciousness have to Him. PSEUDO-ORIGEN. (ubi sup.) Therefore He gave commandment to the winds and the sea, and from a great storm it became a great calm. For it behoves Him that is great to do great things; therefore He who first greatly stirred the depths of the sea, now again commands a great calm, that the disciples who had been too much troubled might have great rejoicing.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407
Observe also that the storm is stilled at once entirely, and no trace of disturbance appears; which is beyond nature; for when a storm ceases in the course of nature, yet the water is wont to be agitated for some time longer, but here all is tranquillity at once. Thus what is said of the Father, He spake, and the storm of wind ceased, (Ps. 107:25.) this Christ fulfilled in deed; for by His word and bidding only He stayed and checked the waters. For from His appearance, from His sleeping, and His using a boat, they that were present supposed Him a man only, and on this account they fell into admiration of Him; And the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, for the winds and the sea obey him?
The Gloss non occ.
Chrysostom explains thus, What manner of man is this? His sleeping and His appearance shewed the man; the sea and the calm pointed out the God. PSEUDO-ORIGEN. (ubi sup.) But who were the men that marvelled? You must not think that the Apostles are here meant, for we never find the Lord’s disciples mentioned with disrespect; they are always called either the Disciples or the Apostles. They marvelled then who sailed with Him, whose was the boat.
St Jerome † AD 420
But if any shall contend that it was the disciples who wondered, we shall answer they are rightly spoken of as ‘the men,’ seeing they had not yet learnt the power of the Saviour. PSEUDO-ORIGEN. (ubi sup.) This is not a question, What manner of man is this? but an affirmation that He is one whom the winds and the sea obey. What manner of man then is this? that is, how powerful, how mighty, how great! He commands every creature, and they transgress not His law; men alone disobey, and are therefore condemned by His judgment. Figuratively; We are all embarked in the vessel of the Holy Church, and voyaging through this stormy world with the Lord. The Lord Himself sleeps a merciful sleep while we suffer, and awaits the repentance of the wicked.
St Hilary † AD 367
Or; He sleeps, because by our sloth He is cast asleep in us. This is done that we may hope aid from God in fear of danger; and that hope though late may be confident that it shall escape danger by the might of Christ watching within. PSEUDO-ORIGEN. Let us therefore come to Him with joy, saying with the Prophet, Arise, O Lord, why sleepest thou? (Ps. 44:23.) And He will command the winds, that is, the dæmons, who raise the waves, that is, the rulers of the world, to persecute the saints, and He shall make a great calm around both body and spirit, peace for the Church, stillness for the world.
Rabanus Maurus † AD 856
Otherwise; The sea is the turmoil of the world; the boat in which Christ is embarked is to be understood the tree of the cross, by the aid of which the faithful having passed the waves of the world, arrive in their heavenly country, as on a safe shore, whither Christ goes with His own; whence He says below, He that will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. (Mat. 16:24.) When then Christ was fixed on the cross, a great commotion was raised, the minds of His disciples being troubled at His passion, and the boat was covered by the waves. For the whole strength of persecution was around the cross of Christ, on which He died; as it is here, But he was asleep. His sleep is death. The disciples awaken the Lord, when troubled at His death; they seek His resurrection with earnest prayers, saying, Save us, by rising again; we perish, by our trouble at Thy death. He rises again, and rebukes the hardness of their hearts, as we read in other places. He commands the winds, in that He overthrew the power of the Devil; He commanded the sea, in that He disappointed the malice of the Jews; and there was a great calm, because the minds of the disciples were calmed when they beheld His resurrection.
St Bede † AD 735 in loc.
Or; The boat is the present Church, in which Christ passes over the sea of this world with His own, and stills the waves of persecution. Wherefore we may wonder, and give thanks.
The Latin text
Origenes
Cum multa magna et miranda ostendisset Christus in terra, transit ad mare, ut ibidem excellentia opera demonstraret, quatenus terrae marisque dominum se esse cunctis ostenderet; unde dicitur et ascendente eo in naviculam, secuti sunt discipuli eius: non imbecilles, sed firmi et stabiles in fide. Hi ergo secuti sunt eum, non tantum gressus eius sequentes, sed magis sanctitatem comitantes
Chrysostomus in Matth
Accepit autem discipulos secum et in navi, ut ad utraque eos erigeret: et ad hoc quod in periculis non stupescerent, et ad hoc quod in honoribus moderata de se autumarent. Ut enim non magna de se saperent, propter hoc quod aliis dimissis eos retinuerat, permittit eos fluctuari. Ubi enim miraculorum ostensio erat, plebem permittit adesse; ubi autem tentationum et timorum arreptio, athletas orbis terrarum, quos exercitaturus erat, hos solos assumit
Origenes
Ingressus ergo naviculam fecit turbari mare; unde sequitur et ecce motus magnus factus est in mari, ita ut navicula operiretur fluctibus. Haec tempestas non ex se orta est, sed potestati paruit imperantis, qui educit ventos de thesauris suis. Facta est autem tempestas magna ut magnum opus ostenderetur: quia quanto magis fluctus naviculae irruebant, tanto magis discipulos timor conturbabat, ut plus desiderarent se liberari per mirabilia salvatoris
Chrysostomus in Matth
Quia enim viderant alios Christi beneficia accepisse; non autem similiter aliquis aestimat quae in alienis corporibus fiunt et quae in seipso; oportuit per familiarem sensum eos potiri beneficiis Christi. Et ideo voluit hanc fieri tempestatem, ut per liberationem manifestiorem accipiant beneficii sensum. Erat autem haec turbatio typus futurarum tentationum, de quibus Paulus dicit: nolo vos ignorare, fratres, quoniam gravati sumus supra virtutem. Ut ergo daret tempus formidini, sequitur ipse vero dormiebat. Si enim vigilante eo facta fuisset tempestas, vel non rogassent, vel neque posse ipsum tale aliquid facere crederent
Origenes
Est autem res mirabilis et stupenda: is qui numquam dormit neque dormitat, dormire dicitur. Dormiebat quidem corpore, sed vigilabat deitate; demonstrans quia verum humanum portabat corpus, quod corruptibile induerat. Corpore itaque dormiebat, ut apostolos faceret vigilare, et ne omnes nos unquam animo dormiamus. Tanto autem metu discipuli fuerant conterriti, et pene animo alienati, ut irruerent in eum; et non modeste ac leviter suggererent, sed turbulenter suscitarent eum; unde sequitur et accesserunt ad eum discipuli eius, et suscitaverunt eum dicentes: domine, salva nos, perimus
Hieronymus
Huius signi typum in Iona legimus, quando ceteris periclitantibus ipse securus est, et dormit et suscitatur
Origenes
O veraces discipuli, salvatorem vobiscum habetis, et periculum timetis? Vita vobiscum est, et de morte solliciti estis? Sed respondeant: parvuli sumus, et adhuc infirmi, ideoque timemus; unde sequitur et dicit eis Iesus: quid timidi estis, modicae fidei? Quasi diceret: si potentem me super terram cognovistis, quare non creditis quia et in mari potens sim? Et si mors irrueret, nonne debuistis eam constantissime sustinere? Qui modicum credit, arguetur; qui nihil credit, contemnetur
Chrysostomus in Matth
Si autem aliquis dixerit, quoniam non fuit modicae fidei, accedentes excitare Iesum; hoc signum fuit quod non decentem de ipso opinionem habebant. Noverant enim quod excitatus poterat mare increpare; nondum autem quod dormiens. Propter hoc etiam neque praesentibus turbis hoc signum fecit, ut non accusentur modicae fidei; sed discipulos solum accipiens corrigit; et prius solvit turbationem aquarum; unde sequitur tunc surgens imperavit ventis et mari, et facta est tranquillitas magna
Hieronymus
Ex hoc autem loco intelligimus quod omnes creaturae sentiant creatorem: quibus enim imperatur, sentiunt imperantem: non errore haereticorum, qui omnia putant animantia sensibilia esse; sed maiestate conditoris, quae apud nos insensibilia sunt, illi sensibilia sunt
Origenes
Imperavit ergo ventis et mari; et de magno vento facta est tranquillitas magna: decet enim magnum magna facere; et ideo qui prius magnifice conturbavit profundum maris, nunc iterum tranquillitatem magnam fieri iussit, ut discipuli nimium conturbati magnifice laetarentur
Chrysostomus in Matth
In hoc etiam ostenditur quia omnis confestim soluta est tempestas, et neque semita turbationis remansit; quod quidem extraneum erat: cum enim naturaliter fluctuatio terminatur, usque ad multum tempus aquae concutiuntur; sed hic simul omnia solvebantur; ut quod de patre dictum est: dixit, et stetit spiritus procellae, hoc Christus opere implevit: solo enim verbo et praecepto mare sedavit et refrenavit. A visu autem et a somno, et ex utendo navigio, qui aderant, eum hominem aestimabant: propter hoc in admirationem ceciderunt; unde sequitur porro homines mirati sunt, dicentes: qualis est hic, quia venti et mare obediunt ei?
Glossa,
Chrysostomus ponit hanc litteram qualis est hic homo? Somnus enim, et quod apparebat, hominem demonstrabat; sed mare et tranquillitas Deum ostendebat
Origenes
Sed qui homines mirati sunt? Non putes hic apostolos significatos: nusquam enim invenimus praeter honorem cognominari domini discipulos; sed semper aut apostoli aut discipuli nominantur. Mirabantur ergo hi homines qui cum eo navigabant, quorum erat navicula
Hieronymus
Si autem quis contentiose voluerit eos qui mirabantur fuisse discipulos, respondebimus, recte homines appellatos, quia necdum noverant potentiam salvatoris
Origenes
Non autem interrogantes dicunt qualis est iste? Sed asserentes, quia iste talis est, cui venti et mare obediunt. Qualis ergo est iste? Idest, quantus, quam fortis, quam magnus? Iubet omni creaturae, et non supergreditur iussionem eius; soli homines resistunt, et ideo in iudicio damnabuntur. Mystice autem omnes in sanctae Ecclesiae navicula cum domino per hunc undosum supernatamus mundum. Ipse autem dominus pio obdormit somno, patientiam nostram et impiorum poenitentiam expectans
Hilarius in Matth
Vel dormit, eo quod somno nostro consopiatur in nobis. Maxime autem id accidit ut a Deo auxilium in periculi metu speremus: atque utinam vel spes sera confidat se periculum posse evadere, Christi intra se vigilantis virtute
Origenes
Alacriter ergo accedamus ad eum, cum propheta dicentes: exurge, quare obdormis, domine? Et ipse imperabit ventis, idest Daemonibus, qui concitant fluctus, idest principes huius mundi, ad persecutiones sanctis immittendas, facietque tranquillitatem magnam circa corpus et spiritum, pacem Ecclesiae, et serenitatem mundo
Rabanus Maurus
Vel aliter. Mare est aestus saeculi; navicula quam Christus ascendit, intelligitur arbor crucis, cuius auxilio fideles, transactis mundi fluctibus, perveniunt ad caelestem patriam, quasi ad littus securum, in qua Christus una cum suis ascendit; unde post ait: qui vult venire post me, abneget semetipsum, et tollat crucem suam, et sequatur me. Cum ergo Christus in cruce positus fuisset, motus magnus factus est: quia commotae sunt mentes discipulorum de eius passione, et navicula operta est fluctibus: quia tota vis persecutionis circa crucem Christi fuit, ubi scilicet morte occubuit; unde dictum est ipse vero dormiebat. Suum dormire, mori est. Excitant autem discipuli dominum, dum turbati morte, maximis votis resurrectionem quaerunt dicentes salva, resurgendo, quia perimus, turbatione tuae mortis. Ipse vero resurgens increpat duritiam cordis eorum, ut alibi legitur. Imperavit autem ventis, quia Diaboli superbiam stravit; imperavit mari, quia vesaniam Iudaeorum disiecit; et facta est tranquillitas magna, quia sedatae sunt mentes discipulorum visa resurrectione
Glossa
Vel navicula est Ecclesia praesens, in qua Christus cum suis mare saeculi transit, aquas persecutorum compescit. Unde miremur, et gratias agamus
8:28
St John Chrysostom † AD 407
Because there were who thought Christ to be a man, therefore the dæmons came to proclaim His divinity, that they who had not seen the sea raging and again still, might hear the dæmons crying; And when he was come to the other side in the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two men having dæmons.
Rabanus Maurus † AD 856
Gerasa is a town of Arabia beyond Jordan, close to Mount Gilead, which was in the possession of the tribe of Manasseh, not far from the lake of Tiberias, into which the swine were precipitated.
St Augustine † AD 430 De Cons. Ev. ii. 24.
Whereas Matthew relates that there were two who were afflicted with dæmons, but Mark and Luke mention only one, you must understand that one of them was a person of note, for whom all that country was in grief, and about whose recovery there was much care, whence the fame of this miracle was the more noised abroad.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407
Or; Luke and Mark chose to speak of one who was more grievously afflicted; whence also they add a further description of his calamity; Luke saying that he brake his bonds and was driven into the desert; Mark telling that he ofttimes cut himself with stones. But they neither of them say that there was only one, which would be to contradict Matthew. What is added respecting them that they came from among the tombs, alludes to a mischievous opinion, that the souls of the dead become dæmons. Thus many soothsayers use to kill children, that they may have their souls to cooperate with them; and dæmoniacs also often cry out, I am the spirit of such an one. But it is not the soul of the dead man that then cries out, the dæmon assumes his voice to deceive the hearers. For if the soul of a dead man has power to enter the body of another, much more might it enter its own. And it is more unreasonable to suppose that a soul that has suffered cruelty should cooperate with him that injured it, or that a man should have power to change an incorporeal being into a different kind of substance, such as a human soul into the substance of a dæmon. For even in material body, this is beyond human power; as, for example, no man can change the body of a man into that of an ass. And it is not reasonable to think that a disembodied spirit should wander to and fro on the earth. The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, (Wisd. 3:1.) therefore those of young children must be so, seeing they are not evil. And the souls of sinners are at once conveyed away from hence, as is clear from Lazarus, and the rich man. Because none dared to bring them to Christ because of their fierceness, therefore Christ goes to them. This their fierceness is intimated when it is added, Exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass that way. So they who hindered all others from passing that way, found one now standing in their way. For they were tortured in an unseen manner, suffering intolerable things from the mere presence of Christ. And, lo, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of David?
St Jerome † AD 420
This is no voluntary confession followed up by a reward to the utterer, but one extorted by the compulsion of necessity. A runaway slave, when after long time he first beholds his master, straight thinks only of deprecating the scourge; so the dæmons, seeing the Lord suddenly moving upon the earth, thought He was come to judge them. Some absurdly suppose, that these dæmons knew the Son of God, while the Devil knew Him not, because their wickedness was less than his. But all the knowledge of the disciple must be supposed in the Master.
St Augustine † AD 430 De Civ. Dei, ix. 21.
God was so far known to them as it was His pleasure to be known; and He pleased to be known so far as it was needful. He was known to them therefore not as He is Life eternal, and the Light which enlightens the good, but by certain temporal effects of His excellence, and signs of His hidden presence, which are visible to angelic spirits though evil, rather than to the infirmity of human nature.
St Jerome † AD 420
But both the Devil and the dæmons may be said to have rather suspected, than known, Jesus to be the Son of God.
Pseudo-Augustine Hil. Quæst. V. et N. T. 9, 66.
When the dæmons cry out, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? (1 Cor. 2:8.) we must suppose them to have spoken from suspicion rather than knowledge. For had they known him, they never would have suffered the Lord of glory to be crucified.
Remigius † AD 908
But as often as they were tortured by His excellent power, and saw Him working signs and miracles, they supposed Him to be the Son of God; when they saw Him hungry and thirsty, and suffering such things, they doubted, and thought Him mere man. It should be considered that even the unbelieving Jews when they said that Christ cast out dæmons in Beelzebub, and the Arians who said that He was a creature, deserve condemnation not only on God’s sentence, but on the confession of the dæmons, who declare Christ to be the Son of God. Rightly do they say, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? that is, our malice and Thy grace have nothing in common, according to that the Apostle speaks, There is no fellowship of light with darkness. (2 Cor. 6:14.)
St John Chrysostom † AD 407
That this should not be thought to be flattery, they cry out what they were experiencing, Art thou come to torment us before the time?
St Augustine † AD 430 De Civ. Dei, viii. 23.
Either because that came upon them unexpectedly, which they looked for indeed, but supposed more distant; or because they thought their perdition consisted in this, that when known they would be despised; or because this was before the day of judgment, when they should be punished with eternal damnation.
St Jerome † AD 420
For the presence of the Saviour is the torment of dæmons.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407
They could not say they had not sinned, because Christ had found them doing evil, and marring the workmanship of God; whence they supposed that for their more abundant wickedness the time of the last punishment which shall be at the day of judgment should not be tarried for to punish them.
St Augustine † AD 430 De. Cons. Ev. ii. 24.
Though the words of the dæmons are variously reported by the three Evangelists, yet this is no difficulty; for they either all convey the same sense, or may be supposed to have been all spoken. Nor again because in Matthew they speak in the plural, in the others in the singular number; because even the other two Evangelists relate that when asked his name, he answered, Legion, shewing that the dæmons were many. Now there was not far from thence a herd of many swine feeding; and the dæmons prayed him, saying, If thou cast us out hence, send us into the swine.
St Gregory the Great † AD 604 Mor. ii. 10.
For the Devil knows that of himself he has no power to do any thing, because it is not of himself that he exists as a spirit.
Remigius † AD 908
They did not ask to be sent into men, because they saw Him by whose excellence they were tortured existing in human shape. Nor did they ask to be sent into sheep, because sheep are by God’s institution clean animals, and were then offered in the temple of God. But they requested to be sent into the swine rather than into any of the other unclean animals, because this is of all animals the most unclean; whence also it has its name ‘porcus,’ as being ‘spurcus,’ filthy, and delighting in filthiness; and dæmons also delight in the filthiness of sin. They did not pray that they might be sent into the air, because of their eager desire of hurting men. And he saith unto them, Go.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407
Jesus did not say this, as though persuaded by the dæmons, but with many designs1 therein. One, that He might shew the mighty power to hurt of these dæmons, who were in possession of the two men; another, that all might see that they had no power against the swine unless by His sufferance; thirdly, to shew that they would have done more grievous hurt to the men, had they not even in their calamities been aided by Divine Providence, for they hate men more than irrational animals. By this it is manifest that there is no man who is not supported by Divine Providence; and if all are not equally supported by it, neither after one manner, this is the highest characteristic of Providence, that it is extended to each man according to his need. Besides the above-mentioned things, we learn also that He cares not only for the whole together, but for each one in particular; which one may see clearly in these dæmoniacs, who would have been long before choked in the deep, had not Divine care preserved them. He also permitted them to go into the herd of swine, that they that dwelt in those parts might know His power. For where He was known to none, there He makes His miracles to shine forth, that He may bring them to a confession of His divinity.
St Jerome † AD 420
The Saviour bade them go, not as yielding to their request, but that by the death of the swine, an occasion of man’s salvation might be offered. But they went out, (to wit, out of the men,) and went into the swine; and, lo, the whole herd rushed violently headlong into the sea, and perished in the waters. Let Manichæus blush; if the souls of men and of beasts be of one substance, and one origin, how should two thousand swine have perished for the sake of the salvation of two men?
St John Chrysostom † AD 407
The dæmons destroyed the swine because they are ever striving to bring men into distress, and rejoice in destruction. The greatness of the loss also added to the fame of that which was done; for it was published by many persons; namely, by the men that were healed, by the owners of the swine, and by those that fed them; as it follows, But they that fed them fled, and went into the town, and told all, and concerning them that had the dæmons; and, behold, the whole town went out to meet Jesus. But when they should have adored Him, and wondered at His excellent power, they cast Him from them, as it follows, And when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts. Observe the clemency of Christ next to His excellent power; when those who had received favours from Him would drive Him away, He resisted not, but departed, and left those who thus pronounced themselves unworthy of His teaching, giving them as teachers those who had been delivered from the dæmons, and the feeders of the swine.
St Jerome † AD 420
Otherwise; This request may have proceeded from humility as well as pride; like Peter, they may have held themselves unworthy of the Lord’s presence, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. (Luke 5:8.)
Rabanus Maurus † AD 856
Gerasa is interpreted ‘casting out the dweller,’ or, ‘a stranger approaching;’ this is the Gentile world which cast out the Devil from it; and which was first far off, but now made near, after the resurrection being visited by Christ through His preachers.
St Ambrose † AD 397 in Luc. 8. 30.
The two dæmoniacs are also a type of the Gentile world; for Noah having three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japhet, Shem’s posterity alone was taken into the inheritance of God, while from the other two sprang the nations of the Gentiles.
St Hilary † AD 367
Thus the dæmons held the two men among the tombs without the town, that is, without the synagogue of the Law and the Prophets; that is, they infested the original seats of the two nations, the abodes of the dead, making the way of this present life dangerous to the passers by.
Rabanus Maurus † AD 856
It is not without cause that he speaks of them as dwelling among the tombs; for what else are the bodies of the faithless but sepulchres of the dead, in which the word of God dwells not, but there is enclosed the soul dead in sins. He says, So that no man might pass through that way, because before the coming of the Saviour the Gentile world was inaccessible. Or, by the two, understand both Jews and Gentiles, who did not abide in the house, that is, did not rest in their conscience. But they abode in tombs, that is, delighted themselves in dead works, and suffered no man to pass by the way of faith, which way the Jews obstructed.
St Hilary † AD 367
By their coming forth to meet Him is signified the willingness of men flocking to the faith. The dæmons seeing that there is no longer any place left for them among the Gentiles, pray that they may be suffered to dwell among the heretics; these, seized by them, are drowned in the sea, that is, in worldly desires, by the instigations of the dæmons, and perish in the unbelief of the rest of the Gentiles.
St Bede † AD 735 in Luc. 8.
Or; The swine are they that delight in filthy manners; for unless one live as a swine, the devils do not receive power over him; or at most, only to try him, not to destroy him. That the swine were sent headlong into the lake, signifies, that when the people of the Gentiles are delivered from the condemnation of the dæmons, yet still they who would not believe in Christ, perform their profane rites in secret, drowned in a blind and deep curiosity. That they that fed the swine, fled and told what was done, signifies that even the leaders of the wicked though they shun the law of Christianity, yet cease not to proclaim the wonderful power of Christ. When struck with terror, they entreat Him to depart from them, they signify a great number who, well satisfied with their ancient life, shew themselves willing to honour the Christian law, while they declare themselves unable to perform it.
St Hilary † AD 367
Or; The town is a type of the Jewish nation, which having heard of Christ’s works goes forth to meet its Lord, to forbid Him to approach their country and town; for they have not received the Gospel.
The Latin text
Chrysostomus in Matth
Quidam homines Christum hominem esse dicebant: venerunt Daemones divinitatem eius divulgantes, ut qui mare procellosum et rursus quietum non audierunt, Daemones audirent clamantes; unde dicitur et cum venisset trans fretum in regionem Gerasenorum, occurrerunt ei duo homines habentes Daemonia
Rabanus Maurus
Gerasa urbs est Arabiae trans Iordanem, iuncta monti Galaad, quam tenuit tribus Manasse, non longe a stagno Tiberiadis, in quo porci praecipitati sunt
Augustinus de Cons. Evang
Quod autem Matthaeus duos dicit fuisse qui Daemonia patiebantur, Marcus autem et Lucas unum commemorant, intelligas unum eorum fuisse personae alicuius clarioris et famosioris, quem regio illa maxime dolebat, et pro cuius salute plurimum satagebat, de quo facti huius fama praeclarius fragravit
Chrysostomus in Matth
Vel Lucas et Marcus unum eorum saeviorem elegerunt: unde et eius calamitatem exprimunt. Lucas enim dicit, quod ruptis vinculis agebatur in deserto; Marcus autem quia et lapidibus seipsum intercidebat; nec tamen dicunt quoniam unus solus erat, ne Matthaeo contraria dicere viderentur. Per hoc autem quod subditur, de monumentis exeuntes, perniciosum dogma imponere volebant, scilicet quod animae morientium Daemones fiant; unde multi aruspicum occidunt pueros, ut animam eorum cooperantem habeant; propter quod et daemoniaci clamant, quoniam anima illius ego sum. Non est autem anima defuncti quae clamat; sed Daemon hoc fingit, ut decipiat audientes. Si enim in alterius corpus animam mortui possibile esset intrare, multo magis in corpus suum. Sed neque habet rationem, iniqua passam animam cooperari iniqua sibi facienti, vel hominem posse virtutem incorpoream in aliam transmutare substantiam, scilicet animam in substantiam Daemonis. Neque enim in corporibus hoc machinari quis potest, ut in hominis corpus transmutet asini corpus: neque enim rationabile est animam a corpore separatam hic iam oberrare. Iustorum enim animae in manu Dei sunt; unde et quae puerorum; neque enim malae sunt. Sed et quae peccatorum sunt, confestim hinc abducuntur: et hoc manifestum est ex Lazaro et divite. Quia vero nullus eos afferre audebat ad Christum propter saevitiam horum daemoniacorum, Christus ad eos vadit. Quae quidem eorum saevitia designatur, cum subditur saevi nimis, ita ut nemo posset transire per viam illam. Sed quia alios prohibebant pertransire, obstruentem sibi viam invenerunt. Etenim flagellabantur invisibiliter, intolerabilia patientes ex Christi praesentia; unde sequitur et ecce clamaverunt dicentes: quid nobis et tibi, Iesu fili Dei?
Hieronymus
Non est autem voluntatis ista confessio, quam praemium sequitur confitentium: sed necessitatis extorsio, quae cogit invitos. Velut si servi fugitivi post multum temporis dominum suum videant, nihil aliud nisi de verberibus deprecantur; sic et Daemones cernentes dominum in terris repente versari, ad eos iudicandos se venisse credebant. Ridiculum autem putant quidam Daemonia scire filium Dei, et Diabolum ignorare, eo quod minoris malitiae sint isti quam ille cuius satellites sunt, cum omnis scientia discipulorum ad magistrum referenda sit
Augustinus de Civ. Dei
Tantum autem innotuit eis Deus, quantum voluit; tantum autem voluit, quantum oportuit. Innotuit ergo eis non per id quod vita aeterna est, et lumen quod illuminat pios; sed per quaedam temporalia suae virtutis effecta, et occultissimae praesentiae signa, quae angelicis spiritibus etiam malignis potius quam infirmitati hominum possunt esse perspicua
Hieronymus
Sed tamen tam Daemones quam Diabolus suspicari magis filium Dei quam nosse intelligendi sunt
Augustinus de quaest. Nov. et Vet. Testam
Quod autem Daemones clamant quid nobis et tibi, Iesu fili Dei? Magis ex suspicione quam ex cognitione dixisse credendi sunt. Si enim cognovissent, numquam dominum gloriae crucifigi permisissent
Remigius
Sed quotiescumque eius virtute torquebantur, et signa et miracula facientem videbant, aestimabant eum esse filium Dei: postquam videbant eum esurire, sitire et his similia pati, dubitabant, et credebant hominem purum. Considerandum est, quod etiam Iudaei increduli dicentes Christum in Beelzebub eiecisse Daemonia, et Ariani dicentes eum esse creaturam, non solum iudicio Dei, sed etiam Daemonum confessione damnari merentur, qui Christum filium Dei dicunt. Recte autem dicunt quid nobis et tibi, Iesu fili Dei? Hoc est, nihil commune est nostrae malitiae et tuae gratiae: quia, secundum apostolum nulla societas est lucis ad tenebras
Chrysostomus in Matth
Ut autem non videretur adulationis hoc esse, ab experientia clamabant, dicentes venisti ante tempus torquere nos
Augustinus de Civ. Dei
Sive quia subitum illis fuit quod futurum quidem, sed tardius opinabantur; sive quia perditionem suam hanc ipsam dicebant, quia fiebat ut eorum cognitio sperneretur; et hoc erat ante tempus iudicii, quo aeterna damnatione puniendi sunt
Hieronymus
Praesentia etiam salvatoris tormenta sunt Daemonum
Chrysostomus in Matth
Non autem poterant dicere se non peccasse, quia eos Christus invenerat mala operantes, et facturam Dei punientes; unde aestimabant propter superabundantiam malorum quae fecerant, quod non expectaretur in eis tempus extremae punitionis, quae erit in die iudicii
Augustinus de Cons. Evang
Quod autem verba Daemonum diversimode ab Evangelistis sunt dicta, non habet aliquid scrupuli: cum vel in unam redigi sententiam, vel omnia dicta possint intelligi: nec quia pluraliter apud Matthaeum, apud alios autem singulariter loquitur; cum et ipsi narrent, quod interrogatus quid vocaretur, legionem se esse respondit, eo quod multa essent Daemonia. Sequitur erat autem non longe ab eis grex porcorum multorum pascens. Daemones autem rogabant eum, dicentes: si eicis nos hinc, mitte nos in porcos
Gregorius Moralium
Scit enim Diabolus, quia quodlibet agere ex semetipso non sufficit; quia nec per semetipsum in eo quod est spiritus existit
Remigius
Sed ideo non petierunt ut in homines mitterentur, quia illum cuius virtute torquebantur, humanam speciem gestare videbant. Nec etiam petierunt ut in pecora mitterentur, quia pecora, Dei praecepto, munda sunt animalia, et tunc in templo Dei offerebantur. Prae aliis autem immundis in porcos mitti petierunt, quia nullum animal est immundius porco: unde et porcus dicitur quasi spurcus, eo quod in spurcitiis delectetur: sic et Daemones spurcitiis peccatorum delectantur. Non autem petierunt ut in aerem mitterentur propter nimiam cupiditatem nocendi hominibus. Sequitur et ait illis: ite
Chrysostomus in Matth
Non autem hoc fecit Iesus quasi a Daemonibus persuasus, sed multa hinc dispensans: unum quidem ut instruat magnitudinem nocumenti Daemonum, qui illis hominibus insidiabantur; aliud, ut discant omnes quoniam neque adversus porcos audent, nisi ipse concesserit; tertium, ut ostendat quod graviora in illos homines operati essent quam in porcos, nisi essent homines illi inter calamitates divina providentia adiuti: magis enim odio habent homines quam irrationalia. Per hoc autem manifestum est, quoniam nullus est qui non potiatur divina providentia. Si autem non omnes similiter neque secundum unum modum, et haec etiam providentiae maxima species est; ad id enim quod unicuique expedit, providentia ostenditur. Cum praedictis autem et aliud ex hoc discimus: quoniam non communiter omni providet solum, sed singulariter unicuique: quod in daemoniacis his aliquis aspiciet manifeste: qui olim suffocati essent, nisi divina procuratione potiti essent. Propterea etiam concessit abire in gregem porcorum, ut qui regiones habitabant illas, discant eius virtutem. Ubi enim nullus eum cognoverat, fulgere faciebat miracula, ut eos in suae divinitatis cognitionem trahat
Hieronymus
Non ergo ut concederet salvator Daemonibus quod petebant, dixit ite, sed ut per interfectionem porcorum, hominibus salutis occasio praeberetur. Sequitur at illi exeuntes, scilicet ab hominibus, abierunt in porcos; et ecce magno impetu abiit totus grex praeceps in mare, et mortui sunt in aquis. Erubescat Manichaeus. Si de eadem substantia et ex eadem origine hominum bestiarumque sunt animae, quomodo ob unius hominis vel duorum salutem, duo millia porcorum suffocantur?
Chrysostomus in Matth
Ideo autem porcos Daemones occiderunt, quia ubique homines in moestitiam mittere student, et de perditione laetantur. Damni etiam magnitudo augebat eius quod factum erat famam: a multis enim divulgabatur: scilicet ab his qui curati erant, a porcorum dominis, et a pastoribus; unde sequitur pastores autem fugerunt, et venientes in civitate nuntiaverunt omnia, et de his qui Daemonia habuerant; et ecce tota civitas exiit obviam Iesus. Sed cum deceret eos adorare et admirari virtutem, mittebant eum a se; unde sequitur et viso eo rogabant eum ut transiret a finibus eorum. Intuere autem et Christi mansuetudinem post virtutem: quia enim beneficia adepti abigebant eum, non restitit, sed recessit; et eos qui indignos se nuntiaverunt eius doctrina, dereliquit, dans eis doctores liberatos a Daemonibus, et porcorum pastores
Hieronymus
Vel quod rogant ut transeat fines eorum, non de superbia hoc faciunt, sed de humilitate, qua se indignos domini praesentia iudicabant; sicut et Petrus ait. Exi a me, domine, quia vir peccator sum
Rabanus Maurus
Interpretatur autem Gerasa colonum eiciens, vel advena propinquans, hoc est gentilitas, quae Diabolum a se eiecit: et quae prius longe, modo facta est prope, post resurrectionem visitata a Christo per praedicatores
Ambrosius super Lucam
Duo quoque daemoniaci figuram populi gentilis accipiunt: quoniam cum tres filios Noe generavit, Cham, Sem et Iaphet, Sem tantummodo familia in possessionem accita est Dei, ex duobus autem aliis nationum populi pullularunt
Hilarius in Matth
Unde extra urbem, idest extra legis et prophetarum synagogam, duos homines in monumentis Daemones detinebant; duarum scilicet gentium origines, intra defunctorum sedes et mortuorum reliquias obsederant, efficientes praetereuntibus viam vitae praesentis infestam
Rabanus Maurus
Vel non immerito in monumentis illos habitasse significavit: quid enim aliud sunt corpora perfidorum nisi quaedam defunctorum sepulchra, quibus non Dei sermo, sed anima peccantis morte recluditur? Dicit autem ita ut nemo posset transire per viam illam, quia ante adventum salvatoris in via gentilitas fuit. Vel per duos, Iudaeos et gentes accipe, qui non habitabant in domo; idest, conscientia sua non requiescebant. In monumentis manebant, idest in operibus mortuis delectabantur; nec sinunt per viam fidei, quam viam Iudaei impugnabant, aliquem transire
Hilarius
Occursu autem eorum, concurrentium ad salutem voluntas indicatur. Videntes autem Daemones non sibi iam locum in gentibus derelinqui, ut patiatur habitare se in haereticis deprecantur; quibus occupati, in mare, idest in cupiditatem saecularem, Daemonum praecipitantur instinctu; et cum reliquarum gentium infidelitate moriuntur. Vel porci sunt qui lutulentis delectantur actibus: nam nisi quis porci more vixerit, non in eum Diaboli accipiunt potestatem: aut ad probandum tantum, non ad perdendum accipiunt. Quod autem in stagnum praecipitati sunt porci, significat quod, etiam liberato populo gentium a damnatione Daemonum, in abditis agunt sacrilegos ritus suos qui Christo credere noluerunt, caeca et profunda curiositate submersi. Quod autem pastores porcorum fugientes ista nuntiant, significat quosdam etiam primates impiorum, qui quamquam Christianam legem fugiant, potentiam tamen Christi stupendo praedicare non cessant. Quod autem magno timore percussi, rogant ut ab eis discedat, significat multitudinem vetusta sua vita delectatam, honorare quidem se nolle Christianam legem, dum dicunt quod eam implere non possunt
Hilarius
Vel urbs illa Iudaici populi habuit speciem, quae, Christi operibus auditis, domino suo obviam pergit, prohibens ne fines suos urbemque contingeret: neque enim Evangelia recepit
8:2
Ver. 2. And, behold, a leper, &c. This same miracle is related by S. Mark (Mar 1:40), and by Luke (Luk 5:12). From a comparison of these it would seem to follow that the miracle was not performed immediately upon our Lord's descent, at the very foot of the mountain, for Luke says that it came to pass in one of the cities. And both Mark and Luke speak of other miracles as previously performed. But S. Matthew's narrative appears to be the most chronological, according to which it may be said that this miracle was the first which Christ wrought after His descent. So S. Jerome, Jansen, and others. As to what S. Luke says, that, it took place in one of the cities, we must understand, near the city. For by the law lepers were ordered to be kept entirely apart, and were forbidden to enter towns and camps, lest the inhabitants should catch the disease. Some think that the Levitical law only forbade lepers living in towns, but not their passing through them, so that this leper might have been cleansed by Christ as he was passing through this city. This city, as may be gathered from the fifth verse, was Capernaum. How great, how incurable and contagious, a disease was leprosy is plain from hence, that lepers, both by the ancient law and the usage of all nations, were debarred from consorting with their fellow men. For in lepers there is a contagion which spreads by contact with the whole, whom they are able to infect by the stench of their ulcers and their fetid breath. With them, by the contagion and the infection of the disease, the face is disfigured, the hair falls off, the nostrils are enlarged, the bones are eaten away, and the tongue swells, in short, every kind of disease, and all their symptoms, are found as the accompaniment of leprosy. Physicians teach that it may be considered an elephantine disease, and incurable. How, says Avicenna, can leprosy be cured, since it is an universal cancer, when even a single cancer is beyond the power of medicine? Moreover, hot and stony and salt regions, and such as are exposed to excessive vicissitudes of cold and heat, are peculiarly liable to this disease. Such regions were Palestine and a part of Egypt. Wherefore Galen says, "In Alexandria many labour under elephantia (leprosy) as well on account of their way of living as of the heat." Worshipped, i.e., falling down upon his knees and face, for S. Mark γονυπετω̃ν, i.e., falling at his knees. The leper did this not with the design of rendering Him civil honour, but that he might give to Christ the highest worship of religion, as is plain from his so humble and believing petition. For he did not request Christ to ask God, as Moses did, but If Thou art willing, Thou art able to make me clean. As though he had said, I know that Thou hast the power of God, and therefore dominion over diseases, so that Thou canst control leprosy by the right of a master, and canst, by Thy command alone, drive it from me. I ask Thee, therefore, that thou wouldst deign to do this. For if Thou wilt, the thing is done, and I am healed. So S. Chrysostom says, "To the spiritual physician, he offers spiritual hire viz., believing prayer, than which nothing of more worth can be offered to God." Also the Interlinear Gloss says, "To will He adds the attribute of power, for as great as His will so great is the power of God. For whatsoever He wills, that He is forthwith able to perform. According to the words of the Psalmist, 'Whatsover the Lord willed, that did he in heaven and earth.'" (Psa 35:6, Vulg.) This leper therefore had faith in the Divinity of Christ, partly from His inward illumination and inspiration, partly from His miracles, several of which Christ had already performed in this first year of His preaching. For this leper was healed in the second year, as I have said in the Chronotaxis, Num 22. Again, the words, if Thou wilt, denote the desire of being healed, mingled with resignation. For he resigns himself to the will of Christ, that if He wishes it, he may be cured; if He be unwilling, he may remain unhealed.
