April 21: Cornelius a Lapide on Luke 4:16-21 for the Holy Thursday Chrism Mass

Ver. 16.—And He came to Nazareth. Note here that while Christ is said, in v. 14, to have gone into Galilee, He is not said to have entered Nazareth which is situated there, as S. Matthew (Mat_4:13) has it, but Capernaum, and there to have done the things which S. Matthew relates in iv. to xiii., all of which S. Luke passes over here, and then He is said to have come to Nazareth.  S. Luke wished at the very outset to state the reason why Christ would not teach in Nazareth, namely, that He was despised by His fellow-townsmen as being the son of a carpenter. And though this only happened subsequently, yet Christ foresaw that it would be the case, and therefore turned aside from Nazareth and went to Capernaum, which He made the seat of His ministry, as S. Matthew relates in (Mat_4:13).

And stood up for to read. It was (and still is) the custom among the Jews that each one should read the Hebrew books of Holy Scripture in the synagogue on the Sabbath-day, both that he might learn the law of God from it, and also that he might be stirred up to the worship, love, and service of God. Moreover, it was the part of the Rabbin and the teachers, such as Jesus was, to read the Holy Scripture publicly, to interpret it, to preach, and to teach.

Ver. 17.—And there was delivered unto Him (by the attendant) the book of the prophet Isaias. This was done by the counsel and direction of God, that Jesus might show from Isaiah that He was the-Messiah described by that prophet.

And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written (Isa. 61:1). Christ seems so to have opened the book that, without looking for it, He lighted upon this passage of Isaiah by the will and guidance of God. The Vulgate, “as He unrolled the book,” is better; and Vatablus, “when He had unfolded;” others, “when He had spread out,” for this is the meaning of the Greek α̉ναπτύξαζ. For the books of the Hebrews were not divided into leaves, but consisted of one long piece of parchment which was rolled round a cylinder from beginning to end, as maps are nowadays. In order to read this parchment it was therefore necessary to unroll it, and spread it out.

Ver. 18.—The Spirit of the Lord is upon me: because He hath anointed me. The Holy Spirit, who was in Me from the beginning, descending upon Me here in the baptism which I have now received from John the Baptist, descending visibly in the form of a dove, while the voice of God the Father spoke forth in thunder, “This is My beloved Son; hear ye Him,” has by this sign, as by a visible anointing, publicly declared, authorised, and, as it were, consecrated Me as the Teacher, Prophet, Saviour, and Lawgiver of the world, and especially of the Jews to whom I was promised, and therefore—

He hath anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor, for the rich Scribes and Pharisees despise My lowliness and My poverty.

Observe the words “hath anointed me;” for in Hebrew “Messiah,” and in Greek Χζιστὸς, mean “anointed.” This anointing of Christ was accomplished secretly in the Incarnation—

(1.) By the grace of the hypostatic union, which made Him in the highest degree holy and divine—nay, made Him God.

(2.) By the plenitude of graces which flowed from this union. For other saints are said to be anointed with the grace and the gifts of the Holy Ghost, but Christ was anointed with the Holy Ghost Himself, as though with the very fountain and plenitude of all graces, that the Man Christ might become a superabundant fountain pouring forth its grace into all the apostles, martyrs, virgins, and confessors, so says Basil (de Spiritu Sancto, ch. xxvi.). Christ was, as I have said, publicly anointed in His baptism, to heal them that are brokenhearted—heal and console those who, by reason of their sins, and the burden of the law of Moses, as well as their ignorance of the things of God, are afflicted in spirit, and pant for the knowledge of God, His pardon, His grace, and His salvation, and who, therefore, look for the Messiah. Hence Symmachus and Theodotus render it; so S. Jerome tells us in his Commentary on Isa. 61., “to bind up the wounds of sinners.”

To preach deliverance to the captives—that I may preach, announce, and bring freedom, through penance and My grace, to those who are held captive by sin and the devil.

And recovering of sight to the blind. The Hebrew and Chaldee versions of Isaiah give “open to those bound,” i.e., as Symmachus has it, “loosening of those bound.” But the Septuagint, and S. Luke following them, render it in the Greek άνάβλεψιν, “looking again,” that they may see again. For the Hebrews call those that are blind bound, or shut, like the Latin idiom, “Moses seized in their eyes,” and consequently they call the illumination by which the eyes of the blind are opened “opening.” The meaning, therefore, is, Christ shall both restore sight to those who are physically, and illumine those who are spiritually, blind, and are ignorant of God and of the way of salvation. He shall teach them the knowledge of God and the way to save their souls. This was what Isaiah (Isa 42:7) clearly foretold that the Messiah should do: “I will give Thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles, to open the eyes of the blind.” And hence it is plain that Isaiah 62, is not speaking literally of the deliverance from the Babylonian captivity wrought by Cyrus, as Toletus would have it, but of the deliverance from the captivity of sin and of the devil wrought by Christ; for Cyrus restored sight to no one, but Christ to many. I confess, however, that there is an allusion to Cyrus, he being a type of Christ. To the Hebrews in Babylon who were “bound” he gave “opening and loosening,” as the Hebrew version has it, when he freed them from captivity and sent them back into Judæa.

To set at liberty them that are bruised—intoliberty and health. The Arabic has “to send thee bound into remission.” Pagninus, “that I may send forth the broken by remission.” So also Vatablus. These words are not in Isaiah lxi 1. in the Hebrew; they have been added paraphrastically by S. Luke or his interpreter, and seem to form another explanation of “to heal them that are brokenhearted.” So Forerius on Isaiah lxi., and Francis Lucas on this passage. Origen omits “to heal them that are brokenhearted,” and reads instead, “to send forth the broken into liberty;” and he adds, “What was so broken or shattered as the man who, when sent away by Jesus, was healed?”

For “broken” the Greek has τετζανσμένους, which Vatablus and others translate “broken.”

Ver. 19.—To preach the acceptable year of the Lord—the pleasing year—in Hebrew, רצון מנת scenat raston; in the Septuagint ε̉νιαυτὸν ε̉υδοκίας, that is, as S. Jerome renders it, “the placable year,” or, as others with propriety, “the year of the good pleasure,” of divine benevolence and liberality, such as was the year of the jubilee to which he here alludes. For the year of the jubilee was the type and figure of this evangelical year which Christ brought. So the whole time of the preaching of Christ, and thenceforward all the time of Christianity, is a year of jubilee to those who obey Christ and accept His liberty—a year of grace, mercy, peace, remission, liberality, and salvation, in which, after God’s long anger against us, we are restored to His grace, His favour, His heirship, His glory, and all the former blessings which we had in Paradise in the state of innocence. This is what S. Paul says in 2 Cor 6:2, “Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”

The Vulgate adds, and the day of retribution, of vengeance. The year of the jubilee, that is, the time of Christianity, shall be to the enemies of Christ a time of vengeance, when God shall avenge the human race on its enemies and oppressors, the demons that oppress it; for Christ shall deliver men from the devils, and shall cast them down, according to Isa 35:4, “Say unto the timid, Be comforted, and fear not; behold, your God shall bring the vengeance of retribution. God Himself shall come and shall save you.” Vulgate. And Christ says, in John 12:31, “Now is the judgment of the world, now shall the prince of this world be cast forth.”

Ver. 20.—And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on Him. “That they might hear,” says Euthymius, “how He interpreted what He had read.” For already the fame of what He had said and done at Capernaum had been noised abroad everywhere, so that many held Him to be the Messiah; and they especially desired to hear this from Christ. For they knew that the passage of Isaiah read by Him was a prophecy of the Messiah, and so they listened with eagerness to Him while He explained it.

Ver. 21.—And He began to say unto them, This day is this Scripture (“which has sounded,” says Euthymius, and the Syriac version), fulfilled in your ears. This day is fulfilled in your hearing this prophecy of Isaiah, while you hear me preaching to you and to the rest of the poor of Galilee the year of full remission, and I am prepared to do, nay, I have already done in Capernaum, all that Isaiah has here foretold. I am the Messiah of whom Isaiah there prophesies, whom you, in accordance with the predictions of Jacob and Daniel, are already eagerly expecting every moment. For, though Jesus does not clearly say that He is the Messiah, yet He tacitly implies it

April 21: Aquinas’ Catena Aurea on the Gospel for the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper (John 13:1-15)

Ver  1. Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them to the end.2. And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him;3. Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God;4. He rises from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.5. After that he pours water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.

THEOPHYL. Our Lord being about to depart out of this life, shows His great care for His disciples: Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour was come that He should depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them to the end.

BEDE. The Jews had many feasts, but the principal one was the passover; and therefore it is particularly said, Before the feast of the passover.

AUG. Pascha is not a Greek word, as some think, but Hebrew: though there is remarkable agreement of the two languages in it. The Greek word to suffer being pascha has been thought to mean passion, as being derived from the above word. But in Hebrew, pascha is a passing over; the feast deriving its name from the passing, of the people of God over the Red Sea into Egypt. All was now to take place in reality, of which that passover was the type.

Christ was led as a lamb to the slaughter; whose blood sprinkled upon our doorposts, i.e. whose sign of the cross marked on our foreheads, delivers us from the dominion of this world, as from Egyptian bondage. And we perform a most wholesome journey or passover, when we pass over from the devil to Christ, from this unstable world to His sure kingdom. In this way the Evangelist seems to interpret the word: When Jesus knew that His hour was come when He should pass over out of this world to the Father. This is the pascha, this the passing over.

CHRYS. He did not know then for the first time: He had known long before. By His departure He means His death, Being so near leaving His disciples, He shows the more love for them: Having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them to the end; i.e. He left nothing undone which one who greatly loved should do. He reserved this for the last, that their love might be increased by it, and to prepare them by such consolation for the trials that were coming.

His own He calls them, in the sense of intimacy. The word was used in another sense in the beginning of the Gospel: His own received Him not. It follows, which were in the world: for those were dead who were His own, such as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who were not in the world. These then, His own which were in the world, He loved all along, and at the last manifested His love in completeness: He loved them to the end.

AUG. He loved them to the end, i.e. that they themselves too might pass out of this world, by love, to Him their head. For what is to the end, but to Christ? For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes (Rom_10:4). But these words may be understood after a human sort, to mean that Christ loved His own up to His death.

But God forbid that He should end His love by death, who is not ended by death: except indeed we understand it thus: He loved His own to death: i.e. His love for them led Him to death. And supper having been made, i.e. having been got ready, and laid on the table before them; not having been consumed and finished: for it was during supper that He rose, and washed His disciples’ feet; as after this He sat at table again, and gave the sop to the traitor.

What follows: The devil having now put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him, refers to a secret suggestion, not made to the ear, but to the mind; the suggestions of the devil being part of our own thoughts. Judas then had already conceived, through diabolical instigation, the intention of betraying his Master.

CHRYS. The Evangelist inserts this as if in astonishment: our Lord being about to wash the feet of the very person who had resolved to betray Him. It shows the great wickedness too of the traitor, that even the partaking of the same table, which is a check to the worst of men, did not stop him.

AUG. The Evangelist being about to relate so great an instance of our Lord’s humility, reminds us first of His lofty nature: knowing that the Father had given all things into His hand, not excepting the traitor.

GREG. He knew that He had even His persecutors in His hand that He might convert them from malice to love of Him.

ORIGEN The Father has given all things into His hands; i.e. into His power; for His hands hold all things; or to Him, for His work; My Father works hitherto, and I work (Joh_5:17).

CHRYS. Had given all things into His hand. What is given Him is the salvation of the believers. Think not of this giving up in a human way. It signifies His honor for, and agreement with, the Father. For as the Father has given up all things to Him, so has He given up all things to the Father. When He shall hare delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father (1Co_15:24).

AUG. Knowing too, that He was come from God, and went to God; not that He left God when He came, or will leave us when He returns.

THEOPHYL. The Father having given up all things into His hands, i.e. having given up to Him the salvation of the faithful, He deemed it right to show them all things that pertained to their salvation; and gave them a lesson of humility, by washing His disciples’ feet. Though knowing that He was from God, and went to God, He thought it in no way took from His glory, to wash His disciples’ feet; thus proving that He did not usurp His greatness. For usurpers do not condescend, for fear of losing what they have irregularly got.

AUG. Since the Father had given all things into His hands, He washed not His disciples’ hands indeed, but their feet; and since He knew that He came from God, and went to God, He performed the work not of God and Lord, but of a man and servant.

CHRYS. It was a thing worthy of Him, Who came from God, and went to God, to trample upon all pride; He rises from supper, and laid aside His garment, and took a towel, and, girded Himself.; After that He pours water into a basin, and began to wash His disciples’ feet, anal to wipe them with the towel wherewith He was girded. See what humility He shows, not only in washing their feet, but in other things. For it was not before, but after they had sat down, that He rose; and He not only washed them, but laid aside His garments, and girded Himself with a towel, and filled a basin; He did not order others to do all this, but did it Himself, teaching us that we should be willing and ready to do such things.

ORIGEN. Mystically, dinner is the first meal, taken early in the spiritual day, and adapted to those who have just entered upon this day. Supper is the last meal, and is set before those who are farther advanced. According to another sense, dinner is the understanding of the Old Testament, the supper the understanding the mysteries hid in the New.

Yet even they who sup with Jesus, who partake of the final meal, need a certain washing, not indeed of the top parts of their body, i.e. the soul, but its lower parts and extremities, which cleave necessarily to earth. It is, And began to wash; for He did not finish His washing till afterwards. The feet of the Apostles were defiled now: All of you shall be offended because of Me this night (Mat_26:31). But afterwards He cleansed them, so that they needed no more cleansing.

AUG. He laid aside His garments, when, being in the form of God, He emptied Himself; He girded Himself with a towel, took upon Him the form of a servant;

He poured water into a basin, out of which He washed His disciples’ feet. He shed His blood on the earth, with which He washed away the filth of their Sins; He wiped them with the towel wherewith He was girded; with the flesh wherewith He was clothed, He established the steps of the Evangelists; He laid aside His garments, to gird Himself with the towel; that He might take upon Him the form of a servant, He emptied Himself, not laying aside indeed what He had, but assuming what He had not. Before He was crucified, He was stripped of His garments, and when dead was wound up in linen clothes: the whole bole of His passion is our cleansing.

Ver6. Then comes he to Simon Peter: and Peter said to him, Lord, do you wash my feet?7. Jesus answered and said to him, What I do you know not now; but you shall know hereafter.8. Peter said to him, you shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash you not, you have no part with me.9. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.10. Jesus said to him, He that is washed needs not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and you are clean, but not all.11. For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, you are not all clean.

ORIGEN. As a physician, who has many sick under his care, begins with those who want his attention most, so Christ, in washing His disciples’ feet, begins with the most unclean, and so comes at last to Peter, who needed the washing less than any: Then comes He to Simon Peter. Peter resisted being washed, perhaps because his feet were nearly clean: and Peter said to Him, Lord, do you wash my feet?

AUG. What is the meaning of you and my feet? It is better to think than speak of this; lest one should fail in explaining adequately what might have been rightly conceived.

CHRYS. Though Peter was the first of the Apostles, yet it is possible that the traitor petulantly placed himself above him; and that this may be the reason why our Lord first began to wash, and then comes to Peter.

THEOPHYL. It is plain that our Lord did not wash Peter first, but none other of the disciples would have attempted to be washed before him.

CHRYS Some one will ask why none of them prevented Him, except Peter, this being a sign not of want of love, but of reverence. The reason seems to be, that He washed the traitor first, and came next to Peter, and that the other disciples were checked by the reply to Peter. Any of the rest would have said what Peter did, had his turn come first.

ORIGEN. Or thus: All the rest put out their feet, certain that so great a one would not want to wash them without reason: but Peter, looking only to the thing itself, and seeing nothing beyond it, refused out of reverence to let his feet be washed. He often appears in Scripture as hasty in putting forth his own ideas of what is right and expedient.

AUG. Or thus: We must not suppose that Peter was afraid and refused, when the others had willingly and gladly submitted to the washing. Our Lord did not go through the others first, and to the first of the Apostles afterwards; (for who is ignorant that the most blessed Peter was the first of all the Apostles?) but began with him: and Peter being the first to whom He came, was afraid; as indeed any of the others would have been.  Jesus answered and said to him, What I do you know not now; but you shall know hereafter.

CHRYS. i.e. How useful a lesson of humility it teaches you, and how, directly this virtue leads to God.

ORIGEN. Or our Lord insinuates that this is a mystery. By washing and wiping, He made beautiful the feet of those who were to preach glad tidings

(Isa_52:7), and to walk on that way of which He tells them, I am the way. Jesus laid aside His garments that He might make their clean feet still cleaner, or that He might receive the uncleanness of their feet to His own body, by the towel with which alone He was girded: for He has borne our griefs. Observe too, He chose for washing His disciples’ feet the very time that the devil had put it into the heart of Judas to betray Him, and the dispensation for mankind was about to take place. Before this the time was not come for washing their feet. And who would have washed their feet in the interval between this and the Passion? During the Passion, there was no other Jesus to do it. And after it the Holy Ghost came upon them, by which time they should already have had their feet washed. This mystery, our Lord says to Peter, is too great for you to understand now, but you shall know it hereafter when you are enlightened.

AUG. He did not refuse, because our Lord’s act was above his understanding, but he could not bear to see Him bending at his feet: Peter says to Him, you shall not wash my feet; i.e. I will never suffer it: not for ever is the same as never.

ORIGEN. This is an instance, that a man may say a thing with a good intention, and yet ignorantly to His hurt. Peter, ignorant of our Lord’s deep meaning, at first, as if in doubt, says mildly, Lord, do you wash my feet? and then, you shall never wash my feet; which was in reality to cut himself off from having a part with Jesus. Whence he not only blames our Lord for washing the disciples’ feet, but also his fellow-disciples for giving their feet to be washed. As Peter then did not see his own good our Lord did not allow His wish to be fulfilled: Jesus answered and said to him, If I wash you not, you have no part with Me.

AUG. If I wash you not, He says, though it was only his feet that He was going to wash, just as we say, you tread on me; though it is only our foot that is trodden on.

ORIGEN. Let those who refuse to allegorize these and like passages, say how it is probable that he who out of reverence for Jesus said, you shall never wash my feet, would have had no part with the Son of God; as if not having his feet washed was a deadly wickedness. Wherefore it is our feet, i.e. the affections of our mind, that are to be given up to Jesus to be washed, that our feet may be beautiful; especially if we emulate higher gifts, and wish to be numbered with those w ho preach glad tidings.

CHRYS. He does not say on what account He performs this act of washing, but only threatens him. For Peter was not persuaded by the first answer: you shall know hereafter he did not say, Teach me then that I may submit. But when he was threatened with separation from Christ, then he submitted.

ORIGEN. This saying we may use against those who make hasty and indiscreet resolutions. By strewing them, that if they adhere to these, they will have no part with Jesus, we disengage them from such resolves; even though they may have bound themselves by oath.

AUG. But he, agitated by fear and love, dreaded more the being denied Christ, than the seeing Him at His feet: Simon Peter said to Him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.

ORIGEN. Jesus was unwilling to wash hands, and despised what was said of Him in this respect: Your disciples wash not their hands when they eat bread

(Mat_15:2). And He did not wish the head to be submerged, in which was apparent the image and glory of the Father; it was enough for Him that the feet were given Him to wash: Jesus answered and said, He that is washed needs not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and you are clean, but not all.

AUG. Clean all except the feet. The whole of a man is washed in baptism, not excepting his feet; but living in the world afterwards, we tread upon the earth. Those human affections then, without which we cannot live in this world, are, as it were, our feet, which connect us with human things, so that if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves (1Jo_1:8). But if we confess our sins, He who washed the disciples’ feet, forgives us our sins even down to our feet, wherewith we hold our converse with earth.

ORIGEN. It was impossible that the lowest parts and extremities of a soul should escape defilement, even in one perfect as far as man can be; and many, even after baptism, are covered up to their head with the dust of wickedness; but the real disciples of Christ only need washing for their feet.

AUG. From what is here said, we understand that Peter was already baptized, indeed that He baptized by His disciples, shows that His disciples must have been baptized, either with John’s baptism, or, which is more probable, Christ’s. He baptized by means of baptized servants; for He did not refuse the ministry of baptizing, Who had the humility to wash feet.

AUG. And you are clean, but not all: what this means the Evangelist immediately! explains: For He knew who should betray Him; therefore said He, you are not all clean.

ORIGEN. you are clean, refers to the eleven; but not all, to Judas. He was unclean, first, because he cared not for the poor, but was a thief; secondly, because the devil had put it into his heart to betray Christ washes their feet after they are clean, strewing that grace goes beyond necessity, according to the text, He that is holy, let him be holy still.

AUG. Or, the disciples when washed had only to have their feet washed; because while man lives in this world, he contracts himself with earth, by means of his human affections, which are as it were his feet.

CHRYS. Or thus: When He calls them clean, you must not suppose that they were delivered from sin before the victim was offered. He means cleanness in respect of knowledge; for they were now delivered from Jewish error.

Note: I’ve included commentary on verses 16-20 even though they are not part of today’s reading.

Ver 12. So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said to them, Know you what I have done to you?13. You call me Master and Lord: and you say well; for so I am.14. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; you also ought to wash one another’s feet.15. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.16. Verily, verily, I say to you, The servant is not greater than his lord: neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.17. If you know these things, happy are you if you do them.18. I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, He that eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me.19. Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, you may believe that I am he.20. Verily, verily, I say to you, He that receives whomsoever I send receives me; and he that receives me receives him that sent me.

AUG. Our Lord, mindful of His promise to Peter that he should know the meaning of His act, you shall know here after, now begins to teach him: So after He had washed their feet, and had taken His garments, and was sat down again, He said to them, Know you what I have done to you?

ORIGEN. Know you, is either interrogative, to show the greatness of the act, or imperative, to rouse their minds.

ALCUIN. Mystically, when at our redemption we were changed by the shedding of His blood, He took again His garments, rising from the grave the third day, and clothed in the same body now immortal, ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father, from whence He shall come to judge the world.

CHRYS. He speaks now not to Peter alone, but to all: you call Me Master and Lord. He accepts their judgment; and to prevent the words being set down merely to favor on their parts, adds, And you say well, for so I am.

AUG. It is enjoined in the Proverbs, Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth. For it is dangerous for one to praise himself, who has to beware of pride. But He who is above all things, howsoever He praise Himself, extols not Himself too highly. Nor can God be called arrogant: for that we should know Him is no gain to Him, but to us. Nor can anyone know Him, unless He who knows, show Himself. So that if to avoid arrogance He did not praise Himself, He would be denying us wisdom. But why should the Truth fear arrogance? To His calling Himself Master, no one could object, even were He man only, since professors in different arts call themselves so without presumption. But what free man can bear the title of lord in a man? Yet when God speaks, height cannot exalt itself; truth cannot lie; it is for us to submit to that height, to obey that truth. Wherefore you say well in that you call Me Master and Lord, for so I am; but if I were not what you say, you would say ill.

ORIGEN. They do not say well, Lord, to whom it shall be said, Depart from Me, you that work iniquity. But; the Apostles say well, Master and Lord, for wickedness had not dominion over them, but the Word of God.   If then I your Lord and Master have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.

CHRYS. He shows us the greater, that we may do the less. For He was the Lord, but we, if we do it, do it to our fellow-servants:For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.

BEDE. Our Lord first did a thing, then taught it: as it is said, Jesus began both to do and to teach (Act_1:1).

AUG. This is, blessed Peter, what you were ignorant of; this you were told that you should know afterwards.

ORIGEN. But it is not necessary for one who wishes to do all the commandments of Jesus, literally to perform the act of washing feet. This is merely a matter of custom; and the custom is now generally dropped.

AUG. This act is done literally by many, when they receive one another in hospitality. For it is unquestionably better that it should be done with the hands, and that the Christian disdain not to do what Christ did. For when the body is bent at the feet of a brother, the feeling of humility is made to rise in the heart, or, if it be there already, is confirmed. But besides this moral meaning, is not a brother able to change a brother from the pollution of sin? Let us confess our faults one to another, forgive one another’s faults, pray for one another’s faults. In this way we shall wash one another’s feet.

ORIGEN. Or thus: This spiritual washing of the feet is done primarily by Jesus Himself, secondarily by His disciples, in that He said to them, you ought to wash one another’s feet. Jesus washed the feet of His disciples as their Master, of His servants as their Lord. But the object of the master is to make His disciples as Himself; and our Savior beyond all other masters and lords, wished His disciples to be as their Master and Lord, not having the spirit of bondage, but the spirit of adoption, whereby they, cry, Abba, Father (Rom_8:19). So then before they become masters and lords, they need the washing of the feet, being as vet insufficient disciples, and savoring of the spirit of bondage. But when they have attained to the state of master and lord, they then are able to imitate their Master, and to wash the disciples’ feet by their doctrine.

CHRYS He continues to urge them to wash one another’s feet; Verily, verily, I Say to you, The servant is not greater than his lord, neither He that is sent greater than He that sent Him; as if to say, If I do it, much more ought you.

THEOPHYL. This was a necessary admonition to the Apostles, some of whom were about to rise higher, others to lower degrees of eminence. That none might exult over another, He changes the hearts of all.

BEDE. To know what is good, and not to do it, tends not to happiness, but to condemnation; as James said, To him that knows to do good, and does it not, to him it is sin (Jam_4:17). Wherefore He adds, If you know these things, happy are you if you do them.

CHRYS. For all know, but all do not do. He then rebukes the traitor, not openly, but covertly: I speak not of you all.

AUG. As if to say, There is one among you who will not be blessed, nor does these things. I know whom I have chosen. Whom, but those who shall be happy by doing His commandments? Judas therefore was not chosen. But if so, why does He say in another place, Have not I chosen you twelve? Because Judas was chosen for that for which he was necessary, but not for that happiness of which He says, Happy are you, if you do them.

ORIGEN. Or thus: I speak not of you all, does not refer to, Happy are you if you do them. For of Judas, or any other person, it may be said, Happy is he if he do them. The words refer to the sentence above, The servant is not greater than his lord, neither He that is sent greater than He that sent Him. For Judas, being a servant of sin, was not a servant of the Divine Word; nor an Apostle, when the devil had entered into him. Our Lord knew those who were His, and did not know who were not His, and therefore says, not, I know all present, but, I know whom I have chosen, i.e. I know My Elect.

CHRYS. Then, that He might not sadden them all, He c adds, But that the Scripture must be fulfilled, He that eats bread with Me, has lifted up his heel against Me: strewing that He knew who the traitor was, an intimation that would surely have checked him, if anything would. He does not say, shall betray Me, but, shall lift up his heel against Me, alluding to his deceit and secret plotting.

AUG. Shall lift up his heel against Me, i.e. shall tread upon Me. The traitor Judas is meant.

CHRYS. He that eats bread with Me; i.e. who was fed by Me, who partook of My table. So that if injured ever by our servants or inferiors, we need not be offended. Judas had received infinite benefits, and yet thus requited his Benefactor.

AUG. They then who were chosen ate the Lord; he ate the bread of the Lord, to injure the Lord; they ate life, he damnation; for he that eats unworthily, eats damnation to himself (1Co_11:27).  Now I tell you before it come, that when it is come, you may believe that I am He, i.e. of whom that Scripture foretold.

ORIGEN. That you may believe, is not said, as if the Apostles did not believe already, but is equivalent to saying, Do as you believe, and persevere in your belief, seeking for no occasion of falling away. For besides the evidences the disciples had already seen, they had now that of the fulfillment of prophecy.

CHRYS. As the disciples were about to go forth and to suffer many things, He consoles them by promising His own assistance and that of others; His own, when He says, Happy are you if you do them; that of others, in what follows, Verily, verily, I say to you, He that receives whomsoever I send, receives Me; and he that receives Me receives Him that sent Me.

ORIGEN. For he that receives him whom Jesus sends, receives Jesus who is represented by him; and he that receives Jesus, receives the Father. Therefore he that receives whom Jesus sends, receives the Father that sent. The words may have this meaning too: He that receives whom I send, had attained unto receiving Me: he who receives Me not by means of any Apostle, but by My own entrance into his soul, receives the Father; so that not only I abide in him, but the Father also.

AUG. The Arians, when they hear this passage, appeal immediately to the gradations in their system, that as far as the Apostle is from the Lord, so far is the Son from the Father. But our Lord has left us no room for doubt on this head; for He said, I and My Father are one.

