^ 
 
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 //^ yv-y. -^^ ^^ A ^ A ^^^ v^^^ 
 
 
 DANIELIS ROGERIJ EPIGRAMMA IN 
 TUMULUM JO, JUELLL 
 
 DE VARIARUM REGIOXUM PURIORIBUS THEOLOGIS. 
 
 •Prsedicet assidu5 divinum Martyra Tuscus : 
 Calvinumq. suum Gallia in astra ferat. 
 Jactet et extoUat Germana Melancthona tellus : 
 Lutherum et parili semper honore vehat. 
 Nee Bucere tuos obliviscatur honores 
 Bonna, tuo summiini nomine nacta decus. 
 Zuinglius Helve tijs aeterntim vivat in oris ; 
 Et Bullingerum gens Tigurina colat. 
 Inclyta Sarmaticas sit Alasci fama per urbes : 
 Boihemis Hussus concelebretur agris. 
 Clara sit Hemmingi Danis industria terris : 
 Illustris Scotica Knoxius extet humo. 
 Valdesio Hispanus scriptore superhiat orbis : 
 Hyperium et merito carmine Belga citet. 
 Quseq. sui regie nomen doctoris honoret, 
 In praeceptores sitq. benigna suos. 
 At Doctore suo te gaudeat Anglia felix, 
 Vnum pro cunctis teq. Jiielle canat. 
 
 Extracted from Lawrence Humphrey^ "Life and Death of John 
 Jewell, Bishop of Salisbury, ^^ dec. Published by John Day, a.d. 1573. 
 
JUAN DE YALDES' 
 
 7 
 
 COMMENTARY 
 
 UPON THE 
 
 GOSPEL OF ST. MATTHEW: 
 
 NOW FOR THE FIRST TIME TRANSLATED FROM THE SPANISH, 
 AND NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED IN ENGLISH. 
 
 By JOHN T. BETTS. 
 
 LIVi:S OF THE TWIN BROTHERS, 
 
 JUAN AND ALFONSO DE VALDES. 
 
 By EDWARD BOEHMER, D.D., PhD. 
 WITH INTRODU€ll(m BY THE EDITOR. 
 
 LONDON: 
 TRiJBNER & CO., LUDGATE HILL. 
 
 1882. 
 [All rights reserved.] 
 

 
 0^ 
 
 BAIXANTYNE, HANSON AND CO. 
 liUlNBURGH AND LONDON 
 
 ^^7- 
 
 1^^ ^ 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Although the Editor, in his desire to popularise the 
 knowledge of Juan de Valdes and of his works, has pub- 
 lished two lives of this author, the one written by Wiffen 
 in 1865, and the other by Boehmer in 1882, setting forth 
 all that was known of him at the respective periods when 
 they were issued ; and although the Editor's prefaces to 
 Valdes' " CX Divine Considerations," to Valdes' minor 
 works, his " XVII Opuscules," to Valdes' " Spiritual Milk 
 for Christian Children," and to Professor Boehmer's " Lives 
 of the Twin Brothers Juan and Alfonso de Valdes," have 
 brought much similar matter before the public, still it 
 has never previously been made known what a benefactor 
 his Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Germany became 
 to Christendom when he was pleased to accede to the 
 Professor's request to be released from twelve yet re- 
 maining years of professorial duties, by constituting him 
 emeritus professor of the University of Strasburg, in 
 order that he might devote his life to the prosecution of 
 his researches and his publications, thereby creating for 
 him that leisure, which has been so successfully employed 
 in that Valdesian mine, the Aulic Library at Vienna, and 
 especially in that rich vein of it, the Emperor Maximilian 
 the Second's papers. In announcing Professor Boehmer's 
 "Lives of all the Spanish Eeformers," the "Bibliotheca 
 Wiffeniana," now in course of publication, in English, 
 
viii PREFACE. 
 
 which will supply scholars with the history of every 
 known edition of their works, the Editor again proclaims 
 the grace shown by the Emperor of Germany to Dr. 
 Boehmer to have been one virtually shown to the Chris- 
 tians of all countries, a declaration proved in the instance 
 of the publication of the " Commentary upon the Gospel 
 of St. Matthew," already published in Spanish in Madrid, 
 and now about to be brought before that mighty host, 
 the English-speaking Christians all over the world. The 
 works of Valdes hitherto published by the Editor are 
 deposited in very many of the national and university 
 libraries in Europe and in America. 
 
 The Editor gives the subjoined extracts from Boehmer's 
 preface to his Spanish edition of this recently published 
 commentary, as those which will specially interest the 
 English reader. 
 
 Valdes' Introduction, it will be observed, was written 
 for a gentlewoman ; she was Julia Gonzaga, the Duchess 
 of Trajetto, his pupil. She, illustrious by birth, was still 
 more so by her mental and personal endowments; her 
 social circle was in its moral tone unsullied, and far too 
 enlightened to please Paul IV. and Pius V. Were they 
 to be enumerated who constituted it, the names would be 
 adduced of Vittoria Colonna and of Isabella Manrique, 
 of Cardinals Pole and Morone, of Carnesecchi, of Marc 
 Antonio Flaminio ; and if Valdes be named last, he is not 
 so because least, though the individuals indicated rank 
 as the most distinguished members of the aristocracy of 
 Italy of their period. 
 
 JOHN T. BETTS. 
 
 Pkmbuuy, Kent, May 1882. 
 
EXTRACTS 
 
 FROM PROFESSOR BOEHMER'S PREFACE TO THE 
 SPANISH VERSION. 
 
 The manuscript of this " Commentary upon St. Matthew's 
 Gospel" is preserved in the Aulic Library at Vienna. 
 It is anonymous, but Michael Denis, in cataloguing the 
 MSS. of that library, recognised the author as Juan de 
 Valdes, and indicated it in the year 1794 in his catalogue 
 (vol. i. part i, col. 1994). He knew Valdes' Commentaries 
 upon St. Paul's Epistle to the Eomans and upon the 
 First Epistle to the Corinthians, which were published 
 in the sixteenth century. ^N'evertheless (says Dr. Boeh- 
 mer), we, who have written upon Juan de Valdes, in- 
 cluding Don Fernando Caballero in his fourth volume 
 of "The Illustrious Natives of Cuen^a" (1875), were all 
 ignorant of the existence of this his Commentary upon 
 Matthew. Interrogatories previously addressed to com- 
 petent persons resident at Vienna in reference to Spanish 
 evangelical writings had been fruitless, until Herr Joseph 
 Lampel, in a letter to my honoured colleague Professor 
 Cunitz of the University of Strasburg, informed me that 
 the new catalogue of manuscripts, excepting the Greek 
 and Oriental (manuscriptoricm prceter Grcecos et Orientales)^ 
 in vol. vii., published in 1875, contained Valdes' Commen- 
 tary upon Matthew. I, upon examination of the MS. 
 itself, found it actually to be, beyond all doubt, a work of 
 Juan de Valdes, and one of his latest. 
 
X EXTRACTS FROM PROFESSOR BOEHMER'S 
 
 Herr Joseph Lampel, by personal research in the 
 library, confirmed my conjecture that this manuscript 
 formed one of a collection already made in the time of 
 Maximilian IT., and Vald^s* " Commentary upon the First 
 Epistle to the Corinthians " is dedicated to the Emperor 
 Maximilian II. Thanks to the liberality of the Austrian 
 Government and to the favour of that of Germany, I was 
 enabled to copy it at Strasburg. 
 
 Possibly the codex was written prior to the author's 
 death in 1541; but it is not autograph, for the ortho- 
 graphic rules laid down by Yaldds in his " Dialogo de la 
 Lengua" (printed at Madrid in 1737, i860, and 1873), 
 are not obeyed. The writing is that of a skilled penman, 
 and two correctors of that period have revised the manu- 
 script. I transcribed it under dictation of the gentle- 
 woman who turned Vald^s' "CX Considerations" into 
 German, for she, being accustomed to the complicated 
 style of that author, found no difficulty in the commen- 
 tary, which is dedicated to a gentlewoman — to Giulia 
 de Gonzaga. 
 
 In the " Introduction to the Gospels," we read that after 
 Valdes had expounded the Psalms, he finished his Com- 
 mentaries on the Epistles by St. Paul and by St. Peter; 
 and in his Commentary upon St. Matthew xxiv. 37-44, 
 he remits himself to his exposition of the First Epistle to 
 the Thessalonians, and to the First Epistle of Peter. All 
 his commentaries upon the epistles are lost, save those 
 upon the Epistle to the Eomans and the First Epistle to 
 the Corinthians, which were reprinted in one volume in 
 Madrid in 1856, by Don Luis Usoz i Kio, from the edition 
 of the year 1557. [These are now translated into English 
 by the Editor, and advertised as about to be published in 
 two volumes.] We do not know how far he was able to 
 
PREFACE TO THE SPANISH VERSION. xi 
 
 continue his Commentary upon the Gospels ; it may be 
 inferred from a note appended to the MS. in his Commen- 
 tary upon Matthew iv. 1-4, that he had begun to com- 
 ment upon St. Mark. At page 450, commenting upon 
 Matthew xxv. 31-46, he says he will show something in 
 his Commentary upon the Gospel of Luke, vii. 37-50 ; 
 from which it is not to be inferred that he had not then 
 written anything upon that gospel, but merely that he 
 had not published anything. However, it is very pro- 
 bable that when he wrote upon Matthew, he had not 
 written upon the other evangelists. 
 
JUAN DE VALDES' INTKODUCTION TO 
 THE GOSPELS. 
 
 The greatest testimony to Christian truth is this : that 
 when man, in things that affect it, does not exert in any 
 way either his prudence or his human wisdom, he succeeds; 
 and when he does exert them, then he fails. I have learned 
 this truth by personal experience in many things, and the 
 latest instance in which I have seen it is this : that had I, 
 when I purposed to edify you and to edify myself in rela- 
 tion to that which affects Christian faith and Christian 
 life by means of the Holy Scriptures, followed the judg- 
 ment of my prudence and human reason, I should in the 
 first place have occupied myself with the Gospels, which 
 are the histories of Christ, and I should have sent them 
 to you ; because this Scripture is commonly held to be 
 .easier of interpretation and comprehension than any other ; 
 then I should have occupied myself with the Epistles of 
 St. Paul and of St. Peter, and I should have sent them to 
 you, for that there is, so to say, in them, the practice of 
 Christian life with the confirmation of Christian faith; 
 and afterwards I should have occupied myself with the 
 Psalms, and I should have sent them to you, because they 
 are commonly held to be a Scripture very difficult of in- 
 terpretation and of comprehension. And had I done so, 
 I should have greatly erred in relation both to yourself 
 and to myself, for neither' should I have succeeded either 
 in translating, or in interpreting, the Gospels so well, not 
 
 J- 
 
2 INTRODUCTION TO THE GOSPELS. 
 
 having passed through the Epistles ; nor the Epistles, not 
 having passed through the Psalms; neither would you 
 have been so capable of reading the Gospels, had you not 
 been instructed in reading the Epistles; neither in the 
 reading of the Epistles, had you not been exercised in the 
 reading of the Psalms. 
 
 For the Psalms being based upon the obligation of the 
 human race according to the true understanding of the law 
 of Moses ; and the Epistles being based upon the obliga- 
 tion of Christian regeneration according to the true under- 
 standing of the gospel of Christ ; and the Gospels being 
 based upon Christian regeneration itself, and upon the 
 expression of the life and words of the Son of God Him- 
 self, Jesus Christ our Lord, there is no doubt but that for 
 me to translate and to interpret, and for you to understand 
 and to relish, it was most suitable to take first the Psalms ; 
 for it is a fact that we are more capable of things affecting 
 the obligation of the human race than of those which 
 affect Christian regeneration, these latter being, as it were, 
 contrary to our natural inclination, whilst those are peculiar 
 to it ; and then to take the Epistles before the Gospels, 
 because it is likewise a fact that we are more capable of 
 the conceptions and feelings which on Christian subjects 
 the apostles of Christ had in relation to Christian regene- 
 ration, than of the conceptions and feelings which Christ 
 Himself had on the same subject ; for in relation to those 
 of the apostles we can avail ourselves to a great extent of 
 *' the hook of consideration," * assisted by personal experi- 
 ence, as indeed we do ; whilst in relation to those of Christ 
 we can avail ourselves of that book but little, for although 
 to us, who accept the grace of the gospel, Christ commu- 
 nicates His own Spirit ; through our incapacity, it is not 
 in such abundance that we are enabled thoroughly to com- 
 prehend, by our own experience, all the conceptions and 
 feelings of Christ which we find written in the Gospels, 
 
 * Vide Consideration LIV., p. 367, of J. T. Betts' translation of Valdds' 
 ex. Divine Considerations. 
 
INTRODUCTION TO THE GOSPELS. 3 
 
 and thus, although we succeed in some, we scarcely attain 
 to do so in others. 
 
 So that I have great reason to say that we succeed when 
 we do not regulate ourselves in Christian matters by the 
 decision of prudence and human reason ; and that we err 
 when we do regulate ourselves by it ; holding this to be 
 the surest token of Christian truth, being certainly assured 
 that were it not thus true, just the opposite would be 
 experimentally realised. And because I desire that you 
 should thoroughly comprehend the necessity which is laid 
 upon the man, who devotes himself to the Holy Scriptures, 
 not to follow the order which I should have followed had 
 I been counselled by human prudence, but that which I 
 have followed without looking at it or thinking about it, 
 setting apart the Psalms, which, as I have stated, follow 
 the obligation of the human race imposed by the law of 
 Moses ; and taking the Epistles and the Gospels, which, as 
 I have stated, follow the obligation of Christian regenera- 
 tion imposed by the gospel of Christ. I state that there 
 is yet another thing from which it appears that the 
 Christian ought first to attend to the reading of the 
 Epistles before the reading of the Gospels, and it is this : 
 rthat the reading of the Gospels ill understood is just as 
 perilous to cause a man to pretend to be righteous, and 
 thus to attain salvation and eternal life by his works, dis- 
 regarding faith; as is the reading of the Epistles, ill under- 
 stood, perilous in causing a man to pretend to be righteous, 
 and thus to attain salvation and eternal life through faith, 
 disregarding good works. / Since it is a iact that unre- 
 generate man is more inclined to justify himself by his 
 works, without his faith, than to think of justifying him- 
 self by his faith, without his works ; and it being likewise 
 a fact that the foundation of the Christian Church is 
 Christian faith, acceptance of the grace of the gospel, and 
 works are hence good in proportion as he who does them 
 is well based in Christian faith ; for since St. Paul says, 
 " Without faith it is impossible to please God" it is clear 
 
4 INTRODUCTION TO THE GOSPELS. 
 
 that the difficulty into which a man may fall by careless 
 reading of the Epistles is less than in the careless reading 
 of the Gospels, since he more easily falls away from the 
 Christian foundation by reading and misapprehending the 
 Gospels than by reading and misapprehending the Epistles. 
 And although I have no fear of your fall into either of these 
 two difficulties, nevertheless it is right to put you upon 
 your guard, that in reading the Epistles you be so based in 
 Christian faith as not to disregard Christian works; and 
 that in reading the Gospels you so strive after Christian 
 life, Christian habits, and Christian works as not to forget 
 Christian faith. And because it might be, that that should 
 occur to you, which occurs to many, who make of the 
 Gospels a law, and aim at self-justification by fulfilling 
 the doctrine of Christ, and thus they never find peace in 
 their consciences, because they never know that they are 
 satisfied, for in fact they do not satisfy, I warn you that 
 you have to avail yourself of the doctrine of Christ as 
 instruction in Christian life. Eor you have to know that 
 just as a peasant who has been adopted by the Emperor 
 as his son would have instruction propounded and given 
 him, whereby he should learn how personally to regulate 
 himself so as to acquire the habits of a child of the Em- 
 peror, living dutifully and decorously as the Emperor's 
 son, so you, from being a daughter of Adam, are selected 
 for a daughter of God ; the doctrine of Christ which is in 
 the Gospels is propounded and given to you, that you may 
 learn and know by it liow you should regulate yourself so 
 as to acquire the habits of a daughter of God, living as is 
 the duty of a daughter of God, and observing the decorum 
 of a daughter of God. Which decorum, although it is 
 \yery well expressed in Christ's words, you will neverthe- 
 less learn much better by considering the works of Christ 
 Himself. And in this I speak from personal experience, 
 having experienced in myself that although those divine 
 words of Christ, " Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of 
 heart ^' are very effective in me, still the consideration of 
 
INTRODUCTION TO THE GOSPELS. 5 
 
 Christ's meekness and humility throughout His whole life, 
 and especially in His passion and in His death, is beyond 
 all comparison more effective. For I assure you that this 
 consideration brings me down to this, that were it given 
 me to select that which I should most desire, the meekness 
 and humility of Christ, or all the other glorious things 
 that were seen in Christ, all taken together, whilst He 
 walked here among men, I would select the meekness 
 and the humility that I see in Christ ; so much do they 
 appear to me to be annexed, and, as it were, peculiar and 
 natural, to the Christian, in this state of passibility and 
 mortality. And here it is opportune to give you this cau- 
 tion ; that it is for you to aim at imitation of those things 
 in Christ which affect meekness, humility, love, and obe- 
 dience to God, striving to excel in meekness, in humility, 
 in love, and in obedience, as you shall know that Christ 
 did ; never holding yourself to be perfect in any of these 
 things until you recognise that in yourself, which you shall 
 recognise in Christ. I do not say what you do know, for 
 know assuredly what you do know is very little compared 
 with what you will know, when you shall have formed 
 close intimacy with Christ, having well examined all His 
 words, and well considered all His works. 
 
 Besides this, it is well that you should know that all 
 that Christ said and taught does not affect all persons nor 
 all times. For it is so that many things (of those of which 
 He spoke) were necessary in those times, and would be 
 injurious in these ; such as the observance of Moses' law, 
 to the observance of which Christ's command to the lepers, 
 that they should offer for their cleansing that which had 
 been commanded by the law of Moses, is addressed ; and 
 to the same purport are those words of Christ in Matt. 
 xxiii. 2, " The Scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' 
 seat;" and those in Matt. v. 17, '' I am not come to de- 
 stroy the law hut to fidfil it;" and because there are 
 many things that Christ said that are not generally appli- 
 cable to all persons ; as, for instance, that which He said 
 
6 INTRODUCTION TO THE GOSPELS. 
 
 in Matt. xix. 21 to the Jewish youth, " If thou wilt 
 he perfect, go and sell that thou hast" or that which 
 He said to the Scribes and Pharisees in John v. 39, 
 " Search the Scriptures ; " and when conversing with His 
 disciples, in John xiv. 26, He said, " But the Holy Spirit, 
 whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach 
 you all things ; " whence it appears that some words were 
 addressed to Christ's disciples, whilst others were addressed 
 to those who were in the school of Moses, or in a philo- 
 sophical school, but who had not entered Christ's school * 
 You will avail yourself of this caution both to know 
 that you are not to think aught addressed to you, save 
 that which Christ addressed to His disciples, and that you 
 have this only to apply to yourself ; and to understand, 
 that you have only to apply to these times the things that 
 
 * It is clear that Valdes, when he religiously translated and interpreted 
 Holy Scripture, and sent his translations and commentaries to a pious lady,^ 
 did not in any way desire to intimate that it is beyond the competency of 
 all Christians to search the sacred text. What he desires to enforce is, 
 that the principal and essential thing consists in the participation of God's 
 Spirit. *' For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God; " 
 — " The things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God " ( i Cor. ii. lo, 
 II). With relation to the former passage of St. Paul, Valdds adds, they 
 who set themselves to search out the mysteries of God without the Spirit 
 of God, realise the experience of those who set themselves to admire the 
 perfection of objects without the light of the sun. 
 
 See, too, what the same author says when commenting upon Christ's 
 words : " Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God " 
 (Matt, xxi.) Had they understood them, they would not have erred, for it 
 is most certain that they teach him, who understands them, every virtue. 
 ^^ And he teaches in relation to the parable of the talents" (Matt, xxv.), that 
 to form in our minds a right opinion of God and of Christ, we ought to 
 apply ourselves to read the Scriptures written by the Holy Spirit, which 
 must be interpreted by the same Spirit with which they were written. 
 Men who read the Holy Scriptures without the Christian spirit, seeing 
 that almost all the piety of saints under the law was based upon fear, pro- 
 ceed to canonise fear. 
 
 The unique means, then, for avoiding every error, is for the Christian 
 always to search the Scriptures guided by the Holy Spirit, as well those of 
 the Old Testament, to which Christ peculiarly referred, for that no part of 
 the New had then been written, as also those which are contained in this 
 latter. — Eduard Boehmkk, Editor of the Spanish Original. 
 
 ^ Giulia Gonzaga. 
 
INTRODUCTION TO THE GOSPELS. 7 
 
 square with Christian faith and with Christian life, passing 
 lightly over everything else. 
 
 Now because Christ was wont to express and to set 
 forth some of His conceptions by parables and similitudes, 
 which cause those persons great difficulty who seek to 
 make them square in everything with everything, I advise 
 you never to think of doing so. I never have done so, and 
 you would but lose your time ; but rather occupy yourself 
 in making each one square with the purpose that appa- 
 rently Christ had in propounding it, and thus you will hit 
 the mark. That Christ does not pretend in the parables 
 that everything should square with everything appears 
 from some which He Himself set forth; and if He did 
 not make everything to square with every other thing, it 
 would be a great indiscretion on our part were we to seek 
 to make everything to square with every other thing. 
 
 An apparent discordance between the Evangelists has 
 offended, and does offend, many, both as to the order of 
 the history and as to the train of Christ's arguments, and 
 so likewise in some other things, and hence they go on, 
 labouring away to harmonise them. This task I have 
 never taken up, nor does it appear to me that you ought 
 to do so. For you should know that although I do not 
 condemn the pious curiosity of these persons, I hold the 
 Christian simplicity of those to be better, who take from 
 each of the Evangelists what they give, and content them- 
 selves with this. As to the fundamentals of the gospel of 
 Christ and of the Christian Church — that Christ is the 
 Messiah, that He is the Son of God, that He died on the 
 Cross, that He rose again, and that He lives — they all agree 
 without the slightest discordance in the world. And this 
 much I assure you as to myself — I think that I should 
 have felt less satisfaction and that the Evangelists would 
 have offended me more had they harmonised in every- 
 thing, without any the least discrepancy, than finding 
 them to be what I do find them; who are apparently 
 discordant upon some things, as well because I rejoice 
 
8 INTRODUCTION TO THE GOSPELS. 
 
 that my faith does not depend upon the Scriptures — nor 
 is it based upon them, but it depends upon inspirations 
 and experiences, and it is based upon them ; just as was 
 the faith of those Samaritans, who, after having seen 
 Christ and heard Him speak, believing by inspiration and 
 by experience, told the woman that they no longer be- 
 lieved because of her report, but from the experience 
 which they had — as because I intelligently see that God's 
 design in the Scriptures has been to give just so much light 
 as may suffice to illumine those, who have inward inspira- 
 tions, and not to give enough to enlighten human pru- 
 dence, when men would fain understand Christian things, 
 spiritual and divine, without inward inspirations. And 
 thus I understand that the apparent discordance between 
 the Evangelists is to those, who read with human pru- 
 dence and natural light, that which Christ's abjectness 
 and humility were to those, who contemplated Him with 
 the same prudence and the same light: Christ's abject- 
 ness and humility caused these to stumble and to fall, 
 beyond their power to rise, and to those the discordance 
 that there is between the Evangelists makes them stumble 
 and to fall, beyond their power to rise. And thus it comes 
 to pass that Christ is always and in every way the stone 
 of stumbling and rock of offence, even as St. Peter stated 
 it had been prophesied concerning Him. And observe 
 that what I understand as to the apparent discordance 
 between the Evangelists, I understand likewise as to the 
 apparent discordance there is in some of the authorities of 
 the law and of the prophets quoted in the Gospels. 
 
 In the miracles which Christ wrought, you will consider 
 His love, and you will have to avail yourselves of them 
 to confirm your Christian faith, thinking thus : if Christ 
 wrought temporal benefits upon those, who, trusting in 
 Him, followed Him and commended themselves to Him — 
 this not being His principal intention in coming into the 
 world — how much better eternal benefits will He work 
 on those, who, trusting in Him, shall follow after and 
 
INTRODUCTION TO THE GOSPELS. 9 
 
 commend themselves to Him, — such being His principal 
 intention in coming into the world. 
 
 In the passion and death of Christ you will consider 
 His obedience to God, and you will avail yourself of it in 
 order to bring yourself daily more to cleave, both in little 
 and much, to what you shall know to be the will of God ; 
 examining yourself as to whether you have adequate spirit 
 to go through what Christ went through, — in the patience 
 with which Christ bore and suffered the injuries and in- 
 sults which were said and done to Him, without rendering 
 evil for evil, without prejudicing any one ! you will con- 
 sider His admirable meekness, and you will avail yourself 
 of it, in order to imitate it, and in order to know that you 
 have attained to so much of it, since you feel yourself to 
 be incorporated into Christ. 
 
 And when you shall read what Christ says against the 
 Scribes and Pharisees, reviling them, you will consider 
 that those words issued from no carnal emotion, but from 
 the impulse of the Spirit ; and you will avail yourself of 
 this consideration in order never to allow yourself to be 
 transported by your carnal affection to speak ill even of 
 those, whom you shall know to be Scribes and Pharisees, 
 opposed to the Christian faith, to the grace of the gospel, 
 and to Christian life ; herein imitating Christ, holding 
 ever the safer side, which is to be useful to all, without 
 prejudicing any one. 
 
 In the submission wherewith Christ subjected Himself 
 to men, even to the payment of tribute to them, being the 
 Son of God, as though He had been mere man, you will 
 consider His most profound humility ; considering that it 
 would have been great humility had He, being the Son of 
 God, humbled Himself to be man, in the highest grade and 
 in the greatest dignity which can be thought of or ima- 
 gined amongst men, and that it was the greatest, in hum- 
 bling Himself to be man of the lowest possible grade 
 amongst men : and you v^ill avail yourself of this consi- 
 deration in order to love humility; and never to hold 
 
lo INTRODUCTION TO THE GOSPELS. 
 
 yourself to be humble, until you know yourself to be inferior 
 to every one upon earth, and that you rejoice in being held 
 to be such and in being treated as such. 
 
 If, in reading Christ's transfiguration, you shall ascend 
 Tabor with Him, to contemplate Him transfigured ; and 
 that there you would fain be transfigured with Him ; then 
 come down from Mount Tabor, and place yourself upon 
 Mount Calvary, to contemplate Christ crucified; and if, 
 being there, you should not feel as willing to be crucified 
 with Christ, as you were on the other to be transfigured 
 with Christ; know, that you were drawn by your own self- 
 love and not by the love of Christ, and that consequently 
 you love yourself more than Christ. You will ever make 
 this same test, when contemplating things that are glorious 
 in Christ, if the wish shall come upon you to be in them 
 like unto Christ. 
 
 If, in reading the authorities of the law and of the 
 prophets which are quoted in these Holy Scriptures, the 
 desire should ever come upon you to go on comparing and 
 examining them, know that you are moved by curiosity, 
 and leave it alone ; for I have ever done so in relation to 
 those, in which I did not find Christian edification in 
 such comparison and examination. 
 
 If, reading in St. John Christ's divine generation, you 
 should be led to desire to understand in what manner the 
 Son is begotten of the Father, and in what manner the 
 Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son ; reflect 
 upon your incapacity, and think that your temerity herein 
 is no less than would be that of a worm, were it to seek 
 to understand in what manner you were begotten in your 
 mother's womb. You will think precisely thus, should 
 the wish come upon you to know in what manner Christ 
 was begotten in the womb of the most holy Virgin Mary. 
 
 When you shall read the rabid ferocity with which the 
 rulers of the Jewish synagogue persecuted Christ — going 
 the length of putting Him to a most cruel death, calling 
 Him impious and inimical to God, He having come to 
 
INTRODUCTION TO THE GOSPELS. ii 
 
 make them friends of God and righteous, and to give 
 them eternal life — you will reflect upon what incon- 
 gruities men fall when they allow themselves to be 
 blinded by their passions ; and how little any men are to 
 be trusted, however commanding their positions ; and you 
 will avail yourself of this consideration to keep your mind 
 constantly free from all passion, and not to trust any man 
 in Christian matters, spiritual and divine, however elevated 
 and eminent he may be ; lest that should hit you, '' Cursed 
 is the man that trusteth in man;''* being restrained by 
 that which happened to the Jewish nation, who, trusting 
 to those who were distinguished and eminent amongst 
 them in religion, shouted loudly for Christ's crucifixion. 
 
 When you shall read of the unbelief and incredulity, 
 of the ignorance and of the blindness, in which Christ's 
 disciples were during all the time He was with them, you 
 will reflect upon the manner in which the eternal Father 
 treated His only-begotten Son, whilst He lived as man 
 amongst men — depriving Him even of the satisfaction, 
 which it would have been to Him, to see His disciples 
 spiritual and Christian, as they were after His ascension ; 
 and you will avail yourself of this consideration to refrain 
 from the pretension that God should show you the love 
 that He has for you, in granting you even spiritual grati- 
 fications — to refrain from the pretension of His vouch- 
 safing you power and courage wherewith to pass through 
 the bodily and spiritual trials which shall present them- 
 selves to you in this present life. 
 
 And if in reading certain of Christ's utterances in- 
 volving predestination, as in that of John x. 28, ''Nor 
 shall any one jpluck them out of My hand; " should it occur 
 to you to desire to understand how predestination can be 
 compatible with freewill ; and how it could be that Judas 
 should be compelled to sell Christ and be condemned for 
 doing so ; I would remind you of what Christ said to St. 
 Peter, because he would Iain have known what did not 
 
 * Jer. xvii. 5. 
 
12 INTRODUCTION TO THE GOSPELS. 
 
 concern him—" WJiat is that to thee ? follow thou Me " 
 (John xxi. 22). Finally, you shall avail yourself of these 
 very words whenever you shall be assaulted by anything 
 awakening curiosity in you, in matters not affecting you 
 — as well those which shall spring from this devout read- 
 ing, as those which shall daily occur to you. And rest 
 assured that both in reading these Holy Scriptures, as 
 likewise in dealing with all Christian things, spiritual and 
 divine, simplicity greatly profits, whilst curiosity greatly 
 damages; it ought to be extirpated from the minds of 
 Christians, surrendering to the simplicity that is peculiar 
 and natural to regeneration. And thus as it will be pro- 
 fitable to you to be warned against curiosity in those 
 words, " What is that to thee f follow thou Me" so likewise 
 it will be profitable to you to be warned by other expres- 
 sions of Christ like that, against other influences by which 
 you will be combated. Thus, should you be combated by 
 fear, or by despair, as well in things temporal as in things 
 eternal, remember those words of Christ in Matthew xiv. 
 31, " Wherefore didst thou doiihtf" and of that in Luke 
 viii. 25, " Where is your faith f" If vindictively affected, 
 remember those in Luke ix. 55, " Ye know not what manner 
 of spirit ye are of!' If in relation to the possession of 
 this world's goods, in Luke xii. 14, " Who made Me a 
 judge over you ? " 
 
 And if in reading the Christian perfection particularly 
 described in St. Matthew, in chapters v., vi., vii., it should 
 present itself to you as so elevated that you should begin 
 to despair of ever attaining to it, and might be tempted 
 to desert it, remember those words of Christ (Mark ix. 
 23), " All things are possible to him that helieveth!* and 
 with them you will rest assured of this truth, that 
 although he, who has not Christian faith, finds it im- 
 possible to bring himself up to so high a perfection — 
 for it is impossible for him to love God more than he 
 loves himself, and to love his neighbour as he loves him- 
 self — yet to you, who have Christian faith, it is possible; 
 
INTRODUCTION TO THE GOSPELS. 13 
 
 because Christian faith has incorporated you into Christ ; 
 and incorporated into Him, you can say with St. Paul, 
 in Phil. iv. 13, "/ can do all things through Christ that 
 strengtheneth me," and I can do that which Paul could. 
 And thus you will go on committing to memory certain 
 of Christ's utterances, wherewith to he put upon your 
 guard how to repress every affection with which you 
 shall be assaulted, being ever attent to comprehend that 
 perfection in which you are comprehended, by incorpora- 
 tion into Christ. Incorporated into Christ, by acceptance 
 of the grace of the gospel and by baptism, you are dead 
 as to the world, whilst you are raised and live as to God ; 
 your predicament being identical with Christ's ; for God 
 does not look upon you as to what you are in yourself, 
 but as to what you are in Christ. 
 
 Be it your aim to live as dead to the world and to all 
 that is in the world, passing through it as though you 
 were really and effectively dead; and to live as risen 
 again unto God, so that, living in .this present life as 
 dead and risen again, you begin to live a life very similar 
 to that which you have to live throughout eternity, after 
 the general resurrection. And know that in proportion 
 as your life shall be conformed to that, to that extent 
 you may believe that you have better comprehended that 
 perfection in which, incorporated into Christ, you are com- 
 prehended, being in all and everything very like to Christ. 
 And when you would examine how much you have com- 
 prehended and attained of this perfection, you will con- 
 sider how firm and constant you would find yourself, 
 were you constrained to suffer, for Christ's sake, the 
 ignominy and confusion, the torment and the grief, that 
 Christ suffered for you; for know that to this firmness 
 and constancy you have to bring yourself — it being your 
 aim, that when you appear at God's tribunal, you may do 
 so with great firmness and constancy, because of your in- 
 corporation into Christ, and that you have no cause for 
 shame and confusion for yourself personally. 
 
14 INTRODUCTION TO THE GOSPELS. 
 
 It were well that all your exercises and all your studies, 
 and more especially this of the doctrine and life of Christ, 
 which you will read in these Scriptures, were directed to 
 this end ; ever with prayer to God, that He may favour 
 you and me, with His divine grace, to such degree, that 
 the peculiar image of His only-begotten Son Jesus Christ 
 our Lord may be seen in us. 
 
 In this translation I have followed the Greek text, just 
 as I did in the translation of the Epistles, distinguishing 
 the words which it appeared to me to be proper to add to 
 render the Scripture more intelligible. And in the inter- 
 pretations and explanations which I have written above 
 the text, I have followed that which has appeared to me 
 to be most conformable to what I feel and know of the 
 truth of Christian faith and of the purity of Christian 
 life; specially noting the spiritual edification, which, it 
 occurred to me whilst writing. Christians, devoted to 
 Christian life, might get from these Holy Scriptures, by 
 imitating Christ; also ingenuously confessing my igno- 
 rance upon subjects, which through incapacity, or want 
 of wit, I have been unable to fathom ; it being my aim 
 that the glory of Christ should thus be illustrated, as well 
 by that which I have not understood, as by that which 
 I have understood; and that thus Christians should be 
 edified by the one as by the other — considering in the 
 one what I am of myself, and considering in the other 
 what I am by God's beneficence and favour — who drew 
 me to Christ and incorporated me into Christ — and by 
 Christ's munificence, who communicates to me what part 
 He pleases of those divine treasures which His eternal 
 Father has laid up in Him, in order that He should com- 
 municate them to us, who are incorporated into Him, in 
 order that it may be seen and known in us and by us, 
 whom God is, and whom the Son of God Jesus Christ 
 our Lord is. To whom, with the Holy Spirit, be glory 
 everlasting. Amen. 
 
THE GOSPEL OF ST. MATTHEW, 
 
 FAITHFULLY TRANSLATED FROM THE GREEK INTO 
 SPANISH, AND EXPOUNDED ACCORDING TO THE 
 LITERAL SENSE; 
 
 WITH 
 
 MANY CONSIDERATIONS DRAWN FROM THE TEXT 
 MOST NECESSARY TO CHRISTIAN LIFE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 I. I . — The hook of the generation of Jesus Christ, 
 the Son of David, the Son of Abraham. 
 
 Which is tantamount to saying: This is the book of 
 the history of Jesus, the Messiah, promised in the law, 
 who was the Son of David and of Abraham ; for in Hebrew, 
 that is called the book of the generation, which we call 
 the book of the history. Here it has to be understood that 
 "Christ" is synonymous with Anointed or Messiah, in 
 order that it may be understood that St. Matthew pur- 
 posed by the initiatory words to show that Jesus is the 
 Messiah promised to the Jews, and given to all men in 
 common; in order that all they, who shall accept Him, may 
 obtain remission of sins, be reconciled to God, be friends of 
 God and just with God, not by their own righteousness, 
 but by Jesus Christ's own righteousness. It is likewise 
 to be understood, that because it was prophesied that the 
 Messiah should be of the seed of David according to the 
 flesh, and should be of the seed of Abraham, St. Matthew 
 in the initiatory words calls Jesus Christ, the Son of David 
 
i6 S. MATTHEW I. 1-17. 
 
 and the Son of Abraham. St. Paul understands it to 
 have been said to Abraham, "In thy seed shall all the 
 nations of the earth he Messed" (Gal. iii. 8 ; Gen. xxii. 18), 
 understanding that in Jesus Christ, who should be born 
 of the seed of Abraham, all the nations of the world should 
 attain blessedness; and by blessedness, he understands 
 remission of sins, reconciliation with God, justification 
 and glorification; which blessedness they all enjoy in com- 
 mon, who accept the grace of the Gospel, and who, by 
 believing, are incorporated into Christ. To David it was 
 reiteratedly promised that his rule over God's people 
 should be perpetuated in his descendants, and therefore 
 it was most assuredly believed among the Jews that the 
 Messiah should be of the seed of David, as indeed He 
 was, in whom the rule over God's people is continued and 
 perpetuated, it being the fact that Jesus Christ our Lord 
 is the Head and King of Christians, who are the people 
 of God, in relation to which I recollect having written 
 a Consideration (No. cix. of Valdes' CX. Divine Con- 
 siderations). 
 
 I. I- 1 7. — Abraham begat Isaac ; and Isaac begat 
 Jacob ; and Jacob begat Judah and his brethren ; 
 and Judah begat Perez and Zerah of Tamar ; and 
 Perez begat Hezron ; and Hezron begat Earn ; and 
 Earn begat Amminadab ; and Amminadab begat 
 Nahshon; and Nahshon begat Salmon; and Salmon 
 begat Boaz of Eahab ; and Boaz begat Obed of Euth ; 
 and Obed begat Jesse ; and Jesse begat David the 
 king. And David begat Solomon of her that had 
 been the wife of Uriah; and Solomon begat Eeho- 
 boam; and Eehoboam begat Abijah; and Abijah 
 begat Asa; and Asa begat Jehoshaphat; and Jeho- 
 shaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Uzziah; 
 and Uzziah begat Jotham; and Jotham begat 
 
S. MATTHEW I. 18-25. i? 
 
 Aliaz; and Aliaz begat Hezekiah; and Hezekiah 
 begat Manasseli; and Manasseh begat Amon; and 
 Amon begat Josiah; and Josiah begat Jechoniah 
 and his brethren, at the time of the carrying away 
 to Babylon. And after the carrying away to 
 Babylon, Jechoniah begat Shealtiel; and Shealtiel 
 begat Zerubbabel; and Zerubbabel begat Abiud 
 and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor 
 and Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim 
 and Achim begat Eliud; and Eliud begat Eleazer 
 and Eleazer begat Matthan; and Matthan begat 
 Jacob; and Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of 
 Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. 
 So all the generations from Abraham unto David 
 are fourteen generations; and from David unto the 
 carrying away to Babylon fourteen generations ; 
 and from the carrying away to Babylon unto the 
 Christ fourteen generations. 
 
 As to the peculiarities of the persons mentioned in this 
 lineage of Christ, whether they agree with those named 
 by St. Luke and with the histories of the Old Testament, 
 I remit myself as to what others say, contenting myself 
 with stating this, that those names, Tamar, Eahab, and 
 Euth, are women's names ; that of her, spoken of as having 
 previously been Uriah's wife, Bathsheba, is so likewise. 
 Where it speaks of " the carrying away," the Greek word 
 signifies the change of abode, the removal from one place 
 to live in another ; thus did it please St. Matthew to call 
 the captivity of the Jews in Babylon, whither they were 
 carried away by JSTebuchadnezzar. Where he says Mary's 
 husband, it is to be observed that St. Matthew calls him 
 so, because that he was ordinarily so called. 
 
 I. 18-25. — Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on 
 
1 8 S. MATTHEW I. 18-25. 
 
 tliis wise : When as his mother Mary was espoused 
 to Joseph, before they came together she was found 
 with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her 
 husband, being a just man, and not willing to make 
 her a public example, was minded to put her away 
 privily. But while he thought on these things, 
 behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him 
 in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear 
 not to take unto thee Mary thy wife ; for that 
 which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. 
 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call 
 his name Jesus : for he shall save his people from 
 their sins. Now all this was done, that it might 
 be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the 
 prophet, saying. Behold, a virgin shall he ivith 
 child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall 
 call his name Emmanuel ; which, being interpreted, 
 is, God with us. Then Joseph, being raised from 
 sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, 
 and took unto him his wife, and knew her not, till 
 she had brought forth her first-born son, and he 
 called his name Jesus. 
 
 Just as St. Matthew, in the preceding narration of the 
 genealogy of Christ, designed to show that He, according, 
 to the flesh, is the son of David and of Abraham, so he 
 here designs to show that Joseph took no part in the 
 generation of Christ, it being the work of the Holy Spirit ; 
 and just as the evangelist saw rightly in tliat instance 
 that it was of no importance to bring the genealogy of 
 Christ down to Mary, but only to Joseph, because their 
 relation must at that time have been well known, so like- 
 wise here he saw that it was of no importance to call 
 Joseph Mary's husband, nor to call Mary Joseph's wife, 
 
S. MATTHEW I. 18-25. IQ 
 
 since it clearly appeared to be his design to show that 
 although they appeared to the world to be husband and 
 wife, still they were not really and actually so. 
 
 In what manner Jesus Christ our Lord was conceived 
 by the operation of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the 
 most holy virgin is safer as matter of belief than of in- 
 vestigation; and therefore I remit myself to those who 
 make a profession of investigating everything, I content- 
 ing myself with the belief that Christ's conception was by 
 the operation of the Holy Spirit, man's seed in nowise 
 interposing. In saying, "For He shall save His people from 
 their sins," he declares the reason why Christ should be 
 called Jesus, which signifies salvation, for He was about 
 to give salvation to the people of God, saving and deliver- 
 ing them from their sins. "Where it is meant that Christ's 
 proper office is to save us from our sins, us who belong 
 to the people of God ; they who do not believe that this 
 salvation belongs to them are not the people of God, for 
 they do not believe in Christ's salvation. That passage, 
 " Behold a virgin," &c., which is read in Isaiah vii. 14, where 
 the evangelist means that the sign which was given to the 
 Jews in these words, for the confirmation of that which 
 had been promised to them, was to tell them that the 
 time would come when a maid should become pregnant, 
 and should bring forth a son, without losing her virginity ; 
 as though Isaiah should say : The same God, who promises 
 to save you from your enemies who invade you, will bring 
 it to pass that a virgin shall conceive and bear, without 
 losing her virginity ; and since He is powerful enough to 
 do the former, think whether His power shall be adequate 
 to do this latter. God is wont to help our unbelief by 
 requiring us to trust Him in some things, promising us 
 others of higher import and of greater marvel ; although 
 God, in giving this sign to Ahaz, did not design to help 
 his faith, nay. He gave it in despite of Ahaz, who would 
 not ask it. And, therefore, this sign was to the Jews 
 the cause of their ultimate destruction and perdition. 
 
20 5. MATTHEW I. 18-25. 
 
 That passage, " Until she brought forth" &e., is to be under- 
 stood in Hebrew idiom as intimating that he never knew 
 her. Thus it is said in Psalm ex., " Sit Thou at My right 
 hand until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool," &c., where 
 it is not to be understood that His enemies having been 
 made His footstool He would have to rise from God's 
 right hand. 
 
 That expression "first-horn son" involves excellence, 
 and is likewise a Hebrew mode of speech, which speaks 
 of the first born, meaning the only begotten. 
 
5. MATTHEW II. 21 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 11. I- 1 2. — Now when Jesus was born in Betli- 
 lehem of Judasa, in tlie days of Herod the king, 
 behold, there came wise men from the East to Jeru- 
 salem, saying. Where is he that is born King of 
 the Jews ? for we have seen his star in the East, 
 and are come to worship him. When Herod the 
 king had heard these things, he was troubled, and 
 all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered 
 all the chief priests and scribes of the people to- 
 gether, he demanded of them where Christ should 
 be born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem 
 of Judaea : for thus it is written by the prophet,*"' 
 "And thou, Bethlehem^ in the land of Judah, art 
 not the least among the princes of Judah : for out 
 of thee shall come a Governor that shall rule my 
 people Israel.'' Then Herod, when he had privily 
 called the wise men, inquired of them diligently 
 what time the star appeared. And he sent them 
 to Bethlehem, and said. Go and search diligently 
 for the young child ; and when ye have found him, 
 bring me word again, that I may come and worship 
 him also. When they had heard the king, they 
 departed ; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the 
 East, went before them, till it came and stood over 
 where the youDg child 'was. When they saw the 
 
 * Micah V. 2. 
 
22 S. MATTHEW II. 1-12. 
 
 star, they rejoiced witli exceeding great joy. And 
 when they were come into the house, they saw the 
 young child with Mary his mother, and fell down 
 and worshipped him : and when they had opened 
 their treasures, they presented unto him gifts ; gold, 
 and frankincense, and myrrh. And being warned 
 of God in a dream that they should not return to 
 Herod, they departed into their own country another 
 way. 
 
 Upon this history many men have written many things, 
 pretending to verify who these magi were ; how many they 
 were, and of what nature was the star; what period of 
 time had elapsed from the time of Christ's birth until they 
 came to Bethlehem, and likewise other things, which he 
 will understand, who shall desire to know them, from those 
 who have written about them ; I however content myself 
 by stating this, that the expression " in the days of Herod" 
 is tantamount to saying, in the time of Herod the king ; 
 that " magi" is the same as learned men ; that " chief priests" 
 is the same as pontiffs or prelates ; that " scribes " is the 
 same as men of letters, or theologians. That to say " where 
 Christ should he horn" is tantamount to saying, where it 
 was prophesied that the Messiah promised in the law 
 should be born. The authority of the prophet Micah, 
 w^hom they quote to prove that Christ had to be born in 
 Bethlehem, is so much to the point, to establish the pro- 
 position adduced, that nothing could be better. 
 