8:3
And Jesus put forth his hand, &c. Touched him, that He might show that He was above the law, which forbade contact with the leper. The law forbade this touching of a leper from fear of contagion. But there was no danger of such contagion in Christ's case, but rather the certainty of healing the leper. When, therefore, Christ touched the leper, He did not do so as against the law, but rather as fulfilling the spirit of the law. 2. He touched him out of kindness, that He might show His love for the leper.
3. He touched him, says S. Cyril, that the saving efficacy of the Flesh of Christ might be made manifest. Whence Victor of Antioch, on S. Mark (chap. i.), says, "The Word, willing to show forth Its indivisible union with the Flesh, wrought many miracles and signs through the ministry of the body." And Bede says, "God stretched forth His hand, and touched human nature by His Incarnation, and brought back to the Temple those who were cast out of the camp of the people of God (the lepers), that they might offer their bodies a living sacrifice to Himself, to whom it is said, 'Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.'"
I will, be thou clean. From these words the Fathers prove the Divinity of Christ and His omnipotence. Maldonatus cites them at length. Thus S. Ambrose: "He saith, 'I will,' because of Photinus, He commands on account of Arius, He touches on account of Manichæus." For Photinus taught that Christ was a mere man, and not God, whose attribute is an almighty will, by which, he says, "I will, be thou clean." Arius taught that Christ was inferior to the Father, and, therefore, did not Himself command, but received the Father's commandments. Manichæus taught that Christ had not real flesh, but only in appearance, such as could not in reality either touch or be touched. And immediately, &c. There was no interval between Christ's command and its fulfilment. He spoke and all things were made, because His will was omnipotent. (Genesis i.) The Arabic translates, the man was cleansed from his leprosy: for the words, the leprosy was cleansed, are a figure of speech. By this miracle Christ shows that He came into the world as a physician that He might heal all diseases and purge away all filthiness.
8:4
And Jesus saith unto him. (S. Mark, threatened, ie., commanded him with a severe and stern countenance.) He did this to avoid ostentation, and to teach us not to boast of our virtues and gifts, but rather conceal them.
But go, show thyself to the priest; Mark has to the high priest. "He sends him to the priests," says S. Jerome, "on account of humility, that He may appear to show deference to them, so that they henceforth might either believe and be saved, or else be held without excuse; and, lastly, that He might not be accounted to violate the law. The gift which was to be offered to the priest by lepers who were cleansed was a lamb, or, if the leper were poor, two turtle doves, or two young pigeons. (Lev 14:13, &c.)
For a testimony unto them, sc. the priests. By the word Testimony, some understand the law, as though He had said, "Offer the gift enjoined, that thou mayest fulfil the law which Moses commanded." For in the 119th Psalm the law is often called by the name of testimony. That is to say, it is the Divine will, which God testifies that He would have done by us. There is, however, no reason why testimony should not be taken in its ordinary acceptation. This then was the testimony which the leper gave to the priests that he was cleansed from his leprosy, namely, an ocular inspection of his body and his limbs, which was made by them, And if they saw that he was healed, they accepted his gift as a thank-offering to God; but if he were not healed they refused it. Tropologically, leprosy signifies mortal sin, especially that which is contagious, such as heresy is in an especial manner, because of its extreme foulness and infectious nature. So S. Augustine (lib. 2, Quæst. Evan., quæst. 40); Theodoret, Radulphus, and others, on Levit. xiv. Hence the cleansing. of leprosy is the symbol of the sacrament of penance, and of sacramental confession, whereby sins are forgiven. From this type, S. Jerome on the sixteenth chapter of S. Matthew proves the power and efficacy of this sacrament against the heretics, showing how the priests must be cognisant of the various kinds and varieties of sins. S. Chrysostom (lib. 3, de Sacerdotio) does the same, teaching that the office of a Christian priest is far more powerful and excellent than was that of a priest of the order of Aaron, because to these latter it was not granted to heal leprosy, but only to declare that it was healed, whilst to the former it is given not merely to declare that sins are forgiven, but really to cleanse and absolve them. And this was the reason why, when Christ came down from the mount, where He had taught the Evangelical Law, He willed that His first miracle should be the cleansing of the leper, chiefly because the various stages of leprosy best represent the foulness and plague of sin, and the cleansing of leprosy the forgiveness of sins. And so Christ in His Passion assumed the appearance of a leper, that He might take upon Himself and heal the leprosy of our souls. Wherefore Isaiah says (Isa 53:4), "Surely He Himself hath borne our sicknesses, and carried our griefs; and we esteemed Him as though He were a leper, stricken of God, and humiliated. But He was wounded for our iniquities; He was bruised for our wickednesses." (Vulg.) See what I have said on leprosy on Lev. xiii. and xiv. This was why Christ appeared to the monk Martyrius in the form of a leper, and suffered Himself to be carried on his shoulders to the gates of his monastery, where He disappeared. Yet did not Martyrius feel His weight, because Christ bore him who carried Him, as S. Gregory says (Hom. 30 in Evang.). Christ appeared in the same form of a leper to S. Louis, Bishop of Toulouse, who was a grandson of S. Louis, King of France, as is related in his Life. And when he was come into Capernaum, &c. This was the second miracle by which Christ confirmed His teaching upon the mount, as S. Jerome says. This is the passage from which we gather that the city near to which the leper was healed was Capernaum, as I have already said. Moreover, the leper was a Jew, and the centurion was a Gentile probably a Roman, a captain of 100 men or more. L. Dexter, in his Chronicle, lately published, says that this centurion was Caius Cornelius, a Spanish centurion, the father of Caius Oppias, also a centurion, who stood beside Christ on the cross, and beheld the signs which were done in heaven, and the sun, and the earth, and the rocks, and was converted to Christ. Both father and son afterwards preached the Gospel in Judæa and Spain.
8:5
Came to him. There is an antilogy here; for Luke (Luk 7:1) relates the same miracle differently. He does not say that the centurion himself came to Christ but sent to Him, first Jews, then his friends, to ask the favour of Him that He would heal His servant. Wherefore in S. Luke we must supply from S. Matthew, that after his friends, the centurion himself, last of all, came to Christ, either for the sake of doing Him honour, or because of the urgency of the disease, and the imminent peril of death. This is the opinion of S. Chrysostom (Hom. 26), Theophylact, and Euthymius. Or you may suppose that the centurion is here said to have come to Christ, and besought and answered Him, not personally, but by his friends. This is the opinion of S. Augustine and Bede.
8:6
Heal my servant. Greek, boy: for servants were under subjection, and were bound to render obedience and reverence, like sons. Moreover, this servant was dear and precious to the centurion, as Luke says.
Lieth at home sick of the palsy. That was, says S. Hilary, "like a corpse in a bed, with all his limbs useless unable to stand, or do anything." Paralysis, says Celsus, is an unstringing of the nerves. It is a disease in which half the body is dead, without the power of motion or feeling. And so Galen says (Comment. lib. 4). It is called hemiplexia, i.e., semi-apoplexy, because it affects half the body; for when the whole body is similarly affected, it is called apoplexy.
Grievously tormented, and so at the point of death, as S. Luke says. For this was sudden and acute paralysis. There are other slow forms of paralysis, which are without this excessive torture and immediate danger. The torment here spoken of seems to have been convulsion and drawing up of the nerves, which have their origin in the brain. For when they are unnaturally twisted and stretched, they cause intense anguish, as William Ader shows, from Galen (lib. de Ægrotis et Morbis a Christo sanatis, c. 2), in which work Ader shows that those sick persons were despaired of, and incurable by natural means, and were therefore reserved by God, for Christ, as the Arch-physician. Such an one was this paralytic. S. Ambrose says the same thing (Epist. 75), "The Lord Jesus saved those whom no one else was able to cure." There is, in the account of this miracle, a second antilogy. S. Luke says, When he heard of Jesus he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, &c. Luke says, he asked him to come; whilst Matthew, and indeed Luke himself, relate what seems a contradiction of this in his saying, Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldst enter under my roof, but speak the word only. The explanation is, that the words asked and sent, so far as they relate to the word come, apply to the Jewish ambassadors of -the centurion. They had less faith and humility than the centurion, who only asked through them that Christ would heal his servant; but the Jews added of themselves the request that He would come and heal him by touching him. And so, by means of the elders, he asked Jesus to come. For what the ambassador saith, that he who sent the ambassador is reckoned to say. Luke, therefore, after his manner, for the sake of brevity, rolls together what was done and said by the Jews and the centurion, without distinguishing or separating one from the other. Others give a different explanation, namely, that when the centurion sent the Jews, he sent them to ask Christ to come and heal his servant; but after they had gone, being illuminated by God, and his faith and humility having increased, he repented of what he had done, and desired and asked that Christ, without being present, would heal, him. But this would be inconsistent with what is said in Luke vii. 7, where the centurion, through the Jews, is reported to have said at the first, Wherefore also, I thought not myself worthy to come unto thee. For if he had thought himself worthy that Christ should come unto him, much more would he have thought himself worthy to come unto Christ.
8:8
Ver. 8. Say in a word only. Meaning, There is no need that Thou shouldst be present to touch my servant; but though Thou art absent, give the command, and my servant will be immediately healed. The centurion therefore believed that Christ was God who is everywhere present, and commandeth and worketh whatsoever He will, or at least, that Christ was an extraordinary prophet, and most dear to God in other words, the Messiah promised to the Jews, who, in God's name in Judæa, ordered all things according to His own will.
8:9
For I also am a man under authority, &c. If I have authority over a few soldiers, so that they obey my behests, how much more, O Christ, who hast power over all things, canst Thou make diseases obey Thee? Or, if I, who am placed under the authority of my tribune and of Cæsar, can yet give my orders to the soldiers under me, how much more canst Thou, O Christ, who art under the power of none, but art God omnipotent and Lord of all, do whatsoever Thou wilt? so that even if absent Thou shouldst say to the disease, I mean my servant's palsy, Go away, immediately it will depart: if Thou shouldst say, Come, straightway it would come. For diseases are, as it were, Thy ministers and satellites, whom Thou at a nod sendest upon the guilty, and whom, when sinners repent and are suppliant, Thou recallest. S. Jerome commends the faith of the centurion, who, though he was a Gentile, believed that one who was paralytic could be healed by the Saviour; his humility, in that he deemed himself unworthy that He should come under his roof; his prudence, because he beheld the Divinity lying hid beneath Its corporeal veil, for he knew that not that which was seen, even by unbelievers, could help him, but that which was within, which was unseen.
8:10
When Jesus heard, he marvelled. Whence Origen says, "Consider how great a thing, and what sort of thing, that was which the Only-Begotten God marvels at. Gold, riches, kingdoms, principalities in His sight are as shadows, or as fading flowers. None of these things therefore in His sight are wonderful, as though they were great or precious. Faith alone is such: this He honours and admires: this He counts acceptable to Himself." You will ask, could wonder really exist in Christ? I would lay down that in Christ, according to the common opinion of theologians, besides that Divine knowledge which He had as God, there was a threefold knowledge, as He was man. 1. Beatific, by which He beheld the essence of God, and in the enjoyment of which He was blessed. 2. Infused, by which, through the appearances sent into His soul by God, at the very moment of His conception, He knew all things. 3. Experimental, by which those things which He understood by infused knowledge, He daily saw, heard, and understood experimentally. I answer therefore, that in Christ wonder did not exist properly and absolutely, as something which flows from the depths of the heart. For wonder arises in us when we see or hear something new. But Christ, by means of infused knowledge, knew all things before they were done. Since therefore He was omniscient, nothing was to Him new, unknown, unexpected, or wonderful. Christ, however, stirred up in Himself, as it were, by experimental knowledge, when He met with anything new or wonderful, a certain, as it were, interior act of wonder, and the outward expression of that wonder, that so He might teach others to marvel at the same. Thus S. Augustine (lib. 1. de Gen. contra Manichæos): "Who indeed, save Himself, had wrought in the man that very faith at which He marvelled? But even if another had wrought it, why should He marvel who had foreknowledge? That the Lord wondered signifies that we must wonder, for whom it is needful as yet that we should thus be moved. But all such movements in Christ are signs, not of a perturbed mind, but of one teaching authoritatively." So also S. Thomas. Very well saith S. Cyprian (Tract. de Spectaculis), "Never will he wonder at human works who has known himself to be a child of God. He has been cast down from the height of his nobility, who is able to admire anything after God."
And he said to them which followed, &c. When Christ says I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel, you must understand Him to speak of the ordinary run of people at the time of His preaching, for there was without doubt greater faith in the Blessed Virgin, in Abraham and Moses, and John the Baptist, and others. Or as S. Chrysostom, I have not found so great faith, that is, in proportion, for this centurion was a Gentile; those were believing Israelites. The same S. Chrysostom prefers the faith of the centurion to the faith of the Apostles at their first vocation. Hear S. Chrysostom: "Andrew believed, but it was when John said, Behold the Lamb of God. Peter believed, but it was when Andrew had told him the glad tidings of the Gospel. Philip believed, but by reading the Scriptures. And Nathanael first received a sign of Christ's Divinity, and then offered the profession of his faith." Hear likewise Origen: "Jairus, a prince of Israel, asking in behalf of his daughter, said not, Say in a word, but Come quickly. Nicodemus, when he heard of the Sacrament of faith, answered, How can these things be? Martha and Mary said, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died, as though doubting that the power of God is everywhere present."
But I say unto you, &c. Christ here predicts the calling of the Gentiles, and the rejection of the Jews. He alludes to Isa 53:5, &c., where is predicted the calling of the Gentiles from the four quarters of the earth, their grace and glory. Shall sit down i.e., shall rest, says S. Hilary. But the Greek is α̉νακλιθήσονται, i.e., shall lie down as on a triclinium, or couch. They shall feast as guests at a magnificent entertainment. For to this the kingdom of heaven, and the felicity of Christ and His saints, is often compared, because of their perfect joy, security, and satisfaction. There is an allusion to Ps. xvii. 15, "When thy glory shall appear, I shall be satisfied" (Vulg.); and Ps. xxxvi. 8, "They shall be inebriated with the richness of thine house, and thou shalt give them to drink from the torrent of thy pleasure" (Vulg.)
8:12
But the children of the kingdom, &c., i.e., destined and called to the kingdom as being Israelites, as being the progeny of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to whose seed God had promised both the earthly kingdom of Judah, and the spiritual kingdom of eternal glory in heaven. By a similar Hebrew idiom, they are called children of death, of hell, of the resurrection, to whom death or hell is threatened, or to whom the resurrection has been promised.
Into the outer darkness, of hell. Christ still keeps up the metaphor of a feast in the kingdom of heaven, a feast therefore in which was abundance of light. Observe that most of the ancients did not dine, or at least put very sparingly, after the manner of a lunch, but made supper their chief meal, at which they fed heartily, and were hilarious. And this was the time when they made their feasts, because then they had ease and leisure. For they did this, as Horace says, not to break into the day. Hence the triclinia, where feasts were made, were called supper-rooms. It is plain that this was the custom among the Hebrews from the constant mention in Holy Scripture of supper and, supper chambers, but rarely of dinner. Examples are the supper of Darius (3 Esdr. iii. 1), of Holofernes (Judith 12:5), of Herod (Mar 6:21), &c. In the Old Testament there is no mention of dinner except in Tobit 2:1, Dan 13:13, and Esther, when the Jews had been carried away to Assyria and Babylon, where they followed the customs of the Gentiles, and ate as those nations did. I except Jeroboam I., king of Israel, who invited the prophet who restored his hand home to dine with him. (1Ki 13:7.) But this king was an idolater, the maker of the golden calves which the Israelites worshipped. So that it is not at all strange that he should affect gluttonous feasts. Moreover, the first Christians were wont to fast until eventide, as Tertullian shows (lib. 1 de Jejun. c. 10). Indeed, as late as the time of S. Thomas Aquinas, who flourished A.D. 1270, it was customary to fast until three o'clock in the afternoon, when Christ expired upon the cross. And he who took food before that hour was considered not to have fasted, according to a decree of the Council of Cabillon. (See D. Thomas 2. 2. quæst., 147, art. 7, where, however, Chalcedon has crept in instead of Cabillon.) Since, then, they did not dine at midday, but supped at night, there was abundance of light at the ancient feasts, as Virgil says: "From golden roofs the lamps depend, And darkness from the guests defend." With the guests, then, and in the supper-hall, was light, but without was darkness, which is here called the outer darkness that is, outside the banquet. The meaning of the passage is: the children of the kingdom, the Jews, destined, for the sake of their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to the kingdom of heaven, on account of their unbelief, in refusing to believe in Christ, shall be excluded from the royal and heavenly feast, and shall be driven into the outer darkness of hell.
8:13
Jesus saith unto the centurion, &c. From this it would appear that Christ had not gone into the centurion's house, nor touched his servant; but in the very place where the centurion met Him, there He healed the sick man, that He might confirm his master in the faith that He was the Messiah yea, that He might show Himself to be God; for great faith gains great rewards, great confidence gains great things. As much as thou expectest from God, so much shalt thou obtain. Whence S. Bernard (on Ps. Qui habitat, Serm. 15), explaining tropologically God's words to Joshua "Whatsoever place the soles of your feet shall tread upon shall be yours" says, "Hope in the Lord, all ye congregation of the people; all that your feet tread upon shall be yours; for your foot is your hope." Let masters learn from this narrative what great care they ought to bestow upon their servants, and how dear they ought to be to them. So dear was this servant to the centurion, that he employed the aid of the elders and his friends to call Christ to heal him. So too, in turn, ought servants to obey their masters with the greatest zeal, love, and reverence. Wisely saith Seneca, although he was a heathen (Epist. 47), "Are they servants? Still they are men. Are they servants? Still they belong to thy family. Are they servants? Yet they are thy fellow-servants, if thou considerest how both are in the power of fortune." And then he gives examples of servants who had been well treated by their masters, who were prepared to lay down their lives for them, if by so doing they could avert danger from them. Wherefore that common saying is false, " As many servants, so many enemies." "For," saith he, "we do not have them as enemies, but we make them enemies, by treating them unkindly." Wherefore let all masters and superiors act towards their dependents as this centurion acted towards his servant, especially by bringing them to Christ, to be healed of the diseases of their souls, if not of their bodies. Mystically, the centurion is every one who rules over his members, senses, and faculties, so that they, as it were soldiers, may fight for and serve God.
8:14
And when he was come into Peter's house, &c. We have here an inverted order of the narrative, for this miracle, and the other works of Christ which Matthew proceeds to relate, as far as the end of chap. ix. took place before the healing of the leper and the centurion's servant, before, indeed, the Sermon on the Mount, as may be gathered from Mar 1:23 and Mar 1:29, Luk 4:32 and Luk 4:38, and, indeed, from S. Matthew himself. For the Sermon on the Mount was delivered in the hearing of the Twelve Apostles, and therefore of S. Matthew himself. Yet he relates his vocation subsequently to this, in Mat 9:9. The reason is, that Matthew wished to give, at the commencement of Christ's preaching, a summary of His doctrine, and then to relate in order His miracles, both those which He wrought before His sermon, and those which He wrought afterwards, in confirmation of His doctrine. The true order of the narrative is, then, as follows, as may be learnt by comparing Mark and Luke. After Christ had called Peter and Andrew from their fishing to follow Him, as Matthew relates (Mat 4:18), He entered into Capernaum. There He preached in the synagogue, and healed the demoniac. From thence He proceeded to Peter's house, and healed his mother-in-law. This miracle, therefore, and the others which follow to the end of chap. 9 ought, according to chronological sequence, to be inserted in chap. 4., immediately after ver. 22 (Mat 4:22).
Into Peter's house, which belonged to Peter and Andrew, as we find in S. Mar 1:29. This house, was at Bethsaida, the native place of Peter. (See John i. 44.) Bethsaida was close to Capernaum, about half-an-hour's journey. Or it may be that this was Peter's wife's mother's house, and that she lived in Capernaum itself, and that Peter was wont to call in there. For Mark and Luke seem to intimate that this miracle was wrought in Capernaum. The mention of this mother-in-law shows that Peter was called in marriage by Christ, and that he left his wife and a daughter, who in time to come, from her father, Peter, was called Petronilla. None of the Apostles, except Peter, are spoken of in the Gospels as having a wife. Peter's wife was called Perpetua, says Molanus, although others called her Concordia, and others again, Mary. In after time, when she had been converted to Christ, and was being led to martyrdom for her faith in Him, she was strengthened by S. Peter, who said, "O spouse, remember the Lord." This is related by Clement of Alexandria (Strom. lib. 2). Petronilla, on account of her great beauty, was sought in marriage by a nobleman named Flaccus. She asked for three days to deliberate. The term being expired, she received Holy Communion from the priest Nicomede, after which she gave up her soul to God, and is reckoned among the Virgin Saints. Her name occurs in the Calendar on the last day of May, and her relics are still preserved at Rome, in the Basilica of S. Peter.
Sick of a fever; a great fever, says S. Luke. Tropologically, the fever of the soul is the fire of concupiscence, the burning heat of lust, of gluttony, of pride, of envy, &c. Listen to S. Ambrose (lib. 4 in Luc. c. 4, ver. 38). "Under the type of Simon's wife's mother, our flesh languishes under the fevers of various spiritual sicknesses, and is tempest-tossed by the varied enticements of immoderate desires. The fever of love, I may say, is no less than of heat. The one inflames the mind, the other the body. Our avarice is a fever, our lust is a fever. Hence the Apostle says 'If they cannot contain let them marry, for it is better to marry than to burn.'" He subjoins the example of Theotimus, who, being told by his physicians that if he married he would lose his sight, exclaimed, "Farewell, dear light." Christ comes as the heavenly physician to quench the heat of this fever of concupiscence within us by the dew of His grace, that grace which must be incessantly implored by those who are thus fevered in soul. Whosoever then thou art who labourest under the fever of concupiscence, I do not say that thou shouldst embrace a monastic life, or that thou shouldst macerate thy body by hair shirts or the scourge, or drink nothing but water. I make an easy suggestion; frequently receive Holy Communion, and by so doing receive Christ into the house of thy soul. He is a virgin, and the son of a virgin, and by His own virgin flesh He will extinguish this fire. This assuredly is the most powerful medicine against lust, as Holy Scripture teaches, and the holy Fathers testify, and daily experience confirms. For this is "the wheat of the elect, and the wine that maketh virgins." (Zec 9:17, where see my commentary.) There are nine correspondences between fever of the body and fever of the soul. 1. There is fever when noxious moisture and abnormal heat, opposed to the natural heat, affect the heart. Thus too there is fever in the soul when man's will is steeped in the love of concupiscence, which is contrary to the love of God. 2. As fever takes away the healthy disposition of the secretions of the body, so does the fever of the soul put an end to the due regulation of its passions and affections. 3. As fever is known by a violent pulse, so may the soul's fever be discerned by excessive cares and anxieties, as it were pulsating in the mind. 4. Fever excites thirst, which those who are in a fever do not quench by drinking, but rather augment, so does the soul's fever excite a thirst for riches, honours, and pleasures which is not extinguished by the possession of them, but increased. 5. Fever arises from cold, and ends in burning heat. So does the soul's fever often arise from negligence, ease, and torpor. Hence is the cupidity of luxury and pride kindled and inflamed. 6. Fever vitiates the taste, making sweet things and honey itself appear bitter; so the soul's fever makes divine things such as spiritual reading appear insipid. 7. Fever makes a sound, flourishing, and beautiful body appear weak, pallid, ugly; so too does the soul's fever make the soul weak, unnerved, deformed. 8. Fever agitates a man, will not suffer him to rest; so does the soul's fever make a man unquiet, so that he cannot fix his mind, but, ever unstable, he falls into lust after lust. 9. As one fever is apt to produce another, so does one vice beget another and yet another. In short, the heretic labours under a pestilential fever; the slothful man under a hectic and slow fever; the glutton under a daily, and the inconstant man under a tertian fever.
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And he touched her hand, &c. S. Luke adds, He commanded the fever. Gr. τω̃ πυρετω̃, i.e., He rebuked the fever. As Euthymius says, with powerful authority He commanded, and as it were, threatened the fever. Well says B. Peter Chrysologus (Serm. 18), "Ye see how the fever let go its hold of her whom Christ held. There stood not infirmity where the Author of salvation was present. There could be no approach of death there where the Lifegiver had entered. He took her by the hand, it is said. What need could there be for touching her, when He had the power to command? Christ took hold of this woman's hand, for life, because Adam from a woman's hand had received death. He held her hand, that what the hand of presumptuous Eve had lost, the hand of her Maker might restore.
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When even was come... he healed many that were sick. S. Luke says (Luk 4:4 O), by imposition of hands. For Christ did not disdain, with His most pure and Divine hands, to touch those who had ulcers, running sores, and leprosies, that He might show the power and virtue of His Divine touch, and heal them all.
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That it might be fulfilled, &c. These words of Isaiah have a two-fold meaning. The first is concerning diseases of the soul, i.e., sins and their penalty, which Christ took upon Himself, and abolished upon the cross. This was Isaiah's chief meaning, as appears from what follows, and from the words, He carried. The second meaning concerns diseases of the body, which are at once the types and result of diseases of the soul. These too, Matthew here says, Christ bore: not by actually becoming diseased Himself, but by compassion, and by wholly healing those who were diseased. Hence the Syriac translates, He shall sustain our sickness. Christ bore so many torments, and even the death of the cross, that He might do away with all infirmities, and death itself, either in this life or at the resurrection in other words, that He might take away sin with all its consequences and penalties. Thus therefore Christ carried our sins, thus also our diseases and punishments. And thus Christ had the power of healing diseases in that He Himself took them upon Himself, by atoning for and expiating them upon the cross. Thus S. Chrysostom and Origen (See my comment on Isa 53:4.)
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And a certain scribe came to him, &c. This doctor of the Law seeing Jesus preparing to depart, and cross over the lake, and being moved by His preaching and miracles, and the concourse of applauding people, desired to be associated with Him as a disciple with a master.
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And Jesus said unto him, &c. Nests; the Greek has κατασκηνώσεις, i.e., shady coverts made by the boughs and leaves of trees. S. Cyprian (lib. 1. ad Quirinum, c. 11), and S. Augustine translate the word, inns. The meaning is common, worthless, and even noxious animals, such as foxes and birds of prey, have places of rest and shelter; but the Son of Man, He who was born of the Virgin, and made man, hath nothing of His own, not a cushion, or a bed, or a bench on which to rest His head. Christ here detects and uncovers the latent ulcer of covetousness in the Scribe. It is as though He said to him, "Thou desirest to follow Me because thou seest Me pleasing to the people, because of the healing and benefits which I bestow upon them. Hence thou hopest, in following Me, to increase thy possessions, and pick up many gifts, as though I made Me and Mine rich by the Gospel. But thou art mistaken, for I, as it were, the Master of perfection, am poor and a lover of poverty Myself, and such I wish My disciples to be, that being free from the care of things temporal, they may be wholly at leisure for God and preaching." When the Scribe heard this he was silent; and, being disappointed of his hope, withdrew himself from the eyes of Christ, as Matthew tacitly intimates. Thus S. Hilary, Theophylact, Euthymius, and S. Jerome explain. "Why," says S. Jerome, "do you wish to follow Me for the sake of riches and worldly gain, when I have not even one little guest-chamber?" Let religious, who unite themselves to God by the profession of poverty, imitate this example of Christ, and look for support to His Providence. This passage also refutes the heresy of those who condemn voluntary poverty, which religious profess. The originator of this heresy was a certain Lombard, named Desiderius, in the time of Pope Alexander IV., and another called William of Holy Love, in the same age, who are entirely confuted by SS. Thomas and Bonaventura. By an entirely opposite error, other heretics, called Apostolici, have falsely concluded from this passage, as S. Augustine testifies (Hæres. 40), that this absolute poverty is necessary for all men for salvation. From the same passage the Waldenses, or Poor Men of Lyons, and Wickliffe, have falsely argued that it is unlawful for bishops and priests to possess any property, but that they ought to live only on alms, because Christ did so. But Christ did so being perfect, and gave it as a counsel, not as a command necessary to salvation. Hence this error is denounced by many decrees of Councils. From this passage it is also plain that poverty, and its very marrow and efficacy, consist in this that a man should possess and affect nothing as though it were his own, but should keep his affections free for God alone, to serve Him. And it is not repugnant to this spirit, but conformable to it, to possess in common things necessary for life. And so, by a decree of the Council of Trent (Sess. 25, c. 3), all religious, except the Franciscans, are allowed to own even real property in common, that they may not be forced to beg, nor be anxious about supplies, nor become burdensome to the faithful. For even Christ and the Apostles had goods in common, of which Judas was the steward and dispenser, as appears from John xii. 6.
Son of Man. That is, Man sprung from man, as Christ constantly calls Himself, in His love of humility, because He who was God deigned for our sakes to become incarnate, and be made man. But of what man is Christ the Son? First, by man, the heathen understood Joseph, whence they contended that he was begotten of Joseph, not conceived by the Holy Ghost, as S. Justin testifies (Quæst. 66 ad Orthodoxos). But this is contrary to Scripture and the Creeds. 2. Theophylact says, Christ is the Son of Man, i.e., of the Virgin Mary, His mother; for man is common gender, and may be used of a male or a female, like the Greek α̉νθρωπος. But the addition in Greek of the masculine article shows that the word is here restricted to signify a male. 3. And more probably, others say, Son of Man, i.e., of Abraham, or David; for to them it was promised that of their posterity the Messiah, or Christ, should be born. 4. Others, Christ is the Son of Man, i.e., of men, as of the patriarchs and kings, from whom Matthew has deduced his genealogy. 5. And last, Christ is the Son of Man, i.e., of Adam, because He, like all other men, was sprung from Adam. For Adam is called absolutely man, because he was the first man, and the parent of all other men. Hence Adam, in Hebrew, means man. There is a reference to Ezek. ii. 1. Ezekiel, who is a type of Christ, is called son of man, in Hebrew, ben-adam, i.e., son of Adam. Whence S. Gregory Nazianzen (de Theolog. Orat. 4) says, Christ is called Son of Adam, according to the Hebrew, not to show that He had a man for His father, but that through the Virgin Mary He derived His generation from Adam. For He willed to be born of Adam, that by this means He might repair the Fall of Adam and his posterity. Hence S. Augustine (lib. 2 de Consens. Evang. c. 1) says, "He commendeth unto us how mercifully He hath deigned to be of us, and, as it were, commending the mystery of His wonderful Incarnation, He often sounds this title (Son of Man) in our ears."
Son of Man signifies more than man, because man can be created by God alone, as Adam was created; but Son of Man signifies sprung from Adam, the common parent, that first might be set forth the infinite humility of Christ, that He should deign to be sprung from a sinful man, and to receive in Himself his miseries and his mortality in that earthly body which He assumed. For Adam is derived from Adama, the ground, as homo from humus, mortalis from mors, "death." (See what I have said on Eze 2:1.) 2. There is shown the wonderful brotherhood and charity of Christ to men, whereby He willed to he born in Bethlehem, of the same common parent Adam, that He might become the Brother of all men, and akin to them in blood, that He might be closely grafted into human nature, and united to it, even to the whole company of mankind, by human generation and natural birth from man, after the manner which I explained on chap. i. 18, according to those words of Isaiah, "Unto us a Son is born, a Child is given." Son of Man therefore denotes the perfect kindness, friendship, and condescension of Christ, and the blandishments of His love, by which He offers Himself to men as the Son of Man, as a Child to children, that with Him, as a most sweet Little One, as a most delightsome Brother, they may take delight, and have pleasure, according to the words, "My delight is with the sons of men." (Prov. viii.) Why dost thou fear, O man, to draw nigh to Jesus? Lo! He is the Son of Man. Why tremblest thou, O sinner, at the wrath of God? Come unto Jesus, the Son of Man, made a little Child for thee. In the whole world there is no Child so sweet no son so dear. For "the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost." And "the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many." Son of Man, therefore, is the proper name of, or rather the name appropriated to Christ. It is the mark of His dignity, and of His love, the wonder of all ages, that the Only-Begotten Son of God should, for men, deign to become the Son of Man, and to have His converse with men, that He might teach them the way of salvation, and redeem them by His Cross, and make them happy in heaven. Ver. 21. And another of his disciples, &c. This disciple was not one of the twelve Apostles, but some other person who was called by Christ to follow Him. We must supply from Luk 9:59, that Christ previously said to this same person, Follow me. He did not refuse the call of Christ, but wished, after having discharged his debt of filial piety, to be more free to follow Him. So says the Gloss. From the answer of this disciple, given by S. Matthew, we may understand his questioning and vocation by Christ.
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Lord. Reverently and obediently he speaks to Christ as desiring to do Him service; whereas the Scribe, with somewhat too much freedom, addressed Christ as Teacher (magister). The one was deservedly left, the other chosen. How much of evil was there in the Scribe? how much of good was there in this man? says S. Augustine. (Serm. 9 de Verb. Domini.)
Suffer me first, &c. Theophylact, and after him Franc. Lucas, think that his father was still living, and that he said in effect "Suffer me to remain with my father, who is now an old man, that I may support him until he die. Then, having done what filial duty requires, I will follow Thee." Thus he asked for a long furlough from the spiritual warfare. S. Chrysostom and others expound more plainly and accurately that his father was already dead, and that Christ most opportunely and benignantly called him. As though he said, "Thy father is now deceased, Follow Me. I will be to thee a better Father. He had need of thy good offices, but thou hast need of Mine. He was the author of thy carnal life; I will give thee spiritual and eternal life." Clement of Alexandria, (Stromat. lib. 2) thinks that Philip, who was afterwards an Apostle, was the man to whom Christ said, Suffer the dead to bury their dead. But the objection to this is that Philip had been already called by Christ, and was following Him, as is plain from John i. 43. Unless you assume that Philip had been a follower of Christ before this, but, having heard that his father had departed this life, asked Christ's permission to bury him, but did not obtain it. This would explain why he is here called a disciple by S. Matthew. And another of his disciples. And this seems very probable, especially as Clement relates the matter as certain.