But how shall we understand those words of our Lord, He that receives Me, receives Him that sent Me? If we take them to mean that the Father and the Son are of one nature it will seem to follow, when He says, He that receives whomsoever 1 send, receives Me, that the Son and an Apostle are of one nature.

May not the meaning be, He that receives whosoever I send, receives Me, i.e. Me as man: But He that receives Me, i. e as God, receives Him that sent Me. But it is not this unity of nature, which is here put forth, but the authority of the Sender, as represented by Him who is sent. In Peter hear Christ, the Master of the disciple, in the Son the Father, the Begotten of the Only Begotten.

April 21: Father Callan on the Second Reading for the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor 11:23-26)

This post includes Father Callan’s summary of chapter 11:17-34, the notes on the reading follow it. Text in red represent my additions.

THE APOSTLE CONDEMNS THE ABUSES AT CORINTH THAT WERE CONNECTED WITH THE LOVE-FEASTS AND WITH THE CELEBRATION
OF THE HOLY EUCHARIST 1 Cor 11:17-34.

A Summary of 1 Cor 11:17-34~Besides the abuse of women’s appearing at the religious assemblies of the faithful in Corinth with uncovered head, there were others of a far more serious nature, namely, those in connection with the love-feasts and with the celebration of the Holy Eucharist.

In imitation of our Lord, who instituted the Holy Eucharist in the evening, after the eating of the Paschal Supper, it seems that the early Christians also, at least in Corinth, held the Eucharistic celebration in the evening and accompanied it by a common supper or feast which, because it was intended to strengthen the bond of charity among the faithful, was called the Agape, or love-feast. The necessaries of this supper or love-feast were contributed by those who could afford to bring something with them, and especially by the rich, who thus came to the assistance of the poor. Soon, however, abuses crept in. The poor were crowded out or prevented from getting their share of the supper, some drank to excess, and divisions and animosities were excited among the brethren. Naturally all this was a bad preparation for, and a great irreverence towards, the Eucharistic celebration which in Corinth at this time appears to have followed the common supper.

St. Paul, therefore, in this section of the present chapter sternly reproves the Corinthian abuses in connection with the love-feasts (verses 17-22); he recalls the fact and purpose of the institution of the Holy Eucharist (verses 23-26); he shows what preparation is required of him who would partake of this great Sacrament (verses 27-29); arguing from effects he points out that due preparation has been wanting in many of the Corinthian faithful (verses 30-32); and finally, he lays down some practical rules to be observed at the love-feasts (verses 33, 34).

It is to be noted here that what has just been said, as well as what will be further said in the following verses with regard to the common meal which the faithful of Corinth were accustomed to take before the Eucharistic celebration when St. Paul wrote the present letter, refers, according to the opinion universally accepted, to the Agape. This traditional view of the Agape as a Christian feast is mainly traceable to what St. Paul says in the verses that follow. But Msgr. Batiffol (Dict, de Theol. Cath., tom. I, col. 551-556) takes a very different view of the question. He holds that there is no trace of the Agape, as we here understand it, either in this Epistle or anywhere else, before the end of the second century, and that St. Paul in the following verses is condemning at most an attempt on the part of the Corinthians to introduce a common meal along with the Eucharistic celebration.

In trying to prove his opinion, however, we feel that Msgr. Batiffol has not done justice to the present passage of St. Paul. His analysis of the text almost entirely overlooks the force of verses 21 and 33, which, we believe, are nearly unintelligible, short of the explanation commonly given of the Agape. Having just condemned (verse 19) the dissensions among the Christians when they came together, the Apostle says in verses 20, 21: “When therefore you come together to the same place it is not to eat the Lord’s supper (implying that previously it was otherwise); for at the repast each one first takes (προλαμβανει) his own supper, and one is hungry, while another is overindulged.” And then, after showing what an injury such actions are to the poor, and in particular what a bad preparation they make for the Eucharistic celebration which was supposed to follow, the Apostle concludes his instructions by saying in verse 33, “Wherefore, my brethren, when you come together for the repast, wait for one another.”

It seems plain from these verses that St. Paul is not imposing a fast on the faithful before Communion. He is taking it for granted that the common meal before the celebration of the Eucharist is according to existing custom in Corinth, and therefore legitimate; but what he is condemning is the uncharitable and unbecoming manner in which this meal came to be held. In verse 21 he is complaining of the private, individual taking of this meal, with the result that some are overindulged while others are deprived; and in verse 33 he points out that these abuses can be corrected, not by giving up the practice of the common meal, but by waiting for one another. What meaning would these two verses convey if at Corinth there were no such thing as a common meal accompanying the Eucharistic celebration, or if St. Paul were resisting any attempt to establish such a custom?

In view of these remarks we see no sufficient reason for departing from the traditional explanation of the present passage.

23. For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread,
24. And giving thanks, broke, and said: Take ye, and eat: this is my body, which shall be delivered for you: this do for the commemoration of me.

St. Paul could not praise the Corinthians for their conduct at the Eucharistic celebration; for their behavior there was a gross profanation of a sacred banquet solemnly instituted by Christ Himself. In order that they may the better understand the gravity of their actions he starts here to recall to their minds what he had taught them when founding the Church at Corinth.

For I have received, etc (ver 23). It is not entirely clear whether St. Paul received from the Lord what follows by direct revelation or through others. But the emphatic use of the pronoun (εγω γαρ = ego gar), together with what he says in 9:1 and in Gal 1:12, makes it almost certain that what he is about to say was vouchsafed to him from the Lord’s own lips, perhaps during his three
years’ stay in Arabia (Gal 1:17). He does not say “from the disciples of the Lord,” but “from the Lord” (απο του κυριου = apo to Kurios).

Which also I delivered unto you. (ver 23) He had made known to the Corinthians very exactly what had been revealed to him concerning the Blessed Eucharist. St. Paul’s account agrees very closely with that given by his disciple St. Luke (Luke 22:19, 20), who had learned of this great event directly from the Apostle himself.

That the Lord Jesus, the same night, etc. (ver 23) St. Paul gives this
circumstance to show the intimate connection between the Eucharist and the Passion of our Lord, and to set out more in relief the enormous ingratitude and irreverence of the Corinthians who dared to celebrate the august mysteries with so much laxity and neglect.

Took bread, etc., (ver 23) as recorded also in Matt 26:2-29; Mark 14:17-25; Luke 22:10-20.

Giving thanks (ευχαριστησας~ from the Greek εὐχαριστέω = eucharisteō) (ver 24). The same expression is found in St. Luke’s account of the Last Supper (Luke 22:19), and is equivalent to the “blessing” (ευλογησας) of Matt 26:26; Mark 14:22. The blessing contained thanksgiving for that which was
blessed (Westm. Ver.), and hence our Lord both gave thanks and blessed the bread before the consecration.

Broke (ver 24). Estius and others say the breaking of the bread was only after the consecration, as in the Mass. Some hold there were two breakings, one into larger pieces before the consecration, and one into smaller pieces afterwards.

The words take ye, and eat are not in any of the best MSS., and are omitted by the Fathers and many of the oldest versions. They were most likely inserted here by a copyist from Matt 26:26. Likewise the words shall be delivered (Vulg. tradetur), having only the Vulgate and Syriac versions with Theodoret in their favor, must be omitted. Somewhat better supported, but still insufficiently so is another reading, “which is broken for you,” (Greek: klasmenon,  E F G K L P, Rec, Peshitto, and some copies of the Old Latin). Two Greek-Latin MSS. (Codex Claromontanus of the 6th cent., and the Codex Sangermanensis of the 9th cent.) render klasmenon here by frangitur.

The best reading, therefore, of this passage in the four oldest
and best MSS. is: “This is my body, which is for you” (τουτο μου εστιν το σωμα το υπερ υμων). The words, which is for you, i.e., which is given for you, taken in conjunction with the clearer words used with the chalice, point unmistakably to the sacrificial character of the Eucharistic celebration at the Last Supper.

This do for the commemoration of me (ver 24).  On this passage the Council of Trent (Sess. XXII. can. 2) says: “If anyone say that by the words, ‘This do in remembrance of me” Christ did not constitute His Apostles priests, or did not ordain that they and other priests should offer His body and blood, let him be anathema.”

25. In like manner also the chalice, after he had supped, saying: This chalice is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as often as you shall drink, for the commemoration of me.

In like manner, etc. As He had done for the bread, so immediately afterwards He did for the chalice, i.e., He took it, gave thanks to the Father, blessed it, etc.

After he had supped, i.e., after the Paschal supper was in the main over. St. Luke speaks to the same effect, “after he had supped” (Luke 22:20). St. Matthew says, “While they were at supper” (Matt 26:26); and St. Mark has, “Whilst they were eating” (Mark 14:22). The expression, μετα το δειπνησα (after he supped, or dined), which occurs only in St. Paul and in St. Luke, was perhaps added to render more definite the vague indication of time conveyed by the εσθιοντων δε αυτων (as they were eating) of Sts. Matt, and Mark (Cornely). Taking together all four accounts we can plainly see that the
institution of the Blessed Eucharist took place while our Lord and the disciples were still at the supper table, but towards the end of the meal. Very probably the fourth cup of wine, which legally terminated the Jewish Paschal supper, was the one consecrated by the Saviour.

This chalice, etc., i.e., the contents of this chalice is “my blood,” as directly stated in Matt 26:28, and in Mark 14:24: “This is my blood.”

The new testament in my blood, i.e., the contents of this chalice is the seal or ratification of the New Covenant through my blood. The reference is clearly to the words of Moses (Exod 24:8) who, after he had read the book of the covenant and the people had promised to observe it, sprinkled them with sacrificial blood saying, “Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you.” In like manner Christ’s sacrificial blood, which the disciples drank, is the seal of the New Covenant. As in the case of Moses there was present real sacrificial blood which had been offered in sacrifice, so at the Last Supper there was present real blood—the blood of Christ, which was being offered in sacrifice for the sins of the world (Heb 8:8; Jer 31:31-34).

This do ye . . . for the commemoration of me. These words, in connection with the chalice, are found only in St. Paul. They emphasize the commission given to the Apostles and show the purpose of the Eucharistic celebration.

This, i.e., the whole action which Christ had just performed in changing bread and wine into His body and blood and in giving the sacred species to others for their spiritual nourishment, this the Apostles and their successors were to repeat and continue till the Second Coming of the Lord at the end of the world, as St. Paul indicates in the following verse.

26. For as often as you shall eat this bread, and drink the chalice, you shall shew the death of the Lord, until he come,

The Apostle now shows what the celebration of the Eucharistic banquet was intended to commemorate or recall. The words eat, drink, and shew are all in the present tense in the original.

You shall shew the death of the Lord. The Eucharist is the commemorative sacrifice of the death of Christ, and this death is mystically signified by the separate consecrations of the two distinct elements of bread and wine.

Until he come, i.e., until Christ comes at the end of the world. This proves that the Eucharistic sacrifice is to be continued till the end of time, and, since sacrifice requires a priest, it also proves that our Lord ordained the Apostles priests at the Last Supper, and at the same time empowered them to provide their successors to the end.

Aquinas’ Catena Aurea on Matthew 26:14-25

Ver  14. Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the Chief Priests,15. And said unto them, “What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you?” And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.16. And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him.

Gloss., non. occ.: Having described the occasion of his treachery, the Evangelist proceeds to recount the manner of it.

Chrys.: “Then,” when, that is, he heard that this Gospel should be preached every where; for that made him afraid, as it was indeed a mark of unspeakable power.

Aug., de Cons. Ev., ii, 78: The order of the narrative is this. The Lord says, “Ye know that after two days will be the feast of the Passover; . . . then assembled together the Chief Priests and Scribes; . . . then went one of the twelve.”

Thus the narrative of what took place at Bethany is inserted by way of digression, respecting an earlier time between that, “Lest there be an uproar,” and, “Then one of the twelve.”

Origen: “Went,” against that one high priest, who was made a Priest for ever, to many high priests, to sell for a price Him who sought to redeem the whole world.

Raban.: “Went,” he says, because he was neither compelled, nor invited, but of his own free will formed the wicked design.

Chrys.: “One of the twelve,” as much as to say, of that first band who are elected for preeminent merit.

Gloss, non. occ: He adds his distinctive appellation, “Scarioth,” for there was another Judas.

Remig.: So called from the village Scariotha, from which he came.

Leo, Serm., 60, 4: He did not out of any fear forsake Christ, but through lust of money cast Him off; for in comparison of the love of money all our affections are feeble; the soul athirst for gain fears not to die for a very little; there is no  trace of righteousness in that heart in which covetousness has once taken up its abode. The traitor Judas, intoxicated with this bane, in his thirst for lucre was so foolishly hardened, as to sell his Lord and Master.

Jerome: The wretched Judas would fain replace, by the sale of his Master, that loss which he supposed he had incurred by the ointment. And he does not demand any fixed sum, lest his treachery should seem a gainful thing, but as though delivering up a worthless slave, he left it to those who bought, to determine how much they would give.

Origen: The same do all who take any material or worldly things to cast out of their thoughts the Saviour and the word of truth which was in them. “And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver,” as many pieces as the Saviour had dwelt years in the world.

[ed. note: i.e. Before He began His ministry, as what follows in Origen shews. For though Origen had at one time considered the duration of Our Lord's ministry not to have exceeded one year and a few months, he had changed that opinion before this commentary on S. Matt. was written. In it he more than once mentions three years as the probable period. vid. Comm. in Matt. Ser., sect 40]

Jerome: Joseph was not sold as many, following the LXX [septuagint], think for twenty pieces of gold, but as the Hebrew text has for twenty pieces of silver, [marg. note: Gen 37:28] for it could not be that the servant should be more valuable than his Master.

Aug., Quaest Ev., i, 41: That the Lord was sold for thirty pieces of silver by Judas, denotes the unrighteous Jews, who pursuing things carnal and temporal, which belong to the five bodily senses, refuse to have Christ; and forasmuch as they did this in the sixth age of the world, their receiving five times six as the price of the Lord is thus signified; and because the Lord’s words are silver, but they understood even the Law carnally, they had, as it were, stamped on silver the image of that worldly dominion which they held to when they renounced the Lord.

Origen: The “opportunity” which Judas sought is further explained by Luke, “how he might betray him in the absence of the multitude;” [Luke 22:6] when the populace was not with Him, but He was withdrawn with His disciples. And this he did, delivering Him up after supper, when He was withdrawn to the garden of Gethsemane. And from that time forward, such has been the season sought for by those that would betray the word of God in time of persecution, when the multitude of believers is not around the word of truth.

Ver  17. Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, “Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the Passover?”18. And he said, “Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at thy house with my disciples.”19. And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the Passover.

Gloss., non occ.: The Evangelist having gone through the events preliminary to the Passion, namely, the announcement of the counsel of the Chief Priests, and the covenant for His betrayal, prosecutes the history in the order of events, saying, “On the first day of unleavened bread.”

Jerome: The first day of unleavened bread is the fourteenth day of the first month, when the lamb is killed, the moon is at full, and leaven is put away.

Remig.: And observe that with the Jews, the Passover is celebrated on the first day, and the following seven are called the days of unleavened bread; but here the first day of unleavened bread means the day of the Passover.

Chrys., Hom. lxxxi: Or, by “the first day,” he means the day before the days of unleavened bread. For the Jews always reckoned their day from the evening; and this day of which he speaks was that on the evening of which they were to kill the Passover, namely, the fifth day of the week.

[ed. note: This passage has been altered by the text of S. Chrys. The Catena has, 'Vel hanc primam diem azymorum dicit quia septem dies azymorum erant."]

REMIG. But perhaps some one will say, If that typical lamb bore a type of this the true lamb, how did not Christ suffer on the night on which this was always killed? It is to be noted, that on this night, He committed to His disciples the mysteries of His flesh and blood to be celebrated, and then also being seized and bound by the Jews, He hallowed the commencement of His sacrifice, i.e. His Passion. “The disciples came” unto him;” among these no doubt was the traitor Judas.

Chrys.: Hence it is evident that He had neither house nor lodging. Nor, I conclude, had the disciples any, for they would surely have invited Him thither.

Aug., de Cons. Ev., ii, 80: “Go into the city to such a man,” Him whom Mark and Luke call “the good-man of the house,” or “the I master of the house.” And when Matthew says, “to such a man,” he is to be understood to say this as from himself for brevity’s sake; for every one knows that no man speaks thus, “Go ye to such a man.” And Matthew adds these words, “to such a man,” not that the Lord used the very expression, but to convey to us that the disciples were not sent to any one in the city, but to some certain person.

Chrys.: Or, we may say that this, “to such a man,” shews that He sent them to some person unknown to them, teaching them thereby that He was able to avoid His Passion. For He who prevailed with this man to entertain Him, how could He not have prevailed with those who crucified Him, had He chosen not to suffer? Indeed, I marvel not only that he entertained Him, being a stranger, but that he did it in contempt of the hatred of the multitude.

Hilary: Or, Matthew does not name the man in whose house Christ would celebrate the Passover, because the Christian name was not yet held in honour by the believers.

Raban.: Or, he omits the name, that all who would fain celebrate the true Passover, and receive Christ within the dwelling place of their own minds, should understand that the opportunity is afforded them.

Jerome: In this also the New Scripture observes the practice of the Old, in which we frequently read, ‘He said unto him,’ and ‘In this or that place,’ without any name of person or place.

Chrys.: “My time is at hand,” this He said, both by so manifold announcements of His Passion, fortifying His disciples against the event, and at the same time shewing that He undertook it voluntarily. “I will keep the Passover at thy house,” wherein we see, that to the very last day He was not disobedient to the Law. “With my disciples,” He adds, that there might be sufficient preparation made, and that he to whom He sent might not think that He desired to be concealed.

Origen: Some one may argue [marg. note: e.g. The Ebionites], that because Jesus kept the Passover with Jewish observances, we ought to do the same as followers of Christ, not remembering that Jesus was “made under the Law,” though not that He should leave “under the Law” [Gal 4:4] those who were under it, but should “lead them out” of it; how much less fitting then is it, that those who before were without the Law, should afterwards enter in? We celebrate spiritually the things which were carnally celebrated in the Law, keeping the Passover “in the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth,” [1 Cor 5:8] according to the will of the Lamb, who said, “Except ye eat my flesh and drink my blood, ye shall not have life in you.” [John 6:53]

Ver  20. Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve.21. And as they did eat, he said, “Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.”22. And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, “Lord, is it I?”23. And he answered and said, “He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me.24. The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.”25. Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, “Master, is it I?” He said unto him, “Thou hast said.”

Jerome: The Lord had above foretold His Passion, He now foretels who is to be the traitor; thus giving him place of repentance, when he should see that his thoughts and the secret designs of his heart were known.Remig.: “With the twelve,” it is said, for Judas was personally among them, though he had ceased to be so in merit.

Jerome: Judas acts in every thing to remove all suspicion of his treachery.

Remig.: And it is beautifully said, “When even was come,” because it was in the evening that the Lamb was wont to be slain.

Raban.: For this reason also, because in Christ’s Passion, wherein the true sun hasted to his setting, eternal refreshment was made ready for all believers.

Chrys.: The Evangelist relates how as they sat at meat, Jesus declares Judas’ treachery, that the wickedness of the betrayer may be more apparent from the season and the circumstances.

Leo, Serm. 58, 3: He shews that the conscience of His betrayer was known to Him, not meeting his wickedness with a harsh and open rebuke, that penitence might find a readier way to one who had not been disgraced by public dismissal.

Origen: Or, He spoke generally, to prove the nature of each of their hearts, and to evince the wickedness of Judas, who would not believe in One who knew his heart. I suppose that at first he supposed that the thing was hid from Him, deeming Him man, which was of unbelief; but when he saw that his heart was known, he embraced the concealment offered by this general way of speaking, which was shamelessness.

This also shews the goodness of the disciples, that they believed Christ’s words more than their own consciences, “for they began each to say, Lord, is it I?” For they knew by what Jesus had taught them that human nature is readily turned to evil, and is in continual struggle with “the rulers of the darkness of this world;” [Eph 6:12] whence they ask as in fear, for by reason of our weakness the future is an object of dread to us.

When the Lord saw the disciples thus alarmed for themselves, He pointed out the traitor by the mark of the prophetic declaration, “He that hath eaten bread with me hath wantonly overthrown me.” [Ps 41:9]

Jerome: O wonderful endurance of the Lord, He had said before, “One of you shall betray me.” The traitor perseveres in his wickedness; He designates him more particularly, yet not by name. For Judas, while the rest were sorrowful, and withdrew their hands, and bid away the food from their months, with the same hardihood and recklessness which led him to betray Him, reached forth his hand into the dish with his Master, passing off his audacity as a good conscience.

Chrys.: I rather think that Christ did this out of regard for him, and to bring him to a better mind.

Raban.: What Matthew calls ‘paropsis,’ Mark calls ‘catinus.’ The ‘paropsis’ is a square dish for meat, ‘catinus,’ an earthen vessel for containing fluids; this then might be a square earthen vessel.

Origen: Such is the wont of men of exceeding wickedness, to plot against those of whose bread and salt they have partaken, and especially those who have no enmity against them. But if we take it of the spiritual table, and the spiritual food, we shall see the more abundant and overflowing measure of this man’s wickedness, who called to mind neither his Master’s love in providing carnal goods, nor His teaching in things spiritual. Such are all in the Church who lay snares for their brethren whom they continually meet at the same table of Christ’s Body.

Jerome: Judas, not withheld by either the first or second warning, perseveres in his treachery; the Lord’s long-suffering nourishes his audacity. Now then his punishment is foretold, that denunciations of wrath may correct where good feeling has no power.

Remig.: It belongs to human nature to come and go, Divine nature remains ever the same. So because His human nature could suffer and die, therefore of the Son of Man it is well said that “he goeth.” He says plainly, “As it is written of him,” for all that He suffered had been foretold by the Prophets.

Chrys.: This He said to comfort His disciples, that they might not think that it was through weakness that He suffered; and at the same time for the correction of His betrayer. And notwithstanding His Passion had been foretold, Judas is still guilty; and not his betrayal wrought our salvation, but God’s providence, which used the sins of others to our profit.

Origen: He said not, By whom “the Son of Man is betrayed,” but “through whom,” [John 13:2] pointing out another, to wit the Devil, as the author of His betrayal, Judas as the minister. But woe also to all betrayers of Christ! and such is every one who betrays a disciple of Christ.

Remig.: Woe also to all who draw near to Christ’s table with an evil and defiled conscience! who though they do not deliver Christ to the Jews to be crucified, deliver Him to their own sinful members to be taken. He adds, to give more emphasis, “Good were it for that man if he had never been born.”

Jerome: We are not to infer from this that man has a being before birth; for it cannot be well with any man till he has a being; it simply implies that it is better not to be, than to be in evil.

Aug., Quaest. Ev., i, 40: And if it be contended that there is a life before this life, that will prove that not only not for Judas, but for none other is it good to have been born. Can it mean, that it were better for him not to have been born to the Devil, namely, for sin? Or does it mean that it had been good for him not to have been born to Christ at his calling, that he should now become apostate?

Origen: After all the Apostles had asked, and after Christ had spoken of him, Judas at length enquired of himself, with the crafty design of concealing his treacherous purpose by asking the same question as the rest; for real sorrow brooks not suspense.

Jerome: His question feigns either great respect, or a hypocritical incredulousness. The rest who were not to betray Him, said only “Lord;” the actual traitor addresses Him as “Master,” as though it were some excuse that he denied Him as Lord, and betrayed a Master only.

Origen: Or, out of sycophancy he calls Him Master, while be holds Him unworthy of the title.

Chrys.: Though the Lord could have said, Hast thou covenanted to receive silver, and darest to ask Me this? But Jesus, most merciful, said nothing of all this, therein laying down for us rules and landmarks of endurance of evil.  “He saith unto him, Thou hast said.”

Remig.: Which may be understood thus; Thou sayest it, and thou sayest what is true; or, Thou hast said this, not I; leaving him room for repentance so long as his villainy was not publicly exposed.

Raban.: This might have been so said by Judas, and answered by the Lord as not to be overheard by the rest.

April 19: Aquinas’ Catena Aurea on Today’s Gospel (John 13:21-33, 36-38)

Ver  21. When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say to you, that one of youshall betray me.22. Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he spoke.23. Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.24. Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom he spoke.25. He then lying on Jesus’ breast said to him, Lord, who is it ?26. Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.27. And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus to him, That you do, do quickly.28. Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spoke this to him.29. For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said to him, Buy those things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor.30. He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night.

CHRYS. Our Lord after His twofold promise of assistance to the Apostles in their future labors, remembers that the traitor is cut off from both, and is troubled at the thought: When Jesus had thus said, He was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say to you, that one of you shall betray Me.

AUG. This did not come into His mind then for the first time; but He was now about to make the traitor known, and single him out from the rest, and therefore was troubled in spirit. The traitor too was now just about to go forth to execute his purpose. He was troubled at the thought of His Passion being so near at hand, at the dangers to which His faithful followers would be brought at the hand of the traitor, which were even now impending over Him. Our Lord deigned to be troubled also, to show that false brethren cannot be cut off; even in the most urgent necessity, without the troubling of the Church. He was troubled not in flesh, but in spirit; for on occasion of scandals of this kind, the spirit is troubled, not perversely, but in love, lest in separating the tares, some of the wheat too be plucked up with them. But whether He was troubled by pity for perishing Judas, or, by the near approach of His own death, He was troubled not through weakness of mind, but power: He was not troubled because anything compelled Him, but He troubled Himself, as was said above. And in that He was troubled, He consoles the weak members of His body, i.e. His Church, that they may not think themselves reprobate, should they be troubled at the approach of death.

ORIGEN. His being troubled in spirit, was the human part, suffering under the excess of the spiritual. For if every Saint lives, acts, and suffers in the spirit, how much more is this true of Jesus, the Rewarder of Saints.

AUG. Away then with the reasonings of the Stoics, who deny that perturbation of mind can come upon a wise man; who, as they take vanity for truth, so make their healthy state of mind insensibility. It is good that the mind of the Christian may be perturbed, not by misery, but by pity. One of you, He said, i.e. one in respect of number, not of merit, in appearance not in virtue.

CHRYS. As He did not mention Him by name, all began to fear: Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom He spoke; not conscious of any evil in themselves, and entrusting to Christ’s words, more than to their own thoughts.

AUG. They had a devoted love for their Master but yet so that human weakness made them doubt of one another.

ORIGEN. They remembered too, that, as men, before they were matured, their minds were liable to change, so as to form wishes the very opposite to what they might have had before.

CHRYS. While all were trembling, and not excepting even Peter, their head, John, as the beloved disciple, lay upon Jesus’ breast. Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.

AUG. This is John, whose Gospel this is, as he afterwards declares. It is the custom of the sacred writers, when they come to any thing relating to themselves, to speak of themselves, as if they were speaking of another. For if the thing itself is related correctly, what does truth lose by the omission of boasting on the writer’s part?

CHRYS. If you want to know the cause of this familiarity, it is love: Whom Jesus loved. Others were loved, but he was loved more than any.

ORIGEN. I think this has a peculiar meaning, viz. that John was admitted to a knowledge of the more secret mysteries of the Word.

CHRYS. Whom Jesus loved. This John says to show his own innocence, and also why it was that Peter beckoned to him, inasmuch as he was not Peter’s superior: Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom he spoke. Peter had been just reproved, and therefore, checking the customary vehemence of his love, he did not speak himself now, but made John speak for him. He always appears in Scripture as zealous, and an intimate friend of John’s.

AUG. Observe too his mode of speaking, which was not by word, but by beckoning; Beckoned and spoke, i.e. spoke by beckoning. If even thoughts speak, as when it is said, They spoke among themselves, much more may beckonings, which are a kind of outward expression of our thoughts.

ORIGEN. Or, at first he beckoned, and then not content with beckoning, spoke: Who is it of whom he speaks? He then lying on Jesus’ breast, said to Him, Lord, who is it?

AUG. On Jesus’ breast; the same as in Jesus’ bosom. Or, he lay first in Jesus’ bosom, and then ascended higher, and lay upon His breast; as if, had he remained lying in His bosom, and not ascended to lie on His breast, our Lord would not have told him what Peter wanted to know. By his lying at last on Jesus’ breast, is expressed that greater and more abundant grace, which made him Jesus’ special disciple.