 Bethlehem, apparently a small place, with but few inha- 
 bitants, was great, because our Lord Jesus Christ, who is 
 the Captain, Chief, and Governor of Israel, not of the car- 
 nal and outward, but of the spiritual and inward, He had 
 to be born there. The prophet, according to the Hebrew 
 text, speaks thus, ^' But thou, Bethlehem-Ephratah, though 
 thou he little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee 
 shall He come forth lonto me that is to he rider in Israel" 
 
S. MATTHEW II. 13-18. 23 
 
 and he adds, " wJiose goings forth have heen of old, from 
 everlasting ; " where the prophet notes the eternity of 
 Christ, the Son of God. Bethlehem was, according to the 
 prophet, small, as to its occupied dwellings, as having but 
 few inhabitants ; but Bethlehem, according to the quota- 
 tion of the pontiffs and theologians of Jerusalem, was 
 great, as the place of Christ's birth. 
 
 Where he says " warned" the Greek word signifies ora- 
 cularly warned : he means that it was of divine operation. 
 " Their land," means the region or province of which they 
 were natives. 
 
 II. 13-18. — And when they were departed, be- 
 hold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in 
 a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child 
 and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou 
 there until I bring thee word : for Herod will seek 
 the young child to destroy him. When he arose, 
 he took the young child and his mother by night, 
 and departed into Egypt ; and was there until the 
 death of Herod : that it might be fulfilled which 
 was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, " Out 
 of Egypt have I called my Son" '"' Then Herod, 
 when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, 
 was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all 
 the children that were in Bethlehem and in all the 
 coasts thereof, from two years old and under, accord- 
 ing to the time which he had diligently inquired of 
 the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was 
 spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, "In Raona 
 was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, 
 and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her chil- 
 
 * Hosea xi. i. 
 
24 S. MATTHEW II. 19-23. 
 
 dren, and would not be comforted, because they are 
 not:' '^ 
 
 All this history is clear in itself ; as to the difficulty that 
 there is in the authorities which are quoted from sacred Old 
 Testament Scripture, I remit myself to what they say who 
 know more. Herod seeking Christ in order to kill Him, 
 and not finding Him, brings before me that which I ordi- 
 narily see, that the flesh, the world, and human prudence 
 are constantly seeking Christ, in His members, in order 
 to kill Him, but they do not find Him, for they are ever 
 groping in the dark ; nay, it is ever so, that by how much 
 the more Christ is persecuted, so much the more is His 
 name illustrated. This has been so, is so, and ever will be 
 so, as long as this world shall last. 
 
 Eamah is a Hebrew word signifying height. Eachel is 
 generic and representative of all the Jewish people. Where 
 the text says, ''lecause they are not" it means that the 
 reason why Eachel would not be comforted in the death 
 of her children, was, because she had lost them ; they were 
 dead ; but the death was temporal. 
 
 II. 19-23. — But when Herod was dead, behold, an 
 angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph 
 in Egypt, saying, Arise, and take the young child 
 and his mother, and go into the land of Israel : for 
 they are dead which sought the young child's life 
 [soul]. And he arose, and took the young child 
 and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. 
 But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in 
 Judsea in the room of his father Herod, he was 
 afraid to go thither : notwithstanding, being warned 
 of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts 
 of Galilee : And he came and dwelt in a city called 
 
 * Jer. XXX i. 15. 
 
S. MATTHEW II. 19-23. 25 
 
 Nazareth : that it might be fulfilled which was 
 spoken by the prophets, " He shall be called a 
 Nazarene.'^ 
 
 This history likewise is clear in the text. The ex- 
 pression, " the young child's soul," is worthy of considera- 
 tion, as teaching that Holy Scripture is wont to speak of 
 the soul as the life. In saying " in room of Herod,'' it 
 means in Herod's stead, the son having succeeded to his 
 father. By the expression "warned of Godl' the Greek 
 word signifies a divine oracular intimation. As to the 
 epithet " He shall he called a Nazarene,' I remit myself to 
 what they say who understand it. 
 
26 S. MATTHEW MI. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 III. 1-3. — In those days came John tlie Baptist, 
 preaching in the wilderness of Judsea, and saying, 
 Repent ye : for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 
 For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet 
 Isaiah (xl. 3), saying, ** The voice of one crying in 
 the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, 
 make His paths straight." 
 
 St. Matthew, purposing to write the record of Christ's 
 preaching, places the preaching of St. John the Baptist 
 first, for it was as an introduction to Christ's preaching ; 
 and he so places the life of St. John, because he bore 
 witness to Christ; and he so places the baptism of St. 
 John, because it initiated, as it were, Christ's baptism. 
 Two things worthy of consideration present themselves 
 in these opening words : the first, is the meaning of the 
 words preached by St. John ; and the second, St. Matthew's 
 purpose in quoting the words of Isaiah. As to the first, 
 I understand that St. John, considering the condition in 
 which all men are as children of Adam, wherein they are 
 impious, unbelievers, and enemies to God; whilst they 
 know nothing of their impiety, unbelief, and enmity, and 
 therefore do not endeavour nor desire to get out of their 
 evil plight ; and knowing that in order to get out of it 
 they must know it ; as if to rouse them he said to them, 
 " Repent,'' meaning, " Know what bad plight you are in, 
 for you are impious, unbelievers, and enemies to God." 
 And I understand St. John, when he adds "for the kingdom 
 of heaven is at hand,'' to mean, " I tell you to repent. 
 
S. MATTHEW III. 1-3. 27 
 
 because this is the way by which you may enter into tlie 
 kinfrdom of heaven, which is now at hand." 
 
 Where he desires two things to be understood : the first, 
 that this repentance is necessary to enter into the king- 
 dom of heaven; for just as they, who do not know that they 
 are sick, do not seek medicine,* so they who do not know 
 of their impiety, unbelief, and enmity, do not seek the 
 medicine of the Gospel, which cures the impiety, unbelief, 
 and enmity which is natural to us; the second, that by 
 the kingdom of heaven St. John meant Christ's spiritual 
 kingdom, which is very like to the kingdom of heaven, 
 the divine and celestial kingdom, where God personally 
 rules, and which was then at hand, for it commenced with 
 the coming of the Holy Spirit. And I understand that 
 St. John made no difference between the kingdom of God 
 or kingdom of heaven, which is in this present life in 
 those, who being members of Christ, have the spirit of 
 Christ ; and the kingdom of God which will be in the life 
 eternal, because he considered that the possession is taken 
 in this life, which is continued in the life eternal. 
 
 I likewise understand that these words of St. John were 
 differently understood, because he did not declare what this 
 kingdom of heaven was, nor did he state the way of enter- 
 ing into it, and thus he terrified some whilst he cheered 
 others; as though there were a person to come to-day, to 
 whom we should all give credit, and who should loudly 
 proclaim the day of judgment to be at hand. I mean to 
 say that just as this person would terrify false Christians, 
 and would cheer true Christians — those who assuredly 
 believe that the righteousness of Christ is theirs, — so St. 
 John terrified false Jews whilst he cheered true Jews, 
 those who were like Simeon, like Anna, and like Zachariah. 
 So that St. John's preaching was (authoritatively) to this 
 effect: Eeflect and know the evil plight in which you 
 are, for know assuredly that the time is now at hand in 
 which God will personally reign here on earth, just as He 
 
 * See Valdes' XVII. Opuscules, p, 121, a work edited and published 
 (1881) by the same editor and publishers as is this. 
 
28 S. MATTHEW III. 1-3. 
 
 personally reigns in heaven. God reigned before Christ 
 over the whole world, but His kingdom was only recog- 
 nised in Judsea, where, because God was recognised, it was 
 said that God reigned ; and where He reigned, not as He 
 reigns since Christ, in those who are Christians, by giving 
 to each one of them His Holy Spirit, but as it was right 
 that He should reign over that nation outwardly by law 
 and by ceremonies, and therefore that kingdom was not 
 the kingdom of heaven, or the celestial kingdom, as is 
 this which we enjoy, who, having accepted the grace of 
 the Gospel, are incorporated into Christ and have the 
 spirit of Christ. 
 
 As to the second thing worthy of consideration, I under- 
 stand St. Matthew to call St. John, or the preaching of 
 St. John, " a voice crying in the wilderness ; " and I under- 
 stand it according to St. Matthew to be the same to say, 
 " Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight" 
 as that which he has stated that St. John said, " Repent, 
 for the hingdom of heaven is at hand!' I mean to say that 
 the words of St. John have the same meaning as those of 
 Isaiah. But I understand that, according to St. Matthew, 
 Isaiah, in saying " the voice of one crying',' &c., indicated 
 the preaching of St. John, prophesying the good news that 
 St. John should publish to the world, stating that the 
 kingdom of heaven was at hand ; where it is to be under- 
 stood that we then prepare the way of the Lord, or for the 
 Lord, as it is in Hebrew, when we reflect and take the 
 right road, and walk in the true way that leads men to 
 eternal life. " To make His paths straight " is the same as 
 " to prepare the way of the Lord ; " the prophets are wont 
 to repeat the same sense in different words. 
 
 Now, that it may be understood why St. Matthew speci- 
 ally quoted the words of Isaiah, repeating what I have else- 
 where stated, that God designs by His words and by His 
 works to deceive human prudence, by giving it that whereon 
 it may feed and be amused, but so that it may never attain 
 to apprehend His divine counsel, I proceed to say that 
 
S. MATTHEW III. 1-3. 29 
 
 Isaiah, having prophesied the Babylonish captivity in the 
 thirty-ninth chapter, and beginning the fortieth chapter by 
 saying, " Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God" 
 &c., it appears to the judgment of human prudence that 
 Isaiah prophesied in this chapter the departure of the 
 Jewish nation from Babylon, and their return to Jerusalem 
 by way of the desert ; where I do not deny that Isaiah 
 did contemplate this affair of the Jewish nation, but I 
 do say that his principal object was the bringing forth 
 of the people of God, Christian and spiritual people, from 
 the slavery of the law and of the kingdom of the world, 
 and of their entrance into the grace of the Gospel, and 
 into the kingdom of God, of which (as I have above 
 stated) possession is taken in this life. He spoke more 
 peculiarly with this aim than with that, so much so that 
 even the Jews themselves, being unable to verify what 
 Isaiah says in this chapter as to their departure from 
 Babylon and entrance into Jerusalem, go on dreaming that 
 Isaiah prophesied their coming forth from the captivity 
 in which they now are, and their return to Jerusalem in 
 the time of the Messiah. 
 
 Isaiah's words, according to the Hebrew text, are these : 
 " A voice that cries out in the desert y Clear away all obstruc- 
 tions, make a way for the Lord, make straight in the wilder- 
 ness the highway for our God. Every valley shall he raised, 
 and every mountain and hill shall he lowered, and the tor- 
 tuous shall he made straight, and the rough level. And the 
 glory of the Lord shall he revealed, and all flesh shall see it 
 together : for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it!' Where 
 I believe it to be certain that, by God's goodness, the 
 happy condition of this our kingdom of heaven, wherein 
 we take possession of the blissful state of the life eternal, 
 was shown to Isaiah ; and I understand that, seeing this 
 present happiness continued on with that future, he began 
 to say, " A voice that cries" &c., as though triumphing in 
 Christ's coming into the world to put God's children into 
 possession of the kingdom of God. And I understand 
 
30 5. MATTHEW III. 1-3. 
 
 that Isaiah said " in the desert," because that his voice not 
 being heard, it was the same as though he had spoken in 
 the desert, where no one could hear. It may likewise be 
 that he understands the words "desert" and "wilderness" 
 to be synonymous, and says that the highway and the way 
 be cleared and levelled in the desert, in the wilderness, 
 because in such places the highways are more out of con- 
 dition ; so that the expression " in the desert " is not asso- 
 ciated with that which precedes, but with that which 
 follows : "prepare in the desert" or, " clear away in the 
 desert" &c. 
 
 And I understand that Isaiah proceeding to particu- 
 larise the manner in which this was to be done, says, 
 " every valley shall he raised," &c., specially putting those 
 things which men are wont to do when they level a road ; 
 where I most simply understand Isaiah but to say that 
 this coming of Christ is so exceedingly joyous, that we 
 ought to put forth every demonstration of inward delight 
 and jubilation, preparing our minds for it, as men do at 
 the progress of some great prince through a desert, seeking 
 that he may pass through it with perfect ease and satis- 
 faction. 
 
 In saying, " and shall he revealed," &c., he means that 
 the name of God is glorified by this coming of Christ into 
 the world, as much by that of His humiliation as by that 
 of His triumph. 
 
 That expression, " and all flesh shall see it,'' &c., seems 
 suggestive of the day of judgment, in which all men gene- 
 rally shall see the glory of God, which will be a joy to 
 some and a wretchedness to others : it may also be that, 
 " hy all flesh," he may mean all manner of persons, Jews 
 and Gentiles, great and small, and that he refers to Christ's 
 first coming. 
 
 In saying, "for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it," he 
 means that these words which I speak are not mine but 
 God's ; He speaks them, and utters them by my mouth ; 
 nay, this mouth, at present, is not mine but His. The 
 
S. MATTHEW III. 4. 3i 
 
 glory of God was hidden prior to the coming of Christ, 
 and at Christ's first coming it began to be discovered and 
 revealed, in proportion as the truth of God and His omni- 
 potence have been known by those who have known Christ; 
 and the same glory of God shall be fully discovered and 
 revealed at the second coming of Christ, when, as I have 
 stated, it shall be seen and known by good and bad. 
 
 Thus do I understand the prophet's words. And re- 
 verting to those of the Evangelist, the expression, " m 
 those days," is equivalent to, at that time — it is a Hebraic 
 idiom. I think that St. John began to preach in the 
 desert in order that his ministry should be more marvel- 
 lous, should excite greater marvel in persons, and that 
 thus they should attend the more to it. 
 
 Where he says " repent," the Greek word properly sig- 
 nifies that the man recognises his fault after having fallen 
 into it. The expression, " Idngdom of heaven,'' is the same 
 as celestial and divine kingdom. In saying " this is he,'' 
 he means, this St. John is he. In saying who " cried" 
 he means, who shouted. As to the " desert," 1 remit my- 
 self to what I have stated in expounding the Prophet's 
 words. 
 
 III. 4. — And the same John had his raiment of 
 camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins ; 
 and his meat was locusts and wild honey. 
 
 In three things does St. Matthew here show the austere 
 and rough life that St. John led : in his dress, that he was 
 clad in garments made of camel's hair ; in his girdle, that 
 it was made of untanned skin ; and in his food, that he ate 
 but locusts and wild honey. Where I understand that St. 
 John, being in the desert, used those things which were 
 found to hand where he was, without sending, or going, 
 into a town for them, which he did, not out of supersti- 
 tion, but from necessity and personal indifference. Which 
 
32 S. MATTHEW III. 4. 
 
 indifference should be imitated by those who have Christ 
 in their hearts, and who are concerned for God. 
 
 To him who shall desire to know for what x^ause St. 
 John lived thus roughly, I will tell him of four things 
 that now occur to me. The first, that the reign of cere- 
 monies being about to terminate in St. John, the law 
 ending in him, as we shall see further on in chapter xi. 13, 
 it seems that it pleased God that he should, in these 
 things, be the end of the end. The second, that St. John 
 coming in the spirit and in the power of Elijah, as we 
 shall see further on in chapter xvii., it seems that it pleased 
 God, that he should, in his outward life, resemble Elijah, 
 of whom we read in 2 Kings i. 8, that he wore hair, and 
 girded himself with a girdle made of skin. The third, that 
 St. John having to bear testimony to Christ, in whom 
 there were not those external marks of sanctity, which 
 greatly move the vulgar, it seems that it pleased God that 
 he should live in the rough manner in which he lived, in 
 order that his testimony should be more attractive, more 
 appreciated, and more esteemed ; and that thus the glory 
 of the rough life that St. John led should result in the 
 glory of Christ. The fourth, that St. John doing the office 
 of the law in that he terrified men and pointed out Christ 
 to them, it seems that God ordained that he should, in his 
 life, present the severity, rigour, and roughness of the law; 
 and how peculiarly does it appear to me to see the law in 
 St. John and the gospel in Christ, and thus St. John terri- 
 fies and alarms me, whilst Christ enamours and assures 
 me. Where I understand that it is for the Christian to 
 give but a passing look to St. John and to the law, and to 
 look and look again continually to Christ and to the gos- 
 pel. They who shall continue to look on the law and 
 St. John will never have peace in their consciences, they 
 will ever find motive why to, and matter for, fear : whilst 
 those who shall look upon Christ and the gospel will say 
 with St. Paul, " Bein(/ justified hy faith, we have peace with 
 God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Eom. v. i). 
 
S. MATTHEW III. 7-10. 33 
 
 III. 5, 6. — Then went out to him Jerusalem, and 
 all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, 
 and were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing 
 their sins. 
 
 From St. John's preaching in the desert and not in 
 inhabited places, and from his living in the rough manner 
 in which he lived, it came to pass that the people, moved 
 by novelty, came forth from all parts, and went to St. 
 John's baptism : and that they, who were baptized, said 
 and confessed that they were baptized because they were 
 sinners, because they had transgressed the law in many 
 things. Where I understand that the baptism of St. John 
 was an imitation of the baptism of Christ ; and I under- 
 stand that the baptism of St. John did not pacify nor 
 assure the consciences of those who were baptized ; this 
 glory being reserved for the baptism of Christ, which it is 
 that works these effects, not of itself, but by faith in Christ, 
 who brings to baptism those who are baptized. I under- 
 stand the effect of the baptism of St. John to have been, 
 were it permitted to say so, the troubling of the water of 
 the pool, whilst the effect of the baptism of Christ I under- 
 stand to be the clearing of the turbid water. This confes- 
 sion of those who were baptized by St. John I understand 
 to have been like the confession of those who heard the 
 Apostles preach, which is read in Acts xix. 1-7, 18. 
 
 III. 7- 10. — But when he saw many of the Phari- 
 sees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said 
 unto them, generation of vipers, who hath warned 
 you to flee from the wrath to come ? Bring forth 
 therefore fruits meet for repentance : and think 
 not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to 
 our father : for I say unto you, that God is able of 
 these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. 
 
 c 
 
34 S. MATTHEW III. 7-10. 
 
 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the 
 trees : therefore every tree which bringeth not forth 
 good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 
 
 In these words, these things present themselves as 
 worthy of consideration. The first, that St. John inveighed 
 against and spoke contnmeliously of none, save the Phari- 
 sees and Sadducees, who at that time were held in the 
 highest reputation for sanctity by the Jewish people, on 
 account of their ceremonial ministrations, which distin- 
 guished them from other men. The second, that St. John, 
 in seeing them come to his baptism, as did others, com- 
 prehended that it was the fear and terror they felt which 
 dragged them to it, lest they should perish by the wrath 
 of God at the day of judgment, which they had heard from 
 St. John was at hand; understanding, too, that the kingdom 
 of God commenced from that time. St. John, in speaking 
 to those, whom this world calls saints, very aptly calls the 
 day of judgment wrath to come, for to them that day will 
 be the day of wrath : had he been speaking to God's saints, 
 he would doubtless have called it, the day of grace and of 
 glory. The third, that we, then, as men who have repented 
 of our former lives, bring forth fruit worthy of repentance, 
 when we cease to live as do men of the world and saints 
 of the world; and that we live as men, who are spiritual, 
 and as saints of God, testifying in our lives our repentance 
 and penitence, and that we bear testimony to our Chris- 
 tian faith by living mortified as to the flesh and quickened 
 , as to the spirit. They who do not live thus have neither 
 Christian faith nor Christian repentance, whatever they 
 may say, and however they may persuade themselves that 
 they have both one and the other ; and they who do not live 
 thus testify concerning themselves that they do not bring 
 forth fruit worthy of repentance and of contrition. TJic 
 fourth, that the Christian confidence, which is based upon 
 Christian regeneration, never deceives a man, whilst the 
 Jewish confidence, which is based upon human generation 
 
S. MATTHEW III. 7-10. 35 
 
 (upon birth), ever does so : and what is more : confidence 
 in Christian regeneration is efficient in man to make him 
 live in holiness and righteousness all the days of his life, 
 whilst confidence in human generation (in birth) is efficient 
 to make him live licentiously and viciously all the days 
 of his life. They confide in Christian regeneration, who, 
 being regenerated and renewed by the Holy Spirit, make 
 the righteousness of Christ their own, who say with St. 
 Paul, " Wlio shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect V 
 (Eom. viii. 33), sure, that having God and Christ on their 
 side, there is nothing that can hurt them. 
 
 Whilst the Pharisees and Sadducees, who confided in 
 human generation, and whom • St. John rebuked, and the 
 Jews, who, like them, had the same confidence, said, " Since 
 we are the children of Abraham, we cannot perish," and 
 thence lived viciously and licentiously ; so false Chris- 
 tians, holding that they, as the children of Christian 
 parents, must be saved, not having Christian regeneration, 
 they also trust, in human generation. The fifth, that St. 
 John, when he says, " that God is ahle from stones to raise 
 up children to Abraham," means the same as does St. Paul, 
 in Eom. iv. 13, where he shows that God, in saving those 
 who had Abraham's faith, saves Abraham's children, and 
 thus fulfils what He promised Abraham ; not holding them 
 to be children of Abraham, who were begotten by Abra- 
 ham's seed, but those who were regenerated by Abraham's 
 faith. 
 
 And here it would seem that the conviction of the false 
 Jews led them to say, " We are the seed of Abraham ; to 
 Abraham and to his seed God promised the inheritance of 
 the world, and therefore we have nothing to fear." But 
 this notwithstanding, they, in coming to the baptism of 
 St. John, showed that their confidence was not sound and 
 firm in that which, being human conviction, served but to 
 render them vicious and licentious ; and having this peril 
 before their eyes, it made them tremble and fear. The 
 sixth, that St. John, threatening the false Jews, told them 
 
36 S. MATTHEW III. ii, 12. 
 
 that the danger was at hand, using a Hebrew mode of 
 speech, meaning that just at it goes hard with a bad tree, 
 when the husbandman, being about to cut it down, brings 
 his axe or hatchet to its trunk ; so they, too, were in a bad 
 plight, for their ruin and perdition were near at hand : 
 and, moreover, that just as the bad tree is cut down and 
 cast into the fire, so the bad man is cut down and cast 
 into the fire ; whilst the bad man is he, who has not ceased 
 to be a man^ who is neither regenerated nor renewed by 
 the Holy Spirit. 
 
 If we would fain have that expression, " and now also 
 the axe," &c., depend upon what immediately precedes it, 
 the meaning of these words will be, God is able of these 
 stones to raise up children to Abraham, and He is now 
 about to do so. And this meaning harmonises well with 
 that which, in point of fact, followed, for if of the Gentiles, 
 who were but as stones, God made children to Abraham, 
 conformably with what St. Paul states in Eom. iv. 16, 
 '' Therefore it is of faith" &c. 
 
 That expression "generation of vipers" is a Hebraism, 
 tantamount to calling them infernal. In saying " within 
 yourselves" he means, that they did not utter it with their 
 lips, but that they said it in their hearts, showing by their 
 lives what they said in their hearts. 
 
 III. II, 12. — I iudeed baptize you with water 
 unto repentance : but he that cometli after me is 
 mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to 
 bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, 
 and with fire : Whose fan is in his hand, and he 
 will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat 
 into the garner : but he will burn up the chaflf with 
 unquenchable fire. 
 
 I understand the declaration here made by St. John in 
 relation to his baptism to agree with what we have pre- 
 
S. MATTHEW III. ii, 12. 
 
 37 
 
 viously stated : that St. John's baptism troubles the water, 
 whilst Christ's baptism clarifies it ; thus St. John here 
 says, " / baptize you," &c., meaning, my baptism only 
 serves to give you knowledge of yourselves, that you may 
 know your impiety, infidelity, and enmity to God, and 
 that you may seek a remedy for it ; but the baptism of 
 Christ shall not be of that character, its nature beino^ to 
 give you the Holy Spirit, which shall operate on you as 
 fire does upon gold, purifying you and cleansing you, mor- 
 tifying you and vivifying you, yet more and more. Whence 
 it is to be understood that they, who have been baptized, 
 and have not got the Holy Spirit, have not been baptized 
 with Christ's baptism, but with that of St. John. 
 
 And the token whereby a person may rest assured that 
 he has the Holy Spirit, that he has been baptized with 
 Christ's baptism, is peace of conscience, with mortification 
 and vivification, for it is thus that the Holy Spirit, which 
 they receive who are baptized with Christ's baptism, 
 operates these peculiar effects ; whilst the baptism of St. 
 John, which is with water only, produces this effect, it 
 gives a man self-knowledge, it disturbs him, it disquiets 
 him. Nay, I will go further and say, that they, who, hear- 
 ing the preaching of St. John, how greatly it threatens 
 and terrifies, when they come to the baptism of St. John, 
 they show that they know themselves to be sinners, and 
 that they desire to be righteous ; whilst they who hear the 
 preaching of Christ, the intimation of the general indul- 
 gence and pardon through the execution of God's justice 
 upon Christ, how greatly it assures and quiets the con- 
 science, they, in coming to the baptism of Christ, show 
 that they accept and take the righteousness of Christ as 
 their own. And, therefore, baptism is not given to adults, 
 unless they first confess the Christian faith. 
 
 When he says "mightier than /," he means stronger 
 and more powerful. That expression " whose shoes" illus- 
 trates St. John's humility ; men esteemed him highly, and 
 he sought that their esteem should redound to the glory 
 
38 S. MATTHEW III. 13-17. 
 
 of Christ, whose shoes, he says, he was unequal, or un- 
 worthy to carry in his hands. 
 
 In saying " whose fan is in his hand," he means that 
 Christ's strength, that wherein He was mightier than he, 
 consists in the faculty of judgment given him by God. 
 And this judgment he calls a winnowing fan or shovel; 
 whilst he calls the nations that should have been and 
 pretended to be God's people, and Christians, the threshing 
 floor, or heaps of unthrashed corn, ready for thrashing. 
 He calls the righteous corn, and he calls false Christians 
 chaff; and he calls the kingdom of God, which shall 
 coexist with the life eternal, the garner or granary ; and 
 he calls hell-fire " unquenchaNe fire," meaning that it will 
 burn for ever. From these words it seems that St. John's 
 words were, in what he said of Christ, more directed to 
 His second coming to judge, than to the first to be judged ; 
 and I am so much the more confirmed in what I said upon 
 that passage, " who hath warned you to flee from the wrath 
 to come ? " 
 
 III. 13-17. — Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to 
 Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But 
 John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized 
 of thee, and comest thou to me ? And Jesus an- 
 swering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now : for 
 thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then 
 he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, 
 went up straightway out of the water : and, lo, the 
 heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the 
 Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting 
 upon him : and lo, a voice from heaven, saying. 
 This is my beloved Son, in whom I am w^ell pleased. 
 
 We have no need to divine what moved Christ to come 
 to St. John's baptism, since Christ Himself tells us it, where 
 
vS. MATTHEW III. 13-17. 39 
 
 He says, "for thus it hecometh us to fulfil all righteousness," 
 where it appears that Christ came to St. John to be baptized 
 to fulfil even that outward righteousness, in doing that 
 which others did, who aimed at justification, in order that 
 nothing apparently or outwardly pertaining to justification 
 should be wanting in Him. I also understand that Christ 
 and St. John fulfilled that outward righteousness to stop 
 the mouths of men of the world, that they should have 
 no cause for calumniating^ them, neither with truth nor 
 with the semblance of truth. 
 
 What St. John says, " / have need to he baptized of Thee," 
 I understand to be the expression of humility, as though 
 he should say, " I have greater need of Thy baptism than 
 Thou of mine." Such is my apprehension, for I know from 
 Holy Scripture (Luke i. 15) that St. John was filled with 
 the Holy Spirit from his mothers womh ; and I understand 
 that had St. John needed to be baptized by Christ, Christ 
 would have baptized him, and it is not on record that He 
 did baptize him. Christ in saying, " suffer it to he so nowl' 
 means : Cease to contemplate the duty which occupies 
 thy mind, and do what I desire. 
 
 The evangelist, in saying, " then he suffered Him!' 
 means, then he submitted and did as Christ desired ; He 
 desired to be baptized, and thus did St. John baptize 
 Him. Where it is said, " He went up out of the water," it 
 is meant that He walked up out of the water on to the 
 land. That expression, " and, lo, the heavens were opened 
 icnto Him," is ambiguous ; it is so in the Greek text, as to 
 whether they were so to Christ or to St. John. But from 
 what St. John the evangelist writes (John i. 32-34), it 
 appears that they were so to St. John — that he saw the 
 heavens opened, and that he saw the Holy Spirit in the 
 form of a dove lighting upon Christ ; so that it is not to 
 be understood that the Holy Spirit descended as does a 
 dove, but that St. John saw it in the form of a dove, 
 whilst that expression " upon Him " refers to Christ. As 
 to " the voice from heaven" it is to be understood that the 
 
40 6'. MATTHEW III. 13-17. 
 
 heavens being opened it appeared that the voice came 
 forth from them. That Christ too saw the heavens 
 opened, that He saw the Spirit of God, and that He heard 
 the Father's voice, I have no doubt whatever ; but I do 
 doubt whether those, who were present, saw what Christ 
 and St. John saw, whether they heard what Christ and St. 
 John heard; and I should much more readily believe that 
 they heard the voice, but that they did not see the vision ; 
 because I understand from Holy Scripture that man is 
 more capable of hearing than of seeing — of hearing the 
 voice of God, than of seeing the secrets of God. 
 
 These three mysteries that concurred in the baptism of 
 Christ are truly very great, but the baptism of Christ is 
 not less than they, so that the baptism was worthy of 
 them and they of the baptism. The reason why Christ 
 was baptized is already seen in the words of Christ Him- 
 self. The reason why God showed these three signs at 
 Christ's baptism^that of the opening of the heavens, that 
 of the descent of the Holy Spirit, and that of the voice — 
 I shall leave to the consideration of those who are spiri- 
 tually minded. I will indeed state this, that I do not 
 understand it to have been to assure St. John of the 
 Messiah's person, since he had already known Him from 
 his mother's womb, but that St. John might, when bear- 
 ing witness to Christ, be able to say : This is the Messiah, 
 the Son of God, and I know it for certain, for I have seen 
 such and such signs ; and thus his testimony would be the 
 more believed. 
 
 As to that which (God) here states, " in whom I am 
 well pleased" evBoKijcra, this word in the Greek is employed 
 in Holy Scripture when it signifies that benevolence 
 wherein God delights, is well pleased, and which to Him 
 is satisfactory, as is that wherein He knows us, predesti- 
 nates us, calls us, sanctifies us, and glorifies us. And on 
 this subject there is a response which I have written to 
 question No. 27. What the Father's voice said har- 
 monises well with what Isaiah said (chap. liii. 10), where 
 
S. MATTHEW III. 13-17. 41 
 
 he states, speaking of Christ, " and the pleasure of the Lord 
 shall prosper in His hand,'' where the Hebrew word for 
 " pleasure " is synonymous with the Greek word here used, 
 " in whom I am ivell pleased" I state all this in order 
 that all that is signified by that expression, " in whom I 
 am well pleased," may be understood. I could wish to be 
 able similarly to cause it to be understood in what manner 
 Christ is the Son of God, as I am able to cause it to be 
 understood how Christ is beloved of God, but as I do not 
 understand it, I should ill succeed in making others do so ; 
 nay, I feel assured that even had I understood it, it would 
 have been impossible to make others do so, so alien is it 
 to human capacity to comprehend the divine generation of 
 the only begotten Son of God, upon which subject I recol- 
 lect having written a Consideration (xcv.), to my mind 
 fully to the purpose. 
 
42 S. MATTHEW IV. 1-4. 
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 lY. I -4. — Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit 
 into the wilderness, to, be tempted of the devil. 
 And when he had fasted forty days and forty 
 nights, he afterwards hungered. And the tempter 
 came to him and said, If thou be the Son of God, 
 command that these stones be made bread. But he 
 answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live 
 by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth 
 out of the mouth of God. 
 
 TJie Holy Spirit, in leading Clirist apart into the desert 
 immediately after His haptism, in order that He should there 
 combat with the devil, and that He should there conquer him, 
 before that He commenced His ministry, teaches ministers of 
 the Gospel that they should seek isolation in retirement before 
 they engage inpreaching it; luaitingfor the conscious inward 
 teaching of the Holy Spirit, how both to combat the devil and 
 to conquer him ; in order that it may not come to pass that 
 preaching without inspired teaching they lose time; and that 
 being tempted and conquered in society, after that they have 
 commenced their ministry, they cause the Gospel to be reviled. 
 God's design, in willing that Christ should be tempted, I 
 understand to have been that the devil should remain 
 vanquished, and therefore terrified and cowed. The devil 
 had been victorious, and hence spirited and valiant against 
 men from the time when, combating the first man, he 
 conquered him, and subjected him to death and to other 
 miseries; but Jesus Christ our Lord, the second Adam, 
 
5. MATTHEW IV. 1-4. 43 
 
 coming to repair the evil, which had been brought upon 
 the world by the victory the devil had gained over the 
 first Adam, it was necessary that the first thing done by 
 Christ should be to conquer the devil ; and forasmuch as 
 He could not conquer him unless He were assaulted by 
 him, God ordained that he should tempt Him, in order 
 that, the devil remaining vanquished, the human race 
 should begin to feel the benefit of Christ, the devil begin- 
 ning to show cowardice from his having been conquered. 
 
 The number of days that Christ was in the desert, before 
 He came to preach the Gospel, being one and the same 
 with the number of days that Moses was on the mount in 
 converse with God, before he came down to give the law 
 to the Hebrew nation, leads me to think that there is 
 some correspondence in these respective periods, and that 
 just as Moses was forty days and forty nights on the 
 mount, before that he came to publish the law, so God 
 willed that Christ should be forty days and forty nights 
 in the wilderness, before He came to publish the Gospel. 
 Whence I understand that he who shall in all Christ's 
 works occasionally look to Adam, and at other times to 
 Moses, will attain to the right knowledge of much of the 
 divine counsel there is in them. I do not think that the 
 devil's design in tempting Christ was to attain assurance 
 as to whether He was or was not the Son of God, since it 
 appears, from what we shall see further on, that he was sure 
 of this ; but I understand it to have been the same, which 
 he had in tempting the first man ; I mean to say that just 
 as the devil persuaded the first man that he should not be- 
 lieve in God's voice which had said, " If thou eat of it, thou 
 shalt die" so he designed to persuade Christ that He should 
 not believe in the voice of God which had said, " :27m is 
 My Son;'' or, at the least, that he should so manage Christ, 
 as that in obeying him, Christ should deviate from obedience 
 to God. 
 
 God had directed Christ how He should res^ulate Him- 
 self in the work of the restoration of the human race ; and, 
 
44 S. MATTHEW IV. 1-4. 
 
 ifc being necessary that He should not deviate from that 
 divine direction, the devil solicited Him to deviate, by- 
 perverting the divine counsel of Ood ; in relation to which 
 I recollect having written in an Epistle (23) what I feel, 
 to which I remit myself, as also to what I have written in 
 my exposition of i Cor, i. JSTow reverting to the words 
 of the text, it is to be understood that in saying, " hy the 
 Spirit,'' he means by the Holy Spirit ; and that Christ's 
 being hungry was a motive to temptation ; and that he, 
 whom the evangelist calls devil he also calls tempter, 
 meaning that it is the devil's office to tempt men, soliciting 
 them to deviate from obedience to God. And I likewise 
 remember to have written an Epistle (30) in which I have 
 stated what I understand in relation to temptation. 
 
 That the devil should say to Christ, "If thou he the 
 Son of God,'' I understand, as I have said, that he took 
 occasion to do so from that voice of the Father which had 
 said, " This is My Son ; " as though the devil should have 
 said to Christ, " Wouldst thou see, whether what that voice 
 said, that 'Thou art the Son of God,' is true? Since 
 Thou art hungry, convert these stones into loaves." Oh, 
 how many, many times are they, who are brought by 
 Christ to be children of God, tempted in the same manner 
 and by the same words as Christ was tempted ! Nay, I 
 am brought to understand the devil's design in this affair 
 by my own experience ; and I am sure that all, who, having 
 believed in the preached Gospel, shall hold themselves to 
 be children of God, will understand it too. 
 
 " Erom the fact that the devil caught Christ hungered he 
 boldly presumed to tempt Him, seeking to ensnare Him 
 by hunger ; and so he said to Him, " Speak that these stones 
 he converted into loaves" — where "speak" is the same as 
 " command " or " make " — " for, since Thou art the Son of 
 God, it will be easy to Thee, and Thou wilt thus remedy 
 Thy needs." The words with which Christ most modestly 
 repels the temptation of the devil are written in Deu- 
 teronomy viii., where Moses tells the Hebrew nation that 
 
6". MATTHEW IV. 1-4. 45 
 
 the reason why God had dragged them through the desert, 
 and had exposed them to suffer hunger, was in order that 
 He might maintain them in an extraordinary manner; and 
 thus to show them that bread is not the only thing that 
 sustains and maintains man ; for it is a fact that he will be 
 sustained and maintained with whatever else it shall please 
 God to give the virtue, the power, to maintain and to 
 sustain that He gives to bread ; where it is to be under- 
 stood that by bread Holy Scripture means everything that 
 has the power to maintain and sustain man, being naturally 
 and in the ordinary way the product of the earth. 
 
 The motive that Moses had when he spoke those words 
 to the Hebrew nation being understood, it is to be under- 
 stood that Christ, when He quoted them to the devil, meant 
 to say to him, "Although I hunger, I have no need to 
 take counsel from thee, converting stones into loaves, 
 since it is clear from Holy Scripture that God is wont to 
 maintain and sustain men with whatever He pleases and 
 wills so to do, giving it the virtue and power that He gives 
 to bread ; so that there is no reason why I should make 
 stones loaves, since it is a fact that, were such the will 
 of God, stones would have the same effect upon me as 
 loaves." 
 
 And hereupon Christians ought, when they shall find 
 themselves in want of those things wherewith our bodily 
 frame is sustained, to consider that God is mighty, nay, 
 that God has practically sustained and maintained men 
 without these things which ordinarily sustain and main- 
 tain them ; so that when the devil shall persuade them to 
 deviate from Christian duty, from Christian decorum, in 
 order to provide for their bodily necessities, let them then 
 say with Christ, " Man does not live hy bread only, hut hy 
 every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God" where by 
 "word" is meant "thing," according to Hebrew idiom, 
 which avails itself of one word both to express " word " 
 and to express " thing," as is seen in many places of Holy 
 Scripture. In saying, " that froceedeth out of the mouth 
 
46 S. MATTHEW IV. 5-7. 
 
 of God," He alludes to what He has said, and means that 
 just as a man, were he omnipotent, and that by a single 
 word that should proceed from his lips he should accom- 
 plish whatever he wished, in giving things the virtue and 
 power he might wish ; so God, who is superlatively omni- 
 potent, by His mere will does all that He wills, causing 
 things to have that power and efficacy which it pleases 
 Him that they should have.* 
 
 IV. 5-7. — Then the devil taketh him into the 
 holy city, and setteth him on the pinnacle of the 
 temple, and saith unto him, If thou be the Son of 
 God, cast thyself down : for it is written, He shall 
 give his angels charge concerning thee : and in their 
 hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time 
 thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said 
 unto him again, It is written, Thou shalt not tempt 
 tlje Lord thy God. 
 
 As I do not understand in what form or manner the 
 devil presented himself to Christ in the first temptation, 
 to persuade him to make loaves out of stones, so neither 
 do I understand, in this second, in what form or manner he 
 bore Christ away to Jerusalem, which is called the holy 
 city, and there placed Him upon the roof of an aisle of the 
 temple, or upon the pinnacle of its spire, meaning the 
 highest and most perilous position. 1 well understand 
 that the devil had the same design in this temptation as 
 in the first ; in the one he thought to ensnare Christ by 
 hunger, and in the other he desired to ensnare Him by 
 seeming piety, and so he said to Him, Would'st Thou see 
 whether the voice which Tliou heard'st was true or not ? 
 cast Thyself down from hence, for if Thou be the Son of 
 God, Thou wilt not hurt Thyself, for God promises in Holy 
 
 * There is a consideration in St. Mark upon the condition of Christ in 
 the desert. 
 
5. MATTHEW IV. 5-7. 47 
 
 Scripture to take such care of them that are His, that He 
 will ever have angels to watch over them, that nothing 
 may hurt them, so that Thou, being the Son of God, hast 
 nothing to fear. To this, the devil's argument, Christ 
 replied from the self-same Holy Scripture, saying : It is 
 not right that I should do what thou tellest me, for it 
 would be to tempt God, a thing forbidden by God Him- 
 self. Where the modesty with which Christ responds to 
 the devil, repelling his arguments by words from Holy 
 Scripture, should be observed ; and I understand that the 
 devil having been repelled in the first temptation by the 
 authority of Holy Scripture, thought of conquering in this 
 second by the authority of the same Scripture ; and thus 
 he quoted to Christ, and as it appears to me much to the 
 purpose, though Christ repelled it very much more to the 
 purpose, with that passage : " Thou shalt not tempt,'' or, 
 tempt thou not, ''the Lord, thy God!' Where, I under- 
 stand that we men tempt God then, when we rashly 
 depend upon God in things, to which God is not pledged 
 to us by promise ; and when, in things wherein we have 
 His promise, we expose ourselves to danger without any 
 occasion ; in order to try what hold we have on God ; and 
 when we ask God for those things of which we do stand 
 in need, as though we doubted the omnipotence of God, 
 or, the truth of God ; and I understand that it was in this 
 manner that the Hebrew nation tempted God in the desert ; 
 and upon these promises of God I have written " a reply!' 
 Here, again, I understand that the impiety of those is no 
 less, who avail themselves of these words, " Thou shalt 
 not tempt',' &c., in order to hide their distrust in the pro- 
 mises of God, in what concerns the sustenance of the body, 
 without anxiety and care on our part ; and in what con- 
 cerns the justification of our spirits through divine justice 
 having been executed upon Christ ; than the temerity of 
 those, who, overlooking these words, expose themselves 
 without occasion to perils^ saying, " God will help me." 
 Would to God that they who fall into the former impiety, 
 
48 S. MATTHEW IV. 8-11. 
 
 did not exceed in number that of those who fall into this 
 temerity. I speak thus, for the number of those who fall 
 into that impiety is as much greater than the number of 
 those who fall through temerity, as is the number of false 
 Christians greater than that of true Christians. Where I 
 understand that true Christians are tempted to fall into 
 temerity as Christ was tempted, but they are kept from 
 falling into it as Christ was kept ; whilst false Christians 
 are tempted to fall into that impiety, and they do fall, 
 and they are prostrated by the temptation, nay, they 
 perish in it. True Christians are indeed tempted by the 
 impiety, but false Christians are seldom tempted by 
 temerity; and when they are tempted, they fall by the 
 temptation, which has been witnessed by many. 
 
 By " taJceth," we are to understand carry or bear away. 
 Where it is said " concerning thee" be it understood what 
 affects' thee. As to the rest I remit myself to what I have 
 stated in my exposition of Psalm xci. That future, " sJmlf 
 not tempt," is to be understood as the imperative " tempt 
 thou not" for it is so in Hebrew. 
 
 lY. 8-1 1. — Again the devil taketh him up into 
 an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all 
 the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them ; 
 And saith unto him. All these things will I give thee, 
 if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith 
 Jesus unto him. Get thee hence, Satan : for it is 
 written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and 
 him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth 
 him, and behold, angels came and ministered unto 
 him. 
 
 Nor do I here understand in what manner the devil 
 showed Christ what the Evangelist here states, neither 
 does it much affect that which it is of importance here 
 
S. MATTHEW IV. 8-11. 49 
 
 to Tinderstand ; which is this, that the devil, seeing that 
 he had not been able to ensnare Christ, either by hunger, 
 or by seeming piety, now thought of ensnaring Him by 
 vain-glorious worldliness ; not indeed as Son of God, but 
 as son of Adam, as a man of the world ; and thus he 
 does not say to Him, as on former occasions, " If thou art 
 the Son of God,'' for what he desired in relation to Him 
 was nothing affecting the Son of God, as was the con- 
 verting of stones into loaves, or the casting Himself down 
 from the pinnacle of the temple, without suffering injury. 
 
 Where I note, that although the devil failed to persuade 
 Christ to do any one of his behests, seeing that Christ 
 excused Himself, not as Son of God, but as mere man, the 
 esteem in which he previously held. Him was on the wane ; 
 as appears from this, that in the first place, he tempted 
 Him with that which was seemingly modest: Thou art 
 hungry ; Thou art in the desert ; if Thou art the Son of 
 God, make these stones loaves, and eat : in the second, 
 he tempted Him to do that which was rash, telling Him 
 to cast Himself down from the spire of the temple : whilst 
 in the third, he tempted Him with impiety, saying, " All 
 this will I give Thee," &c. 
 
 Taking this into consideration, I do not hold it to be 
 misapprehension upon the part of those, who state that it 
 was the devil's aim to assure himself whether Christ were 
 the Son of God. True it is, but, in my opinion, they 
 would have spoken more to the purpose had they [said 
 that he aimed at certainty as to what Christ's sonship 
 was, whether He was the Son of God after the manner 
 in which Holy Scripture is wont to call certain classes of 
 men, or whether, after some novel manner; although I 
 have yet to attain to the mere knowledge by which this 
 is admitted ; nay, they both are compatible ; that the 
 devil purposed to do that with Christ which he did with 
 Adam, and to attain certainty as to what sort of sonship 
 Christ's was. 
 
 And herein consists Christ's victory, that the devil did 
 
 D 
 
so S. MATTHEW IV. 8-11. 
 
 not succeed in either one or the other. Eeverting to the 
 temptation, I say that, in this third temptation, it is to be 
 understood that the devil promised Christ that which he 
 could not give Him ; and that, forasmuch as the condition 
 which he proposed, saying, " If Thou wilt fall down and 
 worship one," was God-dishonouring, Christ, as zealous of 
 God's honour, did not answer him with the gentleness 
 with which He answered him on the two other occasions, 
 but somewhat angrily, saying to him, " Get thee hence, 
 Satan I " I understand : malignant and infernal spirit, 
 leave my presence ! for it is to me intolerable that thou 
 shouldest propose anything to me that is opposed to the 
 honour of God. 
 