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But Jesus saith, &c. A second time Jesus calls him. Twice He saith, Follow Me, namely before his excusing himself, and afterwards because He effectually willed him to be His disciple. He puts aside the impediment which he alleged, and forbids him to return to bury his father. But He assigns most convincing reasons for His refusal. He says, Suffer the dead to bury their dead. Observe, Christ does not intend to condemn the burial of the dead, which is a work of mercy praised in the Book of Tobit. But He wished to teach that when God calls He must immediately be obeyed. For God knows our hindrances, and when He calls us in them He wishes us to break them off, and He in effect promises us His grace and help to enable us to do so. Wherefore He lays it down that following the call of God is to be preferred even to the burial of our parents. That is, divine are to be preferred to human duties, religion to nature, God to man. Christ here plays upon the word dead. For first the dead signifies those who are spiritually dead, as unbelievers and those who are destitute of the grace of God. Thus SS. Chrysostom, Jerome, and Augustine. Afterwards by dead He means those who are corporeally dead. For as a body separated from the soul is dead, so a soul separated from God is dead. As the soul is the life of the body so is God the life of the soul, says S. Augustine. Let the dead, such as the Jews who reject belief in Me; let those who are steeped in sin and worldliness, bury their own dead, i.e., those who are figuratively dead like themselves, or those of their own relations who are naturally dead, and, it may be, spiritually dead likewise. But as for thee, I would. have thee follow Me, who am the true Life, and live with Me here through My perfect grace, and in the world to come in perfect glory, and preach this Gospel to others, as Luke adds. Hear S. Ambrose: "He is not allowed to go and bury his father, that thou rnayest understand that human things must give way to Divine things." Tropologically. Christ signifies that they are dead, and busy themselves with dead things, who give up their minds to the wills and legacies of parents or relations. But to this His disciple He says, Thy destiny is to live for God, and as thou hast begun to be alive unto Him by grace, go on thus to live unto Him, and serve Him, the living God. And so leave to the dead and dying the things which are dead and about to die. Thus S. Jerome: "If the dead bury the dead, we ought to care not for the things which are dead, but for those which are alive, lest whilst we are anxious about the dead we too should be called dead." And S. Chrysostom says, "If it was forbidden to be absent from spiritual things, for the brief space of time needed for burying parents, weigh well the punishment of which they shall be counted worthy who are always absent from those things which are worthy of Christ, because they prefer the worthless and abject affairs of worldly business to things which are indeed necessary, and that even when none compels. Luke adds (Luk 9:60), But go thou and preach the kingdom of God, namely, the way by which men may arrive at the kingdom of heaven that is to say, by faith, and a life conformed to the Gospel which Christ has made known. As S. Augustine says (di Verb. Domini, Serm. 7), "When the Lord is preparing men for the Gospel, He will not receive any such excuses as have to do with fleshly and temporal affairs." For, as S. Chrysostom says again, "It is far better to preach the kingdom of God, and rescue others from death, than to bury one who is dead and can be of no use, especially when there are other persons to discharge the office." And S. Gregory speaks to the same purpose (lib. 19, Moral. c. 14) "Sometimes in our actions lesser good deeds are to be set aside, in favour of other things of greater usefulness. For who is ignorant that it is indeed a good work to bury the dead, but that it is better to preach the Gospel?" And when he had gone up into a ship, &c. The Vulgate has navicula, "a little ship," because they were small boats, which were used for crossing the lake, and for fishing. S. Mark adds (Mar 4:36), they received him as he was, i.e., as he was teaching the multitudes who were standing upon the shore.
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And, behold, there was a great tempest in the sea. S. Luke adds, the waves were filling the ship, and they were in jeopardy. Bede and Strabus and the Gloss are of opinion that in this storm Christ's ship alone was tossed, but not the other little ships which accompanied them, that Christ might show thereby that He was the Author of the storm arising, as well as of its being made to cease. But it is more correct to suppose that the other boats were also storm-tossed, for these boats were near, yea, close to Christ's ship, that there might be shown the greater fury of the tempest, and the greater power of Christ in calming it. Moreover, God permitted this storm to arise from natural causes, such as vapours, and winds concurring with them, so that Christ raised and sent this storm. He did this 1. That He might declare His power, and show that He is Lord of the sea as well as the land, says Origen. (Hom. 6 in Diver.) Hence the angel who appeared to S. John set his right foot upon the sea, as though commanding it. (Rev 10:2.) For this angel represented Christ, as Bede, Richard of S. Victor, and others say. 2. That He might exercise His disciples in bearing, as well the persecutions of men as the storms and tempests of wind and rain which they must often experience in going about the world to evangelize it. So Theophylact. Whence also S. Chrysostom gives this reason, "that He might exercise the athletes of the world in temptations and terrors." 3. That His disciples and the other passengers in the ship might, through the miracle of the quelled tempest, believe in Him that He was very and omnipotent God. Tropologically, this tempest in the sea, says S. Chrysostom, was a type of the future trials of the Church. For the ship in the waves represents the Church and the soul in temptations, by which they are quickened and profited. For a life without trial is like a dead sea, as Seneca says (Epist. 67). And thus a man who is without temptation is like one who is in a swoon, or dead. Temptation rouses him up to exert his faculties, that he may vanquish it. Again, as a tempest drives ships before it, that they may the more speedily arrive at their wished-for haven, so does temptation stimulate a man to greater zeal for virtue, whereby he may he borne on towards heaven. As Chrysologus says (Ser. 20), "It is not serene weather which proves the skill of the pilot, it is tempestuous weather which does that. Any sort of a sailor can manage a ship in a gentle breeze, but for the confusion of a tempest the skill of the best captain is needed." The tempest therefore of the waves and winds is the temptation of pride, gluttony, lust, envy, and so on. Let him then who is beaten by temptation do as sailors do in a storm. First they furl their sails, that the fury of the wind may not have so much power over the ship to hurry it to destruction. Thus let him who is tempted furl the sails of his pleasures, and give himself up to fasting and penance. 2. Sailors make for the open sea, that their ship may not strike against rocks. So let him who is tempted flee from the world and worldly things, and let him betake himself to God as a haven of refuge; and let him say with the Psalmist, "My soul refused comfort. I thought upon God and was refreshed." (Psa 77) Sailors cast fittings and merchandise into the sea, that they may lighten the ship; so let the tempted unburden themselves by means of contrition and confession of the heavy weight of their sins, and lighten their minds. Hence doctors teach that they who are about to go on a voyage, especially a long and perilous one, ought to go to confession, that they may place themselves in a state of grace, as persons drawing nigh to the article of death, not once only, but in a manifold manner. Lastly, a good captain, maintaining his courage, and having presence of mind, tries every way of escaping from the peril of the storm. Let the mind of him who is tempted do the same. A master of a ship, says S. Cyprian (Tract. de Mortal.) is proved by a storm, as a soldier is by a battle.
But he was asleep. This was voluntary, but at the same time natural sleep. 1. That the winds and storm might increase, so that Christ's power and authority might be the more manifested by His quelling them. 2. "There is set forth," says S. Ambrose, "the security of His power, that whilst all others were afraid He abode in calm serenity, so that when we are in any similar tribulation we might flee unto Him, and fix our hopes firmly upon Him, according to the saying in Proverbs xxviii. 1: "The righteous is bold as a lion." Moreover the pillow upon which, as S. Mark relates, Christ rested is mystically, 1. A good conscience. 2. Resignation to the will of God. 3. Confidence in God's power and providence. For on this a believer rests, and as it were sleeps, in all adversities. Origen (Hom. 6 in Diversis) says, Christ slept as to His body, but was awake as to His Deity. The sleep of Jonah when the rest who were in the ship were in peril was a type of this. See what I have there said. Moreover what kind of sleep this of Christ's was, and wherein it differed from ours, see in Toletus, Annotat. 43, in 8. cap. Luc. Tropologically, says the Gloss, Christ sleeps when we are negligent: but when faith revives He commands the winds and the waves.
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And he said unto them, Why are ye fearful, &c. He said this before He had stilled the tempest, according to S. Matthew’s order in this place, though S. Mark and S. Luke mention it afterwards. It was fitting that the extreme terror of the disciples should be calmed before the raging of the sea, and that their waning faith should be strengthened that it might be rewarded by the cessation of the storm. So Jansen and others.
Of little faith. For ye do not seem perfectly to believe that I am God; and ye do not trust to My providential care, nor believe that whilst I am asleep I know of your peril, and will deliver you from it. So S. Chrysostom. 1. Faith here may be taken in the strict use of the word. Or, 2. for confidence, which is produced and sharpened by faith. On the other hand, little faith is the cause of little confidence. S. Luke gives the striking question of our Lord to them, Where is your faith? Hear S. Bernard: “Though the world rages, though the enemy roars, though the flesh itself lusts against the spirit, yet will I put my trust in Thee.” Then he arose. For rebuked, the Greek has ε̉πετίμησε which corresponds to the Hebrew נער gaar. He chided, as the Arabic translates, as a master does his servant. Whence S. Mark says, according to the literal translation of the Greek, He threatened the wind, and said unto the sea, Be silent, be muzzled. By these expressions is denoted the great violence by which the sea was tossed with the winds, such as no human power but only Divine, could make to cease. Here, therefore, Christ shows that He was God, since He, as their Master, commanded the winds and the sea. Tropologically. Christ thought of, and invoked in the mind, commands the persecutors of the Church, and the temptations of the soul, as S. Augustine teaches: “Hast thou heard reviling? It is the wind. Art thou angry? It is the waves. For when the wind blows, the waves arise, the ship is in peril, thy heart is in danger, for thy heart is tossed by waves. When thou hearest reproach, thou desirest to vindicate thyself. Lo, thou art avenged, and yielding to another’s evil, thou hast shipwrecked thyself. And why is this? It is because Christ is asleep within thee. Thou hast forgotten Christ. Awake Him therefore; call Him to remembrance. Let Christ keep vigil within thee. And think thou upon Him. Why shouldst thou wish to be avenged? He hath cut thee off from vengeance by His cry upon the Gross, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’” And after some other remarks, S. Austin proceeds: “I will refrain from anger, and will return to the quiet of my heart. Christ commanded the sea, and there was a calm. What I have said with reference to anger, you may apply to all your other temptations. Temptation arises, it is the wind. Thou art troubled, it is the waves. Awake Christ and let Him speak with thee.” Allegorically, Bede says: “The ship with its yard-arm is the tree of the Cross, by the help of which we who were sunk in the waves of the sea, proceed as Christ’s disciples to the privileges of the eternal country. For Christ says, ‘If any man will come after Me, let him take up the Gross and follow Me.’” Anagogically, “Christ slept in the time of His Passion. The tempest arose which was stirred up by the blasts of the devil. The disciples awake the Lord, whose death they had witnessed, by desiring His Resurrection. He rises with a speedy Resurrection. He rebukes the wind—that is, the pride of the devil. He calms the tempest—that is, the insulting madness of the Jews. He chides His disciples, for He upbraided them for their incredulity after His Resurrection.”
And there was a great calm, for as S. Jerome says, "All creatures feel their Creator; and things which are senseless to us are sensible to Him." Or, as Origen says, "It became Him who was so great to do great things."
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And the men marvelled, saying, &c. These men were not the disciples, but the sailors and others who were in the ship of Jesus, and in the other ships which accompanied it. For, as Origen says, "The disciples are never named but with the mark of distinction, Apostles, or Disciples."
What manner of man. The Greek is ποταπὸς, which is not simply a particle of interrogation, but is uttered with an emphasis of wonder and admiration. "Who is this? He does not seem to be like other men, but a Being of a different race."
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And when he was come to the other side, &c. This miracle of healing the demoniac is given with greater fulness by S. Luke. The commentary, therefore, upon it will be given in S. Luk 8:27-40.
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Hast thou come hither to torment us before the time? From these words some have thought that the devils have not yet received the extreme punishment of their offences, and that they will not be condemned to be tormented in hell before the Day of Judgment. S. Hilary has been thought to be of this opinion, by saying (Can. 8), "It cried out, why should He grudge them their position? (in the demoniac) why should He attack them before the time of judgment?" The same opinion is by some ascribed to S. Irenæus, Justin, Lactantius, Eusebius, Nicephorus; but I have found nothing of the kind in their writings. And the words of S. Hilary do not bear that meaning, but only say what S. Matthew relates. For it is certain from Scripture and the Fathers that the devils, from the beginning of the world were condemned as soon as they sinned, and were tormented in the fire of hell. For by that fire they are tormented, even when they are away from it, having gone forth from hell, and taken up their abode in the air. This is brought about by the omnipotence of God. The fire of hell is a supernatural instrument of the omnipotent God, hence by the will of God, it can operate in the most distant places. When therefore they said to Christ, Art thou come, &c., they did not speak of the ancient, perpetual, irrevocable torment of hell fire, but they deprecated any new torment being inflicted upon them by Christ. This new torment was their expulsion from the bodies of those whom they were in the habit of possessing, as S. Chrysostom says, and their banishment to the prison-house of hell.
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Posset videri quod ex iactantia loqueretur dominus; ideo auctoritatem suam signis commendat. Primo ergo ponuntur signa, quibus liberantur homines a corporalibus periculis; secundo a spiritualibus, cap. IX. Circa primum duo facit. Primo ponit signa quibus homines liberantur a periculis provenientibus ex intrinsecis causis; secundo ex extrinsecis, ut tempestate, ibi et ascendente eo in naviculam. Commendat auctoritatem, quia statim, quia absens, quia perfecte, quia multos. Quia statim, in leproso; quia absens, in servo centurionis; quia perfecte, in socru Petri; quia multos, in aliis multis. Circa primum tria. Primo testes miraculi introducuntur; secundo infirmus inducitur, ibi et ecce leprosus; tertio auxilium praebetur, ibi et extendens Iesus manum, tetigit eum dicens volo, mundare. Dicit ergo cum autem descendisset Iesus de monte et cetera. Mons iste est caelum; Ps. LXVII, 17: mons in quo beneplacitum est Deo habitare in eo. Unde postquam descendit de caelo secutae sunt eum turbae; Phil. II, v. 7: exinanivit semetipsum formam servi accipiens, et habitu inventus ut homo et cetera. Vel per montem altitudo doctrinae; Ps. XXXV, 7: iustitia tua sicut montes Dei. Cum esset in monte, idest cum altam duxit vitam, secuti sunt eum discipuli sui. Et cum descendisset, secutae sunt eum turbae; I ad Cor. III, 1: non potui vobis loqui quasi spiritualibus. Secundo, persona infirmi introducitur: et ponuntur duo. Primo infirmitas ostenditur; secundo sollicitudo adhibetur. Infirmitas, quia est leprosus: et hoc significat spirituales infirmitates. Quaedam enim infirmitates sunt intra latentes, ut febres: quaedam vero, etsi sunt ab intra, eius tamen effectus patet exterius, ut lepra. Ille ergo leprosus est, cuius mala voluntas manifestatur per malum actum; Is. LIII, 4: et nos putavimus eum quasi leprosum. Sed quaestio est, quia in Luca habetur, quod cum veniret Capharnaum mundavit leprosum. Dicendum, quod Matthaeus sequitur historiam, quia cum iret in Capharnaum, in via apparuit ei leprosus. Sequitur sollicitudo, quia primo venit; secundo adoravit; unde dicit ecce leprosus. Sic peccator per fidem venit, sed adorat per humilitatem; Ps. XXXIII, 19: humiles spiritu salvabit Deus.
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Item confitetur Christi potentiam, cum dicit domine, si vis, potes me mundare. Item vocat dominum. Si dominus est, potest salvare. In Ps. XCIX, 3: scitote, quoniam dominus ipse est Deus. Item confidit de Dei misericordia. Misericordem non oportet petere, sed solum indigentiam ei monstrare; sic iste domine, si vis, potes me mundare. Unde Ps. XXXVII, 10: domine, ante te omne desiderium meum, et gemitus meus a te non est absconditus. Item ostendit sapientiam Christi, quia non petit nisi voluntatem suam: quia melius scit, quid opus sit tibi quam ipse. Ideo sapientiae Christi dimisit. Deinde tangit auxilium. Primo sanat. Secundo instruit. Primo tangitur opus; secundo effectus, ibi et confestim mundata est lepra eius. Christus tria facit curando. Extendit manum, quando auxilium impendit; Ps. CXLIII, v. 7: emitte manum tuam de alto, et eripe me. Aliquando extendit manum, sed non tangit; Is. LXV, 2: expandi manus meas tota die ad populum incredulum et cetera. Aliquando tangit; et hoc est quando immutat, ut in Ps. CXLIII, v. 5: tange montes (idest superbos), et fumigabunt, per compunctionem. Sed quare tetigit, cum esset prohibitum in lege? Hoc fecit ut monstraret se esse supra legem. Legitur de Eliseo quod non tetigit Naaman, sed misit eum ad Iordanem. Unde iste qui tetigit, videtur solvere legem. Sed secundum veritatem non solvit, quia prohibitum fuit propter contagionem. Quia igitur infici non potuit, tangere potuit. Item tetigit, ut humanitatem monstraret; quia non sufficit peccatori subdi Deo quantum ad divinitatem, sed et quantum ad humanitatem. Volo, mundare. Hieronymus dicit, quod quidam male exponunt. Volunt enim quod ly mundare sit infiniti modi; sed hoc non est verum: immo quia dixerat, si vis, respondit, volo, et ly mundare est imperativi modi. Unde imperavit qui dixit, et facta sunt. Item tetigit, ut daret doctrinam de virtute quae est in sacramentis, quia non solum requiritur tactus, sed verba: quia cum accedit verbum ad elementum, fit sacramentum. Et per hoc exclusit tres errores, quando tetigit. Ostendit enim corpus verum contra Manichaeos. Quod dicit volo, dicit contra Apollinarem. Per hoc quod est mundare, ostendit Deum verum contra Photinum.
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Et sequitur effectus et confestim mundata est lepra eius, et curatus est. Chrysostomus dicit, quod citius quam posset dici hoc verbum, mundare: quia istud in tempore dicitur, illud vero in instanti. Et ait illi. Hic instruit eum: parum enim esset sanare nisi instrueret eum; Ps. XXXI, 8: intellectum tibi dabo, et instruam te. Primo iniungit ei taciturnitatem nemini dixeris. Chrysostomus: quia sciebat quod Iudaei calumniabantur de factis suis, ideo dixit nemini dixeris. Vel aliter. Quia hoc dixit ad exemplum. Quia enim supra docuerat abscondere opera bona; ideo dat exemplum, quod nullus in bonis operibus gloriari debet.
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Sequitur sed vade, ostende te sacerdotibus. Et quare hoc dicit? Quia tetigerat leprosum, ne penitus videretur fractor legum. Ad sacerdotes mittitur, ut habetur Lev. XIV, 2. Et offer munus tuum et cetera. Quare? Quia hoc erat praeceptum legis, quod sanatus a lepra offerret duos pullos turturum. Sed secundum hoc videtur, quod cum dominus praeceperit, adhuc sit tenendum. Dicendum quod figurae non debebant cessare, donec penitus veritas manifestaretur. Hoc autem non fuit nisi post resurrectionem. In testimonium illis: et hoc exponitur dupliciter. Moyses praecepit in testimonium illis. Et per hoc docet quod praecepta Moysi erant in testimonium Christi, sicut habetur Io. V, 46: si crederetis Moysi, crederetis forsitan et mihi. Vel aliter. In testimonium illis, idest, contra illos, qui viderunt miracula, et non crediderunt. Vel in testimonium illis, scilicet curationis tuae. Quia cum receperint oblationem tuam, non poterunt negare. Item secundum mysticum intellectum tria a Christo iniunguntur. Ut erubescat de peccato; contra illos de quibus dicitur Is. III, 9: peccatum suum quasi Sodoma praedicaverunt, nec absconderunt. Unde Eccli. IV, v. 25: est confusio adducens peccatum, et est confusio adducens gloriam et gratiam. Item debet ostendere sacerdoti confitendo. Iac. V, v. 16: confitemini alterutrum peccata vestra. Et hic videtur dominus iniungere confessionem. Et confestim sanatus est: quia in ipsa contritione quando dolet et proponit confiteri et abstinere, remittitur peccatum, iuxta illud Ps. XXXI, 5: dixi: confitebor adversum me iniustitiam meam, et tu remisisti iniquitatem peccati mei. Item iniungitur satisfactio, cum dicit offer munus tuum. Item docet observare mandata, cum dicit sicut praecepit Moyses.
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Cum autem introisset Capharnaum. Hic ostenditur virtus Christi ex absentia. Et primo designatur pietas centurionis cum fide; secundo humilitas, ibi et respondens centurio et cetera. Circa primum duo, quia designatur primo pietas centurionis; secundo ostenditur Christi benignitas. Et circa primum tria. Primo locus ponitur; secundo oratio describitur, ibi domine, puer meus iacet in domo paralyticus; tertio exauditio ponitur, ibi et ait illi Iesus. Locus primo cum introisset Capharnaum, qui interpretatur villa pinguedinis, scilicet villa gentium, quae pinguedine devotionis defluxit. Ps. LXII, 6: sicut adipe et pinguedine repleatur anima mea. Deinde accessit. Sed hic potest quaeri: quia Lucas posuit, quod misit sacerdotes. Augustinus dicit quod non personaliter venit, sed quod dicitur quod venit, totum refertur ad intentionem: quia ille facit rem cuius auctoritate fit. Chrysostomus aliter, quia dicit quod iste constitutus erat super centum milites, et ideo erat praepositus. Unde Iudaei volentes adulari propter benevolentiam habendam, dixerunt ei: domine, nos ibimus, et impetrabimus vobis. Tunc ut satisfaceret eis, permisit eos abire; sed post ipse secutus est eos. Istud miraculum differt a primo in tribus. Quia primum Iudaeo fuit factum, secundum gentili; per quod datur intelligi, quod non solum pro Iudaeis, sed pro gentibus Christus venit. Item in primo Iudaeus per se accessit, iste non. Et hoc quia miseretur dominus aliquorum per propriam devotionem, quorumdam per aliorum intercessionem. Item iste centurio potest intelligi aliquis Angelus praesidens ibi ad salutem gentium, vel primitiae gentium. Item ille fuit leprosus, in quo immunditia quiescit. Paralytici autem sunt qui non possunt membra movere. Leprosi sunt intemperati, et paralytici sunt incontinentes. Et sunt paralytici, qui ex infirmitate peccant; leprosi, qui ex certa malitia. Per centurionem potest intelligi mens. Ad Eph. IV, v. 23: renovamini spiritu mentis vestrae.
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Et iste dicit domine, puer meus, idest servus meus. Et in hoc ostenditur benignitas centurionis, quia ita pro servo orat: unde facit illud quod dicitur in Eccli. XXXIII, v. 31: si fuerit tibi servus fidelis, sit tibi sicut anima tua. Et iste servus dicitur inferior pars animae. Dicit ergo quod iacet et male torquetur; et loquitur ex affectu, quia quando aliquis diligit aliquem, reputat parvam aegritudinem valde magnam. Iacet ergo inferior pars animae, quando non potest se erigere, Gal. V, 17: caro concupiscit adversus spiritum: et torquetur. Homines lascivi gaudent: laetantur enim cum male fecerint, et exultant in rebus pessimis. Sed isti torquentur, quia cum peccent ex infirmitate, cum ceciderint, dolent. Et ita torquentur ex dolore. Et ait illi Iesus: ego veniam et curabo eum; idest non loquar. Unde nota quod nullus auderet tantum petere, quantum dominus dare.
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Dicit veniam, et curabo eum, quia praesentia Christi est causa salutis. Sed notandum quod ad filium reguli noluit ire, et ad servum ivit; quod esset contra multos qui nolunt visitare nisi magnos, contra illud Eccli. IV, 7: congregationi pauperum affabilem te facito. Sequitur et respondens centurio. Posita fuit cum fide benignitas centurionis; nunc tangitur humilitas cum fide. Primo ergo ponitur humilitas et fides; secundo benignitas Christi, ibi audiens autem Iesus miratus est. Circa primum tria facit. Primo confitetur suam indignitatem, ibi sed tantum dic verbo: secundo Christi potestatem; deinde inducit similitudinem, ibi nam et ego homo sum sub potestate constitutus. Obtulerat se dominus benignum.
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Sed quia iste gentilis erat, reputavit se indignum, dicens domine, non sum dignus et cetera. Sic etiam Petrus dixit, Lc. V, 8: recede a me, quia homo peccator sum. Et dicit Augustinus, quod confitendo se indignum, reddidit se dignum. Et sicut iste dicit, sic et nos debemus dicere: non sum dignus ut intres in corpus meum. Deinde tangitur fides centurionis confitentis potestatem Christi: dic tantum verbo, et sanabitur puer meus; quia, ut habetur Sap. XVI, 12, non herba, non malagma sanavit eos, sed sermo tuus, domine. Et in Ps. CVI, 20: misit verbum suum, et sanavit eos. Deinde inducit similitudinem, et probat a minori.
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Et describit ordinem primo; secundo potestatem, et dicit nam et ego homo sum sub potestate constitutus et cetera. Et tangitur ordo: quia quidam sunt superiores, ita quod non habent superiorem se; quidam sunt superiores, ita quod habent superiorem se; quidam vero inferiores qui non habent inferiores se; quidam ergo sunt medii; et de istis erat iste, quia erat sub tribuno, sed habebat sub se milites. Habebat enim sub se quosdam quorum erat gubernator; et isti erant milites; unde dicit et dico uni: vade, et vadit; et alii: veni, et venit; in quo commendatur nobis obedientia. Ad Hebr. XIII, 17: obedite praepositis vestris, et subiacete eis. Item alios habebat servos quibus cibaria ministrabat. Eccli. XXXIII, 25: cibaria, et virga, et onus asino; panis, et disciplina; et opus servo. Et servo meo: fac hoc, et facit. Unde vult arguere a minori: quia si ego qui sum in potestate constitutus, haec possum, quanto magis dominus dominantium potest et cetera. Sed videndum quod rationales creaturae sunt liberae, et sunt sicut milites; Iob c. XXV, 3: numquid est numerus militum eius? Et ideo dicitur dominus exercituum. Sed creatura irrationalis habet subiectionem servilem, quia non habet liberi arbitrii facultatem. Vult ergo dicere: quia tibi natura obedit, dic naturae, et obedit tibi, quia sermo tuus iudicio plenus est. Videndum est, quod istud duplex dominium invenitur in anima: anima enim praesidet corpori; ratio vero irascibili et concupiscibili. Prima est dominativa potestas, quia ad imperium animae movetur corpus; secunda praeest aliis quadam imperativa potestate, et dominativa, vel regali: unde habent aliquid de motu suo. Et haec sunt quasi milites; Iac. c. IV, 1: unde bella et lites in vobis? Nonne ex concupiscentiis, quae militant in membris vestris? I Petr. II, 11: hortamur vos abstinere a carnalibus desideriis, quae militant adversus animam. Debemus ergo dicere huic vade, idest malis moribus; et veni, scilicet bonis moribus, et servo huic, fac hoc. Unde corpus debemus operi applicare, ut sicut exhibuimus membra nostra servire immunditiae et iniquitati ad iniquitatem, ita nunc exhibeamus membra nostra servire iustitiae in sanctificationem, ut habetur Rom. VI, 19.
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Audiens autem Iesus miratus est et cetera. Hic tangitur Christi benignitas. Sed quid est quod dicit admiratus est? Quia admiratio non cadit in Deo; quia non fit nisi ex ignorantia causae, quae non potest esse in Deo. Item est apprehensio magnitudinis effectus, quod fit ex imaginatione et phantasia alicuius effectus magni, et sic potest cadere etiam in Christo: unde admiratus est, idest magnum reputavit, et hoc turbis sequentibus ostendit. Et commendavit eum, unde sequentibus se dixit: non inveni tantam fidem in Israel. Sed quid est? Nonne in Abraham, Isaac et Iacob fuit maior fides? Dicendum, quod immo; sed quod hic dicitur, intelligitur pro tempore illo. Sed tunc est quaestio de apostolis, et Martha, et Maria. Et dicendum quod iste maioris fidei erat, quia nullum praeambulum viderat, sicut isti qui miracula viderant. Item Petrus venit ad vocem Andreae, Andreas ad vocem Ioannis. Item in verbo Marthae fuit aliquid dubietatis, quia dixit: domine, si fuisses hic, frater meus non fuisset mortuus; quasi absens non posset. Sed in verbo istius nihil fuit dubietatis. Aliter exponit Chrysostomus. Quia magnum et parvum aliquando dicuntur non absolute, sed in comparatione, sicut dicuntur in domo multi, in theatro pauci. Unde non inveni tantam fidem in Israel, scilicet per comparationem illius gentilis. Deut. XXVIII, 43: advena qui tecum moratur in terra, ascendet super te, eritque sublimior. Dico autem vobis. Occasione huius agit de comparatione Iudaeorum et gentilium; et primo de vocatione gentilium; secundo de reprobatione Iudaeorum.
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Dico quod multi ab oriente et occidente venient et cetera. Et dicitur istud in comparatione, quia multi sunt vocati, pauci vero electi; infra XX, 16. Ab oriente et occidente, ita quod per hoc totus mundus intelligatur. Vel ab oriente, in tempore prosperitatis; et occidente, scilicet in tempore adversitatis. Vel ab oriente, in tempore iuventutis; et occidente, in tempore senectutis. Et recumbent. Iste recubitus opulentia est rerum spiritualium, scilicet in contemplatione. Lc. XXII, 29: ecce dispono vobis regnum, ut edatis et bibatis super mensam meam in regno meo. Et Is. LXV, v. 13: ecce servi mei comedent, et vos esurietis; ecce servi mei bibent, et vos sitietis et cetera. Sed quare cum Abraham, Isaac et Iacob? Quia gentiles per fidem iustificantur, sicut Iudaei, ut habetur Rom. IV, 12 et Gen. XII. Item istis facta est repromissio, quia in semine tuo benedicentur omnes gentes, Gen. c. XV, 18. Ideo isti recumbent cum patribus suis.
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Sequitur filii autem regni eiicientur in tenebras exteriores. Hic ostendit reprobationem Iudaeorum, et describit poenam damni, quia amittent bona, et incurrent mala. Dicit autem filii regni, quia in illis Deus regnabat; Ps. LXXV, 2: notus in Iudaea Deus, in Israel magnum nomen eius. Item figuris legis servi erant. Item facta est eis promissio, ut habetur Rom. IV, 13. Eiicientur in tenebras exteriores. Et haec est poena damni. Consequenter enumerat mala quae incurrent, quia qui primo quoad intellectum incurrerunt tenebras interiores, eiicientur postea in tenebras exteriores, quia tunc erunt totaliter alienati a Deo, qui est lux vera. Et hoc est quod dicitur Tob. c. IV, 11: eleemosyna ab omni peccato et a morte liberat, et non patietur animas ire in tenebras. Item quantum ad affectum ibi erit fletus. Fletus nuntiat dolorem; Is. LXV, 14: ecce servi mei laetabuntur, et vos confundemini. Item ostenditur passio in corpore, quia stridor dentium: habebunt enim corpora in resurrectione; Prov. XIX, 29: parata sunt derisoribus iudicia, et mallei, et ferrum: quae iudicia doloris pertinent ad concupiscibilem, stridor ad irascibilem. Vel secundum Hieronymum, utrumque pertinet ad poenam corporalem, quia resurrectio non erit solum in anima, sed in corpore: quia erit et multus calor, et multum frigus; Iob XXIV, 19: transibunt ab aquis nivis ad calorem nimium.
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Ostenditur Dei benignitas, cum dicit et dixit Iesus centurioni: vade, et sicut credidisti fiat tibi. Sed sequitur effectus et sanatus est puer, quia sermo eius virtute plenus est, Eccle. VIII, 4.
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Et cum venisset Iesus in domum Simonis Petri et cetera. Commendata est virtus Christi in curatione leprosi, commendata est etiam in curatione festina servi centurionis, hic commendatur in curatione perfecta. Primo ergo describit curationis locum; secundo infirmitatis modum; tertio declarat Christi auxilium; quarto curationis effectum. Dicit ergo cum venisset et cetera. Non tangit Evangelista, quando hoc fuit factum; sed et Lucas, et Marcus transeunt ad alia. Sed sciendum quod ubi Evangelistae ponunt statum, vel aliquid ad ordinem pertinens, signum est, quod ad continuationem historiae pertinet; ubi vero non, signum est, quod ad continuationem memoriae. Unde secundum quod recolebant, scribebant. Venit in domum Petri. Et tria possumus considerare. Honorem quem intulit discipulis suis, quia noluit ire ad domum centurionis; ivit tamen ad domum pauperis piscatoris; unde Ps. CXXXVIII, 17: nimis honorati sunt amici tui, Deus. Item informavit in humilitate, quia nihil plus placet domino. Iac. c. I, 21: in mansuetudine percipite insitum verbum, quod potest salvare animas vestras et cetera. Tertio in hoc ostenditur reverentia, quam habuit dominus ad Petrum, quia se obtulit, licet Petrus non rogaret. Vidit socrum. Vidit oculo scilicet mentis; Ex. III, 7: vidi afflictionem populi mei in Aegypto. Socrum Petri. Per hoc potest intelligi synagoga. Qui operatus est Petro in apostolatu circumcisionis, scilicet in Iudaeis, operatus est et mihi inter gentes ad Gal. II, 8. Haec febricitabat, scilicet synagoga, febre scilicet invidiae. Vel per istam socrum intelligitur anima aestuans igne concupiscentiae.
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Et tetigit manum eius. Hic tangit curationem. Quaerit Chrysostomus, quare curavit servum centurionis solo verbo, istam vero tactu. Et respondet, propter familiaritatem; et in hoc etiam magis ostendebat suam humilitatem: et ideo in tactu auxilium dedit; Ps. LXXII, 23: tenuisti manum dexteram meam. Sequitur et surrexit. Consuetudo est febricitantium, quod quando incipiunt sanari, debiliores sunt quam in infirmitate; sed talis non fuit curatio domini, immo plenam sanitatem reddidit: quia Dei perfecta sunt opera, Deut. XXXII, 4. Aliter enim curat dominus, aliter natura. Ideo sequitur et ministrabat. Vespere autem facto. Hic confirmatur Dei potestas per multitudinem curatorum. Primo ergo tangit Evangelista multitudinem; secundo subiungit auctoritatem Scripturae, ibi ut adimpleretur quod dictum est per Isaiam prophetam. Dicit ergo quod curavit daemoniacos et male habentes. Et possunt intelligi per daemoniacos peccantes ex malitia: et per male habentes peccantes ex ignorantia.
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Unde dicit vespere autem facto; quare, nota, hoc non factum fuisse die sabbati, in quo habebant pro inconvenienti curare; sed in vespere finito sabbato, obtulerunt ei multos Daemonia habentes. Vel dicitur vespere, quia salvator noster vespere venit. Oritur sol, et occidit, scilicet Christus, Eccle. I, 5. Eiiciebat, sola increpatione: unde ad solam vocem eius fugiebant Daemones. Item male habentes, ita quod conveniat ei illud quod dicitur in Act. X, 38: liberavit omnes oppressos a Diabolo. Unde notandum, quod non omnia miracula Christi posuerunt Evangelistae, sed magis vulgata. Et quia videretur mirabile, quod tot curaret; ideo confirmat auctoritate quae habetur Is.
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LIII, 4: infirmitates nostras ipse accepit, et aegrotationes nostras portavit. Et quamvis non ita sit in serie textus, exponamus prout iacet. Infirmitates nostras ipse accepit, idest abstulit: ita quod infirmitates accipiantur pro levibus peccatis. Et aegrotationes, idest maiora peccata, portavit, idest asportavit: vel cum ipse sit Dei virtus et sapientia, infirmitates nostras, scilicet passionis et mortis. Unde passibilitatem accepit ad tollendam infirmitatem et aegrotationem nostram et cetera. I Petr. II, 24: qui peccata nostra pertulit in corpore suo, ut peccatis nostris mortui, iustitiae vivamus. Sed cum Isaias dixerit de peccatis, quaeritur quare hoc de infirmitatibus corporalibus dicatur. Et hoc est, quia plerumque ex peccatis spiritualibus causantur aegritudines corporales. Videns autem Iesus turbas. Quia posita sunt miracula contra peccata interiora, hic ponit miracula contra peccata exteriora, scilicet procellam. Et primo ponit praeambulum ad miraculum, scilicet de introitu navis; deinde miraculum, ibi tunc surgens imperavit ventis et mari; tertio effectum, ibi et facta est tranquillitas magna. Circa primum primo ponit praeceptionem; secundo mandati adimpletionem. Circa primum tria. Primo praecipit ut sequantur; secundo unum se ingerentem repellit; tertio alium discipulum arguit.
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Dicit ergo videns Iesus turbas et cetera. Sed quare intravit navem? Hoc fecit propter duo. Primo, ut ostenderet infirmitatem humanae naturae; secundo, ut placeret discipulis; unde aliquando cum discipulis ascendit in montem, aliquando in desertum, aliquando in navem. Item ut nobis daret exemplum, ne favores hominum quaereremus. Item ad tollendam invidiam Iudaeorum; Is. XLII, v. 3: linum fumigans non extinguet.