BEDE. That he lay in the bosom, and upon the breast, was not only an evidence of present love, but also a sign of the future, viz. of those new and mysterious doctrines which be was afterwards commissioned to reveal to the world.

AUG. For by bosom what else is signified but secret? Here is the hollow of the breast, the secret’ chamber of wisdom.

CHRYS. But not even then did our Lord expose the traitor by name; Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop when I have dipped it. Such a mode of declaring him, should itself have turned him from his purpose. Even if a partaking of the same table did not shame him, a partaking of the same bread might have. And when He had dipped the sop, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.

AUG. Not as some careless readers think, that then Judas received singly Christ’s body. For our Lord had already distributed the sacraments of His body and blood to all of them, while Judas was as there, as Luke relates; and after this He dipped the sop, as John relates, and gave it to the traitor; the dipping of the bread perhaps signifying the deep dye of his sin; for some dipping cannot be wasted out again; i.e. when things are dipped, in order to receive a permanent dye.

If however this dipping meant anything good, he was as ungrateful for it, and deserved the damnation which followed him; And after the sop, Satan entered into him.

ORIGEN. Observe, that at first Satan did not enter into Judas, but only put it into his heart to betray his Master. But after the bread, he entered into him. Wherefore let us beware, that Satan thrust not any of his flaming darts into our heart; for if he do, he then watches till he gets an entrance there himself.

CHRYS. So long as he was one of the twelve, the devil did not dare to force an entrance into him; but when he was pointed out, and expelled, then he easily leaped into him.

AUG. Or entered into him, that he might have more full possession of him: for he was in him, when he agreed with the Jews to betray, our Lord for a sum of money, according to Luke: Then entered Satan into Judas Iscariot, and he went away, and communed with the chief priests (Luk_22:3-4). In this state he came to the supper. But after the sop the devil entered, not to tempt him, as though he were independent, but to possess him as his own.

ORIGEN. It was proper that by the ceremony of the bread, that good should be taken from him, which he thought he had: whereof being deprived, he was laid open to admit Satan’s entrance.

AUG. But some will say, was his being given up to the devil the effect of his receiving the sop from Christ? To whom we answer, that they may learn here the danger of receiving amiss what is in itself good. If he is reproved who does not discern, i.e. who does not distinguish, the Lord’s body from other food, how is he condemned who, feigning himself a friend, comes an enemy to the Lord’s table. Then said Jesus to him, That which you do, do quickly.

ORIGEN. This may have been said either to Judas, or to Satan, either to provoke the enemy to the combat, or the traitor to do his part in bringing on that dispensation, which was to save the world; which He wished not to be delayed any longer, but to be as soon as possible matured.

AUG. He did not however enjoin the act, but foretold it, not from g desire for the destruction of the perfidious, but to hasten on the salvation of the faithful.

CHRYS. That which you do, do quickly, is not a command, or a recommendation, but a reproof, meant to show too that He was not going to offer any hindrance to His betrayal.

Now no man at the table knew for what intent He spoke this to him. It is not easy to see, when the disciples had asked, Who is he, and He had replied, He it is to whom I shall give a sop, how it was that they did not understand Him; unless it was that He spoke too low to be heard; and that John lay upon His breast, when he asked the question, for that very reason, i.e. that the traitor might not be made known.

For had Christ made him known, perhaps Peter would have killed him. So it was then, that none at the table knew what our Lord meant. But why not John? Because he could not conceive how a disciple could fall into such wickedness: he was far from such wickedness himself, and therefore did not suspect it of others. What they thought He meant we are told in what follows: For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said to him, Buy those things that we have need of against the feast, or, that he should give something to the poor.

AUG. Our Lord then had bags, in which; He kept the oblations of the faithful, to supply the wants of His own followers, or the poor. Here is the first institution of ecclesiastical property. Our Lord shows that His commandment not to think of the morrow, does not mean that the Saints should never save money; but that they should not neglect the service of God for it, or let the fear of want tempt them to injustice.

CHRYS. None of the disciples contributed this money, but it is hinted that it was certain women, who, it is said, ministered to Him of their means. But how was it that He Who forbade scrip, and staff, and money, carried bags for the relief of the poor? It was to show you, that even the very poor, those who are crucified to this world, ought to attend to this duty. He did many things in order to instruct us in our duty.

ORIGEN. Our Lord then said to Judas, That which you do, do quickly, and the traitor this once obeyed his Master. For having received the sop, he started immediately on his work: He then having received the sop, went immediately out. And indeed he did go out, not only from the house in which he was, but from Jesus altogether. It would seem that Satan, after he had entered into Judas, could not bear to be in the same place with Jesus: for there is no agreement between Jesus and Satan. Nor is it idle inquiring why after he had received the sop, it is not added, that he ate it. Why did not Judas eat the bread, after he received it? Perhaps because, as soon as he had received it, the devil, who had put it into his heart to betray Christ, fearful that the bread, if eaten, might drive out what he had put in, entered into him, so that he went out immediately, before he ate it. And it may be serviceable to remark, that as he who eats our Lord’s bread and drinks His cup unworthily, eats and drinks to his own damnation; so the bread which Jesus gave him was eaten by the rest to their salvation, but by Judas to his damnation, inasmuch as after it the devil entered into him.

CHRYS. It follows: And it was night, to show the impetuosity of Judas, in persisting in spite of the unseasonableness of the hour.

ORIGEN. The time of night corresponded with the night which overspread the soul of Judas.

GREG. By the time of the day is signified the end of the action. Judas went out in the night to accomplish his perfidy, for which he was never to be pardoned.

Ver 31. Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him.32. If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him.

ORIGEN. After the glory of His miracles, and His transfiguration, the next glorifying of the Son of man began, when Judas went out with Satan, who had entered into him; Therefore when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in Him. For it is not the eternal only-begotten Word, but the glory of the Man born of the seed of David, which is here meant.

Christ at His death, in which He glorified God, having spoiled principalities and powers, made a show of them, openly triumphing over them (Col_2:15). And again, Made peace by the blood of His cross, to reconcile all things to Himself, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven (Col_1:20). Thus the Son of man was glorified, and God glorified in Him; for Christ cannot be glorified, except the Father be glorified with Him. But whoever is glorified, is glorified by someone.

By whom then is the Son of man glorified? He tells you; If God be glorified in Him, God shall also glorify if Him in Himself, and shall straightway glorify Him.

CHRYS. i.e. by Himself, not by any other. And shall straightway glorify Him, i.e. not at any distant time, but immediately, while He is yet on the very cross shall His glory appear. For the sun was darkened, rocks were rent, and many bodies of those that slept arose. In this way He restores the drooping spirits of His disciples, and persuades them, instead of sorrowing, to rejoice.

AUG. Or thus: The unclean went out: the clean remained with their cleanser. Thus will it be when the tares are separated from the wheat; The righteous shall shine forth as the sale in the kingdom of their Father (Mat_13:43). Our Lord, foreseeing this, said, when Judas went out, as if the tares were now separated, and He left alone with the wheat, the holy Apostles.

Now is the Son of man glorified; as if to say, Behold what will take place at My glorifying, at which none of the wicked shall be present, none of the righteous shall perish. He does not say, Now is the glorifying of the Son of man signified; but, Now is the Son of man glorified; as it is not that rock signified Christ, or but, That Rock was Christ (1Co_10:4).

Scripture often speaks of the things signifying, as if they were the things signified. But the glorifying of the Son of man, is the glorifying of God in Him; as He adds, And God is glorified in Him, which He proceeds to explain; If God is glorified in Him – for He came not to do His own will, but the will of Him that sent Him – God shall also glorify Him in Himself, so that the human nature which was assumed by the eternal Word, shall also be endowed with eternity.

And shall straightway glorify Him. He predicts His own resurrection, which was to follow immediately, not at the end of the world, like ours. Thus it is; Now is the Son of man glorified; the now referring not to His approaching Passion, hut the resurrection which was immediately to follow it: as if that which was so very soon to be, had already taken place.

HILARY. That God is glorified in Him, refers to the glory of the body, which glory is the glory of God, in that the body borrows its glory from its association with the Divine nature because God is glorified in Him, therefore He will; glorify Him in Himself, in that He who reigns in the glory arising from the glory of God, He forthwith passes over into God’s glory, leaving the dispensation of His manhood wholly to abide in God.

Nor is He silent as to the time And shall straightway glorify Him. This referring to the glory of His resurrection which was immediately to follow His passion, which He mentions as present, because Judas had now gone out to betray Him; whereas that God would glorify Him in Himself, He reserves for the future. The glory of God was strewn in Him by the miracle of the resurrection; but He will abide in the glory of God when He has left the dispensation of subjection.

The sense of these first words, Now is the Son of man glorified, is not doubtful: it is the glory of the flesh which is meant, not that of the Word But what means the next, And God is glorified in Him? The Son of man is not another Person from the Son of God for, the Word was made flesh (Joh_1:14). How is God glorified in this Son of man, who is the Son of God?

The next clause helps us; If God is glorified in Him, God also will glorify Him in Himself. A man is not glorified in himself, nor, on the other hand, does God who is glorified in man, because He receives glory, cease to be God. So the words, God is glorified in Him, either mean that Christ is glorified in the flesh, or that God is glorified in Christ. If God means Christ, it is Christ who is glorified in the flesh; if the Father, then it is the Sacrament of unity, the Father glorified in the Son. Again, God glorifies in Himself God glorified in the Son of man.

This overthrows the impious doctrine that Christ is not very God, in verity of nature. For how can that which God glorifies in Himself be out of Himself? He whom the Father glorifies must be confessed to be in His glory, and He who is glorified in the glory of the Father, must be understood to be in the same case with the Father.

ORIGEN. Or thus: The word glory is here used in a different sense from that which some Pagans attach to it, who defined glory to be the collected praises of the many. It is evident that glory in such a sense is a different thing from that mentioned in Exodus, where it is said, that the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle (Exod 40:34), and that the face of Moses was glorified. The glory here mentioned is something visible, a certain divine appearance in the temple, and on Moses’ face; but in a higher and more spiritual sense we are glorified, when with the eye of the understanding we penetrate into the things of God.

For the mind when it ascends above material things, and spiritually sees God, is defied: and of this spiritual glory, the visible glory on the face of Moses is a figure: for his mind it was that was defied by converse with God. But there is no comparison between the excellent glory of Christ, and the knowledge of Moses, whereby the face of his soul was glorified: for the whole of the Father’s glory shines upon the Son, who is the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His Person (Heb_1:3). Yea, and from the light of this whole glory there go forth particular glories, throughout the whole rational creation; though none can take in the whole of the divine glory, except the Son.

But so far as the Son was known to the world, so far only was He glorified. And as yet He was not fully known. But afterward the Father spread the knowledge of Him over the whole world, and then was the Son of man glorified in those who knew Him. And of this glory He has made all who know Him partakers: as said the Apostle: We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory (2Co_3:18), i.e. from His glory receive glory.

When He was approaching then that dispensation, by which He was to become known to the world, and to be glorified in the glory of those who glorified Him, He says, Now is the Son of man glorified (Mat_11:27). And because no man knows the Father but the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him, and the Son by the dispensation was about to reveal the Father; for this reason He said, And God is glorified in Him. Or compare this with the text below: He that has seen Me, has seen the Father. The Father who begat the Word is seen in the Word, who is God, and the image of the invisible God. But the words may be taken in a larger sense. For as through some the name of God was blasphemed among the Gentiles, so through the saints whose good deeds are seen and acknowledged by the world, the name of the Father in heaven is magnified.

But in whom was He so glorified as in Jesus, Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth? Such being the Son, He is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. And if God is glorified in Him, the Father returns Him more than He gave. For the glory of the Son of man, when the Father glorifies Him, far exceeds the Father’s glory, when He is glorified in the Son: it being fit that the greater should return the greater glory. And as this, viz. the glorifying of the Son of man, was just about to be accomplished, our Lord adds, And will straightway glorify Him.

Note: I’ve included the commentary on verses 34-35, even though they are not part of today’s reading.

Ver 33. Little children, yet a little while I am with you. you shall seek me: and as I said to the Jews, Whither I go, you cannot come; so now I say to you.34. A new commandment I give to you, That you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.35. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you have love one to another.

AUG. After He had said, And shall straightway glorify Him, that they might not think that God was going to glorify Him in such a way, as that He would no longer have any converse with them on earth, He says, Little children, yet a little while I am with you: as if He said, I shall indeed straightway be glorified by My resurrection, but I shall not straightway ascend to heaven. For we read in the Acts of the Apostles, that He was with them forty days after His resurrection. These forty days are what He means by, A little while I am with you.

ORIGEN. Little children, He says; for their souls were yet in infancy. But these little children, after His death, were made brethren; as before they were little children, they were servants.

AUG. It may be understood too thus: I am as yet in this frail flesh, even as you are, until I die and rise again. He was with them after His resurrection, by bodily presence, not by participation of human frailty. These are the words which I spoke to you, while I was yet with you (Luk_24:44). He says to His disciples after His resurrection; meaning, while I was in mortal flesh, as you are. He was in the same flesh then with them, but not subject to the same mortality. But there is another Divine Presence unknown to mortal senses, of which He said, Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world (Mat_28:20).

This is not the presence meant by, A little while I am with you; for it is not a little while to the end of the world: or even if it is a little while, because that in the eye of God, a thousand years are as one day, yet what follows shows that it is not what our Lord is here alluding to; for He adds, Whither I go you cannot follow Me now. At the end of the world they were to follow Him, whither He went; as He said below; Father, I will that they be with Me, where I am

ORIGEN. But may there not be a deeper meaning in the words, yet a little while &c. After a little while He was not with them. In what sense not with them? Not because He was not with them according to the flesh, in that He was taken from them, was brought before Pilate, was crucified, descended into hell: but because they all forsook Him, fulfilling His prophecy: All you shall be offended because of Me this night. He was not with them, because He only dwells with those who are worthy of Him. But though they thus wandered from Jesus for a little while, it was only for a little while; they soon sought Him again. Peter wept bitterly after his denial of Jesus, and by his tears sought Him: and therefore it follows, you shall seek Me, and as I said to the Jews, whither I go, you cannot follow Me now. To seek Jesus, is to seek the Word, wisdom, righteousness, truth, all which is Christ. To His disciples therefore who wish to follow Him, not in a bodily sense, as the ignorant think, but in the way He ordains, Whosoever does not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple. Our Lord said, Whither I go you cannot follow Me now. For though they wished to follow the Word, and to confess Him, they were not yet strong enough to do so; The Spirit was not yet given to them, because that Jesus was not yet glorified.

AUG. Or He means that they were not yet fit to follow Him to death for righteousness’ sake. For how could they, when they were not ripe for martyrdom? Or how could they follow our Lord to immortality, they who v ere to die, and not to rise again till the end of the world? Or how could tines follow Him to the bosom of the Father, when none could partake of that felicity, but they whose love was perfected? When He told the Jews this, He did not add now. But the disciples, though they could not follow Him then, would be able to do so afterwards, and therefore He adds, So now I say to you.

ORIGEN. As if He said, I say it to you, but with the addition of now, The Jews, who He foresaw would die in their sins, would never be able to follow Him; but the disciples were unable only for a little time.

CHRYS. And therefore He said, little children; for He did not mean to speak to them, as He had to the Jews. you cannot follow Me now, He says, in order to rouse the love of His disciples. For the departure of loved friends kindles all our affection, and especially if they are going to a place where we cannot follow them. He purposely too speaks of His death, as a kind of translation, a happy removal to a place, where here mortal bodies do not enter

AUG. And now He teaches them how to fit themselves to follow. Him: A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. But does not the old law say, you shall love your neighbor as yourself (Lev_19:18)? Why then does He call it a new commandment? Is it because it strips us of the old man, and puts on us the new? That it renews the hearer, or rather the doer of it? Love does do this; but it is that love which our Lord distinguishes from the carnal affection: As I have loved you, that you also love one another. Not the love with which men love one another, but that of the children of the Most High God, w ho would be brethren of His only-begotten Son, and therefore love one another with that love with which He loved them, and would lead them to the fulfillment of their desires.

CHRYS. Or, as I have loved you: for My love has not been the payment of something owing to you, but had its beginning on My side. And you ought in like manner to do one another good, though you may not owe it.

AUG. But; do not think that that greater commandment, viz. that we: should love the Lord our God, is passed by. For, if we understand the two precepts aright, each is implied in the other. He who loves God cannot despise His commandment that he should love his neighbor; and he who loves his neighbor in a heavenly spiritual way, in the neighbor loves God. That is the love which our Lord distinguishes from all human love, when He adds, As I have loved you, what did He, in loving us, love, but God in us; not who was in us, but so that He might be? Wherefore let each of us so love the other, as that by this working of love, we make each other the habitations of God.

CHRYS. Passing over the miracles, which they were to perform, He makes love: the distinguishing mark of His followers; By this shall all men know that you are My disciples’ if you have love one to another. This it is that evidences the saint or the disciple, as He calls him.

AUG. As if He said, Other gifts are shared with you by those who are not mine; birth, life, sense, reason, and such good things as belong alike to man and brutes; nay, and tongues, sacraments, prophecy, knowledge, faith, bestowing of goods upon the poor; giving the body to be burned: but forasmuch as they have not charity, they are tinkling cymbals, they are nothing: nothing profits them.

Ver 36. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, where do you go? Jesus answered him, Where I go you can not follow me now; but you shall follow me afterwards.37. Peter said to him, Lord, why cannot I follow you now? I will lay down my life for your sake.38. Jesus answered him, Will you lay down your life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say to you, The cock shall not crow, till you have denied me thrice.

CHRYS. Great is love, and stronger than fire; nothing can stop its course. Peter the most ardent of all, as soon as he hears our Lord say, Where I go you cannot follow Me now, asks, Lord, where do you go?

AUG. The disciple asks this, as if he were ready to follow. But our Lord saw his heart; Jesus answered him, Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; He checks his forwardness, but does not destroy his hope; nay, confirms it; But you shall follow Me afterwards. Why do you hasten, Peter? The Rock has not yet established you with His Spirit. Be not lifted up with presumptions, you cannot follow now; but be not cast down with despair, you shall follow Me afterwards.

CHRYS. Peter, on receiving this answer, does not check his desire, but hastily conceives favorable hopes from it, and having got rid of the fear of betraying our Lord, feels secure, and becomes himself the interrogator, while the rest are silent: Peter said to Him, Lord, why cannot I follow you now? I will lay down my life for your sake.

What say you, Peter? He has said, you can not, and you say, you can: wherefore you shall know by experience, that your love is nothing, unless you are enabled from above: Jesus answered him,   Will you lay down your life for my sake?

BEDE. Which sentence may be read in two ways: either as affirming, you shall lay down your life for My sake, but now through fear of the death of the body, you shall incur spiritual death: or as mocking; as if He said,

AUG. Will you do that for Me, which I have not done yet for you? Can you go before, who can not come after? Why presume you so? Hear what you are: Verily, verily, I say to you, The cock shall not crow, till you have denied Me thrice, you who promises Me your death, shall thrice deny your life. Peter knew his great desire, his strength he knew not: he boasted of his will, while he was yet weak; but the Physician saw his weakness.

Some who perversely favor Peter, excuse him, and say that he did not deny Christ, because when asked by the servant maid, he said he did not know Him, as the other Evangelist witness more expressly. As if to deny the man Christ, was not to deny Christ; yea, that in Christ, which He was made for our sakes, that that which He made us might not perish. By what is He the Head of the Church, but by His humanity? And how then is he in the body of Christ, who denies the man Christ? But why do I argue so long? Our Lord does not say, The cock shall not crow till you deny man, or the Son of man, but till you deny Me.

What is Me, but that which He was? So then whatever Peter denied, he denied Christ: it is impious to doubt it. Christ said so, and Christ said true: beyond a doubt, Peter denied Christ. Let us not, to defend Peter, accuse Christ. The frailty of Peter himself, acknowledged its sin, when he witnessed by his tears the evil he had done in denying Christ. Nor do we say this, because we have pleasure in blaming the first of the Apostles; but that we may take warning from him, not to be confident of our own strength.

BEDE. Nevertheless, should any one fall, let the example of Peter save him from despair, and teach him that he can without delay obtain pardon from God.

CHRYS. It is manifest that our Lord permitted Peter’s fall. He might have recalled him to begin with, but as he persisted in his vehemence, though He did not drive him to a denial, He let him go without assistance, that He might learn his own weakness, and not fall into such sin again, when the superintendence of the world had come to him, but that remembering what had happened to him, he might know himself.

AUG. That took place in the soul of Peter, which he offered in the body; though differently from what he meant. For before the death and resurrection of our Lord, he both died by his denial, and lived again by his tears.

AUG. This speech, The cock shall not crow, occurs in all the Evangelists, but not at the same time in all. Matthew and Mark: introduce it after they have left the house, in which they were eating; Luke and John before. We may suppose either that the two former are recurring to what had passed, or the two latter anticipating what is coming. Or the great difference not only of the words, but of the subjects which precede the speech, and which excite Peter to the presumption of offering to die, for or with our Lord, may lead us to conclude that he made this offer three times, and that our Lord three times replied, Before the cock crows, you shall deny Me thrice.

Aquinas’ Catena Aurea on John 12:1-11

Ver 1. Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead.2. There they made him a supper: and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him.3. Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment.4. Then says one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, which should betray him,5. Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?6. This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.7. Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the clay of my burying has she kept this.8. For the poor always you have with you; but me you have not always.9. Much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there: and they came not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead.10. But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death:11. Because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus.

ALCUIN. As the time approached in which our Lord had resolved to suffer, He approached the place which He had chosen for the scene of His suffering: Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany. First, He went to Bethany, then to Jerusalem; to Jerusalem to suffer, to Bethany to keep alive the recollection of the recent resurrection of Lazarus; Where Lazarus was, which had been dead, whom He raised from the dead.

THEOPHYL. On the tenth day of the month they took the lamb which was to be sacrificed on the passover, and from that time began the preparation for the feast. Or rather the ninth day of the month, i.e. six days before the passover, was the commencement of the feast. They feasted abundantly on that day.

Thus we find Jesus partook of a banquet at Bethany: There they made Him a supper, and Martha served. That Martha served, shows that the entertainment was in her house. See the fidelity of the woman: she does not leave the task of serving to the domestics, but takes it upon herself. The Evangelist adds, in order, it would seem, to settle Lazarus, resurrection beyond dispute, But Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with Him.

AUG. He lived, talked, feasted; the truth was established, the unbelief of the Jews confounded.

CHRYS. Mary did not take part in serving the guests generally, but gave all her attention to our Lord, treating Him not as mere man, but as God: Then took Mary, a pound of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair.

AUG. The word pistici seems to be the name of some place, from which this precious ointment came.

ALCUIN. Or pistici means genuine, non-adulterated. She is the woman that was a sinner, who came to our Lord in Simon’s house with the box of ointment.

AUG. That she did this on another occasion in Bethany is not mentioned in Luke’s Gospel, but is in the other three. Matthew and Mark say that the ointment was poured on the head, John says, on the feet. Why not suppose that it was poured both on the head, and on the feet? Matthew and Mark introduce the supper and the ointment out of place in the order of time (Mat_26:9 and Mar_14:3). When they are some way farther on in their narration, they go back to the sixth day before the passover.  And the house was filled with the odor of the ointment.

AUG. Remember the Apostle’s words: To the one we are the savor of death unto death; and to the other the savor of life unto life (2Co_11:16).

AUG. Then said one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, which should betray Him,

Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? In the other Gospels it is the disciples who murmured at the waste of the ointment. I think myself that Judas is put for the whole body of disciples; the singular for the plural. But at any rate we may supply for ourselves, that the other disciples said it, or thought it, or were persuaded by this very speech of Judas.

The only difference is, that Matthew and Mark expressly mention the concurrence of the others, whereas John only mentions Judas, whose habit of thieving He takes occasion to notice: This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.

ALCUIN. He carried it as a servant, he took it out as a thief.

AUG. Judas did not perish at the time when he received money from the Jews to betray our Lord. He was already a thief, already lost, and followed our Lord in body, not in heart; wherein we are taught the duty of tolerating wicked men, lest we divide the body of Christ.

He who robs the Church of anything may be compared to the lost Judas. Tolerate the wicked, you that are good, that you may receive the reward of the good, and not fall into the punishment of the wicked. Follow the example of our Lord’s conversation upon earth. Wherefore had He bags, to whom the Angels ministered, except because His Church should afterwards have bags?

Why did He admit thieves, but to show that His Church should tolerate thieves, while it suffered from them. It is not surprising that Judas, who was accustomed to steal money from the bags, should betray our Lord for money.

CHRYS. But why was a thief entrusted with the bags of the poor? Perhaps it was to give him no excuse of wanting), money, for of this he had enough in the bag for all his desires.

THEOPHYL. Some suppose that Judas had the keeping of the money, as being the lowest kind of service. For that the ministry of money matters ranks below the ministry of doctrine, we know from what the Apostle says in the Acts, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables (Act_6:2).

CHRYS. Christ, with great forbearance, does not rebuke Judas for his thieving, in order to deprive him of all excuse for betraying Him.

ALCUIN. Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the clay of My burying has she kept this: meaning that He was about to die, and that this ointment was suitable for His burial. So to Mary who was not able to be present, though much wishing, at the anointing of the dead body, was it given to do Him this office in His lifetime.

CHRYS. Again, as if to remind His betrayer, He alludes to His burial; For the poor you have always with you, but Me you have not always: as if He said, I am a burden, a trouble to you; but wait a little, and I shall be gone.

AUG. He was speaking of His bodily presence; for in respect of His majesty, providence, ineffable and invisible grace, those words are fulfilled, Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world (Mat_28:20). Or thus: In the person of Judas are represented the wicked in the Church; for if you are a good man, you have Christ now by faith, and the Sacrament, and you shall have Him always, for when you have departed hence, you shall go to Him who said to the thief, Today shall thou be with Me in paradise (Luk_23:43).

But if you are wicked, you seem to have Christ, because you are baptized with the baptism of Christ, because you approach to the altar of Christ: but by reason of your wicked life, you shall not have Him always. It is not you (singular) have, but you (plural) have, the whole body of wicked men being addressed in Judas.

Much people of the Jews therefore knew that He was there, and they came not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom He had raised from the dead. Curiosity brought them, not love.

THEOPHYL. They wished to see with their own eyes him who had been raised from the dead, and thought that Lazarus might bring back a report of the regions below.

AUG. When the news of this great miracle had spread everywhere, and was supported by such clear evidence, that they could neither suppress or deny the fact, then, The chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus to death. O blind rage! as if the Lord could raise the dead, and not raise the slain. Lo, the Lord has done both. He raised Lazarus, and He raised Himself.

CHRYS. No other miracle of Christ excited such rage as this. It was so public, and so wonderful, to see a man walking and talking after he had been dead four days. And the fact was so undeniable. In the case of some other miracles they had charged Him with breaking the Sabbath, and so diverted people’s minds: but here there was nothing to find fault with, and therefore they vent their anger upon Lazarus.

They would have done the same to the blind man, had they not had the charge to make of breaking the Sabbath. Then again the latter was a poor man, and they cast him out of the temple, but Lazarus was a man of rank, as is plain from the number who came to comfort his sisters. It vexed them to see all leaving the feast, which was now coming on, and going to Bethany.

ALCUIN. Mystically, that He came to Bethany six days before the passover, means, that He who made all things in six days, who created man on the sixth, in the sixth age of the world, the sixth day, the sixth hour, came to redeem mankind. The Lord’s Supper is the faith of the Church, working by love. Martha serves, whenever a believing soul devotes itself to the worship of the Lord.

Lazarus is one of them that sit at table, when those who have been raised from the death of sin, rejoice together with the righteous, who have been ever such, in the presence of truth, and are fed with the gifts of heavenly grace. The banquet is given in Bethany, which means, house of obedience, i.e. in the Church: for the Church is the house of obedience.

AUG. The ointment with which Mary anointed the feet of Jesus was justice. It was therefore a pound. It was ointment of spikenard (pistici) too very precious. Greek for faith. Do you seek to do justice? The just live by faith

(Heb_10:38). Anoint the feet of Jesus by good living, follow the Lord’s footsteps: if you have a superfluity, give to the poor, and you have wiped the Lord’s feet; for the hair is a superfluous part of the body.

