THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESENTED BY PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID Digitized by the Internet Archive . in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/commentaryongospOOdentrich A COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPELS. SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY TO ADVENT, AND OTHER HOLY DAYS, WITH THE GOSPELS FOE THE OCCASIONAL SEEVICES. A COMMENTAEY ON THE GOSPELS FOE THE SUNDAYS AND OTHER HOLY DAYS OF THE CHRISTIAN YEAR. BY THE REV. W. DENTON, M.A. WORCESTER COLLEGE, OXFORD ; INCUMBENT OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S, CRIPPLEGATE. SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY TO ADVENT. AND OTHER HOLY DAYS, WITH THE GOSPELS FOR THE OCCASIONAL SERVICES. FIFTH EDITION. LONDON: GEOEGE BELL AND SONS, YOKK STREET COVENT GAHDEN. 1888, Richard Clav & Sons, Limited, London & Bungay. dj^ '<^>j^:j THE GOSPELS FOR THE SUNDAYS AND HOLY DAYS OF THE CHRISTIAN YEAR. THE SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. St. Luke xiv. 1 — 11.^ (1) ^^AndT^ it came to fass, as He ivent into the house of one of the ddef Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath day, that they watched Him. In the Gospel appointed for the preceding Sunday we have an instance of the power of Christ in raising the dead; in the Gospel for this Sunday we have His mercifulness and power shown in healing the body of the diseased : at the sarae time, as though to teach us that those things which hinder the heahng of the soul, and raising the sinner from the death of sin^ are harder to remove than corporeal sick- ness and the reanimation of a dead body, the dropsical man leaves the presence of Christ wholly freed from disease, whilst the Pharisees remain bound with the chain of their coster. sins. We have the record of seven distinct cures which were wrought by our Blessed Lord on the Sabbath day, besides ^ "In hodierna Epistola videre tet se iion totum corpus, sed mem- facile quivis potest quam pulclire brum solum in corpore esse, et quod Paulus cum Cliristo consentiat in non solus spiritum Dei omnem hodierno Evangelio. Tota Epistola habeat, sed quod alii spiritum Dei eo tendit, ne quis sibi ipse capiat etiam habeant. Imo non solCim spi- primum accubitum, sed unusquisque ritum, sed etiam fidem et baptismum, suse vacet vocationi, et secundum quinimo Deura ipsum." — Ferns in illam vivat, ambulet, et agat ; cogi- JJotn, GOSP. VOL. III. B r:o-i nu^^^n^ 2 SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. many others whicli, we are told^ were done on the same day, but of which no detailed accounts have been preserved for us. These miracles of healing are — (1) The driving out the unclean spirit from the man in Marki.sjs— the syuagoguo at Capernaum. (2) The cure wrought on Simon's wife's mother, which took place on the same day and in the same city as the Mark i, 29. rmor miraclc. (3) The healing of the impotent man at the pool of John V. i-j. Bethesda. Matt. xii. 9- (4) The restoration of the man who had a withered hand, joiin ix. u. (5) The giving sight to the man who had been born blind, which miracle was done at Jerusalem. (6) The release of the woman bowed down with a si^irii of Lukexiii.14. infirmity. (7) The healing of the man with the dropsy, which is the Trench. subjcct of the present Gospel. All these miracles were wrought on the Sabbath day; in the sight, therefore, of large bodies of people, who for one reason or another were gathered together on that day. In many of these cases we may well believe also that those who were healed were drawn to the synagogue or the temple for the worship of God, and were, therefore, in a state of faith and prepara- tion of mind to receive the temporal blessing which Christ communicated to them.^ Christ showed those who watched Him and sought occasion to accuse Him that they were themselves guilty of avarice, and were ready enough to break the letter of the fourth commandment if their beasts were in danger, even if they were not violating its spirit by their injunctions of fasting on that day ; whilst by the parable which He afterwards spake He admonished them to humility : in the whole of His dis- course reproving them in these particulars — of pride, of avarice, and of the violation of the Sabbath day, in which they were ready enough to take care of their worldly pos- sessions, whilst they were on the watch to accuse Him for 1 This constant recurrence of the ful people. This number is in Holy same number seven may surely well Scripture so constantly associated teach, even if it is not expressly with the idea of perfection and corn- intended to remind us of, a specific pleteness, that it seems to have some truth. We instinctively recur to the natural connexion with it. He of seven offers of mercy to Jerusalem whom it has been specifically recorded, given in the seven entrances of our that He did sevoi acts of mercy on Blessed Lord into the holy city ; to His day of rest, would, it may be, the seven days of God's work and rest ; teach us that though He has rested to the seven spirits around His eternal from His work of creation, He is yet throne ; and tlie sevenfold gifts of His ever healing all manner of spiritual Holy Spirit bestowed upon liis faith- infirmity in us sinners. ST. LUKE XIV. I— ir. Peraldas. doing a work of cliarity and love on that day.^ He thus not only avoided the snares which they had laid for Him, but He showed their guilt in the same direction as that in which they sought to accuse Him. He came to the house of one of the chief Pharisees, and we are told that they watched Him. We are not told that he who invited Him was one of those who watched to find some accusation against Him. The words only assert that the rest of those at table did so. Such conduct in the host would imply the utmost degree of malignity, since the laws and rights of hospitality would, in that case, have been altogether disregarded.^ It does not follow, then, from the words of the Evangelist, that Christ was invited with anv purpose of entrapping Him and finding a ground of accusa"- tion; but that when He was there, and a sick man stood before Him, then His enemies luatched to see how He would ^'"■'■*^"*- avoid breaking the law and yet show mercy on the sick man. Some commentators have supposed that the man was pur- posely introduced, and that he presented himself before Jesus in order to ensnare Him. This, however, is not stated in the history, and is unlikely, not to say impossible. Christ healed only those who came to Him in faith, and who believed in Him : this poor man could not therefore have sought Christ from any unworthy desire of giving occasion to His enemies to accuse Him. Our Blessed Lord came, however, T-ench. that He might heal this man, though He knew the malignity of those who were in the house. It is not indeed stated Hammond. The Sabbath was a feast day among the Jews, and since this man was a Pharisee he was careful to observe the traditions of the elders as to this day. These were that a man ought to prepare abundance of food and spiced liquids for the Sabbath day ; that he should increase the quantity and be solicitous as to the superior quality of his food on that day; and have three meals on that day — one in the evening, one in the morning, and one at the time of the meat offering. And this rule was enjoined even on the poor man who lived by alms. —Gill. 2 "Pleraque festa Judsei quondam hilaritate et splendidis conviviis trans- ngere et condecorare solebant. Cujus rei non obscura apud scriptores vestigia extant. De Pentecoste, Tob. ii. 1, ha^c legimus: "Ore de KarrjXOov dg tov oIkov liov, Kal airfSoOrj fioi'Avva, t) yvvn fiov, Kal 'Toj3iag, 6 viog fiov, iv ry UtVTtK0rTT7J T/J lopT^ 1] 't(TTlV ufia iTrrdejidnixddujvJyEvtiOridpiffTovKaXdv fioi, Kal avsTTScra tov ^aynv. De aliis festis, et speciatim de Sabbatho, notatu dignum est quod de Juditha narratur, Judith viii. 6 : Kal ivrjartvat -rrdaag Tag vfispag Ti)g x^P^^^^'^^ avTtjg X^^pk TrpoTaftl3dTU)V Kal aafijSuTujv, Kal irpovovfirjviMV Kal vovnr]Viwv, kui topToiv Kal x^PH'OnvvwP oIkov 'lapatjX. Quinirao adeo sacer diebus Sabbathi epulaadi raos Judseis habitus fuit, ut Eabbini canone dofiniverint, ' Eum qui in Sabbatho tria prandia diligenter observaverit, liberatum iri a tribus pcenis, a doloiibus Messiae, a judicio Gehenna, et a hello Gog et Magog.'" —Keuchner, Annotata in omnes Nov. Test, libros. B2 SE VENTEENTH SUNDA V AFTER TRINITY. Cyril. Lyseras. Abelly. Luke XV. Wicelius. Rev. iii. 20. that tlie pocr man asked in words to be cured. His needs were a prayer to Christ. This is consistent with all our Lord^s actions whilst on earth, and with His loving-kindness now.^ Though the nation of the Jews was hardened against His claims, yet He was ever proffering to these people the bread of life, and ever instructing them by His words and works. He came, indeed, specially to seek and to save those who were lost. He, therefore, came to those who were self- blinded, and who, like these Pharisees, were bent on rejecting Him, and who sought to ensnare Him and to throw suspicion upon Him because of His deeds of mercy. As, however, this conduct of the rulers of the Jews did not then hinder Him from healing those who were diseased, so does He still continue to heap His mercies and benefits upon the unthank- ful and the evil, as well as upon those who will thankfully receive the blessings which He gives. On another occasion we read that the ever watchful enemies of Christ accused Him, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eatefh with them. Here we find Him seated at the table of one of the chief Pharisees and eating bread. He comes to all sinners, passing by none, rejecting none, making no dis- tinctions amongst those who are alike in one particular, that they need His presence and His healing. He was whilst on earth, as now, ever standing ready to have mercy ; and thus He says elsewhere. If any man — be he publican or Pharisee — if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup ivith him, and he with Me. In the fact of Christ's going into the company of these Pharisees and eating hread,^ we are taught three lessons — (1) That He who came in all things to do His Father's will, and to accomplish the work which He had Himself 1 "Those merciful and miraculous cures wMch Christ wrought upon the Sabbath, He wrought them all un- sought to, offered His help unasked : as to the man at Bethesda, Wilt thou be made whole ? So to the woman bowed down by Satan, Woman, thou art loosed from infirmity, when she never thought of it. So the man with the withered hand, Stretch forth thine hand, and it was cured, when he never expected it. The man born blind : all these were cured in a gracious, pre- venting way." — Brownrigg's Sermons. * " Manducari panem in Scriptura, quamvis de pane tantum fiat mentio, tamen de omni cibo intellisre. Sic iii prirao libro Regum habetur, quod mulier ilia pythonissa ad panem in- vitavit Saulem et dedit ei vitulum pascualem. Et in quarto Regum etiam legimus, quod coram Assyriis jussit Eliseus ponere panem apposita autera est coram eis ciborum maxima multitude. lonathas etiam, qui fa- vum mellis comedit, pneceptum patris fregit, qui dixerat, Maledictiis qui comederit panem usque ad vesperam. Ubi vides nomine panis intelligi etiam favura mellis et omneni cibum nam apud Hebrseos panis appellatur lechem^ a verbo lacham, quod significat come- dere; unde quicquid comeditur panis appellatur.' ' — Stella. ST. LUKE XIV. I— II. undertaken, went to the banquet of men, not so much to partake of the food which His creatures set before Him, as that He— ^Ae hvead of God which cometh down from heaven— Joi... vi 33 might refresh His hearers with the spiritual food of His Royara. doctrine and actions. (2) By His participation in the simple matters of man's daily life He would assure us of His interest and sympathy xitusBost in our daily needs. (3) He would set us an example of forbearance and kind- ness to our enemies, even though they may be full of malice bovs. towards us. In that our Blessed Lord came to the house of one of His own creatures, He gave a memorable instance of His conde- scension and an example of that humility which He afterwards commended. In that He went to the house of a Pharisee, and sat with them who were ever on the watch to entrap Him and to find some grounds of accusation against Him, He showed the boundlessness of His love and the greatness of His patience towards sinners, even to those who reject His offers of mercy. In that He ate bread, He showed the reality of that humanity which He had associated with the Divine nature in His own person, and the need to which He had submitted in being made like us in all things. In the Heb. ii. 17. whole course of His actions Christ at this time exhibited the depth of that loving-kindness which He has for man, and proved to us that, though He was rich in the eternal glory of the Godhead, yet for our sakes He had really become 2Cor. vm.g. poor, and had condescended to the necessities of man, in °tura^"* order that by His poverty He might enrich us. Komgsteyn. These Pharisees sought occasion to destroy the credit of our Blessed Lord with the people, by casting doubts upon His claim to be the Messiah. Since it had been foretold as one of the characteristics of the Messiah, that He should be free from sin, neither should there be any deceit in His moidJi, isa. iiii. 9. they continually sought means of showing that Christ was a sinner, and tried to find means of accusing Him by pervert- ing His words and misrepresenting His actions. At this time they endeavoured to do so by accusing Him of breaking the law concerning the Sabbath : when this failed, and they were put to silence, we find them trying to attain the same end by accusing Him of receiving sinners and of eating with mkexT.z. the publican Zaccheus.^ On this occasion the dilemma to gteiia. which they thought to reduce Him was this — I "Considerez que les Pharisiens nairement on se rolache, et ou on se observaient particulierement les ac- licencie plus facilement qu'en un tions de Jesus-Christ lorsqu'il 6tait autre temps a faire ou dire quelque a table, a cause que c'est la ou ordi- chose avec moius de retenue. VeiUez SEVENTEENTH SUNDA V AFTER TRINITY. Hofmeister. Stanhope. 13eiigel. Matt. xxi. 31. Auselm. Bonn Ven- tura. Matt. vii. 7. Luke X. 7. flayrao. (1) If He forbore to heal the man, He would show that He feared the people, and would sanction the gloss which the Pharisees had put upon the command to observe the Sabbath, whilst He would make the multitude doubt either of His power to heal sickness or of His love to those who were afflicted. (2) If He did heal the poor man who stood before Him, He would be open to the charge of disregarding the law of Moses and of breaking the Sabbath. These men, blinded by their malice, forgat that the Sabbath was grossly profaned by the malicious and wicked thoughts of their hearts. The house of that one of the chief Pharisees into which our Blessed Lord entered is a type of the synagogue and of the whole Jewish nation, to which Christ had come. In place of listening to the Messiah and obeying His words, they carped at His teaching and watched Him with eyes full of malice and envy ; ^ so that whilst these men, in their blindness, were shut out of His kingdom, those who knew themselves to be sinners and confessed their wickedness and came to Him for deliverance from sin — the publicans and tJie harlots — entered in and partook of the blessings which He pur- chased for them. Let us, from what befell them, remember that watching for Christ with malicious intentions only hardens our heart and blinds our spiritual perception. Those who go to God's Word to seek contradictory statements, and to find occasion for defaming the truth, reap the reward of their evil intentions and are confirmed in their wickedness. They ,seehj and they do find. Christ came to the house of this Pharisee to eat bread, — not that He, who was Himself the Creator of all that minis- ters to man^s necessities, needed to receive food from man, but He came in order to give His host spiritual blessings. In thus doing He leaves behind His example, that those who minister to the spiritual necessities of His people should receive of their carnal things, for according to His own word the labourer is worthy of his hire; or as St. Paul has given done sur vous-meme, sur vos actions et sur vos paroles, quand vous vous trouvez a table en la corapagnie des autres, et particulierement de ceux qui ne temoignent pas beaucoup d'in- clination a la piete : souvenez-vous alors de I'avertisseraent du saint Apotre, qui dit que les vrais enfaus de Dieu se doivent considerer en ce raonde comma etant au milieu d'une nation perverse et corrumpue, et qu'ils doivent paraitre comme des lumieres, eclairans les autres par leur modestie et par leur bon exemple." — Abelly. 1 " Salvator tripliciter confundit observationera eorum : scilicet per potentiam, hydropicum miraculose curando; per sapientiam, qugestionem eis proponendo cui respondere non audent ; per bonitatem, beneficium iu- structionis suis insidiatoiibus impen- dendo." — Feraldus, Mom. super Evan. ST. LUKE XIV. I— II. ^ the same precept, 'Even so hath the Lord ordained that they icor ix u which preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel. (2) And, behold, there was a certain man before Matt.xi5.io. Him which had the dropsy.^ All times are times of mercy to Christ, whether He is on a journey, as when He raised the widow's son, or here whilst He is sitting at the table eating bread. He is ready to hear the suppliant and to heal at all times. Of Him it cannot Ph.Diez. be said. He is pursuing, or He is in a journey, or peradventure He sleepeth, and must he awahed. He neither slumbers nor i Kings xix. sleeps. His ears are open at all times and to all sinners.^ Though this man stood in the presence of all who sat at meat with Christ, yet he is spoken of as being before Him alone. He regarded only our Blessed Lord, as the source of that healing which he desired ; and though many were in the presence of the Saviour, yet this poor man was beheld by Him who alone can heal the wounds of sin, and who syiveim. regards every sinner separately. The disease, indeed, with which this man was afflicted is a striking type of sin in general. The sinner who gives way to the lusts of the body or of the mind is like the man tor- mented with the dropsy, troubled with thirst, and yet unsatis- fied with all that he can take to assuage thirst.^ Such a man even increases the strength of those sinful habits which holds him in bondage, by the efforts he makes to rid himself of the painful reproaches of conscience. But though dropsy is Jans- Gan«J« a type of sin in general, it especially resembles — (1) The sin of avarice, which is not cured by all that a man can obtain in this life, but is increased with every fresh gain. The money over which the avaricious man spends and wastes his life may fill his coffers, but it is wholly unable to fill his heart.^ 1 vSpioTTiKog—a. word only used by 3 Thus the heathen poet : — St. Luke, who is the only Evangelist " Crescit indulgens sibi dirus hydrops, ■who records this miracle. The expres- Nee sitim pellit, nisi causa morbi sion used by him is a strictly technical Fugerit venis, et aquosus albo one, and in this and the record of the Corpore languor." miracle we have one of the evidences of ITor. Carm. lib. ii. 2, 13 — 16. his professional calling, iwyt^ ^Ae ^^/of^^ ^ " Mellifluus S. Bernardus docet physician [Col. iv. 14]. avaritiatn esse specieni hydropisis : 2 " Erga hunc Dominum nulla bora sicut hjdropicus . . . ita avarus. [Ser. est extra horam : nee tenipus, extra xliv. ad Soror.] Egregia san^ cogi- tempus : nee locus ubi non sit locus tado ! Quia sicut de hydropico can- nec occasio ubi non sit ad postulandum tavit Ovidius : Quo plus sunt pota plus occasio et ut ab illo maxima dona ac sUiuntur aqum. [Ovid, Fasti i. 211.] beneficia obtineantur."— PA. Biez. Ita avarus inexplebili pecuuiarum cu- SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. lloyard. (2) It is typical of the sin of sensuality — the appetite for which is whetted by every act of indulgence, and is the further from being satisfied the more it is indulged. (3) It is an image of ambition and of the love of worldly greatness, the striving for pre-eminence ; and also of the dis- appointment which attends those who obtain their desires in this respect.^ This latter sin and disease of the mind is reproved by the parable of our Blessed Lord spoken imme- Corn. d Lap. diately after this miracle. Though this poor man stood before Christ with longing desire to be cured, and though he had faith in His power to heal him — for without this the Saviour wrought no miracle — yet either because it was the Sabbath, and he knew not whether Christ would heal him on that day, or because he feared the Pharisees, he spake no word of entreaty for heal- ing. His need alone, and his humility, plef;eded for him and fitted him to receive mercy from the hand of the Saviour. "When we, like this man, come before Christ, He hears all our prayers. He sees all our wants, and He heals us of all our infirmities.^ Cyril. Euthymius, Stella. Matt. xii. 10. Luke xiii. 14. (3) And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day 1 Whitby. Ps, xliv.21. Abelly. Our Blessed Lord answered not the words but the thoughts of tlfie lawyers and Flmrisees,^ replying to some inward con- ception or reasoning of their hearts, or, it may be, to some actions expressive of their maliciousness. In so doing He showed Himself to be God, who hiouwth the secrets of the heart, and prepared them for the manifestation of His Divine power in healing the sick man. He asked them this ques- piditate cruciatur. Id ipsum testatur S. Bernardinus Seneusis his verbis : Est avarus proprie, qui divitiis non satiatur. [Serin, xxii. in extraor. c. 14, in init.] Avaras nunquara suis desideriis satisfactum esse putat, nun- quam his faecibus terrenis satiari po- test, quamvis illis abundet et affluat. JRepleta est terra argento et atcro, ait Isaias [ii. 7]. Non dicit Propheta quod homines sint pleni, sed terra. Terra quidera repleta est, non autem homines. Neque mirura ; licet enim quispiam omnes mundi thesauros in sua potestate liabeat, semper tameu magis, magisque sitiet turbidas ar- gentei fluminis undas." — Joannes d Jesu, in Quadra ges. Condones, 1 " Ecce hydropicus. Cujus humor libidinera, tumor superbiam, sitis avaritiam, designat, Haec tria sunt ostia ad infernura." — Coppcnstein. 