 Whence Christians will understand they should, on no 
 account, tolerate that any one propound aught to them 
 that prejudices the glory of God ; that they have to main- 
 tain Christian meekness when things shall be propounded 
 to them that prejudice their own glory; but that they 
 have to exhibit subdued anger when things shall be pro- 
 pounded to them that prejudice the glory of God. Which 
 is prejudiced when that is attributed to the creature which 
 should be attributed , to God only, and when it is pre- 
 tended to have that through the creature which is to be 
 obtained from God only, such as piety, righteousness, and 
 holiness, which are obtained of God through Christ. 
 
 I have said with subdued anger, considering that, though 
 Christ drove away Satan from His presence with some 
 anger. He did not deviate from His accustomed modesty, 
 defending Himself with that Scripture that states, " Thou 
 shalt worship the Lord thy God,' &c., as though Christ had 
 said : I tell thee, Satan, that thou leave me forthwith ; for 
 thou suGjorestest to me that I should do that, which is 
 directly contrary to the law of God, to the will of God. 
 Thou wouldest have me worship thee, whilst it is God's 
 will that they, who are His, worship and serve Him 
 only. 
 
 Whence let Christians learn how thev must defend 
 
S. MATTHEW IV. 8-11. 51 
 
 themselves against the persecutions of the devil, I mean 
 to say that, just as Christ, being under the law, defended 
 Himself quoting the text of the law ; so they, who are 
 under grace, will defend themselves by pleading Gospel 
 obligation. Christian propriety ; so that, when assaulted by 
 the devil, by their own flesh, or by men of the world, with 
 anything opposed to Christian obligation and to Christian 
 propriety, they may immediately say : " JSfo, for that is not 
 what Christ would do." As I have stated more fully in 
 a consideration. [No. xc] 
 
 And upon this subject I understand that, under this 
 Gospel dispensation, the promptings of the devil are much 
 more effectively resisted by this shield, " Ho, for this is not 
 what Christ would do," than by the shield formed by the 
 dictates of the law, under the dispensation of the law ; I 
 mean that temptation leaves much more rapidly when it 
 hears say, " JN'o, for this is not what Christ would have 
 done," than it left upon hearing the dictates of the law. 
 And reflecting that Christ, when He defended Himself, 
 pleaded the text of the law against the devil, though He 
 did not, indeed, refrain from worshipping the devil, because 
 the law commanded that God only should be worshipped — 
 He refrained from doing so, because it was repugnant to 
 Him — I consider how inefiably great was Christ's humility, 
 in that He lived not only subject to the law, but He mani- 
 fested that He would do nothing that the law prohibited, 
 because the law prohibited it, wholly and entirely keeping 
 His most exalted divinity out of sight. 
 
 Whence Christians will learn that they ought to humble 
 themselves, keeping their spiritual dignity out of sight, 
 when it shall be necessary to keep it out of sight ; present- 
 ing themselves to other men as their equals ; evincing the 
 same interest in things that others do, though moved by a 
 perfectly different impulse ; so that just as saints of the 
 world purpose to publish their perfections, so should these 
 seek to hide their perfections ; which very greatly humbles 
 and prostrates human presumption and ambition, which 
 
52 5. MATTHEW IV. 8-11. 
 
 in Christians, ought to be humbled and prostrated to the 
 utmost. 
 
 Upon that expression " then the devil leaveth Him" &c., 
 it is matter of observation that the experience of Chris- 
 tians is ever the same with that of Christ, for that just as 
 when Christ proved victorious over the devil, the devil 
 departed from Him and ceased to molest Him, and that 
 angels came to minister unto Him, so likewise when they 
 prove victorious over their temptations, the temptations 
 depart from them, and leave them, and the angels, divine 
 inspirations, divine pleasuTes and inward sensations, come 
 to minister unto them. Of this, I say, I am certain that 
 Christians have experienced, some more and some less, 
 according as they shall have more or less fought and 
 conquered. 
 
 In the Greek, the word " thou shalt ivorship" is almost the 
 same as thou shalt serve ; because the service wherewith 
 God wills to be served by His people is worship. Under the 
 law, it pleased God to accept Jewish worship, which con- 
 sisted in external acts of obedience symbolising inward 
 ones ; whilst under the Gospel, God accepts Christian 
 worship, which consists of inward acts of obedience ren- 
 dered in spirit and in truth ; and just as the Jew did not 
 perform his duty with inward worship, unless he had the 
 outward ; so the Christian does not perform his duty with 
 outward worship, unless he have the inward, which is 
 peculiar and natural to him. The Hebrew text literally 
 says, " Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God and shalt serve 
 Him" whence it seems that to fear, in Hebrew, is the same 
 as to worship, to dread, and to reverence. 
 
 The evil spirit is called in Hebrew, Satan, which signifies 
 hinderer or obstructor, because he is ever engaged in im- 
 peding and obstructing the works of God, perverting the 
 counsels of God. He is called in Greek, ScajSoXo^, which 
 signifies accuser, or slanderer, for it is specially his office 
 to accuse and to slander men. Note here, that the Evan- 
 gelist, reporting Christ's words, says, " Satan," whilst 
 
5. MATTHEW IV. 12-16. 53 
 
 speaking himself, he says, devil, a word he would never 
 have used had he written in Hebrew, for it is unknown in 
 Hebrew; but if this Scripture had been translated from 
 the Hebrew, the translator might, it seems, have written 
 devil or Satan interchangeably; a matter, however, of 
 little import. 
 
 lY. 12-16. — Now when Jesus had heard that 
 John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee ; 
 And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Caper- 
 naum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders 
 of Zabulon and Nephthalim : That it might be 
 fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet 
 (ix. i), saying, ''The land of Zabulon, and the 
 land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond 
 Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles ; The people ivhich 
 sat in darkness saw great light ; and to them ivhich 
 sat m the region and shadoia of death, light is 
 sprung up^' 
 
 St. Matthew narrates that after Christ came forth 
 triumphant over fasting and the devil. He, hearing that 
 Herod had incarcerated St, John because he rebuked him, 
 in order that Herod should not do as much to Him, the 
 time appointed by the Divine Majesty not having yet 
 arrived, went back into Galilee, and would not go to 
 Nazareth, where He had been reared, but to Capernaum, 
 of which he speaks as a city on the strand of the lake, in 
 the confines of Zabulon and Nephthalim. And he states 
 that Christ did this, in order that what Isaiah says — 
 " the land of Zabulon,'' &c. — might be fulfilled, where St. 
 Matthew understands that Isaiah in these words pro- 
 phesied that the light of Christ's ministry should illu- 
 minate those parts. In that passage, " in order that that 
 might he fidfilledl' &c., it may be remarked that the 
 
54 5. MATTHEW IV. 17. 
 
 Evangelists use this mode of speaking, wishing it to be 
 understood that because this had to come to pass, the 
 prophet said that. 
 
 " Beyond Jordan " is equivalent to saying " on the other 
 side of the river Jordan." By that expression, "which 
 sat in darkness," we are to understand all them, who, being 
 without God and without Christ, live secure in their 
 blindness. That " shadow of death " is a Hebraism ; they 
 thus call places, which, from their obscurity and gloom, 
 seem to menace death to those who traverse them. As 
 to the comparison of the words of the Evangelist with 
 those of the prophet, I remit myself to those, who know 
 more. 
 
 IV. 1 7. — From that time Jesus began to preach, 
 and to say, Eepent ye ; for the kingdom of heaven 
 is at hand. 
 
 St. Matthew exhibits Christ beginning to preach in 
 Capernaum, and that He began with the same words with 
 which St. John began, to the confusion of the preachers 
 of our day, who occupy themselves in seeking novelties to 
 put into their sermons, not to repeat what others have 
 said, for they are ashamed to say a good thing twice ; un- 
 like St. Paul, who, keeping his mind's eye upon that which 
 should profit those to whom he wrote, did not feel aggrieved 
 to repeat the same thing to them over and over again. It 
 is very true that, according to St. Mark, it appears that 
 the words with which Christ preached, and those with 
 which St. John preached, were not all the same, for he 
 states that Christ said : " The time is fulfilled and the 
 kingdom of heaven is at hand. Bepent and believe the 
 gospel." Where I understand that the preaching of St. 
 John and that of Christ, and of Christ's disciples, whilst 
 He lived, consisted solely in intimating to men the 
 speedy coming of the spiritual kingdom, which com- 
 mences in this present life in those, who accept the 
 
S. MATTHEW IV. 18-22. 55 
 
 Gospel, and goes on continued in the life eternal, never 
 discovering to them the secret of the door, by which 
 entrance into this kingdom is opened, which is by accept- 
 ance of the righteousness of Christ ; for as yet Christ had 
 not wrought the reconciliation of man with God, which 
 He wrought by dying upon the cross : which secret I 
 understand the Apostles to have discovered, after that they 
 by the Holy Spirit understood it ; and therein the Gospel 
 consists. 
 
 IV. 18-22. — And Jesus, walking by the sea of 
 Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and 
 Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea : for 
 they were fishers. And he saith unto them. Follow 
 me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they 
 straightway left their nets, and followed him. And 
 going on from thence, he saw other two brethren 
 James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in 
 a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their 
 nets ; and he called them. And they immediately 
 left the ship and their father, and followed him. 
 
 There are here three things, as it seems to me, worthy 
 of consideration. TJie first, that the office of an apostle, of 
 a preacher of the Gospel, is to fish for men, to drag them 
 out of the obscurity, the darkness, and the confusion of 
 the kingdom of the world, and to bring them forth into 
 the light, the brightness, and the peace of the kingdom of 
 God ; and the net with which these men are caught is the 
 word of the Gospel, the intimation of general indulgence 
 and pardon by the justice of God executed upon Christ ; 
 and it is thus that they, who accept this indulgence, come 
 forth from the obscurity, the darkness, and confusion of 
 the kingdom of the world, and enter into the light, the 
 brightness, and the peace of the kingdom of God. I mean 
 
56 S. MATTHEW IV. 23-25. 
 
 when the acceptance is the work of God Himself, for 
 when it is human effort this effect is not felt. 
 
 The second, that these four apostles, when they heard 
 Christ's voice, followed Christ, without consulting human 
 prudence, nor waiting for other inducements than that, 
 " / will make you fishers of men," which at the time they 
 did not understand ; doing as I feel sure all will do, who 
 inwardly hear Christ's voice ; they, who ere they accept 
 the Gospel, and thus come forth from the kingdom of the 
 world, and enter into the kingdom of God, deliberate and 
 go about consulting with human prudence, witness con- 
 cerning themselves that they do not hear the voice of 
 Christ, for had they heard it, they would have done what 
 the Apostles did. 
 
 The third, that if the sons of Zebedee had looked to the 
 obligation of human generation (birth), they would not have 
 left their father to follow Christ. Where it is to be under- 
 stood that the man, who is called of God to be a disciple 
 of Christ, to imitate Christ, ought to renounce the obliga- 
 tion of human generation (of birth), only regarding the 
 obligation of Christian regeneration ; what I feel in rela- 
 tion to this I have stated more fully in two replies to two 
 questions.* Where it has to be observed that man has 
 then to renounce the obligation of human generation (of 
 birth) to follow Christian regeneration, when the obligation 
 of human generation (or birth) shall impede or disturb him 
 in fixing his mind wholly upon the obligation of Christian 
 regeneration ; which consists in preaching the Gospel, in 
 teaching Christian life, and in imitating the humility, the 
 meekness, the obedience to God, and love to his neighbours, 
 which Jesus Christ our Lord exhibited here upon earth. 
 
 ly. 23-25. — And Jesus went about all Galilee, 
 teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the 
 gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of 
 
 * Question 21 ; question 22. 
 
S. MATTHEW IV. 23-25. 57 
 
 sickness, and all manner of disease, among the 
 people. And his fame went throughout all Syria : 
 and they brought unto him all sick people that were 
 taken with divers diseases and torments, and those 
 which were possessed with devils, and those which 
 were lunatic, and those that had the palsy ; and he 
 healed them. And there followed him great multi- 
 tudes of people from Galilee, and Decapolis, and 
 Jerusalem, and Judaea, and from beyond Jordan. 
 
 When he says that Jesus went about all Galilee, he 
 means that He went through all parts of that province, 
 and when he says " in their synagogues" he means in the 
 public halls, where the Jews assembled, not to worship, 
 for the temple at Jerusalem had been appointed for this 
 purpose unto them, nor were they permitted to worship 
 anywhere else; nor to pray, for they prayed anywhere, 
 but to teach and to be taught only in and about things 
 involved in the law : and these halls where they congre- 
 gated, the Evangelist calls synagogues, a word which is 
 synonymous with what we now call churches. I recol- 
 lect having discussed this Jewish custom in an epistle. 
 [No. xix.] 
 
 St. Matthew states that Christ did three things. He 
 taught, He preached the gospel of the kingdom, and He 
 healed the sick. I think that His teaching consisted in 
 expounding the law, showing its right apprehension^ and 
 I understand that from teaching He took occasion to preach 
 the gospel of the kingdom, and I understand that it was thus 
 called the preaching of Christ, because the coming of the 
 kingdom of God was intimated by it, saying : " Mind, the 
 kingdom of God is at hand,'' And I understand that this 
 intimation was called the Gospel, for it is a most blessed 
 thing that God is pleased and satisfied to rule and govern 
 men without law and without precepts, but with His Holy 
 Spirit, as they in effect feel, who, accepting the righteous- 
 
58 5. MATTHEW IV. 23-25. 
 
 ness of Christ, are in the kingdom of God, which in Christ's 
 day was preached as about to come, and which came when 
 the Holy Spirit was given ; which however remains unseen 
 and unknown, save by those who belong to it and are in it, 
 and even they feel it more readily than they see it. 
 
 And I understand that, in order to awaken, to unveil, 
 and to open the eyes of men, that they should believe this 
 good news, Christ wrought miracles, healing divers and 
 strange diseases, of which St. Matthew enumerates some, 
 and suppresses others ; and I understand that the multi- 
 tudes, of whom St. Matthew speaks as following after 
 Christ, coming from the countries here named, did so on 
 account of the miracles. In fact, we men are moved much 
 by these outward things, that bring in their train marvel 
 and bodily utility ; whilst we are moved but very little by 
 those which bring edification and spiritual utility. That 
 expression " tormented with pangs and agonies,'' I under- 
 stand to be the exposition of what he spoke as divers 
 infirmities. The paralytic are the same as the palsied, 
 they who have the palsy. 
 
5. MATTHEW V. 59 
 
 CHAPTEE Y. 
 
 y. I- 1 2. — And seeing the multitudes, lie went up 
 into a mountain ; and when he had sat down, his 
 disciples came unto him : And he opened his mouth, 
 and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in 
 spirit : for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed 
 are they that mourn : for they shall be comforted. 
 Blessed are the meek : for they shall inherit the 
 earth. Blessed are they who do hunger and thirst 
 after righteousness : for they shall be filled. Blessed 
 are the merciful : for they shall obtain mercy. 
 Blessed are the pure in heart : for they shall see 
 God. Blessed are the peacemakers : for they shall 
 be called the children of God. Blessed are they 
 who are persecuted for righteousness' sake : for 
 theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, 
 when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and 
 shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for 
 my sake. Eejoice, and be exceeding glad ; for great 
 is your reward in heaven : for so persecuted they the 
 prophets which were before you. 
 
 St. Matthew having vSet down the words in which Christ 
 preached the gospel of the kingdom of heaven, the celestial 
 and divine one, and having chronicled some of the many 
 miracles which He wrought for the confirmation of His 
 preaching, proceeds to record a long discourse, a thoroughly 
 
6o S. MATTHEW' V. 1-12. 
 
 Christian and most divine one, which He made to His dis- 
 ciples, in which it appears that He aimed at teaching them 
 these seven things. The first, thsit the kingdom of heaven 
 which He preached was not in this present life either out- 
 ward or corporeal, but inward and spiritual, although in the 
 life eternal, after the resurrection of the just, it will be 
 external and internal, outward and inward, corporeal and 
 spiritual, being bliss perfect, complete, and full to the brim. 
 The second, that the dignity of His disciples is most 
 exalted and most divine, forasmuch as they are the light 
 of the world, the sun of the earth. The third, that whilst 
 He lived bodily with them, He willed that the law should 
 be respected, and kept in all and every point. The fourth, 
 that they, who enter into the kingdom of heaven by 
 acceptance of the Gospel, have to come to a fixed resolu- 
 tion with the world and with themselves, resolving to live 
 according to the obligation of Christian regeneration : and 
 in laying down the difference between the obligation of 
 human generation (birth), and that of Christian regenera- 
 tion. He defines the proper idea of Christian perfection, 
 and counsels how to attain it. TJie fifth, that they, who 
 pertain to the kingdom of heaven, have to shun every 
 manifestation of external sanctity, not desiring that the 
 world should hold them to be saints. The sixth, that they, 
 who are in the kingdom of heaven, ought to be free from 
 all personal solicitude, confiding in the care that God 
 takes of them. The seventh, that it pertains to those, who 
 are in the kingdom of heaven, to live amongst men exer- 
 cising great circumspection, and it behoves them to aim 
 at the confirmation of their Christian faith by experience 
 in Christian life. 
 
 Such appears to have been Christ's purpose in this 
 argument, and the Christian who shall keep it in his 
 mind's eye, recognising himself to be a disciple of Christ, 
 will find great edification, for he will learn how he must 
 live to maintain Christian decorum, and to discharge the 
 obligation of Christian regeneration ; whilst he that shall 
 
5. MATTHEW V. 1-12. 61 
 
 not recognise himself to be a disciple of Christ, nor find 
 himself within the kingdom of heaven, will understand that 
 he, to enter into it, must renounce his own righteousness, 
 have no confidence in himself, and embrace the righteous- 
 ness of Christ, relying upon Christ, assured that this can- 
 not fail him. 
 
 Christ proceeding, then, to specify the qualifications 
 that concur in them, who are the children of the kingdom 
 of heaven, the kingdom being His own, places first, poverty 
 of spirit ; He means of the mind, which He holds to be 
 the opposite of magnanimity ; for that magnanimity is self- 
 dependent, and would hold it to be dishonouring to depend 
 upon God ; whilst the poor in spirit depends upon God, and 
 would not have the courage to depend upon himself : it 
 might he said that the kingdom of the world belongs to 
 the magnanimous, whilst the kingdom of heaven belongs to 
 the poor in spirit. The world holds the magnanimous 
 to be fortunate and the poor in spirit to be unfortunate ; 
 whilst God holds the magnanimous to be unfortunate and 
 the poor in spirit to be fortunate ; not on account of the 
 poverty itself, but on account of that which results from 
 it ; for he, distrusting himself and all creatures, though he 
 be very rich, expects neither salvation nor bodily sustenance 
 from his riches, but from God ; though he be a grandee, 
 he does not pretend that his vassals and servants should 
 defend him from the dangers of this present life, pretend- 
 ing to have this only from God; and though he live 
 righteously and holily, he does not pretend to justify him- 
 self before God with his own righteousness, cleaving to 
 the righteousness of Christ ; whence it results, that living 
 thus, distrusting himself and all creatures, and confiding 
 in God alone, God takes care of him ; and God ruling him 
 and governing him with His Holy Spirit, that which Christ 
 here says comes to pass, the kingdom of heaven is his. 
 
 Christ places as second qualification of those who are in 
 the kingdom of heaven, mourning ; He means to say, that 
 the man is discontented with himself, on account of his 
 
62 5. MATTHEW V. 1-12. 
 
 defects and weaknesses, combined with suffering the bodily- 
 wants to which our flesh is subject, whilst it is passible 
 and mortal. The world holds them to be unhappy who 
 mourn, holding them to be happy who laugh ; who enjoy 
 the vain and miserable pleasures of this present life, living 
 in prosperity and glee ; whilst God holds them, who laugh, 
 to be unhappy; holding them to be happy, who mourn; not 
 because they mourn; but, because mourning for that, which 
 they do mourn, they commend themselves to God; and 
 God comforts them in their minds, making them look to 
 Christ, in whom they are righteous, although they are 
 unrighteous in themselves, and in their bodies ; setting 
 before them the happiness which they will enjoy in the 
 life eternal. 
 
 Christ places as third qualification of those who are in 
 the kingdom of heaven, meekness, which consists in a man 
 living in the present life like a sheep among wolves ; and, 
 in particular, just as Christ lived, conformably with Isaiah's 
 prediction concerning Him, as we shall see in Chapter XII. 
 The world holds them to be unhappy, who live practising 
 this meekness, judging them to be mean and despicable ; 
 holding the valiant to be happy, who make themselves 
 feared by others; whilst God holds the vaHant of this 
 world to be unhappy, holding His weak ones to be happy . 
 not on account of the weakness in itself; but because 
 having learned it of Christ, and having received it by 
 incorporation into Christ, their experience w^iU be like 
 Christ's ; for just as Christ is heir of the kingdom of 
 heaven, or of the inheritance of the world, promised to 
 Abraham and to his seed, so shall they be heirs of the 
 same inheritance and of the same kingdom. 
 
 Christ places as fourth qualification of those who are in 
 the kingdom of heaven, hunger and thirst after righteous- 
 ness ; He means that they vex and afflict themselves, being 
 anxious to comprehend the righteousness and perfection 
 in which they know themselves to be comprehended by 
 incorporation into Christ; to be as righteous and perfect 
 
5". MATTHEW V. 1-12. 63 
 
 in themselves as they are righteous and perfect in Christ. 
 The world holds them to be unhappy, who follow after 
 this righteousness and after this perfection ; holding them 
 to be happy, who, by external acts of sanctity, persuade 
 themselves they are holy and righteous ; whilst God holds 
 them to be unhappy, who thus persuade themselves ; hold- 
 ing them to be happy, who live with that hunger and with 
 that thirst ; not on account of the hunger and thirst in itself; 
 but of that which results from it ; for they, commending 
 themselves to God, God increases the faith and the spirit 
 in them, wherewith they are mortified and quickened ; so 
 that they succeed in quelling their hunger and their thirst, 
 attaining much of that righteousness and perfection which 
 they sought and longed for. 
 
 Christ places as fifth qualification of those who are in 
 the kingdom of heaven mercy and jpity ; that a man compas- 
 sionate those whom he sees in want, and that he help them ; 
 not for his own glory, nor for his own interest or merit, 
 but for the glory of God ; because the mercy that is not of 
 this kind, is not Christian mercy, and Christ speaks here, 
 but of that, which is Christian. 
 
 The world, indeed, prizes the merciful, holding them 
 to be happy, deeming that they aim at promoting their 
 own glory and their own interest ; and it holds them to 
 be unhappy, who hide their acts of mercy; whilst God 
 holds them to be unhappy, who publish their acts of 
 mercy, as we shall see in Chapter YI.; and holds them to 
 be happy, who hide their acts of mercy; not for their 
 mercy's sake ; but because the mercy which they obtain 
 from God results from it, bringing spiritual gifts and bodily 
 benefits. His favours, associated with it. 
 
 Christ places as the sixth qualification of those, who are 
 in the kingdom of heaven 'purity of heart, which only 
 falls to the portion of those, who accept the grace of the 
 gospel; who attain this purity by faith, agreeably with 
 what St. Peter says, in Acts xv. 9, ''purifying their hearts 
 hy faith f' whence it is to be understood that the hearts of 
 
64 S. MATTHEW V. 1-12. 
 
 all men of the world are filthy; for that as children of 
 Adam they are ungodly, unbelieving, and enemies of God, 
 having this ungodliness, infidelity, and enmity in the 
 heart, which is purified and cleansed by Christian faith, 
 through the acceptance of remission of sins, and of 
 reconciliation with God through Christ. And it is some- 
 thing truly marvellous and divine, that man, as soon as he 
 accepts from the heart the righteousness of Christ, loses 
 ungodliness, infidelity, and enmity to God, and begins 
 to believe in God, to confide in God, and to love God, and 
 thus to know and see God, in which his happiness con- 
 sists. As to this knowledge of God and this vision of 
 God, I remit myself to what I have said upon i Cor. xiii. ; 
 and in [the] two considerations [51 and 85 of the printed 
 collection]. The world thinks nothing of purity of heart, 
 and, therefore, holds them only to be happy who exhibit 
 external purity in their manners, whilst God holds them 
 to be unhappy, as we shall see in Chapter XXIII. ; God 
 holds them to be happy who are pure in heart, for they 
 become capable of knowing and seeing God in the present 
 life, as far as man may, and in the life eternal, as he ought. 
 
 Christ places as seventh qualification of those, who are 
 in the kingdom of heaven, the making of peace, the being 
 peacemakers, but in the manner in which Christ Himself 
 was so, who, by dying on the cross, has reconciled men to 
 God, reconciling them also amongst themselves, who enter 
 upon this reconciliation, who, although they are disquieted 
 by the world with persecutions and by martyrdoms, enjoy 
 peace with God, and thus have peace in their consciences, 
 and are at peace with all, neither disquieting themselves, 
 nor making war upon any one. They are then peaceful, 
 peacemakers, or pacifiers, who intimate to men the peace 
 which Christ made between God and them, and who bring 
 them to enjoy this peace. 
 
 The world disregards this peace, and, therefore, labours 
 to make them unhappy, who have thus been peacemakers, 
 by persecuting them, and by putting them to death ; whilst 
 
S. MATTHEW V. 1-12. 65 
 
 God disregards those whom the world holds to he peace- 
 makers, whom He holds to be unhappy, because they do 
 not know true peace ; holding them to be happy, who, 
 knowing the true peace, strive to bring men to it. And 
 their happiness consists in that, doing the same office that 
 the Son of God wrought, they also are the children of 
 God, and they are held to be such, and are so called by 
 God. 
 
 Christ places as the eighth qualification of those who 
 are in the kingdom of heaven, the endurance of persecution 
 for righteousness' sake ; He means that which is peculiar to 
 the kingdom of heaven, for accepting, or for preaching, of 
 which righteousness, persecution is annexed ; for men 
 cannot endure that there should be another righteousness 
 than that which they understand and attain by their 
 human prudence. Whence it comes to pass that the world 
 holds those, who are persecuted for this righteousness, to 
 be unhappy, holding their persecutors to be happy ; be- 
 cause, as Christ says, they persuade themselves that they 
 render God service; whilst God holds persecutors to be 
 unhappy, and the persecuted to be happy ; not for the per- 
 secution in itself, but because the glory of God is illus- 
 trated by it ; so that by it they are preserved and main- 
 tained in possession of the kingdom of God, in the same 
 manner as are they, who are the poor in spirit ; and thus 
 Christ affirms equally of them both, "for theirs is the king- 
 dom of heaven." Where I hold it to be certain that only 
 they, who feel the poverty of spirit, and are persecuted for 
 Christian righteousness, feel the rule and government of 
 God, in which the kingdom of heaven consists. 
 
 That which God adds, saying, " Blessed are ye" &c., per- 
 tains to the amplification of this eighth qualification; 
 where those words, "falsely" and "for ray sake" merit great 
 consideration, in order that it may be understood that this 
 happiness does not attach simply to those, who are falsely 
 reviled, but to those who are reviled falsely, for Christ's 
 sake ; because they preach Him, because they teach how 
 
66 S. MATTHEW V. 1-12. 
 
 to live like Christians, or because they live Christianly 
 imitating Christ. 
 
 That expression, " rejoice and he exceeding glad" &c., the 
 apostles fulfilled to the letter, as appears by St. Luke, in 
 Acts v.; whilst all they, who have been and are true Chris- 
 tians, have consecutively fulfilled, and do, one after the 
 other, fulfil it, considering that the glory of God and of 
 Christ is illustrated by their suffering ; and that thus their 
 glory is increased in the kingdom of heaven which is in 
 this present life, and that it will be increased in that, 
 which will be in the life eternal. 
 
 And here God's liberality should be considered, who. 
 gives us the constancy and firmness to suffer for Christ, 
 and afterwards rewards the firmness and constancy, which 
 He gives us, with increase of glory. Christ, in saying, "for 
 so likewise persecuted" &c., comforts us with the example of 
 the prophets, whose disciples we are, who the better endure 
 persecutions, by considering that the prophets have passed 
 through them ; and still better, by considering that Christ 
 Himself has passed through them ; and that all they, who 
 have preached Him, have ever passed through them, as 
 have all they who have sought to imitate Him. 
 
 From these eight qualifications, which Christ has stated, 
 concur in those, who are in the kingdom of heaven, the 
 disciples might well have understood that the kingdom of 
 heaven, in the present life, is not corporeal but spiritual ; 
 but they were so alienated from the thought, that they 
 never understood it, until they received the Holy Spirit ; 
 which showed them by experience, that which they never 
 could have comprehended by knowledge ; although Christ 
 had clearly told them of these eight qualifications, which 
 are so combined together with that which results from 
 them, that they are all, in every one of those, who enter 
 into the kingdom of heaven, through acceptance of the 
 righteousness of Christ. 
 
 For it is a fact that this acceptance gives them poverty 
 of spirit; this makes them mourn and grieve over their 
 
5". MATTHEW V. 13-16. 67 
 
 defects and their weaknesses ; this gives them true meek- 
 ness ; this implants in them hunger and thirst after right- 
 eousness, to be more righteous in themselves ; this makes 
 them merciful ; this gives them purity of heart ; this makes 
 them peacemakers, after the fashion in which Christ was a 
 peacemaker ; and for this they are persecuted, reviled, and 
 maltreated by the world ; whence it results that they are 
 in the kingdom of heaven, they are called children of God, 
 and they are so ; they know and they see God ; that God 
 is merciful to them ; that they comprehend much of the 
 righteousness and perfection in which they are compre- 
 hended ; that they are heirs of the world, which was pro- 
 mised to Abraham and to his seed ; and that they are 
 consoled by God in all their difficulties and in all their 
 labours. 
 
 Here it behoves every Christian to consider, that since 
 it is a fact that they, who in the present life, whilst this 
 flesh is passible and mortal, accept the grace of the Gospel, 
 enjoy all these privileges ; what must those be which they 
 will enjoy in the life eternal ? the more so, when this our 
 flesh shall be impassible and immortal. 
 
 V. 13-16. — Ye are the salt of the earth : but if 
 the salt have lost its savour, wherewith shall it be 
 salted ? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to 
 be east out, and to be trodden under foot of men. 
 Ye are the light of the world. A city set on a hill 
 cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and 
 put it under a bushel, but on the stand ; and it 
 giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let 
 your light so shine before men, that they may see 
 your good works, and glorify your Father which is 
 in heaven. 
 
 Christ having shown that the happiness of the kingdom 
 of heaven in the present life is wholly inward and spiritual 
 
68 S. MATTHEW V. 13-16. 
 
 proceeds to show the greatness of the dignity of those, 
 who are His disciples, more especially of those, who go on 
 to imitate Him in everything that is imitable. He makes 
 this dignity to consist in two things : the one, that they 
 are the salt of the earth ; and the other, that they are the 
 light of the world. Where I understand that it pertains 
 to the disciples of Christ to be the salt of the earth, in two 
 ways : the one, in that just as the salt imparts its savour 
 to the viands, which, without it, would be unpalatable to 
 us ; so the disciples of Christ impart relish to the world ; 
 it is for their sake that God is pleased to preserve it and 
 to uphold it ; and the other, in that just as the viands are 
 preserved by the salt from corruption, so by the life, by 
 the doctrine, and by the preaching or intimation of the 
 Gospel, which pertains to the disciples of Christ, are men, 
 who live in the world, preserved from immorality in this 
 life, and from eternal death in the other. 
 
 That, " hut if the salt have lost its savour," or ceases to 
 be salt, together with that which follows, should serve to 
 remind Christ's disciples that they recognise their dignity ; 
 and that they maintain themselves in it, operating upon 
 the world, as salt does upon viands. 
 
 In saying, " wherewith shall it he salted ? " &c.. He 
 means, that just as salt ceasing to retain its savour, there 
 is nothing that can restore it ; for it is salt that gives 
 savour to everything else ; and that when salt does not 
 retain its savour, it is of no use whatever, and therefore is 
 cast out and trodden under foot ; so, when the disciples of 
 Christ cease to have Christian faith, with Christian morals, 
 there is nothing that can give them perfection ; for it is 
 they, who, by their preaching, give it to all the others ; if 
 they have not Christian faith with Christian morals, they are 
 worthless, and therefore God casts them out and despises 
 them. 
 
 I likewise understand that it is peculiarly the office of 
 the disciples of Christ, as such, to be the light of the 
 world ; just as by the outward light of the sun, we, with 
 
S. MATTHEW V. 13-16. 69 
 
 the light of our outward eyes, see outward things, v/hich 
 we should not see without the light of the sun ; so by the 
 inward light of those, who have been and are disciples of 
 Christ, we, with the light of our inward eyes, see inward, 
 spiritual and divine things ; the how, I leave to the con- 
 sideration of spiritual persons, who having seen light with 
 the light of others, and having availed themselves of the 
 light of others, can bear testimony to this from their own 
 experience. Where it is to be understood that the dis- 
 ciples of Christ, although they are the light of the world, 
 are not so in themselves, but in their being disciples of 
 Christ, who is in Himself the light of the world. Christ 
 communicates His light to them, and thus the}^ are the 
 light of the world, through communion with Him, who says 
 of Himself (John viii. 12), "lam the light of the world;" 
 so that it may be said that between the light of Christ 
 and that of His disciples there is the difference that there 
 is between the light of the sufi and that of the moon and 
 of the stars ; and therefore it seems, that it would be more 
 appropriate to compare the disciples of Christ to the light 
 of a candle ; but I have not done so, because no candle is 
 the light of the world, nor are many candles such. 
 
 And what Christ appends, "neither do men light a candle," 
 &c., serves to admonish His disciples, that they recognise 
 their dignity and maintain themselves in it, living amongst 
 and conversing with men, as did He, to the intent that 
 they be as a candle in a candlestick, and not under a 
 bushel. That clause : " let your light so shine" &c.. He 
 added it, to what precedes, so as to say : " Let your light 
 shine, as does a candle that is in a candlestick." 
 
 And when Christ says, " that they may see your good 
 works" &c.. He shows that the main thing wherein the 
 disciples of Christ are the light of the world, is in leading 
 a Christian life, in imitating Christ ; for I understand Him 
 to call such a style of life, good works : which w^orks are 
 thelight of the world; for in them men see Christ. Works, 
 tainted with insinceritv, I mean such as are divested of 
 
70 . 5. MATTHEW V. 17-19. 
 
 faith and of love, are not the light of the world, not even 
 when wrought by disciples of Christ, for it is by imitation 
 of Christ that they are the light of the world. Christ 
 subjoins, ''that they may glorify your Father," &c. He 
 teaches that the aim which His disciples should have,' in 
 being the light of the world, is the glory of God, and not 
 their own glory. 
 
 It is indeed truth that the true disciple of Christ can, 
 in his own personal matters, aim at nothing other than the 
 glory of God ; for this is learned in the school of Christ, 
 who sought to illustrate the glory of the Father, remitting 
 the illustration of His own glory to the Father. Those, 
 who seek their own glory are not disciples of Christ, they 
 have not entered the school of Christ. That passage, 
 " cannot he hid," &c., I understand it thus, that just as a 
 candle put in a candlestick makes itself seen by all, who 
 enter the room ; as the city set on a hill makes itself seen 
 by all, who pass that way ;'So they, who are disciples of 
 Christ have to know that they are the light of the world, 
 and that for this reason they have to perform the duty of 
 a candle in a candlestick, and of a city upon a hill, making 
 themselves to be seen in conversation and intercourse. 
 They, who do not act thus, either do not recognise their 
 dignity, or allow themselves to be conquered by their 
 pusillanimity. 
 
 V. 1 7-19. — Think not that I am come to destroy 
 the law, or the prophets : I am not come to destroy, 
 but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till 
 heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in 
 no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 
 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least 
 commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be 
 called the least in the kingdom of heaven : but who- 
 soever shall do and teach them, the same shall be 
 called great in the kingdom of heaven. 
 
S. MATTHEW V. 17-19. 71 
 
 Christ, having told His disciples what idea they should 
 hold of the kingdom of heaven, and what idea they should 
 hold of themselves, inasmuch as they were His disciples, 
 proceeds to tell them the respect He willed them to have 
 for the law and the prophets, whilst He lived amongst 
 them; and thus He says to them, " Think not that I am J' 
 &c., as though He should say: Even whilst you see that I 
 preach and teach things differing from those which you 
 understand in the law and in the prophets, do not think 
 that I am come to live opposed to it or to them, and to teach 
 contrary to it and to them, for you would very greatly 
 deceive yourselves ; nay it is a fact that I hold it obli- 
 gatory to observe and to fulfil it and them, for it is most 
 certain, that it would be more readily possible for heaven 
 and earth to cease to exist, than that the law should be 
 abrogated, before that everything therein typified, and 
 everything therein commanded, be observed and fulfilled. 
 
 Wherefore I will that you know, if any one of you shall, 
 whilst I am bodily here, break the least command of the 
 law, and shall teach others to break it, under the pretext 
 of preaching that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, he 
 shall have no part in the kingdom of heaven ; on the other 
 hand, he who shall keep the law, and shall teach others to 
 keep it, shall largely participate in the kingdom of heaven. 
 
 Thus do I understand all these Christ's words. For to 
 affirm that by these words Christ purposed to extend the 
 authority of the law beyond the period of His bodily pre- 
 sence, is not to be tolerated, since we see the opposite in 
 evidence ; for it is a fact that the law and the prophets 
 ceased with the coming of the Holy Spirit; the Holy 
 Spirit succeeding to their office, for He inwardly works 
 in the people of God, a wholly spiritual community, that 
 which the law and the prophets outwardly wrought upon 
 the people of God, whilst they outwardly were so. Whence 
 it has resulted that, although David found such relish in 
 the law as he expresses in Psalm cxviii.,* St. Peter found 
 
 * Now ordinarily reckoned as Psalm cxix. 
 
72 5. MATTHEW V. 17-19. 
 
 it to be oppressive and grievous, as appears in Acts xv. 
 10, II. And here I understand that those, who being of 
 devout minds, find pleasure and relish in the law and in 
 the prophets, have not yet Christian spirit, they have not 
 yet arrived where St. Peter had arrived, they being still 
 where David was. 
 
 Neither can it be said that Christ means but the mere 
 fulfilment of the types, for that does not square with that 
 passage, "whosoever therefore shall break," &c,, and consider- 
 ing this, I am confirmed in the view I have stated. Where- 
 fore it is to be understood that Christ fulfilled the law, inas- 
 much as He absolutely kept it throughout His life, without 
 infraction of any the least part of it, that which no one had 
 ever previously done ; and thus the law had never been 
 kept ; and, as Christ here says, it must needs be that the 
 law should be kept, before it was abrogated ; and Christ 
 likewise fulfilled the law, for as much as all the types of 
 the law were fulfilled in Him ; and the law was not to be 
 abrogated, until all that was typical in it had been fulfilled 
 in Christ. 
 
 So that the law was fulfilled by Christ, and was ful- 
 filled in Christ, and afterwards it ceased and was abrogated, 
 having attained the end for which it was given. It was 
 given to serve as a schoolmaster to the people of God, as 
 is declared by St. Paul in Gal. iii. 24, whilst the nation 
 was in childhood, and it ceased and was abrogated when 
 the people of God had outgrown childhood ; every one of 
 them, who belong to the people of God, having the Holy 
 Spirit within him, keeping him in the exercise of obedience 
 to God. They, who have not the Holy Spirit, the Christian 
 spirit, do not belong to the people of God, for, as St. Paul 
 says, " If any one have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none 
 of His" (Romans viii. 9) ; and effectively it is so, that all 
 respect for tlie law ceases in them, who, liaving the Chris- 
 tian spirit puissant within them, effectively accept the 
 grace of the gospel, and live indeed, as far as morals are 
 concerned, conformably to the dictates of the law; not 
 
S. MATTHEW V. 20. 73 
 
 that it is their purpose to fulfil the law, for they would 
 have done the same had the law never existed; simply 
 obeying the rule of the Holy Spirit that dwells in them, 
 who inclines them by regeneration and renovation; who 
 works in them to live now, no longer as children of Adam, 
 but as children of God, imitating the first begotten and 
 only begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ our Lord. 
 
 As to the text ; " to break " is the same as to abrogate, 
 to annul. That expression " till heaven and earth pass," is 
 a Hebraism ; and that " one jot or tittle " is said by way of 
 amplification. " Till all he fulfilled " is equivalent to, until 
 all that is contained in the law and the prophets be ful- 
 filled and complied with. Where He says, "shall he called 
 (the least) little," He means, shall never be mentioned ; 
 Christ occasionally speaks thus, as in that instance, " the 
 first shall he last" &c., meaning that they shall be wholly 
 excluded; and as in that : " the publicans and harlots shall 
 enter into the kingdom of heaven before you" where I under- 
 stand that the publicans and harlots will be in the king- 
 dom, whilst the high priests and elders shall be shut out 
 of it. In saying, "shall he called great" He means shall 
 be renowned. As to the reasons why God ordained that 
 Christ should live subject to the law, and why Christ 
 willed, that whilst He lived, that the law should be kept, 
 I remit myself to what I have stated in a discourse upon 
 the abrogation of the law. (Possibly in Consideration 
 xxxvi.) 
 
 V. 20. — For I say unto you, That except your 
 righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the 
 scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into 
 the kiDgdom of heaven. 
 
 Christ, having told His disciples the nature of the king- 
 dom of heaven which He preached, and the dignity of 
 those, who are the children of the kingdom, and having 
 
74 S. MATTHEW V. 20. 
 
 declared to them what was involved in the observance of 
 the law, whilst He lived bodily in their midst, proceeds to 
 declare to them how they should live, who, by accepting 
 the gospel, enter into the kingdom of heaven, and He says 
 thus : " / sa7/ unto you, that if your righteousness !' &c., as 
 though He should say : and do not think that when the 
 kingdom of heaven is come, and the law already abrogated, 
 that you will be allowed to live following after carnal and 
 sensual desires ; for I would have you know, that if your 
 righteousness, your purity of life, shall not be greater than 
 is that of the scribes and Pharisees, who follow after and 
 approve of that, which is by the law, you shall not enter 
 into the kingdom of heaven. 
 
 I understand this to be the meaning of these words, in 
 which, and in all those that follow in all these three chap- 
 ters, I understand Christ to aim at providing against the 
 impropriety into which they, who should accept the grace 
 of the gospel, might easily fall, saying, we are pardoned 
 for all that is past and future ; the law is abrogated, we 
 may then live as we please, carrying out all our carnal 
 and sensual desires, as effectively it appears that many 
 by that argument fell, and have fallen, one after another, 
 who have accepted the gospel, without having been in- 
 spired by the Holy Spirit. 
 
 Christ, providing then against this impropriety, shows, in 
 these chapters, the purity with which they must live, who 
 enter into the kingdom of heaven by acceptance of the grace 
 of the gospel ; and thus we understand that our righteous- 
 ness, that with which we enter into the kingdom of heaven, 
 then transcends the righteousness of the scribes and Pha- 
 risees, when we, accepting the grace of the gospel, resolve 
 to desire and strive to bring ourselves to live in all and 
 everything, conformably to the doctrine which Christ here 
 teaches us ; in which consists the obligation of Christian 
 regeneration ; which obligation greatly exceeds the obliga- 
 tion of human generation, upon which the law is founded. 
 And thus Christ goes on to compare and to confront one obli- 
 
6". MATTHEW V. 20. 75 
 
 gation with the other, just as if to ten peasants, who should 
 have been accepted by the Emperor as his children, the obli- 
 gation of [Imperial] children should have been propounded, 
 comparing that, with the obligation of peasants. 
 
 Where if one shall say, that thus the subjection of the 
 gospel is harder than that of the law, I shall reply, that it is 
 beyond all comparison harder for them, who convert the 
 gospel into law ; seeking to justify themselves by the ob- 
 servance of the doctrine of Christian life ; just as it would 
 be harder for ten peasants to observe the obligation of 
 [Imperial] children than that of peasants, when they should 
 pretend by their living as Imperial children to become 
 Imperial children; and that it would be, and is more 
 grateful and pleasing to them, who set themselves to live 
 according to gospel obligation ; not in order that they may 
 be righteous, but because they are righteous ; not that they 
 may be children, but because they are children ; for it is 
 a fact that their knowing themselves to be righteous, and 
 their holding themselves to be children, mortifies and kills 
 the workings and appetites of the flesh in them, to such 
 an extent, that becoming by freedom of the mind, masters 
 of themselves, they do not regret the subjection of the flesh, 
 nay, they rejoice and hold it to be whereof they may 
 glory, that it is held in subjection. 
 
 And there is, moreover, another thing : that the obliga- 
 tion of the law accuses and condemns those, who, being 
 •subject to it, do not keep it with the mind and with the 
 body ; whilst the obligation of the gospel neither accuses 
 nor condemns any one, but is satisfied, provided the man 
 apply his mind to it and strive to bring down his body to 
 it. That this is so appears from St. Paul's argument in 
 Eom. vii. and in the beginning of the eighth chapter, where 
 having disposed of the contradiction that we, who know 
 ourselves to be dead in Christ, find ourselves in our flesh, 
 seeking to mortify it, he concludes that our shortcomings 
 in this work are not imputed to our condemnation. 
 
 Whence it is to be collected, that they, who, accepting 
 
1^ S. MATTHEW V. 21-26. 
 
 the gospel, enter into the kingdom of heaven ; it concerns 
 them to study to live with the purity which Christ here 
 teaches ; it being their object to maintain the decorum of 
 the children of the kingdom ; who have to live not accord- 
 ing to the obligation of human generation, for that already 
 as to this they are dead and buried, by incorporation into 
 the death of Christ, but according to the obligation of 
 Christian regeneration ; because in regard to this, they are 
 resuscitated and quickened by incorporation into Christ's 
 resurrection, whereby they are made children of God, and 
 lovingly bound to the obligation of the children of God, 
 He overlooking that in them which they do contrary to 
 this obligation, through weakness or heedlessness. 
 
 I have thus dilated upon this to clear the way for appre- 
 hension of this doctrine of Christ, in order that the licen- 
 tious may know that they are not in the kingdom of God ; 
 for had they been so, they would not be licentious ; and in 
 order that even they, who are weak and infirm, may rest 
 assured and certain that they are not excluded from the 
 kingdom, nor from the dignity of children, either by their 
 weaknesses or their infirmities; they studying how to 
 heal their infirmities, and thus to be strong and brave ; to 
 accomplish which, it will be expedient for them to dis- 
 regard self, looking continuously to God, never forgetting 
 that they are the children of God, and that they are in the 
 kingdom of God. Here it is to be understood that Christ 
 specially mentions the scribes and Pharisees, as persons,* 
 then held to be, most saintly, most observant of the law. 
 