ALCUIN. And observe, on the first occasion of her anointing, she anointed His feet only, but now she anoints both His feet and head. The former denotes the beginnings of penitence, the latter the righteousness of souls perfected. By the head of our Lord the loftiness of His Divine nature, by His feet the lowliness of His incarnation are signified; or by the head, Christ Himself, by the feet, the poor who are His members.

AUG. The house was filled with the odor; the world was filled with the good fame.

St Thomas Aquinas on Psalm 27 (26)

The following post contains both the Latin and English texts of Psalm 27 (26) and St Thomas’ commentary on it. The work is under copyright but appears here in accordance with the copyright holders guidelines for republishing, it reads as follows: The copyright for these translations are held by the individuals who have translated them. They are offered for public use with the provision that, if copied, they not be altered from their present form, and that the copyright notice remain at the bottom of each translation to ensure that appropriate credit be given to both individual and the Project. Links should be established to this index page. All Biblical translations are taken from the Douay-Rheims version.

Psalm 26

a. Dominus illuminatio mea, et salus mea, quem timebo? Dominus protector vitae meae, a quo trepidabo? Dum appropriant super me nocentes, ut edant carnes meas. Qui tribulant me inimici mei, ipsi infirmati sunt, et ceciderunt.	The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the protector of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? Whilst the wicked draw near against me, to eat my flesh. My enemies that trouble me, have themselves been weakened, and have fallen.
b. Si consistant adversum me castra, non timebit cor meum. Si exurgat adversum me praelium, in hoc ego sperabo.	If armies in camp should stand together against me, my heart shall not fear. If a battle should rise up against me, in this will I be confident.
c. Unam petii a Domino, hanc requiram, ut inhabitem in domo Domini omnibus diebus vitae meae. Ut videam voluntatem Domini, et visitem templum eius.	One thing I have asked of the Lord, this I will seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. That I may see the delight of the Lord, and may visit his temple.
d. Quoniam abscondit me in tabernaculo suo, in die malorum protexit me in abscondito tabernaculi sui.	For he hath hidden me in his tabernacle; in the day of evils, he hath protected me in the secret place of his tabernacle.
e. In petra exaltavit me, et nunc exaltavit caput meum super inimicos meos.	He hath exalted me upon a rock: and now he hath lifted up my head above my enemies.
f. Circuivi et immolavi in tabernaculo eius hostiam vociferationis: cantabo et psalmum dicam Domino.	I have gone round, and have offered up in his tabernacle a sacrifice of jubilation: I will sing and recite a psalm to the Lord.
g. Exaudi Domine vocem meam, qua clamavi ad te, miserere mei, et exaudi me.	Hear, O Lord, my voice, with which I have cried to thee: have mercy on me and hear me.
h. Tibi dixit cor meum, exquisivit te facies mea: faciem tuam Domine requiram.	My heart hath said to thee: My face hath sought thee: thy face, O Lord, will I still seek.
i. Ne avertas faciem tuam a me: ne declines in ira a servo tuo.	Turn not away thy face from me; decline not in thy wrath from thy servant.
k. Adiutor meus esto, ne derelinquas me, neque despicias me Deus salutaris meus. Quoniam pater meus et mater mea dereliquerunt me, Dominus autem assumpsit me.	Be thou my helper, forsake me not; do not thou despise me, O God my Saviour. For my father and my mother have left me: but the Lord hath taken me up.
l. Legem pone mihi Domine in via tua: et dirige me in semitam rectam propter inimicos meos.	Set me, O Lord, a law in thy way, and guide me in the right path, because of my enemies.
m. Ne tradideris me in animas tribulantium me: quoniam insurrexerunt in me testes iniqui, et mentita est iniquitas sibi.	Deliver me not over to the will of them that trouble me; for unjust witnesses have risen up against me; and iniquity hath lied to itself.
n. Credo videre bona Domini in terra viventium.	I believe to see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.
o. Expecta Domninum, viriliter age: et confortetur cor tuum, et sustine Dominum.	Expect the Lord, do manfully, and let thy heart take courage, and wait thou for the Lord.
a. Praemissa oratione, hic Psalmista consequenter dicit fiduciam de oratone conceptam: et circa hoc duo facit. Primo ponit fiduciam conceptam. Secundo iterato orat ut non deficiat in sua fiducia, ibi, Ad te Domine.	Having previously made (his) prayer, the Psalmist next speaks here of the trust received from prayer. Concerning this he does two things. First, he sets down the trust received, and secondly, he prays once more that he will not fail in his trust, at, Unto thee will I cry, O Lord (Psalm 27).
Titulus, In finem Psalmi priusquam liniretur. Notandum est quod sicut Glossa latius dicit, David tribus vicibus fuit unctus in regem.	The title (of this psalm is) Unto the end. Psalms before he is anointed. Note that, as the Gloss more broadly states, David was anointed into the kingship on three occasions.
Primo a Samuele, 1. Reg. 16. Et tunc non fuit rex, sed habuit signum regni. Tulit Samuel cornu olei, et unxit eum in medio fratrum etc. Et tunc directus est spiritus Domini in David, quia ex tunc fuit propheta secundum Hieronymum et Iosephum.	First (he was annointed) by Samuel, (as is related at) 1 Kings 16. At that time he was not yet king, but he had the sign of a king. Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren etc. And at that point, the spirit of the Lord was sent into David, because from that moment on he was a prophet, according to Jerome and Josephus Flavius (?)
Secundo in Hebron, 2. Reg. 2. Venerunt viri Iuda, et unxerunt David in regem super domum Iuda.	Secondly, in Hebron (as is related at) 2 Kings 2: The men of Juda came, and anointed David there, to be king over the house of Juda.
Tertio occiso Isboseth filio Saulis regnavit super totum Israel, 2. Reg. 8. Hac duae inunctiones computabantur pro una, quia utraque fuit pro actuali dignitate regni adipiscenda.	Thirdly, when Isboseth, the son of Saul, was killed, he reigned over the whole of Israel (as is related at) 2 King 5. These two anointings were counted as one, because both were done for acquiring the real dignity of the kingship.
In prima passus est persecutionem a Saule, sed post secundam et tertiam regnavit in pace. Sed contra de Absalone.	In the first (annointing), he suffered persecution from Saul, but after the second and the third (annointing), he reigned in peace. But the contrary (to this view is presented) with respect to Absalom.
Respondeo dicendum, quod non est passus persecutionem ab extraneis, sed ab Absalone et Siba: et ideo fecit hunc Psalmum ante secundam unctionem.	I respond by saying that he did not suffer persecution from strangers, but from Absalon and Siba: and hence he wrote this psalm before the second anointing.
Melius tamen videtur ut referantur ad Christum duae unctiones in novo testamento, scilicet regis, et sacerdotis. Et Christus fuit unctus oleo Spiritus sancti: Psal. 44: Unxit te Deus etc. in regem et sacerdotem. Et haec unctio derivatur usque ad nos: Psal. 132: Sicut unguentum in capite quod descendit in barbam barbam Aaron; Io. 1: De plenitudine eius omnes accepimus.	However, (the matter) is better understood as it is referred to the two anointings of Christ in the New Testament, namely of a king and a priest. Christ was anointed with the oil of the Holy Spirit: Psalm 44: God hath anointed thee etc. a king and priest. And this anointing is even dispensed to us: Psalm 132: Like the precious ointment on the head, that ran down upon the beard, the beard of Aaron; John 1: Of his fullness we all have received.
Primo ergo ungimur sacerdotali unctione in figura futuri regni: erimus enim reges et liberi. Et quia adhuc patimur hostes, postea ungemur dupliciter actuali gloria, scilicet stola gloriae animae et corporis.	Therefore we first anoint with the priestly oil in the prefiguration of the kingdom to come: for we will be kings and free people. And because we as yet suffer enemies, we will thereafter be anointed twice with actual glory, namely with the robe of the heavenly glorification of the soul and the body.
Christus autem primo fuit unctus unctione gratiae, postea gloriae. Dividitur ergo Psalmus iste in tres partes. In prima ponit fiduciam de Deo conceptam. In secunda ostendit desiderium ex fiducia conceptum, ibi, Unam petii. Tertio ponit desiderii impletionem, ibi, Exaudi Domine.	However, Christ was first anointed with an anointing of grace, and thereafter of glory. Therefore, the psalm is divided into three parts. In the first part, he sets down the trust received from God. In the second, he shows the desire received from this trust, at, One thing I have asked. Thirdly he sets down the fulfilment of this desire, at, Hear O Lord.
Circa primum tria facit. Primo commemorat beneficia sibi a Deo praestita propter quae non timet, sed securus est. Secundo commemorat impedimenta parata a Deo, ibi, Dum appropiant. Tertio ostendit fiduciam quam habet a Deo, ibi, Si consistant.	Concerning the first he does three things. First he commemorates the good things given to him by God on account of which he does not fear but is made secure. Secondly, he commemorates the obstacles put forward by God, at, Whilst the wicked draw near. Thirdly, he shows the confidence which he has from God, at, If armies encamp.
Notandum autem, quod ad timendum concitatur quis aliquando ex interiori causa, quandoque ex exteriori causa.	Now it should be noted that at times, one is impelled to feeling fear by reason of an interior cause, and at other times from an exterior cause.
Primo ergo ponit auxilium contra primam causam. Secundo contra secundam, ibi, Dominus protector.	Therefore he first proposes help in opposition to the first cause, and then in opposition to the second, at, The Lord (is my helper and my) protector (Psalm 27).
Est autem duplex causa intrinseca timoris, ignorantia, et debilitas: unde in tenebris magis timendum est. Secunda causa timoris est debilitas; et contra has est remedium a Deo.	Now there are two intrinsic causes of fear, (namely) ignorance and weakness. Hence in the darkness (of these? or of the first?) there is much to be feared. The second cause of fear is weakness, and in opposition to (both of) these there is assistance from God.
Contra primum est illuminatio; unde dicit, Dominus illuminatio mea: Mich. 8. Cum sedero in tenebris, Dominus lux mea est. Contra secundum est salus; unde sequitur, Et salus mea: Ps. 61. In Deo salutare meum et gloria mea, Deus auxilii mei, et spes mea in Deo est.	In opposition to the first, there is illumination or light; and hence he says, The Lord is my light; Micheas 7: When I sit in darkness, the Lord is my light. In opposition to the second, there is salvation; hence it follows, And my salvation; Psalm 61: In God is my salvation and my glory: he is the God of my help, and my hope is in God.
Et ideo ostendit fiduciam, Quem timebo, sic illuminatus et sic salvatus? Isa. 51. Quis es tu ut timeas ab homine mortali, et a filio hominis, qui quasi foenum sic arcscet? Ro. 8. Deus qui iustificat, quis est qui condemnet? Et Si Deus pro nobis, quis contra nos?	And thus he shows confidence, Whom shall I fear, as one illuminated and thus saved? Isaiah 51: Who art thou, that thou shouldst be afraid of a mortal man, and of the son of man, who shall wither away like grass? Romans 8: (Who shall accuse against the elect of God?) God that justifieth. Who is he that shall condemn? And If God be for us, who is against us?
Causa extrinseca est homo, qui adversatur, sed adhuc non est timendum, quia Dominus opponit se sicut scutum; unde dicit, Dominus protector vitae meae: Gen. 15. Ego protector tuus et merces tua magna nimis.	The extrinsic cause is man who resists, but is still not to be feared, because the Lord sets Himself against (him) as a shield; hence he says, The Lord is the protector of my life – Genesis 15: I am thy protector and thy reward exceeding great.
Et ideo dicit, A quo trepidabo. A quo si sumatur masculine, tunc est sensus, A quo, scilicet a quo homine. Si neutraliter, a qua re. Et sic nihil est timendum, nec homo, nec res aliqua, Dum appropiant super me nocentes. Et quia posset dici quod Deus est illuminator etiam hostium, ideo hoc removens dicit quod Deus obsistit eis.	And so he says, Of whom shall I be afraid. If “Of whom” (quo) is understood in the masculine, then the sense is, Of whom, namely “Of what man”. If in the neuter, “Of what thing”. And so nothing is to be feared, neither man, nor some thing, Whilst the wicked draw near against me. And because it can be said that God is the illuminator even of our enemies, for this reason he says that in removing this (from them) God opposes them.
Et primo dicit eorum conatum. Secundo ponit impedimentum eis superveniens, ibi, Ipsi infirmati sunt etc. Circa primum tria facit. Primo praemittit praesumptuosum insultum. Secundo perversum actum. Tertio magnum effectum.	He first speaks about what they attempt to do. Secondly he sets out the impediment overcoming them, there, at, Have themselves been weakened etc. Concerning the first he does three things. First he sets forth (their) presumptuous insult, second, a perverse act, and third, a great effect.
Quantum ad primum dicit, Dum appropiant super me nocentes, idest habentes animum nocendi, Super me, idest mihi se praeferentes: Thre. 1. Facti sunt hostes eius in capite, usque ante faciem etc.	With regard to the first, he says, Whilst the wicked, that is, those having a mind to do harm, draw near against me, that is, placing themselves before me – Lamentations 1: Her adversaries are become her lords…even before the face…etc.
Quantum ad secundum ut scilicet graviter affligant, Ut edant carnes meas, idest carnalem vitam: Prov. 1. Deglutiamus eum, sicut infernus vicentem, et integrum: Mich. 3. Carnem populi comederunt, et pellem eorum desuper excoriaverunt.	With respect to the second, (the wicked draw near against me) so that they might seriously injure (me), To eat my flesh, that is my carnal life – Proverbs 1: Let us swallow him up alive…and whole as one that goeth down into the pit; Micheas 3: They have eaten the flesh of my people, and have flayed their skin from off them.
Vel ut ly ut teneatur consecutive, ut sit sensus, Edant carnes, idest carnalitates meas, quia quando mali persequuntur bonos, aliud intendunt ipsi mali, sive ipsi persecutores, scilicet offensionem corporalem; et secundum hoc est prima expositio: aliud indendit Deus hoc permittens, scilicet purgationem ab omni carnalitate; et sic secunda expositio.	Or so that the “ut” may be taken as indicating a consequence, so that the meaning (of) They eat my flesh is (that they eat) my carnal acts, because when evil men persecute the good, these evil men, or persecutors, intend one thing, namely a bodily offense; and this is what the first interpretation is about: however, in permitting this, God intends another thing, namely, the purgation from every carnal act; and thus the second interpretation.
Et hoc modo dicit Apostolus Gal. 5. Qui Christi sunt, carnem suam crucifixerunt cum vitiis et concupiscentiis.	And the Apostle speaks in the same manner in Galatians 5: And they that are Christ’s, have crucified their flesh, with the vices and concupiscences.
Quantum ad tertium dicit, Qui tribulant me inimici mei: Ps. 12. Qui tribulant me exultabunt si motus fuero. Ipsi infirmati sunt, quia non valuerunt implere propositum, Et ceciderunt, quia superati sunt, et absorpti: Hiere. 20. Dominus mecum est tamquam bellator fortis, idcirco qui persequuntur me, cadent et infirmi erunt.	With respect to the third, he says, My enemies that trouble me (Psalm 12: They that trouble me will rejoice when I am moved) have themselves been weakened, because they have not been strong enough to enact what they had planned, And they have fallen, because they were overcome and swallowed up – Jeremiah 20: But the Lord is with me as a strong warrior; therefore they that persecute me shall fall, and shall be weak
b. Si consistant. Homo debet habere securitatem in duobus. Primo in praeparatione malorum. Secundo in eorum passione, ibi, Exurgam.	If armies in camp. Man ought to have security in two things. First, against the plots of evildoers. Secondly, in the suffering of them, at, I will arise.
Dicit ergo, Dominus sic est illuminatio mea, quia inimici cadunt coram me. Glossa, Si consistant adversum me castra.	He says therefore that in this way The Lord is my light, because my enemies fall before me. The Gloss has, If armies in camp should stand together against me.
Castra sunt ubi steterunt milites, Non timentes cor meum. Quamdiu homo est in castris, non pugnat, sed disponit, et consiliat ad pugnandum.	Camps are where soldiers abide, Not fearing my heart. (?) As long as a man is in camp, he does not fight, but prepares, and takes counsel for the purpose of fighting.
Per castra intelliguntur consilia et coniurationes malorum contra aliquem, 4. Reg. 19. Angelus Domini percussit castra Assyriorum: Exo. 14. Factum est in vigilia matutina, et ecce ascendit Dominus super castra, et percussit.	By (the word) “camp” is understood the counsels and conspiracies of evildoers against someone – 4 Kings 19: An angel of the Lord… slew…the camps of the Assyrians; Exodus 14: And now the morning watch was come, and behold the Lord (descended) upon the camp…and (smote it).
Non timebit cor meum, quia Dominus mecum est: Iob 17. Pone me iuxta te, et cuiusvis manus pugnet contra me.	My heart will not fear, because the Lord is with me – Job 17:3 (Deliver me, O Lord, and) set me beside thee, and let any man’s hand fight against me.
Sed, Si exurgat adversum me praelium, idest si iam invadant me, et pralientur contra me, quamvis sint multi: In hoc ego sperabo: quia, ut dicitur 1 Mach. 3. Non in multitudine exercitus victoria belli, sed de coelo fortitudo est. Est enim consuetudo amicorum inter amicos, cum impugnantur ab hostibus: Psal. 93. Consolationes tuae laetificaverunt animam meam.	But, If a battle should rise up against me, that is, if they should now invade and fight against me, (then) however how many they may be, In this will I be confident: because, as it is said at 1 Machabees 3: The success of war is not in the multitude of the army, but strength cometh from heaven. For there is a bond of custom of friends among friends when they are attacked by enemies: Psalm 93: Thy comforts have given joy to my soul.
c. Unam petii. Supra Psalmista posuit fiduciam ex oratione conceptam; hic autem ponit desiderium, quod ex hac fiducia oritur: et circa hoc duo facit.	One thing I have asked. Previously, the psalmist set down the trust received from prayer; however, here he sets down a desire which arises from this trust: and concerning this he does two things.
Primo proponit desiderium. Secundo causam desiderii assignat, ibi, Quoniam abscondit me.	First, he sets forth (this) desire, and secondly assigns a cause to it, at, For he hath hidden me.
Circa primum tria facit. Primo describit qualitatem desiderii. Secundo ipsam rem desideratam, ibi, Ut inhabitem. Tertio intentionem finis, ibi, Ut viderem voluntatem.	Concerning the first he does three things. First, he describes the quality of the desire, secondly the desired thing itself, at, That I may dwell, and thirdly the intention of the end, at, That I might see the delight.
Desiderii ergo qualitas in duobus consistit, scilicet in unitate, et solicitudine: et utrumque pertinet ad perfectionem desiderii.	The quality, then, of a desire consists in two things, namely, in (its) unity and solicitude: and both of these pertain to the perfection (in the sense of completion/realization) of desire.
Perfectio enim desiderii dependet ex perfectione causae suae, scilicet amoris, qui quando est perfectus, primo congregat in unum omne, vires, et movet eum in amatum.	For the perfection of desire depends on the perfection of its cause, namely of love, which, when perfected, first gathers together the powers (of a person) into a single whole and moves it toward the thing loved.
Est enim secundum Augustinum pondus amantis. Res autem ponderosa sine vacillatione tendit ad unum, sed non sic si res non est bene ponderosa; sed divinus amor facit totum hominem in Deum tendere sine vacillatione: Psal. 72. Quid enim mihi est in coelo, et a te quid volui super terram? Gregorius: Vis amoris studium multiplicat inquisitionis.	For this, according to Augustine, is the weight of the one who loves. The weighty thing, however, tends without wavering to one thing, but not as if the thing were well-weighted (in the sense of being well-balanced, finding its non-vacillation in its own weight); on the contrary, divine love makes the whole man tend toward God without wavering: Psalm 72: For what have I in heaven? and besides thee what do I desire upon earth? St. Gregory: The power of love multiplies the zeal of the examination.
Hoc fecit Anna prophetissa, quae non discedebat de templo, ieiuniis et orationibus serviens die ac nocte. Et ideo dicitur Luc. 10. Porro unum est necessarium; unde dicit, Unam petii, idest unam rem, vel unam petitionem: 3 Reg. 2. Unam petitionem parvulam ego deprecor a te, ne confundas faciem meam.	This is what the prophetess Anna did, when she would not leave the temple, serving day and night with fasting and prayer. And hence it is said at Luke 10:42: But one thing is necessary; hence he says, One thing I have asked, that is, one thing or petition: 3 Kings 2: I desire one small petition of thee, do not put me to confusion.
Secundo solicitat cum sit sicut stimulus et ignis, amor: Cant. 8. Lampades eius lampades ignis: 2. Cor. 9. Charitas Dei urget nos. Unde dicit, Hanc requiram: Isa. 21. Si quaeritis, quaerite: Matt. 7. Quarerite et invenietis.	Secondly, love solicits as if it were a sting (or goad) and a fire: Song of Songs 8: (for love is strong as death, jealousy as hard as hell,) the lamps thereof are fire (and flames); 2 Corinthians 5:14: The charity of (Christ) presseth us. Hence he says, This I will seek after; Isaiah 21: If you seek, seek; Matthew 7: Seek and you shall find.
Consequenter ponitur res petita; unde dicit, Ut inhabitem in domo Domini. Domus Domini spiritualis est duplex, et tertia est materialis, scilicet ecclesia, in qua morari salutiferum est: Gen. 28. Non est hic aliud nisi domus Dei et porta coeli: nam in ea excitatur animus hominis ad devotionem.	Subsequently, the petitioned thing is set down. Hence he says, That I may dwell in the house of the Lord. The “house of the Lord” is spiritual in a two-fold way, and material in a third, namely, the Church, in which to dwell is healing: Genesis 28: There is no other (place) but the house of God, and the gate of heaven: for in it the soul of man is excited to devotion.
Domus spiritualis Dei est ecclesia militans: 1. Tim. 3. Ut scias quomodo oporteat te conversari in domo Dei, quae est ecclesia Dei vivi, columna et firmamentum veritatis.	The spiritual house of God is the Church militant: 1 Timothy 3: (But if I tarry long,) that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
Alia est ecclesia triumphans: 2. Cor. 5. Si terrestris domus nostra huius habitationis dissolvatur, quod aedificationem ex Deo habemus domum non manufactam, sed aeternam in coelis.	The other is the Church triumphant: 2 Corinthians 5: For we know, if our earthly house of this habitation be dissolved, that we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in heaven.
De utraque ergo potest hoc intelligi, quia haec domus via est ad illum et porta eius: Ps. 117. Haec porta Domini, iusti intrabunt per eam. Et ideo desiderandum est habitare in hac domo, scilicet ecclesia. Et hoc omnibus diebus vitae meae, idest usque in finem: Ps. 131. Haec requies mea in saeculum saeculi, hic habitabo, quoniam elegi eam.	From both of these, then, it can be understood that this house is the way to Him and His gate: Psalm 117: This is the gate of the Lord, the just shall enter into it. And thus one must desire to live in this house, namely, the Church. And this, All the days of my life, that is, up to the end: Psalm 131: This is my rest for ever and ever: here will I dwell, for I have chosen it.
Habitat autem quis in domo Dei per fidem, et charitatem, et conformitatem bonorum operum: Ps. 67. Qui habitare facis unius moris in domo. Et laudabile est, quod semper in ea habitet, et non separetur ab ea.	Now, a person lives in the house of God through faith, charity, and the conformity of (his) good works: Psalm 67: (You who) make (men) of one manner to dwell in (your) house. And it is praiseworthy, that one should live in it always, and not be separated from it.
Separatur autem homo ab ecclesia per peccatum, per excommunicationem, et per schisma, vel haeresim. Qui ergo usque in finem habitat in ea, idest in ista ecclesia, habitabit in illa in perpetuum: Ps. 83. Beati qui habitant in domo tua Domine.	But man is separated from the Church through sin, excommunication, and schism or heresy. Therefore, he who lives in it, that is the Church itself, right up to the end, will live in it for perpetuity: Psalm 83: Blessed are they that dwell in thy house, O Lord.
Hic contra ponitur intentio, scilicet, Ut videam etc. Et ponit duo, quia Ut videam voluntatem, et visitem templum eius. Alia litera habet, Ut continuo habitem.	Here, on the other hand, (his) intention is set down, namely, That I may see etc. And he sets down two things, That I may see the delight (of the Lord), and may visit his temple. Another version has, So that I might dwell continuously.
Hieronymus habet, ut est meritum, secundum Augustinum: Io. 17. Haec est vita aeterna ut cognoscant etc.	Jerome has, So that it is merited, according to Augustine (‘s commentary on ?) John 17: This is eternal life: That they might know (thee) etc.
Tria sunt in illa visione desideranda, quae naturaliter homo desiderat videre.	There are three things to be desired in this vision, which man naturally desires to see.
Primo pulchra. Summa pulchritudo est in ipso Deo, quia pulchritudo in formositate consistit, Deus autem est ipsa forma informans omnia, ideo dicit secundum unam literam, Ut videam delectationes Domini: Sap. 13. Si specie delectati deos putaverunt, sciant quanto his dominator eorum speciosior est: speciei enim generator haec omnia constituit.	First there is beauty. The highest beauty is in God himself, since beauty consists in the finely formed; but God is that very form which fashions all things. Hence, according to one version, he says So that I might see the delightful things of the Lord: Wisdom 13: (With whose beauty,) if they, being delighted, took them to be gods: let them know how much the Lord of them is more beautiful than they: for the first author of beauty made all those things.
Secundo delectabilia, et fugere tristitiam, et ideo secunda litera habet, Ut contemplem delectationes Domini, idest bonitatem Dei, in qua est summa delectatio: Ps. 15. Delectationes in dextera tua usque in finem.	Secondly, (man, in this vision, naturally desires to see) delightful things, and to flee sorrow. And thus a second version has, So that I may contemplate the delights of the Lord, that is, the goodness of God, in which can be found the highest delight: Psalm 15: At thy right hand are delights even to the end.
Tertio disposito rerum. Unde multum est delectabile scire scientiam omnium rerum, quae in mundo sunt; et ideo videre dispositionem divinae providentiae est maxime delectabile. Et ideo dicit, Ut videam voluntatem Domini, rationem a Deo volitam et dispositam: Rom. 12. Probetis quae sit voluntas Dei bona, beneplacens, et perfecta.	Thirdly, (man, in this vision, naturally desires to see) the disposition (or order) of things. Whence great is the delight to have an intellectual knowledge of every thing that is in the world. For that reason to see (things in light of) the disposition of divine providence is the most delightful thing. Thus he says, That I may see the delight of the Lord, (that is to say) the pattern (or order) that is willed and established by God: Romans 12: That you may prove what is the good, and the acceptable, and the perfect will of God.
Haec autem habemus in vita ista imperfecte et per fidem, in futura autem domo habebimus perfecte, ubi sunt sancti contemplantes Deum facie ad faciem: 2. Cor. 3. Nos autem revelata facie gloriam Domini contemplantes etc.	However, in this life, we have this imperfectly and through faith. But in the future we will have it perfectly in (His) house, where the saints are contemplating God face to face: 2 Corinthians 3:18. But we all beholding the glory of the Lord with open face etc.
Sancti ergo qui sunt in patria, dirigunt contemplationem in ipsum Deum, et etiam in his quae sunt ad ipsum Deum ordinata: et ideo dicit, Ut visitem templum eius, idest frequenter videam templum, idest humanitatem Christi: Io. 2. Hoc autem dicebat de templo corporis sui.	The saints, then, who are in heaven, direct their contemplation upon God himself, and also upon those things ordered to God himself. For this reason, he says, And may visit his temple, namely that I may see frequently his temple, that is to say, the humanity of Christ: John 2: But he spoke of the temple of his body.
Vel, Visitem, sive videam ipsam ordinationem ecclesiae: 1. Cor. 3. Templum Dei sanctum est, quod estis vos.	Or, I may visit, (that is to say) see, the very ordination of the Church: 1 Corinthians 3: The temple of God is holy, which you are.
Item dispositionem totius mundi; ideo in psalmo hebraico habetur, Et diluculo, idest diluculo ut maneam: Ps. 5. Mane astabo tibi.	Again, (this disposition could refer to) the disposition of the whole world. Thus is it understood in the Hebraic (version of this) psalm, And at daybreak, that is, at daybreak I will abide: Psalm 5: In the morning I will stand before thee.
d. Quoniam. Hic assignatur ratio desiderii habitandi in domo Dei; quasi dicat, quare tantum petis habitare in domo Dei? Ratio est ex beneficiis perceptis: et circa hoc duo facit. Quia primo ponit ipsa beneficia. Secundo addit recompensationem, ibi, Circuivi.	For. Here the reason for desiring to dwell in the house of God is indicated; it is as if he were saying, “Why do you seek so much to live in the house of God?” The reason is on account of the benefits obtained. Concerning this he does two things. First he sets down the benefits themselves. Second, he adds the compensation, at, I have gone round.
Circa primum duo facit. Primo ponit beneficium protectionis a malo. Secundo beneficium promotionis in bonum, ibi, In petra exaltasi me.	Concerning the first he does two things. First he sets down the benefit of protection from evil. Secondly, the benefit of advancement in the good, at, He hath exalted me upon a rock.
Circa primum duo facit. Primo proponit beneficium. Secundo eius necessitatem ostendit, ibi, In die malorum.	Concerning the first he does two things. First he sets forth a benefit. Secondly, he shows its necessity, at, In the day of evils.
Dicit ergo, Quare petis habitare in domo Domini? ideo scilicet Quia abscondit me in tabernaculo tuo. Et secundum literam 1. Reg. 24. quando David fugit ad tutiora loca Engaddi et abscondit se ibi. Unde loquitur ex persona fugientis et latentis in aliquo loco.	And so, he says, “Why do you seek to live in the house of the Lord?” For this reason, namely, (Because) he hath hidden me in his tabernacle. And according to the text at 1 Samuel 24 when David fled to guarded places in Engaddi and hid himself there. Hence (this passage in the psalms) is spoken from the point of view of someone fleeing and hiding himself in another place.
Ad literam Tabernaculum erat locus in quo orantes divino auxilio protegebantur, et maxime in sancta sanctorum, ubi erat propitiatorium, et sic vocabant tabernaculum ipsam Dei defensionem, sicut in Ps. 90. dicitur: Sacpulis suis obumbrabit tibi, et sub pennis eius sperabis etc. Deut. 32. Expandit alas suos, et asuumpsit eos, atque portavit in humeris suis.	Literally, the Tabernacle was a place in which people who were praying were protected by divine help, and chiefly in the holy of holies, where there was the propitiatory. They thus called the tabernacle itself the defense of God, as it is said in Psalm 90:4: He will overshadow thee with his shoulders: and under his wings thou shalt trust etc.; Deuteronomy 32: He spread his wings, and hath taken him and carried him on his shoulders.
Sed mystice tabernaculum potest dici humanitas assumpta, sive caro Christi in qua abscondit nos per fidem et spem: Col. 1. Abscondita est vita vestra in Deo. Vel aliter tabernaculum dicitur tota dispositio ecclesiae, et in utroque istorum absconditur homo iustus, quia in isto tabernaculo, quaedam latent sub manifestis: latentia sunt invisibilia et spiritualia ubi morantur boni.	But mystically the tabernacle can be called the assumed humanity, or the flesh of Christ in which he hides us through faith and hope: Colossians 3: Your life is hid (with Christ) in God. Or in another way, the tabernacle is called the total disposition of the church. And in both of these, the just man is hidden, because in this tabernacle, certain things are concealed under things that are apparent: concealed things are invisible and spiritual, wherein good people abide.
Mali autem morantur in exterioribus: Isa. 4. Tabernaculum erit in umbraculum diei ab aestu. Sed quid contulit haec absconsio, immo necesse erat mihi, In die malorum, vel omnium illorum malorum quae tunc imminebant.	Bad people, however, abide in external things: Isaiah 4: And there shall be a tabernacle for a shade in the daytime from the heat. But whatever this hiding contributes, it was indeed necessary for me, In the day of evil, or from all of those evil thing that were threatening.
Et simile est, quia quando hostes, vel tribulatio imminet, illi soli salvabuntur, qui in civitate reperientur: ita in tribulatione illi pereunt, qui circa haec exteriora habent affectum, quia facta tribulatione circa ista tales commoventur. Abscondit ergo ipse Deus, vel Christus, vel mens iusti: Mat. 6. Pater tuus qui videt in abscondito, reddet tibi.	And similarly, when an army or tribulation is imminent, only those who are found in the city, will be saved: thus those in tribulation who have affection for these external things will perish because when tribulation concerning such things does indeed strike, they will be much shaken. Therefore God himself, or Christ, or the mind of the just man hides: Matthew 6: Thy Father who seeth in secret will repay thee.
e. In petra. Hic proponit aliud beneficium promotionis in bonum, et est duplex. Unum exaltationis quantum ad se. Secundum quantum ad hostes, ibi, Nunc exaltavit caput me. Dicit ergo, In petra exaltasti me. Secundum literam alludit ad ea, quae circa eum sunt gesta, quia quando persecutionem patiebatur, ibat per petras invias, 1. Reg. 24. Sed quando evasit, Tunc exaltavit cor meum super inimicos meos.	Upon a rock. Here he proposes another benefit of being promoted in the good, and this is twofold. One is the exaltation in regard to oneself. The second is with regard to one’s enemies, when he says, Now he hath lifted up my head. Thus he says, He hath exalted me upon a rock. Literally, he alludes to those things which had been done to him, because when he was suffering persecution, he went through impassable rocks, 1 Samuel 24. But when he had escaped, then he hath lifted up my (heart) above my enemies.