2 " Omne nostrum bonrim in hoc consistit, ut nos coram Deo consti- tuamus, quoniam Ipse est qui sanat omnes infirmitates nostras." — Stella. ^ " Quoniam peculiari ratione per hydropicum significatur avarus aut su- perbus, rect^ ante Pharisaeos hydropicus curatur, ut per alterius ncgritudineiu corporis in aliis exprimatur hinguor cor- dis et mentis." — Jansen Gandavensis. SZ LUKE XIV. I— II. g tion, as He so often did at other times, not that He desired information, but that He might compel them to reflect upon the inconsistency of their conduct in accusing Him, and that He might draw from them, at least, an answer in their own Quesnei. soul which should show them their error. In previous miracles, such as when our Saviour cured the man who had a withered hand, when the Pharisees objected that, by healing on the Sabbath day, He had broken the law. He argued with them — (1) That the bare letter of the law might be broken for an object of mercy and charity without violating the spirit of the commandment : and He instanced the case of David, who took of the shewbread, which was reserved for the use of the priests alone, and gave it to the company with him ; so that if the Pharisees condemned Christ merely because the letter of the law had been broken by the act of healing which He had performed, they would at the same time be condemning David, and Ahimelech the priest, who gave to ^ ^^- *»^ him the shewbread. (2) That a higher law, and one of greater authority than any glosses of the schools — that by which the great public act of worship was prescribed for the whole natiou, the sacrifice to be offered on the Sabbath in the Temple service — could not be performed without a violation of what they held to be the law of the Sabbath; and that whilst, for so Matt.iu 5. doing, the priests were blameless, Christ could not properly be charged with a breach of the same law in doing these Trench, acts of mercy.^ (3) Again, elsewhere He shows that even they who com- plained of what He did yet had their own cattle led to be watered, and supplied with food, and that all such acts ot mercy towards the beasts of the field were confessedly lawful. (4) He tells them that those who were blaming Him for healing this man of his infirmity were yet ready enough, merely for the preservation of their property, to do servile work on the Sabbath day; and thus they stood self-con- demned when they declared that His miracle of mercy was an act forbidden by even the letter of the law.^ 1 " Tulfc Dominus his verbis duo servandum f uerat, ut otiaremur h ma- docere de Sabbati religioue : unum, iitia et vacaremus operibus pielatis et quod legem interdum legi proeferri charitatis : hoc qui uou facit, frustra licet, nihil probibeute, quod ejusdem, sibi de Sabbati observatione placet,"— latoris sunt; alterum, quod Dominus Hofmeister . non simpliciter omne opus in Sabbato ^ .^ Qmne opus quo Dei solius gloria fieri prohibuerit. Gerte Sabbatura requiritur licet lu Sabbato. —raulut cedit circumcisioni, et nemo sine opere de Falacio. circumcidi potest. ... Sic Sabbatum lO SE VENTEENTH SUNDA V AFTER TRINITY. Hnymo. Luke xvi. 14. Abelly. Maldonatus. Cyril. (4) And they held, their peace, and healed him^ and let him go. And He took him. Christ healed tliis man of his dropsy in the presence of tlie lawyers and Pharisees, that through this healing of the body of the sick man He might heal the souls of those who sat at meat with Him. For this miracle itself had reference to the corporeal as well as the spiritual healing, since what dropsy was to the body of this poor man, that avarice and pride were to the souls of those who ivatched to find occasion to accuse Him : and as His power over the bodily disease was shown, so was this a means to enable them to acknowledge His power over the spiritual diseases — the sins of mankind; and yet, though this sudden miracle should have led them in whose sight it was wrought to acknowledge the power of Christ, we find the man lohich had the dropsy departing healed, whilst these lavnjers and Pharisees were but hard- ened, if not in their unbelief, yet in their determination to reject Christ ; so that we read soon after that the Pharisees . . . heard all these things : and they derided Him. We are often told of this circumstance with reference to our Blessed Lord when healing the bodies of men, that He laid His hands upon them, that He took hold of them in healing them. He teaches us by this action — (1) That He does not shrink from, nor despise, any one, however foul and loathsome he may be through his sins. (2) He shows us thereby that not only His Divine but also His human nature — the body of flesh which He had taken to Himself — possessed healing virtue ; that His humanity was pervaded with almighty and healing power. Christ saw the misery of this sufferer, and, touched with compassion at the sight, answered the silent prayer of his heart, and healed him.^ Thus did the Saviour deal with the whole race of man, and thus does He deal with the sinner now. He drew nigh to the world at first, as He is ever near to the sinner now, because He has compassion upon man^s infirmities, and is ready to heal. With reference to the whole race of man He acted as He did to the man whom He healed of the dropsy. 1 " Quid hie docet Christus ? Primo misericordiam exhibere, videt enim Dominus ante se hydropicum, et statirn ejus raiseretur ac sanat ilium. Non expectab vocem se precantis, noa differt miserum ad finem convivii; ultro, motu proprio ante discubituni sanat. Hunc isritur in modum et ta, mi Christiana, cdm vides coram te egentem, noli multas expectare pre- ces, noli differre opera, sed continud juva. J)fe dicas, inquit Sapiens, Prov, iii. 28, amico tuo : Vade et revertere et eras dabo tibi, cum statirn possis dare. Ne videlicet elabatur tibi h manibus oc- casio lucrandi coelura." — Matt, Faber. ST. LUKE XIV. I— II. J J (1) He took hold of mankind in its state of sinfulness by joining Himself to our flesh through the act of His incar- nation, and infused grace into the nature of man by means of that incarnation. (2) He redeemed the whole family of mankind from slavery to Satan by His meritorious sufferings and death. (3) He gave to the race of man the Holy Ghost, to sanctify us in our daily life. He deals, again, thus with each sinner — (1) He lays His hand upon him when by any means He moves him to repentance for sin. (2) He strengthens him, and co-operates with the penitent in his strivings after holiness. (3) He grants him His Spirit, that he may persevere in ^^^"1^"" the walk of holiness. But in this miracle we have not only a picture of God's mercy to mankind ; we have also an example for our imita- tion. H we would be healed of our sin, we also must — (1) Stand before Christ, having come to Him with faith and full confidence in His power and willingness to heal us of all our sins. (2) We must come on the Sabbath — resting, that is, from our own works, approaching His throne of mercy at rest from the passionate pursuits of earth, and casting aside all strivings and desires after past sin. (3) When we so come to Christ, we may be confident that He will lay His hand upon us, and release us from our sins, saimeron. and bid us go away in peace. Our Blessed Lord, when He had healed this man, is said to lei him go, requiring from him no service in compensation for His mercy.^ Thus, by His own example. He confirms the command which He had given His Apostles, Freely ye have received, freely give. His gifts are ever the result cf Matt.x.s. His love to us, and are bestowed without money andivithout isa.iv. 1. price. Acting in this spirit, Elisha refused to receive aught from the hand of Naaman, in reward for the healing which, by his ministry, God had given to the leper, lest it should 2Kmgsv.i5, seem that the bounties of God could be obtained for money, Royird. or be purchased by any acts of man's service. In going to the'house of the Pharisee, and sitting at meat with those who were watching an opportunity to accuse Him of breaking the law of Moses, and yet working the miracle and healing the poor man, Christ teaches us that we are not to neglect doing good to others lest our good should be evil ^ " Dimisit eum corpovaliter abire diemoniacum quem sanaverat, dixit, Banatum, ut se transferret ad salutera Redi in domum tuam, et narra giiania animarura. Unde supra, ad ilium tibi fecit Dens:'— Bonaveutiira. 12 SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY, spoken of, and malicious men sliould seek to injure us : we are to do His will and to show mercy to others^ content to Topiarius. leave the event in His hand. Let us remark, that our Blessed Lord did this, as He did so many other of His miracles, not only in the sight of a multitude, but in the presence of His malicious enemies, who were even then watching to find an accusation against Him. In this we may see the reality of His miracles. The malice of the watchful foes of Christ would prevent their being imposed upon by that which was not manifestly and without Luzerne. all contradictiou a work of Divine power. Exod. xxiii. 5. Dent. xxii. 4. 7 q Luke xiii. 15. day r (5) And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass^ or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway indl him out on the Sahhath Innn. ab Iiictu-. Haynio. Which of you who are now watching to accuse Me of breaking the Sabbath, luhich of you who are ready to censure Me, but would be willing enough to break the letter of the same law for the sake of your property, even if it be only one ass or one ox ? They were ready to break the letter of the law by drawing out of a pit the beast which had fallen into it. They were equally ready to accuse Christ, who had come to p)uU out of the pit which has no water the souls of those who had fallen into the snare of the devil and were immersed in the mire and pollution of their sins.^ 1 Several uncial manuscripts read v'loQ Tj (3ovg, which is the reading of the Coptic version, followed by S. Cle- mens of Alexandria, Kuinoel, Trench, Wordsworth. Alford adopts this reading in preference to that of the Vulgate and of the Textus receptns. If this is the true reading, our Blessed Lord's words would mean, If a son, or even an ox, should fall into a pit on the Sabbath day, ye would release them ; how much more should I heal My son and the creature of My hand, who has fallen into a worse calamity. Olshausen however remarks, "The con- nexion is most in favour of uvog. The whole passage contains a conclusion drawn d minori ad majus, and with this it is obvious v\6q does not agree." Stier also maintains the genuineness of the reading which is found in almost all versions of the passage, and observes, "The reading, v'ioq, which Reltig de- feuds, and which, if genuine, would require fj ^ovq to be regarded as a spu- rious and unapt addition, is, in itself, despite all critical authority, so inap- propriate, that we cannot admit it : we cannot suppose that Jesus would require it of these heartless Pharisees without any qualification, that they should treat every stranger to thenr with the same love wliich they would feel towards their own children ! " — S tier's IVords of the Lord Jesus (Eng- lish Translation, vol. iv. pp. 68, 69). 2 "Bosjugura trahit; et per bovem designatur populus Judaicus, cujus cervicem jugum L gis attraxit. Asinus lascivum et immundum est animal, et onus portat ; et signat populum gen- tilem, qui immundus f uit— id est, origi- ST. LUKE XIV. I— II. 12 However rigid these Pharisees might be in their observ- ances of the traditionary interpretations of the law of Moses yet this was forgotten when their property was in danger of destruction.^ And this care for the letter of the command- ments, and for the mere outward and ritual observances of the law, did not prevent their being indifferent to all its spiritual requirements. They regarded the body, and were scrupulous in the rigid performance of bodily worship, but it was to the neglect of the soul and of spiritual obedience. They could bestow thought upon the necessities of their cattle which had/aiZen into a 'pit,^ but they were indifferent Barradius. to the wants of their brethren. By His conduct on this occasion, and by His treatment of the man afflicted with the dropsy, as well as of these malicious Pharisees, our BlessedLord manifestedHis wisdom. His power, and His goodness. His wisdom was evidenced by His answering the thought of men's hearts ; His power was shown in His healing the sickness of the man who stood before Him ; His goodness was marked, not only by His miracle of mercy on the body of this man, but also in His forbearance towards those who were watching to accuse Aivemus. Him of sin in breaking the law. (6) And they could not answer Him again to these things. The evidence of Divine power, and the truth and wisdom of Christ's words, silenced the malice of these Pharisees, though (Ecumenias. it did not cause them to cease from their efforts to entrap the Saviour. They were unable to answerHim, though they continued to lay snares against Him, until at length they were permitted to crucify Him.^ In this let the ministers nali peccato et actual! pollutus. . . . Arabire regionibus frequenter obviis, Veniens Dominus Jesus in munduni in quibus aqua pluvialis coUigitur, per incarnationis mysterium oranes, et quae inferius latse, superne autera JudfEos et gentiles, vinculis Satanse in- angustse sunt : vid. Faber, Archmlog. \euit astrictos Qt in puteo concupiscen- d. Hebr. p. 122, seqq. ; Warnekros, tife— i. e. carnalibus desideriis invenit Sebr. Alterth., p. 57, sec^." —Kuinoel. mersos. Nulla distantia inter Judjcos » "iVon poterant ad hac respondere et gentiles ; omnes enim peccaverunt, et UU — splendidissima namque Juce egent gloria Bei-i. e. misericordia Dei veritatis evanescere videbant omnes [Rom. iii. 2ZY-Haymo. tenebras falsitatis : sic enim eos con- 1 "Cadit asinus, et est qui sublevet, vincit, ut eosdera etiam ayanti.j con- perit anima et non est qui recogitet."- demnet; ostendens eos violare babba- S Bernard tum in operibus cupiditatis qui Lum 3 " $ps«o id. qd. ^oQvvoQ, Matt. xii. violare arguunt in operibus chantatis. 11, Heb. V,3, Gen. xxxvii. 22, Exod. legem male interpretantes. ^on enira xxi. 33, 1 Sam. xix. 22, 2 Sam. iii. in Sabbato a bonis sed malis operibus 26. De cisternis in PaljBstinse et iQnM\di\\m:'—Konigsteyn. 14 SE VENTEENTH SUNDA V AFTER TRINITY. Brentius. Prov. XXV. 6, 7. Hofmeister. Soarez. Jansen Yp. of Christ learn a lesson of patience. If the spotless and perfect life of Christ, and the Divine wisdom which fell from His lips, failed to move the hearts of these sinners, let not His ministers wonder and be disappointed if their labours and example and teaching, mingled as all these must be with so much error and imperfection, appear to be disregarded^ and even lost, upon an ungodly world. If, after all their care and toil, much of what they do seems lost and disregarded, they are in this but like their Lord, and are following in His footsteps. (7) And He put forth a parable to those which were hidden, when He marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them^ (8) When thou art hidden^ of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the his^hest rooni ; lest a more honourable man than thou he hidden of him ; (9) and he that bade thee and him co7ne and say to thee, Give this man place ; and thou begin ivith shame to take the lowest room? Our Divine Master is here pointing out the danger, not of sitting down in the chief room and in the chief place at a feast, but of choosing this post and seeking this height. And there seems in these words so striking an application to the condition of the Jews, that the man seeking and placing himself in the highest room became a parable to the whole nation. They, proud of their descent from Abraham, and trusting in the possession of the law of Moses, whilst they rejected Him by whom they were called and hidden to the marriage, were through that pride blinded to their real state, .were compelled to take the lowest room, and to give place to the Gentiles, whom they despised. After our Blessed Lord had healed the bodily sickness of the man before Him, He proceeds to point out the means of cure for men's spiritual dropsy, their insatiable ambition, and striving for the chief places in power and in the estimation of their fellow-men. His miracle was in itself an image of spiritual truth, and now by a parable He completes the lesson which His miracle teaches. Our Blessed Lord is here speaking a parable. He is not concerned merely with the Sabbath-day feast which was probably then taking place, but He leads us on and gives us rules for our guidance with reference to that spiritual ^ " KXijOyQ a Domino per predica- tores Suos — 7nisit servos suos vocare [Matt. xxii. 3]." — Gorranus. 2 "Quasi dejectus in animo tuo, aut ejectus de officio tuo, aut rejectus post mortem in inferno." — Gorranus. ST. LUKE XI K I— II. feast to whicli He is ever inviting us, especially to that ivedding in wliicli our souls are knit to Him:^ for daily is He recalling souls wliicli have wandered from Him, in order that they may be again united to Him. This exhortation, ^"1"^. therefore, is made to every one of us, since al are called to the closest union with Christ, the Bridegroom of the Church Ludoi.i. and the Head of the several members of that Church, which ^^^p-'''^'^' is Bis body. Holy Scripture, indeed, continually represents this union of Christ with the members of His body under the fio-ure of a wedding; or, rather, every earthly marriage is a figure and parable of those heavenly nuptials by which the soul of the faithful one is united to the Saviour. Under this imao-e does our Blessed Lord answer the cavil of the Pharisees : Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, hut Thy disciples fast not ? And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the hridechamher fast, while the Bridegroom is with them ? as long as they have the Bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. But the days will come, when tJw Bridegroom shall be talcen away from them, and then shall they fast in those days. Again, the work of God^s Church on earth is Mark u. is- spoken of in the same way. The kingdom of heaven is like ^^' unto a certain Mng, which made a marriage for his son, and sent forth his servants to call them that luere bidden to the wedding. So also the perfect unity of the soul with God after Matt.xxii. 2, this life is imaged in the same way. The marriage of the Lamb is coyne, and His luife hath made herself ready. . . .And he saith unto me. Write, Blessed are they ivhich are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. This marriage God made Rev. xix. 7, when He united the Divine nature in indissoluble union with the human at the incarnation of the Son, and in the Person of the One God-Man Christ Jesus ; and all union of the Roy*--*!, soul of the individual to God is the result and the blessed fruit of this union of God with man. (10) But when thou art hidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; thaf^ when he that bade thee '^ It would seem doubtful whether garded. In the time of our Blessed the feast in the house of the Pharisee Lord, however, the traditions of the were a wedding feast, since it was con- elders in this respect would probably trary to the traditions of the elders to be observed. marry on the Sabbath. Before the "i ''"\va—Utcumvenerit.Cor\]\mci\o time of Ezra a marriage on this day ut videtur debere accipi consecutive, was lawful ; from that time, however, it Non enim docere voluit Dominus eo was forbidden [Maimonides, Hilchot fine ultimum locum diligendum, sed Ishot, cap. X. §§ U, 15]. Afterwards quod consecuturuin sit." — Jansen it would seem that this rule was disre- Gandavensis. i6 SEVENTEENTH SUNDA Y AFTER TRINITY. Prov XXV. 6, comtth, he may say unto thee. Friend, go up higher i"^ then shalt thou have tvorship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. Haymo. Banadius. Matt. xi. 29. Gorranus. Bede. Bonaven- tura. When thou art hidden to the wedding, and art called to the faith in Christ, go and sit down in the loivest room; humble thyself in all things, and thou shalt find grace and favour in the sight of God, who will exalt thee to no mere earthly height, but to that which is spiritual and heavenly. It is unbelief in Christ, and forgetfulness of His presence, which permits men to be ambitious, and to strive with such zeal for earthly advancement. If men practically remem- bered that Christ, the King of kings, regards with greater favour and approval those who are free from the spirit of ambition, and who are lowly in their own eyes, they would shrink from the foolish pursuits of worldly honour and station. He who bids the soul to this marriage feast is Christ, the Bridegroom. He comes to us with this word of confidence — Friend; and to those whom He finds walking in humility He addresses this call to go up higher. To every one who is so walking He says. Friend, since they are the friends of God, especially beloved by Him, -who whilst on earth were of a lowly spirit ; "^ and He calls such to a higher life — (1) To greater holiness, to advance in their Christian calling whilst on earth ; and this He does by spiritual inspiration, and by drawing their hearts upwards to Him- self. This He is doing daily, lifting it up from its sinfulness and weakness, and giving to the soul strength to lead that higher life to which He calls each one of us. (2) He calls us by death to a higher position, calling us away from earth and placing us in His kingdom of glory. The marriage feast, again, is a type of that spiritual feast of Christ's body and blood, which is in itself an image of the joys which await us in heaven, and for which it prepares us. To this feast Christ invites all the faithful, since it is the marriage feast of Himself and of His own virgin spouse, the Church. The table is the altar of God ; the food, the Lamb ^ " TlpoaavafiriQi dvcoTspov. — Ex Salamone xxv. 7, ubi Grsece sic est : Kptlaaov yap crot to pr]Qfivai, 'Ava- l5aivt, 7/ raTTeivCJffai as iv TrpoffWTrw ^vvaaTov. Exstat parabola ejusdem sensus in libro Judaico cui titulus Electuarium Gemmarura." — Grotius. 