 V. 2 1-26. — Ye have heard, that it was said to them 
 of old time, Thou shalt not kill : and whosoever 
 shall kill, shall be in danger of the judgment. But 
 I say unto you, That Avhosoever is angry with his 
 brother without a cause, shall be in danger of the 
 judgment : and w^hosoever shall say to his brother, 
 Eaca, shall be in danger of the council : but who- 
 
5. MATTHEW V. 21-26. 77 
 
 soever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of 
 hell-fire. Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the 
 altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath 
 ought against thee : leave there thy gift before the 
 altar, and go thy way, first be reconciled to thy 
 brother, and then come and ofier thy gift. Agree 
 with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in 
 the way with him : lest at any time the adversary 
 deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee 
 to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily 
 I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out 
 thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing. 
 
 Christ here begins to lay down the difference between 
 the obligation of the law, by human generation (by 
 birth), and the obligation of the gospel by Christian 
 regeneration, which they have to be attent to observe, 
 who accept the grace of the gospel, giving Christian 
 testimony of their Christian faith by their Christian life ; 
 He says " you have heard that it was said to them of old" 
 &c., as though He should say, the law following the obli- 
 gation of generation (birth), prohibits homicide, and 
 threatens those who kill; therefore the Scribes and 
 Pharisees hold themselves to be righteous because they 
 do not kill; and they hold them to be righteous who do 
 not kill ; whilst the gospel, by the obligation of regenera- 
 tion, prohibits every affection of wrath and of rancour 
 against any man upon earth, requiring of the regenerated 
 person not to proceed to offend any one, not even by an 
 outward token ; for even outward tokens of contempt are 
 unworthy of the childrea of God, and are worthy of chas- 
 tisement before God. Therefore do you endeavour to re- 
 tire and to get away from all occasions that might induce 
 you to act disrespectfully to individuals, and thus lead you 
 to offend them. 
 
78 S. MATTHEW V. 21-26. 
 
 I understand this to be the meaning of these, Christ's 
 words, by which, He shows that, they who are His dis- 
 ciples, who are regenerated by His gospel, should live 
 in the world practising the meekness with which He 
 lived as sheep amongst wolves. And it has evermore to 
 he repeated, that Christ delights Himself in the affection of 
 those, who are His, looldng over that wherein they offend, 
 through vjeakness. 
 
 As to the details of the text, it is to be noted that 
 Christ classes anger with murder: in saying that they 
 both are worthy of the judgment. He means to be judged 
 as transgressors. By " the council," the Greek word 
 [avvehpLov] signifies the place where the sentence is deli- 
 vered ; the council appears to be more than the judgment, 
 just as hell-fire is more than the council. Christ goes on 
 to amplify the thing in order to eradicate it from our 
 minds, knowing that anger and hatred are natural to us, 
 and thus treating wrath and homicide as equal ; He con- 
 stitutes the judgment as coroner at an inquest. Over the 
 word, " Baca'' which is one expressive of contempt, signi- 
 fying an empty fellow, He sets the council to deliver 
 the sentence, whilst over, "fool" He sets hell-fire, which 
 expresses the execution of the sentence. A severity of 
 punishment that awaits all who shall depart this life 
 Christless. 
 
 Christ, when He says, " if thou when bringing thy gifts," 
 &c., means, that it concerns us, who participate in Christian 
 regeneration, to be so upon our guard to retire from every 
 occasion of heart-felt anger and hatred, that remembering 
 that we have offended any Christian, or brother, let us at 
 once leave any sacred engagement of whatever nature it 
 may be, let us go and get reconciled with the offended 
 brother. Where it is to be noted, that at the time when 
 Christ spoke these words, the most sacred engagement in 
 which a man could be occupied was the presentation of 
 his gifts at the altar ; and that Christ used this illustration, 
 by way of hyperbole ; we, in our time, should speak thus : 
 
S. MATTHEW V. 27-30. 79 
 
 shouldest thou be engaged in listening to the preaching of 
 the gospel, or to the precepts of Christian life, or shouldest 
 thou be about to take the Lord's Supper, leave it wholly, 
 and go to get reconciled with thy brother, for these are 
 the most sacred occupations in which a Christian can be 
 enojasfed. 
 
 Christ, in saying, " agree with thine adversary," &c., 
 admonishes us, that to be free from anger and hatred, we 
 must stop all manner of litigation with all men, coming to 
 agreement with them, in order not to incur the disquiet 
 into which a person is brought by them. That expression, 
 " lest the adversary" is employed in connection with the 
 hostility incident to litigation ; and where He says, 
 "agree" the Greek word signifies, kindly disposed, and is 
 tantamount to agree. By " officer" He means the officer 
 of the court ; the word " quadrant " was the name of the 
 least Koman coin (as the word " meaja " was that of the 
 least Castilian). As to litigation and going to law, I remit 
 myself to what I have stated in my exposition of i Cor. 
 vi., where St. Paul sets forth, as one may say, practically, 
 what Christ here lays down, as one may say, theoretically. 
 And here it must be taken into consideration, that he, who 
 has not peremptorily resolved to maintain the obligation 
 of Christian regeneration in spite of the world, will never 
 be able to humble himself to go to seek reconciliation with 
 his brother, nor agreement with his adversary, for he will 
 be careful not to prejudice his honour, that which he has 
 (by birth^ by human generation. > 
 
 Y. 27-30. — Ye have heard that it was said, 
 Thou shalt not commit adultery : But I say unto 
 you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust 
 after her, hath committed adultery with her already 
 in his heart. And if thy right eye offend thee, plucky 
 it out, and cast it from thee : for it is profitable for 
 thee that one of thy members should perish, and not 
 
8o S. MATTHEW V. 27-30. 
 
 that tlij whole body should be cast into hell. And 
 if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast 
 it from thee : for it is profitable for thee that one of 
 thy members should perish, and not that thy whole 
 body should be cast into hell. 
 
 Christ going on to lay down the difference between the 
 obligation of the law based upon human generation (birth), 
 and the obligation of the gospel based upon Christian 
 regeneration, which pertains to the regenerate, says, " you 
 have already heard that it was said," &c., as though He 
 should sav ; the law, followinsr the oblicration of frenera- 
 tion, prohibits adultery, and therefore the Scribes and 
 Pharisees hold themselves to be righteous, because they 
 do not commit adultery ; and they hold those to be righte- 
 ous, who do not commit adultery; now, forasmuch as 
 the gospel, following the obligation of regeneration, pro- 
 hibits every carnal emotion, I tell you, be not content with 
 yourselves that you do not actually commit adultery, but 
 subdue yourselves so as not to commit adultery mentally ; 
 withdrawing yourselves from and leaving everything that 
 might lead you to adultery ; so that in the meanwhile you 
 may hold it less injurious to pluck out your eyes, and to cut 
 off your hands, than to allow yourselves to be seduced into 
 adultery, whether actual or mental. Thus do I under- 
 stand these words, and I understand that although Christ 
 only specifies adultery, He means every simple act of 
 fornication; which of whatever character is most con- 
 trary to the Spirit, and most unworthy of Christians. 
 And as to this I remit myself to what I have said in my 
 commentary on i Cor. vi. 
 
 That expression : " therefore if thine eye,''' &c., I under- 
 stand this to be said by way of counsel or of remedy 
 against adulterous lust; and that: ''if thy right hand,'' 
 &c., I understand this to be said against the commission 
 of the act itself. Where be it noted, that it is a mode of 
 
S. MATTHEW V. 31, 32. 81 
 
 speaking, in which by the riglit eye Christ means every- 
 thing that may conduce to lust in us, and by the right 
 hand all that may conduce to the commission of the act 
 by us ; of these things we must needs deprive ourselves 
 however dear and however profitable they may be to us • 
 and that the text is not to be taken literally appears from 
 this, that though I should cut off my hands, and pluck 
 out my eyes, I should not enter into life eternal without 
 hands, or without eyes ; and for this reason, though I were 
 to pluck out my eyes, I should not rid myself of adul- 
 terous lust, which might enter by the ears ; and were I to 
 cut off my hands, that would not prevent consummation 
 of the act. 
 
 To which I will say this, that the best medicine against 
 every affection of the flesh is for a man to remember, and 
 ever keep in mind, the obligation of Christian regenera- 
 tion ; recollecting that, as a member of Christ, he died 
 upon the cross with Christ, and that Christ in slaying 
 His flesh upon the cross slew the flesh of all of us, who 
 are His members. He who shall not be personally re- 
 solved, determined to maintain the obligation of Christian 
 regeneration, will never be able to reduce himself to what 
 Christ here counsels ; for in such an one the flesh will do 
 its work ; and not being able to submit itself to counsel, 
 neither will it be subdued, so as to refrain at the least 
 from committing adultery of the heart, and it will be in 
 danger of falling into the commission of the act. When 
 He says " scandalises thee," He means : causes thee to 
 stumble and fall. 
 
 Y. 31, 32. — It hath been said, Whosoever shall 
 put away his wife, let him give her a writing of 
 divorcement : But I say unto you, That whosoever 
 shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of 
 adultery, causeth her to commit adultery : and 
 
82 S. MATTHEW V. 33-37. 
 
 whosoever sliall marry her that is divorced com- 
 mitteth adultery. 
 
 Since that Christ in the nineteenth chapter speaks 
 more particularly of marriage, I reserve myself for that, 
 although I have expressed my opinion on i Cor. vii., 
 where this theory is practically exemplified. What Christ 
 here declares is, that man has to sustain matrimony with 
 his selected wife persistently, not putting her away, save 
 for adultery ; and that he, who shall marry the woman 
 thus put away, will commit adultery. Whether He 
 means the woman put away for adultery or not, I remit 
 to those who know better (than myself). He who 
 should wish to understand how this affair of divorce was 
 transacted under the law, will read it in Deut. xxiv. 
 "A writing of divorcement" is the same as a bill of 
 repudiation. It behoves every Christian, who marries, 
 to see well to it, whom he selects for companion, being 
 assured that death only can sever the bond which unites 
 them. It is rashness to take her without consideration, 
 and it is inconstancy to put her away without great cause. 
 
 V. 33-37. — Again, ye have heard that it hath 
 been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not 
 forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord 
 thine oaths : But I say unto you, Swear not at all ; 
 neither by heaven, for it is God's throne : nor by 
 the earth, for it is his footstool : neither by Jeru- 
 salem, for it is the city of the great King. Neither 
 shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst 
 not make one hair white or black. But let your 
 communication be, Yea, yea ; Nay, nay : for what- 
 soever is more than these cometh of evil. 
 
 Christ, carrying on His design of showing the difference 
 
S. MATTHEW V. 33-^^7. 83 
 
 between the obligation of the law by human generation 
 (birth) and that of the Gospel by Christian regeneration, 
 says, " moreover you have heard" &c., meaning : because the 
 law, following the obligation of generation, does not pro- 
 hibit the taking of an oath, but only perjury. The scribes 
 and Pharisees hold themselves to be righteous provided 
 they do not perjure themselves, holding those to be right- 
 eous, who do not perjure themselves. Now, forasmuch as 
 the Gospel, following the obligation of regeneration, does 
 not allow the regenerate to swear at all, I admonish you 
 not to swear, any how, nor by any thing ; reducing your- 
 selves to a simple " yea " for affirmation, and to a simple 
 " nay " for negation ; for I would have you know that all 
 exceeding this comes forth and proceeds from an unmor- 
 tified spirit, that neither feels nor knows the obligation of 
 regeneration. This is what I understand to be the mean- 
 ing of these words. 
 
 Proceeding to particularise them, it is to be understood 
 that the law, in saying, " thou shalt not forswear thyself^' 
 meant, that when a man should promise anything by 
 oath, inasmuch as, by swearing, it seemed that he promised 
 to God, he should fulfil it ; for by the non-fulfilment he 
 became perjured. This renders that, " hut shalt ^perform 
 unto the Lord thine oaths," intelligible. 
 
 " Thou shalt not forsvjear thyself" is identical with the 
 injunction of the second * commandment of the law, " Thoit 
 shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." 
 
 Christ, in saying, " thou shalt not swear" excludes per- 
 jury and prohibits oaths, and means, that since the heaven 
 is God's and not ours, and that the earth is God's and not 
 
 * In Valdes' times, the first half of the sixteenth century, there was no 
 Bible in circulation, and, to suit Papal purposes, that commandment which 
 Protestants recognise as the second, " Thou shalt not make unto thyself any 
 graven image," &c., had been, and remains to this day, expunged from all 
 Roman Catholic catechisms. Valdes and Dr. Constantino Ponce de la 
 Fuente, contemporary reformers, quote the Decalogue authorised bj- that 
 Church, as known by their contemporaries, from childhood, and not as it 
 stands in Exod. xx. 
 
84 S. MATTHEW V. 38-42. 
 
 ours, and that Jerusalem is God's and not ours, and that 
 with our heads we cannot do what we will — it is not right 
 to swear by any one of them. In saying, " but let your 
 speech he" He means, let it be your affirmation and your 
 negation. In saying " all beyond this," He means whatever 
 is added to this, " yea," and to this, " nay." Many write 
 much, pretending to expound these words of Christ, limit- 
 ing them, and adducing cases in which it is permitted to 
 the Christian to swear. I rest satisfied with saying this ; 
 because I read that St. Paul, wishing to be believed, occa- 
 sionally swore, as appears, Eom. i. 9, 2 Cor. xi. 11, Gal. i. 
 20, and feeling it to be certain that the Spirit of Christ 
 spake by St. Paul, which Spirit never deviated from the 
 obligation of Christian regeneration, I think thus : that in 
 every oath which man makes voluntarily, not being con- 
 strained to do so, he deviates from Christian regeneration ; 
 so that the Christian is then permitted to swear, when he 
 is constrained by man, ^nd inspired by God, as St. Paul 
 was inspired. The man who shall not be resolved, as 
 against the world, to maintain the obligation of Christian 
 regeneration, will never bring himself to this purity, for 
 the world's honour will constrain him to swear, when he 
 desires to be believed in that which he shall affirm. 
 
 V. 38-42. — Ye have heard that it hath been 
 said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth : 
 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil ; but 
 whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn 
 to liim the other also. And if any man will sue 
 thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him 
 have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel 
 thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him 
 that asketh of thee, and from him that would bor- 
 row of thee, turn not thou away. 
 
S. MATTHEW V. 38-42. 85 
 
 Christ, proceeding to establish the difference between 
 the obligation of the law by human generation (birth), and 
 that of the Gospel by Christian regeneration, says, "you 
 have already heard that it was said,'' &c., as though He 
 should say : — Because the law that follows the obligation of 
 generation requires that the man's eye should be plucked 
 out, and that his tooth should be broken, who had plucked 
 out another's eye, or had broken another's tooth, &c. The 
 scribes and Pharisees hold themselves to be righteous, pro- 
 vided that they live conformably to this, and hold them to 
 be righteous who do so ; whilst the Gospel, following the 
 obligation of regeneration, requires the regenerate person 
 to live in the present life as dead. I admonish you to be 
 intent upon being so mortified to ambition and to interest, 
 that you offer no resistance to him who shall maltreat 
 you ; to such an extent that, if he shall slap your face on 
 the one cheek, you may present no resistance in defence 
 of the other cheek, that he may slap your face again ; 
 should another sue you at the law to take away your coat, 
 may your attachment to all these material things be so 
 lost, that you may hold it to be indifferent, so much so 
 as to give him up your cloak too ; and that, were a man 
 to hire you to do one thing for him, you should be so 
 disinterested, that were it necessary, you would do two 
 for him ; and that should another ask you to give part of 
 something that you possess, you should not take it amiss 
 to have to give it ; and that were another to ask you to 
 lend him something, you should feel pleasure in lending 
 him it. 
 
 Thus do I understand these words of Christ. I under- 
 stand His expressed intention to be the statement that it 
 concerns the regenerate Christian to live as though dead 
 to worldly honour; that being insulted, he should not re- 
 sent it ; and so disenamoured of everything worldly, and 
 so resolute as regards self, that he should not resist any 
 one who should wish to take them from him, whether by 
 violence, or by consent. 
 
86 S. MATTHEW V. 38-42. 
 
 Proceeding to the analysis of the text, I understand 
 that the law, by saying " an eye for an eye," meant that he, 
 who had plucked out an eye should have one of his own 
 plucked out, &c. Whether the judges had to do this by 
 virtue of their office, without plaint by the party ; or whether 
 the plaint of the party was necessary, it being lawful for 
 the Jew to go (before the court) to demand that judgment, 
 I know not ; but, by these words of Christ, I do well under- 
 stand that it was amongst the Jews held to be lawful to 
 demand vengeance, according to law, before the judges. 
 In saying, " resist not evil,'' He means, make no resistance 
 to him, who would maltreat you ; and when He subjoins, 
 " nay, if any one will smite thee," &c., He means, rather be 
 prepared to receive the second insult than to avenge the 
 first. So that the text is not to be understood literally in 
 turning the other cheek ; and that such is the fact appears 
 from this, that neither did Christ do so, in the presence of 
 Caiaphas,* nor did His Apostle St. Paul do so, in the pre- 
 sence of Ananias,! but both, the one and the other, wholly 
 refrained from offering resistance, and from defending 
 themselves against those that buffeted and maltreated 
 them. 
 
 That expression, " if a man will sue thee" &c., is almost 
 similar to what He has told us above of a man's a<::reeino; 
 with his adversary, but that this is of higher perfection 
 than that, in that Christ wills, that I be so alienated from 
 my coat, that I not only refrain from defending it against 
 the man, who would take it from me, by force of law, but 
 that, were it necessary, I should likewise surrender him 
 my cloak, becoming also alienated from this, rather than 
 enter into rivalry or a lawsuit ; and as with the coat and 
 cloak, so with everything else. In saying "and if any 
 man shall compel thee," &c., He wills that we be as liberal 
 of our personal labour and sweat, being as regardless of 
 self, as of our property. That expression, " to him that 
 asketh of thee," &c., together with the other, "from him 
 
 * John xviii. 22, 23. f Acts xxiii. 2, 3. 
 
5. MATTHEW V. 43-48. 87 
 
 that would horroiv of thee," &c., shows that we are to be 
 liberal of what we possess, even when we might refrain 
 from being so. 
 
 Here it appears, much better than it does anywhere else, 
 that to the man, who shall not have come to a resolution 
 with the world, as to ambition, and wdth himself, as to his 
 own satisfaction, in maintaining the proprieties of Chris- 
 tian regeneration, it will not only not be possible, but it 
 will be utterly impossible to reduce himself to this Chris- 
 tian life, either little or much ; not only practically, but 
 even sympathetically ; for this worldly honour will oppose, 
 and then sensuality will cry out. So that it is most indis- 
 pensable to the man, who enters into the kingdom of 
 heaven, by acceptance of the grace of the Gospel, in order 
 to live according to the obligation of Christian regenera- 
 tion, that he very attentively consider all these words of 
 Christ, which all contemplate this obligation. 
 
 And as to the limitations with which many limit them, 
 I remit myself to those, who conjecture rightly, personally 
 adopting this sole limitation : that, desiring and striving 
 by the grace and favour of God to reduce myself to that 
 which I here understand Christ to require of me, I shall 
 hold myself to be imperfect, until I shall recognise it in 
 myself, and shall be certain that God does not impute my 
 imperfection to me; for He does not consider me in my- 
 self, but in Christ; and I do not plead my own righteous- 
 ness, but the righteousness of Christ, in whom I know 
 and feel myself dead and risen again, quickened and 
 glorified ; and I render infinite thanks to God, who has 
 given me this knowledge and this consciousness, and I 
 pray Him to increase it in me, increasing in me both 
 faith and spirituality. 
 
 V. 43-48. — Ye have heard that it hath been 
 said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate 
 thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your 
 
S8 S. MATTHEW V. 43-48. 
 
 enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to 
 them that hate you, and pray for them which 
 despitefully use you, and persecute you ; That ye 
 may be the children of your Father, which is in 
 heaven : for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil 
 and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and 
 on the unjust. For if ye love them which love 
 you, what reward have ye ? do not even the pub- 
 licans the same ? And if ye salute your brethren 
 only, what do ye more than others ? do not even 
 the publicans so ? Be ye therefore perfect, even 
 as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. 
 
 Christ, going on to show the difference between the 
 obligation of the law by human generation [by birth], 
 and that of the Gospel by Christian regeneration, says, 
 " you have already heard that it was said," &c., as though 
 He should say : — The scribes and Pharisees, because they 
 recognise none for neighbours, save the Jews only, hold 
 themselves to be righteous, and hold those to be righteous, 
 who exclusively love their own people, the Jews, abhor- 
 ring all who are not Jews ; because the law, following the 
 obligation of generation, states, " thou shalt love thy neigh- 
 lour;'' whence they infer that he, who is not their 
 neighbour, and is not a Jew, ought to be abhorred : 
 whilst the Gospel, following the obligation of regenera- 
 tion, requires the regenerate to live as children of God, 
 imitating God. I admonish you, that ye love all men, of 
 whatever state, law, or condition, they may be, holding 
 them all to be neighbours, although they be your enemies 
 and act hostilely towards you, abhorring you, cursing you, 
 oppressing you, and persecuting you ; because in doing thus, 
 you will observe the decorum of the children of God, in 
 being like Him ; for that just as He sends His sun and His 
 rain generally upon all men, so you too speak well of all 
 
S. MATTHEW V. 43-48. 89 
 
 men, do good to all, and pray to God for all, making no 
 difference between friends and enemies, since God makes 
 none. 
 
 And you, being the children of God, are not to rest satis- 
 fied with being perfect, after the manner in which even 
 the most depraved children of Adam are perfect, who love 
 those that love them, and who salute those that are their 
 brethren ; but you have to aim, desire, and strive to be 
 perfect, after the mode in which your Father is perfect. 
 He shows His perfection, by doing good to those, who, 
 being ungodly and unbelieving, are His enemies : do you 
 likewise show your perfection, by doing good to those, who 
 are your enemies. 
 
 Thus do I understand all these words of Christ ; for I 
 understand, that during the time of the law, none save 
 the Jew was held to be a neighbour ; but Christ, in the 
 parable of the man, who fell into the hands of thieves, 
 declared all men to be neighbours. And that that say- 
 ing, " thou slialt hate thiiie enemy ^' was as one of those 
 profane aphorisms, which even amongst us, are com- 
 monly held to be divine ; like that, " well-ordered charity 
 begins at home." And that Christ, in saying, " Uess those 
 that,'' &c., declares, that they are our enemies, who curse 
 us, who speak evil of us, abhor us, oppress us, and per- 
 secute us ; and that we are to show the love we have for 
 them, by speaking well of them, by doing good to them, 
 and by praying to God for them. 
 
 And I understand that Christ, in saying, " that you may 
 he the children'' &c., calls us to this perfection by the 
 oblic^ation of Christian reo^eneration ; as thouGfh He should 
 say : — Were you children of Adam, as you are by human 
 generation (by birth), it would suffice that you should be 
 perfect, as other men are ; but, being as you are children of 
 God, by Christian regeneration, it does not suffice that you 
 be perfect, as other men, but you must be perfect, as children 
 of God, blushing to exhibit habits inconsistent with those 
 of the children of God, feeling more ashamed than ten 
 
90 S. MATTHEW V. 43-48. 
 
 coarse, clownish rustics would do, who, having been 
 adopted as children by the emperor, should be found 
 with manners wholly at variance with those, which pro- 
 perly characterise the emperor's children. 
 
 And here it is to be understood that all of us, who, by 
 Christian regeneration, know that we are children of God, 
 have to aim at and to endeavour that our manners be 
 those, which are peculiar to the children of God, learning 
 them from the only-begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ our 
 Lord, and from God Himself ; for it behoves the children 
 to be very like their father. And herewith a reply that I 
 wrote in answer to Question XVII. well agrees, wherein is 
 set forth the mode in which St. Paul understands us Chris- 
 tians to be perfect, and how we should strive after this 
 perfection. I am certain that he, who shall well consider 
 perfection as laid down by Christ throughout this chapter, 
 will, when he sees that he can neither attain it, nor even 
 wish for it, of himself, distrust his ability to enter into the 
 kingjdom of heaven with his own rif]jhteousness ; and I am 
 likewise certain, that being brought thus to distrust, he 
 will accept and embrace the righteousness of Christ, which 
 in the Gospel is broadly offered to all men ; he wiU enter 
 witji it into the kingdom of heaven, and, coming to a re- 
 solution as against the world and himself, he will begin to 
 desire this perfection, and he will begin to train himself 
 for it. And I am also certain that, as he shall go on train- 
 ing for it, so will he inwardly feel that he is in the king- 
 dom of heaven, feeling himself regenerated, and feeling 
 the rule and government of the Spirit. 
 
 And I hold it to be most certain that, with the con- 
 sciousness of this regeneration and of this government, he 
 will go on to train himself more and more ; and that going 
 on to train himself more and more, he will go on the more 
 to desire this perfection ; and the more he desires it, the 
 more will he enter into the kingdom of heaven ; for he 
 will accept and embrace the grace of the Gospel, with more 
 faith and greater affection, praying to God continually to 
 
S. MATTHEW V. 43-48. 91 
 
 increase Ins faith and spirituality ; running after God and 
 after Christ most affectionately ; unmindful of the things 
 of this present life, and especially so of himself ; mindful 
 only of God, and particularly so of His love, shown in the 
 chastisement of Christ for that, for which he ought to have 
 been chastised himself. 
 
 So that neither should he despair, who wanders from 
 Christ, when he sees such exalted perfection proposed as 
 needful to enter into the kingdom of heaven ; since it is a 
 fact that he will, through Christ, attain that which he 
 cannot attain by himself; distrusting himself, but trusting 
 in Christ ; nor should he, who is incorporated into Christ, 
 distrust, holding himself to be alienated from Christ, when 
 he shall find himself wanting in this perfection, not observ- 
 ing the decorum of a child of God, a brother of Christ ; 
 since it is a fact, that God does not consider him in him- 
 self, but in Christ, and does not take account of his failure 
 in Christian duty, so long as he does not intentionally 
 sever himself from Christ. And to the man, who should 
 wish to get on greatly in this Christian career, compre- 
 hending the perfection in which he is comprehended, I 
 would counsel him to think the least possible of self and 
 of worldly things ; and that he think the most that is pos- 
 sible of God, and of divine things, of Christ, and of things 
 affecting Christianity. 
 
 Upon what Christ has said, as to speaking w^ell of, and 
 blessing of, enemies, a person might doubt, saying that 
 Christ did not do so with the scribes and Pharisees, who 
 were His enemies, as we shall see in Chapter xxiii. ; and 
 that neither did Paul do so with pseudo-apostles, who 
 were his enemies, as appears in all his epistles. To which 
 it may be replied that Christ spoke evil of the scribes and 
 Pharisees, and that St. Paul spoke evil of the pseudo- 
 apostles, with no vindictiveness of mind ; but to strip them 
 of the credit they had with the people, by which they 
 diverted the people from God ; so that Christ spake evil of 
 some, because they, as enemies to God, diverted the people 
 
92 S. MATTHEW V. 43-48. 
 
 from Him ; whilst St. Paul spake evil of others, because 
 they, as enemies of Christ, diverted the people from Christ 
 and from the Gospel, carrying them away to Moses and to 
 the law. 
 
 And then some one will say : 1 too, may speak evil of 
 those who are inimical to me, for they are the enemies of 
 God and of Christ. To which I shall answer : that it is 
 safer to speak evil of no one ; for the human mind is very 
 prone to passion ; whilst the Christian ought to be wholly 
 free from passion; and that, exceptionally, he ought to 
 speak evil, of those, who shall be his enemies, thus ; when 
 it shall appear to him to be right to do so, for the confir- 
 mation of Christian truth, having such self-mastery as not 
 to yield to passion ; and evincing great modesty and great 
 meekness in his evil speaking, so that his hearers may 
 know that he does not delight in evil speaking, and that 
 he does not do so passionately. 
 
 Some Christian, too, may desire to know the reason why 
 Christ, who has spoken upon so many things in this chap- 
 ter, comparing Jewish perfection and righteousness with 
 Christian perfection and righteousness, should not have 
 touched upon the first commandment, on the worship of 
 God and the love of God ; nor upon the third (our fourth), 
 on keeping holy the Sabbath day ; nor upon the fourth (our 
 fifth), on the honour due to father and mother ; He having 
 laid down or touched upon all the other commandments of 
 the decalogue. 
 
 And to such a person I should reply thus : — As to the 
 first commandment, which affects the worship and love of 
 God, I should say that Christ did not touch upon it be- 
 cause the law assigns such perfection to it, tliat it is 
 impossible to increase it, whether it be in Exod. xx., 
 where worship is enjoined, or in Deut. vi., where love is 
 commanded. As to the third (fourth), which affects the 
 hallowing of the Sabbath, I should say that Christ did not 
 touch upon it, because this His instruction did not affect 
 the time in which he delivered it, when the Sabbath was 
 
5. MATTHEW V. 43-48. 93 
 
 kept, but for the time of the kingdom of God, in which 
 there is no difference between one day and another, all 
 days being to the Christian a continuous sabbath as to 
 sanctification. As to the fourth (fifth) commandment, 
 which affects the honouring of father and mother, I should 
 say that Christ did not touch upon that, because it was 
 not His intention to instruct us in the obligation (of birth) 
 of human generation, by which we are bound to father 
 and mother, but in the obligation of Christian regenera- 
 tion, by which we have to renounce the obligation of 
 human generation, as I have stated in an answer to Ques- 
 tion XXI. Here, indeed, I shall say this, that Christ, having 
 throughout this argument, aimed at teaching us how to 
 repress and mortify our natural affections and appetites, in 
 order, that having mortified what is natural, there might 
 be room for that which is spiritual, and it being natural 
 to man to honour and support his parents. He found no 
 motive why He should here make mention of it, nor 
 could He possibly have added perfection beyond that 
 given to it by the law. 
 
 This is what I at present feel in regard to this chapter, 
 and I pray to God to bring me to such a pitch that I may 
 recognise the perfection in myself, which, in reading this 
 chapter, in expounding it, and in meditating upon it, has 
 been presented to me as what I ought to have, to compre- 
 hend that perfection in which I am comprehended, through 
 acceptance of the Gospel, and incorporation into Christ. 
 
94 '^. MATTHEW VI. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 VI. I -4. — Take heed that ye do not your alms 
 before men, to be seen of them : otherwise ye have 
 no reward of your Father, who is in heaven. There- 
 fore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a 
 trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the 
 synagogues and in the streets, that they may have 
 glory of men. Verily 1 say unto you, They have 
 their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not 
 thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth : 
 That thine alms may be in secret : And thy Father 
 who seeth in secret himself shall reward thee 
 openly. 
 
 Christ has shown, in the preceding chapter, that the 
 kingdom of heaven must be inward and spiritual, that 
 they who are the children of the kingdom are the salt of 
 the earth, and that they are the light of the world ; that 
 the law must survive, until that it had been kept by Him 
 and fulfilled in Him ; and that the obhgation of the Gospel, 
 based upon Christian regeneration, is much more perfect 
 than the obligation of the law based upon human generation 
 (birth); and that the perfection of Christian life in the 
 kingdom of heaven is very different from the perfection of 
 Jewish life in the kingdom of the law. He now proceeds 
 to instruct His regenerated ones as to how they should 
 regulate themselves in outward works, which they do from 
 religion and piety, such as alms, prayer, fasting, &c. 
 
 Here His intention is not to bring them to aim at being 
 held to be saints by men of the world, for this pretension 
 
5. MATTHEW VI. 1-4. 95 
 
 involves many things that are objectionable ; the principal 
 one being competition with saints of the world, such as 
 were the scribes and Pharisees. And speaking first of 
 alms, He says, " take heed not to," &c., as though Christ 
 should say : The scribes and Pharisees, wishing to be held 
 to be saints, are constantly striving to procure that the 
 alms, which they give, should be public and manifest to all ; 
 and that, for their almsgiving, they receive, as recompense, 
 their recognition as saints, getting what they aim at; 
 whilst you are not to aim to be held to be saints, by men 
 of the world, but to be saints before God ; to comprehend 
 the holiness in which you are comprehended ; be upon 
 your guard, that in your almsgiving, there be no wish to 
 be seen of men, in any way, blended therewith ; for unless 
 you do thus, you witness against yourselves, that you do 
 not give for God's sake, but for the world's, and God will 
 not reward you. 
 
 I understand this to be the meaning of these words, in 
 which Christ's purpose is to uproot from the minds of His 
 disciples, from those who participate in Christian regene- 
 ration, every hypocritical affection ; which, coming veiled 
 with the mantle of religion, is the Pest peculiar to Chris- 
 tian regeneration, being most contrary to Christian and 
 spiritual life, which is most alien to every appearance of 
 sanctity. And thus it is most certain, that he, who is most 
 holy in the eyes of the world, which judges from without, 
 is the least holy before God, when he wishes the world to 
 hold him for a saint ; and it likewise holds, that he, who 
 is the most holy before God, who judges from within, is 
 the least holy in the eyes of the world, because he well 
 guards himself against being held for a saint by the world. 
 And under this name " world," I understand all, who are 
 without Christian spirit, and therefore without Christian 
 regeneration. 
 
 Here one might doubt, and say this is directly con- 
 trary to what Christ has above taught, saying, let our light 
 shine before men like a candle in a candlestick, in order 
 
96 S. MATTHEW VI. 1-4. 
 
 that they may see our good works, &c. To which it might 
 be replied that Christ there speaks of works that cannot 
 be feigned, that are peculiarly Christian, that are learned 
 from Christ Himself ; such are humility of mind, modesty, 
 meekness, sincerity, with resolute mortification and vivi- 
 fication ; which things, being wrought in us by the Spirit 
 of God, redound, not to our glory, but to God's ; whence 
 it is that he, who really possesses them, does not flatter 
 or prize himself upon them, recognising no peculiar 
 virtue in them : whilst that here Christ speaks of works 
 that can be feigned, that can be wrought by the spirit of 
 man, which, being for the most part our own, redound to 
 our own glory ; and it is so, that he, who does these works, 
 most usually flatters and prizes himself upon them ; and 
 is gratified at being prized and esteemed upon their 
 account, recognising peculiar virtue, mercy, and generosity 
 in them ; for these are works that the world prizes and 
 esteems, holding them to be most saintly, who are most 
 enojaQred in them. 
 
 And if there shall be another who, taking occasion from 
 these words, " recompense and reward," shall say that 
 Christ wills that we work in order to merit, he might be 
 told two things : — First, let him observe that Christ was 
 speaking with men, who had not yet received the spirit of 
 children; they had not yet entered into the kingdom of 
 God, for it was not yet come, and such are ever moved 
 by interest ; and that had He spoken with men, who had 
 already been children. He would not have proposed to 
 them recompense or reward, but the obligation of children 
 only ; and the second, that man may indeed work from the 
 motive of recompense or reward, provided that he does so 
 as mere man, as a mercenary, and as a servant, but not as 
 a regenerate Christian, not as a friend or as a child ; to 
 whom it is peculiar to work purely for love, without 
 having any regard to interest. 
 
 And if there shall be another, who desires to know 
 wherein this remuneration spoken of by Christ consists, 
 
S. MATTHEW VI. 1-4. 97 
 
 I shall answer him, that it does not consist in immortality 
 and eternal happiness, for this is given to those, who accept 
 the grace of the Gospel through the righteousness of Christ; 
 but in the increase of that felicity, which I understand 
 will be greater or less, as man shall leave this present life, 
 more or less mortified and vivified ; because, as I have 
 elsewhere repeatedly written (Consid. xxxix.), I under- 
 stand that vivification corresponds with mortification, 
 and that the glory of the resurrection will correspond 
 with vivification. 
 
 To him, who shall desire to know whether it will be 
 Christian occupation to work with the intention of aug- 
 menting the glory of His resurrection, I will say, that the 
 regenerate Christian has lost self-love, and that he is 
 wholly transformed into the love of God, and that, it 
 being thus, he does not work for self-glory, present or 
 future, but only for the glory of God : and that they work 
 for the glory of God, who, in giving alms, purpose that the 
 person receiving them should not be ashamed of, or con- 
 fused at, the trust he has in God. 
 
 This word alms, in Greek, eXerjfMoovvT], is derived from 
 eXeo9, mercy, for he that gives alms practises mercy, nay, 
 all works of mercy are alms. The same word in Hebrew 
 is derived from justice, either because it is just that the 
 m,an who can, should assist him, who is helpless ; or, 
 because the Jews justified themselves by giving alms, prac- 
 tising works of charity, aiming to complement by them, 
 that w^herein they failed in the fulfilment of the law : and 
 they are all Jews, who practise works of charity with this 
 design ; and it is impossible, but that they should work 
 with this design, who do not recognise themselves just in 
 Christ, who have not even accepted the righteousness of 
 Christ into their minds ; for only those [who have accepted 
 this righteousness] work not to be righteous, but because 
 they are righteous ; they work being inspired and not 
 taught ; and they work from love, and not from interest. 
 
 When Christ says " do not sound a trumpet" He means, 
 
98 5. MATTHEW VI. 5-15. 
 
 do not seek to be seen of men. " Hypocrites " are they, 
 who appear to be what they are not ; like actors upon the 
 stage, who personate others than themselves. I have 
 already stated that " synagogues " are public places or halls, 
 where the Jews assembled to hear doctrine. When He 
 says, " let not thy left hand know" &c., He means, do it in 
 the most secret manner that it shall be possible for thee 
 to do it. In saying, " otherwise," He means : and if you 
 do it in any other manner, if you do not do it thus, &c. 
 
 YI. 5-15. — And when thou pray est, thou shalt 
 not be as the hypocrites are : for they love to pray 
 standing in the synagogues and in the corners of 
 the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily 
 I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, 
 when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when 
 thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father who is 
 in secret ; and thy Father who seeth in secret shall 
 reward thee openly. But when ye pray, use not 
 vain repetitions, as the heathen do : for they think 
 that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 
 Be not ye therefore like unto them : for your 
 Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before 
 ye ask Him. After this manner therefore pray ye : 
 Our Father which art in heaven. Hallowed be thy 
 name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in 
 cartli, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily 
 bread. And forgive us our debts, as we have for- 
 given our debtors. And lead us not into tempta- 
 tion, but deliver us from evil : For thine is the 
 kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. 
 Amen. For if ye forgive men their trespasses, 
 your heavenly Father will also forgive you : But if 
 
S. MATTHEW VI. 5-15. 99 
 
 ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will 
 your Father forgive your trespasses. 
 
 Christ, having stated how the regenerated Christian 
 ought to regulate himself, when practising works of 
 charity, in order not to compete in apparent sanctity 
 with the scribes and Pharisees, who are saints of the 
 world, proceeds to tell how he should regulate himself 
 in prayer, and what he should pray for. As to the 
 manner. He lays down two things : the one, that it be in 
 secret, contrary to the scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, 
 who, professing to be more holy than others, and striving 
 to be held and esteemed such, pray in public; and the 
 other, that it be in few words, contrary to the Gentiles, 
 who thought to be heard for their much speaking, as we 
 read of the priests of Baal (i Kings xix. 26-29). 
 
 Christ wills that the vocal prayer of the regenerated 
 Christian combine these two parts ; and I say the vocal, 
 for the mental needs not to be restricted, for men do not 
 see that, nor does it need verbal regulation, since it does 
 not consist of words; and I call the Christian's desire, 
 which seeks to obtain something of God, mental prayer ; 
 and just as every one can desire at any time and in any 
 place, without its being seen, so every Christian can pray 
 at any time and in any place, without being seen. 
 
 As to what the Christian should pray for, Christ lays 
 down seven things, of which the three first principally 
 design the glory of God, one (the fourth) our bodily sus- 
 tenance, and the other three our preservation in the 
 righteousness of the kingdom of God. And because I 
 have embodied in a Consideration (Ixxi.) what I then 
 understood as involved in this most holy prayer, T remit 
 myself to what I have there stated, and shall state here 
 what 1 now understand ; and thus I say that the Jlrst 
 thing a Christian has to pray for, is, that the name of God 
 be hallowed ; and it is then hallowed, when God is glori- 
 
loo S. MATTHEW VI. 5-15. 
 
 fied in His works, and by His works, and this generally 
 in all His creatures, and by them all. This petition, with 
 desire, cannot be (offered) save by those who hallow God, 
 who love God's glory and not their own glory : all others 
 desire their own sanctifications and their own glorifications. 
 
 The second, may the kingdom of God come quickly, 
 may that time come quickly, in which, Christ having 
 delivered the kingdom up to His eternal Father, God 
 shall be all in all. This petition cannot be (offered) with 
 desire, save by those, who are certain that it will be well 
 with them in the kingdom of God : all others rather fear 
 this kingdom, than desire it. I understand that the 
 disciples during Christ's life (among them) supplicated, 
 what Christ suggested they should supplicate, the speedy 
 coming of the Holy Spirit, which has placed them in the 
 kingdom of God, and I understand it to be Christ's will, 
 that we supplicate His speedy coming to judgment. 
 
 The third, that that will of God, which pleases and 
 satisfies God, be done and carried into effect here upon 
 earth, in the same manner as it is done and executed in 
 heaven. This petition cannot be (offered) with desire, 
 but by those, who love God, and are certain that they are 
 loved by God : for they, who are not of these, desire to do 
 their own wills, and they distrust the will of God. 
 
 The fourth thing is, that God provide us with the 
 necessary maintenance for our bodily support. And 
 none can supplicate this, desiring it, save those, who 
 have the poverty of spirit, of which we have spoken 
 at the commencement of the preceding chapter ; for only 
 these, having renounced favour of creatures, depend wholly 
 upon God : all others, trusting in their riches and depend- 
 ing upon them, do not desire to be sustained by the favour 
 of God. In saying " this day," it shows that this has to be 
 asked of God every day ; and in calling the bread, " ours^* 
 and not Thine, I think that He suggests that' we are 
 sustained by it, and it appears throughout Holy Scripture 
 to be usual. 
 
5. MATTHEW VI. 5-15. loi 
 
 The fifth thing is, that He forgive our errors and fail- 
 ings, those wherein we deviate from the obligation of 
 Christian regeneration and Christian decorum, since we 
 also forgive men their errors, and none can supplicate 
 this, desiring it, save those, who, following after the per- 
 fection laid down by Christ in the preceding chapter, go 
 on to attain it ; for these alone forgive men the injuries 
 they do them ; not that God should on that account forgive 
 them theirs, but in order to fulfil the obligation of Chris- 
 tian regeneration, and to maintain Christian decorum ; all 
 others either seek to be forgiven, without forgiving ; or 
 they do not recognise themselves as culpable, not recog- 
 nising the obligation of Christian regeneration, nor Chris- 
 tian decorum. 
 
 The regenerate in Christ delight to say to God, "forgive 
 %is our debts," &c., for although they know and feel them- 
 selves to be pardoned in Christ and by Christ, it pleases 
 them to humiliate themselves, confessing that they have 
 faults, as did David ; who, although he was certain that 
 God had forgiven liim his sin, did not cease to ask for- 
 giveness of God, confessing himself to be guilty; and 
 it pleases them too to constrain thomselves to forgive, 
 or to admit that they have to forgive, in order to uproot 
 every affection of wrath and of rancour from their 
 minds. 
 
 The sixth thing is, that if^in order to humiliate and to 
 mortify us, we be tried with temptations, let us not be 
 conquered or overcome by them. Only they can ask this, 
 desiring it, who trust in God, and know their own malig- 
 nity, which needs to be humbled and mortified : all others 
 would wish to escape every form of temptation. 
 
 The seventh thing is, that we be delivered from the evil 
 to which this our mortal life is subject; so that evils may 
 not divert us from the kingdom of heaven, and thus from 
 God, and from Christ. This none ask, desiring it, save 
 those, who depend upon God, who have renounced all 
 favour of creatures : all others, trustinf^ in themselves and 
 
102 5". MATTHEW VI. 5-15. 
 
 in creatures, seek to obtain this deliverance by them- 
 selves and by creatures. 
 
 Thus do I understand these seven things that Christ 
 •teaches us to ask of God, meaning that although many 
 ask them with the mouth, only they ask them with the 
 heart, desiring them, who, having accepted the grace of 
 the Gospel of Christ, and being regenerated by Christ, 
 have entered into the kingdom of God through Christ. 
 
 By that addition which Christ makes to His prayer, 
 saying, " therefore if ye shall forgive^' &c., I understand 
 His intention to be to oblif]:e us to forgive, treatin^^ us as 
 
 O O ' o 
 
 imperfect, as being swayed by interest : if you will forgive, 
 you shall be forgiven ; and if you will not forgive, neither 
 shall you be forgiven. From which words, it is not to be 
 gathered, that by forgiving, we merit to be forgiven ; but, 
 it may well be gathered, that they who forgive, may rest 
 assured by these words of Christ, that they are forgiven ; 
 and by those same, they, who do not forgive, may rest 
 assured, that they are not forgiven. 
 
 Christ knew well how natural to man is the spirit of 
 vindictiveness, and seeking to mortify and kill it, in His 
 own people, so that not a trace of it should remain, He 
 puts it before them, that they will not be forgiven, unless 
 they forgive ; although, as I have stated, they are not 
 forgiven, because they forgive ; nay, they forgive, because 
 they are forgiven ; and thus it is, that, feeling themselves 
 forgiven by God, they are lovingly constrained to forgive. 
 
 Here, should some one ask me : what is the reason, 
 why, in the doctrine of Christian life, forgiveness is more 
 insisted upon, than offence, I shall allege two things in 
 reply : the one, that the human mind is more solicited and 
 more inclined not to forgive, than to offend; and the other, 
 that offence is generally attended witli wrath and choler, 
 whence the man loses his wits, and thus acts heedlessly, 
 and is therefore less to blame, than when he does not for- 
 give ; for the man is then more self-possessed, he is con- 
 scious of what he is doing, and is therefore more culpable. 
 
S. MATTHEW VI. 5-15. 103 
 
 I say then, that in the doctrine of Christian life I under- 
 stand these two reasons to justify the attaching of greater 
 importance to forgiveness than to offence. 
 