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Sequitur repulsio et accedens unus Scriba: et videtur quod iste valde devote accessit. Et quare repulit? Hieronymus: quia non habebat bonam fidem. Et hoc patet: quia solum vocavit eum magistrum; sed veri discipuli vocabant eum dominum. Unde in Io. XIII, 13: vos vocatis me magister et domine. Item ex mala intentione volebat eum sequi: quia audiebat signum fuisse factum; volebat sequi, ut faceret signa, ut dicitur de Simone mago. Item dicit Chrysostomus, quod in alio peccavit, scilicet in superbia; quia seorsum traxit se. Unde reputabat se digniorem aliis. Hilarius interrogative legit: magister, sequar te? Culpa istius est, quia quod certum erat, interrogavit, et quod debebat facere, posuit sub dubio. Sequitur vulpes foveas habent. Hieronymus exponit ad litteram, quod Deus ad intentionem respondit, ut saepe facit.
8:20
Volebat sequi; sed intendebat lucrum: et dominus contra hoc allegat paupertatem; ideo dicit vulpes foveas habent, et volucres caeli nidos; filius autem hominis non habet ubi caput suum reclinet; ut habetur II Cor. VIII, v. 9: qui egenus factus est cum dives esset et cetera. Secundum Augustinum notat eum de triplici vitio. De vitio dolositatis, quia dulcedinem habebat in ore, et venenum in corde, ut habetur Ps. XIII, 3. Item notavit eum de superbia, cum dixit volucres caeli, per quos superbia intelligitur. Vel volucres Daemones, ut habetur infra XIII, 4, ubi dicitur: et venerunt volucres, et comederunt ea. Item de infidelitate, quia non erat in caritate quae habitat in nobis per fidem.
8:21
Sequitur alius autem de discipulis eius ait illi. Primus se ingessit, sed alter se excusavit. Et ponitur reprobatio excusantis, ibi Iesus autem ait illi et cetera. Domine, permitte me primum ire, et sepelire patrem meum. Et magna est differentia inter istum et praecedentem. Iste vocavit eum dominum, ille vocavit eum magistrum. Item ille dolum allegavit, iste pietatem, quia praeceptum erat de honoratione patris: unde dilationem petiit. Simile habetur III Reg. XIX, 20 de Eliseo. Sequitur istius reprehensio sequere me: quia qui vult sequi Christum, non debet dimittere sequi propter aliud negotium temporale; unde Ps. XLIV, 11 dicitur: obliviscere populum tuum, et domum patris tui. Item hoc praecepit ei, quia erant alii qui poterant sepelire.
8:22
Ideo dixit dimitte mortuos sepelire mortuos suos. Item quia accidit, ut saepe, quod qui impeditur aliquo uno negotio, cum unum aliud trahat, cito ruit in aliud; sic si iste ivisset sepelire patrem, haberet fortassis post cogitationes de testamento patris: et ita forte totaliter retraheretur. Is. V, 18: vae qui trahitis iniquitatem in funiculis vanitatis. Unde hoc non fuit crudelitatis. Ut si videamus aliquem affectum nimis de morte patris, prohibetur a funere propter periculum, ut habetur Eccli. XXX, 25: multos occidit tristitia. Sed dicit mortuos in plurali, quia mortuus erat duplici morte, scilicet morte infidelitatis, et morte corporis. Unde mortuus erat et in corpore et in anima. Unde dat quatuor documenta. Primum scilicet ut qui vocatus est ad statum perfectionis, non cognoscat patrem carnalem per affectionem inordinatam; infra XXIII, 9: unus est enim pater vester qui in caelis est. Secundum est quod inter fideles et infideles retrahitur germanitatis affectus. Unde Lc. XIV, v. 26: si quis venit ad me, et non odit patrem suum, et matrem, et uxorem, et filios, et fratres, et sorores, adhuc et animam suam, non potest meus esse discipulus. Et hoc verum est ubi pater et mater retrahunt a Deo. Tertium est, quod infidelium mortuorum non est facienda memoria apud sanctos. Quartum est, quod omnis qui vivit extra Christum, mortuus est, quia ipse est vita, secundum Gregorium.
8:23
Et ascendente eo in naviculam. Positum est praeceptum domini de transfretatione; hic ponitur executio praecepti. Erant enim manifestata miracula in terra, vult manifestare in aquis, ut ostendat se esse dominum terrae et maris. Per istam naviculam intelligitur Ecclesia, vel crux Christi; unde de ista potest dici illud Sap. XIV, 5: exiguo ligno committunt animas suas. Discipuli domini sequuntur eum in Ecclesia per obsequium mandatorum. Item sequuntur eum ascendentem in crucem. Ad Gal. VI, 14: per quem mihi mundus crucifixus est, et ego mundo. Deinde subiungitur miraculum. Et primo ponitur periculum imminens; secundo discipulorum interpellatio, ibi et accesserunt; tertio eorum exauditio, ibi et dicit eis Iesus. Periculum tangitur ex procella, et Christi dormitione.
8:24
Et ecce motus factus est magnus. Sicut sancti dicunt, non est facta tempestas ex intemperie aeris, sed ex divina ordinatione provenit. Et hoc factum est multiplici ratione. Primo ut discipuli, qui specialiter dilecti et vocati erant, humilia saperent, et non se extollerent: et hoc significabat futurum periculum, quod imminere debebat tempore passionis. Et post, ut ait Paulus apostolus II ad Cor. I, 8: gravati sumus supra virtutem, ita ut nos taederet etiam vivere. Item alia causa, ut scirent in periculis vivere, et vincere, ut habetur Rom. c. VIII, 37: in omnibus his superamus propter eum qui dilexit nos. Item Chrysostomus exponit, quia ipsi erant praedicaturi quae de Christo viderant; ideo ut magis in ipsis experti essent miraculis, et essent certiores, voluit dominus eos pati. Unde in Ps. LXV, 16: venite, et narrabo opera domini. Citius enim poterant recordari de huiusmodi quae sibi evenerunt. Ipse vero dormiebat: et hoc ut ostenderet se verum hominem; sic enim erat in omnibus, ut ubi volebat ostendere divinitatem, semper ostendebat aliquid humanitatis. Dormiebat, quia habitu inventus est ut homo, Phil. II, 7. Secundum enim divinitatem non dormiebat. Unde Ps. CXX, 4: non dormitabit, neque dormiet qui custodit Israel. Item dormiebat, ut constituerentur inter timorem et spem. Item ut ostenderet singularitatem, quia in tanta tempestate manebat securus; Prov. VIII, 28: quando librabat fontes aquarum, quando circumdabat mari terminum suum, et legem ponebat aquis. Sequitur interpellatio discipulorum accesserunt discipuli et cetera.
8:25
Tantum enim erat ventus, quod oportuit eum evigilare: et totum istud dictum fuit in figura de Iona, quia Ionas in navi dormiebat, et nautae evigilaverunt eum ad interpellationem, isti vero ad salvandum; unde dicunt, domine, salva nos, perimus. Et primo confitentur potestatem eius dum dicunt, domine; Ps. LXXXVIII, 10: tu dominaris potestati maris, motum autem fluctuum eius tu mitigas. Item petunt auxilium, quia sciebant ipsum esse salvatorem; Is. XXXV, 4: ipse veniet, et salvabit nos. Item periculum terrenorum exprimunt. Et hic signatur mors Christi in dormitione, qui et excitatus est per resurrectionem. Vel dicitur dormire in tribulationis et tentationibus sanctorum: et tunc precibus sanctorum evigilat: unde dicitur Ps. XLIII, 23: exurge, quare obdormis, domine? Item dormit in pigris: unde excitandus est, ut admonet Paulus ad Eph. V, 14: exurge qui dormis, et exurge a mortuis, et illuminabit te Christus.
8:26
Sequitur quomodo subvenit quid timidi estis modicae fidei? Videtur quod non essent modicae fidei, quia dicebant, salva nos; sed vere modicae fidei fuerunt, quia non credebant quod etiam dormiens posset salvare. Vel modicae fidei, quia si ipsi haberent magnam fidem, ipsi possent imperare mari. Tunc surrexit et imperavit ventis: tempestas enim oritur ex ventis ut ex causa efficiente, ex aquis ut ex causa materiali: et utrique imperavit; unde Ps. CVI, 25: dixit, et stetit spiritus procellae. Et hoc est quod dicitur et facta est tranquillitas magna. Sed consuetudo est quod quando fit tempestas, duobus diebus mare non sedatur totaliter. Ideo ut appareat perfectum miraculum, statim facta est tranquillitas magna, quia Dei perfecta sunt opera, Deut. XXXII, 4. Porro homines mirati sunt et cetera. Hic ponitur effectus, scilicet admiratio turbarum. Quod dicit homines, non intelligatis apostolos, quia numquam apostoli sic appellantur; sed per homines intellige nautas. Vel, secundum Hieronymum, si etiam intelligas homines, idest apostolos, potest esse quod dubitare potuerunt ut homines, dicentes qualis est hic? Hic Chrysostomus addit homo; quia enim ipsum viderant dormientem, hominem vocabant; quia signum divinitatis viderant, ideo dubitabant.
8:27
Quia venti et mare obediunt ei: quia omnis creatura suo creatori obedit; Ps. CXLVIII, 8: ignis, grando, nix, glacies, spiritus procellarum, quae faciunt verbum eius et cetera. Non quia animam rationalem habeant, sed quia ad modum obedientis se habent. Ut manus et membra animae obediunt, quia statim moventur ad eius nutum, sic omnia Deo obediunt.
8:28
Sequitur et cum venisset Iesus trans fretum. Quia posita sunt miracula, quibus dominus liberavit multos a periculis exterioribus; hic ponuntur miracula, quibus fit liberatio a periculis interioribus, sive spiritualibus. Et primo ponitur miraculum; secundo effectus, ibi at illi exeuntes abierunt in porcos. Et circa primum primo ostenditur malitia Daemonum quantum ad saevitiam quam in homines exercent; secundo quantum ad impatientiam, ibi et ecce clamaverunt etc.; tertio quantum ad nequitiam, quia animalibus brutis nocuerunt, ibi Daemones autem rogabant eum et cetera. Circa primum primo locus describitur; secundo saevitia Daemonum declaratur. Erat quaedam regio quae dicebatur regio Gerasenorum. Gerasa interpretatur colonum eiiciens vel advena appropinquans quia prope gentiles. Occurrerunt ei duo habentes Daemonia. Ostenditur saevitia, primo quia opprimebant eos; secundo quia homines decipere nitebantur. Sed quaeritur quare alii Evangelistae non faciunt mentionem nisi de uno; iste de duobus. Dicendum quod sine dubio duo fuerunt; sed unus fuit magis famosus. Et erant saevi, quia nocebant non solum corporaliter, sed etiam spiritualiter. Unde in monumentis habitabant, ut inducerent hominibus terrorem. Unde error fuit, quem quidam posuerunt, quod Daemones aliquam animam reducerent in corpus mortuum, ut legitur de Simone mago; sed hoc nihil erat, sed fingebant Daemones ad homines decipiendum. Unde dicit Porphyrius, quod genus Daemonum est fallax. Unde isti magi maxime utuntur corporibus mortuorum: quare habitabant Daemones in sepulcris; Is. LXV, 4: qui habitant in sepulcris, et in delubris idolorum dormiunt. Erant enim tam saevi, ut nemo posset transire per viam illam: quia in via hac qua ambulabam, absconderunt superbi laqueum mihi, Ps. CXLI, 4, superbi, idest Daemones. Sed ostenditur eorum impatientia, quia Christi praesentiam non ferebant; unde dicitur clamaverunt: et in hoc ostenditur impatientia; Is. LXV, 14: clamabitis prae dolore cordis, et prae contritione spiritus ululabitis.
8:29
Item fatentur Dei potentiam dicentes quid nobis et tibi, Iesu fili Dei? Vere nihil, quia nulla convenientia Christi ad Belial. Sed quare hoc dicebant? Quia graviter puniebant homines: et audierant, quia Christus deberet eis potestatem amovere. Unde voluerunt dicere: et si aliis nocuimus, tibi non nocuimus, quare non debes nos gravare. Item confitentur filium Dei. Et in hoc confunduntur Ariani, quia si non sanctis credunt, saltem Daemonibus credant. Sed contra, quia videtur quod non cognoverunt eum: quia I ad Cor. II, 8: si cognovissent, numquam regem gloriae crucifixissent et cetera. Sed dicendum, quod quando dominus volebat, humanitatem ostendebat, ita quod se eis occultabat. Quare venisti ante tempus torquere nos? Sciunt Daemones quod in die iudicii Daemones debent suscipere maius tormentum cum dicetur ite maledicti, in ignem aeternum. Item credunt aliqui quod Daemones usque in diem iudicii non patiuntur poenam sensus, sed poenam damni: et hoc pro isto verbo quia venisti ante tempus. Sed contra hoc est quod dicit Damascenus: hoc hominibus mors, quod Angelis casus. Sed homines cum moriuntur, statim recipiunt poenam sensus, sic Angeli qui ceciderunt. Quidam dicunt quod ignem suum semper secum portant. Sed quomodo potest hoc fieri, quia iste ignis corporeus est? Dicendum, quod licet hic ignis sit corporalis, habet tamen aliquid spirituale: unde cruciat per modum cuiusdam alligationis; spiritus enim excedit naturam corporis, sed Deus alligat spiritus corporibus; sicut cum alligatur anima corpori, dat corpori ut moveatur secundum voluntatem animae: sicut si datur aliqua praelatura alicui in aliqua Ecclesia, ipso non existente in eadem; sic licet iste ignis sit corporeus, ratione spiritualitatis potest agere. Torquere nos et cetera. Magnum tormentum reputant quod non possint hominibus nocere. Sed si essent in Inferno, non possent ita nocere; et ita tormentum eis magnum est intrare in Infernum.
8:30
Erat autem non longe ab eis grex multorum porcorum pascens. Hic tangitur malitia, quia non solum hominibus nocent, sed et brutis. Grex porcorum: unde patet quod hoc non erat in Iudaea, quia Iudaei non utuntur porcis. Si eiicis nos, mitte nos in porcos. Sed quare non petierunt quod mitteret eos in homines? Quia ipsi videbant eum sollicitum circa curam hominum. Sed quare in greges porcorum? Quia erant magis vicini. Item quia est animal valde immundum. Unde ad designandam immunditiam permisit intrare in porcos: et hoc videtur significari Iob XL, 22: numquid multiplicabit ad te preces, aut loquetur tibi mollia?
8:32
Sequitur Christi concessio et ait illis: ite et cetera. Sed videtur dominus audisse Daemones. Dicendum quod non audivit; sed ex sua sapientia sic fieri permisit, et ordinavit, ut ostendatur malitia Daemonum, quia nisi dominus cohiberet, ita ruerent in homines, sicut ruerunt in porcos. Sed quando dominus permittit aliquid Daemonibus, non totaliter permittit sed imponit eis fraenum, ut in Iob II, 6. Unde ad hoc designandum permisit eos ruere in porcos. Item ad designandum quod nihil possunt nisi ex Dei permissione. Item ut homo suam dignitatem cognosceret, cum ad salutem unius hominis tot millia porcorum permiserit interfici. Sequitur executio mandati et magno impetu abiit totus grex per praeceps in mare; in quo denotatur quod nullus a Diabolo totaliter potest extingui, nisi porcum se exhibeat, idest totaliter immundum. Unde habetur Apoc. XVIII, 21: hoc impetu mittetur Babylon civitas illa magna; II Petri II, 13: hi velut irrationabilia pecora peribunt, percipientes mercedem iniustitiae et cetera. Sequitur pastorum admiratio; unde pastores fugerunt et nuntiaverunt haec omnia. Unde profecti nuntiaverunt triste et laetum: triste de porcis; sed laetum de daemoniaco curato. Per istos pastores signantur principes synagogae, qui propter temporalia, quantumcumque possunt, contradicunt Christo.
8:34
Consequenter sequitur totius populi admiratio et ecce tota civitas exiit obviam Iesu, et viso eo rogabant eum ut transiret a finibus eorum. Et quare? Quia multa damna eis fecerat, ideo timebant, quod si plus ibi moraretur quod plura eis faceret damna. Sic aliqui propter detrimentum temporale timent esse cum Christo, ut habetur Is. XXX, 11: declinate a me semitam: cesset a facie nostra sanctus Israel. Vel aliter. Quia non ex malitia, sed ex devotione, quia indignos se reputabant. Simile dixit Petrus: recede a me, quia homo peccator sum.
8:1
And when He was come down. S. Jerome, S. Chrysostom (Horn, xxvi.), The Author (Horn, xxi.), take this to mean that all that is contained in the three previous chapters was spoken by Christ on the Mount. That this was not so has been proved in verse I. S. Matthew says, " When He was come down from the Mount," not because He had spoken all His sermon on the Mount, but because when he said (verse i) that Christ had gone up into the Mount to escape the multitude and there held a conversation with the Apostles ; and when he had taken occasion from this to relate other conversations, wishing now to relate what Christ did for the crowd that afterwards followed Him, he must of necessity say that He came down from the mountain ; for the people could not follow Him unless on the plain. It may be asked why S. Matthew, when he related the words of Christ to the same multitude (vi., vu.), did not say that He came down from the mountain and the multitudes followed Him. It was not necessary that he should say that Christ came down, unless to give the reason of the multitude having followed Him ; nor to say that they did .so after His sermon, because it was of no moment what listeners or witnesses of His doctrine He had while He was speaking ; but it was of moment to know how many witnesses there were of His miracles, that no one might endeavour to suppress or undervalue them. Besides, S. Matthew, after he had set forth Christ's doctrine, desired, as S. Jerome says, to relate His acts, and he said, " Great multitudes followed Him ". In this S. Matthew follows another order than that of the other Evangelists ; for they describe the miracles before the doctrine, as if the former should give assurance of the latter.
8:2
And behold a leper. S. Mark (i. 40) and S. Luke (v. 12) relate some other miracles first. It is uncertain, therefore, whether this happened after those, or those after this, only that S. Matthew saying, "And behold a leper," seems to imply that this took place immediately on Christ's descent from the mountain ; for this is the force of the word "behold," as has been shown on chap. u. i. Leontius well observes that the sick were not brought to Him, lest they should interrupt His teaching.
And adored Him. Trpoo-e/cvve, "bent the knee," "threw Himself at the feet of Christ" (S. Mark i. 30; S.Luke v. 12). The Hebrew is VOD7 T>D2 which many explain to mean respect shown to Christ as to some prophet or holy person. It would, however, appear to have been an act of worship ; and all the Evangelists appear to have described it so carefully to show the faith of the leper, which would, however, have been very slight indeed, if he had thought Christ nothing more than a prophet or holy person. He believed Him, however, to be God ; for he could not have said to any but God " If Thou wilt ". He did not say, " If Thou wilt pray to the Father," but " If Thou wilt," as showing that His power was equal to the Father's. So say S. Chrysostom (Horn. xxvi.), Theophylact, and Euthymius. Great, indeed, is the faith and singular the manner of prayer of one who asks nothing but shows his need and offers his faith.
8:3
And Jesus stretching forth His hand. What need was there that Christ should stretch out His hand, and, especially, should touch a leper, whose contact under the Old Law was reckoned unclean ? From this, and similar passages, some ancient authors, and among them S. Cyril of Alexandria, think (i) that Christ pleased to heal some sick by the touch of His Person, to show that even His flesh itself, by the union with the Godhead, had a life-bearing and a life-giving power; (2) S. Ambrose (v., On S. Luke] gives another reason, that Christ did it to prove the truth of His human nature which He had taken ; (3) others say that He was not subject to the Old Law, which forbade the Israelites to touch a leper (Levit. xiii. 46), but that as the giver of the Law, He was above the Law: so S. Chrysostom (Hom. xxvi. on S. Matt., and xvii. on various passages of S. Matt.\ The Author (Hom. xxi.), S. Ambrose, Euthymius, Theophylact ; (4) others, again, hold that Christ did it to show that it was He Himself and not another who healed the leper, because it was He Himself and not another who touched (S. Chrysostom cited by S. Thomas) ; (5) it may have been done by Christ to show that the Law, which forbade the touch of a leper, lest he who touched him should be defiled, had no place in Him, who could not be defiled, and who touched, not to be contaminated, but to heal (Tertullian, w., Cont. Marc.).
I willy be thou clean. Christ answered by the same words as were used by the leper, to confirm his faith by the result (S. Ambrose, v., On S. Luke ; S. Chrysostom, Hom. vu. on various passages of S. Matthew).
Made clean. Mundare. This is not the infinitive mood, but the imperative. Ancient authors have rightly concluded of the Godhead of Christ from this passage. He healed the leper not as by the power of another, but by His own will and command (S. Justin, Exposit. Fid. ; Tertullian, w. Cont. Marc. ; S. Athanasius, De Ess. Comm. P.F.S.S. ; S' Ambrose, v., On S. Luke ; S. Chrysostom, Horn. xxvi.). Some have proved from this passage both the Divinity and the Humanity, as Tertullian, S. Cyril, S. Ambrose, whose words are : u He said * I will ' because of Photinus. He commanded because of Arius. He touched because of Manichaeus."
8:4
Thou tell no man. It is a fit question why Christ forbade the leper to speak of so great a benefit, and why He commanded him who had received to return no thanks. S. Hilary answers (Can. vu.) that this kind of healing will not be offered, but must be sought ; that is, the miracle should not seem to be boasted of, as if by the command of Christ, lest others also who were sick should come and seek for a similar cure, and lose the merit of their faith if they came not of their own will, but as urged by the miracle. S. Ambrose concurs. 2. S. Jerome thinks it was unnecessary to boast in words of that cure which the leper bore on his whole person. 3. Others thought it a caution to the leper not to appear to seek his own glory (S. Ambrose, v., On S. Luke ; S. Chrysostom, Honi. xxvi. ; Bede, Euthymius, Theophylact). The opinion of The Author seems excellent ; not that the leper was forbidden to speak at all, but only not until he had shown himself to the priest, lest, if they should hear of what had been done by common report, they might falsely declare that the man was not cleansed at all, his cleansing having to be declared by them as the Law commanded (Lev it. xiv. 46). Christ, moreover, said to him immediately : " Show thyself to the priest ". Why he said this has been much discussed. Many say that it was to show that He kept the Law (Tertullian, w., Cont. Marc. ; S. Chrysostom, Horn. xxvi. ; S. Jerome, Euthymius). Others say, if he did not show himself to the priest, he would be compelled to remain without the city, and have no benefit of his cure ; because it was not lawful for one who had been healed of this disease to return into the city before the high priest had decided on his cure (Theophylact). S. Jerome gives two other reasons : one to show the man's humility ; another, which Bede approves, and which seems the best of all, that the priests would be without excuse if they refused to believe on one whose miracles they had proved. This is the meaning of the words that follow : " For a testimony unto them ". They refer not only to the offering of the gift, as shall shortly be shown, but also to the showing of the leper himself.
For a testimony unto them. Some • refer this direction to the word " commanded " just before. Thus the meaning may be : " Offer the gift which Moses commanded, that it may be for a testimony to them that thy cure was not of the priests, nor of man at all in any way, but of God" (S. Hilary). Others refer it to the word " offer," as The Author (Horn, xxi.) and Theophylact, as if Christ had said : " Offer to the priest thy gift, lest, if thou offer it not, he speak ill of thy cure, and that the acceptance of it may be a perpetual testimony against them of thy true cure ; for they will not be able to say that thou wert not truly healed, for whose cure, both known and approved, they have received thy gift ". Others, Tertullian, S. Chrysostom, and S. Ambrose among them, refer it to both words — " show " and " offer ". Their idea seems very admirable, that Christ not only gives the reason of His having commanded the leper to offer his gift, but also of His having sent him to the priest, and of His having forbidden him to speak to anyone before he had seen the priest. The meaning is, then : " Tell no man ; that those very men who are My chief enemies may be the first witnesses of My miracles, and their unbelief be made plain by their own testimony ". The nature of the gifts to be offered has been described on Levit. xiv. 4.
8:5
There came to Him a centurion. It is clear even from his title that he was a Gentile ; nor is it credible, as SS. Chrysostom and Augustin have pointed out, that when the Jews were under the Roman yoke centurions should have been made of their nation. It has been doubted whether this were the same centurion as he of whom S. Luke (chap, vu.) writes. The cause of the doubt is the fact that there appears to be a great difference between the narratives of the two Evangelists. S. Matthew says that the centurion came to Christ ; S. Luke that he sent to Him, first the elders of the Jews and then his own friends, excusing himself for not having come in person, for he thought himself unworthy to do so. S. Matthew says that the centurion asked Christ not to come into his house, for he did not think himself worthy. S. Luke says that he asked Him to come. From these reasons, some have been led to think the two histories accounts of different events, as S. Chrysostom (Horn, xxvii.) and Euthymius say. But all the Ancients think otherwise ; and, indeed, who can believe that two miracles so like each other could have happened ? Each took place in Caper naum ; each at the same time ; each to the servant of a centurion ; each to a paralytic servant ; and each centurion said, " I am not worthy," &c. Those who would make them two events act without consideration, dwelling on the points of difference and not on those of resemblance. As to the words of S. Matthew, that the centurion himself came, and of S. Luke, that he sent the elders of the Jews, some have replied that he did both. He first sent the Jewish elders, and, when he heard that Christ was coming, his friends, as S. Luke relates ; and, at last, when the disease grew more severe, he came himself, as S. Matthew says. So S. Chrysostom (Horn, xxvii.), Euthymius, and Theophylact. Others think that he came per altos, notfler se, for he is said to come, not only who comes per se, but who comes per alios, as a suitor is said to appear before a judge, who appears not in his own person, but by his counsel (S. Augustin, in loc., and De Consens., u. 20, and Cont. Faust, xxxiii. 7, 8 ; Bede ; Leontius, in /<?<:.). The words of S. Matthew (verses 8, 9) do not affect the question. For as one who comes per alium is still said to come, so he who speaks by another is said to speak. The argument is of more force that it does not appear probable that the Jewish elders, who, in S. Luke, ask Christ to come, here ask Him not to come. But the answer is easy : the Jewish elders spoke the words in S. Luke of their own minds. For it is plain, from his account (verses 6, 7), that the centurion did not tell them to ask Christ to come to him, and, therefore, having less faith than the centurion, but more vanity, they did not deliver their message faithfully ; but, partly from not believing that Christ could cure the paralytic by a word when absent, and partly wishing, as S. Chrysostom says, to show that they had influence enough to bring Christ, they asked Him, contrarily to their commission, to come. Thus they also added of their own minds, " He is worthy," &c. (verse 4). The centurion had not charged them to say this, but the contrary. One Evangelist, therefore, has related what the centurion directed, the other what the Jews said. It would appear, therefore, that the words in S. Luke (verses 8, 9) were not spoken by the Jews, for they had not faith enough to use expressions so full of belief, especially when, as appears from S. Luke, they had asked Christ to come ; but they were spoken by the friends of the centurion, whom, as S. Luke tells us, he sent to Christ when he heard that He was coming, and who were probably Gentiles, because the Evangelist does not call them Jews, as the others, but " his friends ". These, then, as his more intimate friends, seeing that the others had not performed his commission faith fully, he instructed better, to say that he was a man under authority, who said to this soldier, " Go," and he went, and to that one, " Come," and he came, and to another, " Do this," and he did it. As they were more trustworthy, they delivered this message in the words in which they had received it. Some have thought that this centurion was the ruler mentioned by S. John (w. 46), and that this miracle is the same as the one there described. Leontius, on this passage and on 5. John ; S. Chrysostom, Theophylact, and Euthymius, also on 5. John, refer to this opinion, and refute it, as I have done.
8:6
My servant. Puer as 5. Matthew reads ; servus as 5. Luke (vu. 2).
8:8
/ am not worthy. faavos, "sufficient," that is, worthy, as in chap. iii. II ; I Cor. xv. 9 ; Coloss. i. 12. That Thou shouldest enter under my roof. They seem to be in error who suppose the centurion to have said this because he was a Gentile, and it was not lawful for Jews to enter the houses of Gentiles. For he could have said this not less properly if he had been a Jew ; and he not only said that he was unworthy that Christ should enter his house, but even that he himself should come to Him (S. Luke vu. 7). "Not, therefore, because he was a Gentile, but because he knew himself to be a sinner ; not from superstition, but from faith, he said that he was unworthy that Christ should enter his house, as S. Peter said, ' Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord ' ' (S. Luke v. 8 ; Bede).
But only say the word. A Hebraism : die, " say," that is, command, by a word — verbo, "by one only word ". The centurion not only opposes a word to a deed, but to a long discourse, as when it is said, " By the Word of the Lord," that is, by one only and most brief word (Ps. xxxii. 6). It is possible that the centurion had heard how Christ had healed the leper not long before, by a single word — Mundare^ " Be thou clean " — and had thence conceived so great faith that he did not doubt the power of Christ to do the same to his own servant. Leontius says that some held that the centurion did not bring his servant to Christ because he was at the point of death, and he feared that the agitation of the journey might be fatal. Leontius rejects the idea as unworthy of the centurion's faith. For he who believed that by one word Christ could heal a dying man, must surely have thought that He could have prevented him from dying.
8:9
For 1 also am a man. The centurion argues not from equal terms, but from the greater to the less. If I, who am under the power of another, the chiliarch and the emperor, yet, having soldiers under me, say to this one "Go," and he goes, and to another " Come," and he comes, how much more canst Thou, who art under no one, by Thine own power alone, heal my servant ? that is, Thou art able to do per alios what Thou art able to do per te. Thus have all Catholics authors explained it (S. Augustin, Serm. de Verb. Dom. ; S. Chrysostom, Horn, xxvii. ; Bede ; Strabus, In Comment?). Leontius explains the words " under authority " best of all — VTTO egova-iav, sub rege, "under the king". If we had no other proof of what I say, than that it makes the meaning fuller and more worthy of the so great faith of the centurion, this one argument alone should be sufficient. For who does not see that it was not in accordance with faith so great as that of the centurion to make himself equal in any way to Christ ; even if we could imagine him to have done this with truth, he would not have done it in fact. For it would be the act of a very bad petitioner to make himself equal to him of whom he asked a favour ; although he thought himself even the superior, he would speak as the contrary. The Greek means : " Even I, who am not God, as Thou art, but a man like those whom I command, yet, because I have soldiers under me, I say to this one," &c. The centurion's assertion that he had soldiers under him was not to show that he was placed in authority, but to give his reason for saying to this one " Go," and to that one " Come," &c.
8:10
Marvelled. No one is ignorant that wonder proceeds from knowledge following previous ignorance. We wonder at what we see, or hear, or come to know in any other way, when we were not only in ignorance before, but had not even thought of the subject in question. That Christ, therefore, wondered at this, when He was ignorant of nothing, and much less of that faith of the centurion at which He wondered, when, as S. Augustin says, He had Himself created it, we may justly wonder. Some say that He wondered as man, but even as man He was not ignorant of that faith ; nor is it more probable that, as others think, He wondered, not from new knowledge, but from new experience. The Doctors of the Church make a kind of knowledge in Christ, which they call knowledge experimental (scientia experiment alis\ and which they say that Christ was able to acquire from new events, according to S. Paul (Heb. v. 8). But experience cannot cause wonder in those whose minds anticipated what they perceive, and it is certain that Christ was such as these. Much more probable is the opinion of S. Augustin, that Christ did not really wonder, but that we might wonder, as if He had said with wonder : " I have not found so great faith," &c. ; he says (i. 7, Cont. Advers. Leg. et Prophet^) : " Whoever wonders, as men ordinarily use the word, shows that that at which he wonders is unexpected and unforeseen by him. But Jesus foreknew all things, and what He commended to the wonder of men He praised by wondering at it." And again (i. 8, On Genes, cont. Manich^} : " Who made that faith in them but He who wondered at it ? Even if another had made it, why should He wonder who foreknew it ? What the Lord wondered at He signified was matter of wonder to us to whom it is natural to be so affected. All such emotions in Him are not signs of a mind disturbed, but of a master who is teaching us." Christ then is said to have wondered, as God is said to be angry. Not that He is really angry, but that He punishes the sins of those who are angry, Christ is said to have wondered in this manner. Not that He wondered, but that He spoke like a man who does so : " O woman, great is thy faith " (xv. 28). / have not found so great faith in Israel. The Greek is ovSe eV rcS' Io-pdrj\, " No, not in Israel ". Some have concluded, as S. Chrysostom (Horn, xxviii., in loc.y and On S. Luke vu. 5, " He hath built us a synagogue "), that the centurion was an Israelite, and not a Gentile. From each of these passages they should have drawn a contrary conclusion. For when Christ says here that He has not found so great faith, even in Israel, where there ought to be more faith, because he was a son of Abraham, the father of all the faithful, He shows clearly that the centurion was a Gentile. In 5. Luke the Jewish elders praise him because, though he was not a Jew, he was so friendly to their nation that he built them a synagogue. We may rightly inquire how Christ said that He had not found so great faith, &c., when we must believe that in the Apostles and Prophets, and certainly in the Blessed Virgin, there was greater. Some, as S. Jerome and Bede, exclude the Patriarchs and Prophets, because Christ does not say, " There is not," but " I have not found " — that is, " In Israel, from whom I was made man ". But what shall we say of the Apostles and the Blessed Virgin ? S. Jerome thinks that the faith of the one centurion was not compared with that of single Jews, but that the faith of the Church of the Gentiles (which was signified by the centurion) was compared to that of the whole Church of the Jews, and was preferred to it. But this meaning is by anagoge : it is not the literal one, for Christ wondered, also, at the faith of the centurion Himself. The Author (Horn. xxii.) gives two not inapplicable explanations: I. That the centurion had greater faith even than the Apostles. Nor is this so extraordinary, when Christ praises the faith of the centurion so highly, and so frequently blames the Apostles for their want of it, as in verse 26 ; xiv. 31 ; xvi. 8 ; xvii. 20 ; and 5. Mark xvi. 14. 2. That the faith of the centurion was greater than that of the Apostles, not simply, but in proportion to the person. For the Apostles were Jews, and the centurion was a Gentile. A little faith in the latter was therefore greater than, the very greatest in the former. The whole passage is apparently capable of two explanations : i. Christ does not compare the faith of the centurion with that of each of the Apostles, but with that of the people, for we are accustomed at times to speak generally, excluding those of whom there is no question. We some times say before a man of learning : " Such an one, this or that, is the most learned man we ever knew," he with whom we are conversing being excepted, with whom it would be invidious and impolite to compare another. A king says that this person or that is the most powerful of all his subjects, leaving himself unmentioned, whom he knows to be much more powerful than any. Christ said : " There hath not risen among men that are born of women a greater than John the Baptist" (xi. 11) ; not as including Himself, who was born of woman, and was far greater. So in this place, when He says that He has not found so great faith, He does not include His own family, the Blessed Virgin, and the Apostles. 2. The other explanation is that Christ spoke, not of faith itself, but of the external signs of faith. He had said : I have not found any who has so replied to me — who has made such a profession of faith. The former seems the better of the two.
8:11
From the East and from the West. From the whole world beyond Judaea, putting the two most remote points for the whole. S. Augustin (Serm. vi. de verb. Dom. sec. Matt.) says : " They will come when called ". Christ speaks of the calling of the Gentiles, which was foretold by Isaiah (xliii. ; xliv. 5-7), and of which the entire Epistle to the Romans, especially chapter ix., treats at large.
And shall sit down. Shall sit down at- table — a figure taken from banquets. The kingdom of heaven is often compared to a feast, because " We shall be satisfied when the glory of it shall appear" (Psalm xvi. 15; S. Luke xiv. 15; xxii. 29, 30; Apoc. xix. 9). This is shown by the parable of the wedding, and the guests invited to it (S. Matt. xxii. 2 ; S. Luke xiv. 1 6). It was not the custom of the Gentiles, nor were they allowed, to sit with the Jews, but Christ teaches us that in the kindom of heaven they shall sit down with the Patriarchs of the Jews — Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — and be preferred to the Jews themselves.
With A braham, and Isaac, and Jacob. Many suggestions have been offered as to the reason of these three Patriarchs being especially mentioned : 1. God is called their God (Exod. iii. 6, 15, 16 ; S. Jerome). 2. They were promised the land of Canaan, which signified the kingdom of heaven (Gen. xii. 7 ; xiii. 15 ; Theophylact). 3. Their faith shone most brightly, by following which the Gentiles were grafted into the good olive. These three Patriarchs would appear to be named as the founders of the kingdom of the Jews, who would sit, as it were, at the head of the table, to show that the Gentiles would sit with them — that is, most closely to them — and be preferred before the Jews : as the faith of the centurion, which was the cause of this declaration, came nearer to that of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, than the faith of the Jews : at that assembly, as it were, where Abraham, in foretaste of the happiness of heaven, enjoyed the expectation of Christ, and which is called Abraham's bosom (S. Luke xvi. 22).