2 "In hodierna parabola observe quod ascendens ad superiorera locum vocetur amicus, non vex-o qui descendit. Qui modesti et inanis glorise osores sunt, M amici sunt omnium, concitanf animos ad benevolentiam, sicut vicissim arabitiosi, ciim se omnibus anteponuni exosi sunt singulis. Amicus vocatui qui aulicum seseprsestiteratnovissimuir locum capessendo." — Hartung. ST. LUKE XIV, I II. 17 slain for the whole household of God ; the drink there offered the precious blood of His dear Son. Whoever approaches with high thoughts of his own worthiness, and relying upon his own merits, conies like the proud man whom the Lord tells to take a lower seat.^ He who regards himself, on the other hand, as wholly unworthy to come to that heavenly feast, will seek to take the lowest seat there, and shall, because he is of a lowly spirit, hear the voice of Christ inviting him to follow Him to higher joys— J^rien^, cjo ujj FaberStac. higher. When thou, penitent one, art called from thy sins, and when Christ is speaking peace to thy soul, and thou art called to union with Him, remember that humility is the foundation of all Christian perfection, and the first requisite in those who seek to be Christ's disciples, and would advance in His knowledge, and be worthy of a higher place in His kingdom of glory. Think thyself, therefore, to be least and lowliest of all; aim not after high things on earth, hut con- descend to them that are of loiu estate. (11) For whosoever exalteth himself shall he abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. Hiiro de S. Cliaro. This lesson of humility is frequently inculcated by our Blessed Lord in these or similar words; but, beyond all words, it is a lesson enforced by His own example. Who, being in the form of God, thought it not rohbery to be equal with God : hut made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Sim the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men : and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Him- self, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every Icnee should bow, of tilings in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth ; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Though there may be danger in high station naturally, yet nuptiarum Agni vocati sunt [Apoc. xix, 9]. Inter invitatos vero ad pran- diura multi confusionem patiuntur ex causis diversis : scilicet alii propter defectum puritatis conscientia} ; alii propter defectum pietatis ; alii propter defectum charitatis ; alii propter de- fectum humilitatis." — JPeraldus. Job xxii. 29. Ps. xviii. 27. Prov. XV. 33i xviii. 12; xxix. 2:{. Matt, xxiii. 12. Luke xviii. U. J.aines iv. 6. 1 Pet. V. 5. Phn.ii.6- 11. ^ "Nuptias hie intelligimus con- vivium nuptiale, scilicet Christi et Ecclesise. Et est duplex convivium, scilicet prandium et ccena. Prandiura celebratur in fide: ccena in manifesta Dei visione. Prandium commune est non solum electis, sed etiara multis reprobis. Ccena vero solum est elec- torum ; unde, Beati qui ad coenani GOSP. VOL. III. i8 SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. let us note Christ does not say tliat wliosoever is exalted shaXl he abased, but whosoever exalteth himself} Many are exalted without any seeking on tlieir own part, but are raised to eminence from their fitness for high station : of these our Blessed Lord is not speaking. He, however, who, from the promptings of worldly ambition, strives for station, and desires to place himself in a post of honour, will, even in earthly things, oftentimes reap that harvest which is here threatened — he shall he ahased ; and in matters of the soul will always miss that for which he is unprepared and unfitted through his ambition and self-confidence. The world really abases by exalting its children. God raises His sons by humbling them, and exalts those who follow His will and humble themselves.^ The road to the honours of heaven passes at all times through the gate of humility.^ But let us remember that the promise, he shall he exalted, is made to one who humhleth himself and is lowly in his own estima- tion, not to him who by his speech, his look, his clothing, and by other mere outward manifestations, endeavours to steua. appear lowly in the sight of his fellow-men. The promise is only to him who is really humble in his inmost heart.* For a threefold reason are we bidden, at all times, to take the lowest room : — • Augustine. (1) Bccauso of tlio Safety of this position: from it none can fall. (2) Because of the tranquillity of which such a position allows. It is the lofty station which is exposed to moral as well as to physical storms, and He who prescribes humility has given the characteristic of the Saviour, that He shall he isa, xxxii. 2. as a hiding-iolace from the ivind, and a covert fi-om the tempest. (3) Because of the exaltation which by God's appointment Peraidus. shall follow upou humility : he who humhleth liimself shall he exalted. Quemadmoduni volens ut parva ignis flamma elevetur, et in altum feratur earn flabelli motu et veloci agitatione deprirait, sic Deus nos deprimit, ut extoUat, dejicit deorsum ut sursum erigat." — Stella. 3 " llle dignior qui humilior." — Cassian. * The promise is only to him wlio is "active in his humiliation, passive in his exaltation." — Bp. Brownrigg. ^ "On Trac 6 v-^S)V tavrbv raTrti.- vuiOijCTSTai, Kal 6 ra7reiva>v eavrbv v^l^ojOi'iatTai. — " Notabile est quod dicit, qui se exaltat, non qui exaltatur. Nam, ut dicit Gregorius, Non potestas sed elatio in crimine est. Et qui se hwniliat exaltabitiir. — Notabile est quod dicit, qtii se humiliat, scilicet voluntarie ; non qui humiliatur, quasi ex necessitate.'' — Gorranus. 2 " Hurailiat Deus suos ut exaltct, Bicut mundus elevat suos ut dcjiciat. *^* ** Domine Jesu Christe, separa nos a malis : da nobis Sabbatum in- ternsB quietis, ut intrans in domum nostrae conscientiae incorpores nos ST. LUKE XIV. I— II. 19 Tibi: conforta in nobis vim diges- tivam spiritualem calore charitatis, virtute verbi, opere misericordiae, ex- emplo bonse operationis, et assiduitate orationis ; ut cibus salutis, digestus in stomacho nostri intellectus, digeratur et in hepate affectus, et conveniens nutrimentum ad omnia membra bonse operationis transmittatur. Domine, qui nos ad religionem et ad convivium sacrae Scripturae invitasti, doce nos per veram cordis, oris, et operis humili- tatem, recumbere in novissimo loco ; ut liberemur a curiositate superstitionis, sanemur a morbo cupiditatis, et eripi- araur a puteo periculosoe negationis ut glorificemur in die resurrectionis coram simul discumbentibus. Amen." — Al- bcrtus Magnus. C3 THE EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. St. Matthew xxii. 34 — 46. Mark xii. 28. Luke X. 25. Mark vi. I xii. 37. Gerhard. John xi. 47. Bainssant. (34) But ivlien the Pharisees had heard that He had put the Sadducees to silence} they were gathered together} We learn from tlie verse before tWs that the common 'people, who so often heard Him gladly, were astonished at our Blessed Lord's doctrine. Theirs was the wonder and admiration which oftentimes prepares men^s hearts to receive the truth. But^ the pride and prejudice of the Pharisees blinded their eyes to the proofs of Divine power which Christ was continually working, and hardened their hearts, so that almost every display of His Godhead, and every proof of His Divine wis- dom, were made by them the occasions of fresh blasphemy against Him, and of renewed efforts to take away His life. Nothing, indeed, blinds men so much to the light of the truth as the spirit of pride. This was especially evinced in the case of the Pharisees, who boasted of their knowledge of Holy Scripture and of the whole Jewish law, were proud of their learning and of the estimation in which they were held by their countrymen, and yet, through their self-conceit and pride, were utterly blind to the signs and hardened against the testimony which Holy Scripture bore to the truth of Christ's claims to be the Messiah, the Son of David.'* 1 "'E^i'/[iw(TE [from (pifi6<;, a curb or muzzle], literally * had pufc a muzzle on their lips,' an idiom frequently to be met with in the Greek writers, as Josephus de Bello Jud. i. 22, 23; Lucian de Morte, Per. 15." — Bloom- Jwld, * " Conveniunt in unum — ut scilicet multitudine vincerent quem ratione superare non poterant " — Op. imper- fect. ' " Fhariscei autem {o'l U). Particula autem adversativa est : quasi dicat Evangelista, non sicut turbae admirati, sed invidia agitati sunt." — Umman. ab Incarnatione. * " Considere que tout le bonbeur de I'homme consiste a s'approcher de Jesus; et si les Pharisiens avaient sceu faire leur profit des belles occa- sions qu'ils avaient de la faire, ils se seraient procur6 autant de bonheur, ST. MATTHEW XXII. 34—46. 21 In tne incidents recorded in this chapter we have an illustration of what is meant by St. Paul when he tells us that we have an High Priest who was in all 'points tempted like iieb i 1- as we a,re. He speaks not of one special temptation, but of a ' ' " life full of temptations; and in this place we have instances of the submission of Christ to the temptation of sinners, and the way in which He was continually surrounded by the snares of His enemies. (1) We find the Herodians and Pharisees seeking to entangle Him as to the lawfulness of paying tribute to Csesar, that so they might destroy His credit with the multitude, or Matt xxii 15 might arouse the jealousy of the temporal power of Rome. ~~- (2) On their discomfiture, the Sadducees crowded around Him, and endeavoured to ensnare Him on the two questions of the future state and of the marriage of her who had had Matt. xxii. 23 seven husbands. ~'^- (3) As soon as the Sadducees had been put to silence, we have here the Pharisees trying their powers to destroy His reputation by the captious question as to which of the com- mandments was the greatest, since, as men's minds were divided on the subject, His answer must needs offend many. Matt. xxii. 31 In the midst of all these temptations, by His replies to those ~*^' who sought to ensnare Him, He manifested not only that He Ludov. was the Divine Wisdom, but He showed also His meekness ^""^^* and gentleness towards sinners. Our Blessed Lord had silenced the Sadducees with the de- claration that they erred from not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God. Whereupon the Pharisees, whose special ver. 29. boast it was that they understood the Scriptures, and professed great devotion to God, came forward to do that which the Sadducees had failed to accomplish. And that they might do this the more surely, they selected one to be thei: spokesman whose profession made him acquainted with the ^^^^^^ ^., Scriptures — putting forth a lawyer, or scribe, as their repre- Hofmeisier. sentative. This act of the Pharisees, in coming to the aid of the Sadducees, reveals the malignity of their hearts. Though bitterly hostile to each other, yet they forgot this in their desire to entrap our Saviour. And though our Blessed Lord Jerome. corame en abusant ils ont attire sur approches de Jesus-Christ; celles au eux de disgraces et de malheur. Car rebours qui se tiennent pres de lui comma la luraiere fait mal aux yeux avec humilite et purete d'intention, chassieux, ou aflfectes de quelque ma- y regoivent des lumi^res divines et lignite, et eclaire ceux qui sont bien toutes sortes d'avantages. Voy quel disposes : ainsi les personnes affectees fruit tu recueilles I'en approchant si des habitudes vitieuses, telles qu' souvent, par les exercices de Toraison, etaient les Pharisiens pleins d'envie et des communions qui te sont si fre- et d'orgueil, retirent du dommage des quentes."—Jiainssant. 22 EIGHTEENTH SUNDA Y AFTER TRINITY. Gorranus. had confirmed tlie truth of the Resurrection^ which the Sad- ducees denied, and which the Pharisees asserted, yet, in place of being pleased at this support, the latter immediately join their discomfited foes, in order, if possible, to involve Him in some contradiction or opposition to God's Word; and were, like Herod and Pilate three days afterwards, for the occasion, made friends together by their common enmity to Rab. Maurus. Christ. They were gathered together in order to arrange what questions should be asked, and to consult how best they might entrap Christ in His words. In this Gospel we have these two all-important questions answered — (1) What is the law : what is its sum and substance, and how may it be fulfilled ? Our Blessed Lord sums up the law by telling these Pharisees, that the fulfilment of it consists in love to God and to our neighbour. (2) What is the Gospel : what are the good tidings and the benefits of Christ's incarnation : in short, what think ye of Christ ? And the answer to this question is, that He who is the Son of David according to the flesh, and so man, and the brother of all men, is also the Lord of David, the very and eternal God. Jaiisen Yp. Matt. xxii. Topiarius. Lnke x. 25. Mark xii. 34. E. a. Chry- Bostom. Augnstine. Th. Aquinas. (35) Then one of them, which was a lawyer} ashed Him a question, tempting Him, and saying , The word tempting (TretpdCoiv) does not necessarily imply that the lawyer asked Him captiously, or that he sought any- thing else than information upon a question much debated amongst the Jews at that time.^ His assent to the words of the Saviour betokens honesty of purpose on his pai't ; and Christ's commendation. Thou art not far from the Icingdom of God, confirms this view. Some commentators suppose that the lawyer began his questioning maliciously, but that, being struck by the unexpected answers of Christ, he ended by acknowledging the truth of His words, and that this acknowledgment of a change of mind on his part led to our Saviour's declaration. Others, again, think that from the first he was an earnest seeker of the truth, and desired really to know what was the great commandment of the law, and that the other Pharisees made use of this his honest longing for 1 Alawyer. The Syriac and Persian d Lapicle. **I1 semble que ce docteur versions read, that was learned, or skil- de la loi, qui etait d'entr'eux, ne vint ful^ in the law. The Arabic version pas taut le tenter a. mauvais dessein, reads here a scribe, as in Mark xii. 28. que faire epreuve de cette science si ' " Tentans idem est quod probans divine que Ton admirait dans tons Ses et experimentum capiens." — Cornelius discours." — De Saci. ST. MA TTHE W XXII. 34—46. 2 the truth, and urged him to put this question ; he desiring only to know that which was true, they hoping to entande «^'->^«rd. Christ in His words. ^'•"■• Be this as it may, we see here that the Pharisees, who knew the letter of Holy Scripture, and were instructed in the words of the law, were not convinced by the answers of Christ. It is not a knowledge of the words of God's law which disposes us to receive His truth and to obey His will, Rainssant. but an honest heart and faith in Him. (3G) Master, ivhich is the great commandment in the laivf The Pharisees, by the mouth of this lawyer, call the Saviour Master, though they were no disciples of His, pro- fessing a respect for Him whom they sought to entangle in His speech; and they ask for the great — that is, the greatest Konigsteyn. — commandment in the law, who were breaking the whole law in their insidious attempts to entrap Christ. Let those ci.ryvostom ask for the greater who have fulfilled the smaller commands of God. The question which this lawyer put to Christ was one which was warmly discussed amongst the various schools of the Scribes and Pharisees at the time when our Blessed Lord was on the earth. Various were the opinions as to the superior importance of this or that precept of the law.^ Some made the great commandment of the law to be that which relates to free-will offerings; others considered that the rigid observ- ance of the Sabbath fulfilled the most important precept i^ others regarded the command for the payment of tithes as of primary importance ; whilst others made the great com- mandment of the law to be that which directed the offering of the prescribed sacrifices. To this latter opinion the Scribe Bede. seems to refer when, after hearing the answer of Christ, Mausi. he adds. Well, Master, Thou hast said the truth : for there is one God; and there is none other hid He: and to loveHimwith 1 Thus Stier quotes from R. Simlai, 2 Then the observance of the three in the " Tractate Makkoth," this meals on the Sabbath is reckoned by question : " If Moses had enjoined some as among the great command- upon us 365 prohibitions and 248 ments : see in St. Luke xiv. 1, Gospel commands, making in all 613 different for the Seventeenth Sunday after precepts and ordinances, surely all Trinity. "These three meals are a great these cannot be equally important, nor matter, for it is one of the ffreat com- every transgression equally grievous! mandments in the law'' [Tzeror Ilara- Which, then, are the important, and mor, fol. 3, 3]. See note on Gospel which the inconsiderable ? ''—Stier on for Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity, tJie Words of the Lord Jesus (English vol iii. p. 3. Translation, vol. iii. p. 177). 24 EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. Mark xii. 32, 33. Barradius, all the heart, and with all the understanding, and luith all the soul, and ivith all the strength, and to Jove his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. Had Christ done as the Pharisees seem to have expected — had He selected one particular class of observances, and *^cclared these to be of the greatest importance — they would doubtless have accused Him of disparaging other command- ments of God, whilst He would have increased the enmity of those who contended for the primary importance of laws which He had passed by. Deut. vi. 5 ; X. 12; XXX. 6. Luke X. 27. Salmeron. Bon a Ven- tura. Jansen Yp. Chrysostora. (37) Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt^ love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. Thou shalt. This love, which our Blessed Lord declares to be the fulfilling of the law, is that which is to fill our whole future life. It must, indeed, be begun here, but it is not to end here ; it is to continue, and to be perfected, in the life to come. In this it difi'ers from faith and hope, which are sometimes joined with it; for faith shall no longer have place where all things are seen, and hope must disappear where all things are enjoyed. And the object of our love is called the Lord thy God. The Lord, because He is the Creator of all ; God, because He sustains all things by His providence. And yet more than this : thy God, inasmuch as He hath given Himself for each one of us, for every individual member of the family of man ; because He is thy Eedeemer, thy Jnsti- fier, thy Sanctifier, thy Guide in this world, and thy glory and happiness in the world to come.^ He is the Lord thy God, for He has created thee ; has adopted thee as His son ; and has blessed thee with abundant gifts, and continues to heap on thee innumerable benefits.^ And He says that we are to love. He says not that ^^e are to fear merely, for He speaks to us not as servants, but as children, and would have us not fear Him as Lord only, but 1 ' AyairrjatiQ. — ^'- Diliges. Futurura est indicativi, pro imperativo, Dilige ; et hoc more Hebraico." — Emman. ah Incarnatione. 2 "Ait Dominum Deum tuum, ut sic te ad amorem invitaret, siquideia Deus ita tuus est, ut nemo illuma te si nolueris auferre possit."— PA. Diez. 5 " Diligendus Deus supe7' omnem honorem^ quia est summa gloria ; super omnem scientiam, quia est summa sapientia; super omnem vohiptatem. quia est summum gaudium ; supe^ omnem ornatum, quia est summa pul- cliritudo ; super omnes Jiomines, quia est summus noster amicus ; super omnia, quia in Ipso sunt omnia efc Ipse est TO TTCLv. Per omnes, Ipsum propter So ipsum, et reliqua propter Ipsum amando. Cum Deus nos amat, non nisi propter Se nos amat; ergo et nos nou diligamus aliter nisi propter Se ipsum." — Gerhard. ST. MATTHEW XXIL 34—46. love Him as our Father. Nor does He say tliat we are to know God, for this is implanted within our nature itself. But He bids us love, since this is more perfect than either fear or knowledge, for peyfect love casteth out fear; and He is commanding that in which consists the perfection of man. And again, as He is speaking to the heart, He says thou shalt love, since love is the property of the heart. We are, then, to love Him with readiness and delight — not merely to serve Him as though we we^-e performing a hard duty or a bitter task. We are to lov. Sim with the heart, and not merely to obey Him as in proffe^ aig sacrifices, or in paying tithes, and in such outward acts of devotion as those which made up so large a portion of the religion of His questioners. In this injunction to love God with all our heart, with all our soiil, and with all our mind, we are emphatically bidden to love Him with all the powers which He has given us : so that whatever else may be implied in this reduplication of the command, in it our Divine Master tells us that the strength of the intellect, the affections, and the desires of His creatures are to centre in Him ; that in our inmost thoughts and in our outward life, with the affections of our nature, and with the intellect, which is His great gift to us, we are to love as well as to serve Him.