 To the Cliristian, who, influenced by those words of 
 Christ, "for your heavenly Father knows," &c., shall say, 
 " if God knows what it is that I want, before I ask Him for 
 " it, why do they tell me to ask Him for it ? Of what use 
 " is prayer ? " one might answer him, that what Christ states 
 is a fact : that God does know our wants, before we tell 
 Him them in our prayers ; and even more, that He knows 
 how to succour us in them ; but He wills that we should, in 
 our imperfection, recur to Him, in order that when He shall 
 give us what we shall ask of Him, we, recognising His mercy 
 and His generosity in so doing, niay rest assured that He 
 loves us ; and thus we are moved to love Him. The human 
 heart is so incredulous, as to holding itself to be beloved 
 of God, and is so hard, that to love God, it needs to be 
 assured and softened by all these things. 
 
 And here I will add this, that they, who know them- 
 selves to be the children of God, regenerated and renewed 
 by Christ, and in Christ, should in everything disregard 
 themselves, and refrain from thinking of their interests; 
 whether of those which pertain to this life, or of those 
 which pertain to the future life ; casting all their care 
 upon God and upon Christ, ever thinking upon God and 
 upon Christ, and upon the things that are God's and 
 Christ's : they may rest assured, by these words of Christ, 
 that God cares for them and thinks for them, without 
 their asking of Him w^hat they require of Him ; nay, that 
 it is so, that by so much the less they think upon them- 
 selves, thinking upon God, so much the more does God 
 think of them. Could we men bring ourselves to believe 
 this truth, we should live in this present life a heavenly 
 and divine life. God grant me grace to bring myself to do 
 it. The prayer of the Christian must ever proceed full of 
 faith and of assurance that God is about to give him what 
 he in prayer supplicates. The prayer that does not go thus 
 is not a Christian one. 
 
104 S- MATTHEW VI. 16-18. 
 
 VI. 16-18. — Moreover when ye fast, be not as 
 the hypocrites, of a sad countenance : for they dis- 
 figure their faces, that they may appear unto men 
 to fast. Verily, I say unto you, they have their re- 
 ward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, 
 and wash thy face; that thou appear not unto men to 
 fast, but unto thy Father, who is in secret : and thy 
 Father, who seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. 
 
 Fasting stands connected with prayer, for Christ, having 
 spoken of prayer, speaks of fasting, wherein He wills, that 
 in order to avoid amongst His own people any competi- 
 tion with saints of the world, that there be no demonstra- 
 tion or outward appearance. Where it is to be understood^ 
 that forasmuch as Jewish fasting consisted in privation of 
 all the gratifications that man delights in, apart from 
 God, hypocrites desiring to be held to be good fasters, and 
 thus to be very holy and just, presented themselves sad 
 and disfigured. This demonstration is what Christ here 
 rebukes. 
 
 In saying, " anoint thy head,'' &c.. He means : if indeed 
 thou shouldest fast, look as though thou didst not fast. 
 The Jews were wont to anoint their heads and to wash 
 their faces, as a token of joy and satisfaction. Effectively, 
 Christ wills that His Christians elude human prudence 
 and human judgment, by doing what they ought to do, 
 and by dissimulating, as though they did it not. And here 
 it is to be noted that Christ spoke accommodating His 
 teaching to His times ; had He spoken in our times, He 
 had possibly found more to censure in relation to fasting. 
 
 As to the rest, just as the Christian's whole life ought 
 to be one continuous prayer, so likewise ought it to be one 
 continuous fast ; a continuous abstinence from everything 
 in which sensuality revels, or in which we sensually revel, 
 either in creatures or with creatures, not being a spiritual 
 delight. They who do not fast thus, in fasting, fast as 
 
5. MATTHEW VI. 19-21. 105 
 
 does the world, but they do not fast as God wills ; and 
 the fasting of such people is not connected with prayer, 
 and therefore is not Christian, nor even Jewish, save so 
 far as it is ceremonial. The Christian's design in fasting, 
 which consists in afflicting the flesh, is to be solely that 
 which St. Paul shows that he had in his fasts, where he 
 says (i Cor. ix.), that he disciplined his body to get the 
 mastery over his affections and lusts. 
 
 VI. 19-21. — Lay not up for yourselves treasures 
 upon earth, where moth and rust do corrupt, and 
 where thieves break through and steal : But lay up 
 for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither 
 moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do 
 not break through nor steal : For where your trea- 
 sure is, there will your heart be also. 
 
 This Christ's admonition, I understand to pertain to 
 what He has said above, respecting alms, prayer, and 
 fasting, and thus I understand that they lay up treasures 
 upon earth, who, engaged in works of charity, in prayer, 
 and in fasting, design that men shall hold and esteem 
 them saints ; w^hilst they lay up treasures in heaven, who, 
 engaged in works of charity, in prayer, and in fasting, 
 secrete themselves from men, and discover themselves to 
 God. For just as they, who lay up treasures upon earth, 
 have their hearts on earth with worldly men, have earthly, 
 low, and vulgar hearts ; so they, who lay up treasures in 
 heaven, have their hearts in heaven, with God and with 
 Christ, have heavenly, exalted, and divine hearts. They, 
 who lay up treasures upon earth, have Jewish minds^ 
 whilst they, who lay up treasures in heaven, have Chris- 
 tian minds. 
 
 The rust and the moth, with which treasures laid up upon 
 earth are corrupted or ruined, I understand to be vainglory 
 and ambition ; and the thieves, who steal these treasures, by 
 
io6 5'. MATTHEW VI. 22, 23. 
 
 digging through the walls, I understand to be infernal 
 spirits, against all which the treasures laid up in heaven 
 are secure, for there is neither vainglory, nor ambition, 
 nor are there infernal spirits there. Ay, and it is a fact 
 that he, who, engaged in works of charity, in prayer, and 
 in fasting, only looks to God, is thereby preserved from 
 vainglory and from ambition ; neither does he give occa- 
 sion for the exercise of the devil's persuasions, knowing 
 that, in his works of charity and in his prayers, whether 
 by himself or by others, there is no goodness nor any per- 
 fection beyond that which God gives, in His being pleased 
 to accept them as good ; besides he knows that if he fasts, 
 it is to deliver himself from depravity ; and thus in fasting 
 he knows his imperfection, so that there remains nothing 
 whereof to glory ^or to pride himself upon, except his 
 imperfection. 
 
 After this mode do I understand these words, although 
 I shall not contend with him, who desires that they be 
 understood literally, to speak of those who lay up treasures 
 upon earth ; whose minds are intent upon amassing wealth 
 in temporal riches, which are subject to rust, and to moth, 
 and to thieves : whilst they, who lay up treasures in heaven, 
 have their minds intent upon amassing spiritual wealth, 
 riches that are not subject to rust, to moth, or to thieves. 
 
 yi. 22, 23. — The light of the body is the eye : if 
 therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall 
 be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole 
 body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the 
 light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that 
 darkness. 
 
 Christ's suggestive illustration, "that the light of the 
 tody" &c., I understand, to be a most excellent expedient 
 wherewith to lay up treasures in heaven. Where it seems 
 that Christ apprehends the analogy existing between the 
 
S. MATTHEW VI. 22, 23. 107 
 
 inner man and the outer man ; for that, just as the bodily 
 eye is the bodily light of the outer man, so human reason 
 is the natural light of the inward man ; and for that, just 
 as when the bodily eye is sound and bright, all the out- 
 ward man is sound and bright ; and that when it is de- 
 ranged and disordered, all the outward man becomes 
 deranged and disordered ; so when human reason is sound 
 and bright, all the inward man is sound and bright, and 
 when it is deranged and disordered, all the inward man is 
 deranged and disordered. 
 
 Where it should be understood, that human reason, 
 natural light, the knowledge of good and evil, which man 
 acquired by the loss of spiritual light, is ever deranged 
 and disordered, in more than a thousand ways, by all men, 
 who are mere men, neither regenerated nor renewed by 
 the Holy Spirit ; whilst it is sound and bright in men 
 regenerated and renewed by the Holy Spirit, being clari- 
 fied and purified by spiritual light, in whom only the 
 inward man is clear and resplendent. 
 
 This being understood, it is easy to understand that 
 Christ designs by these words to admonish us, that our 
 human reason, our natural light, the knowledge of good 
 and evil, does not suffice to make our inward man so 
 clear and resplendent as to enable it to lay up treasures 
 in heaven as we ought to treasure them up, we, who are 
 in possession of the kingdom of heaven, through accept- 
 ance of the Gospel and Christian regeneration ; because 
 that which is light in us is obscured and darkened, whilst 
 it is not purified and clarified by spiritual light : and since 
 such is the fact, we ought to be attent upon the attain- 
 ment of this spiritual light, procuring it and supplicating 
 it of God, with faith and with importunity. And the 
 more to invite us and naove us to this. He says, "for if 
 the light that is in thee'' &c., meaning — the reason within 
 thee, which is thy light, being darkened, thou mayest 
 think that all other inward things which in themselves 
 are not light but darkness, are all in the same predicament. 
 
io8 S. MATTHEW VI. 24-34. 
 
 By the single (sound) eye I understand the opposite of a 
 bad or corrupt one. 
 
 , VI. 24-34. — No man can serve two masters : 
 for either he will hate the one, and love the other ; 
 or else he will hold to the one, and despise the 
 other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. There- 
 fore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, 
 what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink ; nor yet 
 for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the 
 life more than meat, and the body than raiment ? 
 Behold the fowls of the air : for they sow not, 
 neither do they reap, nor gather into barns ; yet 
 your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not 
 much better than they ? Which of you by taking 
 thought can add one cubit unto his stature ? And 
 why take ye thought for raiment ? Consider the 
 lilies of the field, how they grow ; they toil not, 
 neither do they spin ; and yet I say unto you. 
 That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed 
 like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the 
 grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow 
 is cast into the oven, shall He uot much more 
 clothe you, ye of little faith ? Therefore take 
 no thought, saying, What shall we eat ? or, What 
 shall we drink ? or. Wherewithal shall we be 
 clothed ? (for after all these things do the Gentiles 
 seek :) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye 
 have need of all these things. But seek ye first 
 the kingdom of God, and His righteousness ; and 
 all these things shall be added unto you. Take 
 therefore no thought for the morrow ; for the 
 
5. MATTHEW VI. 24-34. IC9 
 
 morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. 
 Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. 
 
 Christ, having laid down the qualifications and joys of 
 those, who are in the kingdom of heaven, their dignity, 
 their obligation to be saints before God, and not to wish 
 to be saints before the world, proceeds to state the 
 security, with which they can and ought to live in the 
 present life, who are children of the kingdom of heaven ; 
 ceasing to care about themselves, by casting all their care 
 upon God, assured that God cares for them, and that He 
 will better provide them with all that shall be necessary, 
 whilst they cease to be careful about themselves, by caring 
 for God, than if they had provided for themselves, ever 
 thinking about themselves. 
 
 Here I think it right to say this, that if we, who call 
 ourselves Christians, looking steadily at what our Lord 
 Jesus Christ designed by these words, without glossing 
 or limiting them with natural light, which without spiritual 
 light is obscure ; were we to examine ourselves well, how 
 far we confide in them, and wherein the solicitude, which 
 we cherish with relation to what we have to eat, to drink, 
 and to dress, differs from that held by those who do not 
 call themselves Christians, I am sure that we should be 
 confounded and ashamed, recognising that we usurp the 
 name of Christians, for that as to our confidence in Christ's 
 words, we are but on a par with those, who do not call 
 themselves Christians. 
 
 I state this from what I have known of myself, and in 
 myself, and would to God that I should not have to state 
 by what I know of myself at present ! and alas ! poor me ! 
 that that which I most feel, that that which most grieves 
 me and wounds me, that reaches to my very soul and 
 pierces my heart, is, that if by my confidence in these 
 words of Christ, which affect the present life, I should 
 judge to what extent I confide in other words of Christ 
 that affect the life eternal, I find myself so estranged from 
 
no S. MATTHEW VI. 24-34. 
 
 Christ, that I have scarcely any portion in Him ; since it 
 is a fact that neither do these words which pertain to the 
 present life affect any persons except those who believe 
 them ; nor do the others, which pertain to the life eternal, 
 affect any persons except those who believe them ; and if 
 from my confidence in these I have to judge what assur- 
 ance I have in the others, I am a disappointed man. 
 
 In this agony and affliction I have two things to 
 console me. One is the confidence which I have in God, 
 that since He has given me the desire which I have to 
 depend wholly on Him, as well in that which pertains to 
 the present life as in that which pertains to the life eternal, 
 He will also give me the consummation of the wish which 
 He has given me, and thus I shall live very happily and 
 very contentedly. Whilst the other is, that I, knowing it 
 to be a fact, that the human mind brings itself much more 
 easily to confide in God, in things that man knows he 
 cannot attain by himself, than in those which he thinks 
 he can attain by himself, by his industry and by his dili- 
 gence ; and I knowing, concerning myself, that this truth 
 is firmly and constantly impressed upon my mind that I 
 cannot anyhow or in any way attain life eternal, except by re- 
 mitting myself to the righteousness of Christ, embracing it, 
 and cleaving to it; this [other] truth, not being so impressed 
 upon my mind that I am unable, either by my industry 
 or by my diligence, to attain what pertains to the present 
 life, I form no judgment as to my belief in Christ's words 
 that pertain to the life eternal, from wha't I believe of 
 Christ's 'words that pertain to the present life ; holding it 
 to be certain tbat I trust more in those which pertain to 
 the life eternal, because I have made up my mind that I 
 cannot attain it by myself, than in those which pertain to 
 the present life, because I have not so made up my mind 
 as to my inability to attain them by myself. 
 
 With all this, I do not cease to hold myself to be most 
 imperfect whenever I read these words of Christ, neither 
 do I cease to desire to realise their perfection, and to sup- 
 
6". MATTHEW VI. 24-34. in 
 
 plicate of God, that He, for His own glory, may give it 
 me ; and to devote myself with all my mind to them, 
 labouring to recognise their effect in me. 
 
 And coming to Christ's words, I understand, that know- 
 ing how much man is obstructed in the regard that he 
 ought to have for God, to be always in union with God, 
 and to promote the glory of God, by the care that he takes 
 of these corporeal and outward things, Christ designs by 
 these words to assure us, who are His, that God will pro- 
 vide us with corporeal things, in order, that relieved from 
 care as to them, we may yield up ourselves, and apply 
 ourselves, wholly to spiritual things. 
 
 And thus He begins by saying, " JVo one can serve two 
 masters," &c. And declaring what these two masters are. 
 He says, " ye cannot serve God and rtiammon :" meaning that 
 it is impossible for a man to attend to the material things 
 of the present life and to the spiritual things of the life 
 eternal, without failing either in the one or in the other ; so 
 that he must make up his mind to attend to the one, or 
 to the other. And it being Christ's will, that we, who are 
 regenerated by Him, make up our minds to attend to spi- 
 ritual things, ceasing to care for material things, He says, 
 " therefore I say unto you : take no thought,'' &c., as though 
 He should say : Now, since it is a fact that you cannot 
 serve God and mammon, be attent to serve God, and cease 
 to care for mammon, not worrying yourselves as to what 
 ye should eat and drink to sustain life, nor worrying about 
 dress wherewith to clothe your bodies. 
 
 Christ, desiring to persuade us that it is useless anxiety, 
 says : " what, and is not the life more than',' &c., meaning : 
 since God has given you lives which are much more than 
 the food by which they are sustained ; and since He has 
 given you bodies which are much more than the clothes 
 by which they are covered, you may rest assured that as 
 He has given you that which is more. He will also give 
 you that which is less, and being assured lose all care 
 respecting it. And Christ's will being that this should 
 
112 S. MATTHEW VI. 24-34. 
 
 penetrate our minds, He holding it to be most important, 
 says : " behold the birds of the air," &c., meaning : since you 
 see the beneficence that God exerts towards the birds of 
 the air, providing them with food without their labour and 
 without their solicitude, you may rest assured that He 
 will do the same with you, and so much the more so, as 
 you are more excellent than birds. 
 
 Christ uses the same argument in relation to the lilies 
 of the field, as in that of the birds of the air. And the 
 more effort He exerts to render us capable of receiving 
 this truth, in order that we may lose this solicitude, so 
 much the more do I think of our need of losing it ; and so 
 much the more am I ashamed, when upon reflection I find 
 myself not stript of it : and I pray to God that He may so 
 deliver me and strip me of it, that I may no more think 
 of what I have to eat, than do the birds of the air; and 
 that I may no more think of what dress I have to put on, 
 than do the lilies of the field ; for until I recognise myself 
 in this condition, I shall hold and adjudge myself to be 
 imperfect. By that expression, " which of you hy taking 
 thought,'' &c., Christ means, that since it is a fact that all 
 our carefulness is inadequate to cause the growth of our 
 bodies, and that without thought on our part God gives 
 growth as He pleases, why should w^e not lay aside all 
 care, remitting ourselves to our gracious God for the sus- 
 tenance of our bodies, since, in spite of ourselves, as it 
 were, we have to give up all thought as to influencing the 
 stature of our bodies ? 
 
 That expression, '' ye of little faith" is one of great 
 power, /or such, in truth, are we, all of us, who hear these 
 words of Christ, and do not at once make up oicr minds to 
 lay all care aside, as to that which conceims the present 
 life, transferring all our care to that which concerns the 
 life eternal. That expression, "/or after all these things do 
 the Gentiles seek" is likewise of great significance, where 
 Christ means, that we, who are the children of God, rege- 
 nerated by Him, and in Him, ought not to heed that which 
 
S. MATTHEW VI. 24-34. 113 
 
 occupies the heathen, for by regeneration and by renewal 
 we have ceased to be Gentiles, we have ceased to be 
 children of Adam, and have become children of God. 
 
 Christ then comes to the principal point. He says, 
 " Seek (first) then the kingdom of God," &c., wherein He 
 declares that our all and only care ought to be in seeking 
 the kingdom of God, and the righteousness of God, for it is 
 this which pertains to the life eternal. And in saying 
 " all these things shall be added unto you" He means, that 
 unto us, who shall seek the kingdom of God and His 
 righteousness, God will give us the one and the othef^and 
 will give us by way of addition, without our solicitude, 
 all that we shall need, to eat, drink, and dress. Where I 
 understand that they seek the kingdom of God, wdio, 
 coming out of the .kingdom of the world, renouncing the 
 rule and government of their human prudence, enter into 
 the kingdom of God, adhering to these words of Christ, 
 assured that they will be fulfilled in connection with 
 themselves, and so much the more, as they shall lose 
 personal solicitude. They likewise seek the kingdom of 
 God, who are certified that they will be well off there, 
 who go on longing for the fulfilment of those words, 
 which we have expounded in Christ's most holy prayer, 
 which say " may Thy kingdom come ; " and I understand 
 that they seek the righteousness of God, wlio accept the 
 general pardon which the Gospel proclaims, through the 
 justice of God already executed upon Christ. This is the 
 righteousness with which God justifies us, and this is the 
 righteousness with which possession is taken^ of the king- 
 dom of God. With the same, possession is defended ; and 
 with the same, it is preserved ; and the same bears those 
 who accept it to the glory of the resurrection. 
 
 Christ, in concluding this most divine and powerful 
 admonition, says, " Take there/ore no thought for the mor- 
 row" &c., whence He shows that His design throughout 
 all this has been to bring us to see the day, wherein we 
 shall take no thought as to what we shall eat, drink, or 
 
 H 
 
114 S. MATTHEW VI. 24-34. 
 
 how be dressed on the morrow ; since it suffices that 
 we take thought to-day for to-day, and to-morrow for to- 
 morrow. And in saying " sufficient itnto the day is its own 
 affliction" Christ shows that one of human miseries is to 
 take thought about eating and dress, although it be but 
 for a day ; and thus do they really feel, who have the spirit 
 of Christ, who would hold themselves to be happy, could 
 they do without eating and without dress. Thus do I under- 
 stand all these words of Christ, which put my imperfection 
 before- my eyes, so much so that I am ashamed of myself, 
 seeing that I fall so far short of what Christ requires of me. 
 
 As to the limitations with which these words are limited, 
 I remit myself to those who are more able than myself ; 
 taking this up, however, for myself (as I have said), I 
 shall hold myself to be imperfect, unUl I find myself as 
 free from thought as to what I shall eat to sustain life, as 
 are the birds of the air ; and as free from thought as to how 
 I shall dress as are the lilies of the field. I repeat this 
 statement, because I feel pleasure in doing it, and hence 
 for myself I need no limitation in these words, glad of the 
 opportunity to recognise my imperfection through them. 
 
 In every instance where He uses the word jxepifiva fiepifi- 
 v'q(T7)T€, /Jbepi/jLvdre, " thought," " think," the Greek words 
 mean more than thought ; they mean anxiety, solicitude. 
 It is indeed true that the evangelist uses it as simply to 
 think, as we shall see in chapter x., where Christ, in tell- 
 ing His disciples that they should not think as to what 
 they should say in their defence when brought before 
 worldly rulers^ for that the Holy Spirit would speak by 
 them, employs tliis same word, and there it clearly appears 
 that the evangelist uses the word in the sense of thought. 
 Where He says " mammon" * the Greek word signifies 
 " victuals" objects of food and dress. By the word " anima," 
 ^frvxVy He means life. 
 
 * Bengel, commenting upon this passage, says, *' Mammon does not only 
 mean ' riches,' but external goods, however few." 
 
5. MATTHEW VII. 115 
 
 CHAPTER VIL 
 
 VII. 1-5. — Judge not, that ye be not judged. 
 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be 
 judged : and with what measure ye mete, it shall 
 be measured to you again. And why beholdest 
 thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but con- 
 siderest not the beam that is in thine own eye ? 
 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull 
 out the mote out of thine eye ; and, behold, a beam 
 is in thine own eye ? Thou hypocrite, first cast out 
 the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt 
 thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy 
 brother's eye. 
 
 Christ proceeds to speak of the circumspection with 
 which they, who are the regenerated children of the king- 
 dom of heaven, ought to live amongst men of the world, 
 and to lay the last stone of this foundation of the Chris- 
 tian faith ; which done, it stands sound and firm against all 
 the assaults with which it is assaulted. He says : " Judge 
 not." Where it must be understood, that to judge the 
 lives of others is a peculiarity of saints of the world ; they 
 more especially do so of the most perfect. These judge 
 men's lives and condemn them, when men do not live as 
 they do. And this same proneness to judge is peculiar 
 to the saints of God, but to the imperfect ones ; for they 
 still retain the bad habit of the saints of the world, they 
 still savour of the root of worldly holiness, whence they 
 were cuttings. 
 
ii6 S. MATTHEW VII. 1-5. 
 
 Wherefore this being premised, it is to be understood 
 that Christ here, in forbidding to judge or to condemn, 
 shows that He is speaking to two classes of persons when. 
 He says, " Thou hypocrite, first cast out," &c. ; for not only- 
 are they hypocrites who feign to be what they are not, but 
 they are also hypocrites, who persuade themselves that 
 they are, what they are not. Such are the perfect saints 
 of the world, who, by their morality of life and by their 
 outward acts of righteousness, hold and esteem themselves 
 to be saints ; and such are the imperfect saints of God, 
 who have not yet cast off the yoke of the root of worldly 
 sanctity. And that it is a fact that the imperfect saints 
 of God are subject to this vice of condemning the works 
 of others, appears from St. Paul (Rom. xiv.) where he 
 censures judgment by the imperfect, whom he calls weak ; 
 and rebukes contempt in the perfect, to whom it is not 
 forbidden to judge, for that they judge with spiritual light 
 and not with natural light; for, according to St. Paul, " he 
 that is spiritual judges all things" (i Cor. ii. 15) ; and for 
 that in judging they do not condemn, as do hypocrites. 
 
 This being known, it is readily understood that Christ, 
 in speaking here with the most perfect saints of the world, 
 and with the imperfect saints of God, tells them to repress 
 and mortify their affection (their predisposition) to judge, 
 in order that God should not judge them. And in saying 
 "for with what judgment ye judge" &c.. He means the 
 same as St. Paul (Rom. ii. i), that he who judges another 
 passes sentence on himself by falling into the very crime 
 which he condemns. 
 
 This same sentence is urged again in that " and with 
 what measure ye mete," &c., which words are said to be 
 used as an adage or proverb in the Hebrew tongue, em- 
 ployed as between buyer and seller ; for he that sells by a 
 measure is bound to purchase by the same ; by that which 
 he gives, by that he receives. Christ expounding what He 
 has stated, says, " TFhy lookest thou at the mote," &c., mean- 
 ing, they who judge, have ever greater defects than have 
 
5. MATTHEW VII. 6. 117 
 
 they who are judged ; for the most perfect saints of the 
 world are they who judge most, and ordinarily they judge 
 God's saints, and they condemn them in some things, 
 that are either no defects in them, as were the outward 
 observances in relation to which Christ's disciples were 
 condemned by the scribes and the Pharisees, or they are 
 like the mote in the eye, compared with the beam that is 
 in the eye of the person judging them. 
 
 In saying, " then shalt thoio see" &c., Christ means that 
 man is incapable of knowing the defects of others, whilst 
 he has defects of his own ; just as one, who is bereft of 
 vision, is incapable of curing ophthalmia in another. And 
 because I have spoken of this judging in my commentary 
 upon St. Paul in Eom. xiv., I remit myself to what I have 
 said there. And from that, and from this, I take up this 
 truly Christian doctrine, that it is the safest thing not to 
 judge other men's works ; and I adopt this suggestion, 
 that when I shall see any one judge another's life, I shall 
 hold him to be either a perfect saint of the world, or an 
 imperfect saint of God, an imperfect Christian. 
 
 yil. 6. — Give not that which is holy unto the 
 dogs, neither cast ye your pearls (gems) before 
 swine : lest they trample them under their feet and 
 turn again and rend you. 
 
 Christ counsels spiritual persons, the children of the 
 kingdom of ' heaven, who are regenerated Christians, that 
 they should not converse about spiritual things or rege- 
 neration in the presence of men, who are either carnal 
 or malignant, because of consequent impropriety ; that is, 
 the carnal contemn and make a joke of things that are 
 spiritual, whilst the malignant slander, persecute, and 
 maltreat those, who tell them about spiritual things. The 
 carnal despise them, because they neither understand 
 them, nor do they feel them ; whilst the malignant per- 
 
ii8 S. MATTHEW VII. 6. 
 
 secute those, wlio present them to them, because they do 
 not wish that others should have what they have not. 
 
 This advice is at all times very necessary, and Chris- 
 tians ought to dwell much upon it. Where if one should 
 ask me, saying, If spiritual treasures are not to be pre- 
 sented or communicated, neither to the carnal nor to the 
 malignant, how shall it be possible to preach the Gospel, 
 which is holy, typified in pearls (gems), and is the true 
 spiritual and divine treasure ? and if it be not preached, 
 liow shall it be accepted ? — I shall answer him, that Christ 
 does not by these words prohibit the preaching of the 
 Gospel, which ought to be preached to all men throughout 
 the whole world ; but He forbids argument and conversa- 
 tion on Christian life, and on that which is connected with 
 it, amongst men who have not accepted the Gospel. To 
 what purpose do I tell, in what mode Christ is Lord of 
 God's elect, is Head of the Church of God, and is Kin^^ 
 over the people of God, to those who, not having accepted 
 the Gospel, know nothing of God nor of Christ ? What 
 use is it that I speak of the incorporation with which 
 man is incorporated by faith into Christ, with men who 
 have not accepted the Gospel of Christ in their hearts ? 
 What purpose have I in showing how God, in slaying 
 Christ on the icross, slew all them who believe in Christ, 
 and that God, iu raising Christ glorious, raised all, who 
 believe in Christ, glorious, (doing so) to them, who do not 
 believe in the Gospel of Christ ? To what end do I pro- 
 pound the doctrine of Christian life, which wholly consists 
 in mortification, to men who, forasmuch as they have not 
 accepted the Gospel, are devoted to the world ? 
 
 Be this, then, the conclusion : let the Gospel of Christ 
 be generally propounded to all, intimating to them the 
 general indulgence and pardon through the justice of 
 God executed upon Christ ; but the doctrine of Christian 
 life, let it only be propounded to those, who have accepted 
 the Gospel of Christ; and let the secrets of Christian 
 regeneration, the privileges which they enjoy, wlio are 
 
5. MATTHEW VII. 7-11. 119 
 
 the children of the kingdom of heaven, let these only be 
 conversed about with those, who begin to feel the fruits 
 and effects of the Gospel in themselves, ceasing to be 
 hogs, to be vicious and carnal ; and ceasing to be dogs, to 
 be malignant and perverse ; and beginning to live purely 
 and holily, following the obligation of Christian regenera- 
 tion. And the being dogs opposed to the saints of God, 
 I understand to be peculiar to saints of the world; for 
 these are they who turn against them, and tear them 
 to pieces with murmurs, with persecutions, and with 
 martyrdoms. From whom, let the saints of God, true 
 Christians flee, as from the plague. 
 
 VII. 7-1 1. — Ask, and it shall be given you; 
 seek, and ye shall find ; knock, and it shall be 
 opened unto you : For every one that asketh 
 receiveth ; and he that seeketh findeth ; and to 
 liim that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what 
 man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, 
 will he give him a stone ? Or if he ask a fish, will 
 lie give him a serpent ? If ye then, being evil, 
 know how to give good gifts unto your children, 
 how much more shall your Father who is in 
 heaven give good things to them that ask him ? 
 
 This counsel of Christ is in perfect keeping, when com- 
 bined with what He has said in the former chapter upon 
 prayer ; for He there teaches the children of the kingdom 
 of heaven how to pray and what to pray for ; whilst here 
 He teaches them that to pray well is to be importunate 
 in prayer ; and He assures them that they will obtain 
 what they shall ask in prayer. And that it is a fact, that 
 this counsel only concerns them, who are children of God 
 by regeneration, appears from the example that Christ 
 adduces of a father with his son. 
 
 We are all the children of God by creation, but this 
 
I20 S. MATTHEW VII. 7-1 1. 
 
 filiation does not constitute us friends of God; and we 
 have this in common with all creatures ; whilst all we, 
 true Christians, are incorporated into Christ, children of 
 God by regeneration, which filiation does constitute us 
 friends of God; for that God does not contemplate us 
 by what we are in ourselves, but by that which we are, 
 incorporated into Christ ; in whom we are just and holy, 
 because He is just and holy. Christ tells these children 
 that they should ask, that they should seek, and that they 
 should knock at God's door, whenever they shall desire to 
 have anything of God ; promising them that they shall 
 obtain from God all that they shall desire. And to confirm 
 them the more in this truth, in order that they thus may 
 be better assured of it — for it is assurance that gives life to 
 grayer — He says, "/or every one that a^keth'' &c., meaning, 
 that from this general they can take this particular, that 
 if they ask, that if they seek, and that if they knock, they 
 shall realise their desire. 
 
 That, ''what man is there peradventure" &c., is to confirm 
 us the more in the confidence in which Christ wills that 
 we be most confirmed and most assured ; and therefore 
 whenever He speaks of the confidence that we ought to 
 have in God, He insists more upon that than upon any- 
 thing else ; and thus says here, You are evil, and give your 
 children what they ask you, and do you doubt but that 
 your Father, who is most excellent, will give you what you 
 ask of Him ? 
 
 Here if one shall say : I doubt, because I do not hold 
 myself to be a child ; my reply to him shall be, that if he 
 has accepted the Gospel, he insults Christ in not holding 
 himself to be a child; showing that effectively he does 
 not believe that Christ is a child ; for, had he believed it, 
 having accepted the Gospel, and being by it incorporated 
 into Christ, he could not doubt as to his being a child. 
 And if another shall say : I doubt ; for, although I hold 
 myself to be a child, I hold myself to be a bad one ; I 
 shall answer him, that if he hold himself to be a child, by 
 
S. MATTHEW VII. 7-11. 121 
 
 his being good, he has reason to doubt, for this is a very- 
 grave error, attributing that to himself which is not his ; 
 and that, if by his incorporation into Christ, he does not 
 hold himself to be a good child, he very greatly insults 
 Christ, in doubting of the goodness, righteousness, and 
 holiness of Christ, in that he does not recognise himself, 
 by incorporation into Christ, to be good, just, and holy. 
 
 Let every Christian incorporated into Christ by ac- 
 ceptance of the Gospel stop his ears. I say, let him stop 
 the ears of body and mind, against human and diabolic 
 suasions, that would disturb his confidence in prayer; 
 and let him say thus : Christ is God's child, and I, incor- 
 porated into Christ, am a child of God : Christ, God's 
 good child, is just and holy, and [so] I am a good child 
 of God, just and holy ; and thus let him ask of God with 
 confidence, not doubting, nay being certain that he will 
 obtain what he asks, basing his assurance upon this promise 
 of Christ ; and it will issue in his obtaining what he 
 shall ask. 
 
 What has to be asked is stated in the preceding chapter. 
 Where it is to be understood that it concerns us, who are 
 Christians, to examine our desires, when we are moved 
 to pray ; to see whether we are moved to ask one of the 
 seven things which Christ teaches us in the Lord's prayer 
 that we should ask, in order that when they shall be 
 conformable to them, we may embrace them and ask 
 of God their accomplishment; and, when they shall be 
 contrary, that we reject them, and do not apply our- 
 selves to supplicate their accomplishment. That, " if ye 
 then that are evil," &c., is worthy of consideration, as against 
 our depraved nature through the first man's sin, through 
 which it is as natural to us to be bad, as, had Adam not 
 sinned, it would have been natural to us to have been 
 good. In Adam we are all bad, and in Christ we are 
 all good, who accept the general indulgence and pardon 
 which is proclaimed to us in the Gospel of Christ. Instead 
 of that which here says "shall give good things" St. Luke 
 
122 S. MATTHEW VII. 12. 
 
 says (chap. xi. 1 3), " shall give the Good Spirit,'' meaning 
 the Holy Spirit. I state this desiring to persuade 
 Christians to ask of God that He give them His Holy 
 Spirit, certain that He will give it to them, founding 
 their assurance upon this promise of Christ. 
 
 VII. 12. — Therefore all things whatsoever ye 
 would that men should do to you, do ye even so 
 to them : for this is the law and the prophets. 
 
 As to this passage, I neither understand how it depends 
 upon the words that precede it, nor how it fits in with 
 those that follow. St. Luke places them in association 
 with the perfection that St. Matthew places in the fifth 
 chapter, and puts them as the conclusion of it all ; and 
 then they fit in very well, for they include all that is 
 there stated ; for it is so, that he who shall do unto men 
 what he could wish that they should do unto him, will 
 never offend any one. The obligation of human genera- 
 tion requires that man should not do to another, what he 
 would not wish that another should do unto him ; whilst 
 the obligation of Christian regeneration, going further, 
 requires that he should do what he could wish should be 
 done unto him. Whence it is to be understood that they 
 greatly deceive themselves, who put moral philosophy 
 upon a par with Christian doctrine ; for moral philosophy 
 does not come up to the obligation of human generation, 
 whilst Christian teaching goes far beyond it.* 
 
 Christ, in saying, "foo^ this is the law and the prophets," 
 &c., means that the law and the prophets designed bring- 
 ing man to this, and that he who shall bring himself up 
 to it, will fulfil both it and them ; whilst he, who shall 
 fail to do so, will be condemned by it and by them ; unless 
 he shall have embraced the rigliteousness of Christ, which 
 frees from all condemnation those, who do embrace it, as 
 St. Paul states in Eom. viii. i. 
 
 * Question XXIII. 
 
S. MATTHEW VII. 13, 14. 123 
 
 YIII. 13, 14. — Enter ye in at tlie strait gate : 
 for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that 
 leadeth to destruction, and many there be which 
 go in thereat : Because strait is the gate, and 
 narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and 
 few there be that find it. ' 
 
 Because the flesh, which ever seeks and desires to walk 
 freely and unobstructed, and will in no way be restrained, 
 might give way, feeling the perfection that Christ here 
 proposes to be beyond its powers ; Christ, willing that His 
 regenerated ones be not led astray, scared by such perfec- 
 tion, says, "Enter ye in at the strait gate!' &c. Where it 
 seems that Christ conceived of two gates and of two ways : 
 one gate and one way arduous and difficult, and the other 
 gate and the other way easy and pleasant; the difficult 
 one leading to life eternal, and the easy one leading to 
 death eternal. And it is to be understood that just as 
 that which leads to eternal death is easy, is sweet and 
 palatable to the flesh, although the mind, w^ien revolving 
 it, finds therein difficulty and bitterness, without relish ; 
 so the way that leads to eternal life is difficult, bitter, and 
 insipid to the flesh, although easy, sweet, and palatable to 
 the mind regenerated by Christ. 
 
 These words understood thus are not contradictory of 
 what Christ states in chapter xi. 30, that His yoke is easy, 
 &c. ; for He there calls faith, with which the Gospel is 
 accepted, a yoke. He calls it sweet, for there is nothing 
 sweeter in the world than to feel remission of sins and 
 reconciliation with God through Christ ; and when calling 
 the doctrine of Christian life a burden. He calls it light, 
 for such it effectively is to those, who, having taken the 
 yoke of faith, feel the- effects of it. And He here calls 
 the doctrine of Christian life, of which He goes on to 
 discourser, the strait gate and the narrow way, meaning, 
 that it is such for flesh not mortified by faith. 
 
124 ^5. MATTHEW VII. 13, 14. 
 
 Christ, then, here relieves the difficulty of Christian life 
 by stating, that the man who walks by it is on the road to 
 immortality and eternal life ; just as the man who follows 
 a worldly life is on the road to perdition and eternal death. 
 
 In that, *'few there he that find it," He means, that they 
 will be few, who will go to life eternal, compared with the 
 multitudes, who will go to death eternal. And the reason 
 why they are few, is because that they, who take up the 
 yoke of Christian faith, without which the way of Chris- 
 tian life is never found, are but few. Christian faith is so 
 delicate a dish that few stomachs can bear it, and for that 
 reason St. Paul said (2 Thess. iii. 2), that " all have not 
 faith f' and since few have faith, they are few who find 
 the way of Christian life, which is the road that leads to 
 life eternal. 
 
 Whence it is to be understood that they, who, by accept- 
 ing the Gospel, begin to live like Christians, begin likewise 
 to enjoy eternal life, for they begin to live a life similar to 
 that which we have to live in the life eternal ; but this 
 they never believe, who experience nothing of it. Then 
 let us all, who have accepted the yoke of Christian faith, 
 labour to enter by the strait gate, to walk in the narrow 
 way, setting up before us the obligation of Christian 
 regeneration, mortifying all our carnal desires, never satis- 
 fying ourselves in anything that gratifies sensuality, 
 certain that we shall attain immortality and eternal life 
 with Jesus Christ our Lord. 
 
 After having written this, considering that expres- 
 sion, " and few there he that find it" I understand that 
 Christ calls Christian faith and Christian life, " the strait 
 gate " and " the narrow way" because they are both like 
 exquisitely tempered metal, of a perfection so great and 
 so subtle, that few hit upon it to understand it ; whilst 
 very few hit upon the expression of it. 
 
 And I understand, that because, after that man has hit 
 upon the perfection of Christian faith and upon the per- 
 fection of Christian life, he finds the greatest satisfaction, 
 
S. MATTHEW VII. 15-20. 125 
 
 both in the one and in the other, even as Christ says in 
 chapter xi., that His yoke is easy and His burden light. 
 But of this I have spoken in a reply (to a question). 
 
 VII. 15-20. — Beware of false prophets who 
 come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they 
 are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them hy their 
 fruits : Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of 
 thistles ? even so, every good tree bringeth forth 
 good fruit : but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil 
 fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, 
 neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 
 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is 
 hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore hy 
 their fruits ye shall know them. 
 
 It clearly appears that this admonition which Christ 
 gives His disciples did not serve at the time when He 
 lived amongst them bodily, but that it does for the time 
 when He lives with His disciples spiritually, for whom 
 this counsel is at all times most necessary, because false 
 prophets are ever grafting themselves amongst the true. 
 And it should be understood that Christ here calls them 
 false prophets, because He spoke during the time of the 
 law ; St. Paul calls them false apostles, because he spoke 
 during the time of the Gospel. I understand these to be 
 prophets and apostles, inasmuch as they preach Christ 
 and teach Christian life, having learned both one and the 
 other by scholarship ; and I understand them to be false, 
 for that they mix up Moses with Christ, and mix up the 
 law with Christian life. 
 
 The sheep's clothing which they wear I understand to 
 be the name of Christ and the Gospel which are frequently 
 on their lips, external poverty, verbal humility, austerity 
 of life, apparent contempt of the world, of its pomp and 
 
126 S. MATTHEW VII. 15-20. 
 
 of its riches. And I do not understand their "being 
 " ravening wolves " to consist in plundering other people's 
 property, but that just as wolves are a plague to sheep, 
 because they carry them off and devour them, so these are 
 the plague of Christ's sheep, for they separate them from 
 Christ and lead them to Moses ; they separate them from 
 the Gospel and lead them to the law ; as they had sepa- 
 rated the Galatians, as appears from the epistle which St. 
 Paul wrote to them. Christ tells us to beware of such 
 wolves, to keep our eyes upon them, lest they pervert us. 
 
 And in saying " hy their fruits ye shall know them," He 
 means, that looking well on their works, we shall recog- 
 nise them, as false prophets and as false apostles. The 
 works of a true prophet and apostle are humility of mind, 
 modesty, meekness, sincerity, and truth, and the resolute 
 mortification of all that is carnal and worldly; such an 
 one preaches Christ purely, without mixing Him up with 
 Moses ; and teaches Christian life purely, without mixing 
 it up with the law ; for he has Christ, the Gospel, and Chris- 
 tian life in his heart ; and he can only give of what he 
 has ; and it should be understood that Christian faith has 
 wrought this effect upon him. 
 
 The works of a false prophet and apostle are self- 
 esteem, whilst he is scandalous, turbulent, contentious, 
 false, malignant, and mendacious : such an one preaches 
 more of Moses than of Christ, although he names Christ 
 more than Moses ; and he teaches more law than Gospel, 
 because he has more of Moses than of Christ, and more of 
 the law than of the Gospel ; and he can only give of what 
 he has. And therefore most appositely does Christ com- 
 pare false prophets to a bad tree, comparing true prophets 
 and apostles to a good tree. iV«?/, it is so, that every man, 
 however high his moral virtue may he, if he is without 
 Christ, is a had tree; and hcing a had tree must neces- 
 sarily produce had fruit ; for the heart, ivhcnce the fruit 
 comes, is had ; just as every one, however weak and in- 
 firm he may be, if he is incorporated into Christ, is a good 
 
5. MATTHEW VII. 21-27. 127 
 
 tree ; and being a good tree must necessarily produce good 
 fruit ; for the heart, whence the fruit comes, is good, having 
 been renewed by the Holy Spirit. 
 
 And therefore St. James said well, SJiow me thy faith hy 
 tliy works, and I will show thee my faith hy my works" 
 meaning, that it profits nothing for me to say that I be- 
 lieve, if I do not show that I believe, by my living morti- 
 fied and even dead to the world ; because it is a fact that 
 mortification is the effect of faith, as are also humility and 
 charity ; for he that believes is humble and charitable. 
 
 Christ, in saying, " hy their fruits ye shall know theml^ 
 gives us, who are His, license to judge of the falsehood and 
 of the truth of them, who are not prophets and apostles, 
 by what we shall see of their outward lives ; so that when 
 we see that their life is ambitious, scandalous, and con- 
 tentious, we, holding them to be false and lying prophets, 
 should flee from them ; and, when we see that it is hum- 
 ble, modest, and pure, we, holding them to be true prophets, 
 unite ourselves to them. Tor which judgment we must 
 ever ask God to give us more and more of His Holy Spirit, 
 holding it to be certain that without Him, we shall never 
 know how to form it. 
 
 VII. 21-27. — Not every one that saith unto me, 
 Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven ; 
 but he that doeth the will of my Father, who is in 
 heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, 
 Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name ? and 
 in thy name have cast out devils ? and in thy 
 name done many wonderful works ? and then will 
 I profess unto them, I never knew you : depart 
 from me, ye that work iniquity. Therefore, whoso- 
 ever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, 
 I will liken him unto a wise man, who built his 
 liouse upon a rock : and the rain descended, and 
 
128 S. MATTHEW VII. 21-27. 
 
 the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon 
 that house : and it fell not, for it was founded upon 
 a rock. And every one who heareth these sayings 
 of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto 
 a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand. 
 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and 
 the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and 
 it fell, and great was the fall of it. 
 
 Christ, having largely instructed His disciples in the 
 obligation of Christian regeneration, which is peculiarly 
 theirs, who are in the kingdom of heaven, through their 
 acceptance of the grace of the Gospel, goes on to conclude 
 His instructions by saying, " JV^ot every one that saith unto 
 Me," &c., meaning, that to take possession of the kingdom 
 of heaven in the present life, so that we may continue it 
 in the life eternal, we must, when accepting the grace of 
 the Gospel by which we call Christ Lord, apply ourselves 
 to live Christianly, by the obligation of Christian regenera- 
 tion, as He teaches us it in these three chapters, confirming 
 our faith by our Christian life, and showing that we have 
 faith by our works. 
 
 And as to the man, who thinks to save himself, living 
 as they are wont to do, who live in the kingdom of the 
 world, saying that he has faith, Christ compares him to 
 one who builds his house upon the sand ; for that such 
 an one's faith, not being confirmed by the experience 
 of Christian life, being assailed, falls ; whilst the man, 
 who lives Christianly, in nonconformity to everything 
 worldly, confirms his Christian faith by his Christian life, 
 and is compared by Christ to the man who builds his 
 house upon the rock, for that such an one's faith, being 
 thus confirmed, although it be assailed, does not fall. 
 
 Whence it is to be understood that Christ's design is to 
 persuade us all, who accept His Gospel, to apply ourselves 
 to live as He has taught in this argument ; aiming by our 
 
5. MATTHEW VII. 21-27. 129 
 
 Christian life to show and give evidence of our Christian 
 faith, and to uphold ourselves in it, to defend and to main- 
 tain possession of the kingdom of heaven, into which we 
 enter by believing. And it is to be understood that the 
 faith, which does not lead a man to make up his mind to 
 live thus, and that does not bring him to do so, or at least 
 to wish to do so, to desire it, and to strive to come up to 
 it, is neither inspired nor revealed, but taught and historic. 
 