Sed mystice exponitur, In petra exaltasti me, idest in Christo: 1. Cor. 10. Petra autem erat Christus. Vel, In petra, idest in Deo: 2. Reg. 22. Dominus petra mea: Ps. 60. Dum anxiaretur cor meum, in petra exaltasti me.	But it is explained mystically (in the following way): He hath exalted me upon a rock, that is, in Christ: 1 Corinthians 10: And the rock was Christ. Or, Upon a rock, that is, in God: 2 Kings 22: The Lord is my rock; Psalm 60: When my heart was in anguish, thou hast exalted me on a rock.
Et nunc iam exaltavit; quasi dicat, istud feci in spe, sed nunc in re. Exaltasti caput meum, idest mentem meam, super inimicos meos, idest super omnes appetitus meos: Gen. 4. Subtus te erit appetitus tuus.	And now he has already exalted; it is as if he were saying, ‘I did this thing in hope, but now I do it in actuality.’ Thou hath lifted up my head, that is, my mind, Above my enemies, that is, above all my lusts: Genesis 4: (Your) lust shall be under thee.
f. Circuivi. Hic ponitur recompensatio beneficii; et ponit duo. Primo sacrificium, Et immolavi. Secundo canticum.	I have gone round. At this point, (the psalmist) sets forth the benefit’s compensation; and this, in regard to two things. First, a sacrifice at, And have offered up. And second, a canticle.
Secundum Hieronymum coniungitur cum praecedentibus, Super inimicos meos, et in circuitu nostro sunt. Circuivi, idest circa steti, devotas preces offerendo pro eis: Ps. 108. Prout me diligerent, idest deberent, detrahebant etc.	According to Jerome, (circuivi) is joined with the preceding, Above my enemies, and they are in our circle. I have gone round, that is, I have stood around there in offering devoted entreaties on their behalf: Psalm 108: Instead of making me a return of love, that is, as they ought to, they detracted me etc.
Vel circa altare steti: Eccl. 50: Et ipse stans circa aram etc. Item strenui militis est circuire et protegere castra, sicut dicitur de Iuda 1. Mac. 3. Protegebat castra gladio suo: unde Circuivi, idest protexi.	Or, (circuivi could be read as) I have stood around the altar: Ecclesiasticus 50: He himself stood by (iuxta) the altar. Again, it is proper to a strenuous soldier to circle and protect the camp, just as it is said of Juda at 1 Macc 3: He protected the camp with his sword. Hence, I have gone round, that is, I have protected.
Vel circuitus iste refertur ad contemplationem. Circulus duo propria habet inter alias figuras. Unum, quia est capacior alias. Aliud est, quod est totus uniformis sine angulo, et convenit contemplationi. Primo quantum ad capacitatem, quia tunc dicitur circuire contemplando, quando omnia quae consideranda sunt, contemplatur; unde dicit, Circuivi, idest consideravi omnia dona tua, et ecclesiae beneficia	Or the passing around refers to contemplation. Among other figures, the circle has two things proper to it. One, that it is more capacious than other things, and two, that it is completely uniform and without angle, and this is appropriate to contemplation. First with respect to its capacity, for in contemplating one is said to go around, when everything which is to be considered is contemplated. Hence, he says, I have gone round, that is, I have considered all of your gifts, and the benefits of the church.
Beatus Dionysius posuit triplicem motum, scilicet cicularem, rectum, et obliquum. Recto motu semper movetur aliquid difformiter, quia semper habet diversam distantiam, et ideo in contemplando motus est rectus, quando uno ad aliud quis movetur considerando processum rerum.	Blessed Dionysius posited three kinds of motion, namely, circular, straight and oblique. By straight motion, something is always moved in an irregular way, since it always has a distance is different directions. Therefore in contemplating, motion is straight when someone is moved in considering the process of things from one (state/place) to another.
Circulari motu movetur aliquis contemplando, quando conceptio animae est uniformis: et tunc dicitur circularis, quando scilicet revocat animam a rebus. Et primo congregat in se, postea unitur spiritualibus, et postea ascendit in contemplationem unius Dei.	Someone is moved in a circular motion in contemplating when the comprehension of the soul is uniform. It is then called circular when it (this comprehension) withdraws the soul from things. First, the soul collects into itself (having withdrawn from external things), after which it is united to spiritual things, and then ascends to the contemplation of the one God.
Obliquus motus est compositus ex utroque, quando quis procedit ex consideratone creaturarum, sed hanc ordinat in consideratione Dei. Et ideo dicit, Circuivi, quantum ad uniformitatem: Ezec. 1. Hic erat aspectus splendoris per gyrum.	Oblique motion, a composite of the other two, is when one proceeds from a consideration of created things, but orders this to a consideration of God. And so he says, I have gone round, in regard to uniformity: Ezec. 1: This was the appearance of the brightness round about. [Note: for a more detailed description of Thomas's views concerning Dionysius's description of contemplation, see ST. II-II. 180. 6.]
Et immolavi. Est autem duplex sacrificium, scilicet interius quo homo animum suum dat Deo spiritus; Ps. 50: sacrificium Deo (scilicet acceptum Deo) est spiritus contribulatus. Et omne exterius sacrificium ordinatur ad repraesendum illud; unde Augustinus dicit, Quando offers hoc exterius est ut repraesentes animum tuum Deo.	And have offered up. There are two kinds of sacrifice, namely an interior one by which man gives his mind to God in spirit; Psalm 50: A sacrifice to God (that is, one which is accepted by God) is an afflicted spirit. [Note: see Thomas's discussion of this at ST. II-II. 85. 2]. And every exterior sacrifice is ordered to representing this. Hence Augustine says, When you offer this, it is exterior in such a way that you represent your mind to God.
Sed quia omnis repraesentatio fit per aliqua signa, inter quae primatum tenent verba, ideo inter sacrificia videtur praeeminentiam habere sacrificium laudis: Ps. 49. Sacrificium laudis honorficabit me; unde dicit, Immolavi in tabernaculo eius hostiam, non pecorum, sed potius, Hostiam vociferationis, idest divinae laudis.	But since every representation is done through signs, among which words hold first place, a sacrifice of praise would seem to have preeminence among sacrifices: Psalm 49: The sacrifice of praise shall glorify me. Hence he says, I have offered up in his tabernacle a sacrifice, not of sheep, but rather, A sacrifice of jubilation, that is, of divine praise.
Et hac vociferatione, Cantabo, tibi, scilicet canticum et laetitiam mentis et rectitudinem operis: Psal. 107. Paratum cor meum. Cantabo; quasi dicat, Paratum cor habeo ad serviendum tibi, cum laetitia mentis: Ps. 99. Servite Domino in laetitia.	And by this jubilation, I will sing, to you, namely a canticle, the joy of mind and the rectitude of deed: Psalm 107: My heart is ready. I will sing. It is as if he were saying, I have a heart ready to serve you with joy of mind: Psalm 99: Serve ye the Lord with gladness.
g. Exaudi. Supra Psalmista posuit suum desiderium; hic prorumpit ad petendum rem desideratam: et circa hoc tria facit. Primo petit exaudiri. Secundo proponit petitionem, ibi Tibi dixit cor meum. Tertio ostendit fiduciam quam habet de exauditione, ibi, Credo videre bona Domini.	Hear. The Psalmist set down his desire above; here, he breaks forth so as to petition for the thing desired: and concerning this he does three things. First, he petitions to be heard. Secondly, he sets forth the petition, at, My heart hath said to thee. Thirdly, he shows the confidence which he has of being heard, at, I believe to see the good things of the Lord.
Ad hoc ergo quod exaudiatur, inducit duas rationes. Unam ex devotione propria. Aliam ex sua miseria. Devotio est causa, quod audiatur a Deo aliquis. Devotio est clamor cordis, qui excitat Deum ad audiendum; et ideo dicit, Exaudi: quia clamavi non exterius, sed interius: Iac. 5. Clamor eorum ad aures Domini Sabaoth introivit.	And so, he gives two reasons why he is to be heard. The first is on account of his own devotion. The other is because of his misery. Devotion is the reason that someone is heard by God. Devotion is a cry of the heart, which rouses God to hear; and therefore he says, Hear: because I have cried not exteriorly, but interiorly: James 5: The cry of them hath entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
Item miseria nostra provocat ad exaudiendum: Exo. 3. Videns vidi afflictionem populi mei, et descendi liberare eum; unde dicit, Miserere mei, et exaudi me; quasi dicat, me miserum, et meam miseriam cognosco, unde tuum est misereri: Iudith 9. Exaudi me miseram deprecantem.	Again, our misery provokes (God) to hear: Exodus 3: [Seeing,] I have seen the affliction of my people…and I have come down to deliver them…; hence he says, Have mercy on me and hear me; it is as if he were saying, “[Hear] me a poor wretch, and I know my misery. Hence it belongs to you to be merciful”: Judith 9: Hear me a poor wretch making supplication (to thee…).
h. Tibi. Hic ponit petitiones. Et primo petit divinae faciei prospectum. Secundo divinum auxilium, ibi, Adiutor meus es tu. Tertio viae suae directivum, ibi, Legem pone mihi Domine.	To thee. Here he sets out (his) petitions. And first he asks for a view of the divine countenance. Secondly for divine help, at, [Be thou] my helper. Thirdly, for the directing of His way, at, Set me, O Lord, a law.
Circa primum ostendit, quod de re petita habet magnum desiderium, et intimum, et anxium, et assiduum. Intimum, quia tibi dixit cor meum. Aliquando homo aliquid petit ore, sed cor eius ad alia versatur: Matth. 7. Non omnis qui dicit mihi Domine etc. Isa. 29. Populus hic labiis me honorat etc.	Concerning the first he shows that he has a great desire for the thing petitioned, one that is innermost, anxious and constant. Innermost, because My heart hath said to thee. Sometimes a man petitions for something with his mouth, but his heart is engaged in other things: Matthew 7: Not every one that saith to me “Lord” etc.; Isaiah 29: This people…with their lips they glorify me (but their heart is far from me).
Sed quando petito est ex intimo desiderio cordis, tunc est Deo accepta, sed tunc non os tantum immo cor petit: 2. Regum 7. Invenit servus tuus cor suum ut oraret te oratione hac: Ps. 118. Clamavi in toto corde.	But when the petition is from the innermost desire of the heart, then it is accepted by God, yet then it is not so much the mouth but rather the heart that petitions: 2 Kings 7: [Therefore hath] thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer to thee; Psalm 118: I cried with my whole heart.
Anxium et aequum dicit habere, cum dicit, Exquisivit te etc. Contingit aliquando quod desiderium est intimum et quietum et multum quaerit; sed quando est anxium tunc vere quaerit; unde dicit, Exquisivit te, idest frequenter et diligenter quaesivit.	He is said to be anxious and right, when he says, (My face) hath sought thee. Sometimes it happens that one seeks a desire which is innermost, peaceful and great. But when one is anxious, one then truly seeks. Hence he says, (My face) hath sought thee, that is, he has sought frequently and diligently.
Et hoc etiam ostendit aequum desiderium, quia imago non perficitur nisi pertingat ad exemplar, ad quod est facta; unde dicit, Exquisivit te facies mea.	And this also exhibits a right desire, for an image is not perfected unless it extends itself so far as to the exemplar in the likeness of which it was made; hence he says, My face hath sought thee.
Facies hominis interior est, in qua visus est interior, idest anima sive mens rationalis, et haec, scilicet Facies mea quae est facta ad imaginem tuam, Exquisivit te.	The face of man is interior, in that (his) sight is interior, that is, (his) soul or rational mind, and this, namely, My face, which is made according to your image, Hath sought thee.
Unde non potest reformari et perfici nisi iungatur tibi Domine. Unde sicut quaelibet res quaerit suam perfectionem, ita mens nostra quaerit Deum. Et ostendit quod sit assiduum, quia Requiram, idest iterum et iterum quaeram: Isa. 21. Si quaeritis, quaerite: Matth. 7. Quaerite et invenientis.	Hence, it is not possible to be reformed or perfected unless one is joined to thee, O Lord. And so, just as each thing seeks its own perfection, so too does our mind seek God. And he shows that it (his desire) is continuous, that I will seek, that is, I will seek again and again (Note: Thomas plays upon the difference between requiram and quaeram, where the former with the addition of the prefix re- indicates the notion of repetition); Isaiah 21: If you seek, seek; Matthew 7: Seek and you shall find.
Hoc est proprium diligentis, quaerere saepe rem dilectam. Et quid quaerit, ostendit cum dicit, Faciem tuam Domine requiram. Hoc petebat Moyses Exo. 33. Ostende mihi faciem tuam. Et Dominus non statim ostendit, sed dixit, Ostendam tibi omne bonum: Luc. 10. Beati oculi qui vident quae vos videntis.	This is a particular mark of the one who loves, to seek often after the thing loved. And he indicates what he seeks when he says, Thy face, O Lord, will I still seek. This is what Moses was asking for in Exodus 33: Show me thy face. And the Lord did not immediately show it, but said, I will show thee all good; Luke 10: Blessed are the eyes that see the things which you see.
Et ideo David non erat extra spem, sed adhuc quaerebat; unde alibi dicit, Ostende nobis faciem tuam etc. Iob 33. Deprecabitur Deum suum, et placabilis erit, et videbit faciem eius in iubilo.	And so, David was not without hope, but was still seeking (for it); hence he says elsewhere (possibly Psalm 79:4, 8, 20 or Psalm 30:17): Show us thy face etc.; Job 33: He shall pray to God, and he will be gracious to him: and he shall see his face with joy.
i. Ne avertas. Hic proponit triplicem petitionem. Et primo petit non fraudari a re desiderata. Secundo petit amoveri causam per quam posset fraudari. Tertio petit dirigi in via, ibi, Legem pone.	Turn not away. Here he puts forth three petitions. First he asks that he not be deprived of the thing desired. Secondly, he asks that the cause by which he might be deprived (of the thing desired) be removed. Thirdly, he asks that he be directed in (His) way, at, Set…a law.
Dicit ergo, Faciem tuam Domine requiram. Et rogo, Ne avertas faciem tuam a me; quasi dicat, sicut avertit homo faciem ab homine, quando non vult eum audire. Sed aliter est in Deo quam in homine. Homo enim avertens faciem mutatur. Ipse Deus autem immobilis est; sed dicitur avertere faciem, inquantum nos avertimur, et immutamur. Et per hoc quod in corde nostro fit aliquod velamen quo inepti reddimur ad videndum faciem suam.	And so, he says, Thy face, O Lord, will I still seek. And I ask, Turn not away thy face from me, as if to say, just as a man turns his face away from (another) man, when he does not wish to hear him. But it is otherwise in relation to God than with man. For the man averting his face is changed. But God himself is unchangeable. However, He is said to avert his face, insofar as we avert our own, and are changed. And on account of that which is in our heart, a veil is made by which we are rendered unfit to see his face.
Et ideo litera Hieronymi habet, Ne abscondas: Isa. 8. Expectabo Dominum qui abscondit faciem suam a domo Iacob. Causa vero aversionis est ira Dei in poenam peccati.	And for that reason Jerome’s version has, Do not hide; Isaiah 8: I will wait for the Lord who hath hid his face from the house of Jacob. Surely, the cause for aversion is God’s anger in the punishment of sin.
Et haec aversio est maxima poenarum; et hoc est quod dicit, Et ne declines in ira a servo tuo, idest ne irascaris mihi in hoc quod declines faciem tuam a me. Et dicit, In ira, quia aliquando declinat in misericordia, cum scilicet non respicit peccata: Ps. 50. Averte faciem tuam a peccatis meis.	And this aversion is the greatest of punishments; and this is why he says, And decline not in thy wrath from thy servant, that is, do not be so angry with me that you turn your face away from me. And he says, In thy wrath, because sometimes he turns away in mercy, as when, for instance, he does not look upon (one’s) sins: Psalm 50: Turn away thy face from my sins.
Aliquando declinat in providentia, quando, scilicet permittit aliquem cadere ut fortius resurgat, quia Diligentibus Deum omnia cooperantur in bonum, Ro. 8.	Sometimes he turns away in (his) providence, when, for instance, he permits someone to fall so as to rise again even stronger. For To them that love God, all things work together unto good (Romans 8).
k. Adiutor. Hic petit divinum auxilium in agendis antequam veniat ad faciem, ne scilicet impediatur a visione faciei. Et primo ponit petitionem. Secundo dictorum rationem, ibi, Quoniam pater meus.	Helper. Here he asks for divine help in those things that are to be done before he comes before His face, so that he not be kept away from the vision of His face. First, he offers (his) petition, and secondly, the reason for his words, at, For my father.
Petit ergo divinum auxilium dicens, peto videre faciem tuam, sed ad hoc pervenire non possum per me: ergo, Tu esto adiutor meus, ut ad hoc perveniam: Ps. 120. Auxilium meum a Domino. Sed quantum ad superficiem non videtur ista litera recta esse, quia melius videtur dicendum esse, Adiutor meus es tu, et sic habetur in hebraico, scilicet auxilium meum fuisti.	And so, he asks for divine help saying, I ask to see thy face, but I am not able to attain to this by my own efforts. Therefore, Be thou my helper, so that I may attain to this; Psalm 120: My help is from the Lord. But with respect to the surface meaning, this passage does not seem to be right, because it seems to be better to say, Thou art my help, and this is how it is in the Hebrew version, namely, You have been my help.
Et secundum hoc commemorat beneficium; quasi dicat, adiutor fuisti. Non ergo de caetero, derelinquas me. Et petit duo removeri, scilicet ipsam desertionem, et contemptum interiorem: nam si homo sibi derelinquitur, petit; Osee 13. Perditio tua Israel ex te. Deserit autem aliquis aliquem, quia despicit eum. Et despicit nos, quia sumus fragiles per naturam, et corrupti per culpam; et ideo dicit, Neque despicias me Deus.	And with respect to this, he calls to mind the benefit; it is as if he were saying, “You have been my help.” It is not by reason of the rest that you have forsaken me. And he asks that two things be removed, namely, the desertion itself and the interior contempt: for, if a man is abandoned to himself, he beseeches: Hosea 13: Your destruction is thy own, O Israel. However, someone deserts another because he despise him. And he despises us, because we are fragile by nature, and corrupted through guilt; and so he says, Do not thou despise me O God.
Et quare hoc? Quia tu me creasti, et es, Salutaris meus, idest tu me salvasti. Nullus autem despicit opera sua: Ps. 137. Opera manuum tuarum ne despicias. Consequenter ponitur ratio dictorum; unde sequitur, Quoniam pater meus et mater mea dereliquerant me, Dominus autem assumpsit me; quasi dicat, Quia inveni te adiutorem in omnibus aliis deficientibus, Ne despicias me.	And why is this? Because you have created me, and you are My saviour, that is, you have saved me. However no one despises his own work: Psalm 137: O despise not the works of thy hands. Consequently he sets forth the reason for these words; hence it follows, For my father and my mother have left me: but the Lord hath taken me up; as if to say, Because I have found you a helper when others failed me, Do not thou despise me.
Et sic primo ponit defectum humani auxilii. Secundo ponit auxilium divinum. Haec litera legitur dupliciter.	And so he first sets down the failure of human help. Secondly he sets forth the divine help. This passage is read in two different ways.
Uno modo de David ad literam, sicut habetur in historia 1. Reg. 16. quando fuit David unctus, Isai praesentavit maiores filios; Dominus autem elegit David, quia Samuel petiit eum.	In one way, (the passage can be read) in relation to David, according to a passage found in 1 Kings 16, when David was anointed. Isai had presented his older sons. However, the Lord chose David, because Samuel had petitioned him.
Vel potest legi in persona viri iusti, quia ad literam speranti in Domino deficit omne humanum auxilium: Iob 16. Dereliquerunt me propinqui mei, et qui me noverunt, obliti sunt mei: Eccle. 51. Circumspiciens eram ad adiutorium hominum, et non erat.	Or (this passage) can be read as if it were spoken by the just man. For by literally hoping in the Lord, he (the just man) was wanting of all human help; Job 19: My kinsmen have forsaken me, and they that knew me, have forgotten me; Ecclesiasticus 51: I looked for the succour of men, and there was none.
Sed Dominus hunc assumpsit, et assumit curae suae, et hoc melius est: Ps. 64. Beatus quem elegisti, et assumpsisti etc.	But the Lord has taken this up, and he has assumed his care, and this is better: Psalm 64: Blessed is he whom thou hast chosen and taken to thee etc.
Mystice autem, Pater meus, idest Adam, Et mater mea, idest Eva, Dereliquerunt me, idest desertioni me exposuerunt per peccatum.	Mystically speaking, however, My father, that is to say, Adam, And my mother, that is to say, Eve, have left me, that is, through sin, they have exposed me to desertion.
Vel, Pater meus, idest diabolus, quia pater meus fuit in statu peccati: Dereliquit me, quia non habet potestatem in me. Mater mea, Babylon, Dereliquerunt me, idest contempserunt me. Et hoc quia, Dominus assumpsit me.	Or, My father, that is, the devil, because my father was in a state of sin, Has left me, because he has no power over me. My mother, Babylon, Has left me, that is, they have contempt for me. And this because, The Lord has taken me up.
l. Legem. Supra Psalmista posuit duas petitiones: prima fuit de divinae faciei prospectu; secunda de divinae protectionis auxilio; hic autem ponit aliam petitionem de directione viae suae: et circa hoc duo facit. Primo ponit petitionem. Secundo ostendit necessitatem, ibi, Propter inimicos. Circa primum duo facit. Primo ponit legis petitionem. Secundo petit directionem in his quae sunt legis, ibi, Et dirige.	A law. Previously, the Psalmist set down two petitions. The first concerned the viewing of the divine countenance, (while) the second concerned the help of divine protection. Here, however, he sets down another petition concerning the direction of his life. And concerning this he does two things. First, he sets down the petition. Secondly he shows its necessity, at, Because of my enemies. Concerning the first, he does two things. First he sets down a petition of the law, and secondly asks for direction in those things which are of the law, at, And guide me.
Dixerunt supra, Unam etc. et quicquid hoc sit explicavit, scilicet videre faciem tuam. Et quia ad hanc visionem cum sit ardua, pervenitur quadam ardua via, per quam nullus vadit sine auxilio Dei, petit illud tituli: Ps. 83. Beatus vir cuius est auxilium abs te, quia ibunt de virtute in virtutem.	Previously, the Psalmist said, One thing (I have asked) etc., and he explained what this thing is, namely, to see your face. And because to this vision, as it is arduous, one arrives by a certain arduous path, through which no one passes without the help of God, he petitions in the title; Psalm 83: Blessed is the man whose help is from thee…for…they shall go from virtue to virtue.
Quia vero qui per viam ignotam vadit, indiget ductore, petit eum dicens, Legem pone mihi Domine in via tua; quasi dicat, Imminet mihi ascendere per viam, in qua peto, ut ponas mihi legem. Lex est regula agendorum. In hac via proceditur per actus virtutum; et ideo necessaria est lex, quae est regula actuum humanorum; quasi dicat, Da mihi regulam qualiter ambulem.	Since truly he who walks by an unknown path needs a guide, he asks him saying, Set me, O Lord, a law in thy way; saying as it were, “It is incumbent upon me to ascend by your way, for which I ask, so that you may set (your) law within me.” Law is a rule of those things that should be done. One proceeds in this way through acts of virtue. And so, the law is necessary as (it is) a rule of human acts. It is as if he were saying, “Give me a rule on how to walk (in your ways).”
Hieronymus habet sic, Illuxit mihi Dominus viam: Pro. 6. Mandatum lucerna est, et lex lux. Dare legem est illustrare. Sed quandoque scit aliquis in universali quid sit fiendum, sed non scit in particulari, praecipue propter seductores. Et contra hoc petit dicens, Dirige me in semitam rectam: Isa. 26. Semita iusti recta est, rectus callis iusti ad ambulandum. Et hoc, Propter inimicos meos.	Jerome has, The Lord illuminates the way for me; Proverbs 6:23: The commandment is a lamp, and the law a light. To give a law is to illuminate. But whenever someone knows in general what must be done, but does not know (what to do) in a particular situation, this is chiefly because of seducers. And against this, he asks saying, Guide me in the right path; Isaiah 26:7: The way of the just is right, the path of the just is right to walk in. And this, Because of my enemies.
Haec est causa quare peto dirigi in semita recta. Quia ille qui scit viam, et via est recta, securus incedit si non inveniat adversarium; sed quando inimicum, vel adversarium suum invenit, indiget protectione et directione: Ps. 141. In via hac qua ambulabam, absconderunt laqueum mihi. Isti inimici nostri sunt concupiscentiae carnis, prava desideria, daemones, pravi homines, sive peccatores, qui obsistunt in via eundi ad Deum.	This is the reason why I ask to be guided in the right way. For he who knows the way, and the way is straight, walks untroubled if he does not come across an adversary. But when he comes across an enemy or his adversary, he needs protection and direction; Psalm 141:4: In this way wherein I walked, they have hidden a snare for me. These our enemies are the concupiscences of the flesh, depraved desires, demons, depraved men, or sinners, who resist in the way of going to God.
m. Ne tradideris. Hic exponit quod dictum est; et duo dicit. Primo petit liberari ab inimicorum periculo. Secundo ostendit se inimicos habere, ibi, Quoniam insurrexerunt..	Do not hand me over. Here he explains what has been said in two ways. First, he asks to be liberated from the danger of (his) enemies. Secondly, he shows that he has enemies, at, For (they) have risen up.
Dicit ergo, Ne tradideris me in animas tribulantes me; quasi dicat, Sic peto dirigi in via, quod non incidam in postestatem inimicorum. Et non dicit in manus, sed in animas, idest in voluntates	And so, he says, Deliver me not over to the will of them that trouble me; as if he were saying, “Thus I ask that I be guided in the way, that I not fall into the power of (my) enemies.” And he does not say into (their) hands, but into (their) souls, that is to say, into (their) wills.
Sed contingit quod sancti traduntur in manus inimicorum, quia, Terra data est in manus impii, ut dicitur Iob 9. Sed non in animas, quia voluntatis eorum est, ut trahantur ad malum, sed Deus hoc non permittit: Eccl. 18. Si praestes animae tuae concupiscentias tuas, faciet te in gaudium inimicis tuis.	But it happens that the saints are delivered into the hands of (their) enemies, because, The earth is given into the hand of the wicked, as it is said at Job 9:24. But not into their souls, because this would be their will so that they may be draw to evil. But God does not permit this; Ecclesiasticus 18:31: If thou give to thy soul her desires, she will make thee a joy to thy enemies.
Quoniam insurrexerunt. Hic ostendit se habere inimicos. Et primo ponit eorum conatum. Secundo eorum defectum.	For (they) have risen up. Here he shows that he has enemies. And first he sets down their endeavour, and secondly their failing.
Dico, Propter inimicos, et hoc, Quoniam insurrexerunt in me testes iniqui. Haec verba exponuntur tripliciter: historice, allegorice, et moraliter:	I say, Because of my enemies, and, For false witnesses have risen up against me. These words can be explained in three ways: historically, allegorically and morally.
historice, quia ad literam aliqui mali testes falsum dixerunt contra David, scilicet Doech Idumaeus qui accusavit sacerdotem, et David, et alii.	Historically, because, according to the passage, some evil witnesses spoke falsehoods against David, namely Doeg the Edomite, who had accused the priests, David and other people.
Allegorice de Christo contra quem iniqui testes accusantes eum insurrexerunt: Matth. 26. Novissime venerunt etc.	Allegorically, of Christ, against whom false witnesses rose up reproaching him; Matthew 26:60: At last of all there came (two false witnesses) etc.
Moraliter, quia contra unumquemque iustum falsi testes quandoque sunt falsi doctores, sua doctrina conantes a recta via alios declinare: Isa. 5. Vae qui dicunt malum bonum, et bonum malum. Item adulatores dicuntur testes falsi: Isa. 3. Populus meus qui te beatum dicunt, ipsi te decipiunt: Prov. 19. Testis falsus non erit impunitus. Et mentita est etc.	Morally, because sometimes false witnesses against a just man are also false teachers, trying by their teaching to turn others aside from the right path: Isaiah 5:20: Woe to you that call evil good, and good evil. Flatterers are likewise said to be false witnesses: Isaiah 3:12: O my people, they that call thee blessed, the same deceive thee; Proverbs 19:5: A false witness shall not be unpunished: and he that speaketh lies shall not escape.
Hic ponit eorum defectum. Haec verba secundum quod hic ponuntur, tripliciter intelligi possunt. Uno modo sic. Dicitur aliquis loqui sibi, quando solus intelligit verba sua, sed quando aliis, non: 1 Cor. 14. Qui loquitur linqua, sibi et Deo loquitur, non hominibus; et sic est sensus. Sunt falsi testes; et loquuntur mendacium, et persuadent, sed Iniquitas eorum mentita est sibi, quasi dicat, Non acquiesco eis.	Here he sets down their failure. These words, as they are proposed here, can be understood in three ways. First, someone is said to speak to himself, when he alone understands his words, but when spoken to others, they do not: 1 Corinthians 14:2: He that speaketh in a tongue, speaketh not unto men, but unto (himself and) God; and this is the sense. There are false witnesses. They speak lies, and they persuade. But (Their) iniquity hath lied to itself, as if to say, “I do not give assent to them.”
Vel Mentita est iniquitas sibi, idest sui damno, quia ex mendacio eorum quod intenderant ipsi, incurrerunt malum: Eccl. 27.Qui laqueum aliis ponit, peribit in illo.	Or, Iniquity hath lied to itself, that is, to their own loss, because from their lies which they themselves had intended, they have incurred evil: Ecclesiasticus 27:29: He that layeth a snare for another, shall perish in it.
Vel Mentita etc. quia non pervenerunt ad effectum de hoc, quod proposuerunt facere mihi et aliis iustis viris: Iob 5.13: Consilia pravorum dissipat: Hieronymus habet, (Quoniam surrexerunt contra me testes falsi et) Apertum (mendacium), idest aperte locuti sunt contra me.	Or, Iniquity hath lied to itself, for they did not succeed in arriving at the effects of those things that they had planned to do to me and other just men; Job 5: …and disappointeth the counsel(s) of the wicked. Jerome has, (For false witnesses and) Open (lies have arisen against me), that is, they have spoken openly against me.
n. Credo videre. Hic ponit spem de exauditione. Et primo ponit spem quam ipse habet. Secundo hortatur alios ad eandem, ibi, Expecta Dominum.	I believe to see. Here he sets down the hope of being heard. And first he sets down the hope that he himself has. Secondly, he exhorts others to the same, at, Expect the Lord.
Sua petito erat ut videret Deum; et ideo dicit, Credo, idest firmam fiduciam habeo: Videre bona Domini, idest videre facie ad faciem: Scio quod Redemptor meus vivit etc. et in carne mea videbo Deum; unde non dicit, Videre Dominum, sed bona Domini; quod potest intelligi dupliciter.	His petition was that he might see God; and hence he says, I believe, that is, I have a firm trust, To see the good things of the Lord, that is, to see him face to face; Job 19:25: I know that my Redeemer liveth…and in my flesh, I shall see my God; hence he does not say, “To see the Lord,” but (To see) the good things of the Lord, which can be understood in two ways.
Vel bona Domini, idest a Domino, et sic non sumitur hic. Vel bona, idest quae sunt in Domino, et hoc modo sumitur hic: haec omnia enim sunt in eo, sicut in fonte primo, et sunt idem quod ipse: Sap. 7. Venerunt autem mihi omnia bona pariter cum illa, etc.	First, The good things of the Lord, that is to say, from the Lord. But that is not how it is taken here. Secondly, The good things, that is, those things that are in the Lord. And that is what is understood here. For all these things are in him, as in the first source, and they are the same as himself: Wisdom 7:11: All good things came to me together with her etc.
Et ubi? In terra viventium. Visio Dei est vita aeterna, ut dictur Io. 17. Haec terra est morientium: quia sicut terra est patiens respectu coeli foecundantis eam, ita via beatorum immediate perficitur a Deo.	And where? In the land of the living. The vision of God is eternal life, as it is said in John 17. This land belongs to those who die. For just as the land is receptive in respect to the heaven that fertilizes it, so is the way of the blessed immediately perfected by God.
o. Expecta. Hic inducit alios ad expectandum, cum dicit, Expecta Dominum: Isa. 30. Beati omnes qui expectant eum. Et dum expectas, habeas fiduciam in opere; unde dicit, Viriliter age, scilicet interius, et exterius: Isa. 35. Confortate manus dissolutas.	Expect. Here he leads others to wait when he says, Expect the Lord; Isaiah 30:18: Blessed are all they that wait for him. And while you wait, have trust in His work. Hence, he says, Do manfully, namely, interiorly and exteriorly; Isaiah 35:3: Strengthen ye the feeble hands.
Et hoc premittit, quia, qui perseveraverit usque in finem, hic salvus erit. Unde, Sustine Dominum, scilicet bona quaecumque facies, etiam si videantur adversa: Eccle. 2. Vae his qui perdiderunt sustinentiam, et qui dereliquerunt vias rectas, et diverterunt in vias pravas.	And he permits this, because, he who has persevered right to the end, will be saved. Hence, Wait thou for the Lord, that is, do good works of every kind, even if they are met by adversities: Ecclesiasticus 2:16: Woe to them that have lost patience, and that have forsaken the right ways, and have gone aside into crooked ways.
Vel, Sustine Dominum, idest expecta Dominum. Et tunc repetit ad maiorem certitudinem.	Or, Wait for the Lord, that is, expect the Lord, and then he repeats it for greater certitude.