^ He only can be truly said to love God with all his heart and soul and mind, whose whole intellec- tual strength is given to the things of God, whose wisdom is employed alone for God, whose thoughts turn to the revela- tion which God has given to man, and whose memory holds firmly the faith and gratitude which is due towards God.^ Threefold is the number of the enemies which would draw us from God : the devil, by his suggestions of evil thoughts ; the flesh, by the enticement of sensual pleasures ; and the world, by its temptations of business and fashion, by its pomps and its vanities. Against these we are armed with threefold armour, and are bidden to love God in our hearts as 1 John iv. 13. Ludolph. Tostatus. Alb. Magnus. Hugo de S. Chaio. Bellarmine, De Mor. lib.ii.c. 13. Auarustine, De Doct. Christ, c. 22. Pseudo- Clirysos- toui. ^ " Per caeteras virtutes partem aliquam \el tui vel rerum tuarum Deo donas. Per castitatem, corporis continentiam ; per eleemosvnas, par- tem divitiarum ; per fidem, partem intellectus tui. Adhuc enim ad alia, corpore. divitiis, intellectu uteris, etiara Deo non offenso. At in amore totum tuum cor, totam animain, totam mentem Deo tribuis. Deinde hoc solum habes, quod libere Ei dare potes. Noli hoc parum dividere, sed integrum da. Da, inquam, non com- modato ad tempus, sed absolute in perpetuum. Semper enim currit hoc praeceptura de diligendo Deo, Charitas mmqiiam excidit [1 Cor. xiii. 8] ; ne quidem tunc, quum caeterte virtutes omnes evacuabuntur. " — Stapleton. 2 See further on this the Com- mentary on the Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity ; also Dr. Barrow's xxiii. and xxiv. Sermons,— '' Of the Love of God," — and his xxv. and xxvi. Sermons, — " Of the Love of our Neighbour." Pee also Bishop But- ler's xi., xii., xiii., and xiv. Sermons preached at the Eolls Chapel. lb EIGHTEENTH SUNDA Y AFTER TRINITY. Alvernus. PiDV. xxiii. 26. Peraldus. Cajetaii. Au$?u.>tine, on Ps. xxxii. and with all our heart, and so give no place for the evil suggestions of Satan ; to will His will in all things, and so escape from the yoke of fleshly lusts ; to bind the faculties of our mind to His wisdom, so that we may not fall under the errors of the world. ^ The injunction, then, to love God with all our heart, or, as it is elsewhere expressed, My son, give Me thine heart, is twofold. We are bidden — (1) Positively, to give the whole force of our affection and of our will to our Maker. (2) Negatively, we are to cherish in our hearts nothing which is opposed to God, nothing which can diminish our love to Him, nor convert the affection of a child into hatred. If the question arise whether it be possible to do this, to make His will the leading motive of our hearts, and desire for Him the chief occupation of our affections,^ let us remem- ber that He who has bidden this never demands from us an impossibility, nor calls upon us to do that which He has not given us power to perform. Whether the gift be one of nature or of grace, we may be sure that He who has told us to love Him with all our heart will enable us to do so. Man, indeed, must love. His heart is made for this ; so that, if he love not God, he will yet love, though he love some lesser good, to the exclusion of God, and, therefore, will make that good to be evil to him ; as the waters of a fountain, if they find not or if they make not a channel in which they may run, are scattered and lost, or even become stagnant and a source of corruption. If we desire to know whether w^e have this love of God in our hearts, we shall know, on examination, by these marks: — (1) By the longing of the heart after Him, the desire to feel more of His presence. (2) By the readiness with which we resist the temptations which would draw us from Him. (3) By the rectitude of the motives by which we do His will : that this is not merely from fear of man, nor from the desire of pleasing the world and of obtaining temporal advantages. (4) By the readiness with which we do His will. For if in our hearts we really love Him, and our will is to do His will. 1 "Totiim exigit a te quod totum te fecit." — Augustine. 2 " Chrysostomus dicit, principium dilectionis est duplex : dilectio enim potest fieri ex passione, et ex judicio rationis. Ex passione. cum nescithomo vivere sine eo qur-d diligit, ex ratione secundum quod diligit ut ratio dictat. Dicit ergo quod ille ex toto corde diligit qui diligit carnaliter, ille ex anima qui ex judicio rationis. Et nos Deum utroque modo debemus dili- gere." — Th. Aquinas. invcn- tura. ST. MATTHEW XXTI. 34—46. 27 then our love towards Him will lead us readily to lieei) His Joimxiv.m. commandmenis . (5) By our indifference to the world and its possessions, and the readiness with which we use the goods of our stewardship for the flock of Christ. (6) By our patience under suffering and in adversity.^ b< And this love to God which is here enjoined upon us is that which accords with the nature of man, and is not, there- fore, to be learnt as something without us ; nor can it be made the subject of rules. We may, however, rekindle it when it seems almost extinct, and cherish it when it seems almost ready to perish — (1) By the remembrance of God^s past mercies and His rvom.xii.i. continued love for us, who is love itself, and who loved us Ephes.^r." ^^' before we loved Him. (2) By the recollection of the innumerable benefits which He still heaps upon us, who is not only goodness, but especially is good to us. (3) By the memory of His gracious promises to us ; that He is not only ready to forgive us our past sins, but also to uerhard. guide us unto death. For a testimony of God's past mercies and an assurance of His continued presence and protection the Jews were com- manded to preserve the ark of the testimony, made of wood and covered with gold. We, however, have an ark of the covenant far more precious than one of gold and of wood, even Christ Himself. He is present with us, who is an ark full of all love, overflowing with ths testimony of a living charity.2 We have in Him not the material manna which fed the Jews in the wilderness, but we have Him who is the antitype itself, the true bread from heaven, by which the soul JoimYi.82. of man is nourished. We have no coffer of wood which ^ " Gracia de Yalentia in extremo ut tantos capere fructus valerent, et, vitse limine rogata a viro in paucis animae suae blandiens, sic dicebat : religioso quantum a Deo distaret cor Hubes, anima mea, multos fructos in hominis, respondit, Quantum hujus plures repositos annos : gaude, Imtare, amor ab lUo : satis innuens Deo prox- dilatare, et fniere eis [Luc. xii. 19]. imum esse quisquis amat; imo, in Quanto mac^is anima Christiana, quae Deo esse, in Deo vivere ac spirare ; annos uberrimos ^gypti capere potest, quia, ut D. Dionysius Areopagita : nempe beatitudinis bona in annos Anima ibi est magis ubi amat, quum plurimos — hoc est, in seternitate repo- ubi animat." — Lobbetiiis. sita— Isetari et gaudere deberet, et, 2 " Extende sinus tuos, anima sibi ipsi blandiens, illud Esaiae cantare Christiana ; dilata tabernacula tua : ac dicere : Dilata locum tentorii tui, et operi OS tuum, cor amoris avidum ; pelles tabernacidorum tuorwn extende : ut tantam ct tarn magnam rem, qtialis ne parous, longos fac funiculos tuos,et est Deus, capere queas. Si avarus ille clavos tuos eonsolida [IsaiiB liv. 2] ; dives qui uberrimum annum vidit quia magnum bonum in te capere horrea ac celaria sua dilatare cupiebat, debes, quod est J)ens."—Aveiidano. 28 EIGHTEENTH SUNDA V AFTER TRINITY. Isa. liii. 5> Barradius. Rainssant. contains the rod of Aaron as a proof of God^s love to us, but we "have the ark itself, Christ Jesus, by whose wounds and stripes we have been healed, and whose life and words, and love towards us, and the works which He doeth within us, are a perpetual testimony of His love and the incitement of that love which we owe to Him who j^rsi loved us. As at so many other periods of His ministry, our Blessed Lord here answers the captiousness of man with forbearance and exceeding tenderness, not rebuking even whilst He silenced those who came to tempt Him. In this He gives a lesson to all of us, but especially to His ministers, to bear tenderly with the doubting mind, and to answer lovingly the objections of those who yet come not in an honest and good heart, in order to be enlightened and instructed as to the will of Grod. (38) This is the first and great commandment} Avaucimis. Victor Aiitiocb. Gorranus. Quesuel. Tlie first, and therefore that which is the production of all the others ; the great, and therefore that which is the consum- mation of all. The Alpha and the Omega of the command- ments of God. The lawyer did but ask for the great — that is, the greatest — commandment. Christ in His answer tells him that the great commandment in the law is imperfect unless with it we observe another. Hence He calls it the first, to imply that there is a second. The precepts of God are many, and yet but one : many through their diversity and the variety of forms of evil which they forbid ; one, since they tend to one result — love to God and man. This commandment of loving God is declared by our Blessed Lord to be the first commandment.^ It is so — (1) Because it relates to Him who is the beginning and source of all things. (2) Because it is coeval with the creation of man, since the law impressed upon our nature bids us love Him who is the author of our being. 1 "This commandment, by which the worship of the one God is com- manded, Deut. vi. 4, is not only one of those which were written in their phylacteries, fastened on their posts, and read in their houses daily; but to note it to be the gireai command- ment, indeed above all others, it is observable, that in Deuteronomy the words in the Hebrew which begin and end it have the last letter written very big, and noted in the margent to be so written." — Hammond. 2 Aben Ezra (in Exod. xxxi. 18) says, '• The root of all the command- ments is, when a man loves God with all his soul and cleaves unto Him." ST. MATTHEW XXIL 34—46. ^^ (3) Because all other commandments relate to this, and refer to Him who is the author of all law and the source of men Drug, all existence. (4) Because He who is Love is the source and means from whom we obtain peace to keep all His commands. This commandment is also spoken of as the great, or greatest^ commandment. It is called not merely }??'s^_, but great, as though human language were too feeble by one word to express the dignity of the commandment, as before it had been necessary to use a reduplication of words to express the manner of our love.^ It is greater than faith, Bossuet. for this shall fail ; whereas the Apostle tells us that charity 1 cor. xiii. s. (or love) never faileth, but shall remain for ever. Faith leads us to God^ and love embraces Him : by faith we see God ; by love we enjoy Him. This commandment is great — (1) Because of its object^ which is nothing less than God wkeiius. Himself. (2) Because of the perfection and entirety of that love which is required, which is to be that of the heart and soul and mind. (3) Because no one_, without the great gift of God's Holy Arias Mont Spirit, can so love. (4) Because all other commandments^ of what kind soever they may be, are subordinate to this. (5) Because of the reward promised to those who keep this commandment — for eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither Abeiiy. have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath icor.ii.9. prepared for them that love Him^ (6) Because of the greatness of its duration, for it lasteth on into eternity ; for whilst faith and hope necessarily cease, 1 cor. xiii. 8. yet love never faileth. It is the greatest commandment, then, in necessity, in Boys, extent, and in duration : it is the first in nature, in order, in Bengei. importance, in time^ and in endurance.^ ^ " Hoc mandatum maximum est : Calix aquse frigidae ex dilectione res maximfe a, Deo requisitum, maxime a maxima est, siquidem ipsum raeretur nobis curandum, maximam quietem coelura." — Faulus de Palacio. et pacem afFerens : maxime in ccelo * *' Amor Dei divitem facit. Nullse coronandum, si impleatur; maxime sunt majores divitiae quani Deum pos- in inferno puniendum, si negligatur. sidere et charitatem habere, inquit S. Maximus Deus ; maxima affectio, amor. Laurentius Justin, lib. de li^'no vitse, Ex mnximor-im duorum connubio cap. 6, ' Sine charitate dives^ pauper maximus est partus. Maximum man- est, cum charitate pauper dives est datum : sine quo reliqua parva ; irao, charitas thesaurus abscouditus.' Idem sine quo, secundum Apostolum, ipsa ibid, in 1 Joan. iv. Aniare Deum est maxima nihil sunt [1 Cor. xiii. 3]. esse ad omnia liberrimum.' — //rtr^»»y. Contra vero qua? minima sunt, cum ^ «« Maxima virtus et virtutum om- maximo mandato maxima redduntur. nium regina est charitas, 1 Cor. xui. 30 Lev. xix. 18. Matt. xix. 19. Mark xii. 31. Luke X. 27. l{om. xiii. 9. GaL V. 14. James ii. 8. Soan Augustine, De Doct. riirist. c. 27, lib. 1. Coiu. a Lap. Tirinns. Hensel. EIGHTEENTH SUN DA Y AFTER TRINITY. (39) And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. He does not say that the second commandment is equal to, but that it is like unto, the first, for both of these are commandments of love. There are three objects of love here pointed out : — (1) That of man to God — Thou. sJialt love the Lord thy God. (2) That of ourselves, our whole self, body and soul; for this is involved in the command that we are to love our neighbour, and to love him as we love ourselves. Self-love is, then, here implied. (3) That of our neighbour — Thou shalt love thy neighbour. There is, indeed, no specific command, here or elsewhere, that we should love ourselves, for this love is prior to any command — ^it is a part of our nature ; the instinctive com- mandment given at our creation. Instinct always teaches us to love that which is good. We may be in error as to what is good, but what we love we love because it seems to us good. As, then, we love ourselves for our good, we are called upon to love our neighbour for his good. The com- mand is not to love him equally with ourselves, but with the like kind of love which we have for ourselves.^ The object of the love which is here commanded to every Christian is his neighbour ; that is, he who loves God aright will love himself in a proper degree, without selfishness, and in the same unselfish way he will love his neighbour.'^ Every man is our neighbour — (1) Because he has the same nature as ourselves. (2) Because he has sprung from the same common parents. In this respect man differs from the animals whom God has created : they spring from many progenitors, man from one pair. 13. Quare chavitas nobilior est re- ligione : nobilius enim est diligere Deum ex toto corde, quam Eidem offerre sacrificia. Adde, cliaritas quasi regina imperat sacrificia, ceterosqiie religionis aliaruraque virtutura actus. Denique, amor nobilissimus est affectus et actus, qui pra3cellit timore, honore, ceterisque omnibus. " — Corn, d Lapide. 1 " Love withal tby neighbour as thyself. Kot love as much, but as thyself, in this, To let it be as free as thine own is — Without respect of profit or rewai-d, Deceit or flattery, politic regard, Or anything but naked charity." Geo. Chapman, The Tears of Peace. 2 *' Regula amandi proximum est quisque sibi. Nemo se iicte nemo non sincere amat. Nemo sibi vult malum ne minimum quidem : nemo non sibi vult bonum et inter bona optimum. Debes ergo (et hoc mandatum magnum est) amare non ficte proximum ; arao- liri, quia potest, ab illo malum, curare bonum. At proxiraus tuus non est unus sed omnes. Non debes ergo affectum ita uni affigere ut aliis sub- trahas." — Avancinus. ST. MATTHEW XXII. 34—46. 31 (3) Because lie is heir of the same promises as ourselves, and is born to an inheritance of happiness with God. (4) Because he is a member of the same body, through the incarnation of Christ. In this he differs from the angels, whose nature Christ took not, and who are, therefore, our Heb. ii. le. neighbours neither by nature nor by the incarnation of Gonanus. Christ, as all men are. (5) Because he has a like capacity for future glory with ■^■^"^^"j'*^. '.'• :• ourselves. The love of our neighbour is comprehended in the love of God, which is the source of all true love to man, who is the image of God.^ And the love of our neighbour is a manifest- ation to others that we have the love of God within us. Quesnei. But it is more than this : it makes us like God : for since, by loving God, we are made like to Him, so, by loving man, we are transformed into the likeness of Christ, whose great Augustine. love to mankind was shown in His incarnation and death for Bonr^ven- us.^ This love of our neighbour, again, is not felt for him in *"•''*• diminution of that which we owe to God. Our love is not to be divided between the Creator and our fellow-men. These are not two loves, but one. The love which we bear to God is the source of our love to our neighbour. In him we love God, who has commanded us to love our brother, and given us grace to perform this command. Our love to man is, as it were, out of the superabundance of our love to God, and so far from diminishing that which we owe to our Maker, it Luemez. augments and cherishes it. But there are two points of similitude insisted upon in these words of our Blessed Lord — (1) The commandment to love our brother is V\h', that /'r.«f^ and. great commandment which enjoins upon us the love of God. In this we may learn the purity of that love which is required from us. It is to be like and to flow from the love of God Himself; and since the love which we feel for Him must needs be pure and holy, so must that love with which we regard our fellow-men be also pure and coster. holy. (2) The love which w^e manifest to others must be like the love which we have for ourselves. We see here the perfect ^ '' Qui proximum amat, imaginem Dei amat. Faciamus, inquit, hommetn ad imaginem et similitudinem nostram [Gen. i. 26]. Et ligec est ratio amandi proiimura perinde ac seipsum, quia Dei imago et similitudo est, et ajque quo- qne ut ipse quantum est ex natuva. Sicut rex in sua imagine vel contem- nitur vel honoratur, sic Deus in homine vel oditur vel diligitur; non enim potest horainera odire qui Deum amaverit, nee potest Deum amare qui hominem odit." — Konigsteyn. 2 "Amor in eandera imaginem Christi transforraavit amantem Chns,- t\im."—£onaventura, cxii. in Vit. S. Fran. EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. Lienard. stier. equality of all meu in God's sight. There is a solemn truth taught us in these words, as thyself. Many will call their neighbour to repentance, and exhort and encourage him in the performance of Christian duties, who yet forget these duties themselves, and at least in secret disregard them. But the love vvhich we are bidden to show to another we Corn, d Lap. are required to have also for ourselves. The two commands are alike — (1) The love of our neighbour proceeds from the love of God implanted in us, and like begets like.* , (2) It proceeds not from any natural endowment in man apart from God's gifts, but is from Him. (3) It is like in extent to the first command; it embraces the whole second table of the law, as love to God compre- hends the whole of the first. (4) Its object is like, for in man we have the image and reflection of the Father. (5) Like the first and great commandment of the law, the second is not temporal, but eternal. The love which we have to others has its beginning in this life, but its abidance and perfection in the life to come. We cannot, indeed, love God when we hate those whom He has bidden us love,^ nor when we refuse to cherish those whom He has appointed as the objects of our love. And since the whole teaching of Christ inculcated the ne- cessity of purity of heart, and tended to implant the inward affection, not the outward habit merely, our Blessed Lord does not tell us as the second commandment that we are to assist and do acts of mercy to all those who need, but He points out the source of all true charity, the spring from whence all deeds of mercy issue, and bids us love our neighbour. But we are bidden to love our neighbour as we love our- selves. We are here commanded — (1) To love in another what we ought to love in ourselves Au£;u8tine. — our truc uaturc, the image and similitude of God. It is men who are to be loved, not their sins. Luzerne. Gerhard. * " Amor Dei et proximi nnicus est spiritus. Fallitur qui se alter utrum geparare posse putat. Male orat qui unicura postulat. Male orat qui pro se tantum excluso proximo orat. Yidens Moyses praecepta primae tabulae violata h. populo, utramque projecit tabulam et contrivit, in qua dilectio proximi prsecipiebatur ; quia amor unus sine altero non consistit. Qui amare proxi- mum ncgligit, profecto Deum diligere nescit." — Hm'tung. 2 " Alteruter ignis nobis necessarius est, aut ignis amoris aut ignis inferni. Si non arserimus igne chaiitatis, arde- bimus igne gehenuae. Qui charitatis igne praiditus est, ad coelum evolabit, duabus illis alis — amore Dei et proximi. Qui igne illo caret, evehi non poterit, sed peccati pondere depri- metur ad infernum." — Matt, Faber. ST. MATTHEW XXIT. 34—46. Z?> (2) We are to love our neighbour in the order marked out — below God, but above earthly possessions. (3) With relation to that end for which we are to love AivernuB. ourselves — for eternity ; and this involves — (4) The extent of our love : it is to be not in words, but in truth ; doing to and desiring for, him all good, as we do and desire it for ourselves ; not taking from him his good name or possessions, since we desire these things to be given com. a Lap. to, not taken from, us.