 I state this, that it may be understood, that the Christian 
 life of those who live Christianly is the effect of Christian 
 faith, and not of their human industry, that no man may 
 glory in the presence of God. Thus do I understand all these 
 words of Christ. And I understand, moreover, that because 
 there were many, who followed Christ through curiosity, 
 and others, who, in following Him, never applied them- 
 selves to live according to what He taught them; and because 
 Christ knew that there would always be many others in 
 the world like these, He, seeking to undeceive them both, 
 in order, that either they might apply, and may apply them- 
 selves, to live as He taught and teaches them ; or that they 
 might separate, and may separate, themselves from Him ; 
 and that they might and may leave Him ; and that they 
 might neither give nor may give Him an evil name by their 
 profane and worldly living. He says, ' JVot every one that 
 saith to Me," &c., meaning : that to enter into the kingdom, 
 it does not suffice that ye walk after Me, that ye call your- 
 selves Christians, and that ye call Me, Lord, for the prin- 
 cipal thing required is that you do the will of God. And 
 Christ means that the will of God is, that we apply our- 
 selves to live as He has here taught us ; and that we shall 
 not apply ourselves, unless we first receive the grace of 
 the Gospel, which mightily constrains us to resolve as 
 against the world and ourselves, and thus to apply ourselves 
 and bring ourselves to live in a Christian-like manner. 
 
 They, who do not accept the Gospel, cannot possibly live 
 Christianly ; whilst they, who do accept it, if they retain 
 the acceptance in their minds, to them it will be impos- 
 
I30 S. MATTHEW VII. 21-27. 
 
 sible but that they should by degrees come to live Chris- 
 tianly, following the obligation of Christian regeneration. 
 Christ, desiring to confirm this very thing, says, " Many 
 will say to Me in that day" &c., meaning, that at the 
 day of judgment there will be many, who, persuaded by 
 false prophets and apostles, shall have believed themselves 
 to be in possession of the kingdom of heaven, because they 
 called themselves Christians, and because they called 
 Christ Lord, and went through Christian ceremonies, and 
 wrought miracles in the name of Christ; not having 
 Christian faith, from which springs Christian life; and 
 that He will tell them all to depart from Him, for that He 
 does not know them, and that ihey are workers of 
 iniquity : and such are all, who are without Christ, how- 
 ever holy they may appear in the eyes of the world ; and 
 they are all without Christ, who doubt of justification 
 through Christ, and who, because they doubt, do not 
 apply themselves to Christian life. 
 
 I understand that clause, " Have we not prophesied in 
 Thy name ? " to concern false prophets and apostles, who 
 preach Christ with Moses, and the Gospel with the law, 
 living like heathen or like Jews. I understand that 
 clause, " and have we not in Thy name cast out devils ? " 
 together with that which follows it, to affect those, 
 who, to work exorcisms, incantations, and enchantments, 
 availed themselves of Christ's name and of God's name, 
 persuading themselves that they work it by virtue of 
 Christ, and of God, whilst in fact they work by diabolic 
 agency. I will not contend with him, who shall say that 
 there may be a faith to work miracles, in Christ's name, 
 where there is not faith in justification through Christ, 
 which is the foundation of Christian life. It is, indeed, 
 true that I cannot persuade myself that it is so, because 
 what St. Paul states (i Cor. xiii. 2), I understand as I there 
 have expounded it. 
 
 After that I had written this, recollecting that Christ's 
 disciples had the gift of working miracles, and wrought 
 
5. MATTHEW VII. 21-27. 131 
 
 them, before they could understand the mystery of the 
 Gospel, of the death of Christ, and of the resurrection of 
 Christ, although indeed they knew that Christ was the 
 Messiah, I understand that the gift of working miracles 
 may be in men, who may not have received the grace of 
 the Gospel comprehending it. In which apprehension 
 I am confirmed the more, remembering that Judas was 
 comprised in the number of the twelve, and that he like- 
 wise officially wrought miracles in the name of Christ. 
 
 In the comparison of those who build, it is to be under- 
 stood that in saying, " and doeth them," He means : and 
 applies himself to do them and to carry them out, not 
 contenting himself with saying : what He says is right ; 
 and I understand that this application cannot be, except- 
 ing where there is Christian faith ; for it is a fact that he, 
 who is not assured by Christian faith of his welfare in 
 the life eternal, can never wholly divest himself of affec- 
 tion for the present life and its interests, and whilst he 
 does not divest himself of this affection, he cannot apply 
 himself to the doctrine of Christ. 
 
 The rain, the floods, and the winds that beat upon the 
 house erected, I mean to say upon the Christian faith, I 
 understand them to be the persecutions of men of the 
 toorld, the false persuasions of hellish demons, and the 
 assaults of personal sensuality. 1 understand that these 
 beat upon Christian faith, and I understand that when 
 they find it confirmed by the experience of Christian life, 
 it stands sound, firm, and stahle ; just as when they find 
 it founded upon opinion and without experience of Chris- 
 tian life, they beat it to the earth, and its fall is so much 
 the greater, as the Christian profession is greater. And, 
 therefore, it is necessary that man establish his Christian 
 faith by the experience of Christian life, as I remember 
 to have written in a Consideration [cii.] 
 
 St. Matthew, in what he has written up to this point, 
 has set forth the greater part of Christ's teaching, respect- 
 ing which it is right and very necessary that the Chris- 
 
132 * S. MATTHEW VII. 28, 29. 
 
 tian hit the perfection spoken of above as illustrated in 
 the tempering of metals, ever remembering that he must 
 practise the greatest violence upon himself, resolving as 
 against the world and himself, in the maimer we have 
 above stated, and thus constrain himself to conform his 
 life, as far as it shall be possible to him, to this doctrine ; 
 and knowing that when any one shall fail in it, he is 
 not to hold himself as alienated from Christ, nay he has 
 to recognise the benefit of Christ, considering that had 
 Christ not satisfied and paid for him, he would be judged 
 and condemned by the judgment of God with all that 
 rigour wherewith they will be judged and condemned, 
 who shall not have accepted the general pardon, through 
 Christ, which is intimated to them in the Gospel ; by which 
 acceptance we come to Christian life, and although we fail 
 somewhat in it, we are not judged with this severity. 
 
 VII. 28, 29. — And it came to pass, when Jesus 
 had ended these sayings, the people were astonished 
 at his doctrine : for he taught as one having autho- 
 rity, and not as the scribes. 
 
 St. Matthew, having recorded this most divine argu- 
 ment of Christ, describes the effect which it wrought on 
 the minds of those that heard Him ; saying that they were 
 surprised, that they were astonished ; and stating the cause 
 whence the surprise sprang, he says, "/or He taught,'' &c.; 
 nieaning, that they were not so much surprised at what 
 He said, as at the majesty and authority with which He 
 said it, as Lord and Master of what He said, and not as 
 servant and subject to it, as were the scribes. 
 
 Here I understand that the difference, which there 
 was between Christ and the scribes, exists likewise be- 
 tween those, who, having the Spirit of Christ, teach by 
 experience, they also being Lords and Masters of what 
 they say; and those, who, holding Christianity by opinion, 
 teach by scholarship, not being masters of what they say. 
 
S. MATTHEW VII. 28, 29. 133 
 
 This difference they will have experienced in themselves, 
 who, having in their time tauojht from books, have come 
 to teach by experience, to teach with the spirit and not 
 with the letter; and they likewise experience it, who, 
 having heard what the scribes teach by learning, hear 
 Christians, who teach by experience ; teaching that which 
 they personally experience within themselves. 
 
 This consideration here presents itself to me, which 
 truly excites in me the greatest wonder : that ten words 
 of St. Peter, after the coming of the Holy Spirit, were of 
 greater power to convert men, than were all those which 
 Christ has here spoken. By which consideration I learn 
 three things. The first, how incapable we men are of 
 divine things, however much we may hear them discussed, 
 whilst the Holy Spirit does not inwardly move us. The 
 second, how much more generous is God with men, since 
 He has chastised all our sins in Christ, than He was 
 before that He had chastised them. And the third, that 
 Christ's peculiar office in the world was, not to convert 
 men, but to die for them, taking the sins of them all 
 upon Himself. And by how much the more I consider this, 
 so much the more am I assured of this truth, that God, 
 having chastised my sins in Christ, will never chastise me 
 for them; and I know this assurance works in me this 
 most singular effect, that it mortifies my desires to sin, and 
 brings me to such a state, that I could wish to be deprived 
 of all bodily and outward pleasure, in order to be wholly 
 absorbed in the consideration of this most singular benefit 
 of Christ, which affectionately attaches me to God and to 
 Christ, in the highest degree. 
 
 Here, this makes me marvel, that St. Matthew, having 
 stated at the beginning of the fifth chapter, that Christ 
 began to converse with His disciples, and having con- 
 tinuously sustained this argument, that he should here 
 say the people were astonished, from which it appears that 
 they heard it, for they were astonished ; but as to this, 
 I remit myself to those who understand it, willingly con- 
 fessing my ignorance. 
 
134 S. MATTHEW VIII. 
 
 CHAPTER Ylir. 
 
 YIII. 1-4. — When he was come down from the 
 mountain, great multitudes followed him. And 
 behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, 
 saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me 
 clean. And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched 
 him, saying, I will ; be thou clean. And imme- 
 diately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus saith 
 unto him, See thou tell no man ; but go thy way, 
 shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that 
 Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. 
 
 These things worthy of consideration present them- 
 selves in these words : First, that [declaration] he wor- 
 shipped Him, where the evangelist means that the leper 
 performed in relation to Christ, the ceremony which is 
 performed in the temple to God, which was that of pro- 
 strating himself upon the earth in token of obedience and 
 submission. Second: the faith that the leper had in 
 Christ, which he manifested by saying : " if Thou wilt. 
 Thou canst'' Third : the ease with which Christ healed 
 him, confirming in him, by the deed wrought, the opinion 
 which he had formed of Him. Fourth : that Christ com- 
 mands the leper that he should tell no one that He had 
 healed him : where I think that He commanded him to 
 do so, not in order that he should not tell it, but that 
 he should be the more moved by the prohibition to tell 
 it, in order that the number of those who should praise 
 God, might be greater. Fifth: that Christ, in sending 
 
5. MATTHEW VIII. 5-13. 135 
 
 the leper to the priest, taught in practice, that which 
 He had in the fifth chapter taught verbally, as to not 
 breaking the least commandment of the law, which, as 
 is said, had to be kept in all and everything until the 
 coming of the Holy Spirit. He, who would wish to 
 understand how this ritual, in relation to lepers, was 
 ministered in the time of the law, will read it in Leviticus 
 xiv., where he will learn it. That, " as a testimony unto 
 them" means, unto lepers cleansed from leprosy. 
 
 / yill. 5-13. — And when Jesus was entered into 
 Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, be- 
 seeching him, and saying, Lord, my servant lieth 
 at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. 
 And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal 
 him. The centurion answered and said. Lord, I 
 am not worthy that thou shouldest come under 
 my roof : but speak the word only, and my servant 
 shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, 
 having soldiers under me : and I say to this man. 
 Go, and he goeth ; and to another, Come, and he 
 Cometh ; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth 
 it. When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said 
 to them that followed. Verily I say unto you, I 
 have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. 
 And I say unto you. That many shall come from 
 the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, 
 and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven ; 
 but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out 
 into outer darkness : there shall be weepiug and 
 gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said unto the cen- 
 turion. Go thy way ; and as thou hast believed, so 
 
136 5. MATTHEW VIII. 5-13. 
 
 be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed 
 in the selfsame hour. 
 
 That which is principally worthy of consideration in this 
 miracle is that the centurion, having the faith in Christ 
 which he had, of which Christ Himself says, " Verily, I say 
 unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel," 
 held himself to be so vile and so bad, that he judged him- 
 self to be unworthy that Christ should enter his house ; 
 whilst, indeed, this man was so transcendent in faith, and 
 so excellent in manifested goodness, that he might have 
 held himself to be just and holy, and he might have held 
 Christ to be unworthy to enter his house. 
 
 Where it is well seen, how different are the effects that 
 faith produces, from those, which works without faith 
 produce ; since it is so that faith combined with works 
 humiliates, whilst works without faith inflate with vanity. 
 The cause of these effects being so contrary is this, that 
 man does not recognise any peculiar virtue in faith, and 
 thus he does not become vain, but by it and with it, he, re- 
 cognising his own peculiar defects, humbles himself ; whilst 
 in works without faith, man recognising his own peculiar 
 virtue, which knowledge blinds him, not allowing him to 
 see his defects, he cannot humble himself ; on the contrary, 
 he becomes vain. We have the experience of this in the 
 scribes and Pharisees, and in all who are saints of the 
 world. 
 
 Indeed it is a fact, that just as faith without works is 
 but a faith of opinion, and, more than that, dangerous, so 
 works without faith are not works of charity, but of 
 carnality, and, more than that, most dangerous. Faith is 
 the foundation of all good. And I call faith that which 
 gives credit to the promises of God, and which holding 
 God to be faithful and mighty, rests mentally assured, 
 with relation to the individual, that God will fulfil to him 
 all He promises ; and particularly does he hold himself to 
 be reconciled to God through Christ, not being terrified 
 
5. MATTHEW VIII. 5-13. 137 
 
 by any wickedness however great lie may recognise in 
 himself. And I call those 'works of faith' that give 
 evidence of faith, that are incompatible with feigning; 
 such are meekness, humility, Christian obedience and 
 charity ; which things do not exist save where there is 
 Christian faith. 
 
 I understand that Christ founded what He said of the 
 centurion, "I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel" 
 upon the words of the centurion himself; in which he 
 showed that he had a higher opinion of Christ than the 
 leper, who had said, " if Thou wilt. Thou canst make me 
 clean ; " and even than the disciples who followed Christ, 
 having left everything, knowing Him to be more than man, 
 and superior to all created things. And it is thus that in 
 saying, "for I also am a man" &c., it appears that he 
 meant to say : I am a man subject to men, and am obeyed, 
 at my word, by those who are subject to me ; how much 
 more then art Thou, who, being more than man, art not 
 subject to men, to be obeyed at Thy word by the creatures, 
 who are subject to Thee ? Whence it appears, that the 
 centurion recognised divinity in Christ, and from that he 
 gathered that Christ had greater power over diseases and 
 all other created things than he had over his soldiers and 
 his servants. 
 
 Christ took occasion from the incident with the cen- 
 turion to speak of the conversion of the Gentiles to the 
 grace of the Gospel, and thus He says, " / say unto you, 
 that many shall come" &c., whence I understand that they, 
 who accept the Gospel, being children of Abraham, enter 
 into the kingdom of heaven, and as far as it is possible, 
 sit down with Abraham, in this present life, and that 
 they will sit down more fully and perfectly in the life 
 eternal. Christ calls the Jews " the children of the king- 
 dom," because it appears that the kingdom of heaven 
 belonged to Abraham and to his seed ; and to them, as 
 children of Abraham after the flesh, the inheritance of 
 the world had been promised. These, Christ says, shall be 
 
138 S. MATTHEW VIII. 14, 15. 
 
 cast out into outer darkness, meaning into that which is 
 furthest from the light, where I understand that just as 
 we, who accept the Gospel, enter into possession of the 
 light of the kingdom of God, in the present life, where 
 we joy and rejoice through peace in our consciences ; so 
 they, who do not accept it, enter, in the present life, into 
 possession of darkness, of the kingdom of Satan, where 
 they weep and tremble through disquietude of their 
 consciences : we begin to taste the happiness of the king- 
 dom of God, and they began to taste the wretchedness of 
 the kingdom of Satan. 
 
 Christ, in saying to the centurion, " Go thy way, and 
 as thou hast believed, so he it done unto thee," greatly tends, 
 in the highest degree He does so, to confirm the faith of 
 those who believe ; we gain assurance that God will act 
 towards us according to our faith, and thus we are encour- 
 aged to stand sound, firm, and constant in it ; and to ask 
 of God that He increase it in us ; confident that we shall 
 through it, obtain of God all that we shall wish. 
 
 Whether another man's faith suffices to attain the inner 
 salvation of the soul, which was, as it appears in this in 
 stance, sufficient to attain the outer salvation of the body, 
 I leave to the examination of those who know it. 
 
 Where He says " servant," the Greek word Trat? also 
 signifies son, and I should have translated it son, but that 
 St. Luke, in narrating this miracle, uses another word, 
 Bov\o<;, which can only signify servant, boy, or slave. In 
 saying, "from the east and from the west," He means from 
 all parts of the world indifferently. 
 
 VIII. 14, 15. — And when Jesus was come into 
 Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid, and 
 sick of a fever : and he touched her hand, and the 
 fever left her : and she arose, and ministered unto 
 them. 
 
 Hence we learn clearly that St. Peter was married : 
 
S. MATTHEW VIII. 16-22. 139 
 
 whether he left his wife, or not, to preach the Gospel does 
 not appear : it is indeed true, that from what St. Paul 
 says (i Cor. ix. 5), it appears that he took his wife with 
 him wherever he went to preach. From what he says, 
 that St. Peter's mother-in-law, having been cured, minis- 
 tered unto Christ and His disciples, it is to be inferred 
 that Christ observed a certain mediocrity in His style of 
 life, without pomp and without austerity. The reason 
 why He neither came with pomp nor with austerity, I 
 have written in a Consideration (Ixxxix.), nay, I have set 
 down six reasons, just as I at that time apprehended them. 
 
 VIII. 16, 17. — When the evening was come, 
 they brought to him many that were possessed 
 with devils, and he cast out the spirits with his 
 word, and healed all that were sick ; that it might 
 be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the pro- 
 phet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare 
 our sicknesses. 
 
 St. Matthew shows the power of Christ, by saying that 
 He with a word cast evil spirits out of human bodies. As 
 to Isaiah's words, I remit myself to what they say, who 
 understand how they harmonise with the point in ques- 
 tion. 
 
 YIII. 18-22. — Now when Jesus saw great mul- 
 titudes about him, he gave commandment to depart 
 unto the other side. And a certain scribe came, and 
 said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whither- 
 soever thou goest. And Jesus said unto him, The 
 foxes have holes, and the birds of the heaven have 
 nests ; but the Son of man hath not where to lay 
 his head. And another of his disciples said unto 
 
I40 S. MATTHEW VIII. 18-22. 
 
 him, Lord, sujBfer me first to go and bury my father. 
 But Jesus said unto him. Follow me ; and let the 
 dead bury their dead. 
 
 In the book-learned scribe and theologian, I contem- 
 plate men of the world, who, seeing nothing in Christ but 
 what is prized and esteemed by the world, with little or 
 no reflection, resolve to follow Christ ; but when they see 
 in Christ abjectness, poverty, and humility, which are dis- 
 dained by the world, they give up their resolution. I 
 understand that Christ rejects these, by showing them 
 what there is in Himself, that is despised by the world, 
 for He will not have in His followers men, who cherish 
 human purposes and designs of covetousness, of ambitjon, 
 or of curiosity. 
 
 In the disciple I contemplate the children of God, 
 predestinated to life eternal, whom Christ constrains to 
 follow Him, causing them to desist from the fulfilment of 
 the obligation of human generation, [of birth], to fulfil 
 the obligation of Christian regeneration. The obli2:ation 
 of human generation led this disciple to bury his father ; 
 and Christ did not permit him to do so — telling him that 
 he should follow Him, in doing which he fulfilled the 
 obligation of Christian regeneration. Christ, in saying, 
 "let the dead hury their dead" means, fulfil thou the 
 obligation of Christian regeneration, and leave to the 
 unregenerate to fulfil the obligation of human genera- 
 tion. Here the law might cry out against Christ, saying 
 that He counselled this man to disobey the fourth [the 
 fifth] commandment of the decalogue ; where I understand, 
 that the Pharisees did not on this account cry out against 
 Christ, because it did not affect ceremonies, in the observ- 
 ance of which they were most superstitious, as are all men, 
 who, devoid of the Holy Spirit, pretend to religion. 
 
 I understand it to be of the greatest consolation to per- 
 sons called of God to follow Christ, to consider the case of 
 this disciple, because they rest assured, that Christ in act- 
 
5. MATTHEW VIII. 23-27. 141 
 
 ing with them as He did with him, will not allow them to 
 depart from Him, not even when they shall be provoked 
 by the obligation of human generation, in which piety of a 
 certain kind is involved. 
 
 That expression, " the birds of the heaven" is a Hebraism, 
 which calls the region of the air, heaven. Likewise that 
 expression, " the Son of man," is a Hebraism, which calls 
 men vile, abject, and plebeian, the children of man, or 
 of Adam, and is practically the same as though He had 
 called them men, in order that they might recognise their 
 abjectness and vileness in being formed of earth. 
 
 Where it has to be observed that Christ's humility is 
 not to be contemplated in the poverty and abjectness 
 in which He was born, but in that He was man, in which 
 He would have humiliated Himself, even though He had 
 been born emperor of the whole world, even as I have 
 written upon Philip, ii. Ezechiel, in his scripture, is 
 wont to call himself Son of Man. Here I will add this, 
 that, according to human judgment, it had been rea- 
 sonable had Christ admitted the scribe, who offered 
 himself, to His society, and that He should have re- 
 jected the disciple, who made excuses ; whilst Christ 
 did just the opposite. Where we may understand two 
 things : the one, that Christ knew the hearts of men, their 
 designs and their intentions — of which knowledge, an 
 infinitesimal portion is communicated to those, who have 
 the Spirit of Christ ; and the other, that it is the greatest 
 temerity to desire to judge the works of God, of the Son of 
 God, and even of those who are the children of God, un- 
 less it is with the same Spirit of God, with which they are 
 wrought, conformably with St. Paul's statement (i Cor. 
 xi. 15), that the spiritual judges everything, being himself 
 judged of no one. 
 
 VIII. 23-27. — And when he was entered into 
 a ship, his disciples followed him. And, behold, 
 
142 . S. MATTHEW VIIT. 23-27. 
 
 there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch 
 that the ship was covered with the waves : but 
 he was asleep. And his disciples came to him, 
 and awoke him, saying. Lord, save us : we perish. 
 And he saith unto them. Why are ye fearful, j 
 ye of little faith ? Then he arose, and rebuked the ' 
 winds and the sea ; and there was a great calm. 
 But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of 
 man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey 
 him ? 
 
 I understand that what occurred to these disciples of 
 Christ, occurs frequently to every one of us, who are His 
 disciples ; for that, just as the faith of these disciples was 
 exercised by the tempest on the lake, in order that they, 
 knowincf themselves to be unbelievinf]^ and wantincr in 
 faith, should humble themselves ; and desiring to have 
 much faith, should pray for it : so likewise the faith of 
 every one of us is exercised by divers tribulations and 
 temptations, in order that, we, knowing ourselves to be 
 unbelieving and wanting in faith, may humble ourselves ; 
 and desiring to have much faith, may pray to God for it. 
 These disciples had faith, for had they not had it, they 
 would not have followed Christ, neither would they have 
 gone to ask Him to deliver them from danger, but their 
 faith was weak and tottering ; for had it been strong and 
 firm, they would have been sure that they could not 
 perish, Christ being on board the boat with them, and 
 thus they would not have gone to awaken Christ, neither 
 would He have rebuked them with those words, " WJiy 
 are ye fearful, ye of little faith ? " Whence it is readily 
 inferred, that fear is an indication of little faith ; and if 
 the fear of these disciples of Christ, who had no particular 
 promise whereon to found their faith, was an indication of 
 little faith, how much greater an indication of little faith 
 will the fear of every one of us be, who indeed are not 
 
S. MATTHEW VIII. 28-34. 143 
 
 in the same boat with Christ, but who are incorporated 
 into Christ and have the great promises of God. 
 
 Let this tlien be the conclusion : he that fears, doubts : 
 and he that doubts, has little faith ; for had he had much 
 faith, he would not have doubted. And it does not avail 
 to say : I do not fear upon the part of God, but I do fear 
 for my part ; for what faith requires of me is, that 1 rest 
 assured upon the part of God and upon my own part, 
 basing my security not in myself, but in God and in 
 Christ. Here I will add this, that it is the greatest con- 
 solation for us, who being disciples of Christ, are weak 
 in faith, to consider that Christ did not reject these His 
 disciples on account of the weakness of their faith ; na}^ 
 that He saved and delivered them, as though they had 
 been strong in faith, because they knew themselves to be 
 weak in faith. 
 
 It was a great demonstration of Christ's divinity that 
 He was thus obeyed by the winds and the waves. 
 
 VIII. 28-34. — And when he was come to the 
 other side, into the country of the Gergesenes, there 
 met him two possessed with devils, coming out of 
 the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might 
 pass by that way. And, behold, they cried out, 
 saying, What have w^e to do with thee, Jesus, thou 
 Son of God ? art thou come hither to torment us 
 before the time ? And there was ■ a good way off 
 from them a herd of many swine feeding. So the 
 devils besought him, saying. If thou cast us out, 
 suffer us to go away into the herd of swine. And 
 he said unto them. Go. And w^hen they were come 
 out, they w^ent into the herd of swine : and, be- 
 hold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a 
 steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters. 
 
144 5. MATTHEW VIII. 2S-34. 
 
 And tliey that kept them fled, and went their ways 
 into the city, and told everything, and what was 
 befallen to the possessed of the devils. And, 
 behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus ; and 
 when they saw him, they besought him that he 
 would depart out of their coasts. 
 
 We learn many things in this story. First, that de- 
 moniacs dwelt in the tombs, or great sepulchres, outside 
 the city. Second, that demoniacs injured the public, since 
 St. Matthew says, that those were so terrible that no one 
 could pass that way. Third, that there is no convention 
 between Christ and the devil, since they themselves said 
 to Him, What have we to do with Thee ? 
 
 Fourth, that the demons knew Christ to be the Son of 
 God. Where I understand two things : the one, that 
 this knowledge is not to be called faith ; for there is no 
 faith, but where there is a promise. The demons were 
 promised nothing good by Christ ; and, therefore, although 
 they knew that Christ was the Son of God, they had no 
 faith, they did not believe they should have aught good 
 through Christ. And the other, that they have not 
 Christian faith, who know Christ to be the Son of God, 
 and believe that He has reconciled men with God ; unless 
 they surely and firmly hold that they are comprehended 
 in this reconciliation ; and thus hold themselves to be 
 friends of God, and are sure of their resurrection and of 
 their glorification. 
 
 Fifth, that a time is coming when demons have to be 
 tormented by Christ. I understand that this will com- 
 mence at the day of judgment; and then I understand 
 that what God said, when He cursed the serpent, who 
 deceived Eve, saying, " she shall bruise thy head," shall be 
 fulfilled. This is to be understood as involved in that 
 expression, " befo7^e the time." 
 
 Sixth, that demons have no power to injure, not even 
 
S. MATTHEW VIII. 28-34. 145 
 
 the brutes, unless God consent to their doing it ; a cause 
 of great satisfaction to Christians, for being assured that 
 the devil cannot injure them without the will of God, they 
 are sure that although he should assail them, in order to 
 separate them from God, he will not ruin them. 
 
 Seventh, that the devils hold it to be their province to 
 do injury, in any way they can ; and that being unable to 
 injure men, they go and injure hogs. 
 
 Eighth, that Christ cares but little about damage done 
 to property, since He did not care about the loss incurred 
 by the owners of the swine ; and here I learn whence it 
 proceeds, that persons, who have the spirit of Christ, attach 
 no value to outward things, beyond their use in bodily 
 sustenance. I also think that Christ permitted the inci- 
 dent of the hogs, that the miracle might be more evident, 
 and thus cause greater wonder. 
 
 Ninth, that just as the company of God, of Christ, 
 and of those who belong to God and to Christ, is sweet 
 and grateful to those who love God and Christ, so is 
 it dreaded and feared by men estranged from God and 
 from Christ. And no wonder, since, from experience, it 
 has been seen that many ungodly men have perished by 
 associating with the servants of God. Abimelech's is a 
 case in point. He suffered injury by associating with 
 Abraham (Gen. xx.) Egypt will testify to the truth of 
 this, how severely was it chastised on account of the 
 Jewish nation (Exod. vii. 14). Those kings, who were 
 ejected from the land of promise will bear testimony to 
 this (the narrative is found in the Book of Joshua) ; and 
 Jerusalem, that was destroyed by way of chastisement 
 for Christ's death, will testify to this. And thus it is no 
 marvel, that these Gergesenes besought Christ, that He 
 should depart out of their coasts, fearing that through 
 His company some evil would come upon them ; as, in 
 point of fact, evil almost ever befalls the servants of the 
 world from association with the servants of God — not 
 from defect of those, who are God's; but by the malice 
 
 K 
 
146 S. MATTHEW VIII. 28-34. 
 
 and malignity of those who belong to the world, who 
 exercising their ungodliness against the servants and chil- 
 dren of God, provoke the anger of God against themselves, 
 and are thus so treated, that it had been better for them 
 never to have known them. Therefore it would be good 
 and sound counsel for the children of the world not to 
 embarrass themselves with the children of God, but to do 
 as these Gergesenes did with Christ — entreating them to 
 depart from them ; but not constraining, or forcing them, 
 to do so, as did these with Christ. 
 
 Tenth. It is to be understood here, that it behoves the 
 children of God not to contend with nor set themselves in 
 opposition to those, who do not desire their society, but to 
 depart peacefully from them, as did Christ from these 
 Gergesenes. 
 
S. MATTHEW IX. 147 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 IX. 1-8. — And lie entered into a boat, and 
 passed over, and came into his own city. And, 
 behold, they brought to him 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. And, behold, 
 certain of the scribes said within themselves. This 
 man blasphemeth. And Jesus knowing their 
 thoughts, said. Wherefore think ye evil in your 
 hearts ? For whether is easier to say. Thy sins be 
 forgiven thee ; or to say, Arise, and walk ? But 
 that ye may know that the Son of man hath power 
 on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick 
 of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto 
 thine house. And he arose, and departed to his 
 house. But when the multitudes saw it, they mar- 
 velled, and glorified God, which had given such 
 power unto men. 
 
 St. Matthew shows Christ's principal aim in curing 
 this paralytic, by recording the effect which resulted from 
 the cure ; this being, that the multitudes glorified God, 
 who had given such power to Christ. From this occur- 
 rence we learn this : 
 
 First, That Go(iis wont to do good to some, to promote 
 faith in others. Although one might state that in saying 
 " their faith," that of the paralytic was also comprehended. 
 
148 S. MATTHEW IX, i-8. 
 
 Second, That if, indeed, love were blended witli faith, in 
 those who carried the paralytic, the evangelist states that 
 Christ had regard to their faith, as the root whence the 
 love proceeded ; for it is certain that if they had not be- 
 lieved that Christ could heal the paralytic, and that He 
 would heal him, they would not have wrought that work 
 of love in carrying him to Christ. 
 
 Third, We here learn that Christ had authority to par- 
 don sins, even before they had been chastised in Himself ; 
 and, if before, how much more afterwards ? 
 
 Fourth, We see in this case what occurs to many, who 
 go to hold a conversation with a Christian, and get from 
 him what they never purposed nor thought of : and this is 
 what occurs to all, who are the children of God, that they 
 get from God, more than their imagination ever grasped. 
 
 Fifth, We learn as to men destitute of the Spirit, that 
 the more learned they are, so much the more rash are they 
 in judging; as was the case with these scribes, men of 
 letters or theologians, who, hearing Christ say, " th^j sins 
 are forgiven thee',' immediately condemned Christ in their 
 minds, as a blasphemer against God ; for that He, according 
 to them, usurped to Himself, that which belonged only to 
 God ; in that, sins are offences done against God, and that 
 it is for the offended to pardon. 
 
 Sixth, We learn that Christ knew the minds and hearts 
 of men, though indeed we have already seen this. " Wliy 
 thinh ye evil in your hearts f " is tantamount to, why have 
 ye evil thoughts ? I think that Christ constituted the 
 greater facility in saying, " thy sins are forgiven thee" 
 than in saying, " take ujp thy bed and walk;" in this, that 
 the effect of the one could be seen, whilst that of the other 
 could not. It involves beyond all comparison a greater 
 result to forgive sins, than to cure a paralytic ; but the 
 evidence of the cure of the paralytic is likewise greater 
 than that of tlie forgiveness of sins ; and therefore 
 Christ, desiring to assure the scribes of the remission of 
 sins, which was the greater result, cured the paralytic, 
 
5. MATTHEW IX. 9-13. 149 
 
 which was more evident ; so that the paralytic got inner 
 soundness by his faith and that of those, who carried him 
 to Christ ; and he got outer soundness by the murmurs of 
 the scribes. 
 
 And the seventh thing, that we learn here, is, assurance 
 of what St. Paul says (Eom. viii. 28), " That to those, who 
 love God, all things work together for good." We have yet 
 to consider that expression, " take up thy hedl' Before that 
 Christ had cured him, he was brought upon a bed ; and 
 after that he had been cured, he carried the bed upon his 
 shoulders ; which fact rendered the miracle more brilliant ; 
 and then it well issued in what St, Matthew states, that 
 the multitudes who witnessed it, marvelled and glorified 
 God. 
 
 IX. 9-13. — And as Jesus passed forth from 
 thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at 
 the receipt of custom : and he saith unto him, 
 Follow me. And he arose and followed him. And 
 it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, 
 behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat 
 down with him and his disciples. And when the 
 Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why 
 eateth your Master with publicans and sinners ? 
 But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, 
 They that be whole need not a physician, but they 
 that are sick. But go ye and learn what that 
 meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice : 
 for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners 
 to repentance. 
 
 In the call of St. Matthew we learn that there is no 
 man so bad, who, considering his sins, need think that the 
 kingdom of heaven is shut against him. " The receipt of 
 custom " was the toll-house, where they sat, who collected 
 
ISO 5. MATTHEW IX. 9-13. 
 
 the toll, an excise duty or poll-tax ; they who filled this 
 office were held to be infamous, and were called publicans ; 
 an epithet expressive of something worse than sinners. 
 In Castile [of which our author was a native] there was 
 a period in which this office was held to be so infamous, 
 that scarcely any, save Jews, discharged it. 
 
 Considering Christ seated at table in the publican's 
 house with publicans and sinners; the goodness and 
 mercy of God present themselves before me, which 
 attracted those, who enjoyed Christ's company, whom 
 the Gergesenes had expelled from their coasts, scared 
 and terrified by the miracle ; and the humility and meek- 
 ness of Christ, who, being righteousness and purity itself, 
 did not feel ashamed to be seated amongst such people. 
 
 Considering the scandal of the Pharisees, brings before 
 me the extreme difference that there is between the saints 
 of the world, and the saints of God. The saints of the 
 world, founding their sanctity upon the opinion which 
 the world entertains of them, flee the society and inter- 
 course of men who bear an evil name and bad reputation ; 
 whilst the saints of God, founding their sanctity upon the 
 opinion which God holds of them, only avoid the society 
 and intercourse which would profane their minds and 
 corrupt their morals ; caring nothing for the opinion which 
 the world may form of them. The saints of the world, 
 aiming at worldly glory, apply themselves to serve God 
 and to serve their neighbour, by things that make external 
 show ; they make sacrifices to, and assist, their neighbour, 
 with corporeal benefits : whilst the saints of God, aiming 
 at the glory of God, apply themselves to serve God and 
 to serve their neighbour, by inward things, " in holiness 
 and righteousness'' (Luke i. 75), and by the Gospel of 
 Christ. The saints of tlie world are scandalised by those 
 who are not like themselves, whilst the saints of God 
 grieve for and compassionate those who are not the saints 
 of God. 
 
 In St. Mark ii. 15, we learn that the house where 
 
S. MATTHEW IX. 9-13. 151 
 
 Christ was seated at meat, was St. Matthew's own ; Christ 
 took him away from the toll-house with Himself, and 
 then went to visit him in his own house. 
 
 Christ, in saying, " that the ivhole need not a physician," 
 expressed the opinion which the Pharisees had of them- 
 selves ; as though He should say. You hold yourselves to 
 be sound, whilst these hold themselves to be sick; and 
 therefore it concerns me, who am a physician, to converse 
 and treat with these, and not with you ; and when Christ 
 adds, " but go ye and learn" &c., He expressed the opinion 
 which He had of them ; showing them that by the very 
 fact, that they murmured against Him, they proved that 
 they did not understand what Hosea (vi. 6) says, " / will 
 have mercy and not sacrifice ; " since it appeared to them 
 to be wrong that He should exercise Himself in piety, in 
 being with those publicans and sinners ; bringing them 
 to repentance; that they should cease to be publicans 
 and sinners ; and that they should become holy and right- 
 eous; in doing which, that mercy is exercised which 
 pleased God, much more, during the time of the law, 
 than the sacrifices of animals, which were made by order 
 of God Himself ; and if this was so in the time of the 
 law, how much more shall it be so in the time of the 
 Gospel ? 
 
 In the Hebrew, the word, which we here translate 
 mercy, signifies likewise piety, religion, and holiness : and 
 it is well to know that the prophet having said, " mercy" 
 piety, religion, or holiness, " are what I will have, and not 
 sacrifice," adds, "and the knowledge of God, rather than 
 holocausts," where I understand the same meaning to be 
 repeated with increased force, for the knowledge of God 
 is the same, but a little more than mercy ; just as a 
 holocaust is the same, but a little more than a sacrifice ; 
 and it is so, that there can be no mercy, piety, or holiness, 
 where there is no knowledge of God ; for these things are 
 the effect of the knowledge of God ; and it likewise is so, 
 that neither the sacrifices nor the holocausts of men, who 
 
152 'S. MATTHEW IX. 9-13. 
 
 are unacquainted with God, who want the true knowledge 
 of God, can please God, for they are without mercy, with- 
 out piety, and without holiness. 
 
 Those words of Christ, "for I am not come to call the 
 righteous, hut sinners to repentance!^ are terrible as against 
 the saints of the world, who hold themselves to be right- 
 eous before God, because they are righteous before the 
 world ; because they do nothing for which men of the 
 world can condemn them. They do not consider how 
 very wide is the difference between the judgment of God 
 and the judgment of man. Christ says that He did not 
 come to call such, because, they holding themselves to be 
 righteous, never do epibrace the righteousness of Christ. 
 And He says that He came to call sinners to repentance, 
 in order that they, recognising their unrighteousness, 
 may remit themselves to the righteousness of God ; and 
 that thus, ceasing to be sinners, they may be righteous, 
 not in their own estimation, but in the estimation of God, 
 who considers them, not by that which they are in them- 
 selves, but by that which they are in Christ. 
 
 It seems to me to be the right thing here to counsel 
 every Christian, that, on the one hand, he strive so to live 
 amongst men of the world, that with open face he may be 
 enabled to say with Christ, " Which of you convinceth 
 Me of sin ? " (John viii. 46) ; whilst, on the other hand, 
 he may keep himself as from fire, from the thought of 
 pretending upon this account to be just before God ; nor 
 even to be esteemed just or perfect in the opinion of men, 
 and much less so of those, who have to be edified and 
 benefited by his teaching and conversation : stopping his 
 ears to the suggestions of human prudence, when it sug- 
 gests that it is well to hide his defects that he may not 
 lose credit with those whom he teaches, for under this 
 zeal there is venom. The human mind is most arrogant, 
 and however much it be humiliated, it needs to be still 
 more humbled, and there is nothing that more humiliates 
 us than to see that others know our defects ; and there- 
 
5. MATTHEW IX. 14-17. 153 
 
 fore saints have not been ashamed to publish theirs, as did 
 St. Paul, who published [the fact] that he was tempted 
 by carnal appetite, after that he had been caught up into 
 the third heaven. 
 
 IX. 14-17. — Then came to him the disciples of 
 John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, 
 but thy disciples fast not ? And Jesus said unto 
 them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn 
 as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the 
 days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken 
 from them, and then shall they fast. No man 
 putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, 
 for that which is put in to fill it up, taketh from the 
 garment, and the rent is made worse. Neither do 
 men put new wine into old bottles, else the bottles 
 break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles 
 perish : but they put new wine into new bottles, 
 and both are preserved. 
 
 Scarcely had Christ replied to the calumny, when He 
 is assailed by the doubt which irritated St. John the 
 Baptist's disciples, who, when they saw the liberty with 
 which Christ's disciples lived, free from those ceremonious 
 fasts with which they saw the Pharisees burdened, they, 
 marvelling that Christ should leave His disciples that 
 liberty, asked Him the reason of it ; with no malignant 
 spirit like that of the Pharisees, but with a simple and 
 honest spirit ; and hence Christ does not answer them as 
 He did the Pharisees, but gives them the explanation of 
 that which they asked Him. 
 
 Whence we understand that it behoves Christians (who 
 ordinarily are either calumniated by saints of the world, or 
 fall under suspicion of those, who, beginning to be saints 
 of God, still retain the bad habits of saints of the world), 
 
154 S- MATTHEW IX. 14-17. 
 
 to counteract saints of the world with Holy Scripture ; 
 and to give a reason for themselves to imperfect saints of 
 God, to those, who do not come with malice but with 
 sincerity. 
 
 As to fasting, it has been already stated that a Jewish 
 fast was an affliction that lasted throughout a day, as 
 appears from Joel ii. 13, and as appears also here from 
 what Christ says : " They cannot mourn" as though mourn- 
 ing and fasting were the same. As to Christ's answer, he 
 who shall combine it with what St. John the Evangelist 
 reports of the Baptist's statement, " He that hath the hride 
 is the bridegroom," will judge that it was most appropriate, 
 that Christ, in speaking with the disciples of St. John, 
 should call Himself the Bridegroom, since St. John him- 
 self had done so. Christ is the Bridegroom, for He has 
 the Bride, who is the Church, which He has purchased 
 with His blood ; washing it and cleansing it in His blood, 
 with it and by it ; implanting the faith in it by which it 
 believes that it is Christ's spouse, cleansed and washed 
 with the blood of Christ, who took upon Himself all His 
 bride's pollution, and by dying upon the cross delivered 
 her from it ; and thus the bride remained clean and the 
 Bridegroom most clean. We who believe, are the children 
 of this marriage, and by believing, enjoy the purity of 
 Christ's spouse, being ourselves the spouse. These cannot 
 fast, nor mourn, nor weep, nor be sad, whilst Christ is with 
 them, and they are with Christ ; but when Christ has left 
 them, then indeed they fast, and in despite of themselves. 
 
 This was so to the letter with the disciples of Christy 
 who, whilst they had Christ's bodily presence, had nothing 
 to cause them grief or sadness ; as Christ Himself alBfirms, 
 where He says in Luke xxii. 35, "Lacked ye anything V 
 But after that they lost Christ's bodily presence, there 
 came upon them labours, sorrows, and griefs, caused by 
 persecutions, which, although they wrought inward joy, 
 did not fail to grieve and vex the flesh. This is realised 
 by all who are disciples of Christ : whilst Christ is with 
 
5. MATTHEW IX. 14-17. 155 
 
 them, making them feel His presence, no grief of any- 
 kind can invade them : separated from Christ, not feeling 
 Christ's presence, then they are sad, nay, no joy can move 
 them. This also ever holds, whilst they who are disciples 
 of Christ are with Christ and Christ is with them ; they 
 never fast ceremoniously, nor do they attend to any other 
 similar ceremonies; but when, neglectful of Christ, Christ 
 leaves them, then they begin to practise fasting and other 
 ceremonies, even as I have set forth at length in a reply. 
 
 Christ, desiring to give St. John's disciples still further 
 satisfaction, says, " n.o man patches an old garment with 
 new cloth ; " as though He should say, and for the same 
 reason that no man is in the habit of patching an old 
 garment with new cloth, on account of the incidental 
 damage ; for that the old cloth of the garment being 
 unable to resist the strength of the patch of new cloth, it 
 comes to pass that it tears, and thus the rent or hole in 
 the garment becomes larger ; so it is not my habit to 
 teach either the Pharisees, or those, who are not my 
 disciples, that they should not fast, for the inconvenience 
 that would follow ; for the new doctrine, which is peculiar 
 to those, who are my disciples, being incompatible with 
 the old habits of pretension to sanctity, it would come to 
 pass that from being superstitious and ceremonious, they 
 would become vicious and licentious. 
 
 Conforming myself with this, I have repeatedly stated 
 that the doctrine of Christian and spiritual life is not to 
 be propounded, save to those, who, having accepted the 
 general indulgence and pardon proclaimed in the Gospel, 
 begin to witness concerning themselves, and to evince that 
 faith is efficacious in them, as it is in all those, who be- 
 lieve through inspiration and divine revelation. When 
 He says, " taheth from the garment^' He means, that the 
 new patch by dragging^ draweth after itself that which 
 took the seam of the old cloth. 
 
 Christ, not resting contented with what had been said, 
 because He wished to send St. John's disciples away fully 
 
156 S. MATTHEW IX. 18-26. 
 
 satisfied, adds, ''neither do they put new wine in old skins.'' 
 Whence I understand that we all, who are Christ's 
 disciples, are new skins, for that we are regenerated and 
 renewed by the Holy Spirit ; and I understand that they 
 are all old skins, who, being without this regeneration and 
 renovation, pretend to godliness. I likewise understand 
 that the doctrine of Christian and spiritual life is new 
 wine, which began its existence in the world with Christ, 
 whilst I understand that the doctrine of moral life and 
 legal life is old wine. And thus Christ's meaning is, that 
 He did not teach those, who were not His disciples, as His 
 own disciples, because the teaching and the persons taught 
 would be lost ; and He concludes that just as new wine 
 does well in new skins, so the teaching of Christian life, 
 which is new, does well in persons regenerated and re- 
 newed by the Holy Spirit, who preserve the teaching and 
 are preserved by the teaching. In saying, " if otherwise" 
 He means, and if it be not done thus, if it be done other- 
 wise. The skins that held the wine served as leathern 
 bottles. 
 
 IX. 18-26. — While he spake these things unto 
 them, behold, there came a certain ruler, and wor- 
 shipped him, saying, My daughter is even now 
 dead : but come, and lay thy hand upon her, and 
 she shall live. And Jesus arose, and followed him, 
 and so did his disciples. And, behold, a woman, 
 who was diseased with an issue of blood twelve 
 years, came behind him, and touched the hem of 
 liis garment : for she said within herself. If I may 
 but touch his garment, I shall be whole. But 
 Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he 
 said, Daughter, be of good comfort ; thy faith hath 
 made thee whole. And the woman was made 
 
S. MATTHEW IX. 18-26. 157 
 
 whole from that hour. And when Jesus came into 
 the rulers house, and saw the minstrels and the 
 people making a noise, He said unto them, Give 
 place : for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And 
 they laughed him to scorn. But when the people 
 were put forth, he went in, and took her by the 
 hand, and the maid arose. And the fame hereof 
 went abroad into all that land. 
 