8:12
But the children of the kingdom. Some take this (i) to mean the sons of God, and, there fore, the heirs of His kingdom. But why not then call them at once sons of the King ? (2) Others think them to be those in whom God had reigned before, as Psalm Ixxv. I : " In Judaea is God known " (S. Jerome and Bede). (3) Others, again, whose opinion seems better, think them those to whom the kingdom of heaven had been promised, and who were in some sense in possession of it. And it is said that they will be cast out, as if they had been in the kingdom before, like the guest without the wedding garment (xxii. 12); so thinks Theophylact. They are called the sons of the kingdom by a Hebraism, nrn^rV!3D, because they were born to it and intended for it, as he is termed " the son of death " who is born to die, or the son of those who, as our version renders it, " have been put to death" — mortificatorum (Ps. Ixxviii. n). What some others say must be considered : namely — (4) That they were called the children of the kingdom, because they were born in the kingdom of Judaea, which was a kind of shadow or commencement of the kingdom of heaven, that the Jews may be opposed to the Gentiles, as natives to foreigners. (5) That they were called the sons of the kingdom, not as being such, nor because they had been such but had been cast out, but because they ought to have been such, and were not such, by their own fault, as men are called the sons of wisdom, not because they were, but because they, above all others, ought to have been, wise ; for " wisdom is justified by all her children " (S. Luke vu. 35).
Into the exterior darkness. It is not doubtful that hell is here meant, although Origen (On S. Matt, xxiii.) thinks it purgatory, which is external to hell. It is uncertain why the place was called darkness, and why exterior darkness, as there is fire there and the darkness itself is most especially internal and concealed. It is certain that Christ always spoke of hell as a prison of which, although dark, the darkness is inward and not external, but is so much greater as it is more internal. Many have explained the reason of its being called "darkness" ; very few have offered any suggestion as to why it is termed exterior. S. Jerome (Comment^), S. Augustin (Ep. to Honor, cxx. 22), S. Ambrose (vu., On 5. Luke], say that it is from the condemned being sent into darkness, because they go away from God, who is the true light This, however, even if true, appears to be allegorical, as is the explanation mentioned by S. Augustin in his Commentary on Ps. vi. : " The external darkness is so called as being that blindness which is extreme and cannot possibly be cured, and into which all the condemned are dismissed, because in hell they can bring forth no repentance". Others hold that it derives this appellation from the place of hell being void of light (S. Jude, verse 6) ; for although there is true fire in hell, yet, as SS. Basil and John Dama scene say, it has heat, but not light, afflicting the wicked not only with fire, but also with darkness. All the darkness of hell is not called outer, but that into which (as it is said) the Jews are to be cast. According to Theophylact, there are many degrees of punishment there, and the heaviest of all is called the exterior darkness. This appears to agree with the context, as it makes the antithesis between the Jews and the Gentiles more complete ; for as Christ had said that the Gentiles should sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — that is, in the first place in heaven — so He now says that the Jews shall be in the last place in hell. But this may be understood otherwise ; for when the subject is the kingdom of heaven, from which all who are shut out are said to be cast into the exterior darkness, reason demands that we enquire why the place into which they are sent is called darkness and exterior darkness. But in this instance, as in many others, the kingdom of heaven is introduced under the likeness of a feast, not of a dinner, but of a supper, because it was the ancient custom to hold festivity rather at supper than at dinner, because the cares of the day were then laid aside and the feast could be extended to a greater length than in the daytime. Hence S. Paul rightly says : " They that are drunk are drunk in the night" (i Thess. v. 7). We see, therefore, that the kingdom is always called a supper, never a dinner (xxii. 2 ; 6". Luke xiv. 16 ; Apoc. xix. 9). The guest-suppers, because they were always held at night, were set off by a great light of torches, which were used not only as necessaries, but also for pride and display. The guests were, therefore, in a strong light ; the rest, who were outside, were involved in thick darkness. Thus they who are cast out of the kingdom of heaven are said to be cast into exterior darkness, because what ever was outside that kingdom was said to be, in comparison, " darkness ". They who are in it " shall not need the light of the sun, because the Lord God shall enlighten them " (Apoc. xxii. 5).
There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Some distinguish these two signs of suffering as two different kinds of punishment — the one of fire, the other of cold, as in Job xxiv. 19 ; Bede (in loc.} ; S. Jerome, or whoever was the author of the commentary on that chapter of Job. But Christ, in this passage and others, did not speak of weeping and gnashing of teeth to show two kinds of punishment, the weeping being that of heat, and the gnashing of teeth that of cold ; He meant to describe one and the same thing, that is, the greatest degree of torture ; for they who suffer extreme agony do both — they weep and they gnash their teeth. Whether the weeping and gnashing of teeth are literal and actual, or are to be taken as a metaphor, is another question. It must be left open, although it would appear more right to think them literal, both because S. Jerome -does so, and from hence proves the doctrine of the Resurrection, and because to explain that by metaphor or figure which can be taken literally is the mark of incredulity, or •of one seeking an excuse for his faith.
8:13
Go. A Hebrew expression for granting a request, as in Judges xi. 38 ; I Kings xvii. 37 ; 2 Kings xiv. 8 ; 5. Mark v. 34 ; 5. Luke vu. 50 ; viii. 48 ; 5. John w. 50. The Ancients learnt, from this and other similar passages (as ix. 2 ; 5. Mark u. 5 ; 5. Luke v. 20), that the faith of one man can profit another. The servant of the centurion either had not faith, or if he had it, for it is not stated, he was healed, not for his own, but for the centurion's faith. This is the opinion of S. Cyril (Jerus. Cat. Lect., v.), S. Chrysostom (Horn, xxviii.), S. Ambrose (v., On S. Luke).
8:14
When Jesus had come. We learn from S. Mark (i. 29) and S. Luke (w. 38) that this happened as soon as Jesus had given that sermon in the synagogue at Capernaum at which the people wondered (vu. 28), and after He had cast out the unclean spirit (S. Mark \. 24 ; vS. Luke w. 34), of which S. Matthew has made no mention. S. Mark (i. 29) has described the whole event with greater fulness than any other of the Evangelists, as S. Chrysostom (Horn, xxviii.) and S. Augustin (u., De Consens^] have observed. For he relates that only four of the Apostles — SS. Peter, Andrew, James, and John — were with Christ when he entered Peter's house, and that it was they who mentioned to Him the sickness of Peter's wife'smother, and that, when asked, He healed her.
Into Peter's house. A twofold question has here arisen out of a single word : i. How S. Peter had a house when he left all things (xix. 27). Heretical teachers have said that the Apostles had not absolutely given up everything, but only the care and management of their affairs, which their following Christ and serving the Gospel did not allow them to superintend, and that they were accustomed to return to their homes when the preaching of the Gospel allowed. Some Catholics, from incautious perusal of their writings, have fallen into the same error. Peter had not a house, and he did not speak untruly when he said (xix. 27) : " We have left all things and have followed Thee ". Nor can it be admitted that they had left the superintendence only, for it is beyond question that S. Peter said that he and the other Apostles had given up all in the same sense as that in which Christ said to the young man : " Go, sell what thou hast and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come follow me" (xix. 21). It was called Peter's house, not because it was such, then, but because it had been such. We may believe that he had left it, as they were poor, to his wife and his mother-in-law, unless, perhaps, it was theirs, and was called Peter's because he had lived in it before he was made an Apostle. As it is called the house of Simon and Andrew (S. Mark i. 29), it was probably not that of either, but of their father, as the houses of parents are called their children's houses as well. 2. The second question is, how Peter lived in Caper naum when he was a native of Bethsaida (S. John i. 44). For this was done in Capernaum, as is clear from 5. Mark i. 21 and 5. Luke w. 31. The above heretics say that he had two houses, one at Bethsaida, where he was born, the other at Capernaum, where he lived on account of the fishing. For Capernaum was on the margin of the lake of Genneseret, a notable sea for fish. Or, as Christ used to live at Capernaum, it may have been that Peter had moved thither. Learned and Catholic Doctors of the Church have answered the question very differently, and much better : that this house of Peter was not at Capernaum, but Beth saida, which was very near Capernaum, so that when Christ went out of the synagogue at Capernaum, He could easily go to dine or sup at Bethsaida.
8:15
And He touched, To take her by the hand and raise her up, as 6\ Mark
8:17
That it might be fulfilled. Vid. u. 15. He took our infirmities. ave\a/3e, " He took," for fyeyice, " He bore," "He carried," tulit,portavit, as in Isaiah lui. 4. So S. Jerome renders it, ad verbum. " He carried," portavit, ^^^ WH 1^7H " our infirmities ". The LXX. gives the meaning, but not the words. " He carries," <£e/oet, " our infirmities," portat. They use \apf3dveLv, " to take according to their custom," for $4pewt portare, "to carry," as in Levit. xvii. 16 ; xxii. 9, and elsewhere. What the Prophet says of sins, the Evangelist applies to diseases of the body : either (i) because Christ did not cure diseases of the body, except on account of the sins of the soul ; or (2) because, as S. Chrysostom says (Horn, xxviii.), diseases of the body are the punishment of sin, and very frequently arise from diseases of the soul ; or (3) because S. Matthew is accustomed to apply the prophecies not in the same, but in a similar sense, as in u. 15,
8:18
And seeing- great multitudes. S. Matthew gives tacitly the reason of Christ having crossed the lake. It was to escape the multitude, as chap. v. i ; 5. Mark i. 35. S. Luke (w. 42) says : Die facta, "And when it was day". Each Evangelist shows that Christ retired privately to avoid the throng of the multitude. S. Augustin (De Cons., u.) thinks that this did not take place the day after Christ held that assembly and healed Peter's wife's mother, but SS. Mark and Luke say that He then went into the desert. He went into the desert after He had crossed the lake, for the mountains and desert were beyond the lake.
8:20
And Jesus said to him. It may seem surprising that Jesus rejected so roughly the scribe who offered himself as His disciple. But from the circumstance of the person and Christ's answer, it is not difficult to conjecture that Christ knew him to have come, not so much from the desire of perfection, as from the hope of gain or renown ; and when the prospect of poverty was held out to him he was terrified : as the shame of the Cross deterred the sons of Zebedee when they wished to follow Christ for honour (xx. 22), and the young man who seemed good enough to himself, until the perfection of poverty was set before him (S. Chrysostom, Horn, xxviii. ; S. Hilary ; S. Jerome, In Comment. ; S. Augustin, De verb. Dom. sec. Matt. Serm. vu. ; Theophylact ; and Euthymius, in /<?£.).
The Son of man. Some Ethnics have endeavoured to prove from these words that Christ was the son of a human father, because the Greek is not rr)s avOpwirov, which would mean the son of a human female, but rou, which implies the son of a male (S. Justin, Qucest. 66 ad Ortkod.}. S. Justin does not so much answer these questions as show from other places of Scripture that Christ was not the son of a human father. The answer is easy. " The son of man " is a mere Hebraism for a man. For Scripture calls all generally the sons of men, including even Adam, the first man, who was the son of no human parent, male or female : but because he was a man he is called the son of man ; unless it be said that Christ is called in Scripture the Son of man in the same sense as that in which He is called the Son of Abraham and the Son of David. It is a deeper and more difficult question why Christ alone in the New Testament, and Ezekiel alone in the Old Testament are so called. For I do not remember any but these two to whom this appellation is given ; at least, not so frequently and so properly, although commonly, and in general, all men are called " the sons of man " ; for all explain the words of Daniel vu. 13 of Christ, and there is no question that they ought to be so explained. Why Ezekiel was so called has been explained in the comment on chap. u. i. Why Christ was so called must be explained here. 1. Some say that He was so called to show that it was He whom the Prophets foretold as about to take human nature, and whom they also call the Son of man (Dan. vu. 13). This is the opinion of S. Epiphanius, against the Noetians (H<zr. Ivii.), and of Theodoret in his Commentary on Daniel M\\. 12. 2. S. Gregory Naz. (Orat. w. de Tkeolog.) thinks that Christ was called the Son of Adam to show that He had no human father, but derived His human nature from Adam, through a Virgin. 3. S. Augustin (De Cons., u. i) thinks that Christ took the name to show the good of His Incarnation to us : " Commending to us what He mercifully designed to become for us ". 4. S. Augustin suggests still another reason : That, being also the Son of God, He desired by this appellation to distinguish His divine from His human nature (Ep. clxxiv. ; Tract, xxv. on S. John). 5. Others, as Tertullian (De Cam. Cksti.), simply say that Christ wished to show Himself to be true man. The right explanation why He so called Himself is apparently to be sought for from two circumstances : (i) Because He Himself and Ezekiel alone are so called, as S. Irenseus observes (iii. 18); and (2) that He alone so calls Himself; for others in the New Testament never address Him by that title. The former circumstance suggests that Christ was so called from the same or some similar reason as Ezekiel was. Many causes have been suggested of Ezekiel having been called " the son of man ". The best appears to be that of R. Abraham, that it arose from his having been used to hold frequent conversations with angels, and they, to distinguish him from themselves, who were not men, though appearing to be such, termed him " son of man ". Ezekiel did not call himself this, but the angels did. For a like reason, perhaps, Christ, as He was God, and the Son of God, when He spoke of Himself as man, called Himself the Son of man by a kind of antithesis. Not that He was another person, but in another manner — non quod alius sed quod aliter, " the Son of God because He was God, and the Son of man because He was man," as S. Augustin says. From the latter reason, we may draw the probable conclusion that Christ so termed Himself not for honour, but humility, as He is termed by the Prophets " a worm " and " the reproach of men " (Ps. xxi. 7). For, unless it had been a term of humility, others would surely, at times, have called Him by it as well. S. Stephen, indeed, who calls Him the Son of man, does so not as a sign of humility, but, we must suppose, of honour (Acts vu. 55). We observe that Ezekiel is never styled " the son of man " by himself, but by others ; Christ never by others, but by Himself. He calls Himself the Son of man, there fore, to show that, when He was in the form of God, He thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but " emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and in habit being found as a man " (Philipp. u. 6, 7).
8:21
And another. Christ had said to him first, " Follow Me ". S. Matthew does not relate this, but we find it in ,S. Luke ix. 59, who adds that he said : " Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father," seeking permission from Christ to do so.
Suffer me first to go and bury my father. Some think that the father was not yet dead, but that the meaning of the passage is, Suffer me to go and be with my father, who is now an aged man, until his death, and, after he is dead and buried, I will follow Thee. De Lyra explains it thus, but the opinion of the Ancients — S. Chrysostom (Horn, xxviii.), S. Basil (De Constitut. Monast.^ xxi.), Theophylact, and Euthymius — appears better. The word " bury " shows that the father was actually dead. That he was not so is not stated, and it is not likely that one whom Christ knew and called would have sought such a long and uncertain delay. Nor is it wonderful that Christ answered, " Let the dead bury their dead ". The man so invited justly deserved blame for wishing to be so long absent from Christ. We may wonder that Christ did not suffer him to go and bury a dead father. It is clear that when Christ so answered, He pleased to say a thing very wonderful and beyond human expectation. They, therefore, who so speak to prove that the father was not yet dead, because they think it unlikely that Christ would have been so cruel as to refuse so short a space of time for such an act, appear not to have thoroughly understood His design. He no doubt desired to teach us that, when called by Him, we are not to lose a single day or hour even for piety, though it were to attend the burial of a dead father, but to follow Him at once, than doing which there can be no greater piety.
8:22
Let the dead bury their dead. It is clear that Christ here pleased to practise an ambiguity of speech. When He twice used the word " dead," it is clear that the same meaning is not to be attached to it in each case ; for the subjects of His words were either actually dead in both cases, or they were actually alive in both cases, and were only termed " dead " by metaphor. It could not have been so, for the dead can neither bury the dead, nor the living bury the living. S. Hilary, S. Chrysostom (Horn, xxviii.), S. Jerome, S. Ambrose (On Ps. xlviii.), thought that the " dead " in the first case meant the unfaithful ; others more correctly understand all who think not of Christ, but of this world (S. Augustin, w. 3, De Trin. ; xxv. 6, De Civitate. ; Quczst. 6 de S. Matt. ; and see Ephes. u. I ; v. 14 ; I Tim. v. 6).
Their dead. Christ here describes as dead those who were actually so. S. Hilary, S. Chrysostom, Euthymius, conclude that the father of the man whom Christ called was a Gentile, and that He used the word " their " as meaning, Suffer the Gentiles to bury their own Gentiles. But it is not to be supposed that Christ would have called a man who was not a Jew to preach the Gospel, when He called Paul, who was not a Gentile, but a Jew, even to preach to the Gentiles. He, therefore, calls those " their " who are dead like them, that is, who resemble them ; for each is dead, though not in the same way. Or Christ calls them " their " as meaning, Let each bury his own father, his own son, his own wife, as Abraham said (Gen. xxiii. 4, 13).
8:24
And behold a great tempest arose in the sea. The lake of Gennesaret. S. Luke (viii. 22) calls it a lake. No one is ignorant that this and the lake Asphaltites are called seas from their great size. There appear to have been three other acts of Christ done here, not by accident, but by design, and by His Providence. 1. He entered a ship alone with His disciples, as S. Luke (viii. 22) says, that He might the more freely censure their want of faith (S. Matt. viii. 26). 2. A storm arose ; for God often raises storms to try us, as He did with Job. 3. Christ slept ; for it is to be thought a true and natural sleep, and not, as some have thought, simulated. We may, indeed, believe that it was voluntary and procured, that the storm might appear to have arisen while He was asleep, and, as it were, without His intention.
8:26
He commanded. S. Mark w. 39; 5. Luke viii. 24, et #/., we read eVeri/z^o-ei/, " He rebuked ". We 'find the same in other places, and it seems less remote from the Greek ; but our reading of " commanded " will stand well, for eTrer/^crei/ means both " commanded " and " rebuked " : Christ spoke to the winds, tempests, diseases, and the like as if they were evil spirits. For we blame rational, not mere material things, as infra xvii. 18 ; 6*. Luke w. 35, 41 ; ix. 42. The reason, perhaps, is that diseases and tempests are often sent by evil spirits, as David says (Ps. Ixxvii. 49 \ and as Satan sent the great wind on the four corners of the house in which the sons and daughters of Job were feasting, and overthrew it (Job i. 19).
8:27
But the men ^wondered. What men were these ? S. Jerome understands the Apostles : Bede the others who were in the ship. But it was not likely that the Apostles, who had seen so many miracles of Christ performing, would wonder ; and it has been shown, on verse 24, that there are none in the ship but Christ and the Apostles. It remains that we under stand others who were in other ships. For Christ could not have departed so privately but that many would have followed Him in other ships, as S. Mark (w. 36) relates. The expression seems to be a simple Hebraism, meaning the multitude, as chap. v. 13, and infra xvi. 13.
8:28
Two that were possessed with devils. S. Mark (v. 2) and S. Luke (viii. 27) mention only one, yet it is the same history. S. Matthew mentions two, because there were two ; SS. Mark and Luke one only : whether, as S. Augustin thinks (De Cons Evang., xxiv.; Bede ; and Strabus in his Comment.), theirs was of higher rank, or, as seems more probable, the other was fiercer and much more heavily tormented, being possessed by a whole legion of devils (S. Mark v. 9 ; 5. Luke viii. 30), as is supposed by S. Chrysostom, Euthymius, and Theophylact. For SS. Mark and Luke, because the miracle of possession by an entire legion was singular, treat it as a singular case, and, therefore, being wholly occupied by this one, they pass over the other in silence ; but they relate many things of the latter which S. Matthew omits.
Coming out of the sepulchres. Because they lived in them (S. Mark v. 3 ; .S. Luke viii. 27). How they could do this is easily understood from the nature of the ancient tombs. They were either hewn out of the rock, or built of stone and arched over with brick, like modern wine-cellars. This is seen in Christ's tomb, which was hewn out of the rock (xxvii. 60), into which SS. John and Peter entered (S. John xx. 6), and the three women with spices (S. Luke xxiv. 3). It has been asked why these demoniacs lived in the tombs ? S. Chrysostom (Horn, xxviii.), Euthymius, and Theophylact say that it was the \vork of the devils, to lead men into the error which was in full force in the times of S. Chrysostom, as he tells us that the souls of the dead were changed into devils. S. Augustin mentions this as the opinion of some of the Platonists and certain followers of Tertullian (De Civit.> ix. ; ad Quodvult., Ixxxvi.). Others suppose that the devils did this the more to torment the souls over whom they had power. We learn, from 5. Jude 9, that Michael the arch angel contended with the devil for the body of Moses. Hence probably arose the laudable custom of the Church of placing crosses in tombs, and sprinkling them with holy water. S. Luke seems to imply the true reason (viii. 27). He says : " He wore no clothes, neither did he abide in a house, but in the sepulchres ". This is said to show the extreme fierceness of the demoniacs. They probably did not live in houses, no one being able to receive them on account of their ferocity. They therefore betook themselves to the tombs.
8:29
What have we to do ^cuitk Thee ? These words do not seem to mean what most suppose. This is rather to fix a wrong on Christ than to entreat Him for themselves, as if they denied that they were servants and He their Lord, like the Israelites when they separated themselves from the kingdom of David (3 Kings xii. 1 6): "What portion have we in David?" That is, What harm do we to Thee that Thou shouldst cast us out ? We harm others who pass by ; we touch not Thee, we attack Thee not we worship Thee, we adore Thee, we confess Thee to be the Lord. It has been questioned whether or not these and other evil spirits knew Christ. S. Jerome, S. Augustin (De Civit,, ix. 21), Remigius (Ap.) S. Thom.\ and many later authors say that they knew Him ; not, indeed, with any certain knowledge, but from probable conjecture and suspicion. For if they had certainly known Him, they would have endeavoured to prevent His death. They did not do this, but, on the contrary, they brought it about, for they put it into the mind of Judas to deliver Him up (S. John xiii. 2). Soon after, when they knew Him, they endeavoured, through the wife of Pilate, to effect His deliverance (xxvii. 19). At first, before He began to preach, the devils did not know whether He were the Son of God and the true Messiah or not. If they had known this they would not have tempted Him. They tempted Him for this very purpose, to know the truth by experiment (w. 3, 6). After His Temptation they certainly knew that He was the true Son of God and the true Messiah, as we may see from this passage and others like it (S. Mark i. 34 ; 5. Luke w. 41). The mystery of His death, and the redemption of man from their power by it, we may suppose that they did not know ; otherwise they would never have stirred up the Jews to His betrayal. It is uncertain whether the dream of Pilate's wife proceeded from the devils or the angels, or was natural ; but we must believe, as S. Thomas has warned us, that the devil was prevented by God from knowing much of Christ, which, if not prevented, he would have known of his own nature.
Art Thou, come hither to torment us before the time ? The conjunction of words in this passage is doubtful. Some unite the expression "before the time" to "art Thou come," as if the evil spirits complained that Christ had come into the world before the time. This idea seems wholly untenable. For the devils could not have been ignorant that the time of Christ's coming, as foretold by the Prophets, was now fulfilled ; for men of very little learning knew this, and the word " hither " may appear to mean, not this world, but this country of the Gerasenes, into which Christ had now come, and in which the devils had previously worked their will with impunity. The words " before the time " should be taken, not with those preceding them, " art thou come," but with what follows, " to torment us before the time has arrived when we must be tormented ". It is a more important question why they said that they were tormented before the time. It is wonderful with what unanimity the greater number of the Ancients, relying on 2 Peter u. 4 and S. Jude 6, teach that the devils are not tormented before the Day of Judgment. They explain the meaning of S. Matthew to be, that the devils complain that they are tormented before that period ; as S. Hilary (Can. viii.) explains it. But we may believe, with the confirmed opinion of the Church, that the devils are tormented even now, and that, wherever they go, they carry about with them, as Strabus says in his Commentary on Philippians iii., their own punish ment ; but that they are punished in a lighter degree now because they have the power of wandering through the world and of harming men, which they will not have after the Day of Judgment. It is certain that the meaning of the words " before the time " is before the Judgment, because S. Luke says that they asked Christ not to send them into the abyss (viii. 31); as if they were thus to be tormented in the same way before their time of torment as they would be after the Judgment. From this question springs another : Did the evil spirits know of the Day of Judgment ? S. Augustin thinks that the devils supposed, when they saw Christ, that the Day of Judgment, which they did not look for yet, was at hand : " before the time," meaning with them, before we thought. This opinion has had many followers ; but that the devils do not know the Day of Judgment we cannot doubt, for the angels in heaven do not know it (xxiv. 36). They know, however, that it had not come yet, and, therefore, they complain that they were tormented before the time. But how ? By being driven, against their will, out of those of whom they were in possession. And it is probable that Christ may have added some torments to them that they might go out.
8:30
And there was not far from them. The Greek reads %v Se pdicpav, " And there was far from them," in a contrary sense. Some, in other respects no undue supporters of the Greek, prefer this reading, and correct the Latin by it. Nor are they without arguments in their support. These are chiefly : 1. All the Greek copies contain an affirmation and not a negation. 2. It is probable that Christ would drive the evil spirits as far off as possible from the place which they infested. But the Latin version still seems the less corrupt of the two. (i) Because all the copies, ancient and modern, and all the early commentators except Euthymius read it so. (2) Because S. Mark (v. n) and S. Luke (viii. 32) say, " There were there," that is, the place spoken of by S. Matthew as "not far off". (3) Because S. Luke says (viii. 32) on the mountains, and S. Mark (v. 11) near the mountains which are near the sea. (4) Because Christ, as we shall shortly prove, suffered them to go into the swine, that they who were present and had the care of them might know from the destruction of the swine the number and ferocity of the devils ; which they would not have known if they had not seen the swine, nor have seen if they had been at a distance. It has been asked, how swine could be there when it was unlawful for the Jews to keep them. Some suppose that the Jews of that country kept them against the law, and that, as Rupertus says, Christ willed to punish them by the very instruments of their sin. It seems more probable that Gadara and the neighbouring cities were of the Greek religion, as Josephus says (Antiq., xvii. 13), and, therefore, had swine. But, then, why did Christ go there when He had not come but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (xv. 24) ? The answer may be, that not only in the Greek but also in the Latin cities were many Jews, for whose sake Christ went thither ; for Gadara belonged properly to the kingdom of Judaea, but Josephus says Caesar had given it to the Greeks as a habitation.
8:31
And the devils besought Him saying. The devils asked two things of Christ — one that He would not send them into the abyss (S. Luke viii. 31) ; the other that they might be sent into the sea. We have shown why they asked not to be sent into the abyss. Many reasons are given by the Ancients for their asking to be sent into the swine S. Chrysostom (Horn, xxix.), Euthymius, and Theophylact say that it was that the men of the country, being enraged by the loss of the swine, might not permit Him to enter their cities. The result appears to confirm this idea, for (verse 34) " they besought Him that He would depart from their coasts ". Others think that they did it from envy of the inhabitants, wishing, if they could not harm them in their persons, to do so in their property. This reason was given by the great Hilarion, as S. Jerome writes in his life, when he had cast out a devil from a monster camel. S. Jerome supports it by this passage and by the case of Job. It is rather to be wondered at why Christ permitted it. S. Jerome says that it was to bring the men of the city to repentance ; but Rupertus, as we have said, thought that it was to punish the Jews by the loss of the swine for keeping them against the law. S. Hilary suggests that it was done because of the Sadducees, who denied that there were spirits, to show them their error by the testimony of their senses. S. Chrysostom, Theophylact, and Euthymius give three reasons for the act. I. That the possessed might acknow ledge the greatness of the benefit done them, by seeing from how great a number of devils they had been delivered. 2. That we might know that the devils had no power even over swine without the permission of God. 3. That they might understand what they would have suffered if they had not been delivered by God, when they saw the swine, the instant the devils entered into them, cast themselves headlong into the sea. S. Hilarion, in S. Jerome, says that it was to show what a multitude of devils were cast out of one man when they filled a whole herd of swine. What S. Chrysostom and S. Augustin (Tractat. on S.John) say, that Christ desired to show that devils willingly enter into men, who live like swine, is true but mystical. Some ask why Christ, who was so mild that He would not break a bruised reed nor quench the smoking flax, caused so great a loss to these people ? The answer may be that Christ wished even the swine to be subservient to the glory of God, and the salvation of men. They served the glory of God because, by their rushing headlong into the sea, they declared the power of Christ : they would have served the good of men if the people of the city, after having witnessed so great a miracle, had turned to Christ. But human malice thwarted the designs of God.
8:34
They besought Him that He would depart from their coasts. It is uncertain why those Gadarenes would not receive Christ. S. Jerome and Bede think that it was from humility, as S. Peter said to Christ, " Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord " (S. Luke v. 8). Others, that it was from fear ; lest He should cast out other devils from men, and send them into their cattle. This is confirmed by S. Mark (v. 15), S. Luke (viii. 35-37), who say that they were exceeding afraid. This can be believed without difficulty of the Gadarenes, who were men of little culture. For there are many even now, who, under pretence of human prudence, would rather drive Christ out of the country — that is, those who follow Christ — than swine, atheists, heretics, and men defiled with every kind of iniquity.
8:1
Admiratio turbarum 7,28 eo quoque cernitur quod Iesum doctorem comites secutae sunt 8,1 cum autem descendisset de monte, secutae sunt eum turbae multae , qua sententia narratio de sermone montano concluditur (cf. 4,25 et 5,1) id quod bene advertit S. Br. : « in eo quod dicit. cum autem descendisset... superioris locutionis finem facit; deinde vero gestorum ordine et tempore praetermisso ab hoc miraculo scribere inchoat ». Supra 5,93 duo assignaverat evangelista : circuibat Iesus docens et sanans; uti 5-7 doctrinam, ita nunc sanationes exponit aliquibus exemplis. De hac leprosi sanatione agitur quoque Marc. 1,40 et Luc. 5,12, ex quo manifestum fit alio tempore, ante sermonem montanum, leprosum esse sanatum. Matthaeus enim rerum ordinem, non temporis seriem sequitur. Unde iam S. Br. monet hanc narrationem superioribus non continuari, idque recte ex ipsa narratione sequi ostendit. Quomodo enim Christus dicere potuisset : vide aemini dixeris , « si hoc miraculum inter turbas fecisset quae eum sequebantur cum de monte descendisset? neque enim unus celare potuisset quod tanta millia hominum vidissent ». Neque obstat quod dicitur
Evangelista postquam specimen et exemplum dedit doctrinae Christi iam eum describit potentissimum miraculorum patratorem (cf. &,93). Messias enim cum sit princeps prophetarum et doctrina et miraculis prae illis eminere debuit (cfr. Is. 35,5.6). Ex multis autem miraculis evangelista quaedam selegit. quibus ostendatur Christo inesse potestatem plane maximam quae nullo rerum genere restringatur : sanat enim morbos omnis generis, etiam si aegrotus non praesens sistitur, solo voluntatis nutu , imperium exercet in fluctus maris et tempestates, ei obediunt et subiiciuntur daemones, simul cum morbis corporis sanat vulnera animi , peccata sua auctoritate remittens; suscitat mor- | tuos, immo sufficit ad morbum prorsus desperatum sanandum, ut : eius vestimentum tangatur, caecis lumen, mutis loquela eiecto daemone restituitur. Hisce miraculis enarratis efficitur non solum ut Iesus tamquam legatus divinus probetur, verum etiam ut iam aliqua notitia eius naturae divinae ingeratur. Porro iis ostenditur praeter potentiam summam summa quoque Christi benignitas et clementia qua paratus est miseriis corporis et animi mederi, dummodo quis ei fidem obviam ferat. Tales itaque mores Christi describuntur quibus animos omnium sibi conciliet et ad se attrahat necesse est. Quae omnia spectare ad id quod evangelista sibi proposuit manifestum est. Ad idem quoque pertinet quod monet de defectu eius fidei in Israel, quod Christus docet de iis quae a suis discipulis postulat; hisce enim causas exponere pergit cur maior Iudaeorum pars Messiam non susceperit; id quod in moribus quoque pharisaeorum et in eorum perversitate demonstratur , qua Christi miracula ope fieri daemonis contendunt. Quemadmodum itaque in sermone montano ex una parte elucet Christi maiestas et auctoritas , ex altera autem multae reperiuntur rationes, cur plerique Iudaeorum tale regnum messianum repudiaverint, ita utrumque pari ratione, licet alio modo, in his quoque capitibus 8 et 9 expressum cernitur. Et primo quidem tres narrat sanationes , leprosi in signum sacerdotibus et testimonium, filii centurionis qua occasione maior apparet alienigenae fides, socrus Petri, qua fit, ut plurimi salutem apud Christum quaerant qui vaticinium lIsaiae in se impletum operibus demonstrat (8,1-17). Ipse autem Christus uti cernitur pauper, ita a suis quoque animum exigit a rebus terrenis expeditum; atque eum revera dignum esse cui adhaereatur, demonstratur miraculis quibus mare et ventos sedat et daemones eiicit , demonstratur eius in peccatores misericordia et benignitate, qua peccata remittit, hominem publicanum in apostolum eligit , demonstratur suavitate illa qua suos ad virtutis perfectionem erudit (8,18-9,17). Idem elucet in resuscitatione filiae Iairi , in sanatione haemorrhoissae, duorum caecorum, daemoniaci muti; quibus tamen beneficiis effectus plane contrarii eliciuntur, admirationis in plebe, blasphemiae apud pharisaeos (9, 18-34).