^ Though these Pharisees only asked our Blessed Lord for one, the first and great commandment of the law, yet because • the love of our neighbour is indissolubly linked with the love which we owe to God, He added this. And there was deep Gerhard, significancy in His doing so. They said, as men may say now, Ifasi tivice in the week; I give tithes of all that I possess : Lui^e xvin. I am therefore doing my duty to, I am loving, God. Our ^^* Blessed Lord adds another test, in which they notoriously failed, and bids them love their brethren also.''^ There was stier. also, it may be, a reproof intended in these words. They asked for the first and greatest commandment of the law, whilst they were breaking the second. Christ adds this Hugodes. latter, as though He would touch their consciences with their want of love and their malice towards Him whom they re- garded as man merely, as their neighbour ; and in proving them to be wanting in love to Him who was their neighbour , according to their own confession. He proves them to be Konigsteyn. wanting in love to God Himself. There is a deep significancy in this word neighbour coupled with the attempt of the Pharisees and Sadducees to entrap Christ. Our minds are naturally carried back to that parable in which He presented to us the picture of the ruined estate of mankind, fallen amo7ig thieves, and showed us His love and tenderness to the children of Adam, to whom He had made Himself neighbour ^ in order that He might heal them. * ** Quod in illis diligit, in se ipso beneficentiara ; utitur omnibus ad be- habet totuni atque perfectum. Ita nevolentiam." — Atigustine de Morib. cum diligat proximura tamquam se l^cc. Cathol. c. 26. ipsum, non invidet ei, quia nee sibi ■ 2 « in hoc loco nos Christus docet ipsi : prsestat ei quod potest, quia et ubi Deum diligendum quaerere debea- sibi ipsi: non eo indiget, quia nee se mus; nemp6 sub cruce— id est, neces- ipso : tantura Deo indiget, cui adhse- sitate proximi. Hie quaere ; hie dilige. rendo beatus est. Nemo autem illi Sunt qui Deura in sublimi quaerunt, eripit Deura. . . . Hie rir quamdiu in cruce autem, ubi invenitur, non est in hae vita, utitur amico ad repen- quaerunt. Ideo audient, Esurivi, et . dendam gratiam ; utitur iniraico ad non dedistis Mihi mandticare [Matt, patientiam ; utitur quibus potest ad xxv. ^2y —Ferus. GOSP. VOL. III. D 34- EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. Matt. vii.l2. 1 Tim. i. 5. Gloss, inter- liu. Coster. Rom. xiii. 8. Soarez. Luca Brug. Gerhard. (40) On these two commandments hang all the law and the i^rophets. In these two commandments may be comprised the whole decalogue, and all the exhortations and teaching of the pro- phets have these two for their object and end. So that those who are really actuated in what they do by the love of God and of their neighbour are able to perform, and in reality fulfil, all that they are bidden in the law of God, all that they are called upon to perform by the prophets. Whence St. Paul says, lie that loveth another hath fulfilled the laiu; for he who loves truly his neighbour, loves God who has prescribed this love to us ; for he who loves his neighbour aright, loves him because God has so commanded, and consequently loves God who has given the command.^ On these two commandments Jiang all the law and the prophets ; that is, these two do not merely tend to the fulfil- ment of the law, but the performance of the law absolutely depends upon the prior giving up of the heart to God, and this involves, as an inseparable consequence, the love for our neighbour. These two must exist at one and the same time; indeed, one of these cannot exist in its perfection without the other.^ And from these two rills from the same fountain of love flow the whole law : not merely the moral law, but the law ceremonial also — the law of divine worship — for he who loves God with all his heart, and soul, and mind, will desire to obey Him in the minutest particular which He has com- manded. He who loves his neighbour will desire not to ofi'end against the laws of decency and order prescribed in Christ^s Church, and thus put a stumbling-block in his brother's way. Whilst, however, these two — love to God and love to our neighbour — proceed from one source, yet they are not one and the same precept, but are diverse ; not, that is, from diversity of the love, but from the distinction which must be observed in the mode of loving : for — (1) We love our neighbour not for himself, but for God ; but we love God not for another, nor with reference to anything beyond, but for Himself alone. * " Eecte amor Dei et proximi alls comparantur ; quia sicut avium alas sese mutu6 juvant, nee una sine altera surstim ferri potest ; sic deficiente Dei aniore deficit amor proximi et e contra." — Umman. ab Incarnatione. 2 « Amor ex amore oriatur, ait Plato, non est amor Dei, si non generat araorem proximi et vicissim. S . Gre- gorium in Joannem accipe. 'Per amorem Dei amor proximi gignitur et per amorem proximi amor Dei nutri- tur, et qui amorem proximi negligit perfecto Deum diligere nescit.' " — Hartung. xii. 35. Luke XX. 41. ST. MATTHEW XXIL 34—46. y (2) The love whicli we owe our neighbour has its limits. We are not bidden to love him with all the heart, and soul, and mind — that is, beyond all other considerations whatever — as we are called upon to love God ; but we are to love our Tostatus. brother with a measured love — we are to love him as our- selves_, and we cannot love ourselves aright unless we love God.^ (41) While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, (42) saying, What think ye of Mnrk Chinst? whose Son is He'f They say unto Him, The Son of David.' Christ had convicted of a want of love towards their neighbour, and consequently of an absence of real love towards God, those who tempted Him in order to betray Him : He now shows them the defectiveness of their faith. The views current amongst the Jews at the incarnation of our Blessed Lord respecting the Messiah were these — (1) They did not believe that He, who was born of the Virgin Mary, and who did so many mighty works in attesta- tion of His claim, was the Christ. (2) They believed that Christ, whenever He should appear, and however mighty He might be in worldly power, would yet be only man, the Son of David, ^ and nothing more. He ^oJai^Ja was continually recognised by this name. Those who acknow- ledged Him to be the long-expected Messiah, and who owned His Divine power, still spake of Him as the Son of David. The two blind men followed Him with the cry, Thou Son of Matt. ix. 27; XX 30 81 David, have mercy on us. In the same way the woman of Canaan supplicated Him on behalf of her daughter : Have mercy on me, Lord, thou Son of David. And by the same Matt. xv. 22. name He was saluted by the multitudes who thronged around Katus!' '^' Him at His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. And what the multitudes instinctively confessed, our 1 "Neque verd dilectione diligiraus verus Deus et verus homo, id est, invicem nisi diligentes Deum. Diligit noster Deus et proximus noster." — enim unusquisque proximum sicut seip- Ludolph. sum. Si non diligit Deum, non diligit 3 u j^. j^ay be to this view," and se ipsum." — S. August, in Joannem, to correct this prevalent error of the tract 87. Jews, " that it is said of St. Paul 2 *'Postquam Christus totam legem immediately on his conversion, that direxerat ad duo mandata dilectionis, He preached Christ in the synagogues, voluit ostendere heec duo mandata that He is the Son of God [Acts ix. reduci in novum diligibile, quod est 20]."— iVo^e to English Translation oj Christus. Nihil enim diligitur tan- St. Chrysostom on St. Matthew. Oxford, quam Deus et proximus, nisi Ipse 1851. Christus, qiii in personse unitate est P? 36 EIGHTEENTH SUNDA Y AFTER TRINITY. Grcrbard. Tostatus. Bengel. Blessed Lord, as tlie time of His sufferings drew near, seemed especially to dwell upon. There was a fitness in this. He was about to suffer as the Son of David ; for in His human nature, which He derived from David, could He alone suffer. At such a moment, therefore, He would point out and confirm that truth which it was needful for them and for us to know, that whilst He was God of God, David's Lord, He was also David's Son and the brother of man. He speaks of David here rather than of Abraham, because Abraham was the father of the whole nation, and even of the Gentile tribes which had descended from Ishmael. But it had been predicted that He who should come was not only to be an Israelite of the seed of Abraham, but was also to be of the house and lineage of David ; and since many knew well that He was of this family, He pointed to the fact, that He who should come would be of this family, and that He who spake to them was so.-^ The stumbling-block to men, not only during the time when our Incarnate Lord abode upon earth, but also at all times since, has been either the lowliness of His nature as man, or the excellency of His nature as very God. Human reason more easily accepts moderate notions of Christ than those which are true. 2 Sara, xxiii. 2. Aetsi. 16; ii. 30. Konigsteyn. Ant. Patav. Acts i. 16. Grotius. (43) How then doth David in spirit call Him Lord, saying^ In spirit. That is, under the guidance or inspiration of theHoly Spirit: not in any carnal sense, and after the manner of men ; not in his own wisdom, and after his own heart; but in the language and under the guidance of the Spirit. In this same way St. Peter speaks of the book of Psalms: Men and brethren J this Scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spalce before con- cerning Judas, ivliich was guide to them that took Jesus. 1 " Comrae en Abraham etaient donnees les promesses de la multi- plication des fiddles de Jesus-Christ ; en David etaient donnees celles de Son empire eteruel. Puisque Dieu Lui avait promis en David un trone qui durerait plus que le soleil et la lune, il etait beau que David, a que ce trone etait promis en figure de Jesus-Christ, fut le premier a recon- noitre Son empire, en L'appelant son Seigneur. Ze Seigneur a dit a mon Seigneur, Comme s'il eiit dit; En apparence c'est a moi d qui Dieu promet un empire qui n'aura point de fin, mais en verite c'est a vous, 6 mon Fils, qui etes aussi mon Seigneur, qu'il est donne ; et je viens en esprit le premier de tons vos sujets vous rendre hommage dans votre trone, a la droite de votre Pere, comme a mon souverain Seigneur. C'est pourquoi 11 ne dit pas «n general : Le Seigneur a dit au Seigneur ; mais, d mon Seigneur.'^ — Bossuet, Meditations sur VEvangile. ST. MATTHEW XXIL 34—46. 37 Here^ tlieii_, our Blessed Lord distinctly affirms David to have been the author of the Psalm from which these words are taken, and also as distinctly declares that he was inspired ^o™- » i-^p- by the Holy Spirit.^ "^ ^^"''^"""• The Pharisees declared that the Messiah was to be the Son of David ; our Blessed Lord points out what they, by their silence, confessed was known to them, that David, notwithstanding this, called Him Lord. But a son is not wont to be called a lord by his own father, especially when that father is a king, to whom the son, in worldly power at least, is not greater. An earthly so?^, moreover, is after the father in point of time, but a lord is contemporary with those over whom he has authority, or is prior in time to them, not after them. It is, therefore, evident that the Son of David, the Konigsteyn. Christ, was to be more than man, and to possess some characteristic which should make Him Lord to His own father after the flesh. This apparently impossible com- Menociuus. bination is true of Him alone who, as man, was the Son, and, as God, the Lord, of David. (44) The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou on ^^^^^\:\ My right hand, till 1 make Thine enemies Thy ]^iyi-r^- footstool^ -'^•^''^• The Lor dy the Father (Jehovah), sa^^c? unto my Lord (Adonai), the Son. He, indeed, who was the Eternal Word of the Father, was David's Lord before His Incarnation both as the Creator and Redeemer of mankind, whilst in taking upon Him man's nature and being born of the house and lineage of David, He Luke 11.4. became the Son of David. ^ And these words, till I make Bengei. 1 " Our Lord presupposes, as at tentur, ubi de sceptro ex Stone exituro that time generally acknowledged by idem dicitur quod hoc Psalmo."— the scribes, and confirmed by His own Grotius. recognition, that David in the 110th ^ "Ipse David, Psalmi scriptor, ex- Psalm speaks of the Son, the future hibet Dorainum Deum, summum mn'> Christ ; in like manner He takes for Jehova, loquentem ad Messiam, quera granted, as a thing acknowledged, the vocat "^a-is Adoni —id est, Dominura Divine inspiration of the Psalm, so meum."— iamy. "Non legitur hie that He can build the proof-question Adonai, quod est aliud Dei nomen upon \t:'—Stier. quod proprie vertitur Dominus, sed " Ad Messiam pertinere hunc Adoni, quod est noraen appellativum Psalmum agnoverunt Hebraei vete- significans Dotninus mens." — Zuca res; quos sequitur Isaac Benarama JBru(jf. **In Ps. ii- 4, for Adonai ad Gen. xlvii. Qui post ortum Chris- the Chaldee paraphrase has ^-^y?. tianismura fuerunt negare, id ipsum {meyimra), the eternal \6yoQ, or Word coeperunt solo odio Christianismi ; of God ; from root ^^s {amar), dixit. cum tamen ipse David Kimchi et Cf. Acts ii. 34, where St. Peter ap- cum eo alii, ut et apud Justinum plies the same prophecy to Christ."— Tiyphon, Ps. ii. de Messia interpre- Wordsworth. 38 EIGHTEENTH SUNDA V AFTER TRINITY. Ben" ^vm. s, showed that the sufferings which He was about to undergo were submitted to willingly, and that He died from no lack of power to deliver Himself, but that He gave Himself up Gerhard. and freely surrendered His own will for man's salvation. *** " Doraine Deus, Sanctificator meipsum, ut liic gratiam, et ibi gloriam, meus, misisti inihi legem Tuam, ut consequamur in id ipsum. Da insuper toto corde, tota anima, tota mente, et mihi, bone Jesu, ut Te Christum, nobis ex omnibus viribus meis Te diligam : missum, Deum et honiinem corde era- sed nee hoc valeo nisi Tu dederis mihi, dam, ore confitear, et opere contester, cujus est omne donum bonum et omne ut Tibi nunc subjectus sponte Tecum datum optimum. Jubes Te diligi. Da gaudeam sine fine. Amen." — Ludol- quod jubes et jube quod vis. Da jihiis. etiam mihi diligere proximum sicut THE NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.^ St. Matthew ix. 1 — 8. MarkiLi"' (1) ^^^^ ^^ cntered into a ship, and passed over^ and came i?ito His otvn city. Our Blessed Lord was leaving the country of tlie Gerge- senes at the request of the inhabitants, for they hesought Him Matt.viii.34. that He would deijart out oftlieir coasts. They entreated the Light that He would withdraw, lest they should see ^vith their isa. vi. 10. eyes. Their blindness, however, made no pause in His works of power and mercy. He passed over, and left them indeed as they had prayed Him, but only that He might manifest the truth in the eyes of others more ready to receive it than these Gergesenes, and He came into His own city, that is, as St. Mark expressly tells us, into Capernaum.^ We read of other cities which, for a time at least, are called by this name — His own. The city of Jerusalem had been so of old, and it was yet to be His by the sacrifice of Himself, which 1 " Hodiemum istud Evangelium Nazareth, ille Christus et Messias, non solum in seipso magnum et conso- Davidis filius et dominus sit. Hsec latorium est, sed etiam pulcbre or- enim utraque aperte in hoc Evangelic dinatum ad legendura statim sub declaravit demonstravitque. Tanquam Evangelium proxirafe praeteritae Do- Davidis filius — hoc est, tanquam homo minicae. Quod enim turn obscure et — in navicula advehebatur. Tanquam minus intelligibiliter dictum erat, id Davidis dominus — hoc est, tanquam hoc loco clare et apertfe exponitur. potens Deus — videbat cogitationes Judaici Pharissei nolebant aut non po- hominum, dimittebat peccata, et p.ira- terant intelligere quomodo Christus lyticum sanabat." — Ferus in Bom. aut Messias simul Davidis filius et - " IloXtc l^'ia. Non tantum dicitur Davidis dominus esse posset. Alte- urbs in qua quis natus est, sed etiam rum confitebantur, Eum esse Davidis in qua quis habitat: vid. Raphelius, filium : ad alterum respondere non Obs. Polyb. et Xenoph. ad h. 1. ; 1 Sam. poterant, quomodo Davidis dominus viii. 22; Ovid. Trist. ii. 414; Senec. esse posset. Nos Christian! videmus in Consolat. ad Helv. c. vi." — Kuinoel. hoc Evangelio quomodo et qua ratione " In Romano jure civitas nostra dicitur Christus Davidis filius et Davidis ubi larem fiximus. Capharnauraum dominus esse possit. Imo videraus, autem Christum immigrasse jam ante a quod noster aded dominus, Jesus de Mattheo erat proditum." — Grotius. ST. MATTHEW IX. i— 8. 45 was to be finished in that city. Bethlehem was the city of David and of our Blessed Lord, since He was born there. Nazareth was 'H.is oiun city, since He was brought up and Luke w. 29- passed His youth there, and remained in it until He was ^^" driven from it by the inhabitants. And Capernaum, where this miracle was wrought, was His oivn city, because for ^^^^ a long time He dwelt and taught and did many of His chrysostom. wondrous works there.^ Whilst even Egypt was sanctified coni.dLap. and ennobled as the land of His indwelling, and made His ^i^m?at. own through His flight for refuge there.^ In these words. His oivn city, we obtain a glimpse of the humihation of Christ. He was the Creator of all things, the Lord of the whole earth ; all cities and countries were His, for He was the Governor of the whole world, and the God and Father of all things living : yet, when for our sakes He straitened Himself by assuming our nature, and laying aside His glory, became incarnate. He then began to have an earthly parent, though the Parent of all, and was for a time a native of Judea and a citizen of Capernaum, though Lord of all the earth. He had narrowed Himself to humanity; cinysoiogus. He took therefore upon Him all the incidents of that humanity. And, to pass over to Capernaum, we are told that He entered into a ship, though at another time we find Him coming to His Apostles by walking on the water. The Matt, xiv.25. miracles which He wrought for others, and in order to con- firm the faith of those who witnessed them, showed that He needed not the ordinary agents of life. But His was a real humanity. He took our flesh with its weaknesses, and 1 " He paid tribute at Capernaum as an inhabitant or citizen of the place, ■which He was entitled to by only dwelling in it twelve months, according to the Jewish canons ; where 'tis asked, ♦ How long shall a man be in a city ere he is as the men of the city?' 'Tis answered, * Twelve months ; but if he purchases a dwelling-house he is as the men of the city immediately, that is, he is a citizen, and obliged to all charges and offices, as they are : though they seem to make a distinction between an inhabitant and a citizen. 'A man is not reckoned as the children of the city, or as one of the citizens, in less than twelve months, but he may be called or accounted as one of the inhabitants of the city if he stays there thirty days.' One or other Christ had done, which denominated this city to be His, and He to be either an inhabitant or a citizen of it." — Gill. 2 " Sicut Christus nobilitavit Beth- leem Sud nativitate, Nazareth educa- tione, ^gyptura Sua fuga, Jerusalem Sua passione ; sic Capharnaum deco- ravit Sua habitatione, praedicatione, et miraculorum operatione." — Corn, d Lapide. "Not Bethlehem, where He was born, but Capernaum, where He dwelt and preached, is called His own city. Thou art not a Christian because thou wast born in a Christian kingdom, and born within the covenant, and born of Christian parents, but because thou hast dwelt in the Christian Church, and performed the duties presented to thee there." — Donne, 46 NINETEENTH SUNDA V AFTER TRINITY. Chrysolcgus. Hofmeister. Matt. Faber. Matt. viii. .5, U. Huso de S. Charo. Matt. viii. 23 Gorranus. Emiii. ab liicaniat. Alex. Nat. stooped to our needs in order to give us of His strength. His miracles, indeed, proclaimed His love and mercy to men, but the actions of His life with reference to Himself were all such as became Him who was very man. More especially are the tokens of humanity seen in our Blessed Lord's actions when He is about to display His Divine power. When work- ing a miracle, there is ever something to remind us of the perfectness of His manhood, lest men should forget, as they are ever tempted to do, that He is both God and man. In the miracle which our Blessed Lord was about to work, in healing the paralytic man, there seems a certain advance over the other miracles of which St. Matthew had just given account. First, He healed the servant of the centurion and the mother of Peter's wife; and then He stilled the tempest. And having thus shown His power over the bodies of men and the forces of inanimate nature. He manifested the like power over the spirits of evil, whom He drave out of the possessed. Here in His own city'^ He not only shows His power over the body and the spirit of man, but He especially exhibits His Divine power in the forgiveness of sins,^ as well as the power of His humanity in the healing of the body of the sick man. In this part of our Blessed Lord's conduct we have several lessons — (1) He was leaving the Grergesenes at their own request. He did so lest the doctrines which He taught, and the mighty works which He did, should be the means of hardening their hearts, and adding fresh guilt to the souls of those who had shown themselves unfit to witness His miracles and to receive His teaching. His sensible departure from us may be in real compassion, lest we go on to sin still more by words of blasphemy and by the active rejection of His person. (2) But though He may depart from those who ha.rden their hearts against Him, and turn away from His call, yet it is but to confirm the faith of those who deliorht in His 1 " Spiritualiter civitas Dei Ecclcsia est. Quicimque igitur es qui aliqaa infirmitate gravaris, et sanari desideras, veni ad Ecclesiara, veni ad civitatein Dei. Ibi ilium medicum invenies qui, sicut de Eo scriptum est, oranes lan- guores sanat et omnes infirmitates : ibi invenies ilia medicaraina, quibus suscep- tis omnis infirmitas tollitur et omnia segritudo f ugatur : ibi invenies balneum in quo seger, ut lotus fuerit, confestim ab omni infirmitate sanabitur : ibi renovabitur sicut aquilae juventus tua, et in novam creaturam vetera omnia commutabuntur. Iliuminantur caeci, curantur paralytici, mundantur leprosi, et mortui susoitaatur. Hanc igitur civitatem ilia civitas significabat, de qua modo hie dicitur, quia venii Jesus in civitatem Suam ; et, ecce, offerehant Ei paralyticuM in lecto jacentemy — Euseb. Emiss. * " Supra posuit miracula contra pericula corporalia ; hie ponit miracula contra pericula spiritualia." — Th. Aquinas. ST. MATTHEW IX. i— 8. 