© James Miguez
(kxd7050@usl.edu)

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The Aquinas Translation Project
(http://www4.desales.edu/~philtheo/loughlin/ATP/index.html)

Pope John Paul II on Psalm 27 (26)

Note: the following commentary/meditation on Psalm 27 was delivered in two parts during the Pope’s Wednesday Audiences. The series of audiences in which they were delivered was dedicated to commenting on the Psalms and Canticles used in the Morning and Evening prayers of the Divine Office.

PART 1

JOHN PAUL II
GENERAL AUDIENCE
Wednesday, 21 April 2004

 Psalm 27[26]: 1-6
“The Lord is my light and my help!’

1. Today we continue on our journey through Vespers with Psalm 27[26], which the liturgy separates into two different passages. Let us now follow the first part of this poetical and spiritual diptych (vv. 1-6) whose background is the Temple of Zion, Israel’s place of worship. Indeed, the Psalmist speaks explicitly of the “house of the Lord”, his “temple” (v. 4) of “safety, a dwelling, a house” (cf. vv. 5-6). Indeed, in the original Hebrew, a more precise meaning of these terms is “tabernacle” and “tent”, that is, the inner sanctuary of the temple where the Lord reveals himself with his presence and his words. The “rock” of Zion (cf. v. 5) is also recalled, a place of safety and shelter, and an allusion is made to the celebration of thanksgiving sacrifices (cf. v. 6).

If, therefore, the liturgy is the spiritual atmosphere in which this Psalm is steeped, the guiding thread of prayer is trust in God, both on the day of rejoicing and in time of fear.

2. The first part of the Psalm we are now meditating upon is marked by a deep tranquillity, based on trust in God on the dark day of the evildoers’ assault. Two types of images are used to describe these adversaries, symbols of the evil that contaminates history. On the one hand, we seem to have the imagery of a ferocious hunt; the evildoers are like wild beasts stalking their prey to pounce on it and tear away its flesh, but they stumble and fall (cf. v. 2). On the other hand, there is the military symbol of an assault by a whole army:  a raging battle is waged, sowing terror and death (cf. v. 3).

The believer’s life is often subjected to tension and disputes, sometimes also rejection and even persecution. The conduct of the righteous person is troubling, for it conveys tones of reproof to the arrogant and the perverse. The ungodly described in the Book of Wisdom recognize this without mincing their words:  “He became to us a reproof of our thoughts; the very sight of him is a burden to us, because his manner of life is unlike that of others, and his ways are strange” (Wis 2: 14-15).

3. The faithful know that being consistent creates ostracism and even provokes contempt and hostility in a society that often chooses to live under the banner of personal prestige, ostentatious success, wealth, unbridled enjoyment. They are not alone, however, and preserve a surprising interior peace in their hearts because, as the marvellous “antiphon” that opens the Psalm says, “the Lord is light and salvation… the stronghold of life” (cf. Ps 27[26]: 1) of the just. He continuously repeats: ”Whom shall I fear?”, “Of whom shall I be afraid?”, “My heart shall not fear”, “Yet I will trust” (cf. vv. 1, 3).

It almost seems as though we were hearing the voice of St Paul proclaiming: “If God is for us, who is against us?” (Rom 8: 31). But inner calm, strength of soul and peace are gifts obtained by seeking shelter in the temple, that is, by recourse to personal and communal prayer.

4. Indeed, the person praying entrusts himself to God’s embrace, and another Psalm also expresses that person’s dream: ”I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever” (cf. Ps 23[22]: 6). There he will be able to “savour the sweetness of the Lord” (Ps 27[26]: 4), to contemplate and admire the divine mystery, to take part in the sacrificial liturgy and sing praise to God who sets him free (cf. v. 6). The Lord creates around his faithful a horizon of peace that blocks out the clamour of evil. Communion with God is a source of serenity, joy and tranquillity; it is like reaching an oasis of light and love.

5. To conclude our reflection, let us now listen to the words of the Syrian monk Isaiah who lived in the Egyptian desert and died in Gaza around the year 491. In his Asceticon he applies our Psalm to prayer during temptation:

“If we see our foes surrounding us with their cunning, their spiritual sloth, weakening our souls with pleasure, or failing to contain our anger against our neighbour when he acts contrary to his duty, or tempting our eyes with concupiscence, or if they want to entice us to taste the pleasures of gluttony, if they make our neighbour’s words to us like poison, if they incite us to belittle what others say or if they induce us to distinguish between our brethren by saying:  “This one is good, this one is bad’; therefore, even if all these things surround us, let us not lose heart but cry out bravely like David:  “The Lord is the stronghold of my life!’ (Ps 27[26]: 1)” (Recueil Ascétique, Bellefontaine, 1976, p. 211).

PART 2

JOHN PAUL II
GENERAL AUDIENCE
Wednesday, 28 April 2004

Psalm 27[26]
Confidence in God in times of tribulation

1. The Liturgy of Vespers has divided Psalm 27[26] into two parts, following the text’s structure which is similar to a diptych. We have just proclaimed the second part of this hymn of trust that is raised to the Lord on the dark day of the assault of evil. Verses 7 to 14 of the Psalm open with a cry directed to the Lord: “Have mercy [on me] and answer” (v. 7), and then express an anxious search for the Lord with the heart-rending fear of being abandoned by him (cf. vv. 8-9). Lastly, a moving horizon unfolds before our eyes, where family affections themselves fail (cf. v. 10) as “enemies” (v. 11), “adversaries” and “false witnesses” (cf. v. 12) advance.

However, even now, as in the first part of the Psalm, the decisive element is the trust of the person of prayer in the Lord, who saves in time of trial and is a refuge during the storm. Very beautiful, in this respect, is the appeal the Psalmist addresses to himself at the end: “Hope in him, hold firm and take heart. Hope in the Lord!” (v. 14; cf. Ps 42[41]: 6, 12; 43[42]: 5).

In other Psalms too, there was living certainty that one obtains strength and hope from the Lord: “He guards his faithful, but the Lord will repay to the full those who act with pride. Be strong, let your heart take courage, all who hope in the Lord” (Ps 31[30]: 24-25). The prophet Hosea also exhorts Israel in this way: “Remain loyal and do right and always hope in your God” (Hos 12: 7).

2. We will limit ourselves now to highlighting three symbolic elements of great spiritual intensity. The first, a negative one, is the nightmare of enemies (cf. Ps 27[26]: 12), looked upon as wild animals who “eagerly await” their prey and then, in a more direct way, as “false witnesses” who seem to blow violence from their nostrils, just like wild beasts before their victims.

Therefore, there is an aggressive evil in the world which is led and inspired by Satan, as St Peter reminds us: “Your opponent the devil is prowling like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (I Pt 5: 8).

3. The second image illustrates clearly the serene trust of the faithful one, despite being abandoned even by his parents. “Though father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me” (Ps 27[26]: 10).

Even in solitude and the loss of the closest ties of affection, the person of prayer is never completely alone since the merciful God is bending over him. Our thought goes to a well-known passage from the prophet Isaiah, who attributes to God sentiments of compassion and tenderness that are more than maternal: “Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you” (Is 49: 15).

Let us remind all elderly persons, the sick, those neglected by everyone, to whom no one will ever show tenderness, of these words of the Psalmist and the prophet, so that they may feel the fatherly and motherly hand of the Lord silently and lovingly touch their suffering faces, perhaps furrowed with tears.

4. And so we come to the third and final symbol, repeated more than once in the Psalm: “”Seek his face’. It is your face, O Lord, that I seek; hide not your face [from me]” (vv. 8-9). Therefore, God’s face is the point of arrival on the spiritual quest of the person of prayer. At the end an unspoken certainty surfaces: that of being able to “contemplate the Lord’s goodness” (cf. v. 13).

In the language of the Psalms, to “seek the face of the Lord” is often synonymous with entering into the temple to celebrate and experience communion with the God of Zion. However, the expression also includes the mystical need of divine intimacy through prayer. In the liturgy, then, and in personal prayer we are given the grace to look upon that face which we could otherwise never see directly during our earthly life (cf. Ex 33: 20). But Christ has revealed the divine face to us in an accessible way and has promised that in the final encounter of eternity, as St John reminds us, “We shall see him as he is” (I Jn 3: 2). And St Paul adds: “Then we shall see face to face” (I Cor 13: 12).

5. Commenting on this Psalm, Origen, the great Christian writer of the third century, noted: “If a man seeks the face of the Lord, he will see the glory of the Lord unveiled and, having been made similar to the angels, he will continually behold the face of the Father who is in heaven” (PG, 12, 1281). St Augustine, in his commentary on the Psalms, continues in this way the prayer of the Psalmist: “I have not asked from you some sort of prize outside of you, but your face. “Your face, O Lord, I seek’. I shall persevere in this quest; indeed, I do not seek something of little worth, but your face, O Lord, to love you freely, since I find nothing else of greater worth…. “Do not turn away, angry with your servant’, so that in my seeking you, I am taken up with something else. What can be a greater sorrow than this for one who loves and seeks the truth of your face?” (Expositions on the Psalms, 26, 1, 8-9, Rome, 1967, pp. 355, 357). (Source: Part 1; Part 2)

Post 4: St Cyril on John 19:25-42 for Good Friday

See previous posts: Post 1. Post 2. Post 3.

25 But there were standing by the Cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

This also the inspired Evangelist mentions to our profit, showing herein also, that none of the words of Holy Writ fall to the ground. What do I mean by this? I will tell you. He represents, as standing by the Cross, His mother, and with her the rest, clearly weeping. For women are ever prone to tears, and very much inclined to lament, especially when they have abundant occasion for shedding tears. What, then, induced the blessed Evangelist to go so much into detail, as to make mention of the women as staying beside the Cross? His object was to teach us that, as was likely, the unexpected fate of our Lord was an offence unto His mother, and that His exceeding bitter death upon the Cross almost banished from her heart due reflection; and, besides the insults of the Jews, and the soldiers also, who probably stayed by the Cross and derided Him Who hung thereon, and who presumed, in His mother’s very sight, to divide His garments among themselves, had this effect. For, doubtless, some such train of thought as this passed through her mind: “I conceived Him That is mocked upon the Cross. He said, indeed, that He was the true Son of Almighty God, but it may be that He was deceived; He may have erred when He said: I am the Life. How did His crucifixion come to pass? and how was He entangled in the snares of His murderers? How |633 was it that He did not prevail over the conspiracy of His persecutors against Him? And why does He not come down from the Cross, though He bade Lazarus return to life, and struck all Judaea with amazement by His miracles?” The woman, as is likely, not exactly understanding the mystery, wandered astray into some such train of thought; for we shall do well to remember, that the character of these events was such as to awe and subdue the most sober mind. And no marvel if a woman fell into such an error, when even Peter himself, the elect of the holy disciples, was once offended, when Christ in plain words instructed him that He would be betrayed unto the hands of sinners, and would undergo crucifixion and death, so that he impetuously exclaimed: Be it far from Thee, Lord; this shall never be unto Thee. What wonder, then, if a woman’s frail mind was also plunged into thoughts which betrayed weakness? And when we thus speak, we are not shooting at a venture, as some may suppose, but are led to suspect this by what is written concerning the mother of our Lord. For we remember that the righteous Simeon, when he received the infant Lord into his arms, after having blessed Him, and said: Now lettest Thou Thy servant depart, O Lord, according to Thy Word, in peace; for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, he also said to the holy Virgin herself: Behold, this Child is set for the falling and rising up of many in Israel; and for a sign which is spoken against; yea, and a sword shall pierce through thine own soul, that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed. By a sword he meant the keen pang of suffering, which would divide the mind of the woman into strange thoughts; for temptations prove the hearts of those who are tempted, and leave them bare of the thoughts that filled them. |634

26, 27 When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple standing by, whom He loved, He saith unto His mother, Woman, behold thy Son! Then saith He to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour the disciple took her unto his own home.

He took thought for His mother, paying no heed to His own bitter agony, for His sufferings affected Him not. He gave her into the charge of the beloved disciple (this was John, the writer of this book), and bade him take her home, and regard her as a mother; and enjoined His own mother to regard him as none other than her true son—-by his tenderness, that is, and affection, fulfilling and stepping into the place of Him, Who was her Son by nature.

But as some misguided men have thought that Christ, when He thus spake, gave way to mere fleshly affection —-away with such folly! to fall into so stupid an error is only worthy of a madman—-what good purpose, then, did Christ hereby fulfil? First, we reply, that He wished to confirm the command on which the Law lays so much stress. For what saith the Mosaic ordinance? Honour thy father and thy mother, that it may be well with thee. His commandment unto us did not cease with exhorting us to perform this duty, but threatened us with the extreme penalty of the Law, if we chose to disregard it, and has put sin against our parents after the flesh on a par with sin against God. For the Law which ordered that the blasphemer should undergo the sentence of death, saying: Let him that blasphemeth the Name of the Lord be put to death, also subjected to the same penalty the man who employs his licentious and unruly tongue against his parents: He that curseth father or mother shall surely be put to death. As, then, the Lawgiver hath ordained that we should pay such honour to our parents, surely it was right that the commandment thus proclaimed should be confirmed by the approval of the Saviour; and as the perfect form of every excellence and virtue through Him first came into the world, why should not this virtue be put on the same footing as the rest? For, surely, honour to parents is a |635 very precious kind of virtue. And how could we learn that we ought not to lightly regard love toward them,even when we are overwhelmed by a flood of intolerable calamities, save by the example of Christ first of all, and through Him? For best of all, surely, is he who is mindful of the holy commandments, and is not diverted from the pursuit of duty in stormy and troublous times, and not in peace and quietness alone.

Besides, also, was not the Lord, I say, right to take thought for His mother, when she had fallen on a rock of offence, and when her mind was in a turmoil of perplexity? For, as He was truly God, and looked into the motions of the heart, and knew its secrets, how could He fail to know the thoughts about His crucifixion, which were then throwing her into sore distress? Knowing, then, what was passing in her heart, He commended her to the disciple, the best of guides, who was able to explain fully and adequately the profound mystery. For wise and learned in the things of God was he who received and took her away gladly, to fulfil all the Saviour’s Will concerning her.

28, 29 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things are now finished, that the Scripture might be accomplished, said, I thirst. There was set there a vessel full of vinegar: so they put a sponge full of the vinegar upon hyssop, and brought it to His mouth.

When the iniquity of the Jews had fully wrought the impious crime against Christ, and when there was nothing left wanting to the perfect satisfaction of their savage cruelty, the flesh, at the last extremity, felt a natural craving, for it was parched by the various acts of outrage, and felt thirst. For pain is very apt to provoke thirst, spending the natural moisture of the body in excessive inward heat, and burning the inward parts with the pangs of inflammation. It would have been easy for the Word, the Almighty God, to have released His Flesh from this torment; but, just as He willingly underwent His other sufferings, so He bore this also |636 of His own Will. Then He sought to drink; but so pitiless and far removed from the love of God were they, that, instead of liquid to quench His thirst, they gave Him something to aggravate it, and, in rendering the very service of love, committed a further act of impiety. For, in acceding at all to His request, were they not assuming the appearance of affection? But it was impossible that the inspired Scripture should ever lie, which put into the mouth of the Saviour these words concerning them: They gave Me gall to eat, and when I was athirst, they gave Me vinegar to drink.

The blessed Evangelist John says that they filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it on hyssop, and so brought it. Luke makes no mention of anything of the kind, but merely declares that they brought Him vinegar. Matthew and Mark say that the sponge was put on a reed. Some may perhaps think there is a discrepancy in the accounts of the holy Evangelists; but no one who is right-minded will be so persuaded. We must rather try to search, and see by every means in our power, in what way the act of impiety was effected. The inspired Luke, then, disregarding the way in which the vinegar was brought, says, in brief, that vinegar was brought to Him when He was athirst. And there can be no question, that the Evangelists would not have disagreed with each other in these trifling and unimportant details, when, in all essential matters, they are in such perfect harmony and concord. What, then, is the difference between them? and of what treatment is it susceptible? There is no doubt, that the officers who executed the impious crime against Christ were many in number, I mean the soldiers who brought Him to the Cross; several also of the Jews shared in their cruelty, some putting the sponge on a reed, others on a stick of what is called hyssop—-for the hyssop is a kind of shrub—-and gave Jesus to drink of it; doing this, purblind wretches that they were, to their own condemnation. For, unawares, they were proving themselves utterly |637 undeserv-ing of compassion, when they thus altogether discarded mercy and humanity, and with unparalleled audacity vied with each other in impiety alone. Therefore, by the mouth of the Prophet Ezekiel, God thus spake unto the mother of the Jews, I mean Jerusalem: As thou hast done, so shall it be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head; and by the mouth of Isaiah, to lawless Israel: Woe unto the wicked! It shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him. This completed the measure of all the crimes that had been committed against Christ; but here, too, we may find a lesson to our profit. For hereby we may know that those who are of a God-loving temper, and who are firmly rooted in the love of Christ, shall wage, as it were, a ceaseless war with those who are of a different spirit; who will not, even to their latest breath, desist from raging against them, preparing for them severe temptations from every quarter, and eagerly devising every sort of thing that may hurt them. But, just as the wicked cease not from troubling them, so also shall their courage be continually sustained; and just as their trials, and the tribulation of temptation, have no abatement, so also the blessedness of the Saints shall have no end, and the joy of their state of glory shall remain for evermore, and world without end.

30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, It is finished: and He bowed His Head, and gave up His Spirit.