 Everything connected with these two miracles teaches 
 us the power of faith, which obtains from God as much 
 as it needs to believe tJiat, which it will obtain. The 
 ruler believed, that if Christ touched the hand of his 
 daughter, that she would be brought again to life ; and, 
 when Christ touched the child's hand, she was brought 
 again to life ; the woman, who had the issue of blood, 
 which she had had so many years, believed, that if she 
 touched the fringe or hem of Christ's garment, she would 
 then be cured ; and when she touched the hem of Christ's 
 garment, she then was cured. 
 
 Whence Christians will consider that since it came to 
 pass that these obtained from Christ as much as they 
 believed, that they should obtain even of those things that 
 will be in a manner accessories to Christ's coming ; it will 
 also come to pass that they will obtain from Christ and 
 through Christ as much as they shall believe that they 
 are to receive ; and so much the more as the purpose of 
 Christ's coming was to give them that which they believe 
 they are to receive through Christ, namely, immortality 
 and eternal life, of which they have the amplest promises 
 of God. 
 
 This ruler, as appears from St. Mark and from St. Luke, 
 was prince, or lord of one of the synagogues of that land, 
 where the Jews assembled. As to "worship," this was 
 treated of in the former chapter. The case of this woman 
 is reported more fully by the other evangelists. Those 
 
158 5. MATTHEW IX. 27-31. 
 
 words of Christ, " he of good comfort, daughter," tend to 
 confirm the woman's faith : and Christ in saying, " thy 
 faith hath made thee whole," appears to have purposed to 
 remove from the woman any thought she might have, that 
 the touch of the hem of Christ's garment had cured her ; 
 in order that she might be certain that it was not the 
 touch which had cured her, but the faith with which she 
 had touched ; that she should attribute her being made 
 whole, not to the touch, but to the faith with which she 
 touched. 
 
 And here I understand that the Jewish saints, who 
 justified themselves by performing that which the law 
 commanded, did not attribute their justification to their 
 works, but to the faith with which they believed them- 
 selves to be righteous in working, even as I have set this 
 forth in a Consideration (xi.) That expression, ''the 
 minstrels," reveals a custom of those times. That, " and 
 they langhed Him to scorn" occurs daily, for that they, 
 who, although they confess another life with their lips, in 
 which they do not believe with their hearts, always mock 
 and laugh at those, who, incorporated into Christ, hold 
 themselves to be dead and to be quickened in Him ; and 
 begin to live in the present life as quickened with the 
 purity and sincerity, with which they have to live in the 
 other life : whilst they, who mock and laugh at them, may 
 rest assured that they mock and laugh at Christ; and 
 they who are mocked and scorned may rest assured that 
 they are members of Christ ; and may know as certain 
 that God holds them as dead, as quickened and as glori- 
 fied in Christ, and through Christ. 
 
 IX. 27-31. — And when Jesns departed thence 
 two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, 
 Thou Son of David, have mercy on us. And when 
 he was come into the house, the blind men came to 
 
5. MATTHEW IX. 27-31. 159 
 
 liim : and Jesus saitli unto them, Believe ye that 
 I am able to do this ? They said unto him, Yea, 
 Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying. Accord- 
 ing to your faith, be it unto you. And their eyes 
 were opened ; and Jesus straitly charged them, 
 saying, See that no man know it. But they, when 
 they were departed, spread abroad his fame in all 
 that country. 
 
 It is worthy of consideration in the case of these two 
 blind men, that Christ, willing to cure them, does not ask 
 them whether they had led good Hves, nor whether they 
 had wrought good works ; neither does He command them 
 to do such ; He simply asks them whether they believe, 
 if they have faith, and thus He gives them the soundness 
 that corresponds with their faith. Whence I consider 
 that j'ust as the works, that faith wrought in these blind 
 men, led them to follow after Christ, shouting and asking 
 to be made sound ; so the works that faith operates in us, 
 w^ho, believing in Christ, aim at the attainment of immor- 
 tality and eternal life through Christ, lead us to follow 
 after Christ, shouting and asking of Him immortality and 
 eternal life. And I include and involve in the following 
 after Christ, imitation of Christ, and living as Christ lived. 
 And I include and involve in the shouting, continuous 
 prayer, which is so annexed to following after Christ, that 
 they never part company. They, who pretend to attain im- 
 mortality and eternal life by their works, never go crying 
 out after Christ, and thus their life is unlike Christ's ; 
 nor are their prayers Christian prayers, for they are not 
 founded upon Christ. 
 
 Christ, in charging those men not to tell who had cured 
 them, did not design that they should not tell, but that 
 they should tell it the more, as I have stated in the 
 preceding chapter upon the leper. Christ understood 
 well the nature of us men, who are inclined to do that 
 
i6o S. MATTHEW IX. 32-34. 
 
 whicli we are prohibited ; and therefore when He wished 
 that a thing should be known, He said that it should not be 
 told, and He succeeded in His purpose. It is indeed true 
 that these men, in disobeying Christ, did not, as I under- 
 stand, think of doing wrong ; nay, I understand that they 
 thought to do well, when they manifested their gratitude for 
 the benefit they received, by disregarding that which Christ 
 commanded them : for they believed that it was through 
 modesty, and not because He indeed felt displeased at its 
 being told. And although this is a fact, yet seeing that, 
 after all, these men did the opposite of what Christ com- 
 manded them, I do not know what they shall reply to this, 
 who would fain that Christ should first heal the minds of 
 those whose bodies He healed. In saying, " spread abroad 
 his fame," it means, that they spread Christ's fame abroad, 
 publicly notifying who He was. 
 
 IX. 32-34. — As they went out, behold, they 
 brought to him a dumb man possessed with a devil. 
 And when the devil was cast out, the dumb spake : 
 and the multitudes marvelled, saying, It was never 
 so seen in Israel. But the Pharisees said, He cast- 
 eth out devils through the prince of the devils. 
 
 Three notable things are combined in this miracle : the 
 first, that the man was delivered from the demon, that his 
 tongue was unbound, and that he spoke : the second, the 
 wonder that this fact wrought upon the multitudes ; and 
 the third, the calumny of the Pharisees, saints of the 
 world. These same three things ever combine, when God 
 by His Holy Spirit takes a man out of the kingdom of 
 the world, sets him free from the tyranny of the devil, 
 and draws him into the kingdom of God, setting him at 
 Christian liberty ; and it comes to pass that such an one 
 has his tongue unbound, and he begins to talk of spiritual 
 and divine thincrs, which causes great wonder amonqst 
 
S. MATTHEW IX. 35-38. 161 
 
 the people, who see what is going on ; and it moves the 
 saints of the world to calumniate that work of God, and 
 pretending piety, to persecute the man whom God has 
 delivered; declaring it not to have been the work of God, 
 but of the devil. By that utterance " it was never so seen 
 in Israel,'' the majesty and authority with which Christ 
 wrought these things is made very clear. 
 
 IX. 35-38. — And Jesus went about all the 
 cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, 
 and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and 
 healing every sickness and every disease among 
 the people. But when he saw the multitudes, he 
 was moved with compassion on them, because they 
 fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having 
 no shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples, 
 The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are 
 few ; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that 
 he will send forth labourers into his harvest. 
 
 St. Matthew says that Christ did three things when He 
 went about the cities and villages of Judea : one was to 
 teach, and the second to preach, and the third was to 
 perform works of benevolence. Where I understand that 
 Christ preached the Gospel of the kingdom ; I mean to 
 say, the good and cheering embassy of the near approach 
 of the kingdom of heaven, which is the kingdom of God ; 
 and this I understand to have commenced with the 
 coming of the Holy Spirit, and that it will be openly 
 manifested at Christ's second coming. I likewise under- 
 stand that Christ taught them to live according to the 
 obligation of the law, which was then in living energy ; 
 and according to the obligation of the kingdom of heaven, 
 which was expected. That clause, " and when Re saw the 
 multitudes,'' does not seem to depend upon what precedes. 
 
i62 S. MATTHEW IX. 35-38. 
 
 And the compassion which Christ here felt for men, 
 all true members of Christ experience, when they look 
 upon them thus deserted and going astray, as do sheep 
 when they have no shepherd to fold and protect them. 
 
 Christ, in saying to His disciples " the harvest is great" 
 &c., calls them, the multitude ready for conversion, har- 
 vest-crops, whom He had compared to sheep, and effec- 
 tively it is so, that they who pertain to the kingdom of 
 heaven are sheep, who follow Christ as their shepherd; 
 and they are harvest-crops, for that just as harvest-crops 
 are stored away in the farmer's barns, so they are put in 
 possession of the kingdom of God ; an occupation they 
 continue in the life eternal. Christ, in saying, " Frai/ ye 
 therefore the Lord of the harvest" &c., teaches us that God 
 will be sought in prayer even in those things on which 
 He has determined ; and even in those things wherein 
 His own glory is illustrated ; and that it is our duty to 
 ask Him for them. The labourers to gather in God's har- 
 vest, I understand to be those who are sent by God to 
 preach the Gospel, and to teach Christian life; and for 
 this reason He says, " Pray that He may send." Those who 
 are not sent forth or sent hy God to this end amongst men, 
 though they preach the Gospel and teach Christian life, are 
 not God's labourers. And here I understand the reason why 
 there being at this time also so plenteous a harvest, and there 
 being apparently many labourers, since there are many 
 preachers who have the Gospel and Christ upon their lips, 
 why they gather in but little ; the reason as I understand 
 is because they are not God's workmen but man's ; and there- 
 fore what God says by the prophet in Jeremiah (xxiii. 21) 
 attaches to them : " / have not sent those prophets, yet they 
 ran" 
 
S. MATTHEW X. 163 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 X. 1-5.— And wlien he had called unto him 
 his twelve disciples, he gave them power against 
 unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all 
 manner of sicknesses and all manner of disease. 
 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these : 
 The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew 
 his brother ; James the son of Zebedee, and John 
 his brother ; Philip, and Bartholomew ; Thomas, 
 and Matthew the publican ; James the son of 
 Alphseus, and Lebbseus, whose surname was 
 Thaddseus ; Simon the Canaanite, and Judas 
 Iscariot, who also betrayed him. 
 
 From Christ's having commiserated the multitudes, and 
 from His seeing that the harvest was great, it appears that 
 He was moved to send forth the Apostles as labourers, 
 that they should preach. Whence I not^ Christ's majesty 
 in two things : the one, in that it is He who sends the 
 labourers into God's harvest, a thing that pertains to God 
 only; and the other, in that He gives power to these 
 labourers, whom He sends out, to work miracles, another 
 thing which pertains to God only. We have read of many 
 who have wrought miracles, but of Christ only do we read 
 as having given power to work miracles. 
 
 Where I understand that what Christ did here bodily 
 when upon earth. He does spiritually being in spirit upon 
 earth. And it is thus that He spiritually sends labourers 
 
1 64 S. MATTHEW X. 5-8. 
 
 into God's harvest, to whom He gives spiritual power to 
 draw men, by their words, from the tyranny of the devil, 
 who is a foul spirit, and to set them in Christian liberty, 
 and to heal all inward sicknesses and diseases. Now they 
 who work these evident results, are apostles of Christ and 
 God's labourers ; they who do not work them are neither 
 one nor the other. He who would wish to understand 
 the meanings of the Apostles' names, and why they were 
 twelve in number, and why some were more prominent 
 than others, may read them in other writings. 
 
 X. 5-8. — These twelve Jesus sent forth, and 
 commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of 
 the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans 
 enter ye not : But go rather to the lost sheep of 
 the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, 
 The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the 
 sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out 
 devils : freely ye have received, freely give. 
 
 From these words it is most evident that not every- 
 thing which Christ said, and not even much of what He 
 gave in command to His disciples, affects our time ; since 
 it is a fact, that if what He here says, " go not into the way 
 of the Gentiles^' &c., remained valid beyond the time in 
 which He uttered them, it would not have been lawful 
 for the Apostles to go and preach the Gospel to the 
 Gentiles after the coming of the Holy Spirit. It is neces- 
 sary to exercise great skill in reading the Gospels to see 
 what things were spoken only for those days, and what 
 for all time; and what were spoken to Christians, and 
 what to those who were aliens to Christ; for he who 
 shall go wrong in this will fall into great embarrass- 
 ment. Since here again it is to be understood, that for 
 the same reason that Christ willed during His lifetime 
 that the law should be observed and kept in all and 
 
S. MATTHEW X. 5-8. 165 
 
 everything, as we have seen in the fifth chapter ; He 
 also willed, that during His lifetime the Gospel should 
 not be preached to either the Gentiles or the Samaritans, 
 but only to the Jews ; to whom it had been particularly 
 promised. 
 
 Where it says, sent forth, the Greek word is that from 
 which the appellation Apostles is derived. Where He 
 says "go not into the way of the Gentiks" He means, go 
 not to preach to the Gentiles ; and where He says, '' enter 
 not into any city of the Samaritans" He means, go not to 
 preach in any city of the Samaritans ; who indeed were not, 
 correctly speaking, either Gentiles or Jews. In saying, 
 " hut go ye rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israeli' 
 He means, but go and preach amongst the Jews ; where 
 I understand that Christ calls those Israelites lost sheep, 
 who, being predestined to life eternal, were God's sheep, 
 but went astray, seeking and striving to justify them- 
 selves by their works. Christ in commanding His dis- 
 ciples that when they preached, they should state that 
 the kingdom of heaven is at hand, teaches us that when 
 we shall be inspired to preach, we preach the kingdom of 
 heaven, not stating that it is at hand, as did the Apostles 
 by Christ's command, for the kingdom had not then 
 come, for the Holy Spirit had not then come ; but declar- 
 ing that the kingdom of heaven is .already come. 
 
 Here I understand that to preach the kingdom of 
 heaven is nothing other than to preach the mode in which 
 it pleases God to rule and govern not one sole nation, as 
 He did before that Christ had reconciled men to God; 
 nor by written law, as He did before that the law had 
 been fulfilled in Christ and by Christ ; but all the nations 
 of the world, and by His Holy Spirit only; that they, 
 who accept the grace of the Gospel, enter into the king- 
 dom of heaven, freed from personal anxiety, renouncing 
 the government of human prudence, and casting all their 
 care upon God, they remit themselves to His rule and to 
 His government. 
 
1 66 S. MATTHEW X. 9-1 1. 
 
 And here I seem to feel that this kingdom of God is called 
 the kingdom of heaven, because it is most divine and most 
 perfect ; just as we call things that are most perfect celes- 
 tial and heavenly. So that the kingdom of heaven is the 
 same as the celestial kingdom, most divine, most spiritual, 
 and most perfect. Christ, having ordered His disciples 
 as to what they should preach, gives them orders as to 
 what works they should perform, saying, " Seal the sick" 
 &c. Where it is to be borne in mind what the works are 
 which pertain to the preacher of the Gospel, and which he 
 does not himself perform, but the Spirit of God in him. 
 And I hold it to be certain that this working by the Holy 
 Spirit is annexed to the gifts of the apostolate, either con- 
 jointly upon body and mind, as was the case in the primi- 
 tive Church, or only upon the mind, as it has been and is 
 from that time to the present. 
 
 That, "freely ye have received, freely give" tends to 
 divest the minds of the Apostles from avarice, which, 
 possibly deceived by human prudence, might persuade 
 them that it was right to take from the rich, whom they 
 restored to health, in order to give to the poor, a thing 
 that might give an evil name to the Gospel. Christ, de- 
 signing to remedy this, says, Since you have received this 
 gift of working these miracles from God freely, and of His 
 grace, communicate it freely and graciously to those with 
 whom you shall communicate, accepting no recompense 
 for it. Where it is not to be understood that Christ pro- 
 hibits from taking of those, who have accepted the Gospel, 
 in order to give to them, who suffer want ; they also being 
 of those who have accepted the Gospel, as it appears that 
 St. Paul did ; but let him not take it by way of recom- 
 pense for service rendered; neither let him take, that 
 which is given, for himself. 
 
 X. 9-1 1. — Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor 
 brass in your purses, nor scrip for your journey, 
 neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves : for 
 
S. MATTHEW X. 9-1 1. 167 
 
 the workman is worthy of liis meat. And into 
 whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, inquire who 
 in it is worthy ; and there abide till ye go thence. 
 
 For that in proportion as the mind of man is the more 
 free from care of things material and outward, so much 
 the better can he attend to things spiritual and inward ; 
 and in proportion as he the better knows by personal 
 experience, that disregarding self and casting all his care 
 upon God, God does not leave him to suffer want, so 
 much the more does He confide in God, learning by these 
 material things, what he may anticipate from God in 
 spiritual things. Christ willed that those whom He sent 
 to preach His Gospel should look solely to Him, dis- 
 embarrassing themselves from worldly things, and that 
 they should learn from personal experience what they 
 might anticipate from Him ; He ordered them to take 
 nothing with them that might obstruct them, in order 
 that they should be free and disembarrassed; and that 
 they might not be able to get anything wherein they 
 should be able to place their confidence, in order that 
 they might place it only in Him. And thus do I under- 
 stand that Christ in so doing aimed at two things: the 
 one that His disciples should be disembarrassed; and 
 the other, that they should learn to confide in Him, 
 and to depend upon Him. By gold, silver, and metal, 
 I understand money — coins made of gold, silver, and 
 metal ; and when He says " in your girdles," He means, 
 in your purses, for the ancients carried their purses in 
 their girdles. 
 
 He does not allow them to carry scrips, because He 
 does not will that they should get provisions in one place 
 for their subsistence in another. He does not will that 
 they should carry a second coat or cloak, for it is not His 
 will that their minds should be occupied about dress, when 
 t they shall have worn out what they wear. He does not 
 will that they carry shoes, for they can do without them, 
 
i68 5. MATTHEW X. 9-11. 
 
 and thus walk less embarrassed. And I understand it to 
 be for the same reason that He does not will that they 
 take staff, wand, or stick. And because the disciples 
 might say to Him, How, then, are we to live ? He replies 
 by saying " the workman is worthy of his meat" or the 
 journeyman of his day's wages. In that passage, " and 
 into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter," &c., He orders 
 two things : the one that they seek out the dwelling of 
 the worthiest man there is in the place, that they may 
 enter and abide there ; and the other, that they be not 
 inconstant, changing their quarters, such conduct being 
 a mark of levity. 
 
 To him, who should ask me whether Christ willed and 
 meant that His disciples should really go in the man- 
 ner here indicated, and whether it be Christ's will that 
 preachers of the Gospel should go so, I should answer 
 him: As to the disciples of. Christ, that I hold it to be 
 most certain that they literally went forth thus, for 
 Christ shows this to have been so (Luke xxii. 35) when 
 He says, " When I sent you without purse and scrip and 
 shoes, lacked ye anything ? " and as to preachers, that I 
 hold it to be most certain, that if their constitutions 
 permit it, they might go as Christ's disciples went, they 
 would succeed, and I even believe, and assuredly hold, 
 that they would greatly profit in so doing, were it their 
 intention to go perfectly disembarrassed, remitting them- 
 selves to God's providence, confiding solely upon God, who 
 as He does not fail to the birds of the air, nor to the lilies 
 of the field, so neither will He fail to them. 
 
 It might appear singular that Christ should command 
 His disciples that they should not take money for the 
 road, He not doing so Himself ; for it appears that Judas 
 held the monies that were given to Him, and since it 
 appears also that Christ had women following Him, who, 
 out of their own means, paid His expenses ; and it will 
 not appear singular, if it be considered, that Christ needed 
 not to be exercised in faith as did His disciples, who were 
 
S. MATTHEW X. 12-15. 169 
 
 imperfect ; neither did Christ need to be disembarrassed 
 of outward and material things, in order to attend to 
 inward and spiritual ones, as did His disciples, who were 
 imperfect. And thus do I understand that in proportion 
 to a man's imperfection is his need the greater to follow 
 the orders which Christ gave His disciples, provided 
 always that he do not think perfection to consist in not 
 taking money with all the other things, and that he be 
 attent upon attaining the end for which he was ordered 
 not to take them with him. 
 
 There may come another, who also will say. Since as 
 we have already seen Christ associated with publicans 
 and sinners, why does He order His disciples to do the 
 opposite, ordering them to make inquiries who are the 
 worthiest, in order that they may abide under their roofs ? 
 And to this it may be replied that intercourse with 
 publicans and sinners could not damage Christ, either by 
 profaning His mind or by corrupting His morals ; whilst 
 the Apostles, who were imperfect, might be by it damaged, 
 both in the one and in the other ; and that hence therefore 
 Christ commands and orders them to associate themselves 
 with persons of good reputation, in order that these might 
 not injure them in either one or the other. The saints of 
 the world, as has been already stated, avoid intercourse 
 with profane and bad men, because the world does not 
 judge them [the saints of the world] to be profane and 
 bad ; whilst the saints of God only avoid such intercourse, 
 w^hen their minds and morals are in danger of being 
 injured by it, caring nothing for the judgment of the world 
 when they are not exposed to this danger ; as we see 
 that Christ did, because He was wholly beyond this danger. 
 
 X. 1 2- 1 5. — And when ye come into a house, salute 
 it. And if the house be worthy, let your peace 
 come upon it; but if it be not worthy, let your 
 peace return to you. And whosoever shall not 
 
I70 5. MATTHEW X. 12-15. 
 
 receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart 
 out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your 
 feet. Verily I say unto you. It shall be more toler- 
 able for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the 
 day of judgment than for that city. 
 
 A salutation is the same as a short prayer, in which we 
 pray to God for the individual, or the persons whom we 
 salute. The ordinary salutation practised by the Jews 
 was to say, Peace be to thee ; and under this term " peace" 
 they understood great happiness and prosperity. This 
 being known, it is to be understood that Christ ordered 
 His disciples, when they entered the house, which from 
 inquiries they learned was worthy, they should salute it 
 with the ordinary salutation. And He adds " if the house 
 shall he worthy" &c., as though promising them that their 
 prayer should be heard in the event that the report of 
 that house was verified ; and that, in the event of its not 
 being verified, God would give to them that, which should 
 have been given to that house. 
 
 And when Christ subjoins " and whosoever shall not re- 
 ceive you, &c., He orders them, that when informed of the 
 goodness of the person by his reputation, they shall go to 
 lodge at his house ; and that the man who will not receive 
 them, or, receiving them, shall refuse to hear their evan- 
 gelical preaching, they are not to stop there any longer ; 
 and He means the same with relation to any city or vil- 
 lage that He does with the individual. And it is to be 
 observed that, for the disciples to stop in a house or in 
 a city, it was not enough that they should be received, it 
 being imperative that they should also be heard. Now- 
 adays there are many who receive Christ's disciples, whdst 
 there are but few who hearken to their words, for only they 
 hear them, who accept in their hearts the good news which 
 attracts them, intimating to them the general indulgence 
 and pardon through God's justice executed upon Christ. 
 
 It must have been a Jewish custom to shake off the 
 
S. MATTHEW X. 16-20. 171 
 
 dust from the feet when they wished to show the ungod- 
 liness of those with whom they had lodged. That threat 
 with asseveration, " Verily, I say unto you, It shall he!' &c., 
 is very terrible against those who hear the Gospel and 
 do not accept and receive it ; and if it be most terrible 
 against these, what shall it be against those who contra- 
 dict the Gospel and persecute it ? If men would but see 
 what they do when they set themselves to contradict and 
 persecute, under pretext of religion, I am certain that they 
 would act more circumspectly than they ordinarily do. 
 
 X. 16-20. — Behold, I send you forth as sheep 
 in the midst of wolves, be ye therefore prudent as 
 serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of 
 men : for they will deliver you up to the councils, 
 and they will scourge you in their synagogues ; 
 and ye shall be brought before governors and 
 kings for my sake, for a testimony against them 
 and the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, 
 take no thought how or what ye shall speak : for 
 it shall be given you in that same hour what ye 
 shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the 
 Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you. 
 
 Christ compares the disciples to sheep that are not in 
 their folds, but amongst wolves. All men of the world 
 are wolves, so long as they are men of the world, unre- 
 generated hy the Gospel of Christ. And I recollect 
 having written a Consideration (liii.) illustrating this 
 subject, showing that all men are like lions and tigers, 
 but bound by the chains of honour, of fear, and of con- 
 science. And Christ furnishing His disciples with the 
 proper weapons wherewith to defend themselves against 
 men, says to them, "Be ye therefore prudent," &c., as though 
 He should say : ISTow, since you are about to go amongst 
 men of the world as sheep amongst wolves, mind that 
 
172 S. MATTHEW X. 16-20. 
 
 you be like serpents in prudence, never allowing your- 
 selves to be deceived by their words, or by their induce- 
 ments, in all which it will ever -be their aim to cause you 
 to cease from being sheep, and that you become wolves 
 like themselves; and mind that you be like doves in 
 sincerity and simplicity. 
 
 Christ wills that His disciples so practise the prudence 
 of serpents as to protect themselves against men of the 
 world, that they be not led to adopt serpentine habits; 
 and therefore He counsels them that they combine the 
 prudence of the serpent with the simplicity of the dove ; 
 not allowing themselves to be deceived, nor practising 
 deceit ; defending themselves from evil, and not offending, 
 &c. As to the prudence of the serpent, it suffices me to 
 know this, that the devil deceived our first parents in 
 the form of a serpent ; and as to the sincerity of the dove, 
 it suffices me to know this, that the Holy Spirit came 
 upon Christ in the form of a dove, as we have seen in 
 chapter iii. 
 
 In saying "and beware of men" &c.. He further ex- 
 pounds what He has said, by saying, I tell you to make 
 up your minds that you go as sheep amongst wolves, and 
 to provide yourselves with the prudence of the serpent, 
 and with the sincerity of the dove; and because you 
 know that all men are your enemies, never commit your- 
 selves to them in any way, not even when they shall 
 show themselves most friendly, for then they will injure 
 you most. And that this is so, you will experimentally 
 see, when, contradicting your preaching, they shall per- 
 secute you, and, arrested, they shall deliver you up to 
 councils, and they shall scourge you in their synagogues ; 
 and not contented with this, they shall bring you up 
 before governors and kings, availing themselves of supreme 
 power to take away your lives. 
 
 Where I understand that Christ spoke as of the time 
 in which He spoke ; at which period there were councils 
 in Judea, which were Eoman tribunals ; and there were 
 
S. MATTHEW X. 16-20. 173 
 
 synagogues, which were halls where the Jews assembled 
 for the reading of their Scriptures and for addresses ; and 
 there were also kings, and there were governors or presi- 
 dents. And when He says " in their synagogues," Christ 
 shows that the Jews were they, who were to do all this 
 against His disciples, as in fact they were when the 
 disciples began to preach the Gospel; to which time I 
 refer these words, for I do not read that the disciples 
 were so treated whilst Christ was living amongst them ; 
 nay, I read just the contrary. 
 
 That expression, ''for My sake'' appears as said in order 
 to mitigate the grief of persecution, which, in fact, becomes 
 tolerable when the person considers himself persecuted 
 for Christ's sake. In saying "/or a testimony against them 
 and the Gentiles" He means that the persecution of the 
 disciples of Christ will at the day of judgment be a 
 testimony against the impiety of the Jews, who shall have 
 persecuted them, and of the Gentiles, who shall have 
 been the executors of Jewish persecution. 
 
 That " hiLt when they shall deliver you up'' &c., is apt 
 both to console the disciples by the consideration, that if 
 men will be contrary and inimical to them, yet God will 
 be in their favour, and will help them with His Holy 
 Spirit, and likewise to bring the disciples by this to 
 mortify their exercise of thought and speech, not pre- 
 tending to defend the preaching of the Gospel, with either 
 'human reasons or human arc^uments, remitting the de- 
 fence to what God shall at that moment give them to say ; 
 causing the Holy Spirit to speak by them, so that their 
 words are not their own but the Holy Spirit's. Trom 
 these words of Christ this is to be gathered — 
 
 First, that the disciples of Christ have to be convinced 
 that they are amongst men of the world as sheep among 
 wolves, and they who have not this conviction cannot 
 maintain Christian decorum, which is obligatory upon 
 disciples of Christ. 
 
 Secondly, that they have to arm themselves with the 
 
174 5. MATTHEW X. 16-20. 
 
 prudence of the serpent against the inducements of men, 
 and with the sincerity of the dove against the assaults of 
 human affections and appetites ; and they who are not so 
 armed it is impossible for them to persevere in the school 
 of Christ. 
 
 Thirdly, that they have to hold all men as their 
 enemies ; not to treat them as enemies, but to protect 
 themselves against them as enemies ; to avoid and beware 
 of them ; so that there be no interchange of offices between 
 them : and they, who shall not act thus, will frequently 
 be forced to deviate from Christian decorum. For men 
 are even what I have stated ; [I speak of] all those, who 
 are not regenerated by the Gospel, of all those, who 
 are not disciples of Christ. 
 
 Fourthly, they have to put an end to ambition and to 
 worldly glory, feeling pleased that the world maltreats 
 and persecutes them as bad and perverse, not being so, 
 resting assured that all this is the portion of those who 
 enter into Christ's school ; and they, who shall not come 
 to this resolve, will easily be removed from the school of 
 Christ. 
 
 Fifthly, that they have to keep their human reason and 
 prudence so mortified, as not to think of exercising it in 
 any way to defend Christianity nor to defend the preaching 
 of the Gospel, standing remitted to that which the Holy 
 Spirit shall give them to say at the time of defence ; and 
 they, who shall not thus carry this out, will constrainedly 
 be led to say most improper things of Christ, and of the 
 Gospel of the Christ, with which they will much more 
 readily offend themselves, Christ and the Gospel, than 
 defend it. 
 
 And it is not to the purpose to say that the Greek 
 word which is here rendered "take thought," signifies 
 anxious thought ; for if it be so, that they are only to speak 
 that which the Holy Spirit shall at that time give them 
 to say, what does it avail to think, even though without 
 anxiety ? In fact, it is Christ's will that His disciples 
 
S. MATTHEW X. 21, 22. 175 
 
 neither depend upon men of the world, nor depend upon 
 themselves, but that they depend upon God alone, and that 
 they may hope for everything from Him, not only what 
 they have to eat and to wear, but likewise what they have 
 to say. Neither is it to the purpose to say, How do I 
 know that this promise concerns me ? I do not wish to 
 tempt God. For this promise concerns all, who, morti- 
 fying their reasoning faculty, confide in Him, certain 
 that God will not fail them in what He promises them ; 
 besides, he never tempts God, who relies upon a promise 
 of God, and says, God tells me not to think about what I 
 shall have to say in the presence of worldly governors and 
 kings, for that He will at that time give me what I have 
 to say ; I know that He can do it ; and I know that He 
 would not have promised it, had He not intended to per- 
 form it ; therefore I confide in this promise, and I do not 
 care to think what I shall have to say. 
 
 Here I will state this : that I know from experience 
 that I have never in my life spoken better than when I 
 have spoken without having given myself a thought of 
 what I should speak. I state the same as to writing. 
 And I pray God that since He has brought me to dis- 
 charge the duty of Christ's disciples in this fifth thing, so 
 may He bring me to the four other preceding ones ; and 
 that He may daily more perfect me in this and in those, 
 bringing me up to that point, that in all and everything 
 I may be so good a disciple of Christ that I may in no 
 way be severed from the school of Christ, until that the 
 very image of Christ may be seen in me, and that I may be 
 able, with St. Paul, to say to other disciples of Christ, " Be 
 ye imitators of me, even as I am of Christ'' (i Cor. xi. i). 
 
 X. 2 1, 2 2. — And the brother shall deliver up 
 the brother to death, and the father the child : and 
 the children shall rise up against their parents, and 
 cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be 
 
176 S, MATTHEW X. 21, 22. 
 
 hated of all men for my name's sake ; but he that 
 endureth to the end shall be saved. 
 
 Christ, going on to prophesy to His disciples of the per- 
 secution they were about to suffer for the Gospel, which, 
 as I have stated, pertains not to that in Christ's time, but 
 to that which was, has been, and is, since the coming of 
 the Holy Spirit, shows them that the madness of men 
 of the world would be so great against those who should 
 become His disciples, that having forgotten the obligation 
 of human generation [birth], the brother should cease to 
 regard his brother, the father the child, and the child the 
 father. I hold this to have been most assuredly verified 
 to the letter at the time of the martyrs ; then the Chris- 
 tian name was so hated in the world, that, when a man 
 became Christian, he had for enemies his own relations, 
 who delivered him up to death. And would to God that 
 it could not be truthfully said that Christian life is now, 
 as to being abhorred and persecuted, what the name 
 of Christian then was in the world. So that what Christ 
 here prophesied, ever has been, and is verified in His dis- 
 ciples ; and is only not verified in proportion as they do 
 not manifest, nor discover, themselves, to be disciples of 
 Christ ; that if, discovering themselves the world should 
 recognise them as such, there is no doubt but that it would 
 do with them, what it ever has done with those, whom it 
 has recognised. And disciples of Christ ought not to 
 marvel, if, that just as they, when entering Christ's school, 
 renounce the obligation of human generation [birth], em- 
 bracing the obligation of Christian regeneration, so men, 
 having forgotten the obligation of human generation [birth], 
 treat them as a thing that no longer in any way concerns 
 them ; nay, they ought to take it for a sure token that 
 they are disciples of Christ when treated by men, and 
 especially by their own relations, as enemies. 
 
 And here I note a difference between men of the world 
 and the disciples of Christ ; that men of the world hold 
 
S. MATTHEW X. 23. 177 
 
 Christ's disciples to be enemies, and treat them as enemies : 
 whilst Christ's disciples, holding men of the world to be 
 enemies, do not treat them as enemies, but as friends, 
 living amongst them, as sheep amongst wolves. 
 
 I understand by Christ's saying " hut he that endureth 
 to the end" &c., that those of His disciples shall attain 
 salvation and eternal life who shall persevere to the death 
 in Christ's school ; never coming forth from it, neither by 
 death nor by life ; and I do not understand that any one 
 comes forth from the school of Christ, but the person who 
 abandons and leaves Christian life, either from fear or 
 from shame of the world; for he cuts himself off from 
 Christian faith, and strives to justify himself by his works ; 
 just as no one comes forth from his monastic order, but 
 the man, who lays aside the dress and comes forth from 
 the monastery. " For My name" is the same as for My 
 sake. In saying " unto the end" He means unto death in 
 martyrdom ; and in saying, " shall he saved," He means 
 shall attain eternal life ; from which happiness they shall 
 be excluded, who, not being able to endure the ignominy 
 of the cross of Christ, shall cast the cross to the ground. 
 
 X. 23. — But when they persecute you in this 
 city, flee ye into another : for verily I say unto 
 you, ye shall not have gone over the cities of 
 Israel, till the Son of man be come. 
 
 It is of amplest deduction from these words that 
 Christ's disciples ought, not only, not to offer themselves 
 to martyrdom without being borne away to it, but they 
 ought to flee from it, when by flight the Gospel is there- 
 by more promoted than prejudiced, as we have exemplified 
 in St. Paul: so that to flee martyrdom is not to desert 
 Christ's school, but to maintain oneself in it, in order 
 the more to profit by it. And it seems that because the 
 disciples could say, Thou, Lord, dost command us to go 
 
 . M 
 
178 S. MATTHEW X. 24, 25. 
 
 neither amongst the Gentiles nor amongst the Samaritans ; 
 whilst, on the other hand, Thou tellest us to flee from city 
 to city when we shall have been persecuted in all the cities 
 of Judea, what wouldest Thou have us do ? Christ tells 
 them, " Verily 1 say unto you,'' &c., meaning. Be of good 
 cheer, I will come before that you have made the round of 
 the cities of Israel. 
 
 This is what is suggested by these words, which how 
 they harmonise if understood in connection with the 
 preaching of that particular period I know not ; neither 
 do I know how they harmonise being understood of the 
 preaching that was afterwards ; nor do I either know what 
 coming this is of which Christ speaks. I feel the difficulty, 
 and not knowing how to get out of it, I remit myself to 
 what they say about it who speak better. I will here 
 state this : that this is the greatest indication of the 
 depravity of our minds, that one utterance that does not to 
 our mind harmonise with the event, disturbs us more than 
 do a hundred, which harmonise perfectly, to pacify and 
 confirm us. 
 
 X. 24, 25. — The disciple is not above his mas- 
 ter, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough 
 for the disciple that he be as his master, and 'the 
 servant as his lord. If they have called the master 
 of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they 
 call them of his household ? Fear them not there- 
 fore. 
 
 Christ goes on to ease the minds of His disciples as to 
 the asperity and bitterness of the cross, and thus, in these 
 words, He speaks to them axiomatically : It is no very 
 great thing tliat you, who are My disciples, be mal- 
 treated by men of the world, since that I, who am your 
 Master and Preceptor, have been, and am, and sliall be 
 maltreated by the very same. That Christ was about to 
 
S. MATTHEW X. 26, 27. 179 
 
 be called Beelzebub, we shall see in chapter x;ii., where 
 the Pharisees said that Christ cast out devils by virtue 
 of Beelzebub. 
 
 This was the title of an idol of certain Gentiles living 
 upon the frontiers of Judea, and was said to be the com- 
 mon name of all idols, which they called Baal, this being 
 the same with Beel, but one was called Baal-peor, and 
 another Baal-zebub, signifying master or lord of flies. 
 When He says, "fear them not tJierefore,'' He concludes 
 that since He had to go through the very same which 
 they had to go through, they had no reason to fear, when 
 they considered that His experience and theirs would be 
 the same ; and effectively, it is of the greatest comfort for 
 those, who are growled at, persecuted, and maltreated for 
 the righteousness of the Gospel, to consider that Christ has 
 previously gone through it. 
 
 X. 26, 27. — For there is nothing covered, that 
 shall not be revealed ; and hid, that shall not be 
 known. What I tell you in darkness, that speak 
 ye in light ; and what ye hear in the ear, that 
 preach ye upon the housetops. 
 
 Knowing by experience that this is a fact, that it is 
 the greatest consolation for those, who are persecuted for 
 Christ's sake, and as was Christ, to think that their inno- 
 cence and their truth will at last be seen and discovered ; 
 and considering that Christ goes on here to blend the sweet 
 with the bitter for His disciples, I think that He availed 
 Himself of this general maxim, "there is nothing covered," 
 &c., designing to say to them : Cheer up, for although 
 your righteousness and truthfulness be covered in the 
 present life, it shall be revealed in the life eternal, together 
 with the injustice and iniquity of those who shall maltreat 
 you. And I think that Christ, when He added, '' TFhat I 
 tell you in darkness" &c., meant : And since this has to be 
 
i8o S. MATTHEW X. 28-31. 
 
 gone through thus, wliolly without consideration, fearing 
 neither death nor infamy, you may decide to speak clearly 
 and openly before the world those things which I now tell 
 you secretly, and as it were, in the ear. 
 
 This apprehension satisfies me, and is worthy of Christ. 
 From what I read in St. Mark iv. 22, where there are 
 these same words, I think that the proper apprehension is 
 this, that Christ, desirous of removing the suspicion from 
 the minds of His disciples, which might have been sug- 
 gested to them, when thinking, that the things which 
 Christ communicated to them would ever remain secret, 
 He tells them, "for there is nothing" &c., meaning, I do 
 not say this that you should keep it secret or hid ; nay, I 
 tell you to manifest and publish it, but at the proper 
 time. 
 
 In fact it seems that it was Christ's design to keep the 
 evangelical work secret and hid whilst He lived amongst 
 men bodily ; and that He held it so secret that not even 
 His own disciples ever understood it until the Holy Spirit 
 came, who made them capable of receiving it, bringing 
 Christ's words to their memory, those which He had 
 spoken, being with them. And that which occurred to 
 Christ's disciples occurs to every one of us, for that, how- 
 ever much we read and hear of evangelical work, we 
 never understand it until the Holy Spirit comes within 
 us, who makes us capable of receiving it, by what we 
 experience, and by recalling to our memory what we have 
 read and heard conceruino: it. 
 
 X. 28-31. — And fear not them who kill the 
 body, but are not able to kill the soul : but rather 
 fear him wlio is able to destroy both soul and 
 body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a 
 farthing: ? and one of them shall not fall to the 
 ground without your Father. But the very hairs 
 
S. MATTHEW X. 28-31. 181 
 
 of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not there- 
 fore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. 
 
 This tends to confirm and to fortify the minds of those 
 who have entered into Christ's school; in order that it 
 may not come to pass that, scared and terrified by the 
 furious enmity with which they are persecuted by men 
 of the world, or with which they will be persecuted when 
 the world shall discover them to be disciples of Christ, 
 they should leave the school of Christ; as happens to 
 them, who enter it, not having been drawn by God ; so 
 that in saying, "fear not them," &c., I understand : be not 
 afraid of men of the world, who, though they have the 
 power to kill the body, have not the power to kill the 
 soul ; and, when you have to fear, fear God, who alone 
 has power to destroy soul and body. Here it is right to 
 note two things: the one, that Christ does not tell us 
 that we should fear God, meaning that we should fear, 
 since He has the power to kill both body and soul, lest 
 He kill ours, for this would be to hold us in worse than 
 Jewish slavery, a thing most alien to the Gospel of Christ ; 
 but He tells us, that, having to live in fear, it is more 
 sensible to fear God, than to fear man ; the other thing 
 is, that it is God's sole prerogative to sentence souls to 
 perish in hell. 
 
 When Christ adds, '' and are not two sparrows sold for 
 a farthing ? " &c., I understand it to be His purpose to 
 certify us of two things which greatly console us in our 
 troubles. The one is, that the will of God concurs in the 
 evil which men do us, for, without that, they would not 
 have the power to do us evil; this is proved by the 
 sparrows, which, being of so little value that two of them 
 are sold for the smallest current coin in point of value, 
 God thinks so much of them that neither dies without 
 His will, as though He should say : If this be so in rela- 
 tion to a bird, how much more will it be so in relation to 
 yourselves ? The other is, that although men of the world 
 
i82 S. MATTHEW X. 32, 33. 
 
 take away our lives, stripping us of these bodies, we are 
 certain that we shall lose nothing, for God holds us in 
 such account that even the very hairs of our heads are 
 numbered, so that not one of them shall perish. 
 
 These two things are of such importance that the 
 less is most adequate to sustain joyousness and perfect 
 security, divested of all human and carnal fear, and filled 
 with much divine and spiritual love ; and therefore we 
 ought to pray continuously to God, that He so impress 
 these two things upon our hearts, that we may never 
 doubt their truth ; and this assurance will be most ade- 
 quate to mortify and to kill in us all our regard for the 
 world, and all our sensual desires. 
 
 That, " and even your very hairs" &c., is worthy of great 
 consideration, in order to understand how strict is the 
 account which God keeps, however, with those only, that 
 are Christ's disciples; with those, who, accepting the 
 righteousness of Christ, have taken possession of the 
 kingdom of God, leaving to others the government of 
 these, which they call, second causes. And with relation 
 to this will of God and providence of God, I have written 
 two considerations (xl. and xlix.) and one question (27). 
 
 X. 32, 33. — Whosoever therefore shall confess 
 me before men, him will I confess also before my 
 Father, who is in heaven. But whosoever shall 
 deny me before men, him will I also deny before 
 my Father, wlio is in heaven. 
 
 I understand that Christ designs by these words to 
 animate the dejected, and to awaken fear in the im- 
 perfect, in those who have not attained to serve from 
 love; as though He should say to them, be assured of 
 this, that the man, who shall confess Me, I will confess 
 him ; and that the man, who shall deny Me, I will deny 
 him. Where it is to be understood that they confess 
 
S. MATTHEW X. 32, 33. 183 
 
 Christ before men, who, having stifled in themselves all 
 cravings after earthly glory and self-indulgence, state 
 frankly, without fear for life or for honour, that Jesus is 
 the Messiah, promised in the law ; that He is the Son of 
 God, one and the same with God, who, having taken 
 upon Himself the sins of men, and having been chastised 
 for them, has reconciled us to God ; and that they enjoy 
 this reconciliation who believe. 
 
 But mark this, the confession is then only good when 
 it proceeds from the heart; and that it cannot proceed 
 from the heart, unless it be in the heart ; and that it can- 
 not be in the heart, unless the Holy Spirit have placed it 
 there ; and that it is most excellent, when proceeding 
 from the heart, it is stated in the presence of men, who 
 contradict it, despise it, and persecute it. It is thus that 
 we must confess Christ, confessing Him too by leading a 
 Christian life, conforming our life with that of Christ ; and 
 acting thus, Christ will confess us, embracing us as His 
 members. 
 
 It is likewise to be understood that they deny Christ 
 before men, who, fearing the infamy of the cross of Christ, 
 give up the Christian faith or Christian life ; whom Christ 
 will rightly deny before His heavenly Father, addressing 
 to them those hard words, "/ tell you, I know you not,'' as 
 also those which follow them (Luke xiii. 27). 
 
 Here some one will say that he believes the former part 
 of these words, as to the confession, but that he does not 
 believe the second, as to the denial, having experimentally 
 seen the contrary; for it is a fact that St. Peter denied 
 Christ before men, but Christ has not denied St. Peter 
 before God, nay. He has raised him above others. And 
 to this it shall be replied, that Christ will not deny those, 
 who shall deny as St. Peter denied, through cowardice, 
 pusillanimity, and frailty, and with levity, but not per- 
 tinaciously ; and that Christ will deny those, who shall 
 deny Him, as did Judas, with malice, and malignity, and 
 pertinaciously ; as also those who, following Judas' track. 
 
1 84 5. MATTHEW X. 34-36. 
 
 act towards Christ's members as Judas acted towards 
 Christ. And here it is to be considered that none deny 
 Christ, excepting those who, being Christ's, state that they 
 are not Christ's, and that they do not recognise Christ ; it 
 cannot be said that they deny Christ, who have never 
 entered Christ's school. 
 
 X. 34-36. — Think not tliat I am come to send 
 peace on earth : I came not to send peace, but a 
 sword. For I am come to set a man at variance 
 against his father, and the daughter against her 
 mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother- 
 in-law. And a man's foes shall be they of his ow^n 
 household. 
 
 These words bear upon that which Christ has above 
 stated, " brother shall deliver up brother to death." Where 
 it appears that because this dissension, of which Christ 
 prophesied, might seem extraordinary to the disciples, as 
 being even much greater than that which is ordinarily 
 seen amongst men, Christ says to them : " Think not that 
 I am come to send peace" &c., as though He should say : 
 Now mind ; never imagine, nor think, that My coming is 
 about to bring outward peace upon earth, for I would have 
 you know that it will be just the contrary ; for, instead of 
 peace, it will bring war, causing enmity, even between 
 those, that are nearest related by human generation, as, 
 for instance, father and son, &c. 
 