47 Rom. V, G. Matt. Faber. presence. And as He came to tlie people of Capernaum without any words of invitation^ so is He near, so does He come to_, every soul whicli is not actively engaged in resist- Fems. ing Him. Unless, indeed, He first draw us to Himself, we Joim : cannot approach Him. It was whilst men were sinners that Christ came and lived and died for them. (3) As He did with the Gergesenes, so He did with the Jewish nation. He bore long time with them, calling them by the teaching of the law and of the prophets, correcting them by one punishment or another, until in His own person they rejected God, and would not have Him to be their Lord; then, departing from the nation which was His by incarna- tion, He came to the Gentiles, making them to be His city Rom. x. ly. and people who were not yet a people. When the light of the Gospel is darkened in a nation, and, because of the sin of the people the candlestick is removed from the place where it has long been, the light itself is not hidden, the candlestick is not then destroyed ; the light is but removed into another place, and shines among another coster. people. One other truth we may learn, the value which Christ sets upon one soul. It was not enough that He preached to the multitudes, that He called all men to Him. He went over the lake of Genesareth, He endured the tempest which over- took the vessel in which He had entered, His disciples were exposed to fear and danger, and all that He might drive Satan from the bodies of those who were possessed. And when He had done this He entered into a ship and passed over and came again into His own city. Emm. ab Incanuit. (2) And, behold, they brought (Trpofri^spov'^) to Him E a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy ; Son,^ be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee, St. Mark and St. Luke give the account of this miracle at greater length than St. Matthew, and in their naiTative we learn how great was the faith and charity of those who bore ^ " Bene dicitur offerebant ; quia adeo Dominus benignus erat, ut loco gratse oblationis haberet, quod infir- mi ad Euin adducerentur, ut eis sani- tatem largiretur." — JEmman. ah In- carnat. 2 " mira humilitas ! despectum et debilem, totisque membrorura coni- pagibus dissolutum, Jiliani vocat ; quern sacerdofces non dignabantur attingere." — Jerome. <' Conjide, inquit, fiU ; remittuntur tibi peccata tua. Nominat JUium,— Tatrem in curatione bac illi Se exbib^. Tatris autem est, non quid a3ger filius cupiat, scd quid ei expediat, providere ; et id quidem priiis atque diligentius quod majus esV—Ludov. Granai. Matt. viii. 10. rk ii. S. Luke V. 18. John V. li; ix.2. 48 NINETEENTH SUNDA Y AFTER TRINITY. Jans. Gand. Emm. ab Incariiat. Emm. ab Iiicarnat. Chrysostom. Salmeron. Guilliaud. the sick man to Christ.^ They tell us that, unable to come near to Christ because of the crowd which thronged around the doors, they went up upon the roof, and opening it let down the palsied man upon his bed, and thus placed him before the Saviour. Theij brought to Him a man sick of tlieiiahy. That is, some of the people of Capernaum, or, as St. Mark tells us, four men by whom his couch was borne. The utter prostration of the man is here shown. He was sick and lying on a bed, bereft of all power to move ; so that the faith of those who bore him, and who trusted to Christ's power to raise him from the bed and restore him to health, was the more remark- able, and the greatness of the miracle itself a cause of greater marvel to the bystanders.^ We read of no prayers, no entreaties on the part of those who bore the sick man that Christ would heal him. The sight of his misery and of their faith in bringing him sufficed, and Christ of His mercy did that which they required but for which we are not told that they asked. He saw their faith : not merely the outward tokens of their confidence in His love and power, which He saw as man, but as God He pierced through the veil of the body and saw their hearts, and recognised the sincerity of their deep and earnest faith in Him. He saw their faith {ttjv ttl(ttiv avrCiv) — (1) That is, the faith of the bearers as well as that of the sick man, who could give no sign of faith, and who needed not to do so, since it was God who was present to see the heart. For unless the sick man had faith, he would not have permitted his friends to bring him to Christ. But though his infirmity prevented him from speaking, yet his very speechlessness was a most effectual prayer to Christ. His misery was a suppliant to the God of mercy more powerful than his tongue. The desire of the heart is at all times a real prayer, heard and listened to by God. This was the prayer of the paralytic now; hence it is not said that our Blessed Lord heard, but that He saw, the faith of this poor man, and seeing it. He answered and rewarded it, though no word was uttered.^ ^ " Mattheus scripsit Evangelium in Judaea, Mavcus in Italia. Inter Judajos autem factum est miraculum illud ; ideo Mattheus breviter transit." — Gorranus, 2 " Particula, ecce, significat rem grandem : vel etiam solicitudinem eo- rum, qui cum audissent quod Dominus curaret infirmos, statim paralvticum ad Christum adduxere pro sanitate impe- tranda." — JSmman. ab Incarnatione. 3 " C'est la vraye marque d'une vive foy, d'avoir le premier recours a Dieu en ses maladies. Et cecy est remarquable en I'Evangile que le Fils de Dieu exaltoit tousjours la foy de Sr. MATTHEW IX. i— 8. ' 49 (2) He saw the faitli of tlie bearers,, the friends of the sick man^ who evidenced their faith by works, so that it was visible to man as well as to God. Their faith was seen by syweira. what they did, in uncovering the roof, that they might present the sick man to Christ.^ They came believing in Boya. the power and the love of Christ, and He rewarded their faith ^''"^^^" by giving them what they sought, the cure of their friend. Would that all sinners, when weighed down by their sins, and unable to move, had those who with like faith would bear them to Christ to be healed of the paralysis of sin. Many Emm. ab are the instances in Holy Scripture of God's answer, given ^"'^*'"'^*" in reply to the faith and prayers of those who have sought His help for others. Hence Christians are bidden to fray even for them that persecute them. It was when Moses Matt. v. a. prayed, and when his hands were lifted up, that the children of Israel prevailed against Amalek. At another time we Exod.xvii. read of Miriam being healed of her leprosy at the interces- "' ^^' sion of Moses ; and Job's prayer for his friends was answered. Num. xii. is not only by an answer to his prayer on their behalf, but the Lord turned the captivity of Joh, when he j)rayed for his fnends : also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had jobxiu. lo. before. So also, in answer to the prayer of the centurion, and in reward of his faith, our Blessed Lord healed the servant.^ And of Jerusalem, notwithstanding its sins, we Matt. viii. is. read, I will defend this city to save it for Mine own saJcCj and £!['.' for My servant David's salce. Would that those whose duty it is to bear the sick of soul into the presence of Christ, those who declare to others the Gospel of salvation, had faith in Christ as these men had, ceux qui recouroient a Luy en leurs and let down grain, straw, and other infirmetez. Ainsi II dit du centenier articles, as they still do in the country." qui Luy demandoit la guerison de son — Br, Thomson: The Land and the Book, serviteur, JSfon inveni tantam fidem in 2 «' Quia auditore, quid hic facien- Isi'ael ; de la Chananee, Mulier, magna dum nobis. Nonne ipsorum loco, ex- estjides tua ; de la femme qui toucha emplo centurionis illius, Christum nos la frange de Sa robe, Fides tua te adibimus, precantes : Domine, pueri salvam fecit; et en nostre Evangile de nostri, fratres nostri, parentes nostri, ceux qui Luy presentoient le paraly- jacent in domo paralytici et male tor- tiqae, vidensj^demillorum." — Molinier. quentur.'' Nonne iraitari nos decet ^ " The houses of Capernaum, as is viros illos qui hodiernum paraly ticum evident from the ruins, were low, very- gestarunt, et quidem, perrupto tecto, low, with flat roofs reached by a stair- dimiserunt ad Christum Dominum ? way from the yard or court. Those Itemus igitur siraul, effringamus coeli who carried the paralytic ascended to tectum nostris orationibus aliisque piis the roof, removed so much of it as was operibus, quo tandem parentes, fratres, necessary, and let down their patient et sorores nostras ad conspeclura Dei through the aperture. The whole affair inferre possimus, unaque cum ipsis was the extemporaneous device of plain aliquando seternum sociari." — Mattheu, peasants, accustomed to open their roofs, Faber. GOSP. VOL. III. E XXXVll. 35. 5° NINETEENTH SUNDA Y AFTER TRINITY. Paulus de Palacio. Kuinoel. Jansen Yp, Titelmann. Trench. Tostatus. then would there be more healing mercies reaching to sin- ners, then would the spiritually palsied hear more frequently the words of their Lord, Son, he of good chee7\^ Thy sins be forgiven thee. This appears to be the answer to the faith of the sick man himself. It may be that the disease under which he laboured was the natural consequence of sinful indulgence, or that, by means of the palsy, a sense of his sinfulness and guilt was awakened within him, and that he recognised in his disease the punishment of his sins.^ In most other cases of healing we find our Blessed Lord first removing the bodily infirmity, and then that of the soul. The different mode of procedure in this case makes it pro- bable that the desire, the prayer, of the sick man was for spiritual rather than for bodily healing. In other cases the miraculous cure of the body seems to have given full faith in Christ's power and willingness to remove the spiritual diseases. Here, however, it would seem as though faith in Christ's spiritual power, and the longing desire for the for- giveness of sins, had led this palsied man to the Saviour.^ But whether the desire of the sick man might have led to this act of Christ's forgiving power or not, one fact is evident : Christ, by the forgiveness of the sick man's siDs, gave to the Scribes and Pharisees, who were present, full proof of His Divinity. They confessed that no one could forgive sins but God alone. Christ forgave the sins of this man, and attested this fact by working the visible miracle upon his body, by raising him from the bed to which he was hopelessly bound.^ By forgiving the sins of this man He taught the paralytic, and through him still teaches us — (1) The greater importance of the spirit over the body, and the greater need in man of spiritual than of bodily health.^ 1 " utinatn tain efficacem, perfectam et integram haberent preedicatores fidem: ut earn Christus aspiciens, diligens, et probans, diceret populo, confided — Paulus de Palacio. 2 The Jews regarded disease as the punishment of sin. They said, *' There are no chastisements without sin" (Talm. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 55. 1. Mi- drash Hobelet, fol. 70. 4. Tzeror Hammer, fol. 99. 1). See St. John ix. 2. 3 " Disease was the one effect of all sin, and the particular punishments of some sins among the Jews. Comp. Deut. xxviii. 21, 22, 27, 60, on the diseases which disobedience should entail on the Israelites. Comp. also Isa. xxxiii. 24 : * The inhabitants shall not say, I am sick ; the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity ; ' also Numb. v. ; 1 Cor. v. 5. In saying ^'^'*"*^- Father's home. Whilst, then, the penitent is the son of God by adoption in Christ, still every man is a son of God by creation, and shares in his Father's love. He it is who hath chosen us, it is not we who chose Him ; and because we are already His we are able to come to Him. Luca Brug. John XV. 16. Pciulus (le Palacio. cent animarura, ut postquam infirmis fuerit de spirituali salute provisum, ad corporalis medicinee remedium salu- brius procedatur, cum causi, cessante cesset effectus." — Concil. Later anense^ Can. xii. 1 "Lucas ait Christum dixisse, Homo^ rejnittuntur peceata tua [Luc. v. 29]. Certe filium at hominem vere dixit. Inaudita enim mansuetudine filium vocat. Et, ut tacit^ Scribis et Phari- saeis supercilium et arrogantiam expro- bret, hominem dicit — id est, pecca- torem : et talem depingit, dicens, peceata tua, ut fidem et animura ip- sius excitet ad agnoscendum Se, utra- que sui portione calamitosum, atque hac metbodo peccatorum poenitentia correpta, remissio et gratia praesto eint. Quasi dicat: Homo es: ergo peccator, qui opus babes remissione peccatorum. Rogabis, Si peccator est, quomodo dicitur filius Christi, qui est sumraa justitia .»> Quod si peccator est filius Christi, ergo Christus est Pater peccatorum. Jam per quem ista con- cordabunt ? Profecto legisperitus, pbi- losopbus, aut quivis alius, sola ductus humana ratione et pbilosophia, judi- cabit hoc impossibile ; sed fidelis dicet nihil esse verius. Quandoquidem Deus Pater est peccatorum curandorum. Quemadmodum enira filius medici est aegrotus, cum tamen medicus sit sanus : ita et Christus, coelestis medicus, Pa- ter est peccatorum, sed curandorum. Hsec suavissimam peccatoribus remis- sionem peccatorum sitientibus afferunt consolationemJ'—Guilliaud. E2 <2 NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY, When tlie Saviour tlius bids the paralytic man he of good cheer J this was no mere word of command. What He bids any of us do He gives us power to accomplish. With His word strength was given to the soul to confide in Him, and to he of good cheer, as much as afterwards power was given to the palsied body to rise and walk.^ Son. He whose sins 2ive forgiven is recognised as God's son, and admitted to the privileges of His children ; and in speak- ing to this sinning and afflicted man with this endearing word Christ teaches us all, but especially those who have the care of souls, to be loving and merciful to the sick and poor, and especially to the erring children of our common rather.2 Thy sins he forgiven thee. This is not a mere declaration, 2Sam.xii.i3. like that of Nathan to David, that another had forgiven his sins. It is the voice of power putting away sin by His own Almighty word. In this way the absolution of Christ differs from that of His ministers, since they can but declare the absolution which another gives. The absolution of Christ differs also from that of the Church in another respect. Christ had not only the power of absolving all sinners, but He possesses the sure knowledge of the reality of the sinner's repentance : the command to absolve He has given to His ministers to exercise, but He has nowhere promised to impart to them the power to discern the heart. The paralytic man is a type of the human race suffering under the consequences of sin, robbed of all health of mind, enfeebled as to the powers of the soul, unable to live aright, or to do those things which are fitting to man's nature, and which he was intended to do, and hence unable to obey God or to come to God.^ Sin robs man of the strength to stand Emm. a!) Incarnat. Topiarius. Grotius. Estius. Bonaveu- tura. 1 Conformiter ad placitum Chry- sostomi dicendum est Dominus in illis verbis, Confide fill, non fidem novam ab hoc infirmo requirere sed perseve- rantiara, aut ctiam augmentura in ea, quam jam habebat," — Emm. ab Incur. 2 '■'■Fili, inquit, Bonus ad omnes Deus: in peccantes praecipue Suam ostendit longanimitatem et mansue- tudinem ; verax verbum hinc sumitur : Gravis atque sever us justis ubique videtur Deus, peccatoribus comis, pius, ac blandus, atque ad clementiam velox. Peccantem cadeutera relevat, et inquit ad eum, Nunqicid cadens non adjiciet ut resui'ffat ? aut aversus non revertetur ? Jer. viii. 4. Et iterum Zach. i. 3 : Convertimini ad Me, et Ejo convertar ad vos. Item Ezek. xviii. 23 : Vivo Ego, dicit Dominus, Nolo mortem pec- catoris, sed potius ut convertatur et vivat." — Topiarius. 3 '* Quod paralysis in corpora acedia est in anima, quum ita enervat ut im- potens sit homo se erigere ad virtutem ad coelum, ad Deum ait Cornelius in c. 10 Matt. . . Representat proinde para- lyticus hodiernus omnes tepidos tor- pentesque in Dei servitio. . . Si dice- rem nullum podagricum posse venire ad coelum, paradoxum viderer proloqui et tamen ipsissima Veritas est. Ex- clusi sunt spe coeli, quibus voluntaria paralysis in pedibus animae, hoc est, aifectibus haeret : ' Infelix anima, exclamat Richardus a S. Vict. orat. de Sr. MATTHEW IX. i— 8. q^ in the midst of temptations, and renders him utterly unable to walk in a consistent course. Deprived of the power which his nature at the first possessed, he is wholly unable to approach his Maker without help. He must be borne Aiex.Nat. into the presence of God, and borne by the hands of one of like nature to himself. For this end Christ took our nature, that Ho might lift us to God, and that He might restore strength to our enfeebled natures.^ AYe read elsewhere of the difficulty which the friends of the sick man had in bringing him to Christ. The crowd around Maricii. 4. hindered the approach to the Saviour, so that his friends ^''''^^•^^* had to take off part of the roof,^ and to let him down into the midst of the assembled crowd, in order that he might be placed before Christ. The crowd and cares of the world interpose now their obstacles. The evil example of many who profess the faith of Christ presents a stumbling-block. Oftentimes those seated with Christ, the ministers of His Church, like the sons of Eli of old, make men abhor the offering of the Lord. As with the children of Israel in their i sam. u. 17 journey to the Promised Land, so with Christians now. The Israelites were not led into Canaan without having to over- come many a hindrance — the desert at one time, hosts of enemies at another : so is it with us. If we would come to Christ, we must show the same zeal as these men who bore the paralytic man, the same earnestness as Zaccheus, even if we Luke xix 4. exterminatione mali, quae iu via virtutis crowd increased. "We may imagine non anhelas currere, quia nisi curras, Him there, with the wondering people non apprehendes bravium.' Ad coelura round Him, and the crafty and scorn- non sufficit via, sed currere, Sic eurrite ful Scribes seated near on the divan — ut comprehendatis, monet apostolus, 1 all sheltered from the hot sun by some Cor. ix. 24." — Rartimg. kind of matting or canvas, supported 1 " God's justification of a sinner is on a trellis- work of tree-branches and not merely a word spoken about a man, planks, more or less secure. When but a word spoken to and in him ; not the sick man was carried by his friends an act of God immanent in Himself, to the house where Christ was preach- but transitive upon the sinner." — ing, * they could not come nigh to Him Trench on the Miracles. for the press,' so they very naturally 2 "If the houses of Capernaum went on to the terrace or house-top, were built like most of the houses of and ' uncovered the roof of the court — the present day in the towns of Pales- that is, they removed the matting which tine, the uncovering of the roof admits sheltered it, and then they ' broke up* of an easy explanation. The inner the trellis-work and let down the bed court of the house is usually more whereon the sick of the palsy lay. If spacious than any of the surrounding an ordinary house-top had been broken rooms, and often there are platforms or up, the wooden beams, and the masses benches of stone on each side, spread of earth and stone of which it is com- with carpets and cushions, used as posed, would in falling have endangered divans during the day and as sleeping the lives of those below." — JDotnestie places at night. To such a court Life in Falestine^ Christ may have retreated when the 54 NINETEENTH SUNDA Y AFTER TRINITY. Paulus de Palaciu. Ezek. xl. 22, 25, 29, 33, Avendafio. have to rise above the crowd, and climb the tree or the roof in order to come to Him. We may each one of us learn a lesson from the way in which the bearers of the sick man overcame the hindrances which prevented their coming to Christ. Men are hindered in their Christian life — (1) By nominal worshippers, those who enter not into the house by a lively faith in Christ, and who by their deadness of faith and unbelief prevent others from entering in.^ (2) By the crowd about the doors, the cares of life and worldly occupatiou, which engross so much the thoughts and fill so much the heart of man that he cannot come near to his Saviour. (3) Home cares, domestic anxieties or pleasures, the ease and comfort of life, oftentimes occupy the whole soul, and prevent our lifting up our hearts to Christ. We must tear ourselves from these by uncovering the roof, by getting glimpses of heaven through meditation and more earnest prayer, which will bring us into the presence of our Father. The temple of God, as seen in vision by the prophet, was full of windows, through w^hich heaven could be seen by the wor- shippers. In the temple of God, our own selves, we must also see that there are these windows, through which the light and the glory of our Father may stream into our souls, and by which we may ever be conscious of His presence.