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V. 9 et ecce leprosus veniens; nam et ecce non necessario seriem dicit continuam (cf. 2,1; 28,2) sed excitat attentionem remque inducit quae sit consideratione digna; vide 10,10; 12,51 ; 13,3; 19,97; 20,18 etc. ld vero quod admirationem movere potest est quod /eprosus audeat accedere (προσελθών), cum homines eo morbo infecti prohiberentur immundos proclamare, ne quis accederet. Atque multo majore admiratione digna est ipsa leprosi precatio et sanatio attactu manus Christi facta. Unde satis superque habemus quo illud e/ ecce explicemus. Cur autem S. Matthaeus ab hac sanatione incipiat vix certó statui potest; rationes probabiles fortasse sunt : lepra erat plaga quae divinitus infligi censebatur et quae humanis remediis non poterat tolli; unde eius sanatio apta erat ad Christi divinam virtutem demonstrandam; precatio leprosi plena est fide et humilitate, quae duo apud plerosque Iudaeos desiderabantur; hoc miraculo Christus se probat sacerdotibus tamquam legatum Dei vel prophetam; simul ostendit se humilitate adorabat eum, Marc. 1,&0 genu flexo dixitei, Luc. 5,12 προσεκύνει adorabat; « nec perfunctorie sed multo cum fervore et ante genua eius ipsi supplicat » (S. Chrys.) et Euth. dicit προσεχύνει manifestius (φανερώτερον) exprimi apud Marcum γονυπετῶν ἦν etita quoque de maximae reverentiae significatione accipiunt Cai. Ians. Calm. Fil. Vox itaque externum corporis habitum, prostrationem , dicit; quare adhibetur de reverentia hominibus vel angelis exhibita et de cultu soli Deo debito (cf. Matth. 18,96. Act. 10,25. Ioan. 4,91 etc. — Gen. 23," etc. 33,3; 37,8). Quo igitur animo leprosus censendus erit provis, potes me mundare; ipsa allocutio est messiana (cf. 7,99. loan. 13,13); in sola eius voluntate contineri sanationem testatur; « curandi ilum dominum esse et potestatem eius summam testificatur » (S. Chrys.); unde ab eo divinam in Iesu agnosci virtutem existimant Euth. op. imp. Br. Maid. Lap. Lamy, Reischl, Schanz ; alii eum profiteri Iesum ut Messiam vel prophetam (cf. Arn. Schegg), vel tamquam prophetam aut Deum (Saím.); alii negant eum agnovissein Iesu Deum, quamvis concedant eum magnificam de Iesu habuisse opinionem (lans.). Atque profecto dicendum erit cum Bar. si verum est Deum a leproso creditum esse Iesum, id peculiari Dei auxilio esse factum. Verba eius maximam spirant modestiam, humilitatem, submissionem, cum omnia Domini voluntati relinquant; simul plenam fidem eius . potentiae exprimunt; « qui voluntatem rogat, de virtute non dubitat » (S. Hier.). Christus autem quod a leproso dictum est confirmat et roborat (S. Chrys.) : et extendens Iesus manum tetigit eum dicens : volo, mundare ; in volo ostendit pietatis clementiam , in mundare maiestatis suae potentiam, quia ipse dixit et facta sunt (Bed.). Et merito monet : S. Chrys. quantum intercedat discrimen inter apostolos et Christum; | illi enim dicebant : quid nobis attenditis quasi propria virtute vel potestate fecerimus hunc ambulare (Act. 3,12), Christus vero soli sibi virtutem attribuit. Cur autem manum extenderit eumque tetigerit, aliqui explicant, ut ostenderet se esse supra legem (S. Chrys. Euth. Pasch. Thom. Cai. lans.) ; lege enim idem prohibebatur. Melius alii intelligunt Christum ostendere virtutem humanae naturae suae, cuius attactu immundities purgetur (Theoph. Cai. Salm. lans. Coleridge V. p. 48); habetur itaque, uti in sacramentis (S. Thom.), signum externum verbis coniunctum. Fidei documenta quae inde colligi vel confirmari possint haec Beda aliique notant : volo propter Photinum dicit, mundare, imperat propter Arium, /angit propter Manichaeum. Ex- " tendente manum Domino statim lepra fugit (S. Hier.) et confestim mundata est lepra etus; id quod aliqui ita concipiunt, ut lepra iam fugerit antequam manus Domini leprosum tangeret (S. Pasch. Br.). Discimus autem ex Marco .1,45 cur Iesus ei mandaverit
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v. & vide, nemini dixeris, voluit quippe Christus turbulentam illam populi commotionem reprimere et evitare. Si itaque periculum aderat ne populi exspectatio regni temporalis messiani foveretur, Christus se a turbis recipiebat in loca deserta, miracula propagari vetabat, uti fugit in montem ipse solus, cum eum regem facere vellet populus (loan. 6,15). Aliae quoque rationes afferri solent; frequenter docent Christum dare exemplum humilitatis et laudis hominum vitatae (S. Chrys. Theoph. EutÀ. Br. Thom. Dion. Cai. Salm. Bar.); tali mandato moneri eum qui beneficium acceperit, ut longe ab hominum consortio secum coram Deo gratiam acceptam perpendat (Schegg); alii id solum iniungi opinantur, ne quid dicat ulli antequam a sacerdote mundus sit declaratus (op. imp. Maid. Weiss). ld quod modo loquendi sed vade, ostende te hoc loco commendari posset, nisi ex Marco 1,45 et aliis eiusmodi prohibitionibus 16,20. Marc. 5,43; 7,24; 8,26 aliud esset concludendum. Lex mosaica non abolita est nisi morte Christi (cf. 27,51. Rom. 7,4. Gal. 2,19). Quare Christus ex praecepto Lev. 1*,2 dicit ei : ostende Capharnaum et servum centurionis sanat. Apud utrumque evangelistam unum eundemque eventum narrari fere omnes statuunt, idque satis est evidens cum omnia ad amussim inter se congruant, unum si exceperis; Matthaeus enim scribit ipsum centurionem ad Iesum accessisse eique esse locutum, Lucas vero ab eo seniores Iudaeorum et amicos esse ad Christum missos qui ipsius nomine eum rogarent. Sed hoc discrimen diluitur haud operose. Plerique dicunt Matthaeum brevitati studentem in recensendis miraculis id tribuere centurioni quod eius mandato et nomine alii fecerunt et dixerunt secundum tritum illud : quod quis per alios facit ipse fecisse censetur. Quare haud immerito dicit S. Aug. (de cons. evang. 2,20. 49; M. 35,1101) vulgo etiam intelligi posse Matthaeum per alios facto accessu centurionis ad Dominum dicere voluisse compendio : accessit ad eum centurio. At alia quoque explanatio dari potest forte haud improbabilis, quam S. CArys. Euth. Lap. Calm. Fil. indicant, ipsum quoque centurionem obviam isse Christo, cum is etiam post legationem amicorum in via pergeret. Dein qui per amicos Christum precatur decet ut data opportunitate ipsum adeat eumque per se salutet. Quaré nihil obstare videtur quominus dicamus centurionem post amicos accessisse ad Christum honorandum. — Uti in leproso populum iudaicum, ita in centurione gentili gentes repraesentari et Christum utrisque sua beneficia praestare velle merito adnotant; ita quoque evangelium annuntiandum erat Iudaeo primum et Graeco (Rom. 1,16); « et bene quidem lepra sanatur in Iudaeo, paralysis vero in gentili; nam iudaicus populus veluti lepra laborabat, quod ex parte sanus esset, ex parte languidus; gentilis vero populus veluti paralysi laborabat, lecto decumbens et iam proximus morti , quia nihil in. eo sanum, sed omnia aegrota erant et dissoluta » (ans.). Centurio cum esset in Capharnaum, Galilaeae urbe (cf. & 3) militabat Herodi tetrarchae, cui Galilaea obtigerat (Luc. 3,1). Eum fuisse gentilem, i. e. non Iudaeum natione sequitur ex v. 10 et ex modo. quo Iudaei apud Lucam loquuntur : diligit enim gentem nostram. Eum autem fuisse cultorem veri Dei et fortasse proselytum eo colligi potest quia apud Lucam seniores ludaeorum Christum rogant, ut ad eum se conferat; id quod eos facturos esse vix credi potest, si fuisset idololatra, cum ludaei consortium gentilium cultorum idolorum maxime abhorrerent. Rogat Dominum pro puero suo i. e. pro servos nam apud Lucam vocatur δοῦλος et παῖς apud Matth. eandem potest habere significationem, uti elucet ex 12,18 et 14,2; praeterea apud LXX haud raro παῖς ponitur pro hebr. 73», pro servo vel famulo; similiter Hebraeis *y2, Latinis puer est servus vel famulus; iacet pararemissione, magnis vexatus doloribus, immo (secundum Lucam) iam morti proximus. Centurio rem exponit, nullam addit precationem, quae tamen ipsa allocutione Dom:ne et rei narratione continetur; scil. iam novit ex beneficiis in Capharnaum et in vicinia praestitis benignitatem Christi et insuper modestiae est et humilitatis rem Domino relinquere , reverentiae quoque quae decet inferiorem paucis uti verbis neque longiore obsecratione aures onerare. Haud incongrue inonent auctor op. imp. Bed. Pasch. habere dominos quod imitentur in centurione, curam scil. et misericordiam de subditis ; habere servos in servo quod aemulentur; « secundum dilectionem domini mensurate fidem servi » (op. imp.). Christus benigne postulationi tacite annuit
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v. 1 ego veniam et curabo eum; « quod nusquam fecerat hic fecit; cum enim ubique supplicantium voluntatem sequeretur, hic prosilit nec se curaturum tantum sed domum quoque venturum pollicetur. Id vero facit, ut centurionis virtutem discamus » (S. CArys. Euth.). Qui itaque est scrutator cordium , dedit centurioni opportunitatem, ut ad Iudaeorum confusionem et nostram aperiret quantae esset fidei, quantae humilitatis. Similiter egit cum muliere phoenissa, ut dilatione beneficii et increpatione eius emineret animi demissio (Marc. 7,26 seq.). VI seq.); « noluit ire ne in reguli filio videretur magis divitiis detulisse; hic ipse perrexit , ne videreturin centurionis famulo conditionem despexisse servilem »(S. Amr. in Luc. lib. 5 n. 8&; M. 15,1659) et similiter op. imp. Pasch. Ians. Centurio autem et summam manifestat animi demissionem et fidem incomparabilem, cum credat Dominum absentem solo suó imperio posse servo restituere sanitatem : Domine non sum dignus ut intres sub tectum meum, sed lantum dic verbo et sanabitur puer meus; eximiam ostendit humilitatem , qua etiam patet quanta Domini reverentia sit imbutus ; se scil. peccatorem profitetur, Dominum vero sanctissimum; unde loquitur simili modo Simon Petrus: exi à me quia homo peccator sum , Domine (Luc. 5,8). Quae humilitas, reverentia, fides in homine gentili, in milite, eo maiore admiratione digna est, si comparetur cum superbia doctorum legis, cum eorum in Iesum contemptu et persecutionibus. Quare in documentum perenne et monumentum gloriae haec verba centurionis in sacra liturgia per orbem catholicum continuo celebrantur. — Sufficere autem imperium Christi et nutum voluntatis probat argumento ἃ minore ad maius v. 9 nam et ego homo sum sub potestate constitutus, non solum principis tetrarchae, verum etiam ducis militum et tribuni, et tamen qui mihi, homini inferioris dignitatis, subditi sunt prompte mandatis meis obediunt ; ita milites mei et servi : et dico huic vade, et vadit , et alii vent, et venit, et servo meo fac hoc , et facit ; quanto igitur magis Domine, cui cuncta sunt subiecta, cuncta tuo imperio obsequentur? Unde autem gentili 4alis fides? Animum. gerebat simplicem et pium quem descriptum habes Luc. 7,5!; audierat de variis miraculis a Christo patraüs, de filio reguli ab absente uno verbo sanato (Ioan. 4,50), de daemone in synagoga ab eo expulso (Luc. &,33), de socru Petri sanata et de plurimis illis sanationibus eodem die vespere factis (Luc. &,39- ^1). Quae cum in Capharnaum acta essent, centurio vix poterat ignorare; nam « divulgabatur fama de illo in omnem locum regionis... perambulabat autem magis sermo de illo » Luc. 54,37 ; 5,15. Ex hisce itaque adiutus gratia Dei sublimem illam de Christi dominio et potestate in omnes morbos notionem hausit et summam illam reverentiam qua se indignum reputaret in cuius domum Christus intraret. Quod autem gentilis didicerat ex Christi operibus, id discere et intelligere illi negligebant qui legis Dei doctrina eruditi, a loanne baptista de Messia proxime venturo edocti testes pariter erant operum talium. qualia nemo unquam hominum fecerat. Quare Christus merito miratur et fidem centurionis et illorum tarditatem
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v. 10 audiens autem Iesus miratus est et sequentibus se dizit : amen dico vobis , non inveni tantam fidem 1n Israel! admiratio oritur in nobis ex eo quod aliquid novi et insoliti et incogniti videmus aut audimus; talis admiratio in Christo exsistere non potuit, cum etiam ut homo omnia cognosceret antequam fierent. Poterat autem fieri in eo aliqua admiratio ex illa scientia quam experimentalem theologi vocant , qua scil. per intuitum cernitur et sensibus percipitur id quod per speculationem iam antea notum erat, « quemadmodum astrologus eclipsin theorice notam experientia deprehendit » et de ea gaudium percipit eamque cum delectatione aspicit (Salm. Lap. Bar.). Praeterea cum Christus ad fidem centurionis commendandam in modum admirantis vultum componeret et fortasse aliis quoque signis exterioribus et insuper verbis fidem centurionis admiratione dignam declararet, merito dici potuit miratus est. Sunt etenim verba eius talia qualia is edere solet qui admiratur amen, vere, profecto, dico vobis, tamquam rem miram omnibus vult innotescere, se ex eo quo tempus praedicationis inceperit (Faó. Cai. Lap. Bar.) in nullo ex Israel tantam invenisse fidem ; nemo scil. ex Israel ἃ Christo tanta fide - sanationem petiit quanta hic petiit centurio (Tost. Bar.); ergo eousque nemo occurrerat Christo qui tanta fide beneficium sanitatis postularet et adeo sublimem de Christi potentia notionem haberet. Centurionis fides praeludium quoddam fuit ac specimen fidei gentium; unde Christus huius fidei occasione incipit disserere de gentium vocatione et ludaeorum reiectione (Faó. Dion. Ians. Grimmll p. 132)
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v. 11 dico autem vobis quod multi ab oriente et occidente venient i. e. &b omnibus terrae plagis, e regionibus gentium, ergo gentiles, e£ recumbent cum. Abraham , Isaac et Iacob in regno coelorum; cum epulae sacrificales sint pignus quoddam amicitiae divinae, ad quas epulas Deus amicos adhibet iisque de suis communicat bonis, etiam regnum coelorum, beatitas coelestis et summa illa bonorum divinorum in beatos effusio saepe per convivium describitur; cf. Is. 25,6. Ps. 35,6; atque eadem imagine pharisaeos quoque regnum coelorum concepisse elucet Luc. 15,15 : quidam de simul discumbentibus dixit : beatus qui manducabit panem in regno Dei; eadem comparatione utitur Christus 22,1. Luc. 16,16; cf. Apoc. 19,9. 17. Deus se vocabat Deum Abraham etc.; ea appellatione indicavit foedus illud cum patriarchis initum non circumscribi vitae temporalis limitibus , verum protendi in beatam aeternitatem; quare patriarchae illi ad mensam coelestem quasi praesidere dicuntur; gentiles autem fide praestantes tamquam veri filii Abraham declarantur, qui socii effecti sint radicis et pinguedinis olivae (Rom. 11,17), dum rami aliqui olivae fracti sunt et excisi propter incredulitatem. Quam excisionem Christus quoque minatur et praedicit
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v. 12 fili autem regni, qui in regno Dei, in theocratia vetere nati et circumcisione foederi Dei consecrati sunt, qui sunt naturales rami olivae (Rom. 11,21) et quibus eloquia Dei credita sunt et primo ac praecipuo quodam iure salus offertur messiana , eiicientur in tenebras exteriores ; ibi erit fletus et stridor dentium ; agitur hoc loco de regno coelorum sub figura convivii vel coenae; conviviales autem coenae vespere instrui solebant (cf. 1 Thess. 5,7) et copioso taedarum ac lampadum lumine celebrari ; qui igitur in coenaculo sunt in magno sunt lumine; qui extra versantur in tenebris; ideo qui ex regno coelorum extruduntur, in tenebras exteriores eiici dicuntur (Ma/d. Lap. Lamy, Calm. Arn. Reischl, Schanz, Fil.). Eadem coenae comparatio et eiectio ex coenaculo in tenebras legitur 22,13. Praeterea cum Deus sit lux et apparitiones divinae et angelicae multa cum luce et magno splendore fieri soleant et lux generatim symbolum sit felicitatis, gloriae, beatitatis, etiam regnum coelorum tamquam regnum lucis ac splendoris concipitur; quare regio extra illud regio est tenebrarum densissimarum, qua melaphora summa miseria et ingentes calamitates designari solent. Declaratur itaque in eiectione et in tenebris poena damni, privatio omnis lucis i. e. omnis beatitatis quae in se iam est poena gravissima tium , dolor summus animi de bono amisso, furor, terror, desperatio. En, qualis ruina instet illi qui Christo non adhaereat aedificans domum suam super arenam (7,26). Ex hisce quoque verbis aliqui colligunt doctrinam de resurrectione; « si fletus oculorum est et stridor dentium ossa demonstrat, vera est ergo corporum et eorundem membrorum quae ceciderant resurrectio » (S. Hier. et sim. Bed. Pasch. Thom. Ians.); ad quam rem notat Maid. : « an autem fletus et stridor dentium verus futurus sit, an per haec duo maxima illa inferni supplicia affirmare; malim tamen verum fletum et stridorem quam metaphotari possumus per figuram interpretari incredulorum hominum est et quasi fidei diverticula quaerentium ». Alii tamen. contenti sunt explicare generatim de poenis sensibilibus, negant quoque in inferno fore . fletum lacrimarum (Tost. qu. 38 in cap. 8, (αἱ. lans. Lap.). Sufficit . itaque prior acceptio de diris suppliciis et horrore atque indignatione summa. Paucis verbis, at gravissimis, docuit Christus quid fidelibus, quid ternos ex quibus alterutrum eligere unusquisque debebit. Quare ipsa haec narratio facta est doctrina, quam doctrinam absolvit dicens centurioni : vade et sicut credidisti fiat tibi; hisce enim et fidem laudat centurionis et dicit eum fide sua promeruisse favorem illum et miraculum et se ostendit talis esse potestatis qualem centurio asseruerat (Tost. qu. 39); et sanatus est puer in illa hora; eodem scil. momento quo Christus illud /íat pronuntiavit; sunt enim verba Christi efficacia : dixit et facta sunt. En , quam efficax sit fides ad impetrandum; sed est ipsa quoque fides mensura doni : sicut credidisti fiat; vidc lac. 1,6 : postulet in fide nihil haesitans, qui enim haesitat... non .Adiungit evangelista aliam sanationem quae occasio erat, ut Iesus sese manifestaret praeditum potentia sanandi omne morborum genus; elucet itaque in eo et potentia summa et benevolentia; unde in se exprimit imaginem Messiae ab Isaia descriptam;
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v. 1& et cum venisset Iesus in domum Petri, vidit socrum etus iacentem et febricitantem; ex S. Marco 1,29 et Luca 5,38 discimus id evenisse mox post Christi reditum in Galilaeam (cf. loan. 4,3) in Capharnaum in die sabbati, postquam in synagoga spiritum immundum eiecit. Egressus ex synagoga se contulit in domum Petri, quae domus apud Marcum Simonis et Andreae (fratris Petri) vocatur. Cum Bethsaida appelletur civitas Petri et Andreae (foan. 1,4) et hic de domo Petri mentio sit, putarunt aliqui (Ma/d.) haec non in Capharnaum, sed in Bethsaida actas esse. [d vero narrationi apud Marcum 1,33 contradicit, quo loco civitas non potest intelligi ex oratione contexta nisi Capharnaum. Alij offenduntur eo quod Petrus oriundus ex Bethsaida domum habere dicitur in Capharnaum. Sed quid mirum? cum socrus ibi degeret, erat fortasse domus quae ei ex matrimonio inito contigerat, vel quam simuj cum Andrea fratre piscatus et commercii. causa in urbe acquisierat. Quaerunt alii, quomodo domus Petri conciliari possit cum eius verbis : ecce nos reliquimus omnia; unde censent vocari domum eius non quia tum eius fuerit, sed quia olim fuisset vel quia olim eius patri: domus fuisset (Ma/d.). Sed adverti debet non statim ab initio apostolo: omnia reliquisse ; haec autem evenisse priusquam omnia relinquerent! (Luc. 5,11); Marc. 1,18 et Matth. 4,90 dicuntur solum relictis retibu: secuti esse Dominum (si quidem ea narratio censeatur alia ab Luc. 5; et quid hoc non significet apparet ex eo quia postmodum Luc. 5 iterum retia habent, et navim. Quare planis evangelistae verbis standum est. Divertit autem Iesus in domum Petri, ut discipulum honoraret (S. Thom.), non in domum opulentiorem alicuius divitis, ut contemptum pompae et paupertatis amorem exemplo doceret (Tost. ). Et venit ad hoc ut aegrotantem sanaret; « mira Dei dispensatio, qui etiam non quaerentes se quaerit et non valentes ad se venire ad eos clementer venit, quia si non ille ad nos prior venisset, nunquam ad eum redire potuissemus » (PascA.). Erat autem socrus febricttans, Luc. &,38 tene. batur magnis febribus πυρετῷ μεγάλῳ; gravi igitur morbo, febri ardenti decumbebat;
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v. 15 e£ tetigit manum eius et dimisit eam febris, alii narrant Dominum esse rogatum pro illa; « hic autem illud tacuit; in qua re tamen nulla est discrepantia, sed aliud est brevitatis, aliuc plenioris narrationis » (S. CArys.). Tangit manum, ut sacra sua humanitate morbum pelli significet; adhibet signum externum, cui etiam ex Luca (imperavit febri) accedit verbum ; eodem ritu institui! sacramenta Ecclesiae : accedit verbum ad elementum (signum externum) et fit sacramentum. Perfecta sanatio momento facta et animu: gratus sanatae describitur : e£ surrexit et ministrabat eis; eis explicatur ex Marc. 1,99. Notat S. Chrys. : « scitis cessante febri multo tempore opus esse, ut aegri in pristinam valetudinem restituantur; sec tunc omnia simul facta sunt » et idem advertit S. Hier. : « nature hominum istiusmodi est, ut post febrem magis lassescant corpora e! incipiente sanitate aegrotationis mala sentiant; verum sanitas qua« confertur ἃ Domino totum simul reddit ». Eo quod ministrabat, sa . 390 MATTH. 8, 16-47. nitas subito et plene restituta , epitasis fortitudinis (S. Hier.) indicatur. Vires restitutas servitio Domini consecrat et profecto quo alio modo melius ac beatius impendi possent? . Re in synagoga acta (de qua alii referunt) et hoc miraculo maxima hominum exspectatio est excitata. Dominum adeo potentem et benignum didicerunt. Quare vespere facto , cum scil. sabbatum transisset (Iudaei enim diem a vespera incipiebant) obtulerunt ei multos daemonia habentes et eiiciebat spiritus verbo et omnes male habentes curavit; quantus hominum concursus factus sit, oculis plane subiicit Marcus scribens : et erat omnis civitas congregata ad ianuam (1,33). In hac multitudine aegrotorum quot et quantae sint miseriae vitae humanae cernimus depictum ; at cernimus quoque Iesum, verum medicum et salvatorem, inter eos versantem, benigne eos solantem et impositione manuum eos sanantem (Luc. " ,h0) et imperio suo daemones eiicientem. Nihil itaque neque in morbis neque in daemonibus eius potestati non est subiectum. Unde Iudaeis qui historiam sacram et mira prophetarum gesta norunt innotescere debebat hic esse plus quam prophetam; tale enim imperium nemo unquam exercuit; nemo solo nutu suae voluntatis et in rerum naturas et in daemones dominatus est. Quis igitur ille est et unde ei talis potestas interminata? Ei quaestioni respondet evangelista docens quid ex illis curationibus omnis generis colligi potuerit ac debuerit
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v. 17 ut adimpleretur quod dictum est per Isaiam prophetam : ipse infirmitates nostras accepit et aegrotationes nostras portavit; Is. 53,& ; verba recitantur non secundum versionem graecam (hic peccata nostra portat φέρει et pro nobis dolet ὀδυνᾶται) sed secundum textum hebraicum; accepit ἔλαθε N72. Sensus e verbis et oratione contexta apud prophetam est : ipse in se assumpsit ac gestavit nostros morbos et dolores i. e. dolores, poenas, castigationes quas nos meruimus et quas nos portare et exsolvere merito debueramus, ipse in se assumpsit ac luit et ita pro nobis expiavit. Evangelista igitur reddit rationem intimam cur Christus mala illa ex peccato orta auferre et sanare possit, quia scil. ille est qui ipsa peccata, fontes malorum, sua expiatione et satisfactione aufert. Sanationes illae omnis generis itaque eum demonstrant qui ipsa peccata expiat et quia Christus revera pro peccatis satisfactionem abundantem praestat, ideo etiam potestatem habet auferendi et sanandi ea quae ex peccato nata sunt; « nam si mors quae caput est omnium ex peccato originem occasionemque habuit , multo magis aegritudines hinc ortae sunt » (S. CArys.). Ergo impletur in sanationibus Christi id quod Isaias praedixit, quia ibi habetur effectus unus qui oritur ex Christi satisfactione tamquam ex causa. Satisfecit autem in humana TUA Werne: δον MO mets COT 47 07 MATTH. 8, 18-19. 3349 .— 7 natura et ope. eius; quare etiam per humanam naturam, tactu, impositione manuum, verbo, sanat. Ceterum de hoc loco etiam pluribus egi ad Is. 53,& (Comment. in Is. II p. 301 seq.). Explicatione data patet evangelistam verba prophetae neque accommodare solum neque sensu alio ac prophetam accipere neque sua argumentatione sensum statuere duplicem litteralem.
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v. 18 videns autem Iesus turbas multas circum se tussit ire trans fretum i. e. in ripam lacus Genesareth alteram, orientalem. Verum quoque : est et alteri rationi satis cognatum quod S. Chrys. Euth. Theoph. dicunt Christum discessisse propter Iudaeorum invidiam; addunt quoque ut nos doceret nihil esse ad ostentationem agendum; alii in ipsis turbis, earum impetu, earum studio ac cupiditate nova et mira videndi causam reponunt (Arn.); sed ratio prior cum Bsp. Schanz, Fi. est praeferenda. Cum itaque Christus a turbis recederet, ut in naviculam sese conferret, accedit wunws scriba, εἷς i. e. unus aliquis (εἷς τις explicat S. CArys.); ponitur itaque εἷς eo modo quo haud raro aramaice 7^ adhibetur; et ait ἐδ : magister, rabbi, quo nomine pharisaei quoque Iesum compellabant (9,11; 12,38; 22,16 etc.); forte scriba voluit propter suum munus efferre et laudare in Christo doctrinam legisque peritiam ; sequar te quocumque ierts. Cum in Christi miraculis maxima manifestaretur potentia et hominum admiratio excitaretur, res magni emolumenti videri multis debuit esse in Christi comitatu. Quid enim apud talem doctorem non potuit exspectari? Verum ut etiam ea in re omnis spes divitiarum et laudis et rationes solum humanae et vanae statim excludantur, evangelista exemplis duobus docet quae sint conditiones sequendi Christum, a quo sit recedendum, ut ait A/5., et cui sit sincere et omnino adhaerendum. Rem plane similem narrat Lucas 9,57 factam eo tempore quo Christus praedicationi in Galilaea iam finem imponit. Unde quaeri potest, utrius narratio veram praebeat temporis rationem. Si putaveris unum eundemque eventum apud utrumque describi, cum plerisque Lucae debebis adstipulari. Sed mihi tamen dubium est sitne idem apud utrumque eventus. Matthaeus enim hanc narrationem ita arcte interserit et connectit navigalioni in regionem Gerasenorum, ut ab eo loco et tempore nequeat avelli. Nam postquam dixit zusszt ire εἰς τὸ πέραν, pergit et accedens etc. et ea re narrata ilerum scribit
Uti jam ad 8,& vidimus, Christus maiorem populi concitationem vult evitari ne ullo pacto eius exspectationi regni temporalis favere videatur. Quare si eiusmodi agitationes in magno hominum concursu suspicandae erant, sese subtrahere et in locum desertum vel saltem . quietiorem se solet recipere. Id hoc quoque loco Matthaeus ostendit
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v. 21 altus autem de discipulis ezus ait illi : Domine permitte me primum ire et sepelire patrem meum ; discipulus hic maiore reverentia Christum alloquitur quam scriba. Vult primum, antequam continuo sine ulla interruptione Christo adhaereat eumque sequatur, patri modo defuncto iusta persolvere; ita de patre mortuo plerique merito verba intelligunt; nam quod paucis placuit : permitte mihi curam agere patris donec moriatur (ZAeoph. in Luc. 9,59; Ca:. Bar.) a verbis nimium recedit neque responsioni Christi congruit et demum vim narrationis et doctrinae minueret valde. Sepultura apud Iudaeos non solebat differri; immo mos erat sepeliendi eodem die si fieri posset (cf. Act. 5,7 Schanz) quo quis obierat; filiis autem cura incumbebat adeo sancta, ut prae illa preces et studium legis essent negligendae (cf. Ed. II p. 133; 118 ex tractatu talm. Berachoth 17,9 ScAoettgen p. 90). Unde spatium temporis ille postulat omnino breve atque postulat ad rem valde piam quae filium plane deceat (cf. Gen. 25,9; 50,5. Tob. 5,3); at ne tantillum quidem morae ad funus patris curandum Christus ei petenti concedit
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v. 22 Iesus autem ast illi : sequere me et dimitte mortuos sepeltre mortuos suos, vocatur ille ad vitam sublimiorem, cuius vitae auctorem Iesum cum Dominum appellet iam aliquo saltem modo agnovit ; quare aequum non est, ut invitationi Christi quidquam vel per breve tempus praeferat, cum alii sint qui illud munus impleant neque ille insepultus mansurussit (S. CÀhrys.). Luditin voce mortuos. llle corpore est mortuus; alii qui de salute per Christum oblata minime curant, qui ei credere nolunt (S. Hz/. Hier. Chrys. Schegg), qui in peccatis talium sunt immersi (Caz.), itaque qui a vita per Christum oblata alieni sunt, merito mortui vocantur. Significat igitur « proportionem, immo similitudinem inter curatores et curandos » : dimitte curam rerum mortalium iis quorum studium est circa mortalia; tuum autem studium sit circa aeterna. Quo animo censendus est iuvenis id rogasse? Lamy, Schegg eum accusant quod moras nectere voluerit et speciem quandam praetenderit, ut se a Christo subtraheret ; alii, ut S. Chrys. Euth. Bed. Thom., iuvenem pietatis causa petiisse dicunt eumque potius laudant quod pro re tam necessaria Iesum rogaverit neque sponte abierit; « non discipulatum respuit sed expleta primum paterni funeris pietate liberior hunc assequi desiderat » (Bed.). Atque hoc videtur dicendum. Nam verba Christi sequere me, dimitte, vix censeri possunt caruisse effectu; si enim adeo graviter iussit etiam vires dedit ad impletionem ; neque tamen supponi potest Christum ad se vocasse eum qui simulatione usus et falsam causam praetendens omnino recedere in animo habuerit, qui igitur proprie Christum vocantem decipere studuerit. Neque opponi potest exemplum iuvenis divitis; hunc enim Christus non absolute et efficaciter vocavit, sed : si vts perfectus esse, vade, vende quae habes etc. (Matth. 19,91). Similem dilationem Eliseum postulasse 3 Reg. 19,20 S. Thom. notat. Cur autem Iesus non concesserit, variae rationes reddi possunt; « non quod iuberet honorem parentibus debitum contemnere, sed. ut ostenderet nihil nobis aeque necessarium esse atque res coelestes iisque summa cum diligentia esse incumbendum nec vel tantillum differendum » (S. CArys.). Voluit nos docere, cum ab eo vocamur, ne unius quidem diei aut horae moram etiam pietatis causa interponere debere, quominus e vestigio vocantem sequamur (Dion. Mald.). Omnia itaque negotio a Christo commisso sunt postponenda neque committendum est, ut ullo affectu unquam ab eo abstrahamur. Animum igitur Christus postulat generosum, promptum, minime ambiguum aut titubantem, sed fortem et omnia pro ipso renuere paratum. Illustratur illud Christi : qui non renuntiaverit omnibus, non potest meus esse discipulus (Luc. 18,33). Atque qui tali potentia est praeditus quali eum descripsit evangelista et qui iudex est futurus (7,22 seq.), id suo iure postulat. Verum nonne eo ipso etiam portendi potest et explicari fore multos qui affectu rerum terrenarum et concupiscentiis irretiti vocantem respuant vel ' negligant? Quare hoc quoque exemplo evangelista rationem reddit et quid Messias exigat suo iure et cur multi ei non adhaereant. Cum lege mosaica pontifici et nazaraeis esset interdictum ad funus accedere, ne patris matrisve quidem (cf. Lev. 21,10. 11. Num. 6,7), Christus suos discipulos consecratione summa Deo addictos esse illa prohibitione demonstrasse censeri quoque poterit.