When this indignity had been added to the rest, the Saviour exclaimed, It is finished; meaning that the measure of the iniquity of the Jews, and of their furious rage against Him, was completed. For what had the Jews left untried, and what extremity of atrocity had they not practised against Him? For what kind of insult was omitted, and what crowning act of outrage do they seem to have left undone? Therefore rightly did He exclaim, It is finished, the hour already summoning Him to preach to the spirits in hell. For He |638 visited them, that He might be Lord both of the living and the dead; and for our sake encountered death itself, and underwent the common lot of all humanity, that is, according to the flesh, though being as God by Nature Life, that He might despoil hell, and render return to life possible to human nature; being thus proved the firstfruits of them that are asleep, and the firstborn from the dead, according to the Scriptures. He bowed His head, therefore; for as this generally befalls the dying, through the slackening of the sinews of the flesh, when the spirit or soul that united and sustained it is fled, the Evangelist made use of this expression. The expression also, He gave up His Spirit, does not differ from language usually employed, for the vulgar use it as equivalent to “his life was extinguished, and he died.” But it is probable that it was of set purpose, and advisedly, that the holy Evangelist, instead of saying simply, He died, said, He gave up His Spirit; gave it up, that is, into the hands of God the Father, according to the saying that He spake: Father, into Thy hands I commend My Spirit; and for us, also, the meaning of the expression lays down a beginning and foundation of firm hope. For, I think, we ought to believe, and for this belief there is much ground, that the souls of Saints, when they quit their earthly bodies, are, by the bountiful mercy of God, almost, as it were, consigned into the hands of a most loving Father, and do not, as some infidels have pretended, haunt their sepulchres, waiting for funeral libations; nor yet are they, like the souls of sinful men, conveyed to the place of endless torment, that is, to hell. Rather, do they hasten into the hands of the Father of all, by the new way which our Saviour Christ has prepared for us; for He consigned His Soul into the hands of His Father, that we also, making it our anchor, and being firmly rooted and grounded in this belief, might entertain the bright hope that when we undergo the death of the body, we shall be in God’s hands; yea, in a far better condition than when we |639 were in the flesh. Therefore, also, the wise Paul assures us that it is better to depart, and be with Christ.

And when He gave up the ghost, the veil of the temple was rent in twain, from the top to the bottom. The veil of the temple was of fine linen, let down to the floor of the centre of the temple, and shrouding the inner portion thereof, and allowing only the high priest to enter into the innermost shrine. For it was not in the power of any one at will to penetrate into the interior with unwashen feet, and carelessly to gaze upon the Holy of holies. How very necessary it was that this curtain should make this division, Paul shows us by his words in the Epistle to the Hebrews: For there was a tabernacle prepared; the first, which is called the Holy place. And after the second veil, the tabernacle, which is called the Holy of holies, having a golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot holding the manna, and the tables of the covenant, and Aaron’s rod that budded. But into the first tabernacle, he says, the priests go in, accomplishing the services; but into the second, the high priest alone, once in the year, not without blood, which he offereth for himself, and for the errors of the people: the Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the Holy place hath not yet been made manifest, while as the first tabernacle is yet standing. For there can be no question, that a veil was let down at the very entrance of the temple. And so there came into his mind the first tabernacle, which he called holy; for no one could affirm that any part of the temple was not holy, or, if he did so, he would lie, for it was all holy. And after the first tabernacle came the veil which was betwixt, which is the second veil, separating the innermost portion, that is, the Holy of holies. But, as the blessed Paul said, the Spirit signified, by figures and types, that the more fitting way in which the Saints should tread had not yet been made manifest; for the people were still kept at a distance, and the |640 first tabernacle was yet standing. For there had not, as yet, in fact, appeared unto men the manner of the life that Christ gave unto those who were called by the Spirit unto sanctification; and not yet had the mystery concerning Him been made manifest, for the written commandment of the Law was still in force. Therefore, also, the Law placed the Jews in the outer court. For the dispensation of the Law was, as it were, a porch and vestibule leading unto the teaching and life of the Gospel. For the one is but a type, the other is the truth itself. The first tabernacle was, indeed, holy, for the Law is holy, and the commandment righteous and good; but the innermost portion of the temple was the Holy of holies, for though the men who partook of the righteousness of the Law were holy, they became yet holier when they accepted the faith that is in Christ, and were anointed with the Holy Spirit of God. The righteousness of faith, therefore, is greater than the righteousness of the Law; and by faith we are far more abundantly sanctified. Therefore, also, the wise Paul says, that he gladly and readily endured the loss of the righteousness that is of the Law, that he might gain Christ, and might be found in Him, not having a righteousness of mine own, even that which is of the Law, but that which is through faith in Jesus Christ. And some fell backwards, and, after running well for a time, were bewitched; and the Galatians were of this class: after pursuing the righteousness which is of faith, turning back to the commandment of the Law, and recurring to the state of life shadowed forth by types and figures; and to these Paul administered the well-merited reproof: If ye receive circumcision, Christ will profit you nothing. Ye are severed from Christ, ye who would be justified by the Law; ye are fallen away from grace. But (to bring our explanation of the passage to a good and proper conclusion) we will simply repeat, that the veil of the temple was rent in twain, from the top to the |641 bottom; to signify, as it were, that God was in the very act of revealing the Holy of holies, and making the way into the inmost shrine open henceforth to those who believe on Christ. For the knowledge of the Divine mysteries is now laid bare before us; no longer shrouded in the obscurity of the letter of the Law, as it were a curtain, nor hidden by any covering from our quest, nor defended against the intrusion of the eye of the mind by types through which we could see but dimly. Rather are these mysteries now seen in simplicity of faith; yea, but few words suffice to explain them. For the word is nigh thee, says Paul, in thy mouth, and in thy heart; that is, the word of faith, which we preach: because, if thou shalt say with thy mouth, Jesus is Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved: for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Herein is seen in its completeness the mystery of piety towards God. But, while Christ had not as yet waged the conflict for our salvation, nor undergone the death of the flesh, the veil was still spread out, for the power of the commandment of the Law still prevailed. But when the iniquitous Jews, in their presumption, had wreaked to the utmost their malice upon Christ, and He had given up the ghost for our sake, and the sufferings of Emmanuel were accomplished, the time had then come that the broad veil, that had so long been spread out, should from henceforth be rent asunder—-that is, the protection of the letter of the Law—-and that the fair vision of the truth should lie bare and open before those who had been sanctified in Christ by faith. The veil was torn throughout; for what other meaning can be put upon the words: From the top to the bottom? And why was this? It was because the revelation of the message of salvation was not partial, but our enlightenment concerning the Divine mysteries was |642 perfected thereby. Therefore, also, the Psalmist said unto God, in the person of His new people: The hidden secrets of Thy wisdom hast Thou, revealed unto me; and, furthermore, the inspired Paul thus addresses believers on Christ: I thank my God always concerning you, for the grace which was given you in Christ Jesus; that in every thing ye were enriched in Him, in all utterance, and all wisdom, and all knowledge. The rending of the veil, then, not in part, but entirely throughout, signified then, that the worshippers of the Saviour were about to be enriched in all wisdom, and in all knowledge, and in all utterance, manifestly receiving the knowledge of the mystery concerning Him, undefiled and unclouded by blot or shadow. For this is what is meant by the words: From the top to the bottom. We say, then, that the most appropriate and fitting time for the revelation of the Divine mysteries was the occasion on which the Saviour laid down His life for us, when Israel spurned His grace, and wholly started aside from the love of God, in his frenzy against Him, and headstrong impiety. For any one may see that the measure of their iniquities was complete, when he learns that they persecuted, even unto death, the Giver of Life.

I think, therefore, that we have said enough on this subject, and that our explanation of the Divine purpose does not fall short of the mark. But, as we find the inspired Evangelist is very diligent to say: When He gave up the ghost, the veil of the temple was rent, thereby almost signifying as essential for us to know the occasion of that event, let us supplement our remarks by a further consideration, which savours, I think, of the spirit of pious research. For it is a thought which will be found in no way abhorrent to those fundamental doctrines, which are at once a blessing and a necessity to us. To proceed, then: the following custom was in vogue, both among the people and the rulers of the Jews. When they saw anything being done which they thought would especially offend the |643 Giver of the Law, or when they heard any outrageous or blasphemous utterance, they tore their garments, and put on the appearance of mourners; thereby, in a manner, taking up the defence of God, and by the intolerance they displayed of such offences, passing sentence of condemnation on the madness of the transgressors, and acquitting themselves of complicity therein. Moreover, the disciples of the Saviour, Barnabas and Paul, when certain of those who had not yet received the faith, thinking them to be gods (for they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercury), brought sacrifices and garlands, in company with the priests, and attempted to make sacrifices in their honour, leapt down from the platform on which they stood, because of the outrage that would be inflicted upon the glory of God, if any sacrifice were offered to men, and rent their garments, as is recorded, and by fitting words prevented the ignorant endeavour of the worshippers of idols. Also, when our Saviour Christ was on His trial before the rulers of the Jews, and was required to say Who He was, and whence He came, and said plainly in reply: Verily, I say unto you, henceforth ye shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming on the clouds of heaven, Caiaphas leapt up out of his seat, and rent his garments, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy. The temple of God, then, followed, so to say, the custom that prevailed among the Jews, and rent its veil, as it had been clothes, at the moment when our Saviour gave up the ghost. For it condemned the impiety of the Jews as an insult against itself. And the accomplishment of this was God’s work, that He might show unto us the temple itself bewailing Israel’s guilt.

31 The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain on the cross upon the Sabbath (for the day of that Sabbath was a high day), asked of Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.

It is not with the motive of testifying to the reverence |644 for holy days felt by men inured to shed blood with brutal ferocity, and found guilty of so monstrous an iniquity, that the blessed Evangelist says this; but rather from the wish to show that, in their gross stupidity, they committed that folly of which Christ spoke. For they strained out the gnat while they swallowed the camel; for they are found to reckon as of no account at all the most outrageous and awful of all crimes against God, while they exercised the greatest diligence with reference to the most paltry and insignificant matters, showing their folly in either case. The proof of this is not far to seek. For, behold, in the very act of putting Christ to death, they put great store on the respect due to the Sabbath; and, while they insulted the Lawgiver by outrages which surpass description, they parade their reverence of the Law; and, as that Sabbath was a high day, they affect to pay honour to it—-the very men who destroyed the Lord of the high day; and they ask a favour, which well suited their cruel spirit. For they besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, wishing to embitter, by this last intolerable outrage, the pangs of approaching death, to those who were already in agony.

32-37 The soldiers therefore came, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with Him: but when they came to Jesus, and saw that He was dead already, they brake not His Legs: howbeit, one of the soldiers with a spear pierced His Side, and straightway there came out blood and water. And he that hath seen hath borne witness, and his witness is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye also may believe. For these things came to pass, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, A bone of Him shall not be broken. And again another Scripture saith, They shall look on Him Whom they pierced. 

In pursuance of the request of the Jews, men afflicted with a madness akin to their cruelty—-I mean the soldiers of Pilate—-break the legs of the two robbers, |645 as they were still numbered among the living, intensifying the bitter pang of their last agony, and finally despatching them by the most grievous act of violence. But when they found Jesus with His Head bowed down, and saw that He had already given up the ghost, they thought it lost labour to break His Legs; but, as they still had a faint suspicion that He might not be actually dead, they with a spear pierced His Side, which sent forth Blood, mingled with Water; God presenting us thereby with a type, as it were, and foreshadowing of the mystery of the Eucharist, and Holy Baptism. For Holy Baptism is of Christ, and Christ’s institution; and the power of the mystery of the Eucharist grew up for us out of His Holy Flesh.

By his account of what took place, the wise Evangelist confirms his hearers in the belief that He was the Christ long ago foretold by Holy Writ; for the events of His life harmonised with what was written concerning Him. For not a bone of Him was broken, and He was pierced with the spear of the soldier, according to the Scripture. He says himself, that the disciple that bare record of these things was a spectator and eye-witness of what took place, and knew, in fact, that his testimony was true; and the disciple to whom he thus alludes is none other than himself. For he shrank from speaking more openly, putting away from himself the assumption of love of glory, as an unholy thing, and as a grievous infirmity.

38 And after these things, Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked of Pilate that he might take away the Body of Jesus: and, Pilate gave him leave. He came, therefore, and took away His Body.

This saying is indeed fraught with a grievous charge against the Jews, as it shows that to become a disciple of Christ was dangerous, and exposed a man to penalties; for he plainly introduces this most excellent young |646 man—-I mean Joseph—-to our notice, as most especially anxious to escape the notice of the Jews, though he had been induced by Christ’s teaching to choose that worship which was the reality itself, and better and more pleasing to the God Who loves virtue than the commandment of the Law, and at the same time gives us a proof necessary to confirm our faith. For it was necessary for us to believe that Christ laid down His Life for us. And is it not an inevitable consequence that, when a man is entombed, we must have a firm conviction that he also died? And we may well condemn, as guilty of gross brutality, the presumption, hard-heartedness, and merciless temper of the Jews, who did not even pay unto Christ the respect due to the dead, nor honour Him with burial rites, when they saw Him lying before them an inanimate corpse; though they knew that He was the Christ, and had often been amazed by the marvellous works that He did, even though their bitter hatred might never have allowed them to profit by His miraculous power. The disciple of Arimathaea, therefore, passes judgment on the inhumanity of the Jews, and condemns the men of Jerusalem, when he goes and tends with fitting care the Body of Him Whom he did not as yet honour by an open confession of faith, but still believed on Him in secret, for fear of the Jews, as says the blessed Evangelist.

39 And there came also Nicodemus, he who at the first came to Him by night, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pound weight.

He says that this disciple was not alone in taking counsel wisely, as well as in fervent zeal, to go to dress the sacred Body for burial, but he makes mention of a second along with the first. This was Nicodemus, who completed the body of testimony to the event that is respected by the Law. For, says the Law: In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. The men who laid Jesus in the tomb were two in |647 number, Joseph and Nicodemus; men who received the faith inwardly in their hearts, but were still scared by a foolish fear, and did not yet prefer to the honour and glory of the world that which is of God. For then they would have dismissed all fear of the Jews, and, paying slight heed to any danger from that quarter, would have indulged their faith fearlessly and freely, and thus have proved themselves holy, and good keepers of the commandment of our Saviour.

40, 41 So they took the Body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury. Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new tomb, wherein was never man yet laid.

Christ was numbered among the dead, Who for our sake became dead, according to the Flesh, but Whom we conceive to be, and Who is, in fact, Life, of Himself, and through His Father. And, that He might fulfil all righteousness, that is, all that was appropriate to the form of man, He of His own Will subjected the Temple of His Body not merely to death, but also to what follows after death, that is, burial and being laid in the tomb. The writer of the Gospel says that this sepulchre in the garden was a new one; this fact signifying to us, as it were, by a type and figure, that Christ’s death is the harbinger and pioneer of our entry into Paradise. For He entered as a Forerunner for us. What other signification than this can be intended by the carrying over of the Body of Jesus in the garden? And by the newness of the sepulchre is meant the untrodden and strange pathway whereby we return from death unto life, and the renewing of our souls, that Christ has invented for us, whereby we baffle corruption. For henceforth, by the death of Christ, death for us has been transformed, in a manner, into sleep, with like power and functions. For we are alive unto God, and shall live for evermore, |648 to the Scriptures. Therefore, also, the blessed Paul, in a variety of places, calls those asleep who have died in Christ. For in the times of old the dread presence of death held human nature in awe. For death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the likeness of Adam’s transgression; and we bore the image of the earthy in his likeness, and underwent the death that was inflicted by the Divine curse. But when the Second Adam appeared among us, the Divine Man from heaven, and, contending for the salvation of the world, purchased by His death the life of all men, and, destroying the power of corruption, rose again to life, we were transformed into His Image, and undergo, as it were, a different kind of death, that does not dissolve us in eternal corruption, but casts upon us a slumber which is laden with fair hope, after the Likeness of Him Who has made this new path for us, that is, Christ.

And if any one choose to give an additional meaning to the saying that the sepulchre was a new one, and that no man had been lain therein, be it so. He says, then, we may suppose, that the sepulchre was new, and that no one had been ever laid therein, that no one might be thought to have arisen from the sleep of death save Jesus only.

42 There, then, because of the Jews’ preparation {for the tomb was nigh at hand), they laid Jesus.

He not only says plainly that Christ’s Body was dressed for burial, and that there was a garden nigh unto the cross, and that there was a new sepulchre in it, but he also explains that He was laid therein, not leaving the least of the things which were done untold. For most essential truly to any creed or system of the mystery of our faith is the confession and the knowledge that Christ died. Therefore, also, the wise Paul, defining our rule of faith, speaks as follows: The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart; that is, the word of faith, which |649 preach: because, if thou shalt say with thy mouth, Jesus is Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved: for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. And in another passage also: For I delivered unto you first of all that which also I received, how that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried; and that He hath been raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures. Very essential, then, for us is the narrative which the writer of the book gives us on these points. For it was our bounden duty to believe that He died and was buried; after that will easily follow the true belief, that He burst asunder the bonds of death, and returned as God to the life that was His own. For it was not possible that He should be holden of death. For, being by Nature Life, how could He have undergone corruption? And how could He in Whom we live, and move, and have our being, have been subjected to the laws to which our human nature is subject? Could He not rather, as God, have easily quickened that which lacked life?

Post 3: St Cyril of Alexandria on John 19:1-24 for Good Friday

See post 1.  Post 2.

xix, 1, 2, 3 Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged Him. And the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns, and put it on His head, and arrayed Him in a purple garment; and they came unto Him, and said, Hail, King of the Jews! And they struck Him with their hands.

He scourges Him unjustly, and suffers the crowd of soldiers to insult Him, and put a crown of thorns about His Head, and throw a purple robe upon Him, and buffet Him with the palms of their hands, and otherwise dishonour Him. For he thought he could easily put to shame the people of the Jews, if they saw the Man Who was altogether free from guilt suffering this punishment, only without a cause. He was scourged unjustly, that He might deliver us from merited chastisement; He was buffeted and smitten, that we might buffet Satan, who had buffeted us, and that we might escape from the sin that cleaves to us through the original transgression. For if we think aright, we shall believe that all Christ’s sufferings were for us and on our behalf, and have power to release and deliver us from all those calamities we have deserved for our revolt from God. For as Christ, Who knew not death, when He gave up His own Body for our salvation, was able to loose the bonds of death for all mankind, for He, being One, died for all; so we must understand that Christ’s suffering all these things for us sufficed also to release us all from scourging and dishonour. Then in what way by His stripes are we healed, according to the Scripture? Because we have all gone astray, every man after his own way, as says the blessed Prophet Isaiah; and the Lord hath given Himself up for our transgressions, and for us is afflicted. For He was bruised for our iniquities, and has given His own back to the scourge, and His cheeks to the smiters, as he also says. The soldiers indeed take Jesus as a pretender to the throne, and insult Him soldierlike. And for this cause was a crown of thorns brought and put upon His brow, being the symbol of earthly |607 sovereignty; and the purple robe was, as it were, an image and type of royal apparel; and ridicule also was thereby heaped upon Him, for they came near unto Him, and cried, as the Evangelist says: Hail, King of the Jews!

And I have heard some say, and to some the conceit is well-pleasing, that the crown of thorns further signifies the multitude of idol-worshippers who will be taken up by Christ, as it were, into a diadem, through faith in Him; and they liken the Gentiles to barren and useless thorns, through their bearing no fruit of piety, and being rather fit to feed consuming fire—-just like rubbish in the fields, just as wild thicket, which grows up without any culture; and the royal apparel, I mean the purple robe, they say, means Christ’s Kingdom, which will be extended over all the world. We may well receive any interpretation which is not alien to the truth, and which it is not unprofitable to believe in. We need not therefore reject such a construction of the passage, indicative as it is of careful ingenuity.

4 And Pilate went out again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring Him out to you, that ye may know that I find no crime in Him.

He confesses the wrong he had done, and is not ashamed. For he admitted that he had scourged Him without a cause, and declares that he will show Him unto them, supposing that he would glut their savage passion by so pitiable a spectacle, and well-nigh accuses them henceforth, and that publicly, of putting Him to death unjustly, and of compelling him openly to be a law-breaker, who, if he transgressed his own laws, could not escape scot free. The saying was fulfilled in Christ, and shown to be true, that the prince of this world cometh, and he will find nothing in Me. For observe how Satan, after throwing everything into confusion, finds nothing at all cast out from God, and ranked under the power of sin, which he might, perhaps, if it had been referred to the Saviour Christ, have caused to be rightly |608 condemned and implicated in his accusations. Just as; then, in Adam he subdued the whole human race, showing it to be subject unto sin, so now was he vanquished by Humanity. For He That was truly God, and had no sin in Him, was yet Man; and just as the sentence of condemnation for transgression went forth over all mankind, through one man, the first Adam, so likewise, also, the blessing of justification by Christ is extended to all through One Man, the Second Adam. Paul is our witness, who says: As through one the judgment came unto all men to condemnation; even so through One the free gift came unto all men to justification of life. We therefore are diseased through the disobedience of the first Adam and its curse, but are enriched through the obedience of the Second and its blessing. For He that was Lord of the Law as God came among us, and kept the Law as Man. Yea, we find Him saying unto us: He that loveth Me will keep My commandments; even as I have kept My Father’s commandments, and abide in His love. Note how He, as Lawgiver and God, has enjoined upon us the keeping of His commandments; and how, as keeping the Law while a Man among men, He declares that He Himself also kept the commandment of His Father.

5, 6 Jesus therefore came out, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple garment. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the Man! When therefore the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, Crucify Him, Crucify Him.

He showed, then, the Lord of all impiously outraged, and mocked by the intolerable insults of the soldiers, trusting that the furious wrath of the Jews would be sated, and now, at last, abate, and rest content with that most pitiable and dishonourable spectacle. But they were so far from showing any mercy in word or deed towards Him, and from entertaining any kind of good intentions, as even to surpass the ferocity of beasts, and to hurry onward to greater evil still, and make a still |609 more furious outcry, condemning Him to the worst of deaths, and compelling Him to undergo the extremity of suffering. For what punishment can be as severe as the Cross? And it is to the leaders of the Jews alone, it appears, that the wise Evangelist ascribed the origin of this impious doom. For see how, as it were, carefully guarding his words, he says: When, therefore, the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, Crucify Him, crucify Him. For, when the multitude of the vulgar were, it may be, somewhat ashamed by the sight of Christ’s sufferings, for perhaps they called to mind the wonderful miracles wrought by Him, the rulers first start the clamour, and kindle into strange fury the passions of the people subject unto them. That which was said of God in the prophets, concerning them, is true: For the pastors have become brutish, and have not sought the Lord; therefore all their flock perceived Him not, and were scattered abroad. And the saying is true. For as those in the pasture, that is, the multitude of the vulgar, did not enjoy the direction of their rulers to the knowledge of Christ, they perished, and relapsed into ruinous heedlessness of Christ. For let any man that likes probe the origin of the impious crime, and he will ascribe it to the rulers. For it was in the outset their most unholy design; they it was who induced the traitor to make a bargain with them, and bought Him over with the money of the Sanctuary; they joined the band of soldiers to the officers, bade them bind Him like the meanest of robbers, and brought Him to Pilate; and now, when they saw Him scourged, and well-nigh beside Himself with insults from every quarter, are but exasperated the more, and utter the dictates of their unmeasured hatred. For they purposed to put the Lord of the Vineyard to death, and thought they would securely enjoy His heritage, and, if Christ were removed, that they would again rule and enjoy all honour. But, as the Psalmist says: He that sitteth in the heavens, shall laugh them to scorn; the Lord shall hold them in derision. For nothing happened |610 according to their expectation, but, on the contrary, the course of events was completely reversed.

6 Pilate saith unto them, Take Him yourselves, and crucify Him; for I find no crime in Him.

Pilate is in consternation, that the people of the Jews and the inhuman crowd of the chief priests should attain to such a pitch of presumption, as not even to shrink from subjecting Christ to so frightful a death, though no fault was found in Him to bring Him to such a doom. And, therefore, he says, almost like one annoyed at an insult offered to himself: “Make you me a judge of this unjust shedding of blood? Am I, contrary to all Roman Law, become the murderer of the Innocent? and shall I, at your beck and call, fling to the winds all thought of myself? and shall I not, if I minister at my own peril to your requests, live in expectation of paying the penalty? If you do not think that you are doing an unholy deed; if you think the work presents no difficulty; do you yourselves, he says—-you, who boast of Divine instruction, you, who vaunt so highly your knowledge of your Law—-do you fix the cross, dare the murder, do of yourselves the unholy deed, bringing down on your own heads the charge of this great impiety; let the presumptuous act be the act of Jews, and upon them let the blood-guiltiness rest. If you have a Law that subjects the Sinless to so fearful a penalty, that chastises the Guiltless, execute it with your own hands; I will not endure to be a party to it.” We may imagine this to be what Pilate says, for his words are pregnant with some such meaning. And the shamelessness of the Jews may here also well excite our amazement, for they are not even put to shame by the just judgment of a foreigner, though the Divine Law said concerning this people: For the priest’s lips should keep judgment, and they should seek the Law from his mouth. |611

7 The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God.

When their false accusation that they had at first contrived proved fruitless, and they established against Him no attempt at revolution or revolt against Caesar’s rule (for the Lord parried these charges, saying: My Kingdom is not of this world; if my Kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews), and when Pilate thereupon gave a just and impartial verdict, and did not as yet comply with their will, but said openly that He found no fault in Him, the audacious Jews completely changed their tactics, and asserted that they had a law, which condemned the Saviour to death. What law was that? That which fixes the punishment for blasphemers; for in the book called Leviticus it is recorded, that certain men, who were counted among Jews, strove together, according to the Scripture, in the camp, and that one of them made mention of the Name of God, and blessed Him, for thus saith the Scripture euphemistically, meaning that he cursed and blasphemed Him, and was then doomed to die, and to pay a bitter penalty for his impious tongue, God plainly declaring: Whosoever curseth his God shall bear his sin, and he that taketh the Name of the Lord in vain, shall be put to death, and all the congregation of Israel shall stone him: as well the stranger as he that is born in the land, when he taketh the Name of the Lord in vain, shall be put to death.

But, perhaps, someone may be in doubt, and ask this question: “What, then, does the Law say, and what does it intend to signify hereby?” For that a man who is convicted of blasphemy against God should die is, indeed, just, and he very rightly meets his doom. But suppose a man treat a false god with contumely, is he then not free from guilt? For the words of the Law are, If any man curse God, he shall bear his sin. What do we reply? The Lawgiver is infallible, for to |612 love to hurl scorn upon false gods is, as it were, a course of preparation which makes us ready to utter blasphemies against the true God. Therefore also, in another passage, He dissuades us from it, saying: Gods thou shalt not revile; for He thought it meet to give unto the name of Godhead, though it be sometimes misplaced, the honour that is its due. The Law, however, did not certainly bid us ascribe any honour to gods erroneously so called, but teaches us to regard as holy the name of Godhead, though it be stolen by some.