^ jobxiv.4. (3) And J behold, certain of the Scribes said within 'xuv'22.''' themselves, This man blasphemeth. Behold a marvel ! not convinced by this miracle and by the manifestation of His power to heal, certain of the Scribes, 1 "Ad januam hujus domus sive ecclesise multa turba est, turn infidelium, turn etiam eorum fidelium, qui ad spiritura gustandum, qui interius est, nondum intraverunt. Foelix enim ilia est aniraa, quara sponsus Christus intro- duxit in cellam. vinarium : quae non ad januam est, sed intra domum. At quia angusta porta est, ideo turba non inlrat." — Pau'ns de Falacio. * "Cum omnes mortales in servitio Darii regis occuparentur, ita ut nullus Dei reminisceretur, sed ad regera etiam pro salute peteuda adirent, tunc Daniel fenestras in domo sua aperuit, per quas ter adorabat Dominum versus Jeru- salem, ne occlusa domus Dei luce non perfruatur. [Dan. vi. 10.] Cum Dominus Noe cum filiis et uxoribus filiorum et tot animalibus in arcam occlusit, et clausit a foris ostium, fenes- tram nibilominus in superioribus arcae aperuit, per quam lumen coeli possent aspicere. [Gen. vi. 16.] Quoniam quantumvis filiis, filiabus, nuribus, generis, famulis intra domum tuam includaris, ita qu5d ex omni parte a foris videaris occlusus, ut nullum aliis rebus intendere valeas ; superiori tamen parte domus tuse fenestram apertam habeas ; hoc est, ascende animse tusB tecta, ibique dividens curas, et a te aliquando abjiciens, coelum ac ccelestia circumspice et tracta, ne tantis curis summergaris, sed cum area super undas tamen securus traharis." — Avendano. ST. MATTHEW IX, i— 8. 55 not venturing, however, openly to condemn Him, said within themselves^ This man hla.sjphemeth. Some of the Scribes and Pharisees seem at least to have viewed this miracle with respect ; certain, however, of them said ivithin themselves — not openly, but, as another Evangel- ist tells us, reasoning in their hearts. Even amongst the Markii.e. most inveterate foes of Christ some were found who confessed His power. And for this reason it may be, and because of Emm. ab the evident miracle which He had wrought, these men whose ^"'^^"''*' hearts were still hardened against Him did not venture to Konigsteyn. accuse Him openly, but only said within themselves. The one and invincible error of the Jewish nation respect- ing our Blessed Lord, and more especially the master-error of the Scribes and Pharisees, was this, that He was mere man.^ They, indeed, had no other thought of the Messiah than that He would be a man like David, His predecessor. They would not acknowledge to themselves — they were blind to the fact — that the predictions of the prophets, and the characteristics of the promised Messiah, could not be fulfilled by one who was only man. When, then, the Messiah claimed the power of forgiving sins, they naturally, reasoning from their misconception, accused Him of blas- phemy.2 They knew the declaration of God — J, even I, am com. a Lap. He that hlotteth out thy transgressions : they knew, therefore, isa. xim. 23. that to blot out sins was the prerogative of God. Their blindness, however, hindered them from seeing that Christ Jerome, was more than man. They reasoned in this manner : Only God can forgive sins ; this man claims to forgive sins ; therefore he is a blasphemer. Whereas they should have argued : Only God can forgive sins; this man declares that he can forgive sins; therefore he asserts that he is God. That their reasoning ward, that only God could forgive sins was right is evident from the words of our Blessed Lord. He confirms this, not johnx.36- removing the impression, but strengthening it; and then ^^' proceeds to show that He is God, and therefore that He has the power of forgiving sins. So when, at another time, they made the same accusation against Him, that His claim to be equal with God was blasphemy for man to utter. He does Matt.xxvi. not tell them that they have mistaken His claim, but rather that His works prove that He is not mere man, but one with chrysostom. the Father. 1 " Yidebant hominem et non vide- consuetude est Dei pretendere zelum, bant Deum : solius autem Dei est di- ut bac pietatis larva suae malevolen- mittere peccata : ideo dicebant Eum tiae venenum impune evomant." — Em- lemum." — Th. Aquinas. - manuale ab Incarnatione. 2 " QuroQ p\a(T(prjiJ.H. — Impiorum $(» Gorranus. Bengel. Coster. Boys. Ps. cxxxix. 2. Matt. xii. 25. Mark xii. 15. Luke V. 22; vi. 8 ; ix. 47; xi. 17. Mark ii. 8. Salmeron. John ii. 25. Luca I3ru{». John V. 46, 47. John X. 37, 38. NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. Blasphemy consists — (1) In attributing to God defects unwortliy of Him_, such as want of knowledge or of wisdom. (2) In denying to God the attributes which are worthy of Him. (3) In attributing to any one except God, or in claiming for ourselves, the incommunicable attributes and prerogatives of God. (4) In treating the words and appointments of God, holy things, and holy places, with scorn. We find that our Blessed Lord did good to this paralytic man, undeterred by the knowledge that the Scribes and Pharisees would cavil at His actions. In this He taught us to obey His commands and to do good, although we have reason to fear that our good deeds may be evil spoken of and attributed to an unworthy motive.^ (4) And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts ? St. Mark adds, that He knew this by His Spirit, — not, that is, as a prophet might have done, by the spirit of another, by a revelation from on high, but by His own Spirit, in which was the knowledge of all men, for He needed not that any should testify of man; for He knew what was in man. Our Blessed Lord throughout the whole of His ministry answered the cavils and unbelief of those who denied His mission and Divinity, not by words and assertions, but by appeals to Scripture and by His deeds, since these were more convincing than any assertion could be. Thus, at one time He appeals to the Old Testament Scripture : Had ye believed Moses J ye would have believed Me : for he wrote of Me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe My words ? At another time He points to the proof afforded by His deeds. If I do not the luorks of My Father, believe Me not. But if I do, though ye believe not Me, believe the works : that ye may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him. He who had seen the faith of the paralytic man, though 1 **I1 ne faut jamais que la mau- vaise disposition de certaines personnes nous empeche de satisfaire a des devoirs de justice et de charite. Ce para- lytique desirant avec ardeur la remis- sion de ses peches, et I'ayant merifee par sa penitence interieure, que Jesus- Christ voyait dans son coeur, il ne devait pas etre prive de la consolation qu'il requt par ces paroles, Vos peches vous sont remis, a cause de la mauvaise disposition des Pharisiens." — Mcole su)- les Evatigiles. ST. MATTHEW IX. i— 8. ^^ unable tlirougli weakness to give any outward signs of the faith within, showed that He was one " unto whom all hearts be open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid," ^^^j, . by his knowledge of the thoughts which filled the hearts of the communioa Scribes and Pharisees. They accused Him of blasphemy in stie"""^' forgiving sins, since God alone can do so. He proves Him- self God by revealing the thoughts which were in their hearts, chrysostom. That He did not blaspheme, and that He was what He claimed to be^ very God, equal to the Father, He showed them — (1) By confirming the truth of His own words, thy sins he forgiven thee ; thus proving that He was God. (2) By showing that He knew the thoughts and intents of the heart, which none could do save God alone. (3) By healing the paralytic man, and giving him strength to rise from his bed in the presence of all men, which no Aiex. Nat. mere man could do. There ought to have been no longer any room for doubt in their minds as to the mission of the Saviour : ^ He proved that He was no deceiver, no mere prophet ; that He was more than man. His knowledge of their unspoken thoughts, } |^™^'^^;.'-.'^- and the miracles that He wrought, abundantly proved the 39. " truth of His claims. Had He been a prophet, possessing like other prophets power from on high to work miracles, still, in this case, the miracle which our Blessed Lord worked was done in attestation of His being one who had power to forgive sins, of His being very God : and this power it were blasphemy to suppose would have been given from heaven in support of a claim to be that which He was not — the Son of Com. i Lap. God, the very and eternal God. (5) For whether is easier, to say^ Thy sins be for- given thee ; or to say, Arise ^ and walk"? The thought in the minds of the Scribes and Pharisees seems to have been this : It is easy to say thy sins he for- given thee, because it is impossible to prove that this has taken place ; for that of which none on earth can be cog- Barradius. nisant, every one can equally assert or deny. Christ answers com. * Lap.; 1 *^}/iaiiSii)v^lr}(rovQTaQ\vQviir](TiiQ nobis revelantibus. . . . Observandum avToJv. Et cum vidisset Jesus cogita- quomodo semper Dominus aliorura ^?'ow(9s«orww. EratidinternotasMessiae, malitia in bonura aliquod utitwr. ut contra Barchocbebam observant Quod enim imprimis aperte dicere Thalmudici titulo De Synedrio."— non conveniebat, id jam, occasione Grotius. " Plus est videre cogitationes cogitationum taliura, commodum erat quam cognoscere, cum cognoscamus ostendere et evidens facere." — Jansen etiam cogitationes aliquorura ipsis Gand. 58 NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY Menockios. Matt. Faber. Arias Mon- taiius. Corn, a Lap. Chemiiitz. Salmeron. the objection of these men, that though He was unable to heal the sick, yet that He claimed the greater power of for- giving sins, the truth of which claim none could test. To show that He possessed the power which He claimed^ He gave a sign which all might see, and by which all might test the reality of His claim to be more than man.^ Whatever answer might be given to this question of Christ, the truth of His words, the assertion of His Divinity, would be equally evident. If they answer that both these are beyond ordinary means or the power of man to accom- plish, then in effect our Blessed Lord says : ^^ Since I do that which is equally difficult with the forgiveness of sins, since I heal the body, you cannot rightly question My power to do the other." If they answer that the claim to forgive sins is easier, but that the other sign had not been done because of its greater difficulty, and of the ease with which it would be detected, then, in working that which was be- yond human means, they acknowledged in Him a power more than human, the very power which could forgive sins. Let it be noted that the question is not which is easier to do, but which is easier to saij. They denied that anything was done, and declared that it was an empty claim on Christ^ s part. He, then, did that which was harder than merely to claim any power, however great ; He worked a miracle in their sight — one which they could examine, and about which they could satisfy themselves.^ The power to forgive sins is, indeed, of greater excellency and dignity than any other power, because it is a power exerted over and benefiting the soul, which is greater in dignity than the body. But the power exerted in the one case is not greater than that exerted in the other. Both are Divine, both beyond the power of man. The greatness con- sists not in the power made use of, but in the superiority of the soul, on which the miracle of healing is exercised. (6) But that ye may knoiv that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins, {then saith He 1 " A visibili signo probat suam in- visibilem potestatem." — Emm. ah In- carnatione. 2 "Magnitude autem miraculi, vel modus faciendi, cum imperio et in momento, simpliciter non probant Christum esse Deum, quia potest dici quod homo sic operans Deo sit magis acceptus, juxta illud: Qui credit in Me, opera qua Ego facio et ipse faciei, et majora horum faciei. Operari taraen ilia ad confirm ationera hujus assertionis, Ego Deus sum, et habeo potestatem remittendi peccata, maxim^ probat Christum esse Deum ; quia Deus etiam minimo signo non attestatur mendacio.'^ — Salmeron. ST. MATTHEW 2X. i— 8. 59 to the sich of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy heel, and go unto thine house. That ye m,ay hnow, not by My testimony, not from My words, but by a sign visible to all. He was about to give a material sign, in order that He might prove to them the reality of the spiritual blessing, as He ever does in the sacraments of the Church.^ Both His acts of mercy to the Jerome, paralytic man were proofs of His Divine nature ; yet because the one was invisible which He wrought on the spirit, and the other on the body was visible to them all, by the visible He proved the reality of the invisible. So that, when the Scribes and Pharisees as well as the multitude saw the diseased body of the man restored whole at the word of Christ, they could no longer doubt His power nor question the invisible operation of God upon the spirit, working Astensis. forgiveness and restoring the man to holiness. Both these miracles of healing, that upon the spirit of the man as well as that on his body, were wrought by the inherent power of Christ. He says, not that the Son of Man hath power from God, or that He hath received a command- ment to declare these mercies, but He says that He hath GuiUiaud. this power even as man absolutely of Himself.^ The Son of Man, Our Saviour here seems to demonstrate His Divinity. Of the perfect humanity in the person of Jesus Christ there was no question with these cavillers. It is the Son of Man who does this, who forgives the sins of the paralytic man as well as heals his body. But none save God could do this ; none but God had such power ; there- fore the Son of Man is God.^ The blessings which man '^■^''^{''^J^j, derives from the incarnation of the Second Person in the in. 4. ever-blessed Trinity flow through the human nature of Christ. None but God could remit sin, yet His doing so was by virtue of the manhood which was taken into union com. a Lap. ^ " Ut autem sciatis, etc., dupliciter ab Evangelista ad melius insinuandum potest legi : vel ut sint verba Evan- rem gestam." — Emm. ab Incarnatione. gelistae, et ita fuit narratoria : vel sint 2 u ;g;ahet potestatem non ministeri- verba Cbristi dicentis, ut sciatis, etc., alem, sicut sacerdotes novse legis, sed et sic oratio est imperfecta, quia ipsi authoritativara et principalem per sua dubitabant. Ideo ut sciatis quia ego excellentissima opera acquisitam ; et ut habeo potestatem dimittendi peccata: quatenus homo; nam qua Deus earn ait paralytica : Surge, etc. Unde habebat ut sibi connaturaliter ingeni- yerbo curavit; quod proprium est Dei, tam."— i?wm. ah Incarnatione. luxta illud, Psal. xxxiii. 9, Dixit et 3 u jt -^as the manhood that pro- facta sunt." — Th. Aquinas. nounced. Thy sins be forgiven thee : Tunc ait paralytico. Haec verba, ^^^ Almighty was He that forgave qu« a Syriaco et a multis patribus per t\iem."— i^r. Gardyner. paronthesim leguntur sunt interposita 6o NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. Sillmeron. Tostatus. 1 Cor. XV. 45. Barradius. Wesley. Chemnitz. Tlieophylact. Gorraiius. Koyard. Beiigel. John vi. 33. Tostatus. Theophylact. Haymo. with the Godhead. This was the channel of heahng to man : the means through which the mercies of God were made available to his salvation. There seems, therefore, to be a special emphasis on these words. As on other similar occa- sions, our Blessed Lord appears, when about to exert that power by which men should be compelled to acknowledge the presence of Divinity, to have used this name, lest they should forget the fact of His perfect humanity. In calling Himself, then, the Son of Man, He shows us — (1) That He who did these miracles was one in person; that He who, as God, forgave sins, was yet, at the same time and for ever, the &on of Man. (2) That the humanity which had been united inseparably with the nature of God was invested with the prerogative of Godhead, and that the Second Adam was, indeed, a qiiickeU' ing spirit. But our Blessed Lord not only points to the healing mercies which come from Him as the Son of Man; the 2')ower which He manifested was done ujpori earth. In these words He teaches us — (1) That the Son of Man had this power even whilst He was upon earth, and in His state of humiliation. And if so, let us for our confidence remember, how much more when He has ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of power. (2) That the ea7'th is the only place where sins can be forgiven; that unless they are remitted in this life, they must cling to man for ever. These words savour of a heavenly origin; they seem to be spoken by One who came down from heaven, and who has not yet ascended into His glory. (3) In these words is also contained a promise to all sinners who repent of their sins, that so long as they are upon the earth they may find mercy and forgiveness from the Son of Man.^ Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. Our Blessed Lord not only healed this paralytic man, but He commanded him to take up his bed in attestation of the reality and completeness of the miracle ; that as his bed had been in time past the sign of his infirmity, so now it should be the proof of his having been made whole. As our being tied and bound by the chain of our sins is a sign of our 1 " Missus fuit a Patre in mundum, ut salvaretur mundus per Ipsum, quod fieri nequaquam posset, nisi hominibus peccata diraitteret. Si ergo discipulos Suos raisit in mundum universum, sicut Ipse fuerat missus k Patre, con- stat Ipsum peccati dimittendi potes- tatem illis contradidisse. Alioqui non sic eos misisset, sicut fuerat Ipse missus a Patre." — Royzrd. ST. MATTHEW IX. 1—8. 61 spiritual death, so is tlie conquest over sin and resistance to temptation the witness of our having risen from the dead. Christ sent this man whom He had healed to his house in order that those who had known of his infirmity and help- lessness might be witnesses also of the healing effected by the word of Christ, and that he might be a constant monu- ment of the truth that Christ, the Messiah, had come unto men. By sending him to his house our Blessed Lord seemed to say, '^ I desire to heal all who are diseased in mind_, all who are paralysed by unbelief; but since these will not come that they may be healed, that they may believe because of the works which I do, depart thou and declare, by thy presence amongst them, that the Healer is indeed come.^' God would have us manifest His power in ciirysostom. the same place where of old we showed forth our subjection to Satan. He sent the man away when He had healed him, and did not bid him follow Him. On this, note — (1) That Christ never permitted any one to be His Apostle whom He had healed of any disease, or from whom He had driven out the devil, nor, again, whom He had raised from the dead, lest, it may be, any should say that the miracles were not real, but were pretended to be wrought on one who, as a follower of Christ, was ready to proclaim a fictitious miracle for the credit of his Master. (2) That though He had healed men, yet that He had done so in order to swell the number of His disciples, and saimeron. not as the efi'ect of His love and sympathy for man. (3) He showed us in this the perfect freedom of will which remained in those whom He had raised from sickness or death. These were sent to their own homes, bidden, indeed, by the remembrance of past mercies to sin no more, but not insured by any special nearness to Him of security against syiveira. fresh temptation and danger. But as in the paralytic man, unable to move any of his limbs aright, we have a type of human nature when lying under the dominion of sin, so in the command of our Saviour we have spiritual lessons and spiritual directions for every sinner. He calls each one of us to depart from the pleasures of sin and from the enthralling delight of fleshly lusts which bind us, as this sick man, to a bed of languishing. He bids us rule that body which has hitherto enslaved us, and to rise in that strength which He gives us, and to walk from hence- forth in the paths of His commandments.^ These injunctions, Augustine, then, are given to every sinner — 1 " Lectum tollere est carnem a carnalibus desideriis advoluntatem Spiritus 6a NINETEENTH SUNDA V AFTER TRINITY. Svlveii-a. Nicole. Royard. Sylveira. Mark ii. 3. Luke V. 25. (1) Arise. Lift up thyself from the earth, to which all thy inclinations bind thee. Lift up thyself to God, by tearing thyself from the grovelling pleasures of sense. He has promised forgiveness of sins to all who repent, and the reality of that forgiveness is evidenced to thyself and to others by the power which thou hast of fulfilling this command and rising from the earth. (2) Tahe up thy bed. Thou hast been weighed down to the earth and bound by the fetters of evil passions and of earthly lusts. Thy body has been allowed to rule thee as thy master. Be thou henceforth the master of that which has hitherto enslaved thee. Bear that which has in past time borne thee. (3) Go unto thine house?- Leave the pursuit and the worship of things without; things which are not fitted to give rest to thee. Go unto thy heart, listen there to God^s call, be watchful over all thy actions, and do that which becometh one whose home is not this earth.