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v. 23 et ascendente eo in naviculam. Quare si verbis et modo narrandi non pene omnem vim et significationem abstuleris fateri debebis, id evenisse in via ad naviculum, cum Iesus iam proposuisset in regionem Gerasenorum transfretare. Cur enim Matthaeus narrationem in v. 18 inceptam interrumpat et aliam inserat, alia ratio reddi non potest nisi quia ita evenit. Ne dixeris Matthaeum seriem rerum gestarum non sequi ex ordine temporis. Id quidem utut verum est tamen non explicat cur inceptam narrationem v. 18 interrumpat et demum insertione facta ad eam redeat v. 23. Si exemplum legeretur ante v. 18, facile concedi posset esse eadem quae Lucas 9,57 narrat. Unde (nisi sit error quidam in ordine versuum, qui essent collocandi ita v. 19-22. 18. 23) de alio apud Matthaeum sermonem fieri existimo. Id autem esse omnino improbabile, dici nequit. Cur enim per tres illos vitae publicae annos fieri non potuisset, ut duo cupiditate emolumenti allecti se Christo offerrent discipulos, quibus idem daret responsum quod v. 20 legimus? Christum saepius eadem dixisse supra iam ostensum est. Haec interpretandi ratio cum nihil habeat a verisimili alienum praeferri debet alteri qua et obvius loquendi sensus plane relinquitur et evangelistae ineptus scribendi narrandique modus imputatur. lam scribam illum verba illa (sublimia in se et magnanima) ex lucri cupiditate et vanae gloriae appetitu dixisse plerique iudicant; « signorum videns magnitudinem sequi voluit salvatorem, ut lucra MATTH. 8, 49-90. ex operum miraculis quaereret » (S. Hier.) et unde hoc nobis patebit, quaerit S. CArys. et reponit : ex responsione Christi qui non verbis loquentis sed menti respondet. Videbat enim , ut ans. notat, Christum miraculis suis gratiam magnam apud populum consequi ; unde putabat Christum divitias multas collecturum sicque sperabat sibi quoque aliquid lucri accessurum; regnum sperat temporale, in quo sibi praeclaram exoptat dignitatem (sim. Euth. Theoph. Bed. Pasch. Dion. Cai. Lap. Lamy, Calm. Schanz); at Bar. verisimile existimat scribam sincero animo ad Christum accessisse seque in discipulum obtulisse et Christi responsum eo spectare, non ut dolosum et lucri cupidum repellat, sed ut discipulatus difficultatem homini sequi desideranti proponat. Hoc ultimum sane dici debet. Sed eo ipso quod hanc ei difficultatem proponit, colligi potest de ea vitae ratione et de Christi paupertate illum minime cogitasse, verum prorsus aliud mente sibi finxisse. Quare videtur dici debere cum Ca:. : ex eo quod responsio non congruit oblationi scribae, intelligimus eam congruere animo eius, et cum Lap. : detegit latens avaritiae ulcus in scriba; dicit ei Iesus : vulpes foveas habent et volucres coelt nidos; fihus autem hominis non habet ubi caput reclinet ; « quid me propter divitias et saeculi lucra cupis sequi, cum tantae sim paupertatis, ut ne hospitiolum quidem habeam et non meo utar tecto » (S. Hier.)? Paupertatem describi qua ne proprium quidem habeat habitaculum magisque rebus ad vitae commoditatem sit destitutus ipsis animalibus procul ab hominibus libertate utentibus elucet ex verbis. Quod aliqui protestantes explicant non paupertatem Christi declarari, sed vitae instabilis rationem, iam eo refutatur quia ad vitam instabilem sese obtulit dicens : sequar te quocumque ieris (cf. apud Schegg); ergo domicilio certo fixaeque sedi ille animo prompto voluit renuntiare, quare minime censeri potest Christus idem ei voluisse proponere. Ceterum in ea responsione observandam esse Christi prudentiam et modestiam bene notat lans. : «ita enim manifestat se cordis eius arcana nosse ut eundem tamen non manifeste argueret, sed ipsi soli reprehensionem aperiret, ut et pudorem effugeret et si vellet corrigeretur; nec vetuit se sequi, sed tantum docuit quod sequens non inventurus esset quod quaerebat ». Cum Christus in tanta paupertate munere suo fungi vellet, iam excludebatur efficaciter spes regni temporalis, et simul manifestabatur quicumque Christi esse vellent debere animos gerere a cupiditate rebusque terrenis avulsos. Quod docuit 6,20 seq. iam in se perfectissime ostendit et a suis exigit. Plena libertate et consilio praeconcepto eum elegisse paupertatem, ex miraculis descriptis et eius potentia demonstratur. Suo enim exemplo aeque nos docere voluit ac doctrina; B e propter nos egenus factus est, cum esset dives, ut illius inopia vos divites essetis, ait S. Paulus 9 Cor. 8,9. Evangelista autem et errorem aequalium de regno temporali destruit et causam assignat cur (aii Messiae plurimi nolint adhaerere. Vocat se Christus "filium hominis, quod nomen in evangeliis sibi indit frequentissime , ut Keil asserit 718 vicibus vel demptis ex numero locis parallelis tamen quinquagies. Quo autem sensu se ita vocet, ipse dubitandi occasionem nobis aufert, dum verbis explicitis nos remittit ad Dan. 7,13. 14; nam : et potestatem dedit ei iudicium facere, quia filius hominis est (Ioan. 5,97) et : videbitis filium hominis sedentem a dextris virtutis Dei et venientem in nubibus coeli (Matth. 26,64); ita respondet interrogatus sitne Christus. Est itaque ea appellatio deprompta ex Daniele 7,13. 1& : ecce cum nubibus coeli quasi ftus hominis veniebat et usque ad antiquum dierum pervenit et dedit ei potestatem et honorem et regnum etc. ; eo autem loco designari Messiam certum est et iam patet (si vaticinia messiana ante Danielem consideraveris) ex eo quod omnes populi, tribus et linguae ei dicuntur servire (vide meum Comment. in Dan. p. 196. 198. 25 seq.). Praeex Danielis vaticinio assumpto se declarat Messiam, prout exponunt Epiphanius (haer. 57,8; M. 41,1008), Theodoretus (ad Dan. 1,13; M. 81,1425) et ex recentioribus Arn. Bisp. Reischl, Schanz, Fil. Keil, Weiss, Mansel etc. Id autem selegisse videtur quia quamvis dignitatem messianam significaret iis qui Danielis locum rite perspicerent, tamen non modo omnibus aperto eam enuntiabat ideoque ad reliquam agendi rationem plane erat accommodatum, qua scil. videmus Iesum ex una parte non aperte se profiteri Messiam ex altera parte tamen ea agere et dicere quae non poterant convenire nisi in Messiam. Apud Danielem filius hominis apparet, sicut Deus apparere solet veniens scil. in nubibus coeli (cf. Ex. 14,94; 16,10; 19,9. Num. 9,15. Deut. 31,15. Ps. 17,10; 96,2. Ez. 1,&. Nah. 1,3 vide Comment. in Dan. p. 197); quare illo nomine et eius humana natura et divina designatur. Nomen autem hoc tempore Christi revera usurpatum et intellectum esse tamquam appellationem Messiae certum est ex libro Henoch, in quo Messias saepius filius hominis vocatur et quidem in ea libri parte quae indiciis satis certis orta est ante Christum vel saltem scripta ab homine [udaeo (cf. Schürer, Geschichte des jüd. Volkes im Zeitalter J. Ch. 2 ed. II p. 626). Idem ostenditur eo quod Caiphas responsionem Christi statim intellexit. : Cum itaque ex ipsis verbis Christi doceamur cur se vocaverit filium ho- minis reliquae explicationes quae propositae sunt spectari solum possunt vel ut consectaria vel ut piae accommodationes. Exprimi ea appellatione naturam humanam utique perspicuum est; at significatio non potest ad id restringi cum 5. Aug. (de cons. ev. 2, 4. 29; M. 34,1071) ut nobis commendet quid misericorditer dignatus sit esse pro nobis; scil. eum suscepisse eum patrem hominem non babere sed per virginem ex Adamo usque genus traxisse, quae est sententia S. Gregorii nazian. (or. 30 c. 21) quam Zap. maxime approbat. Alii explicant filium Abrahae, filium Davidis; sed cur ὃ ἄνθρωπος potissimum eos dicat, nemo exponit. Alii in filio hominis deprehendunt perfectam hominis speciem, ita ut Christus dicatur hominum hominis vocasse Christum, ut significaret se cum in forma Dei esset exinaniisse semetipsum et formam accepisse servi; Lamy arbitratur eo nomine designari hominem plebeium et Dominum omni modo se despectum ostendisse; alii demum opinati sunt esse circumlocutionem pro ego. Quae omnia iam mittenda sunt cum quis sit verus sensus et quae origo appellationis ex evangeliis indubie constet. Non piget ex libro Henoch unum alterumve afferre exemplum; cap. 46 ita legitur : hic est filius hominis qui habet iustitiam, apud quem iustitia habitat, qui omnes thesauros absconditos revelat... hic filius hominis suscitabit reges et potentes de cubilibus suis et robustos de sedibus suis et solvet cingula robustorum et dentes comminuet peccatorum. Et reges de thronis et regnis suis expellet, quia eum neque praedicant neque laudant neque gratis animis agnoscunt, unde sibi regnum obvenerit; et faciem robustorum repudiabit et confusio operiet eos; tenebrae erunt domicilium eorum et vermes stratum eorum etc. Et cap. 48 dicitur nomen filii hominis exstitisse coram Deo ante initium creationis : ipse erit baculus iustis et sanctis, in quo nitantur ne cadant, erit lux gentium et spes eorum qui moesti sunt corde; coram eo procident eumque adorabunt omnes incolae terrae — et denuo asseritur illis diebus reges terrae iri prostratum coram ipso (vide Dillmann, Das Buch Henoch, Leipzig 1853 p. 93. 24. 156 seq.). Ex quibus etiam discimus exspectationem regni temporalis fuisse pervulgatam. Dein quanta animi firmitate posthabitis omnibus sit vocationi divinae obsequendum, altero exemplo docetur
Iesus se professus est pauperem atque rebus maxime necessariis destitutum v. 20; nihilominus postulat ut sibi adhaereatur animo promptissimo relictis omnibus et postposito omni affectu rerum creatarum v. 22. Hoc utrumque evangelista nobis modo ob oculos posuit. Statim autem utrumque illustrat manifestatione potentiae Iesu maxime insigni et singulari. Ergo concludere oportet : pauperies illa altissimo consilio liberrime est ab eo electa et qui tali potestate praeditum se exhibet, profecto suo iure exigit integerrimam animorum subiectionem. Cui enim grave ac molestum merito videri posset tali se Domino tradere? Praeterea miraculo in novo rerum genere patrato etiam magis illucescit quae sit Iesu virtus vere divina. Haec autem evangelistam voluisse prosequi suadetur ea rerum serie quam ipse effecit. Nam ex Marco 4,35 et Luca 8,32 discimus etiam hic a Matthaeo temporis rationem non spectari. Neque ad doctrinam illam colligendam ordine temporis opus est, cum ipsa Iesu effata et opera eam per se ingerant. . Iesus postquam per diem populum docuit parabolis quoque propo-. sitis, vespere (Marc. &,35) tempore sereno et tranquillo ascendit n naviculam τὸ πλοῖον, in navim quae ad iter parata erat vel forte melius in eam navim qua saepius uti solebat et secuti sunt eum discipuli eius; μαθηταί plerumque duodecim apostoli dicuntur — nomen apostoli raro legitur ; semel apud Matth. 10,2 et Marc. 6,30 et Ioan. 13,16; septies apud Lucam et frequentius in Act. — at discipuli nomen sensu quoque latiore adhibetur (Luc. 6,17; 19,37. Ioan. 6,67; 71,3. Schanz). Nostro autem loco de apostolis dici ex eo consequitur quia dimissis turbis naviculam conscendit, ut in regionem Gerasenorum transfretaret; quo in itinere solos comites ordinarios habuisse merito censetur, qui oi μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ appellantur. Ipse vero fessus ex labore diurno ad somnum capiendum se componit; dormiebat in puppi super cervical (Marc.) ostendens quam fatigationem subiisset labore diurno et veram humanam comprobans naturam (op. tmp. Thom. Dion. Cai. Salm.) nec dedignatus eius in se experiri infirmitatem, cum nostri similis factus et tentatus esset per omnia pro similitudine absque peccato (Hebr. &,15). Praeterea somnum admisit ea occasione ex altiore quoque consilio quod eventu colligitur. Nam v. 25 et ecce, rem quae praeter exspectationem ac subito fit evangelista designat; cum enim navim ascenderent, tempus erat serenum neque ullum cernebatur praesagium tempestatis mox ingruentis; nam alias discipuli, rei nauticae lacusque Genesareth haud ignari, navim non solvissent; motus magnus factus est in mari; Marcus et Lucas, ut Euth. notat, λαίλαπα ἀνέμου dicunt; maris enim tempestas (χλύδων) et motus (concussio, quassatio) et procella dicta est eo quod aquas commoveat, atque con- turbet. Subito impetum venti irruisse Lucas quoque indicat scribens χατέθη descendit in lacum!, qua dictione bene depingitur impetus procellae in lacum alte depressum incumbens (lacus enim infra aequor maris mediterranei deprimitur 191 m.). Et quam vehementer fluctus excitarentur, omnes tres evangelistae tradiderunt : :4a ut navicula operiretur fluctibus, ut impleretur navis, et periclitabantur. Fuerunt qui tempestatem hanc non lege et via ordinaria ortam, sed Christi imperio adductam et divina ordinatione suscitatam crederent (cf. Bed. Pasch. Thom. Dion. Salm. Maid. Lap.); at cur miraculo ventum esse excitatum assumamus, neque re neque modo narrationis suadetur, neque quidquam aliud requiritur quam ut Iesus sciens fore ut per noctem modo ad naturae cursum consueto tempestas oriretur discipulos iusserit navim conscendere et se somno commiserit. Ita rebus naturalibus uti solet ad altiora consilia exsequenda. Dum saevit tempestas et discipuli perturbati et anxii navim ab irruentibus fluctibus et impetu procellae servari posse iam desperant, ipse dormiebat; « exprimitur securitas potestatis, quod omnibus timentibus solus intrepidus quiescebat » (Amór.) ; « dormiebat corpore, ut apostolos evigilare faceret » (Bed.), dormiebat, ut S. CArys. notat, ut daret discipulis timendi occasionem, ut debilem eorum fidem reprehenderet et sanaret, ut illi suam recognoscerent infirmitatem et Christi intelligerent inter angustias conclusi maiestatem (Pasch.). Quare somnum Iesu quamvis esset verus et naturalis et ex fatigatione proveniens, tamen etiam dicere possumus cum Maid. voluntarium et procuratum , quia eo uti voluit ad vulnus quoddam discipulorum detegendum et sanandum. Quasi enim Dominus dormiens nihil de suis curaret, quasi ipse Dominus et ii quos elegerat ad opus suum una cum opere messiano possent ulla re adversa interitui devoveri et antequam fere opus divinum incepissent morte abripi, clamant Domine, salva , perimus; vocibus brevibus, abruptis animorum pandentes angustias et timores et debilem fidem, ac si possent perire, dum Christum apud se habent. Videntur itaque prae timore periculique magnitudine obliti esse ad quid vocati essent et electi a Christo qui pro sua potentia toties iis iam manifestata profecto.non permittet eos undis absorberi quos erudit ut sint sal terrae et lux mundi (5,13. 14). Quare merito reprehenduntur
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v. 96 quid ttmidi estis, modicae fidei? « non incredulos eos dicit , sed parvae fidei; nam per hoc quod dicunt sajva, fidem monstrant; quod autem dicunt perzmus, non est fidei; illo enim simul navigante non erat formidandum » (Theoph.) et parvam fidem eo quoque pandunt quod a vigilante, non autem a dormiente Domino se servari posse sperabant ( Euth.). Eos autem increpans prius mentis ipsorum quam aquarum tempestatem sedat (S. Chrys.). Ea quoque reprehensione ἃ nimio timore periculi retrahuntur ideoque magis apti redduntur ut et Christi miraculum rite admirentur et discant se firmissima in Christum fide ac fiducia potuisse ipsos periculum superare. Iesus autem maiestatem divinam subindicans suam surgens imperavit (vel potius ex graeco increpavit) ventis et mari et facta est tranquillitas magna ; nam qui increpat mare et fluctus eius, lahve est in vetere testamento, ad cuius omnipotentiam id continuo refertur; cf. Ps. 17,16; 103,7 ab increpatione tua fugient aquae; 105,9 et increpuit mare rubrum et exsiccatum est; 88,10 tu dominaris potestati maris, motum autem fluctuum eius tu mitigas; Nah. 1,4 increpans mare (Is. 51,10) etc. (cf. S. Chrys. op. tmp. D:ion. lans. Lamy); quare ea increpatione naturam divinam haud obscure prodit. Hoc autem « sensibili imperio usus est, ut cognoscerent praesentes quod solo imperio mutat creaturas et sic cognoscerent ipsum esse verum Deum cui proprium est solo imperio res efficere » (Cai.). Statim autem effecta est tranquillitas magna, ut evidentia miraculi comprobaretur; naturaliter enim paulatim fit tranquillitas post tempestatem (Cai.). Testes eius increpationis et subitae tranquillitatis admiratione et sacra reverentia percelluntur
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v. 97 porro homines mirati sunt dicenles : qualis est hic, quantus, quam fortis, quam potens, quam magnus, cui et insensibilia obediunt elementa (Pasch.), quia ventt et mare obediunt ei? « somnus quippe et quidquid apparebat hominem indicabat, mare et parta tranquillitas Deum declarabat » (S. CArys.) « quod videbátur hominis erat, opera autem Dei » (TAeopA.). Atque hoc miraculum eo magis in admirationem duxit , quia nullus unquam propheta tale quidpiam solo suo imperio patravit ; Christus autem cum auctoritate praecepit, ut dominus servis, ut creator creaturis (Eu) neque antea Patrem rogavit, sed propria potestate illa elementa quae hominem quam maximesuaeimpotentiae admonentsubito sibi subiecit. Ex narratione Marci et Lucae discipuli mirati dicunt : quis est hic etc. ; cur S. Matthaeus Aormines scribit? solos intelligi discipulos (S. CArys. quando mali in bonos insurgunt, quando boni vincuntur et mali vincunt; non dormit quidem, sed proelium intuetur et simul certaminis finem et bellantium fldem exspectat. Et quia non statim adiuvat, dormire putatur... sic igitur dormiat Iesus quatenus iniquorum crudelitas et sanctorum patientia innotescat et Christi discipuli non armis, sed clamoribus et orationibus maris huius procellas deponere discant » etc.; similiter S. Hü. Pasch. Fab. Dion. Salm. Ians. Lap. Grimm, Schanz, Fil. etc. Etiam maius sequitur Christi potentiae documentum. A periculis maris et tempestatis vindicaverat corpora; iam animos eripit ex insidiis et potestate daemonum. Res inanimatas suo subiecerat imperio; iam spiritus potentes sola eius praesentia cruciantur, solo eius verbo fugantur. Interrogaverant discipuli : qualis est hic? iam responsum audiunt ab invitis daemonibus qui eum suum iudicem et ultorem divinum confitentur. Unde apparet quam bene tendat haec narratio ad id quod evangelista in universum docere vult atque praesertim ad id quod ex oratione contexta v. 20-93 consequitur. Appellunt itaque v. 98 in.litore lacus vel maris Tiberiadis orientali ad regionem Gerasenorum; nomen hoc Gerasenorum in vulg. constanter legitur apud tres evangelistas qui omnes eam narrationem eodem ordine tempestati sedatae iungunt (Marc. 5,1. Luc. 8,26). In textu graeco legitur ex melioribus codicibus apud Matth. Γαδαρηνῶν, apud Marc. Γερασηνῶν (ita Tischendorf, Westcott-Hort), apud Luc. idem quod apud Marcum, uti ediderunt Westcott-Hort, Γεργεσηνῶν, uti edidit Tischendorf. Quod nominum discrimen explicatur haud operose. Est enim Gadara, uti Iosephus dicit (bell. iud. &,7. 3), metropolis Peraeae valida, et distat ἃ Tiberiade stadiis sexaginta (hodie eo loco Umm Keis oppidum situm est; cf. Socin , Palaestina und Syrien p. 415). Unde apparet illa lectione regionem generatim describi ac nominari ex urbe aliqua, maiore magisque nota : εἰς τὴν χώραν τῶν Γαδαρηνῶν. Locum vero quo appulerunt nominari Gerasa, vix recte statuitur. Est enim Gerasa urbs prope labbok sita (hodie Djerasch; Socin p. 408); quare nimis remota est et nomen aliunde notum potuit pro simili , sed satis ignoto, irrepere in textum. Locus quo appulerunt ibi erit quaerendus, ubi hodie ruinae exstant nomine Gersa, Kersa, Kursi designatae prope lacum Tiberiadis. Eo quoque loco praecipitia sunt crebra (cf. ScAumacher, Der Dscholan, Leipzig 1886 p. 177). Atque hunc locum etiam Origenes describere videtur eum vocans Gergesa (unde tertia illa lectio) urbem antiquam, περὶ ἣν χρημνὸς mapaxsiuzvos τῇ λίμνη (cf. Socin p. 386), atque ad idem refer quae habet Eusebius de Gergesa in Onomast. et idem fere etiam apud EutA. legitur. Cum Iesus ea in regione e navi in terram descendisset, occurrerunt €i duo habentes daemonia, de monumentis exeuntes, saevi nimis , tla ut nemo posset transire per viam illam; furor daemonum et nocendi cupiditas describitur. Ab hominibus exclusi daemoniaci habitabant in sepulcris extra civitatem in agris; sepulcra autem Iudaeorum vel in aliqua rupe solebant exscindi aut in aliqua spelunca deligi vel etiam ex lapidibus et fossione exstrui tanta altitudine et latitudine , ut quis erectus illa ingredi potuerit (Ians.). Quare proiis qui a communi hominum sede arcebantur habitaculum praebere poterant haud ita incommodum. Ceterum in sepulcris degentes daemoniaci hominibus quoque maiorem incutiebant terrorem; unde daemones, quorum locus est inter mortuos (Sa/m:;) et qui operibus mortuis delectantur (Bed.) locum selegerunt et suae indoli congruum et hominibus terrificum. In monumentis sedem fecerunt mortis auctores (S. Petrus chrysol. serm. 16; M. 52,239). Qua erant saevitia, in miserrimam conditionem per daemones redacti , nemo eos ad Christum adducere potuit; quare ipse venit ut quaereret et sanaret qui eum invenire non poterant (Pasch. Ians.). Atque cum ea regio decapolitana potissimum ab alienigenis iisque paganis habitaretur, Matthaeus nobis ostendit Iesum beneficia sua et gratiam etiam gentilibus offerentem. Iam praeluditur illi : et alias oves habeo quae non sunt ex hoc ovili et illas oportet me adducere (Ioan. 10,16). Sola Iesu praesentia daemones exturbantur; sentiunt in Iesu iudicem suum a quo eorum saeva in homines dominatio deleatur et ipsi acrioribus addicantur tormentis, dum ultimo iudicio carceri tartareo traduntur;
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v. 29 et ecce clamaverunt dicentes : quid nobis et tibi, Iesu fili Dei? venisti huc ante tempus torquere nos? « non voluntatis ista confessio est sed necessitatis extorsio quae cogit invitos, velut si servi fugitivi post multum temporis dominum suum vident, nihil aliud nisi de verberibus deprecantur; sic et daemones cernentes Dominum in terris repente versari ad iudicandos se venisse credebant. Praesentia salvatoris tormenta sunt daemonum » (S. Hier.; sim. S. Chrys. Bed. Pasch. Br. Tost. qu. 108, Saím.). Norunt quippe daemones se ad iudicium reservari (cf. 2 Petr. 2,4) et post ultimum demum iudicium in inferno iri inclusum poenasque augeri; sciunt daemones, ait S. Thom., quod in die iudicii debent suscipere maius tormentum, cum dicetur : ite maledicti in ignem aeternum; magnum tormentuni reputant quod non possint hominibus nocere; sed si essent in inferno non possent ita nocere et ita tormentum eis magnum est intrare in infernum. Secum quidem ubique poenas inferni gerunt easque semper sustinent, « instar febricitantis qui etsi in lectis eburneis el si in locis ponatur apricis, fervorem tamen vel frigus insiti sibi languoris evitare non potest » (Bar.); at minus tamen puniuntur nunc quia et vagandi per mundum hunc et hominibus nocendi potestatem habent (cf. Euth. Pasch. Tost. Cat. Salm. Mald. Bar. Reischl, Grimm Il reservantur (Iud. 6); cf. Suarez, de angelis lib. 8 cap. 2 n. 3. 13. 15; cap. 17; cap. 15 n. 16. Ex hisce explicandus est sensus verborum qui nobis eo quoque panditur quia apud Lucam 8,31 rogant Iesum ne imperaret ut in abyssum irent. Verba quid nobis et tibi aliquam hoc loco continent expostulationem (/ans.) ct elucidantur ex altera parte : venisti huc ad nos ante tempus torquendos; itaque : quid iam nunc rei tibi est nobiscum? num venisti ante tempus definitum mittere nos in tartareos cruciatus, ante tempus iudicii (Bar.)? Poterant enim daemones scire vel suspicari nondum esse tempus iudicii ultimi; cognoscebant sine dubio vaticinia nondum esse impleta regnumque Dei in terris nondum eo modo esse constitutum quo promissum erat; vel etsi hoc non c oncederes, tamen exoptare et desiderare poterant daemones ne tempus illud iàm 'appropinquaret. Tale autem desiderium etiam sufficit ut exclament visne nos torquere ante tempus! Porro Iesus venit, ut destrueret eum qui habebat mortis imperium i. e. diabolum (Hebr. 2,14), ut diaboli nocendi potestatem restringeret eumque coerceret; quare daemones id minime exoptantes dicunt id fieri ante tempus. Terram gentilium quasi suam ditionem occupant; nam quae immolant gentes daemoniis immolant et qui e regno Dei eiiciuntur, satanae tradi dicuntur (1 Cor. 10,20; 5,5); quare daemones conqueruntur, quod Auc, in suam ditionem venerit. Iesum autem confitentur filium Dei; audiunt itaque discipuli quod mare tranquillum factum praedicaverat (S. Chrys.). Quod autem daemoniaci a longe quasi sentientes eius adventum ei occurrunt, filium Dei appellant, eum rogant ne torqueantur, quam maxime aptum erat, ut animi discipulorum magna Christ reverentia et maiore eius dignitatis notitia imbuerentur. Vident enim eum qui summa potestate pollebat in mare et tempestatem pari ratione valere in daemones et ab iis agnosci filium Dei et iudicem et regni diabolici expugnatorem. Atque quam acri desiderio exoptent remanere in ditione gentilium (Marc. 5,10) et aliqua saltem corpora possessione occupare, eo ostenditur quod occasionem capiunt a grege porcorum ibi pascente rogandi Dominum : s? eücts nos hinc, mitte nos in gregem. porcorum v. 34 ; proinde concludendum erit aliquid quasi levaminis vel voluptatis in daemones derivari ex tali possessione vel eos desiderare, ut si homines vexare prohibentur saltem animalibus inferre molestiam et animalium rabie et furore hominibus terrorem et damnum afferre liceat. Legitur graece erat longe ab illis grez;'in vulg. erat autem non longe... « huiusmodi enim intervalla magna denique sunt vel modica, si cum aliis comparantur » (Caim.). In re etiam minima daemones subiici summo Christi imperio et permissione eius ac concessione indigereostendunt dum petere debent ut in porcos ingredi liceat; ex se itaque nihil valent neque est cur timeantur (cf. Bed. Br. Thom. Fab. Cai. Salm. lans.). A nutu Christi pendent;
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v. 32 ait illis : ite; at illi exeuntes abierunt 1n porcos et ecce impetu abüt Lotus grez per praeceps iu mare et mortui sunt in aquis; ex subito gregis impetu et furore insano quo se praecipites dant ex loco praerupto in lacum tanto numero (ad duo millia, Marc. 5,13) et uno impulsu monstruoso praeter naturam, immo contra eam exstinctionem quaerunt, clare omnium oculis subiicitur veritas obsessionis daemoniacae; « nam fingi nequit aegritudinem hominis migrasse in gregem porcorum, ut praeceps se mergeret... declaratur porro miraculi magnitudo in multitudine daemonum de homine expulsorum (legio mihi nomen, quia multi sumus, Marc. 5,9 ), quae non potuit declarari nisi daemonibus in aliqua animalia ingressis » (Sam. sim. Tost. Cai. Mald. lans.). Inde discimus, cur petitioni annuerit Christus ; praeterea annuit, ut discerent hi qui liberati erant quot et quales habuissent habitatores (EutA.) , ut hac potentiae suae manifestatione etiam hominibus illius regionis suam offerret opem eosque ad se potentissimum salutis suae quaerendae causa invitaret (cf. S. Hier. Rab. Pasch.). Porcus animal erat immundum; « coenum petunt ruentes coelo; post aethereas habitationes ambiunt volutabra porcorum; digna petit indigna servitus » (S. Petrus chrysol. serm. 16; M. 52, 9&9); « semel infectus putredine habitacula fetida et immunda perquirit; sordibus delectatur et coeno, qui utique semper fetore criminum et squalore pascitur vitiorum » (idem serm. 17). Quam tetra et horribilis sit daemonum obsessio, in eo quoque cernitur quod ipsa animalia bruta ab illis correpta insana rabie ad exitium ruunt; in quam rem S. Petrus chrysol scribit : « sic est odor eius (satanae) tartareus et crudelis ut eum nec porcorum natura sufficeret sustinere; denique demergi in mari et fluctibus maluit deperire (grex) quam eiusimmunditiam pati et putredinem tolerare » (serm. 17); in eandem sententiam etiam Sy/v. inter alia scribit : « quodam naturali impetu totus grex corruit in mare, eligens potius perire quam daemonum in se fetorem et immunditiem et turpitudinem ferre et sustinere; sed pro dolor, homines ratione praediti suis peccatis se tradi non dubitant, ut daemonum mancipia fiant ». Porcos non a daemonibus, sed a se ipsis in interitum esse actos est etiam sententia S. Ambr. : « porci Sein stagnum aquarum praecipitarunt, ut quod recusabant daemonia non evaderent » (in hexaem. 1,8; M. 15,141); censet itaque esse suffocatos aquis invitis daemonibus qui suo domicilio iterum spoliati infernum intrare debuerint quem ingressu in porcos evitare voluerint. Et similiter Lamy concipit : « unde ergo causa mortis his animalibus fuerit? credo nou actos a daemonibus in lacum, sed ex se ipsis, cum agitarentur a spiritibusimmundis et aestu ferverent sese praecipites dedisse in mare, ut aquis eius refrigerarentur; sed non compotes sui inde se extrahere non potuerunt »; similiter censent Reischl, Grimm. Atque haec sententia textu suaderi videtur. Nihil enim in textu indicatur quo sequatur daemones occidisse porcos; sed statuitur, postquam ingressi sint totum gregem impetu abiisse per praeceps in mare. Itaque sequebatur quidem ex ingressu daemonum ille impetus et suffocatio in mari; at ab ipsis daemonibus esse interitum effectum non dicitur, potius id excluditur mutatione locutionis. Dein ex petitione daemonum ne in abyssum detrudantur, sed in porcis domicilium capere ut sibi liceat, potius sequitur eorum interesse debuisse, ut porci servarentur, ne hoc quoque domicilio destructo sibique adempto in locum sibi debitum, in abyssum, reverti cogerentur. Maxima igitur apparet daemonum impotentia, quod ne por- | cos quidem, suam quam expetebant habitationem, a destructione servare valuerunt. Christus enim iis solum pecmisit, ut zrent in porcos; unde explicatur cur eos servare non potuerint. hic dicere oportet cum Iob : numquid bonum tibi videtur, si consilium impiorum adiuves (10,3)? - Quaerunt etiam mulli quomodo Iesus tantum damnum inferri incolis permiserit duobus millibus porcorum interfectis. Respondent id factum ob peccata dominorum, qui si ludaei erant poenas dabant neglectae vel contemptae legis. Vivebant ea in regione plerumque gentiles, intermixti etiam erant Iudaei. Si heri erant gentiles quibus porci non interdicti erant, vel si Iudaei per pastores gentiles pascebant greges ut porcos cum lucro venderent gentilibus, non cernitur ea in re fuisse peccatum. Ea quippe ratio regionem illam utpote olim terrae sanctae adscriptam grege porcorum profanari satis infirma videtur. Sed num revera quaeri debet quomodo ᾿ Christus tale quid permittere potuerit? nonne ipse est Dominus omnium? Domini est terra et plenitudo eius! num quis ius Dei in quaestionem vocat permittendi pestem animalium vel alia infortunia. Ceterum sapienter illum porcorum interitum esse permissum cum ex eo utilia doctrinae capita colligantur, iam dictum est. Addi potest cum /ans. Dominum demonstrare voluisse se ad homines salvandos venisse, non autem sibi curae esse rerum temporalium salutem, atque vel ob unius hominis salutem ceterarum rerum iacturam quamvis gravem esse negligendam. Beneficium quod Christus praestitit. daemoniacis, insignis eius potentià , daemonum fuga, porcorum interitus nota fiunt incolis
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v. 33 pastores autem fugerunt; facile concipitur quo horrore ipsi quoque correpti sint, cum sedato furore daemoniacorum eundem subito cernerent in porcis; δέ venientes in civitatem nuntiaverunt omnia et de eis qui daemonia habuerant; testes potentiae Christi et praedicatores exstiterunt. Sed incolae gratiam a Christo oblatam repudiant
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V. 8& et ecce tota civitas exiit obviam Iesu et viso eo rogabant ut transiret α finibus eorum , timent; ideo non dure repellunt, sed rogant, ut abscedat; prae iactura rei temporalis beneficium non aestimant; verentur ne alia damna sibi sint subeunda, si Christus alios quoque sanet; unde ne alia et graviora paterentur desiderabant ut Dominus se relinqueret. Aliqui censebant eos rogasse quia se indignos putassent praesentia Domini humilitate permoti, uti olim Petrus : exi a me quia homo peccator sum (S. Hier. Bed. Rab. Pasch. Dion.); at id merito ἃ plerisque reiicitur; nulla enim voce, uli in narratione de centurione, de Petro, id significatur; atque plane aliud est se reputare indignum speciali illo honore quo Iesus domum vel navim viri privati sua praesentia ornet, aliud postulare ut salvator tota regione excedat ad quam modo beneficia largiturus et doctrinam salutis praedicaturus accessit. Illud fit cum virtute, hoc nequaquam. Non legimus Iesum secundo ad Gerasenos venisse. lnnuit evangelista quantae sit aleac gratiam oblatam repudiare; Gerasenis semel est oblata; at quoties iam Iudaeis? si hi repudiaverint, multo maiori culpae erunt obnoxii. Notant aliqui Gerasenos minus peccasse Nazarethanis (Luc. 5,29. Matth. 13,57); illi quippe damno affecti rogant ut discedat, hi vero nullum damnum passi, immo et benefacientem expulerunt de civi-
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La descente de la montagne a dû se faire par un sentier, et c’est précisément durant cette descente que le lépreux se présente. Le gén. absolu n'est pas régulier, puisque œitoÿ reparaît dans la phrase comme régime (Β C W @ ΕἸΣ il ἃ été corrigé en καταδάντι δὲ αὐτῷ par la tradition d’Antioche, et même par N ce qui a entrainé Ti.
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καὶ ἰδού comme Le., fréquent dans tous deux (Comm. Le. p. xx). — προσκυνέω termé favori de Mt. ; avec προσελθών encore 1x, 18; cf. xx, 20; xxvu, 9; et cf. πὶ, 2. 8; xv, 25. — Les paroles du lépreux comme dans Mc., en ajoutant xépre comme Ec.
8:3
Action et parole de Jésus comme dans Mc.; mais au lieu de la formule pleine de Mc. « sa lèpre s’en alla de lui et il fut purifié », dont Le. a retenu seulement la première partie, Mt. écrit moins proprement : « sa lèpre fut purifiée », alors que, dans l'A. T. et selon la nature, les personnes et les objets sont purifiés, mais non la lèpre. Klostermann suppose que Mt. ἃ suivi Mc. ἢ faudrait lui attribuer un contresens, car Mc. parle de l’homme. D'ailleurs on peut citer (Schanz) pour l'usage de Mt. καθαρεῖς τὸ αἷμα (Dt. xix, 13) et ἐκαθάριζε τὴν περὶ ταῦτα συνήθειαν (Jos. Ant. XI, v, 4 in fine). Le sens est alors faire disparaître et on trouve le passif araméen dans le sens de disparaître : « le soleil est couché et le jour a disparu », ND V27TN4 (ber. 2b), dicton palestinien. La catachrèse de Mt. peut donc s'expliquer comme une traduction de l'araméen.
8:4
ὅρα μή (μηδενῇ ne se trouve que cette fois dans Mc. et jamais dans Le.: pour Mt. cf. 1x, 30; xvirr, 40; xxiv. 6. Cette recommandation du silence étonne après la mention des foules; elle prouve bien que l'épisode était rédigé dans la tradition avant d'occuper cete place dans ce contexte, mais elle ne prouve pas la dépendance de Mc. qui lui-même dépendait de la tradition. — Au lieu des termes vagues de Mc. & et de Le. καθώς, le terme technique δῶρον (121)», qui pouvait être un sacrifice (Lev. 1, 3 etc.}, et spécialement ici le sacrifice enjoint dans Lev. xiv, 10, diminué en faveur du pauvre, Lev. xiv, 21. — εἰς μαρτύριον αὐτοῖς, après le discours sur la montagne paraît lus encore que dans Le. avoir lesens de montrer à la classe des prêtres que Jésus ne détourne pas de la Loi, bien au contraire. .
8:5
Cette fois encore (cf. v. 1) la construction irrégulière du gén. absolu a été corrigée en un datif dans les mss. antiochiens. Cela en dit long sur 18 persistance systématique à réviser la langue dans cette recénsion. Cf. Catena, p. 58 εὖ μὲν λεπρὸς χαταθδάντι... προσῆλθεν" ὁ δὲ ἑχατόνταρχος, οὕτως εἰσελθόντι... Sur ce centurion cf. Comm. Le. — Mt. ne dit rien de ses rapports avec les Juifs; on voit par la suite qu'il était païen, mais il n’est pas dit qu'il ait été prosélyte.
8:6
κύριε est une parole de politesse. — ὃ παῖς en grec peut signifier un fils en. bas âge, ou un serviteur d’un âge quelconque. Quoiqu'il existe une paralysie infantile, cependant, d'une façon normale, la paralysie frappe les hommes d’un certain âge. Le παῖς est donc un serviteur, comme l'a appris Le. qui emploie δοῦλος, - . — βέδληται, de malades; cf. var, 44; 1x, 2; Mc. vur, 30; Le. xvi, 20. Naturelle— ment on peut penser à l'araméen M9 (MeNeile), mais βάλλω s'emploie très bien pour se coucher (sur un lit); cf. Épict. 11, 20, 10 βαλὼν κάθευδε, « étends-toi et dors »: 1x, 40, 29 τί οὖν οὐ ῥέγχω βαλών : « pourquoi ne pas ronfler étendu »?, et Ésope, fab. ceLvit λύκος... κακῶς πάσχων, ἐδέδλητο (MM. — Field). — βασανίζω signifiait proprement mettre à la torture; aussi Lucien (de Soioec. 6) taxe de solécisme l'emploi de ce mot à propos de maladie. Mt. l'emploiera encore plus largement, xiv, 24. — Lc. insistait sur le danger de mort, Mt. sur la souffrance, ce qui convient bien pour certaines paralysies.
8:7
χαι à. λεγει (SV) plutôt que om. (TH).
Zahn, Klost., MeNeile etc. font de la réponse dé Jésus une interrogation Faut-il donc que j'aille moi-même le guérir? Ce qui amènerait la déclaration du centurion. C’est très subüil, mais peu naturel. Les Grecs ne manquaient pas de moyens d'indiquer un doute; la proposition est affirmative. Dans 1.0. le Sauveur se met même en route.
8:8
καὶ a. αἀποχριθεις (SV) plutôt que ὃε après (TH).
Le centurion, cela va sans dire, accepte avec reconnaissance l'offre de la guérison. Sa réponse exprime son humilité, mieux encore que dans Le., puisqu'il a placé μου avant τὴν στέγην, pour mettre l’accent sur l'indignité de sa personne. Elle exprime aussi sa foi. Si Jésus dispose de la puissance divine, comme il a pu le constater {1v, 23), celte puissance doit avoir à tout le moins les prérogatives de la puissance humaine qui s'exerce par la parole. La maladie devra l'entendre et céder; elle est donc en quelque sorte personnifiée, mais rien n'indique que le centurion l’attribue à un esprit mauvais. La conviction est exprimée encore plus fortement que dans Lc. par l'addition de μόνον et l'emploi du futur au lieu du subjonctif (leçon plus probable de Le.).
8:9
Comme dans Le. (si ce n'est qu'il ἃ en plus τασσόμενος) avec la même alternance des trois impér. : aoriste, présent, aoriste, fort difficile à expliquer (cf. Deb. 8 336, 4). Épictète, 1, 25, 10 λέγει μοι « πορεύου... xai ἀπόστασον... πορεύομαι, « ἔρχου ἔρχομαι — est moins compliqué. Nous avons donc ici un indice de la ténacité de la tradition orale ou d'un emprunt de Le. à un texte grec. Dans un cas assez semblable (σιν, 29) Mt. écrit ἔλθε. Peut-être ici la nuance est : « va-t'en action voulue pour elle-même; « viens », et demeure à mes ordres; ποίησον avec τοῦτο n’a pas de difficulté.
8:10
ἐθαύμασεν sans complément ne peut signifier comme dans Le. admirer (quelqu'un), mais. s'étonner (d'une belle chose) nuance plus primitive. Le sens 13. om. καὶ p. utaye (ΤῊ) et non add. (SV). de la réflexion est le même que dans Le. quoiqu'on ait pu s'y tromper comme Hilaire qui a cru le centurion israélite. rap” οὐδενί est joint à ἐν τῷ, Ἰσραήλ, en contraste avec le centurion. A prendre les termes à la lettre, il faudrait mettre la foi du centurion au-dessus de celle des disciples, mais on peut appliquer la règle de bienséance qui exclut toujours les personnes présentes quand on parle de choses fâcheuses. Les disciples forment groupe avec Jésus; il s'agit de l’impression produite par sa personne sur ceux qu'on rencontre. La foi. est ici la conviction que Jésus peut opérer le miracle, et elle est plus grande parce que le centurion croit à l'efficacité de sa seule parole. 1] est la figure des gentils qui ont cru à la parole, sans avoir été visités par Jésus : risi forte in centurione fides gentium praeponitur Israel (Hier.). — Cette πίστις était normalement nécessaire pour obtenir les miracles; cf. Me. vi, 6; Mt. xm, 58; IX, à. 29.