As the Law, then, orders that the man who is convicted of blasphemy should be rewarded with death, they say that Christ is subject to the penalty, for that He made Himself the Son of God. We ought to bear in mind where, and in what sense, this was said by Christ. At the pool that was called after the sheep-gate, He healed the impotent man of his long and grievous infirmity on the Sabbath-day. And the Jews, when they ought to have marvelled at the wonders that He wrought, were, on the contrary, offended at His breaking the Sabbath, and for that reason only railed against Him. Then Christ answered, and said: My Father worketh even until now, and I work; and thereupon says the Evangelist: For this cause therefore the Jews persecuted Jesus, because He not only brake the Sabbath, but also called God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. The Jews, then, were offended when Christ called the Lord of all His Father; and then He made this most mild reply to them, saying: It is written in your Law, I said, Ye are gods, and are all sons of the Most High. If he called them gods unto whom the Word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), say ye of Him Whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God? But the people of the Jews, remembering none of these things, make the truth a charge against the truth; and because Christ said what |613 was in fact the truth, they assert that He is worthy of death. Here I will make use of the Prophet’s words: How do ye say, We are wise, and the Law of the Lord is with us? For would it not have been right, either first to ascertain by the strictest scrutiny Who Christ was, and whence He came; and if He had been convicted of falsehood, then, very justly, to pass sentence upon Him, or if He spoke the truth, to worship Him? Why, then, did you Jews give up searching and satisfying yourselves by Holy Writ, and betake yourselves to making a mere outcry against Him? and why made you what was in fact the truth, the ground for accusation? You ought, when you said unto Pilate: He made Himself the Son of God, to have charged Him also with the works of Godhead, and to have made His mighty wonder-working power a count in the indictment; you ought to have cried out thereafter, that a man who had been three days dead, rose again, and came back to life at the mere bidding of the Saviour; you ought to have brought forward the only child of the widow, and the daughter of the leader of the synagogue; you ought to have called to mind that Divine saying, spoken unto the son of the widow: Young man, I say unto thee, Arise; and to the damsel: Maiden, Arise. You ought, besides, to have told Pilate, that He gave sight to the blind, and cleansed the lepers of their leprosy; and also, that by a single word of command He calmed the storm of the angry sea, and the onslaught of the raging billows; and whatever else Christ did. All this, however, they bury in the silence of ingratitude, and passing over those miracles whereby Christ was seen to be God, in malice they proceed to basely state the paradox; and, miserable wretches that they were, they cried out to a foreigner, who had no knowledge of the Divine Scripture, and saw that Jesus was a Man: He made Himself the Son of God; though the inspired Scripture declared that the Word of God should visit the world in human form: Behold, the Virgin shall be with child, and shall bring |614 forth a Son, and they shall call His Name Emmanuel; which is, being interpreted, God with us. And what could that which was born of a virgin be but a man, like unto us in bodily appearance and nature? But, besides being Man, He was also truly God.

8, 9 When Pilate therefore heard this saying, he was the more afraid; and he entered into the palace again, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art Thou? But Jesus gave him no answer.

The malicious design of the Jews had a result they little expected. For they wished to pile up the indictment against Christ, by saying that He had ventured to sin against the Person of God Himself. But the weighty character of the accusation itself increased Pilate’s caution, and he was the more oppressed with alarm, and more careful concerning Christ than before, and questioned Him the more particularly, what He was, and whence He came; not disbelieving, as I think, that though He was a Man, He might be also the Son of God. This idea and belief of his, was not derived from Holy Writ, but the mistaken notions of the Greeks; for Greek fables call many men demi-gods, and sons of gods. The Romans, too, who in such matters were still more superstitious, gave the name of god to the more distinguished of their own monarchs, and set up altars to them, and allotted them shrines, and put them on pedestals. Therefore Pilate was more earnest and anxious than before, in his inquiry Who Christ was, and whence He came. But He, the Scripture saith, answered him not a word, remembering, I suppose, what He Himself had said unto him: Every one that is of the truth, heareth My voice. And how could Pilate, a worshipper of idols, have hearkened to the voice of the Saviour, when He said that He was Truth, and the Child of truth? And how could he at all have received and honoured the name of truth, who at once ridiculed it, and said, What is truth? because he still worshipped |615 false gods, and was buried in the darkness of their deceitfulness?

10    Pilate therefore saith unto Him, Speakest Thou not unto me? Knowest Thou not that I have power to crucify Thee, and have power to release Thee?

Pilate thought this silence the silence of a madman. Therefore, he stretches over Him, as it were, the wand of his official power, and thought that he could induce Him by fear, against His Will, to return a fruitless answer. For he says that nothing could hinder his inclining whichever way he chose, either to punish Him, or to take compassion upon Him; and that there was nothing to turn him aside, to give a verdict against his will, with whom alone rested the fate of the accused. He rebukes Him, therefore, as though he felt himself insulted by untimely silence, and, so far as that went, his indignation were whetted against Him. For he perceived not at all the hidden meaning of Christ’s silence. Observe here the accurate fulfilment of that which was foretold by the voice of the Prophet: He was brought as a lamb to the slaughter; and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth. In His humiliation His judgment was taken away. Thus saith the blessed Isaiah, and the Psalmist also, assuming the Person of Christ, saith in the Spirit: I have kept My mouth with a bridle, while the wicked congregated themselves before Me. I was dumb, and humbled Myself, and kept silence from good words. By good words, curses must be understood. For it is usual with Holy Scripture to speak euphemistically on such occasions, when reference is made to the Person of God Himself.

11     Jesus answered him, Thou wouldest have no power against Me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivereth Me unto thee hath greater sin.

He makes no clearer revelation of what He was, or |616 whence He came, or Who was His Father. Nor, indeed, does He suffer us to waste the word of revelation, by giving it to ears that are estranged, saying: Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before the swine. When, then, Pilate was parading before Him his official power, and, in his folly, alleging that he could wholly determine His fate according to his mere will and pleasure, He very appropriately meets him with a declaration of His own power and might, and stops him short, as it were, as he was vaunting himself with vain and empty boasting against the glory of God. For, in truth, it were no small calamity that any should suppose that Christ could be dragged, against His Will, to suffer insult; and that the malice of the Jews vanquished Him, Who was truly God, and proclaimed Sovereign of the universe by the holy and inspired writings. He has, therefore, removed this stumblingblock from our path, and cuts up, as it were, such an error by the roots, by the words: Except it were given thee from above. And when He says, that power was given to Pilate from above, He does not mean that God the Father inflicted crucifixion upon His own Son, against His Will; but that the Only-begotten Himself gave Himself to suffer for us, and that the Father suffered the fulfilment of the mystery in Him. It is, then, plainly the consent and approval of the Father that is here said to have been given, and the pleasure of the Son is also clearly signified. For, no doubt the force of numbers could never have overcome the power of the Saviour; but we may easily see this from the numerous plots they laid against Him, which resulted in nothing but their being convicted of having made an insolent attempt. They, indeed, desired to seize Him, as the Evangelist says; but He, going through the midst of them, went His way, and so passed by. He says, so passed by, meaning, not cautiously, or with bated breath, or practising the manoeuvres that men do who wish to escape; but with his usual step, free from all alarm. For |617 He hid Himself by His Divine and ineffable might, and then eluded the sight of His would-be murderers; for He did not wish as yet to die nor did He suffer the passions of His persecutors to determine, as it were, without His consent the hour of His peril. Therefore He says, that by His own command, and the consent of God the Father, power was given unto Pilate, so that he was enabled to accomplish the deeds which he did, in fact, venture to perform. For the nature of the Most High God is wholly invincible, and cannot be subdued by anything that exists; for in Him the power of universal dominion of necessity exists. He accuses of the greater sin—-that is, of greater sin against Himself—-the traitor that brought Him to Pilate; and with great reason. For he was, as it were, the source from which the impious crime against Him sprang, and also the gate through which it passed; while the judge was but the minister to the crimes of others, and so showed himself, by his ill-timed cowardice, a partaker in the iniquity of the Jews. Who, then, is the traitor, and to whom is the prime authorship of the charges to be referred? Surely, to that most venal disciple, or rather traitor and destroyer of his own soul; and besides him, the crowd of the rulers and the people of the Jews; and though Christ attributes to them the greater part of the blame, He does not acquit Pilate wholly of complicity in guilt.

12 Upon this Pilate sought to release Him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou release this Man, thou art not Caesar’s friend: everyone that maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar.

The exclamation of the Jews afflicts Pilate with panic, and sharpens the keenness of his caution, and makes him pause before putting Him to death. For they shouted out, that that very prisoner had made Himself the Son of God, Whom Pilate had been most anxious to release from all danger, and to acquit of every false |618 accusation, having this fear at heart. The Israelites saw this, and returned to their original falsehood, saying, that Jesus had courted the people, and transgressed against Caesar’s power, and, so far as His power went, had waged war against the rule of Rome, for He had made Himself a king. See how laborious and passionate was the attempt of His accusers against Him! For, first of all, they cried out with one accord, miserable wretches that they were, and asserted that He had ventured to assail Caesar’s power. But when they did not meet with much success, Christ declaring that His Kingdom was not an earthly kingdom, they alleged, even unto Pilate, who sat in a Roman tribunal, His offence against God Himself, saying: He made Himself the Son of God. For the villains thought that they could thereby spur Pilate to heedless wrath, and lend him courage to doom the Saviour to death, making His action a mark of His piety towards God; but when their malicious attempt proved unavailing, they once more recurred to the charge they had presumed to make at first, declaring that He had ventured to assail the rule of Caesar, and violently accusing the judge of taking up arms against Caesar’s majesty, if he did not consent to pass the sentence of fitting condemnation upon Him Who, as they alleged, had spoken against Caesar, by daring to take upon Himself, in any shape, the title of King; though Caesar did not claim an empire in the heavens, such as that of which Christ was, indeed, the Lord, but an earthly and inferior empire, which itself had its root in the power of Christ. For through Him kings reign, according to the Scripture, and monarchs rule over the earth. Therefore these most impious men bridled not their tongues, but, in their excessive enmity to God, attacked the glory of the Saviour. Them did the blessed Prophet Isaiah justly rebuke, saying: But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore. Against Whom do ye sport |619 yourselves? against Whom make ye a wide mouth, and draw out the tongue? Are ye not children of perdition, a lawless seed? For it was not against any mere man that they made their outcry, and spoke out with unbridled tongues, and practised every sort of calumny; but against their own Lord Himself, Who ruleth over all with the Father. Therefore rightly did they become, and are in truth, children of perdition, and a lawless seed,

13, 14 When Pilate therefore heard this saying, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment-seat, at a place called the Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. Now it was the preparation of the Passover: it was about the sixth hour. And he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!

The Evangelist, when he thus speaks, throws the whole burden, as it were, of the charge of shedding Christ’s blood upon the Jews. For he now clearly says, that Pilate was well-nigh overcome against his will by their opposition, so that he put away the thought of justice, and paid little heed to the consequence; and, therefore, he was dragged down to do the will of Christ’s murderers, though he had often expressly told them, that Jesus had been found guilty of no fault at all, and it is this which will make Him subject to the worst of penalties. For, by preferring the pleasure of a mob to honouring the Just, and giving over a guiltless Man to the frenzy of the Jews, he will be convicted out of his own mouth of impiety. He ascends, therefore, to his usual judgment-seat, as about to pronounce sentence of death against Christ. The inspired Evangelist is induced to signify to our profit the day and hour, because of the resurrection itself, and His three days’ sojourn among the departed, that the truth of our Lord’s saying to the Jews might appear: For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so also shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The Roman ruler on his judgment-seat, pointing to |620 Jesus, says: Behold your King! Either he was jesting with the multitude, and was granting, with a scornful smile, the innocent blood to those who thirsted for it without a cause, or, perhaps, he was casting in the teeth of the savage Jews the reproach that they endured to see in such evil plight Him Whom they themselves named and asserted to be King of Israel.

15 They therefore cried out, Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King?

They reiterate their old cry with the same fury, and desisted not from their lust for blood, and were not softened at all by the insults He had endured, nor inclined to clemency by the outrages inflicted upon Him; but were rather goaded to a greater pitch of fury, and intreat that He Who had raised the dead in their midst, and shown Himself the worker of such marvels, should be crucified; at which Pilate was sore amazed, seeing that they declared with such vehemence, that He, Who had acquired such eminence among them as to be deemed the Son of God, and King, was not merely worthy of death, but that He deserved so cruel a fate, for crucifixion is the worst of deaths. The judge, therefore, makes their outcry a charge and reproach against them, that they should be desirous that He should be crucified, Who had excited so great admiration by deeds which were so pre-eminent as to transcend anything on earth. For what is there that is equal to what does not fall short of the Son of God, and King?

15 The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.

Hereupon the well-beloved Israel spurned his God, and started aside from his allegiance, and, as Moses said, abandoned the God that was his Father, and remembered not the Lord his helper. For see how he turned his eyes upon an harlot, according to the Scripture, refused to be ashamed, disowned his own glory, and |621 denied his Lord. Of this very charge God accused Israel of old, speaking by the mouth of Jeremiah: For pass over the isles of Chittim, and send unto Kedar, and see whether the nations change their gods, who are yet no gods; but My people have changed their glory. And again: The heavens were astonished thereat, and were horribly afraid, saith the Lord; for My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me the fountain of living waters, and have hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that hold no water. For while other nations throughout the whole world clung fast to the deceitfulness of their idols, and steadfastly adhered to the gods whom they so deemed, and did not readily undergo a change of faith, nor easily alter their form of worship, the Israelites started aside, and joined themselves to the empire of Caesar, and cast off the rule of God. Therefore, very justly, were they given over into Caesar’s hands, and, having at first welcomed his rule, afterwards brought themselves to grievous ruin, and underwent expulsion from their country, and the sufferings of war, and those irremediable calamities that befell them.

Observe, too, here the minuteness of the writer. For he does not say that the people started the impious cry, but rather their rulers. For he says: the chief priests cried out, everywhere pointing out, that it was through their submissively following their leaders that the multitude was carried down the precipice, and fell into the abyss of perdition. The chief priests incur the penalty, not merely as losing their own souls, but also as having been leaders and responsible guides of the people subject unto them, in the fatal shedding of blood; just as also the prophet rebuked them, saying: Because ye have been a snare unto the watch-tower, and as a net stretched out upon Tabor, which they who catch the prey have spread. The Prophet here means by the watch-tower the multitude, who were subject unto them, who were arrayed, as it were, to observe the conduct of their rulers, and to conform their own to it. And, therefore, the leading men of the people are |622 called watchmen in Holy Writ. The chief priests themselves, then, were a snare and a net unto the watch-tower; for they both started this denial, and also induced all the rest to cry: We have no king but Caesar. These miserable men presumed so to say, though God the Father, by the mouth of the Prophet, predicted the coming of the Saviour, and cried out: Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: He is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass. These men, who had once brought Jesus into Jerusalem riding upon an ass, and honoured Him as a God with blind praises, with one accord, for they cried: Blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord! now make an outcry against Him, accusing Him only of attacking the Roman rule, and shaking off, as it were, the yoke of the Kingdom of God from their necks. For this was the plain meaning of the cry: We have no king but Caesar. But we shall find that then, too, it was the people that raised the shout for the Saviour Christ, and that it was the chief priests who presumed in their madness to make this exclamation, just as the others had proceeded from them.

16 Then therefore he delivered Him unto them to be crucified.

Pilate henceforward permits the Jews, in their unbridled resentment, to run to all lengths in lawlessness; and, divesting himself of the power due unto a judge, suffers their uncontrolled passions at length to take their course unreproved, in allowing them to crucify One Who was wholly guiltless, and Who received this monstrous condemnation merely because He said He was the Son of God. One must lay the whole guilt of the impious crime at the door of the Jews; and rightly and justly, I think, accuse them of being the prime movers in the act, for with them originated this impiety against Christ. Yet we cannot acquit Pilate of complicity in their iniquity; for he shared their responsibility, inasmuch as when he might have |623 delivered and rescued Him from the madness of His murderers, he did not merely refrain from releasing Him, but even gave Him up to them for the very purpose, that they might crucify Him.

16, 17, 18 They took Jesus therefore. And He went out, bearing the Gross for Himself, unto the place called the place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha: where they crucified Him, and with Him two others, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.

They lead away, then, to death the Author of Life; and for our sakes was this done, for by the power and incomprehensible Providence of God, Christ’s death resulted in an unexpected reversal of things. For His suffering was prepared as a snare for the power of death, and the death of the Lord was the source of the renewal of mankind in incorruption and newness of life. Bearing the Cross upon His shoulders, on which He was about to be crucified, He went forth; His doom was already fixed, and He had undergone, for our sakes, though innocent, the sentence of death. For, in His own Person, He bore the sentence righteously pronounced against sinners by the Law. For He became a curse for us, according to the Scripture: For cursed is everyone, it is said, that hangeth on a tree. And accursed are we all, for we are not able to fulfil the Law of God: For in many things we all stumble; and very prone to sin is the nature of man. And since, too, the Law of God says: Cursed is he which con-tinueth not in all things that are written in the book of this Law, to do them, the curse, then, belongeth unto us, and not to others. For those against whom the transgression of the Law may be charged, and who are very prone to err from its commandments, surely deserve chastisement. Therefore, He That knew no sin was accursed for our sakes, that He might deliver us from the old curse. For all-sufficient was the God Who is above all, so dying for all; and by the death of |624 His own Body, purchasing the redemption of all mankind.

The Cross, then, that Christ bore, was not for His own deserts, but was the cross that awaited us, and was our due, through our condemnation by the Law. For as He was numbered among the dead, not for Himself, but for our sakes, that we might find in Him, the Author of everlasting life, subduing of Himself the power of death; so also, He took upon Himself the Cross that was our due, passing on Himself the condemnation of the Law, that the mouth of all lawlessness might henceforth be stopped, according to the saying of the Psalmist; the Sinless having suffered condemnation for the sin of all. And of great profit will the deed which Christ performed be to our souls—-I mean, as a type of true manliness in God’s service. For in no other way can we triumphantly attain to perfection in all virtue, and perfect union with God, save by setting our love toward Him above the earthly life, and zealously waging battle for the truth, if occasion calls us so to do. Moreover, our Lord Jesus Christ says: Every man that doth not take his cross and follow after Me, is not worthy of Me. And taking up the Cross means, I think, nothing else than bidding farewell to the world for God’s sake, and preferring, if the opportunity arise, the hope of future glory to life in the body. But our Lord Jesus Christ is not ashamed to bear the Cross that is our due, and to suffer this indignity for love towards us; while we, poor wretches that we are, whose mother is the insensate earth beneath our feet, and who have been called into being out of nothing, sometimes do not even dare to touch the skirt of tribulation in God’s service; but, if we have anything to bear in the service of Christ, at once account the shame intolerable, and shrinking from the ridicule of our adversaries, and those who sit in the seat of the scornful, as an accursed thing, and preferring to God’s pleasure this paltry and |625 ill-timed craving for reputation, fall sick of the disease of disdainful arrogance, which is the mother, so to say, of all evils, and so make ourselves subject to the charge. For thus is the servant above his lord, and the disciple above his master, and thinks and acts accordingly. Alas, for this grievous infirmity, which always in some strange shape lies athwart our path, and leads us astray from the pursuit of what is meet!

Call to mind, too, how the inspired Peter could not endure Christ’s prophecy, when He foretold His sufferings upon the Cross, for He said: Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man is betrayed unto the hands of sinners; and they shall crucify Him, and kill Him. The disciple, not yet understanding the mysterious ways of God’s providence, God-loving and teachable as he was, was moved by his scruples to exclaim: Be it far from Thee, Lord; this shall never be unto Thee. What answered Christ? Get thee behind Me, Satan; thou art a stumblingblock unto Me: for thou mindest not the things of God, but the things of men. But we may hence derive no small profit, for we shall know, that when occasion calls us to exhibit courage in God’s service, and we are compelled to endure conflicts that ensue for virtue’s sake; yea, even if they who honour and love us best strive to hinder us from doing anything that may tend to stablish virtue, alleging, it may be, our consequent dishonour among men, or from some worldly motive, we must not yield. For they, then, are in nowise unlike Satan, who loves and is ever wont to cast stumblingblocks in our path by divers deceits, and sometimes by smooth words, so as to divert from the pursuit of what is meet, the man who is urged thereto by the spirit of piety. And methinks Christ meant something like this, when He said: If, therefore, thy right eye causeth thee to stumble, pluck it out, and cast it from thee. For that which does us injury is no longer our own, even |626 though united to us by the bond of love, and though its connexion with us be but its natural desert.

Two robbers were crucified together with Christ, and this was owing to the malice of the Jews. For, as though to emphasize the dishonour of our Saviour’s death, they involved the just Man in the same condemnation as the transgressors of the Law. And we may take the condemned criminals, who hung by Christ’s side, as symbolical of the two nations who were shortly about to be brought into close contact with Him, I mean the children of Israel and the Gentiles. And why do we take condemned criminals as the type? Because the Jews were condemned by the Law, for they were guilty of transgressing it; and the Greeks by their idolatry, for they worshipped the creature more than the Creator.

And after another manner those who are united with Christ are also crucified with Him; for enduring, as it were, death to their old conversation in the flesh, they are reformed into a new life, according to the Gospel. Yea, Paul said: And they that are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh, with the passions and the lusts thereof; and again, speaking of himself in words applicable to all men: For I, through the Law, died unto the Law, that I might live unto God. I have been crucified with Christ: yet I live; and yet no longer I, but Christ liveth in me. And he exhorts also the Colossians: Wherefore, if ye died from the world, why do ye behave yourselves as though living in the world? For, by becoming dead unto worldly conversation, we are brought to the rudiments of conduct and life in Christ. Therefore the crucifixion of the two robbers, side by side with Christ, signifies in a manner to us, through the medium of that event, the juxtaposition of the two nations, dying together, as it were, with the Saviour Christ, by bidding farewell to worldly pleasures, and refusing any longer to live after the flesh, and preferring to live with their Lord, so far as may |627 be, by fashioning their lives according to Him, and consecrating them in His service. And the meaning of the figure is in no way affected by the fact, that the men who hung by His side were malefactors; for we were by nature children of wrath, before we believed in Christ, and were all doomed to death, as we said before.

19 And Pilate wrote a title also, and put it on the Cross. And there was writ/en, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.

This is, in fact, the bond against us which, as the inspired Paul says, the Lord nailed to His Cross, and in it led in triumph the principalities and the powers as vanquished, and as having revolted from His rule. And if it were not Christ Himself that fixed the title on the Cross, but the fellow-worker and minister of the Jews, still, as He suffered it so to be, it is as though He were recorded as having inscribed it with His own Hand. And He triumphed over principalities in it. For it was open to the view of all who chose to learn, pointing to Him Who suffered for our sake, and Who was giving His Life as a ransom for the lives of all. For all men upon the earth, in that they have fallen into the snare of sin (for all have gone aside, and have all together become filthy, according to the Scripture), had made themselves liable to the accusation of the devil, and were living a hateful and miserable life. And the title contained a handwriting against us—-the curse that, by the Divine Law, impends over the transgressors, and the sentence that went forth against all who erred against those ancient ordinances of the Law, like unto Adam’s curse, which went forth against all mankind, in that all alike broke God’s decrees. For God’s anger did not cease with Adam’s fall, but He was also provoked by those who after him dishonoured the Creator’s decree; and the denunciation of the Law against transgressors was extended continuously over all. We were, then, accursed and |628 condemned, by the sentence of God, through Adam’s transgression, and through breach of the Law laid down after him; but the Saviour wiped out the handwriting against us, by nailing the title to His Cross, which very clearly pointed to the death upon the Cross which He underwent for the salvation of men, who lay under condemnation. For our sake He paid the penalty for our sins. For though He was One that suffered, yet was He far above any creature, as God, and more precious than the life of all. Therefore, as the Psalmist says, the mouth of all lawlessness was stopped, and the tongue of sin was silenced, unable any more to speak against sinners. For we are justified, now that Christ has paid the penalty for us; for by His stripes we are healed, according to the Scripture. And just as by the Cross the sin of our revolt was perfected, so also by the Cross was achieved our return to our original state, and the acceptable recovery of heavenly blessings; Christ, as it were, gathering up into Himself, for us, the very fount and origin of our infirmity.

20 This title therefore read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and in Latin, and in Greek.

We may remark that it was very providential, and the fruit of God’s inexpressible purpose, that the title that was written embraced three inscriptions —- one in Hebrew, another in Latin, and another in Greek. For it lay open to the view, proclaiming the Kingdom of our Saviour Christ in three languages, the most widely known of all, and bringing to the crucified One the first-fruits, as it were, of the prophecy that had been spoken concerning Him. For the wise Daniel said that there was given Him glory and a Kingdom, and all nations and languages shall serve Him; and, to like effect, the holy Paul teaches us, crying out that every knee shall bow; of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth; and every tongue shall confess that |629 Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Therefore the title proclaiming Jesus King was, as it were, the true firstfruits of the confession of tongues. And, in another sense, it accused the impiety of the Jews, and all but proclaimed expressly, to those who congregated to read it, that they had crucified their King and Lord, purblind wretches that they were, without thought of love toward Him, and sunk in crass insensibility.

21, 22 The chief priests of the Jews therefore said to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews, but, that He said, I am King of the Jews. Pilate answered, What I have written, I have written.

The rulers of the Jews took ill the writing on the title, and, full of bitter hatred, once more denied the Kingship of Christ, and said in their great folly that He had never reigned in fact, nor been accepted as King, but had merely used this expression: not knowing that to lie is contrary to the nature of truth, and Christ is Truth. He was, then, King of the Jews, if He was proved to have given Himself this title, as they themselves also confirmed by their own words. And Pilate rejected their request that he should alter the inscription, not consenting in all things to do despite unto the glory of our Saviour, doubtless owing to God’s Ineffable Will. For the Kingship of Christ was firmly rooted, and beyond the reach of calumny, though the Jews might not consent thereunto, and might strive to deface the confession of His glory.

23, 24 The soldiers therefore, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also the coat. Now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said therefore one to another, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the Scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted My garments among them, and upon My vesture did they cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did.

The soldiers, then, divided our Saviour’s garments |630 among themselves, and this is indicative of their brutal ferocity and inhuman disposition. For it is the custom of executioners to be unmoved by the misery of condemned criminals, and to obey orders sometimes with unnecessary harshness, and to show a masculine indifference to the fate of the sufferers, and to divide their garments among themselves, as though the lot fell upon them by some sufficient and lawful reason. They divided, then, the dissevered garments into four portions, but kept the one coat whole and uncut. For they did not choose to tear it in pieces, and make it altogether useless, and so they decided it by casting lots. For Christ could not lie, Who thus spake by the voice of the Psalmist: They divided My raiment among them, and upon My vesture did they cast lots. All these things were foretold for our profit, that we might know, by comparing the prophecies with the events, what He is of Whom it was foretold that He should come for our sake in our likeness, and of Whom it was expected that He should die for the salvation of all men. For no man of sense can suppose that the Saviour Himself, like the foolish Jews, would strain out the gnat, that is, foretell a trifling detail concerning His sufferings, as in this mention of the partition of His raiment, and, as it were, swallow the camel, that is, think of no account the great lengths to which the impious presumption of the Jews carried them. Rather, when He foretold these details, He foretold also the great event itself; firstly, in order that we might know that, as He was by Nature God, He had perfect knowledge of the future; secondly, also, that we might believe that He was in fact the Messiah of prophecy, being led to the knowledge of the truth by the many and great things fulfilled in Him.

And if it behoves us also to declare another thought which strikes us with regard to the partition of the garments—-a thought which can do no harm, and may possibly do good to those who hear it—-I will speak as follows: Their division of the Saviour’s garments into |631 four parts, and retention of the coat in its undivided state, is perhaps symbolical of the mysterious providence whereby the four quarters of the world were destined to be saved. For the four quarters of the world divided, as it were, among themselves the garment of the Word, that is, His Body which yet remained indivisible. For though the Only-begotten be cut into small pieces, so far as individual needs are concerned, and sanctify the soul of every man, together with his body, by His Flesh; yet is He, being One, altogether subsistent in the whole Church in indivisible entirety; for, as Saint Paul saith, Christ cannot be divided. That such is the meaning of the mystery concerning Him, the Law dimly shadows forth. For the Law represented the taking of a lamb at the fitting time, and the taking, not of one lamb for every man, but of one for every house, according to the number of the household; for every man (if his household were too small) was to join with his neighbour that was next unto his house. And so the command was, that many should have a part in one lamb; but, in order that it might not appear, therefore, to be physically divided, by the flesh being dissevered from the bones, and taken from house to house, the Law laid down the further injunction: In one house shall it be eaten: ye shall not carry forth ought of the flesh abroad out of the house. For observe how, as I said just now, the Law took care that many who might be in one household should have a part in one lamb, but most carefully also took great precautions that it should not appear physically divided, but should be found in its completeness and entirety as one in all who partook of it, being, at the same time, divisible and indivisible. We must entertain some such view with regard to Christ’s garments, for they were divided into four portions, but the coat remained undivided.

And it can do no harm also to add, that if any man choose, by way of speculation, to look upon the coat that was woven from the top throughout, and seamless, as an |632 illustration of Christ’s holy Body, because It came into being without any connexion or intercourse of man with woman, but woven into its proper shape by the effective working of the Spirit from above, this view is worthy our acceptance. For such speculations as do no damage to the elements of the faith, but are rather fertile of profit, it would surely be ill-advised for us to reject; nay, we ought rather to commend them, as the fruit of an excellent disposition of mind.