^ This is a solemn call to the penitent to labour to undo the evil of which, in past time, he has been the cause. Our Blessed Lord seems to say. When thou wert walking in sin, others helped thee to Christ. Now show the signs of the reality of thy repentance by bearing and leading to Christ others, of whose sins thou wast formerly a partaker. Arise now from the death of sin, that so thou mayest without shame take up thy bed, this body, at the general resurrection, — for it will be the same bed, the same body, which now thou hast, — and go unto thine house, the place of many mansions, which Christ has prepared for thee.^ (7) And he arose, and departed to his house. As of old He spake, and it was done ; He commanded, and attollere : ut quod fuit testimoniura in- lirmitatis sit probatio sanitatis. Tolle ergo lectum tuum — id est, carnem — per coutinentiam : spe coelestium a terris segrega." — Ant. Patav. 1 *' Unde Apostolus : Surge, inquit, qui dormis, et exsurge a mortuis, et illuminabit terChristus. [Ephes. v. 14.] Surge, tolle lectum tuum ; habeas potestatem in earns tua : dominare corpori tuo ; tu porta, tu rege, tu dirige; tibi serviat, tibi obediat, tibi- que amodo per omnia subjiciatur. £t vade in domum tuam: revertere in patriam tuam ; reduc in patriam, car- nem tuam, quia ipsa te ejecit de patria tua." — Bruno Astensis. ' " Que de peuples dans le monde, que leurs peches, leur corruption, leur egoisrae inerte et lacbe ont paralyse ! Quand se leveront-ils a la voix de Jesus, pour s'en retourner dans leur maison, pour rentrer dans une demeure qui soit a eux ? " — Zemennais. 3 "Apres avoir ete delivres de nos maux, nous devons marcliez avec ierveur vers notre maison, qui est le paradis. II faut employer nos forces, nos pensees, pour y arriver. Regret- tons tons les jours et tons les momens employes dans des desseins cpntraires." — Medaille, Medit. sur les Evangiles. ST. MATTHEW IX. i— 8. 5^ iinmediately it stood fast ; so now, no sooner does Christ ps. xxxiu. a. speak, than the man is restored from his sickness. There is wiceiius. no interval between the will of Christ and the deed which He wills to be done. St. Mark and St. Luke add immediatehj, thus showing the instantaneous effect of Christ's words upon syiveira. the paralytic man. They add also, that he tvent forth before Mark u. 12. them allj and tooh up that ivhereon he lay, and de-parted to his Luke y. 25; own house, glorifying God ; that is, before all those who had accused the Great Healer of blasphemy, and also before all ^KAlat. those who had listened with reverence to His words. Our Blessed Lord, in forgiving the sins of the soul, and in healing at the same time the body, of the paralytic man, teaches us that He is the Lord and Redeemer both of the body and spirit of every one. He raised the man at once from the palsy of body and spirit ; and in the real strength which He imparted to the useless members of the body He teaches us that, when He heals the soul by the forgiveness of sins, it is no figurative healing which He gives, but a very chrysostom. real power. In the action of the man who was healed we have convincing evidence of perfect soundness instantaneously imparted. What Christ bestows. He gives with a full hand and in unstinted measure. When He condescends to attest His power in the sight of men. He will have it worthily esteemed and magnified. We, indeed, are called upon to magnify His name and to praise His power more than the multitude who witnessed this miracle. They, most probably, glorified God for the lesser mercy, the healing of the body : we are daily called upon to glorify Him for the redemption stier. of the world and for the forgiveness of sins. By this miracle, then, Christ taught us these two truths : — (1) That in His miracles of mercy to the bodies of men He gives perfect restoration of health, and imparts real strength to that which had before been enfeebled by disease. (2) That this forgiveness of sins, of which the healing of the body is an outward sign, is followed by as real con- sequences as in the other miracle. That it is no mere imputation of righteousness, no mere covering of sin, which then takes place, but that He infuses strength to obey His commands and imparts a real holiness to the spirit of the sinner, so that he has power not only to break away from the slavery of sin, but to go to his house and to live as a Matt. Faber. child under the eye and in the service of his Father.^ 1 " Discamus ab hoc paralytico non ambulare, nee unquam quiescere, donee solum credere, sed etiam a peccatis ad domum nostram efc veram patriam resurgere et in via mandatorum Dei accedamus. Non satis est ei credere ; 64 NINETEENTH SUNDA Y AFTER TRINITY. Origen. Augustine. Matt. viii. 6. John V. 1-9. As paralysis is a type of the state of tlie sinner, powerless through sin, more especially through indulgence in sensual lusts, so do the three instances in which our Blessed Lord is recorded to have cured this disease typify three several stages in sin. He cured the servant lying sich of the palsy in his master's house. He healed another who was lying impotent at the pool of Bethesda. And here He raises one lying helpless in his bed. In this He teaches us not only that He is able to save, but He shows us the unlimited way in which that power is exerted : that He does cure the soul palsied in the house, and impotent through secret sins. And not only so, but that He can, and is ready to, speak the word and to heal the open and notorious sinner, whose wickedness is pro- claimed aloud by the whole world, as of old He healed the man lying by the pool of Bethesda. And yet more than even this: that as He healed the man wholly deprived of strength and bound to his bed of sickness, so that he needed to be brought to Him by others, so will He listen to the prayers of others offered up in behalf of the sinner, and will for- give and impart fresh spiritual strength to the penitent who mourns over long habits of sin and vears of helplessness and estrangement from his God. (8) But ivhen the multitudes saw it, they mar- velled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men. We read nothing of the effect of this miracle upon the hearts of the Scribes and Pharisees — probably there was Th. Aquinas, nothing good to tcll of them — they still murmured against Him ; but of the multitudes it is said, as though in contra- distinction to these others, we read that they m.arvelled; whilst, in contrast to those who conceived evil in their hearts against Christ, we read that these openly glorified God. That which is an object of scandal to those who are hardened by submission to the fashions and entangled by the pre- judices of the world, is oftentimes the very cause of comfort and of rejoicing to the simple in heart. The multitudes glorified God, because He had given such power unto men. They saw only in the Saviour a man in whom they recognised the power of God working, and they praised God that He had bestowed snch gifts on this man, one of the common race of men, and had given power to Him for the benefit of all men who were suffering from disease and sin.^ There seems only in these multitudes an Ludolph. Verse 33. Emm. ab Incarnat. Cajetan. Bxa6, Jansen Yp. Ben^l. sed opus est surgere, ambulare, et laborare, et omnibus Suis praeceptis ohQdiVce" — Stella, Comment, in Lucam. 1 " Quia dicitur hominibus, ideo ST. MATTHEW IX. i— 8. ^t acknowledg'inent that the man who did such mighty deeds was enabled to do them bj the power of God given to Him for that special purpose. ^ Here some may ask why Christ did not on this occasion say distinctly, I am God. It may be answered that His mighty works proclaimed this truth more effectually than words could do. But, again, in the state of heart of the Jewish people, and especially of the Scribes and Pharisees, this were but to add a fresh stumbling-block, and to tempt them to deeper sin. They could not comprehend how He who con- fessedly was man could yet be God. That which the prophets taught, their glosses on Scripture and their prejudices hin- dered them from seeing. When He asserted His Divinity on other occasions, we find that this was to His hearers but the occasion of indignation and fresh sin. When he declared. Before Abraham luasy /am, thus distinctly asserting His pre- Joim viii. 58. existence before His incarnation, we read. Then took they up stones to cast at Him. When He declared His co- equality with the Father in these words, land the Father are one, they took up stones again to stone Him. His words were plain John x. 30. assertions to the people of His Divinity, else there would be no meaning in the charge brought against Him that He spake blasphemy. They acknowledged when they sought to stone Him, and by the very act itself, that He claimed to Himself the attributes of God. This was what the Scribes and Pharisees declared when they accused Him of blasphemy ; and Caiaphas proclaimed the same when, on hearing our Blessed Lord^s Matt.xivi. declaration, he rent his clothes. In preferring by works and by implication to assert His Divnnity, rather than by words, He taught us to manifest the reality of our professions by the deeds of our life rather than by the words of our lips. By this miracle we are taught — (1) That in the one person of our Blessed Lord there were two distinct natures — the Divine and the human. This we see, on the one hand, in His submission to human weakness and by His condescending to the use of human means, and also by the charge of the Scribes and Pharisees, that He, being man, claimed to exercise the prerogatives of God. On the other hand, the truth of his Divinity is evidenced Hilarius exponit * Qui cledit talem potcs- multitudes rejoiced that God had given iatem horrdnibus, ut fiant filii Dei,' ut in such power to this man, /. e. to Christ loan. i. 12, Dedit eis potestatem fdios Jesus, Eoyard says, *' Dedit non Dei fieri.'" — Th. Aquinas. quidem angelis, non archangelis, non ^ Estius and, again, Olshausen quibusounque spiritibus angclicis, sod understand dvOpMTroig to be used in- mortalibus hominibus, creatura3 fragili stead of T(p av9pu)7iif, and that the et sine peccato non viventi." GOSP. YOi.. III. F 66 NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. by tlie miracles wrought by His own power and done in attestation of His claim to be God. (2) That Christ is able to heal the diseases both of the sonl and the body. (3) By the crowd around the door we are reminded of the hindrances which interpose to prevent the sinner coming to Christ/ and are warned against sinning, lest we not only come not ourselves to the Saviour, but lest we hinder thereby those who would come. (4) By the example of the friends of the paralytic man we are taught our duty to the sick in body or soul, and are encouraged to bring them to Christ for healing. (5) From the example of the Scribes and Pharisees we are warned not to blaspheme God ; and (6) From the example of the multitudes we are bidden to Hofineister. glorify Him for every act of mercy and of love. In this miracle, and in its attendant circumstances, we have a picture of Christ's earthly life, and the blessings which flow to us from His incarnation. He went up into the vessel and committed Himself to the waves of this world when He became incarnate ; for with our flesh He took its weaknesses, our whole nature, tossed by conflicting passions Heb. ii. 17; — being made like unto His brethren, and in all points tempted >v- 15- like as we a,re. In this nature He came unto His own city, the world which He had made. Then at His coming the palsied in soul, those who were bound to their beds, enslaved to the body by evil habits and powerless to do good, were brought to Him, and these He healed by His teaching and sufl'ering. The whole time that He was employed in His mission of love the Pharisees denied His claim to be God, and accused Him of blasphemy because that He, being a man, made Himself John V. 18. equal witk God. For this they accused Him to the people, for this they moved them to stone Him, and for this they at length hurried Him to death. In that death, however, more than in His earthly life. He brought healing to the whole human race. By dying on the cross He gave to every sinner power to arise from his sins; the blood and the water poured out at His death brought remission of sins and gave strength to the penitent to walk in newness of life. By His resur- rection He bids us ta,he up our bed, the body of this death; and by His rising again, who was our firstfruits, from the tomb, He conferred on the whole human race the power of ' " Quia angusta porta est, ideo turba solutam et laxam vitam vidcntes, oc- non intrat. Et quidem turba non casionem accipiunt non intrandi ad raodo non intrat, sed impedimento est Christum : ad quern introissent si infirmis, ne intrent et saluteni acci- omnes introeuntes vidi&sent." — Faidus piant. Multi siquidem, turbye dis- de Palacio. I Cor. XV. 20. ST. MATTHEW IX. i— 8. 67 rising from the grave in that body which had been borne about by man upon earth. But He rose not only to give power to the body; He rose also for the justification of the Rom.iv. 2.- soul ; and hence He calls us to go into our own house, the place which He has prepared for us in heaven — our true Heb. xi home and our abiding country. in. Matt. Faber. *^* " benigne Domine Jesu Christe, qui es Omnipotens Deus et homo verus, qui terram Gergesenorum, cui acceptus non eras, relinquens, tan- quam infirmus homo mare trajecisti, et homini paralytico peccata remisisti, nos miseri peccatores oramus Te ne deseras nos, scd maneas apud nos, doceas nos, confirraes nostram fidem, repleas nos bonis cogitationibus et in- spirationibus, ignoscas peccata nostra, sanes internas nostras aflFectiones et defectus, des etiara nobis gratiam, qua divinam Tuam voluntatem in omnibus ita perficiamus, ut quilibet ex vita nostra sedificetur in bonum, atque Te timeat, laudet, Tibique gratias agat cum Deo Patre et Spiritu Sancto, cum quo regnas in seternum. Amen." — Coster. F7 THE TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. St. Matthew xxn. 1 — 14. Tostatus. Emm. :ib Iiicariiat. (1) l^And'] Jesus [jinsivered and sjxike unto them again by parables, and'] said, Ihis parable continues the teaching of the previous one of the wicked husbandmen. Hence it is said that Jesus answered : not, that is, to a new interrogation of the Scribes and Pharisees, but to the questionings which had led to the former parable ; or the same word is used as at other times, in replying to the questioning of the hearts, to the thoughts which were passing in the minds, of those who stood before Him. In the preceding parable our Blessed Lord had said that the kingdom should be taken from those husbandmen who had disobeyed their Lord, and, having killed His mes- sengers, had finally taken the life of His Son ; and He furtlier explained this parable by saying, that the hingdom of God should be taken from the Jews, and should be given to a nation hringing forth the fruits thereof Now He proceeds to show what people that should be ; those who listened to His invitation and obeyed His call from all the nations of the earth. In other ways also the teaching of this parable is carried beyond the point where the former parable ends.^ There He spake of His death — the heir of all things — by the 1 "Parabola et sirailitudo istius Evangelii, si recte consideretur, nihil aliud est quam bvevis qusedam coin- prehensio totius Sacrae Scripturfe : id tjuod indicatu facile est. Hoc enim omncs fateantur oportet, quod Sacra Scriptura potissimum et in primis de sequentibus rebus loquitur: utpote primo de Deo. Sec\ind6 de redemp- tione per Cliristum instituenda, et jam facta. Tertio de foedere jam antiqui- tus a Deo facto cum Abraham ejusque semine. Quarto de variis benefiriis qiiaj Deus illi populo exhibuit. Quinto tie magna ingratitudine illius populi. Sexto de poena et interitu eorum. Scptimo de vocatione gentium per Apostolos. Octavo de malis et falsis Christianis. Nono de futuro judicio. HiGC, inquam, ferd prajcipua sunt quae nobis Scriptura proponit. Ea autera omnia etiam in hac similitudine com- prehensa sunt." — Ferns in Do?n. ST. MATTHEW XXrr. 1—14. 69 hands of tlie husbandmen of the vineyard : here He speaks of the marriage feast, for b}^ His death, and by reason of that sacrifice, was that marriage of Christ with His people, which commenced with His incarnation and the taking up of the nature of man into union with the Divine nature consummated at His crucifixion and the consequent sendin^j* of the Holy Spirit.^ Again, in the first parable, addressed ciuysostom. more especially to the chief priests and eiders of the people, Matt. xsi. -23. He threatened the ministers of His Church — the rulers of the Jews — with rejection for their sins : here He speaks of what shall befall the whole city and nation as the consequence of their refusal to listen to this new invitation from the King of kings. In the first parable the love of God towards His Aven.iafio. own people is shown in His bearing with them until they had slain the heir — His only-begotten Son : in the present parable we are shown that not even the death of Christ extinguished the love of the Father for the Jewish nation, that He invited them to the marriage feast which was made by the very death of the Incarnate One, and that even then He called those whom of old He had invited, and who Breaembach. aorain refused to listen to His call. He spake unto them again by parables. Since we are accustomed to the teaching of sensible things, and are more influenced by them than by other lessons, God is ever lead- ing us by the hand and making use of those means to guide us into all truth. By means of those things which sti'ike our senses He leads us on to intellectual truth, and from intellectual truths He conducts us to that which is spiritual and divine. For if we believe not earthly things, which are the images of that which is divine, hoiv shall we believe heavoihj things ? God deals with us as He did with the Joim i". 12. Magi, whom He led by the star into the presence of the Incarnate Saviour. We have a striking instance of this in the present parable, where, under the figure of an earthly banquet and a marriage in the world, we are taught truths vonigne. concerning our spiritual union with Jesus Christ. The parable is in itself an expansion, but in a great measure a repetition also, of a former parable — a striking "-^k" instance of the fact that our Blessed Lord, in His love to 1 " Perfccte aptari parabola non rcgi^ qui tempore incarnatioiiis fecit potest ad tempus quo Christus nonduni nuptias filio suo ; sed quia ante prau- Tiiortuus crat, nee Spiritura Sanctum dium raulta parari solent, hac causa niiserat. Siquidem ante Christi mor- triginta et tribus fere annis necessaria, tcm et Spiritus missionem non erant couvivio parabantur. Mortuo vero omnia pnrata. Maxima nam pars regii Cbristo et Spiritu Sancto misso, erant convivii Spiritus Snctusest. Igitur jkih omnia parata." — Faulus cU Palacio. simile est regiium ccolorum hoiniui Luke xiv. 16 70 SUer. Luke xiv. 1. Rom. ix. 2t. John X. 10. Hosea i. 10. Emra.ab Incarnat. 1 Cor. iii. 7. TWENTIETH SUNDA V AFTER TRINITY us, condescended to repeat the lessons of eternal wisdom. ^ Like the king of whom He is speaking, who, not ceasing from his invitations to the marriage feast because of the indifference and obstinacy of those whom he had summoned, sends out other servants with the same message as before ; so upon the ears that were deaf to His teaching in the house of the Pharisee the Saviour lets fall the same warning and repeats the same lesson. In this parable, then, we have two truths insisted upon. God is a God not of the Jews orili/y hut also of the Gentiles, for from the first He had other sheep which were not of the Jewish fold. Now, in calling into His Church a people who as yet were not a people, and making them to be the sons of the living God, He shows that the rejection of the Jews from being His peculiar people and nation was an act of self-rejection. Though He spake as never man yet spake, and though He was unwearied in His teaching, and in giving the signs of His power in attestation of His mission, yet Pharisee, and Scribe, and priest, and people turned away, and refused to be convicted even when they were convinced by the truths which fell from His lips. By this let the minister and preacher of His truth learn not to be discouraged, though his words seem to fall without effect to the earth, and his cry appears to be unheeded. God rewards not those who bring penitents to Him, but those who are faithful to their trust, whether men hear or whether they refuse to listen to God's Word spoken by His ministers. It is the sincerity of the work, not the fruit, which He rewards ; for the fruit is His own, since it is only God that giveth the increase. Matt. XXV. 1 —10. Luke xiv. 16. Kev. xix. 7 (2) The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king {avSpcoTrcp ^olg-i'KbV), which made a marriage for his son.^ 1 This is not the same parable as that recorded by St. Luke. See Augustine de Cons. Evang. lib. 2, cap. 71 ; S. Greg. Horn, xxxix. in Evang.; Tostatus, quaBst. iii, ; Sylveira, and Trench on the Parables, Parable xii. 2 " Homini regi — quia regit nos humane modo." — Th. Aquinas. 3 " Cum hac parabola fere eonvenit ilia qnoe legitur in Breschith Rabba, sect. 62, fol. 60, 3. R. Eleasar simile protulit de rege quodam, qui convi- vium iustruxit, ad illudquc percgri- nos et in itinere constitutes invitavit {7ropf.vt(j9t ilg rag Su^odovg Tutv oSiov, V. 9), quibus etiam ostendit quidnam edere et bibere deberent (oi ravpoi nov Kul Td aiTiard TeOvfxsva, v. 4) : illi itaque postquam saturati sunt, in utramque aurem dormierunt. Sic quo- que Deus S. B. justis ostendit adhuc in mundo viventibus mercedem ipsorum, quam quondam ipsis in mundo future daturus est, et saturat ipsos, et illi dormiunt." — Schocttgen in Hor. Heb. et Talmud. f ST. MATTHEW XXII. i— 14. ^^ The ldn