8:11
En revanche le texte dé Mt. est plus coulant. Il najoute pas « du nord et du sud ». Étre à table appelle le nom de ceux qui recoivent. Ce sont Les trois patriarches, auxquels Le. a ajouté les prophètes. Le royaume des cieux, formule primitive. D'ailleurs l'idée est la même : association des gentils à La récompense d'Abraham, parce qu'ils se seront associés à sa foi; cf. Mal. 1, 44. Même image d’un festin, cf. Is. xxv, 6, et la salle à manger d’‘Agiba (Aboth, iv, 46). Ce sont des comparaisons. .
Le. traitant ex professo de la réprobation des Juifs ἃ mis d'abord leur expulsion, puis la venue des gentils (xu, 28. 29). Mais Mt. qui place ce passage à l'occasion de la foi du centurion devait commencer par le salut des gentils qu'elle fait présager. L'ordre de Le. est plus vraisemblable en soi on chasse ceux qui usurpent les places avant d'y introduire d'autres personnes.
8:12
Les fils du royaume, tournure sémitique. Si Herodes Atticus a été nommé υἱὸς “Ελλάδος (Syll. 895), c'est à cause de ses bienfaits, qui l'ont fait assimiler à un citoyen grec, mais les Juifs sont fils du royaume comme y ayant droit — Selon eux — par leur naissance. C’est la métaphore courante : fils du monde à venir (Chabbat 153; Pesahim, 85). Dans le grec on trouve des tournures Sporadiques; l'hébreu et l’araméen ont développé cette métaphore jusqu'à J'invraisemblable, — D'ailleurs l'expression, très absolue, doit s'entendre avec l'exception nécessaire des disciples et des autres qui croiront. L'inou c'est que ceux qui semblaient avoir droit au royaume où leurs pères tiennent table ouverte soient jetés dehors. — Pour les ténèbres, cf. I Pet. 1, 17 et Jude 43. Les ténèbres étaient un lieu commun de l'eschatologie juive; cf. Ps.-Sal. σιν, 6; αν, 41; Philon De exsecr. 152, etc. La même croyance chez les Grecs, où σκότος signifie l'enfer (Eur. Hec. 1.), qu'on plaçait sous la terre (Sopn. Ὁ. Ὁ. 4701). Ce qui est propre à Mt. c’est l'expression « ténèbres extérieures » (XX, 13; xxv, 30); la lumière étant réservée au royaume de Dieu, on est enveloppé de ténèbres quand on est loin de lui. C'était déjà la métaphore de l'A. T. fles impies marchent dans les ténèbres, Ps. xxx, 6 etc.) souvent rappelée dans le N. T. (Mt. nv, 16, Paul.). La seconde partie du verset revient xin, 42. 50, xxn, 13; χχιν, 54; xxv, 30 commeune formule stéréotypée, étant le dernier trait de cette situation horrible; il est moins bien placé dans Le. χπὶ, 28. Jérôme y voit une preuve de la résur: rection des corps. Schanz préfère l'opinion de Jansen : Verum simplicius fuerit intellegere Dominum doctrinam suam auditorum carnalium captui attemperantem, ἰω ne. De per fletum et stridorem voluisse significare dolorem et horrorem summum.
8:13
Chaque évangéliste ἃ conclu d’après la situation antécédente. — M. à de plus mis en relief la part de la foi dans le miracle, qui s'était opéré au moment où Jésus avait prononcé son fiat. Wellhausen a vu dans ἐν τῇ ὥρᾳ ἐχείνῃ le sens de eddem hord, « à l'heure même », que l'araméen n'aurait pu exprimer, n'ayant pas d'expression pour idem. Il est vraisemblable en effet que les tournures analogues de Mt. 1x, 22; xv, 28; xvu, 18, qui lui sont propres, sont un reflet de l'expression araméenne « dans (ou de) cette heure », que syrsin. et cur. introduisent encore Mt. vin, 15, et qui signifie aussitôt (Me. 1, 42).
8:14
Πέτρος n'étonne pas dans Mt. après 1v, 48 Σίμωνα τὸν λεγόμενον Πέτρον, — βεβλημένην, couchée, d’une malade; cf. vin, 6. 46) ἥψατο, comme vin, 3. Tandis que dans Mc. Jésus fait lever la malade avant de la guérir, dans Mt. elle se lève après, ce qui est plus banal (comme dans Le. mais avec des expressions différentes). — aÿroï est très naturel dans Me., trahit limitation dans Le. Mais Mt. écrit αὐτῷ qui se rapporte à Jésus.
8:16
προσήνεγχαν, l’aor. (comme Le. ἤγαγον) au lieu de l'impf. plus descriptif, puisqu'on n’amena pas tout ce monde d'un coup. — Le composé προσφέρω (Mt. seul ici), onze fois dans Mt. au sens d'amener quelqu'un; deux fois dans Mc. et de même dans Le. — δαιμονιζόμενος, fréquent dans Mt. (1v, 24 etc.). — λόγῳ rappelle ce qu'a dit le centurion vu, 8. Jésus n'emploie pas d'exorcismes, il lui suffit d'un ordre. — Mt. ἃ déjà employé κακῶς ἔχοντες (ιν, 24). ) (MA On prétend (Klost., MeNeile etc.) que Mt. ἃ transposé systématiquement les πολλοί et les πάντες de Mc.; au lieu de : « on les amène tous et il en guérit quelques-uns », Mt. dit : « on en amène quelques-uns et il les guérit tous La différence est incontestable et sensible, mais c’est la tendance ordinaire de Mt. de dire que Jésus guérit tous les malades Gx, 35; x, 1;xu, 45; cf. 1v, 24).
8:17
Le but de Mt. apparaît ici clairement. Au soir du sermon il était bon de montrer que vraiment Jésus avait accompli les prophéties (v, 17) comme il avait fait respecter la Loi dans le cas du lépreux. — ὅπως πληρωθῇ comme τι, 23; x, 35, ὅπως alternant dans Mt. avec ἵνα (ou τότε ἐπλ.) pour indiquer qu’une prophétie ἃ été accomplie par un fait de la vie de Jésus. Ici Is. Lui, 4 n’est pas cité d’après les LXX (οὗτος τὰς ἁμαρτίας [ἀνομίας] ἡμῶν φέρει καὶ περὶ ἡμῶν ὀδυνᾶται), qui avaient interprété les souffrances comme une expiation des péchés, ce qui est bien le thème général du morceau, mais non le sens des termes. Pour mieux cadrer avec la situation, ΜΙ. a traduit d’après l'hébreu et d'une manière parfaite : Le serviteur de Iahwé a pris sur lui (pour les porter) nos maladies ou infirmités, et il a porté en effet nos douleurs. Deissmann a prétendu à tort (Bibelstudien 97 s.) que Mt. avait interverti Nw2 et b20. La pensée d’Isaïe était que le Serviteur avait pris sur lui le châtiment destiné à d’autres. Quel rapport y a-t-il entre ce texte et la situation évangélique? Dans ce qui précède, on voit bien-que Jésus ἃ délivré les hommes de leurs infirmités, mais non qu'il les ait prises sur lui. Et en effet le texte cité pourrait signifier que Jésus a enlevé (ἔλαθεν) et qu'il a emporté (#6éotasev, sens courant, exemples dans MM.) les infirmités, mais cela est trop loin de la pensée d’Isaïe. Renonçant à un accord précis, on admet (McNeile etc.) que Mt. a pris ce texte dans un recueil d'extraits sans se préoccuper du contexte, is manière vague de citer étant d'ailleurs courante alors. — Mais l'existence de ces recueils au re siècle n’est nullement prouvée, et il est invraisemblable que Mt. qui a si bien traduit Isaïe n'ait pas tenu compte de sa pensée. L'intérêt de la citation est précisément qu’elle peut s'appliquer littéralement à la situation, dans des termes qui contiennent une pensée plus profonde. En assumant la peine, le Serviteur expiait aussi la faute (comme les LXX ont dit trop clairement), de sorte qu'il lui était donné d’affranchir ses frères des deux. C’est cet affranchissement que Jésus commençait en expuisant les démons et en guérissant les malades. Il est sous-entendu que par là même il s'était chargé pour l'avenir de l’expialion; c'est ce que les chrétiens savaient bien.
8:18
πολλους oyhouc (TV) plutôt que οχλον (H) ou ὀχλους (8).
Tandis que dans Me. (ιν, 35 5.) Jésus prononce une parole aussitôt mise à exécution (ὡς ἦν), dans Mt. Jésus donne un ordre (ἐκέλευσεν), ce qui n'exclut pas des préparatifs. Comme son intention est de se soustraire à la foule qui aurait fini par se disperser le soir, il n'est pas du tout clair que Mt. envisage un soir ni le même jour. Luc a eu soin de détacher cet épisode (ἐν μιᾷ τῶν ἡμερῶν). — ἀπελθεῖν et non διελθεῖν, car le but est de s’en aller loin de cette foule, l'idée de la traversée étant suffisamment rendue par εἰς τὸ πέραν, première et naturelle expression des riverains qui est devenue dans Josèphe à Περαία. Luc n’emploie τὸ πέραν qu'ici d'après Mc., quoique l'expression soit classique pour désigner la rive opposée.
8:19
προσελθών, style de Mt.; cf. vu, 2 etc. εἷς pour τίς, forme de la Koné. Mt. ajoute que c'était un scribe, mais déjà un disciple, puisque le second interlocuteur (v. 21) sera un autre disciple. Absolument rien n'indique que ce scribe ait agi par avarice; Jérôme l’a conclu seulement de la pauvreté dont Jésus le menace. Mais il semble bien qu'il se mette trop en avant et fasse du zèle. Les autres se préparent à partir sans rien dire. Celui-là fait sonner son dévouement. C’est un peu la présomption de Pierre, Mêmes paroles un peu emphatiques dans Ec. Dans Mt. il y ἃ en plus « maître », ce qui pourrait être une simple politesse, comme κύριε au v. 21.
8:20
Comme dans Le.
8:21
Le second, par contraste, a un scrupule. La réponse qui lui est faite s'explique mieux dans Μί., parce qu'il est déjà disciple, parce qu'on va partir et que ce n’est pas le moment de se dérober.
8:22
Dans Mt. comme dans Le., quoique sous une forme différente; Jésus donne un ordre qui sans doute aura été suivi. Sur l'interprétation de M. Perles « Laisse les morts à celui qui est chargé de les enterrer », ef. sur Le. 1x, 60.
8:23
Les premiers disciples étaient des pêcheurs, donc des bateliers. Dans Mc. ce sont eux qui agissent et qui dirigent la manœuvre; ils prennent Jésus, Dans Mt. le maître monte dans la barque et les disciples font leur métier de disciples, ils suivent. C’est incontestablement moins une vue directe, qu'une indication de Pascendant de Jésus, mais tout dépend ici du génie de l'écrivain plutôt que d'une évolution littéraire régulière, et en tout cas on ne voit pas trace d'imitatation de Mc.
8:24
σεισμός, au lieu de λαΐλαψ, conservé par Le., indique ordinairement un 25. om. οἱ μαθηται p. προσελθόντες (TH) plutôt que add. (SV). tremblement de terre. Ici c'est une tempête, puisqu'il sera question des vents vy. 26 et 27. . χαλύπτω ne peut signifier couvrir, submerger, mais envelopper, cacher, les vagues étant plus hautes que la barque qu'elles menacent d'engloutir ; du bord on devait la croire perdue. — Lc. a parlé du sommeil quand il a commencé, et Mc. décrit la position du dormeur; l'opposition de Mt. est plus saisissante αὐτὸς δέ découvre le Maître : il dormait. .7 39) προσελθόντες style de Mt. Ceux qui parlent ne sont pas des bateliers effrayés, mais des disciples qui recourent à celui qui peut les sauver. Néanmoins le cri traditionnel « nous sommes perdus », suppose qu'ils n'avaient pas cette confiance abandonnée qui n’eût même pas dérangé le Maître.
8:26
Le reproche avant le secours est assez naturel, mais on objecte toujours en pareil cas : « Commence par nous sauver. » Peut-être Mt. a-t-il voulu montrer que Jésus, sûr de son fait, prenait son temps. Le ion est moins vif que dans Mc., mais les deux reproches y sont. C'est alors seulement que Jésus se lève (surgens, R. V. he arose), car ἐγερθείς ne peut signifier ici que Jésus s’est éveillé; il ἃ déjà parlé. Son attitude debout pour commander ἃ grande allure. — Les vents, encore une façon générale, car une tempête n’est causée que par un vent (Mc. Le.). Mais Jésus est souverain de tous les vents. Puisqu'ils sont personnifiés (ainsi que la mer) le verbe ἐπιτιμάω, « faire des reproches », n'est pas trop fort. On dirait qu'ils se sont mis en branle pour perdre Jésus et ses disciples, mais il n'est rien dit d’une instigation du démon, cf. ἐπετίμησε τῇ ἐρυθριᾷ θαλάσσῃ, ps. ον, 9. — γαλήνη est le mot propre pour le calme de la mer; la qualification de grand (cf. Is. 1x, 1) a quelque chose du vague sémitique (Mc. Mt.). Homère ἃ dit : le calme blanc (0d. xx, 94). “+ 27) « Les hommes » ne peuvent être les disciples (Jér. Hi. Euth.). Mt. a voulu décrire l'effet du miracle sur le public auquel les disciples ne manquèrent pas de le raconter, et il faut avouer que les termes de la surprise (même dans Me. et Le. τίς ἄρα οὗτός ἐστιν) sont si forts que l’exclamation est plus naturelle dans la bouche du public. Les apôtres devaient être moins étonnés, aussi Mc. ne parle que de la peur. Luc ἃ compris que les paroles supposaient l'étonnement qu'il à joint à la peur. — Dans Mt. l’étonnement conviendrait d'autant moins aux apôtres qui ont imploré le secours. On savait que Jésus avait un pouvoir surnaturel, mais on se demande de quelle sorte il est (ποταπός) ; c'est un progrès dans l'admiration, et c'est la raison d'être de cet épisode dans celte série. 28-34, DEUX DÉMONIAQUES AU PAYS DES GADARÉNIENS (Mc. v, 4-20; Le. vi, 26-39). L'ordre des faits est le même dans les trois synoptiques ; il s’imposait parce que la traversée et la tempête apaisée conduisaient à l’autre bord du lac, où Jésus ne fit alors qu'une fugue rapide. Et l'on ne peut douter que tous trois visent le même fait. Mais tandis que Mc. et Le. sont d'accord sur un seul possédé, qui se dit légion, et qui veut suivre Jésus une fois guéri, Mt. a deux démoniaques et omet les deux autres circonstances. Le nom du lieu est probablement Gadara dans Mt., Gérasa dans Mc. et dans Le. Malgré ces divergences principales, et d’autres dans le détail, les critiques libéraux soutiennent que Mt. a simplement transformé le récit de Mc. On pourrait bien admettre qu'il a mis Gadaréniens pour Géraséniens afin d'indiquer une population plus rapprochée du lac; on n’a pu expliquer pourquoi il aurait dit deux possédés au lieu d’un. Ce n’est pas pour augmenter le miracle, puisqu’il ne parle pas du nombre des démons. Les critiques {Loisy etc.) disent que n'ayant pas parlé du possédé de Mc. 1, 23-26, il a tenu à conserver le chiffre de deux démoniaques guéris. Ce serait plus que puéril, après qu'il a mentionné des expulsions en nombre (τιν, 24 et vi, 16). 1] est à tout le moins plus vraisemblable que Mt. ἃ eu en vue deux possédés, dont l’un peut-être n'était que le compagnon moins dangereux du célèbre possédé qui figurait seul dans la catéchèse de Pierre (Aug. Zahn, Schanz elc.). — Il faut d’ailleurs concéder quelque négligence dans le procédé de Mt. N'altachant d'importance qu'au fait de l'expulsion dans les pores, il n’a pas insisté sur les éléments concrets de cette histoire; de plus il ἃ fait parler deux fois les deux possédés comme une seule personne, ce qui assurément n'est pas naturel. Les ayant ainsi assimilés, il devait aussi donner à tous deux l'épithète de χαλεποὶ λίαν, « très pénibles Certes, cette manière de raconter est bien inférieure pour la description des détails et la vue des faits à celle de Me. imitée par Le.; ce n’est qu’un squelette destiné à mettre en relief une idée. Mais, encore une fois, on peut concevoir ce genre d'esprit abstrait plus aisément que celui d'un abréviateur qui changerait de parti pris, et sans raison appréciable, les circonstances rapportées par un disciple qu'il aurait estimé assez pour lui emprunter le canevas de son évangile.
8:28
Notons une fois de plus que le nom de Gadaréniens (leçon certaine) ne prouve pas que la ville la plus rapprochée fût Gadara, car celte ville n'est pas nommée. Nous avons pensé (Comm. Mc.) que Jésus avait débarqué au pied de Qala‘at el Hosn que nous croyons être l’ancienne Gamala. Mais la région 32. Om. των χοιρῶν p. ayekn (THV).et non add. (8). pouvait dépendre de Gadara, ville plus importante. Gamala figure dans Josèphe, mais non chez les classiques, tandis que Gadara est citée par Polybe v, 74; zvi, 39; Strabon xvi, 759; Ptol. v, 45,22; Pline, v, 74, des inscriptions (Besrtr, Lexique de.géographie anc.). La difficulté n’est pas que Mt. ait fait allusion à Gadara, métropole de la Pérée (Jos. Bell. IV, vu, 3), mais que Mec. ait écrit Gérasa. Ou bien il ἃ choisi un nom d'ailleurs très connu aussi des anciens (Ptol. v, 15,23; Pline, v, 74; Inscriptions), ou il ἃ voulu indiquer un petit endroit au bord du lac dont il n'y a pas d’autre indication. Même gén. absolu irrégulier qu'aux vv. 4 et 3; même correction par le datif dans certains mss.; — deux démoniaques, vaguement, au lieu d'un homme possédé d’un esprit impur (Mec.). Dans xx, 30, Mt. a encore deux aveugles au lieu d'un (Mc. Lc.). M. Lévesque n'a pas rangé ces cas parmi ceux où Mt. met le pluriel pour le singulier (Nos quatre Évangiles, p. 304 ss.; RB. 1946), et en effet Le chiffre deux est plus intentionnel que le pluriel. — χαλεποὶ λίαν remplace la longue description de Mc. abrégée par Le., et est expliqué par ce trait propre à Mt. qu'ils empéchaient de passer. χαλεπός se dit beaucoup plus rarement des personnes que des choses.
8:29
Dans Mc, et Le. Jésus prend l'initiative, l’homme se prosterne, il interpelle « Jésus fils du Dieu très haut ». Et Mt. qu’on accuse de rehausser de parti pris la personne de Jésus aurait rayé ces circonstances! Que les deux démoniaques parlent ensemble, cela tient à sa manière plus schématique que moulée sur les faits. Mais il a un trait intéressant et très naturel de la. part des démons : « Comment, déjà? Le temps de notre supplice est-il déjà venu? Tu es en avance »] — Les anges coupables ou démons avaient subi une première condamnation. En attendant le second et définitif jugement général, on les croyait déjà enfermés dans une prison (IL Pet. τι, 4: Hénoch x, 42-14), et l’on admettait que quelques-uns étaient laissés libres sur la terre pour tenter les hommes (Hénoch xv-xvr; Jubilés x, 8). — ὧδε n’est pas la terre: (Jér.) par opposilion au ciel, puisque Mt. (comme les autres) a insisté sur l’arrivée dans un territoire nouveau. Donc « ici », où nous étions bien tranquilles.
8:30
Pourquoi Mt. aurait-il « loin d'eux » au lieu de ἐκεῖ (Mc. Le.), s’il avait suivi Mc? L
8:31
Mt. na pas la question de Jésus; c'est sa manière cf, 1x, 22; χιν, 17; xvi, 2.9 s., xvir, 41. 44. 11; xvint, 1; x1x, 7, xxvi, 18 et Mc. v, 30; vr, 38; vu, 42. 19 5; 1x, 12. 16. 21. 38: x, 3; σιν, 14 (Klost.), ot l’on n’a pas prouvé que ce soient là des omissions voulues du texte de Mc., pour rehausser la science de Jésus, d'autant que beaucoup de ces interrogations sont des figures de style ; cf. Introd. p. ταν. Aussi bien ce n’est pas sans inconvénient qu'on néglige les détails. Ici Mt. suppose que les démons se sentent menacés d’expulsion, ce qui s’explique mieux si en effet Jésus ἃ pris l'initiative. Mais cette faute de composition serait bien plus étrange si Mt. avait écrit d'après Mc. — Dans Mc. les démons voudraient rester dans le pays. Dans Le. 115 ne veulent pas être envoyés dans l'abime, c’est-à-dire en prison en attendant le jugement. Dans Mt. rien de précis, mais on comprend d’après le v. 29 qu'ils ont peur d'être torturés, donc envoyés dans la géhenne. .
8:32
Pourquoi Mt. aurait-il remplacé la permission donnée par Jésus (Mc. Le.) par un discours direct (ὑπάγετε) qui semble engager davantage sa responsabilité? En effet on ne peut pas dire que ce mot signifie simplement » allez-vous-en » (cf. iv, 10), puisque les démons ont demandé non pas qu'on leur permette, mais qu’on les envoie. Au fond d'ailleurs cela revient au même : Jésus accorde ce que souhaitent les démons. En pareil cas une permission engage la respon- Sabilité, quelle qu'en soit la formule. — Mc. ni Le. ne disent qu'il ÿ eut autant de porcs possédés qu'il y avait de démons dans Légion. Cependant le grand nombre des démons est en proportion avec un troupeau (évalué par Mc. seul à 2.000 porcs). De nouveau la concision de Mt, nuit à la clarté; notons cependant qu'elle serait plus reprochable s’il avait suivi Mc. Dans Mt. il faut supposer que deux démons ont fait l'affaire; mais un seul eût sans doute pu suffire aussi bien, et ce n’est pas pour le renforcer qu'il a mis le chiffre de deux possédés. Ou bien at-il supposé que chaque possédé avait plusieurs démons? — ἀπέθανον ne fait pas image comme ἐπνίγοντο Ou ἀπεπνίγη.
8:33
La ville n’est. pas nommée, et Mt. ne parle pas des champs (Mc. Le.). — χαί dans le sens de spécialement (Kühner-G. τι, 8. 521).
8:34
νπαντησιν (TH) ou ouvavrno (SV).
Toule la ville, et à la rencontre de Jésus, est d’un style bien solennel; c'est une tournure sémitique, comme Jud. xt, 34 καὶ ἰδοὺ ἣ θυγάτηρ αὐτοῦ ἐξεπορεύετο εἰς ὑπάντησιν. C'est seulement la vue de Jésus qui décide les gens à lui demander de s'en aller (παρεκάλεσαν à l'aoriste (comme 1.0.) parce que l'invitation ne doit pas être discutée); ἀπὸ τῶν δρίων αὐτῶν, comme Joël (ur ou 1v, 6). — Rien de leur frayeur, de l'attitude du possédé, de son désir de suivre Jésus, de son apostolat dans la région. Il reste l'essentiel, le miracle, mais sans mettre sous nos yeux ce qui le rend si émouvant, la transformation morale si complète d’un être humain, laquelle valait bien un troupeau de pores. — Mt. aurait-il été insensible à ce que Le. a si bien compris? Disons plutôt qu’il avait vu autrement.
8:2
… About fifteen concern instantaneous healings from various infirmities: such as, for example, that of the leper (ibid. 8, 2-4), of the centurion's servant, paralyzed and almost dying (ibid. 8, 5-13; Lk. 7, 1-10), of the paralytic of Capernaum (Mt. 9, 1-8), of the two blind men (ibid. 9, 27-31), of the deaf-mute …
besides a certain quantity of flour and oil. The expiatory sacrifice implies the concept of leprosy regarded as a punishment from God. In the Old Testament (cf. Ex. 4:6; Num. 5:2; 12:10; II Kings 5:1; 7:3; II Chron. 26:20 ff.) and in the New (cf. Mt. 8:2; 10:5; 11:5; 26:6) lepers are often spoken of, and the miraculous healing of some of them is narrated. …
Precisely according to the text of the Synoptics (Mt. 8:2-3; Mk. 1:40-42; Lk. 5:12-13), at the simple touch of the Lord's hand the leper is healed (Wilpert, Sarcofagi, pl. 220, 1st fragment on the left). …
8:3
… a general expression: "At ille singulis manus imponens curabat eos." There are then many particular cases, reported by the Evangelists, in which Jesus accomplishes the healing by imposing his hands: cf. ibid. 13:13: healing of a woman bent double; Mt. 8:3; Mk. 1:41; Lk. 5:13: healing of a leper; Mk. 5:23, Jairus, with regard to his sick daughter, thus begs Jesus: "Filia mea in extremis est, veni, impone manum super eam ut salva …
8:4
The same situation is reflected in the New Testament: Jesus speaks of the "Book of Moses" (Mark 12:26), of the "Law of Moses," etc.; he refers to prescriptions of the Pentateuch as commands of Moses (Matt. 8:4; 19:8); he declares that Moses "wrote of him," but the Jews do not believe in him, because they do not believe even the "writings" (γράμματα) of Moses (John 5:46 ff.). …
8:5
… About fifteen concern instantaneous healings from various infirmities: such as, for example, that of the leper (ibid. 8, 2-4), of the centurion's servant, paralyzed and almost dying (ibid. 8, 5-13; Lk. 7, 1-10), of the paralytic of Capernaum (Mt. 9, 1-8), of the two blind men (ibid. 9, 27-31), of the deaf-mute (Mk. 7, 31-37), of the blind man of Jericho (ibid. 10, 46-52), of …
… Jesus, healing the centurion's daughter, weaves a eulogy of the officer's faith (Luke 8:1-10; Matt. 8:5-13). And St. Peter is sent to baptize, first among the pagans, the centurion Cornelius (Acts 10:1 ff.).
… According to the Gospel data it was well known (τὸ ἑδρῶς), situated in the vicinity of Capernaum and characterized by high plateaus (Mt. 3:13; 5:1; 8:5; Mk. 3:20; Lk. 6:13, 17; 7:1; Jn. 6:17).
8:10
… f.). The Kingdom of God is already inaugurated (Matt. 11:12-15; 12:28; Luke 16:16; 17:20 f.; 1 Cor. 15:25); it must grow (Matt. 13:31 f.), throughout the whole world (Mark 3:13-19; 6:7-13; 13:9 f.; 16:15 f., 20; Acts 1:8; etc.), pass to the gentiles (Matt. 8:10 ff.; 21:33-46; 22:2-10 etc.); it is identified with the Church, with Peter at its head (Matt. 16:13-20; John 21:15 ff.; 1 Cor. 12; Rom. 12:3-8 etc.); it includes good and bad (Matt. 13:24-30, …
8:11
… For him the Old Testament contains the history and destiny not of one people alone, but of all humanity, whose salvation it announced: the serpent prefigures the salvation of all believers (Jn. 3, 14-15); the patriarchs will receive the pagans at their banquet (Mt. 8, 11). Zacchaeus too is a son of Abraham (Lk. 19, 9). The salvation that J. offers is for all (J.-B. …
The opposition between the Revelation accomplished by Christ and the dominant Jewish interpretation could not have been more strident; it was fatal to Israel, which remained outside of salvation (cf. Mt. 8, 11 f.; etc.).
The Gospel expression "Kingdom of heaven" presupposes that God dwells in heaven and that believers journey there (Mt. 3:2; 4:17; 5:10, 19 ff.; 8:11; 11:11-12; 13:24-47; etc.). …
8:12
… It is indicated in the words of the Divine Judge: "Ite in ignem aeternum" (Mt. 25:41), in many other passages of Scripture (Mt. 8:12; Mc. 43, 47; 9, Lc. 16:28; Iud. 6) and in the constant teaching of Tradition.
… cavities (II Pt. 2:4); so too Enoch 10:12; 18:11-19:1; 88:1; there Satan is imprisoned for 1000 years (Rev. 20:7). The hell (v.) of the damned is called gehenna (v.); Jesus insists on the eternal torment of the reprobate in the "outer darkness" (Mt. 8:12; 22:13; 25:30) where there is "weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Mt. 13:42, 50; 24:51) because they are excluded from the Kingdom of God (Lk. 13:28) for having rejected the invitation …
8:14
From the fact that P. had at Capernaum his mother-in-law, healed by Jesus (Mt. 8:14; Mk. 1:30 ff.; Lk. 4:38), it follows that P. was married; the name of his wife is not known with certainty, called Joanna by the Easterners and Perpetua by the Westerners; nor is it …
8:16
With regard to personal infestation and diabolical obsession, the Synoptics tell us of Jesus' repeated encounters with the possessed, of their liberation at the divine command (Mt. 8:16; 12:22; 15:22; 17:14-17; Mk. 1:23-26; 5:2-13; 9:16; Lk. 4:33-35; 6:18; 7:21; 8:2, 27-33; 9:30, 43; etc.); the Acts of the Apostles (5:16; 8:7; 16:16-18) attest to us the persistence …
Various references to Jesus' miracles place alongside the sick who were healed the demoniacs who were freed (Matthew 4:24; Mark 1:32, 34, 39; Matthew 8:16; Luke 4:40 ff.; Mark 3:10; Luke 6:17-19; 7:21).
Jesus walking on the waves (Mk. 6, 48-51). Others were performed to free the possessed, very numerous in those times (Mt. 8, 16; 8, 28-34; 17, 14-18, etc.). …
8:17
3. Uniqueness of the literal sense. - The rather rare fact that an Old Testament text in the New Testament is applied and explained in different ways (for example, Ps. 2:7, in Acts 13:33 and Heb. 1:5 and 5:5; or Is. 53:4, in Mt. 8:17 and 1 Pt. 2:24), has led various theologians, particularly from the 16th century onward, to admit and defend the theory of pluriliteralism — both the possibility and the fact that …
Servant of Yahweh (Heb. 'Ēbhedh Yahweh)
… For the writers of the New Testament it is enough to compare Mt. 12:18-21 with Is. 42:1-4; Rom. 15:21 with Is. 52:15; Jn. 12:38 with Is. 52:1; Mt. 8:17 with Is. 53:4; Acts 8:32-35 with Is. 53:7-8; Lk. 22:37 with Is. 53:12. In these one observes fulfilled in Christ what is said of the S. of Y. (cf. also Lk. 2:32 - Is. 42:6; Mt. 11:5 …
8:19
Scribe (Heb. Sôphêr, pl. Sôphêrîm; Gr. Γραμματεύς)
… Among them, however, there were not only perverse men, as Jesus acknowledges, instructing the one who asked to follow him (Mt. 8:19 ff.) and telling another that he is not far from the kingdom of God (Mk. 12:28-34). Giovanni Rinaldi
8:20
… worldly man; Lk. 6:24 adds the curse upon the rich: Jesus is averse to the rich because he fights the world, whose pomp and power contrast with the Kingdom of God (1 Cor. 1:26-28) and will be annihilated (Jn. 16:33; Rev. 18:10-19). Jesus, utterly poor (Mt. 8:20; Lk. 9:58), glorifies and demands poverty (Mt. 19:21; Lk. 12:33; 18:22) in exchange for the Kingdom (Mt. 13:44, 46), since wealth, the fulcrum of earthly power, is the effect and cause …
… Theol., 2ª-2ª, q. 184, a. 1), fulfilling not only the commandments of the Lord, but also His counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience (Mt. 29, 21; 19, 14; 8, 20; Lc. 9, 58). Such an act sums up in a single offering the whole life of a person, directing to God and to His glory all subsequent works, in a form different from that of ordinary Christians. …
8:22
… In Sacred Scripture this truth is taught explicitly: "Ipsum audite" (Mt. 17:5; Mk. 9:6; Lk. 9:35; II Pt. 1:17), "Veni, sequere me" (Mt. 8:22; 9:9; 19:21; Mk. 2:14; 9:6; 10:21). St. Paul too invites the faithful to imitate him, as he has imitated Christ (I Cor. 4:16; Gal. 2:20). The imitation of the Saints also, that …
8:23
… Some concern inanimate or irrational nature; e.g., the changing of water into wine at the wedding banquet of Cana (Jn. 2, 1-11), the storm calmed on the lake of Tiberias (Mt. 8, 23-27), the twofold multiplication of the loaves (ibid. 14, 13-21; 15, 32-38), the twofold miraculous catch of fish (Lk. 5, 4-10; Jn. 21, 1-11),
Matthew, Apostle, Evangelist, Saint
Is. 53:4). In these chapters M. also relates certain miracles over nature and over death (the calming of the storm: Mt. 8:23-34; the raising of Jairus's daughter: ibid. 9:18-26), which invite reflection on the messianic character of Jesus. 8) The Messiah organizes his kingdom by choosing and instructing the …
Nazaraeus in the Vulgate (Heb. názir) is also found in Gen. 49:26; Deut. 33:16 (of Joseph), where it means "prince," or "chosen one," and in Mt. 8:23 (Greek Ναζωραῖος), said of Jesus, in this last case explained variously (Zolli: "the preacher"), but perhaps equivalent only to "Nazarene," with an allusion to the messianic epithet …
… the temptations (Mt. 3:1 - 4:12 = Mk. 1:1-14 = Lk. 3:1-4:14); the calming of the storm, the Gerasene demoniacs, the healing of the paralytic, the call of Matthew-Levi, the dispute over fasting, the daughter of Jairus and the woman with the hemorrhage (Mt. 8:23 - 9:26 = Mk. 4:35 - 5:43 = Lk. 8:22-56); the confession of Peter, the first prediction of the Passion, the transfiguration, the lunatic, the second prediction of the Passion (Mt. 16:13 …
… There he gathered the crowds and spoke to them, seated on fishing boats (Mt. 13, 1-3); among the fishermen of the lake he chose his Apostles (ibid. 4, 18-22); on Peter's boat he crossed it several times from one shore to the other, calming a furious storm (ibid. 8, 23-27). There took place the miraculous catch of fish (Lk. 5, 1-11), the coin found by Peter to pay the tribute (Mt. 17, 20), the appearances of Jesus upon the waters (ibid. 14, 31), and …
8:28
Furthermore, and still in the field of history, the testimony of Sacred Scripture intervenes: from the Gospels, in fact, it is gathered that Jesus healed many possessed persons, and declared them such, clearly distinguishing them from ordinary sick people (Mk. 1:23-28; Mt. 8:28-34; 9:32-34; 12:22; 15:22-28; Lk. 6:18-19; 7:21; 9:37-44; 13:12-17; etc.). …
… The most important liberations of demoniacs are: "the man possessed by an unclean spirit" in the synagogue of Capernaum (Mark 1:23-28; Luke 4:33-37); the demoniac of Gerasa (Mark 5:1-20; Matthew 8:28-34; Luke 8:26-39; in the mouth of the demoniac Peter's confession is anticipated); the Syrophoenician demoniac girl (Mark 7:24-30; Matthew 15:21-28; Jesus acts according to the woman's …
Fl. Josephus' report (loc. cit., 3, 1) that the territory of G. extended as far as Tiberias may explain the reading of Mt. 8:28 "region of the Gadarenes." The city was in antiquity rich, populous and marked by
Jesus walking on the waves (Mk. 6, 48-51). Others were performed to free the possessed, very numerous in those times (Mt. 8, 16; 8, 28-34; 17, 14-18, etc.). …
8:29
… He is the true Son of God, proclaimed as such from heaven during the Baptism and the Transfiguration (Mt. 3:17 and 17:5; Mk. 1:11 and 9:7; Lk. 3:22 and 9:35), by Peter through divine inspiration (Mt. 16:16), and even by the demons (ibid. 8:29; Mk. 5:7). Jesus himself declares himself the Son of God and for this is condemned to death (Mt. 26:63-64; v. FIGLIO DI DIO). …
8:31
… "accuser" (1 Tim. 3:11 [detrahentes]; 2 Tim. 3:3 and Tit. 2:3 [criminator]; cf. St. Polycarp, 5:2). It also occurs 36 times as ὁ σατανᾶς (Mt. 4:1 a diabolos = Mk. 1:13 a satana; Vulgate always satanas and never satan), besides the related terms δαιμόνια (Mt. 8:31) and τὸ δαιμόνιον (63 times, 27 in the singular but 36 in the plural; 53 times in the Gospels). …
8:33
Gen. 26:21, "accusation" Ezra 4:6) occurs in the Hebrew Bible nine times as a common noun: "adversary" in war (1 Sam. 29:4; 1 Kings 5:18; 11:14, 23, 25) or in court (Ps. 108:6) or one who bars the way: 2 Sam. 19:23; cf. Matt. 16:23 and Matt. 8:33: Jesus rebuffs Peter who obstructs his path to the cross; 1 Macc. 1:36 the Akra fortress is erected εἰς ἀνάβολον, as a "barrier." In three passages (Job 1-2; Zech. 3:1-2; 1 Chron. …
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Rheims 1582), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.