 Where it is not to be understood that the intention of 
 Christ's coming was to cause this dissension ; but that this 
 dissension results from His coming ; and that, through no 
 fault of Christ's, or of Christ's disciples, for He and they 
 are types of peace ; but through the malice and malignity 
 of men of the world ; who are so inimical to God, and so 
 contrary to all that is God's, that postponing the obliga- 
 tion of human generation, the unchristian son persecutes 
 
S. MATTHEW X. 34-36. 185 
 
 the Cliristian father, &c., to the death. And if men of the 
 world, mastered by their passions, lay aside the obligation 
 of human generation, and become metamorphosed from 
 men into wild beasts ; why shall it appear extraordinary 
 to the disciples of Christ, to allow themselves to be mas- 
 tered by divine inspirations, laying aside the obligation of 
 human generation, in order to follow the obligation of 
 Christian regeneration ? 
 
 Where He says, " to set at variance," the Greek word 
 signifies to cut in twain that which was closely united ; 
 " the liousehoW represents domestics, servants, dependants. 
 And it is in fact so, that a Christian has no greater ene- 
 mies in the world than those of his own house, when they 
 are not likewise Christians. 
 
 Here the Jews are scandalised, for they say it is im- 
 possible that Christ can have been the Messiah, since as 
 well from what He Himself says, " that He came to send a 
 sword," which is tantamount to war, into the world ; as 
 from what is experimentally seen, that the Gospel of Christ 
 causes dissensions and discords in the world, Christ is not 
 the author of peace but of war; whilst Isaiah (ix. 5), speak- 
 ing of the Messiah, calls Him the Prince of Peace, and says, 
 " that of the increase of His kingdom and yeace there shall he 
 no end!' The Jews would not be scandalised at all if they 
 but considered Christ as a lamb, who did not even bleat 
 when He was led to the slaughter ; and if they considered 
 the disciples of Christ as sheep amongst wolves, from whom 
 Christ removes every motive by which the peace of the 
 world is disturbed, divesting them of carnal desires, of vin- 
 dictive affections, of longings for wealth, or the attainment 
 of honours and dignities, and finally from all the things that 
 men of the world covet ; in order that, they having nothing 
 to bring them into competition with them, there should 
 be no field for contention ; and that Christ moreover does 
 not leave them even the external demonstrations of sanc- 
 tity, in order that they should not even come into compe- 
 tition with saints of the world : in all which Christ shows 
 
1 86 S. MATTHEW X. 37-39. 
 
 Himself to be the Prince of Peace, as Isaiah prophesied 
 concerning Him, and shows that His empire is all peace, 
 as He Himself prophesied : for it is a fact that there are 
 none under His rule, except those, who are as sheep amongst 
 wolves. 
 
 Christ rules over these and in these. He is their Prince 
 and Euler, and thus it comes to pass that He is a Pacific 
 Ruler, and His rule is pacific, although in this life men of 
 the world make most cruel war upon them, who are under 
 this the happiest rule ; which in the life eternal will be 
 in consummate peace and in consummate happiness, in 
 which neither men of the world nor hellish fiends take 
 part ; and then the perverse Jews, who stumble at these 
 words of Christ, shall see how peculiarly the words of 
 Isaiah agree in Christ. Here we ought to consider what 
 is said upon that passage in chapter v., " Blessed are the 
 'peacemakers,'' in order that it may be understood that this 
 kingdom of Christ is nothing other than peace. And it is 
 thus that we, who accept the Gospel of Christ, being recon- 
 ciled with God, have peace with God, which we feel in 
 our consciences, as St. Paul felt it, when he said, " Being 
 justified hy faith, we have peace with God through our Lord 
 Jesus Christ" (Eom. v. i). And having peace with God, we 
 have peace amongst ourselves, and we have peace with all 
 men, not giving them more occasion for war than they wish 
 to take, who make war upon us as upon mortal enemies. 
 
 Come, aye, Lord my God, may that most happy and 
 glorious time soon come, in which the world shall know 
 that Thine only begotten Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, is 
 Prince of Peace, and that His empire is peace ; then shall 
 the world to its greater torment see, that there has ever 
 been great peace and great quietness in Thy kingdom, and 
 thus we, who are Thy children, shall be perfectly glorified, 
 with our Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ our Lord. 
 
 X. 37-39. — He that loveth father or mother 
 more than me is not worthy of me : and he that 
 
S. MATTHEW X. 37-39. 187 
 
 loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy 
 of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and 
 foUoweth after me, is not worthy of me. He that 
 findeth his life shall lose it : and he that loseth his 
 life for my sake shall find it. 
 
 Here I understand that because one might say, My 
 father shall not become my enemy, for I will never cease 
 to discharge my filial obligation, Christ here speaks 
 judicially : If love to thy father shall draw thee more to 
 fulfil the obligation of a child of Adam, by human genera- 
 tion, than the love which thou hast to Me shall draw thee 
 to fulfil the obligation of a child of God, by Christian 
 regeneration, thou wilt not be worthy of Me. It is a fact 
 in the instance of the sons of Zebedee, that if love to their 
 father had drawn them more than love to Christ, they 
 would never have left their father in his fishing-boat to 
 follow Christ, and thus they would have been unworthy 
 of Christ : the same is true of the other, who wished to 
 go to bury his father, in order to fulfil the obligation of 
 human generation ; which frequently draws us in a totally 
 different direction to the obligation of Christian regenera- 
 tion. It will be expressed thus : My father, my brothers, 
 my children, and my relatives wish that I strive to 
 aggrandise myself in the world ; to be esteemed, honoured, 
 and wealthy ; and they would rather wish to see me dead, 
 than to see me dishonoured, insulted, and poor: whilst 
 Christ wills that I wholly suppress self-esteem, ambition, 
 and lust of wealth, and that I seek pleasure in being 
 dishonoured, insulted, and even martyrised. 
 
 If I wish to satisfy the obligation of human generation, 
 I shall, in doing so, deviate from the obligation of Christian 
 regeneration, and thus, the love of my relatives influencing 
 me more than the love of Christ, I shall have no part in 
 Christ. And if I wish to satisfy the obligation of Christian 
 regeneration, I shall, in doing so, deviate from the obhga- 
 
i88 S. MATTHEW X. 37-39. 
 
 tion of human generation (birth), and thus the love of 
 Christ influencing me more than tlie love of my relatives, 
 then that will come to pass which Christ has said as to 
 dissensions and persecutions. So that the man loves his 
 father more than Christ, when he is more drawn by the 
 obligation of human generation, than by the obligation of 
 Cliristian regeneration. To be worthy of Christ is the 
 same as to be a true member of Christ, to be incorporated 
 into Christ, by which incorporation God does not look 
 upon the man for w^hat he is in himself, but for what he 
 is in Christ. 
 
 In saying, " and he that taJceth not Ids cross," &c., Christ 
 declares that the man's cross is all the ill and all the 
 damage that result to him from loving Christ more than 
 his father, mother, &c. Christ also added, " and followeth 
 after Me" meaning, and walks in My steps, who follow 
 the will of God, disregarding the obligation of human 
 generation. And here it is to be understood that that 
 is not a cross which I voluntarily assume, self-inflicted 
 maltreatfiient ; but that which I take up by God's will, 
 feeling pleased that the world despises me, afilicts me, 
 and maltreats me. This is the Christian's cross, for it is 
 like the cross of Christ ; and he that does not shoulder 
 this cross in this world is unworthy of Christ. 
 
 That, " he that findeth his life" &c., I understand this 
 to be said by way of consolation to those who, taking their 
 cross, follow after Christ ; of whom Christ says that they 
 find their lives, meaning that all men of the world have 
 lost their lives — lives that are condemned to eternal 
 death ; whilst those, in the meanwhile, find their lives, 
 their souls, who accept the Gospel, by w^hich they are 
 justified, and are thus habilitated for resurrection and life 
 eternal. Christ says tliat, of those who shall lose their 
 souls, their lives, laying them down upon the executioner's 
 block, out of love to Christ, and of the obligation of 
 Christian regeneration, and who give up all the satisfactions 
 and sensual pleasures in which men of the world indulge. 
 
5. MATTHEW X. 40-42. 189 
 
 And He states, moreover, that they, who shall thus lose 
 their souls, their lives, shall find them, for they shall be 
 raised up and live the life eternal with Christ. 
 
 This is the highest perfection, and the greatest grace 
 of God is needed, for a man to make up his mind to lose 
 what he sees, with the expectation of getting that which 
 he does not see : and just as I hold it to be certain that 
 a man will never attain to this, unless God Himself draw 
 him ; so likewise do I believe that the most powerful 
 means, whereby God attracts those whom He does draw 
 to this, is to give them some intimations and perceptions 
 of the happiness of the life eternal ; giving them the 
 assurance, that, in losing the present life, they will gain 
 the life eternal. They who are destitute of these intima- 
 tions and perceptions, and of this assurance, cannot despise 
 the present life, nor can they love the life eternal. 
 
 X. 40-42. — He that receiveth you receiveth me, 
 and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent 
 me. He that receiveth a prophet in the name of 
 a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward ; and 
 he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of 
 a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's 
 reward. And whosoever shall give to drink unto 
 one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in 
 the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he 
 shall in no wise lose his reward. 
 
 . In these words of Christ we understand three things. 
 The first, that, in receiving and entertaining Christ's dis- 
 ciples, when they travel to preach the Gospel of Christ, 
 or when in flight from the persecution of men, we receive 
 and offer hospitality to Christ Himself; for that they 
 leave their homes for Christ's sake; and that, in enter- 
 taining Christ, we entertain God, who sent Christ into 
 
190 S. MATTHEW X. 40-42. 
 
 the world ; so that in offering hospitality to the disciples 
 of Christ, we entertain Christ and we entertain God. 
 
 The Second, that when we receive and offer hospitality 
 to Christ's disciples, we have only to mind that they are 
 disciples of Christ; so that we be not moved by the 
 obligation of human generation, but by the obligation of 
 Christian regeneration; not with the intention that our 
 good work be recompensed, but with the intention, that, 
 through our good work, God be glorified by that disciple, 
 who, through our instrumentality, comes to be more con- 
 firmed and certified that God is true and faithful, in that 
 He fulfils what He promises. 
 
 The Third, that our works when wrought with the 
 intention stated, are recompensed by God in the present 
 life, but with rewards affecting the other life, the reward 
 responding to the work ; for that, he, who receives a 
 prophet, that is, one who has the gift of interpreting Holy 
 Scripture and particularly of the prophetic portions of it, 
 the host only regarding him as a prophet, God will give 
 him the gift of prophecy : whilst to the host, who shall 
 receive the just man, justified by Christ, simply because 
 he is a just man, God will give the faith, wherewith he 
 also may be just. 
 
 Here it has to be observed, that in order that I may 
 receive a prophet, simply because he is a prophet, and a 
 just man, simply because he is just, I must needs know 
 that the one is a prophet and that the other is just, which 
 knowledge I cannot have, unless by the grace of God ; and 
 thus it will come to pass that the reward of prophecy and 
 the reward of righteousness, which I obtain, will not be 
 attributed to me, but to the grace of God which wrought 
 in me ; and thus there will remain nothing in me, whereof 
 I might vainly glorify myself, saying, I have the gift of 
 prophecy, because I received a prophet, neither am I just, 
 because I received a just man. 
 
 Christ, insisting still further upon the subject, in order 
 to provoke the minds of the imperfect to exercise charity 
 
S. MATTHEW X. 40-42. 191 
 
 towards His disciples, says, " whosoever shall give a cup of 
 cold water only" &c., meaning that the least thing in the 
 world that we shall do for those, who are His disciples, 
 having regard to nothing else than their being disciples 
 of Christ, shall be recompensed to ns by God, with spiri- 
 tual and divine gifts, as is above stated. And the same is 
 to be understood here in that passage " in the name of a 
 disciple only'' as above " in the name of a prophet" and 
 " in the name of a just man ; " it is a Hebraism, which 
 means, because he is a just man, because he is a prophet, 
 and because he is a disciple. From that expression " to 
 one of these little ones" it seems that these words were 
 uttered in the presence of other persons as well as in that 
 of the disciples. He speaks " of cold water" pure and 
 without commixture, even as taken from the spring or 
 fountain. 
 
192 S. MATTHEW XI. 
 
 CHAPTEK XL 
 
 XT. 1-6. — And it came to pass, when Jesus had 
 made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, 
 he departed thence to teach and to preach in their 
 cities. Now when John had heard in the prison 
 the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, 
 and said unto him, Art thou he that should come, 
 or do we look for another ? Jesus answered and 
 said unto them. Go and show John again those 
 things which ye do hear and see : The blind re- 
 ceive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are 
 cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, 
 and the poor have the gospel preached to them. 
 And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended 
 in me. 
 
 The first thing worthy of consideration here is, that the 
 evangelist almost always associates these two things, he 
 says that Christ taught and preached; in order that we 
 should understand that they are distinct and different. 
 Christ preached the Gospel of the Kingdom, and He taught 
 how to live according to the obligation of the Gospel. 
 
 St. Paul styles those, who preach, apostles ; and he 
 styles those, who teach, doctors : he says, that the former 
 have the gift of the Apostolate, and the latter, of doctrine. 
 
 In the embassy which St. John sent to Christ, I find 
 this difficulty, that it is impossible that he could pretend 
 
5. MATTHEW XI. i-6. 193 
 
 [not] ^ to know for himself what he sent to ask, since he 
 had shown that he knew it, when in his mother's womb, ' 
 and when at the Jordan ; whether it was his aim that his 
 disciples should know it, or that the multitudes should 
 know it, before whom he preached it, it does seem extra- 
 ordinary that St. John should call in question that which 
 he had affirmed at the Jordan, when he said, " BeJiold the 
 Lamh of God, wJio taketh away the sins of the world " (John 
 i. 29) ; and it seems yet more extraordinary that John 
 should wish that Christ should testify concerning Himself, 
 he being able to give it, in the manner in which he had 
 given it; and his testimony would have been more be- 
 lieved, especially upon the part of his disciples, on account 
 of the high reputation for sanctity which he had amongst 
 all men ; and besides that, that more credit is ordinarily 
 given to what others say of us, than to what we say of 
 ourselves. 
 
 As to Christ's reply, I see that it indeed was most 
 adequate to certify St. John, had he been in doubt ; but I 
 do not see how it was adequate to certify St. John's dis- 
 ciples; who, how they could know what they asked, by 
 those works, I know not, and much less do I see how the 
 other multitudes could, who, it appears, expected the 
 Messiah in very different garb and station from that in 
 which they saw Christ. I see the difficulties, and not 
 knowing how to get out of them, I hope that God Him- 
 self will get me out, when it shall please Him. In the 
 meantime, I am not ashamed of my ignorance, nay, I 
 pride myself upon it, in order that it may be known that 
 this my present opinion is my own. 
 
 Here, indeed, I will say this : that, from Christ's reply, 
 he, who should have good inward eyes, might well under- 
 stand that He was the Messiah, not by the miracles, but by 
 what Christ said after the miracles, videlicet, " and to the 
 jpoor the gos'pd is 'preached^ Tor it is so, that combining 
 this, which was seen, and was confirmed by miracles, with 
 
 ^ The *' not " is omitted in the text. 
 
 N 
 
194 ^5. MATTHEW XI. i-6. 
 
 that which was prophesied by Isaiah (chap. Ixi.), it might 
 be clearly known that Christ was the Messiah ; for Isaiah, 
 speaking in the person of Christ, says thus : '' The Spirit of 
 the Lord, my Lord, is upon me, for the Lord hath anointed 
 me ' to preach,' or evangelise, ' the afflicted/ or poor ; He 
 hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted ; to proclaim 
 liberty to the captives, the opening of the prison to the 
 prisoners ; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord," &c. ; 
 so that whoever should compare what he saw and heard of 
 the evangelisation of the poor of which Christ spake, with 
 these words, he might know that He was the Messiah, 
 being, however, enlightened by the Spirit of God to see 
 how the Gospel was preached to the poor, and to under- 
 stand Isaiah's words, which Christ Himself interprets as 
 concerning Himself in Luke iv. 18-22. 
 
 Here it is to be observed that, by the words of the 
 prophet, one may perfectly understand what Christ means 
 when He says, "to the poor the gospelis preached,'' or, the 
 j)oor are evangelised ; for it is so that the Hebrew word 
 here rendered " the poor " signifies the afflicted, the despi- 
 cable, and the beggarly ; and such practically they are who 
 accept the preaching of the Gospel. I mean, that in order 
 to accept it, they must know themselves to be such, and 
 hold themselves to be such ; just as the sick man must 
 know himself to be sick, in order to bring himself to take 
 medicine ; and because it likewise is so, that Isaiah, in say- 
 ing to bind up the bruised or broken in heart, declares that 
 preaching is profitable for those who hear it, and that they 
 who are afflicted or poor are men bruised or broken of 
 heart ; and the captives are the same as are the prisoners, 
 who by the Gospel enter into liberty and come forth from 
 captivity. And it is most charming that Isaiah calls the 
 period of the preaching of the Gospel the acceptable, the 
 agreeable, year of the Lord. 
 
 Here an answer, that I recollect having written,^ would 
 come in appositely, showing that of the things that are 
 
 ^ Reply to Question xxvii. 
 
5. MATTHEW XI. 7-10. 195 
 
 done in the world by the will of God, forasmuch as 
 they would not have been done had He not willed that 
 they should be done, only those please and satisfy Him 
 consummately, which He Himself operates by His Holy 
 Spirit in us who accept the Gospel. 
 
 Christ, in subjoining " and blessed is he that shall not he 
 scandalised in me" seems to have designed to remedy that 
 which human prudence might allege to him, who set him- 
 self to compare what he heard in the preaching of Christ 
 with what we have quoted from Isaiah, persuading him that 
 the words of the prophet did not attach to Christ, for that 
 He was apparently a man like others, neither manifest- 
 ing that greatness, nor that majesty, which the Jews 
 anticipated would characterise the Messiah. And it is 
 as certain that Scripture never states that any were ever 
 scandalised in Christ, excepting the Jews (i Cor. i. 23) ; nay, 
 our own experience shows us that it is as peculiar to the 
 Jews, and to those who have Jewish minds, to be scanda- 
 lised in Christ, as it is peculiar to the Gentiles, and to 
 those who have heathenish minds, to laugh at Christ. '' He 
 that shall not he scandalised at me" is equivalent to saying, 
 shall not stumble at My humility and abjectness. Upon 
 scandal I have written a Consideration (Ixxvi.) 
 
 XT. 7-10. — And as they departed, Jesus began 
 to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What 
 went ye out into the wilderness to see ? A reed 
 shaken with the wind ? But what went ye out for 
 to see ? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, 
 they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. 
 But what went ye out for to see ? A prophet ? 
 Yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. 
 For this is He of whom it is written, Behold, I send 
 my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare 
 thy way before thee. 
 
196 S. MATTHEW XI. 7-10. 
 
 It appears that because of the question put by St. 
 John's disciples, the multitudes who were present might 
 gather that St. John was not of that authority and 
 holiness that they had thought, since he doubted con- 
 cerning Christ ; Christ willed by these and the following 
 words to magnify St. John's authority. And in the Jirst 
 place, He says that he was not " a reed moved hy the 
 wind" which all they are who are not firm in the truth 
 which they know ; and which St. John would have been, 
 if, having borne testimony to Christ at Jordan, he had 
 doubted of Christ in prison. Secondly, He says St. John 
 was not a man of the lasciviousness, levity, and licentious- 
 ness which characterise those, who dress fastidiously through 
 wantonness and for appearance, thinking highly of them- 
 selves, on account of the refinement and beauty of their 
 dress. 
 
 Thirdly, He says that not only was he a prophet, but of 
 greater excellency and dignity than a prophet ; and Christ, 
 showing wherein this greater excellency consisted, quotes 
 Malachi iii. i , founding it upon two things : the one, in 
 that another prophet had prophesied concerning him ; and 
 the other, in that his ofhce was of greater excellence than 
 that of any prophet. And St. John's office consisted in 
 preparing the way for Christ ; this St. John did by preach- 
 ing sorrow for sin, penitence, or repentance, and baptising 
 in water, which was tantamount to disturbing the water 
 in the pool, in order that Christ might clear it, as is stated 
 in chapter iii. And this St. John's preparation is always 
 needed by us, in order that we may accept Christ ; because, 
 as I have just previously said, only they take medicine 
 who know themselves to be sick ; and St. John's peculiar 
 office is to show us our sicknesses, and to show us at the 
 same time Christ, who alone can heal them ; giving us the 
 medicine of the Gospel, remission of our sins, in which our 
 health consists. 
 
 The prophet Malachi literally speaks thus : " Behold 
 I send my angel to clear the way lefore me^ and the Lord, 
 
vS. MATTHEW XL ir. 197 
 
 wJiom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the 
 angel of the covenant whom ye desire; Behold He comcth^ 
 saith the Lord of Hosts." Here it is worthy of considera- 
 tion that Malachi and Isaiah agree as to St. John's office, 
 which was to prepare, to make straight, and to clear 
 Christ's way. And it is worthy of still greater considera- 
 tion that Malachi calls Christ the Angel of the covenant ; 
 for it is so, He is the person who was sent by God into 
 the world, whence the name of Angel pertains to Him; 
 He has reconciled men with God, taking men's sins upon 
 Himself, and beingj chastised for them with that ric^our 
 as though He had committed them all Himself ; so that 
 Christ is the Angel of the covenant, because He has made 
 peace between God and us. They, who do not enjoy this 
 peace, do not know the benefit of Christ, and consequently 
 do not know Christ ; whilst they, who know Christ, know 
 the benefit of Christ, and enjoy the peace and covenant 
 that Christ made between God and man. 
 
 XL II. — Yerily I say unto you, Among them 
 that are born of women there hath not risen a 
 greater than John the Baptist : notwithstanding 
 he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater 
 than he. 
 
 From these words of Christ we learn two thing^s : the 
 one that St. John was equal to the greatest of the 
 patriarchs and prophets, for that up to that time there 
 had been no mere man born his superior, and this serves 
 to give authority to St. John's testimony and to his preach- 
 ing ; and the other that the least saint of those who are 
 under the Gospel is greater than the greatest saint under 
 the law, since it is so that he is greater than St. John the 
 Baptist, who was so great that there was no other greater, 
 and this serves to extol the greatness of the Gospel. Had 
 Christ not stated these two things, it would indeed appear 
 
198 S. MATTHEW XT. ii. 
 
 to be a strong thing to say, that St. John was equal to 
 Moses, and it would appear to be an exceedingly strong 
 thing to say that the least saint under the Gospel — for 
 these are they, who are in the kingdom of heaven — is 
 greater than St. John the Baptist and than Moses ; but 
 Christ, who is truth itself, having stated it, we must hold it 
 to be true. 
 
 The first thing is [the relative position] between Moses 
 and St. John. I do not wish to impose upon myself the 
 task of verifying it; for I should, in speaking of it, be 
 forced to exercise learnings and not experience ; besides, it 
 is easy to believe it. But I will verify the second, which 
 is [the relative position] between St. John and the least 
 saint under the Gospel, because it is diiSicult to believe 
 it ; and thus I say that the incorporation, with which the 
 saints under the Gospel are incorporated into Christ, brings 
 it to pass that the least of them is greater than St. John 
 the Baptist, for God considers in each one of them that 
 which He considers in Christ, every one of them being 
 able to say with St. Paul, " I live, yet not I, lut Christ lives 
 in me " (Gal. ii. 20), and because incorporated into Christ 
 they are children of God, and they receive the spirit of 
 children [adoption] : so that their superiority does not con- 
 sist in the peculiar mode of existence of the individual, 
 who is least in the kingdom of heaven, but in an existence 
 that is incorporated into Christ; and thus as Christ is 
 greater than St. John, so the least of the members of Christ 
 is greater than St. John, whom I do not understand to 
 have been incorporated into Christ, because Christ had 
 not then been chastised upon the cross for our sins, upon 
 which chastisement our incorporation into Him depends ; 
 neither likewise do I understand that he could have the 
 Spirit of Christ, for that was not communicated to men 
 until that Christ had been glorified. 
 
 The benefit of Christ was indeed the portion of St. 
 John, as also of other saints, under the law, for they re- 
 mitted themselves to the justice which had to be executed 
 
5. MATTHEW XI. ii. 199 
 
 upon Christ ; but they never shared incorporation into 
 Christ, for that was not then wrought ; the experience of 
 the saints under the law in connection with Christ cruci- 
 fied, being analogous to that of the saints under the ^ 
 Gospel in connection with Christ glorified ; for just as the 
 saints under the Gospel enjoy Christ glorified, hoping that 
 they also have to be glorified with Him, whilst they yet 
 bear about this passible and mortal flesh ; so the saints 
 under the law enjoyed Christ crucified, hoping to be in- 
 corporated into Him and justified by Him, but their flesh 
 still molested and disquieted them, because Christ had 
 not yet slain it upon the cross. This is as to incorpora- 
 tion into Christ. And as to the Spirit of Christ, which is 
 a filial spirit, it is clear that the saints under the law had 
 no share in that, for the filial spirit was not given to them, 
 but a servile spirit. 
 
 This difference of the spirits appears from those words 
 of Christ, where, rebuking His disciples because they 
 would fain imitate Elijah, He said to them, " You knov) 
 not of what spirit you are " (Luke ix. 55) ; and it appears 
 from what St. John says : " For the Spirit was not yet 
 given, for Jesus was not yet glorified " (John vii. 39) ; and 
 it likewise appears from what St. Paul says : " For ye have 
 not received the spirit of bondage again to fear ; hut you 
 have received the spirit of adoption " (Eom. viii. 15). And 
 thus it readily follows that because the least of those, who, 
 being connected with the Gospel, is in the kingdom of 
 God, is a child ; whilst the greatest of those connected 
 with the law, is a servant ; that that comes to be true 
 which Christ says, that the least of those who are under 
 the Gospel is greater than St. John the Baptist, since the 
 one, however little he may be, is, after all, a son ; whilst 
 the other, however great he may be, is, after all, a servant ; 
 and although it frequently happens that a servant is more 
 worthy than a son, as I understand that many saints under 
 the law have been more worthy than many saints under 
 the Gospel, yet the son transcends the servant in dignity 
 
200 S. MATTHEW XL 12-15. 
 
 And I have dealt with this very subject in my Commen- 
 tary upon the 149th Psalm, and in a reply to a Question 
 [xix.] 
 
 In that expression " horn of women" it is clear that 
 Christ is not comprehended ; not that He was not born of 
 women, but because the Son of God is beyond all gene- 
 ralisation. 
 
 XI. 12-15. — ^^^ from the days of John the 
 Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven sufferetli 
 violence, and the violent take it by force. For all 
 the prophets and the law prophesied until John. 
 And if ye will receive it, this is Elijah, which was 
 for to come. He that hath ears to hear, let him 
 hear. 
 
 From these words of Christ we understand three things. 
 The first, that from the time that St. John began to preach, 
 men began, as it were, to instruct themselves how to enter 
 into the kingdom of heaven, beginning by repentance and 
 the recognition of Christ as the Messiah, as the King of 
 this kingdom. Where He says '' suffer eth violence" His 
 meaning is : is sacked, is taken by force ; whilst it might 
 be said that the saints of the world, who seek and strive 
 to justify themselves by their works, design to enter the 
 kingdom of heaven upon stipulated terms, but they do 
 not enter, for it does not surrender upon conditions, and 
 thus only the violent enter it, they who storm it, not by 
 works, but by faith ; their violence consisting in the sub- 
 jection of their understandings, their judgments, and their 
 ratiocination to the obedience of Christian faith, by which 
 entrance is gained into the kingdom of heaven. 
 
 The Jews tried to enter the kingdom of heaven by 
 compact, stating that Christ was promised to them, and 
 they have remained outside; whilst the Gentiles, dis- 
 regarding compact and following after strength of faith, 
 
S. MATTHEW XL 12-15. 201 
 
 take it by assault and sack it. The second thing, that we 
 here understand, is, that as soon as the kingdom of heaven 
 began to be sacked, then the kingdom of the law and the 
 prophets began to fail likewise ; for when they, who are 
 God's people, entered into the kingdom of heaven, where 
 they are ruled by the Holy Spirit, they do not need the 
 law and the prophets ; that in this case occurring to the 
 people of God which occurs to a child ; for that just as a 
 child, whilst he is a child, not having arrived at years of 
 discretion, is governed by a tutor or pedagogue, and, that 
 after he has attained discretion, he no longer needs a tutor, 
 ruling himself by himself, in some things according to the 
 training which the tutor gave him, and in others according 
 to what seems to him to be best ; so the people of God, when 
 they were in childhood, had for tutors and governors the 
 law and the prophets ; but after that they had entered 
 into the kingdom of heaven, having no need of the law 
 and the prophets, they are ruled by the Holy Spirit; which 
 in some things conforms with the law, and in others fol- 
 lows the obligation of Christian regeneration ; so that the 
 Holy Spirit has succeeded to the law in the government 
 of the people of God. They, who do not feel this govern- 
 ment, are not the children of God, nor are they in the 
 kingdom of heaven ; and they feel this government, who 
 begin to feel themselves drawn with greater force to the 
 oblicration of Christian reo^eneration than to the obli<Tation 
 of human generation ; to the love of Christ, of which we 
 have spoken above, than to the love of their relatives. 
 The similitude of the child who is placed under the tutor, 
 is taken from St. Paul (Galatians iii.) I state this in 
 order that it may be the more appreciated. 
 
 The third thing that we understand from the words of 
 Christ is, that St. John the Baptist is the Elijah, whom 
 Christ had just before stated had come, and whom the 
 Jews had treated as they wished. And here Christ openly 
 showed Himself to be the Messiah ; and because it is a 
 thing of great importance, nay of all importance, Christ 
 
202 S. MATTHEW XL 16-19. 
 
 added, " he that hath ears to hear, let him hear" to wake up 
 His hearers to mark well what He said to them. Here it 
 is well to observe what Christ says, that from the time of 
 St. John the Baptist, the kingdom of heaven is taken by- 
 force, and that up to that time the law and the prophets 
 were in exercise, is not to be understood rigorously ; for it is 
 so, that these two things properly commenced to exist at 
 the coming of the Holy Spirit, who, by placing men in the 
 kingdom of heaven, withdrew them from the rule of the 
 pedagogue ; so that we may understand that from the time 
 of St. John they began to feel these two things, and that 
 from the coming of the Holy Spirit they began to see them. 
 
 XL 16-19. — But whereunto shall I liken this 
 generation ? It is like unto children sitting in the 
 markets, and calling unto their fellows, and saying, 
 We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we 
 have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented. 
 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and 
 they say, He hath a devil. The Son of man came 
 eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man 
 gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans 
 and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children. 
 
 Starting with this comparison, it is right to observe 
 that Christ more frequently than not moulded His similes 
 in a style wholly paradoxical. Thus He says, that the 
 kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking valuable 
 precious stones, &c., and He means, that they who enter 
 into the kingdom of heaven are like this merchant. It is 
 the same in the parable of the ten virgins, and in others 
 that we shall have to point out. But the first is this, where 
 He says that the Jews were like boys ; whilst He means, 
 that He and St. John the Baptist were like boys ; for, 
 just as boys said to other boys, their companions, whom 
 
5. MATTHEW XL 16-19. 203 
 
 they had been unable to move to laughter by laughing, 
 or to weep by weeping ; so He and St. John might say to 
 the Jews, that they had been unable to convert them, 
 either by the ascetic life of the one, or by the common life 
 of the other. So that playing on the flute may be referred 
 to Christ's life, and the mournful things may be referred 
 to St. John's austerities, which the Jews calumniated, 
 saying that they were diabolic ; calumniating also Christ's 
 mode of life, saying that it was profane, so that they found 
 nothing that could satisfy them. 
 
 And Christ, when He Sidds ''htct wisdom is justified of her 
 children," means, that He and St. John, as children of God, 
 justified the wisdom of God, although in the most different 
 manner, — the one leading a life of austerity, whilst the other 
 lived unrestrainedly; thus preventing men of the world from 
 finding any way of exculpating themselves, by inculpating 
 the wisdom of God, who has propounded both ways to 
 them. Where it is to be understood that, just as Christ 
 justified the wisdom of God by living bodily amongst 
 men, so also does He justify the wisdom of God by living 
 in the spirit in those who are His members; and thus 
 likewise does it come to pass that they too, as children of 
 God, justify the wisdom of God, as opposed to the wisdom 
 of the world. 
 
 This appears to me a right apprehension, and it would 
 not be amiss to understand, that if indeed the Jews, as the 
 children of the wisdom of the world, and as saints of the 
 world, condemned St. John's mode of life as excessively 
 ascetic, and condemned Christ's mode of life as excessively 
 free ; that true Christians, as the children of divine wisdom, 
 and as saints of God, acknowledge and approve, as good, the 
 divine counsel by which God ordained that St. John should 
 live as he lived, and that Christ should live as He lived. 
 
 As to the divine counsel in the life of St. John, I remit 
 myself to what I have said upon chapter iii. ; and as to 
 the divine counsel in the life of Christ, I remit myself to 
 what I have said in an epistle, where I speak of the 
 
204 >S'. MATTHEW XL 20-24. 
 
 reasons why Christ at times discovers Himself and at 
 other times hides Himself, and to what I have stated in 
 a Consideration (Ixxxix.), where I assign six reasons why- 
 it appeared to be necessary that the Son of God, made 
 man, should have lived amongst men as He lived. 
 
 Thus do I understand these words of Christ, and I 
 think that I should understand them much better had I 
 known the mode in which those boys played, who, as 
 one may gather, sitting in the market-place, were divided 
 into two companies, the one of whom addressed the words, 
 here given by Christ, to the other : and that which I here 
 gather is this, that only the children of the wisdom of 
 God, those who are wise by the Spirit of God, recognise 
 the divine counsel of God Himself in the works of the 
 children of God, of which human prudence is wholly in- 
 capable, and then most so when it is most polished ; for the 
 moment when man is most blind to the perception of the 
 things of God is then, when he thinks that he sees ; there 
 being no one more blind than he is then. 
 
 XT. 20-24. — Then began lie to upbraid the cities 
 wherein most of his mighty works were done, be- 
 cause they repented not : Woe unto thee, Chorazin ! 
 woe uoto thee, Bethsaida ! for if the mighty works, 
 wjiicli were done in you, had been done in Tyre 
 and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in 
 sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you. It shall 
 be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of 
 judgment, than for you. And thou Capernaum, 
 which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought 
 down to hell : for if the mighty works, which have 
 been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it 
 would have remained until this day. But I say 
 unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the 
 
5. MATTHEW XI. 2C-24. 205 
 
 land of Sodom in the day of judgment, tlian for 
 thee. 
 
 From these words we may infer as a consequence, that 
 at the day of judgment, they will be more chastised, who, 
 having had more opportunities for departing from evil 
 and for applying themselves to good, and thus to live 
 modestly and purely in the present life, shall have led 
 profane and worldly lives. And here that is much to the 
 purpose, which I often repeat, that the wicked always 
 come off badly when associated with the good. Had 
 Christ not preached in Chorazin, in Bethsaida, and Caper- 
 naum, they would not have come to be punished, at the 
 day of judgment, worse than Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom. 
 Here two doubts present themselves : the one is, whether 
 outward miracles are adequate, without inward movement, 
 to work penitence, sorrow for sin, or repentance ; whilst 
 the other is, how can these two things be made to har- 
 monise, that there be predestination, and that these cities, 
 against which Christ here declaims, should deserve to be 
 so rebuked and so chastised, as Christ threatens them ? 
 
 As to the first doubt, I say thus from what I have 
 attained, that outward miracles are adequate, without in- 
 ward movement, to induce outward penitence, grief for 
 sin, and repentance, with which man departs from outward 
 evil and applies himself to that which is good outwardly ; 
 but they are not adequate to induce that inward peni- 
 tence, that grief for sin, and that repentance, with which 
 man departs from inward wrong, and applies himself to 
 inward right ; and I say that they are not adequate, be- 
 cause this effect is only wrought by the Holy Spirit, who 
 works inwardly. That such is the fact appears from this, 
 that many saw Christ's miracles and externally repented ; 
 but as that repentance ^as human, it did not penetrate 
 inwardly ; it changed the exterior, but it did not change 
 the interior ; and I understand Christ rebuked these cities 
 in relation to this external change, because they had not 
 
2o6 S. MATTHEW XI. 25-30. 
 
 made it, which they could have made, moved by the 
 miracles which they saw, as Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom 
 would have done. 
 
 And if any one suggest, why should these cities have 
 made this change or demonstration, and not those ? I 
 should reply, that I -think that these would have done 
 so, because their vices were more apparent, and because 
 they had no external works wherewith to justify them- 
 selves, covering their inward impiety and exculpating 
 their outward bad mode of living, as had those, which not 
 regarding themselves as greatly inculpated with external 
 vices, and regarding themselves as holy by their external 
 works, could not come to the knowledge of their inward 
 impiety, nor could they judge themselves to be very 
 guilty by their external life. And here it is to be under- 
 stood how dangerous are works, when they do not proceed 
 from a pious, just, and holy mind. As to the second doubt, 
 I remit myself to the discourse which I have written upon 
 predestination, faith and works, grace and free-will, in 
 which I make special mention of these cities. 
 
 That which is here rendered " many of His miracles" is, 
 in the Greek, the majority of His mighty acts, but He 
 means miracles, works wrought by supernatural virtue and 
 power. In saying " they would have repented," or, they 
 would have shown themselves penitent " in sackcloth and 
 ashes," He touches upon a Jewish practice ; this was, that 
 they who recognised that they had offended against God, 
 dressed themselves in sackcloth, and sat in dust or in ashes ; 
 of which there is ample mention in Holy Scripture. When 
 He says " they would have remained" &c., He means, the 
 successors of those who dwelt in that city, not being con- 
 sumed as were both they and it. He says, "for the land" 
 instead of the inhabitants of the land. 
 
 XL 25-30. — At that time Jesus answered and 
 said, I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and 
 
5. MATTHEW XI. 25-30. 20/ 
 
 earth, because thou hast hid these things from the 
 wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto 
 babes. Even so, Father : for so it seemed good in 
 thy sight. All things are delivered unto me of 
 my Father : and no man knoweth the Son, but the 
 Father ; neither knoweth any man the Father, save 
 the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal 
 him. Come unto me, all ye that labour and are 
 heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my 
 yoke upon you, and learn of me ; for I am meek 
 and lowly in heart : and ye shall find rest unto 
 your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden 
 is light. 
 
 These words teem throughout with divinity, so much 
 so, that there are no other in Holy Scripture to vie with 
 them ; and in proportion as they are more divine, so ought 
 they to be the more and the better considered. As I do 
 not find how they can depend upon what precedes them in 
 St. Matthew, I remit myself to St. Luke's narrative (x. 17), 
 which relates that the disciples of Christ having returned 
 from a preaching tour, upon which they had been sent, 
 they, greatly elated, report to Christ the miracles they had 
 wrought, when on their way preaching, and Christ tells 
 them, that they should not rejoice over the miracles 
 wrought, but because their names are written in heaven ; 
 and that Christ at that moment felt such a holy exultation 
 of spirit and such inward jubilation, 'that manifesting His 
 inward pleasure by outward words. He broke forth, say- 
 ing, " / thank Thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth," &c. 
 Where considering the purpose, which, according to St. 
 Luke, Christ had in uttering these words, and considering 
 the very words themselves, I understand that Christ, repre- 
 senting to Himself, and bringing before Himself, all the 
 glory and happiness of those, who were, through Him, 
 
2o8 6". MATTHEW XI. 25-30. 
 
 about to become the children of God ; it being already in 
 the divine mind, in which all their names were already- 
 written, He, perfectly happy and content, was inwardly 
 moved to render thanks to God in these words for the 
 predestination of those whom He has predestinated. 
 
 And thus I understand that the secret of predestination, 
 with all that is annexed to it, is that which Christ here 
 says God has hidden from the wise and prudent, and 
 has revealed to infants, for I understand that in saying 
 " thou hast hidden this" He means that of which He had 
 just been speaking to the disciples : " / rejoice, however, 
 that your names are written in heaven." Do not rejoice 
 that the demons submit themselves to you, but rejoice that 
 your names are written in heaven, for God has pre- 
 destinated you to eternal life, which He will give you. 
 They, who feel His vocation, being disciples of Christ and 
 being in Christ's divine school, know themselves to be 
 predestinated of God, and have great reason why they 
 should rejoice and be glad, both on their own account and 
 that of all the members of Christ, imitating this joy 
 which Christ here manifested ; and they, who are without 
 this feeling and without this knowledge, have great reason 
 why they should grieve and be sad, whilst they ought not 
 to despair ; on the contrary, they should earnestly pray to 
 God that He give them this feeling and knowledge, and 
 that, after having given it to them. He should increase it 
 in them. 
 
 Christ calls those wise and prudent who are largely 
 endowed with human prudence, with natural light, and 
 with the knowledge of good and evil, which man acquired 
 by eating of the fruit of that tree. He calls those infants 
 who are like little children, for that by Christian regenera- 
 tion they have renounced human prudence, natural light, 
 the knowledge of good and evil, never wishing to exercise 
 it on any thing nor in any way, knowing it to be blind 
 and dark ; and for that they have embraced the spiritual 
 light, and holding that to be sure, firm, and true, which 
 
S. MATTHEW XI. 25-30. 209 
 
 they see by this light, they doubt every other, and are, 
 in fact, like children; for that just as children know 
 nothing of themselves, and rely upon what is told them, 
 as to temporal things ; so they, neither knowing nor caring 
 to know anything of themselves, abide by that with which 
 they are inwardly inspired, as to divine things. 
 
 And here it may appear strange to some one, that 
 Christ should render thanks to God equally, for hiding 
 His purposes from the wise and prudent, and for reveal- 
 ing them to infants and children ; for it appears to him 
 that Christ should render thanks to God for what He does 
 to the latter, and that He should pray that He would 
 do the same to the former. To whom I shall reply 
 thus : that considering what St. Paul says (i Cor. i., ii.) 
 against the wisdom and the wise men of the world, and 
 considering what I have frequently experienced in myself, 
 being delighted that they, who seek to understand spiritual 
 and divine things with their mental powers and natural 
 judgment, are incapable of them, I understand that because 
 the glory of God is alike illustrated, as well by the blind- 
 ness of the wise men of the world, as by the light of the 
 children of God, Christ gave thanks to God equally for 
 both. Where it is not to be understood that the glory of 
 God is illustrated by the fact that the wise men of the 
 world cannot understand the secrets of God ; but that 
 they cannot understand them, whilst they seek to under- 
 stand them by their wisdom ; and that failure in their 
 design is that which illustrates the glory of God; and 
 on that account Christ thanks the Father ; and against 
 that St. Paul speaks ; and for that reason, I say I fre- 
 quently experience pleasure. 
 
 Christ, subjoining " even so, Father," &c., affirms that this 
 thing for which He thanks God, depends wholly upon the 
 will of God : He does so, because He so wills it, it pleases 
 Him and it gratifies Him, that it be thus ; without being 
 swayed by anything, save His will alone, which is, in all 
 and everything, most righteous and most holy ; although 
 
 
 
2IO S. MATTHEW XL 25-30. 
 
 human prudence is incapable of comprehending either the 
 righteousness or the holiness that there is in it. It is to be 
 observed that when He here says "for so it seemed good 
 in Thy sight," there is in the Greek that word {evhoKia) 
 which St. Paul constantly employs when he wishes that 
 we should understand that our predestination wholly 
 depends upon the sole will of God, who has contented 
 Himself in predestinating us to eternal life of His sole 
 goodness and munificence; from which and from the 
 obedience of Christ, who was pleased that we should be 
 chastised in His flesh, we have to acknowledge our predes- 
 tination and vocation, justification and glorification, assign- 
 ing no part of it to our merits, nor to anything that we 
 have of our own, in order that all the glory may be God's 
 and Christ's. 
 
 Christ, in further saying, " All things are delivered unto 
 Me of My Father" refers to God's munificence the power 
 which He had to communicate divine mysteries to His 
 disciples ; a power which I understand Him to have had 
 increased in Him after the resurrection; as He shows it, 
 saying, " All power is given Me in heaven and on earth." 
 And what I have written in a Consideration (Ixxv.) and 
 frequently elsewhere, is in conformity with this, where I 
 state that just as God having placed all His outward 
 li^ht in the sun, which communicates it to us, who have 
 the clear vision of the outward eyes, so, God having 
 placed His Spirit in Christ with all the treasures of His 
 divinity, who communicates it to all of us, who, by God's 
 favour, have clear vision of the inward eyes. But I shall 
 better express it thus : to all of us, who, having accepted 
 the grace of the Gospel, have purified our hearts, so that 
 Christ can saiy, All this which is veiled to the wise and is 
 revealed to the little ones. My Pather has given Me, that 
 Ishould hide it from the former and reveal it to the latter. 
 
 And Christ, willing to show His dignity, His divine 
 and heavenly existence, on account of which God is 
 so bountiful to Him, states, " And no one has known the 
 
S. MATTHEW XI. 25-30. 211 
 
 Son" &c. ; meaning, that it is so divine and celestial, that 
 only the Father knows Him. And proceeding to discover 
 His most exalted dignity, He states, " neither hath any man 
 hnoivn the Father" &c. ; meaning, that just as the Father 
 only knovrs the Son, so the Son only knows the Father. 
 And Christ in adding, " and he to whomsoever the Son 
 shall reveal Him" shows that it is in His hand to give the 
 knowledsfe of the Father to those to whom He wills, who 
 alone are they who can truly say, that they know God. 
 
 As to the manner in which I understand that we know 
 the Father by revelation of the Son, who, through Christ, 
 know God, I remit myself to what I have stated in a Con- 
 sideration (Ixxxv.) 
 
 Here it might appear strange to some one that Christ 
 said that no one has known the Father, save Himself, 
 and those to whom it shall have pleased Him, Christ, to 
 reveal Him ; since it is so that the Jewish saints knew 
 God by the especial favour of God; even the whole Jewish 
 people knew God by the Holy Scriptures ; and thus David 
 says, " In Judah is God hnoiun " (Ps. Ixxvi. i) ; and even, 
 according to St. Paul, the Gentiles knew Him by contem- 
 plation of the creatures. 
 
 But it will not appear strange to him, who shall con- 
 sider the difference that there is between the knowledge 
 of God which they have who know God by revelation of 
 Christ, from that which the Gentiles, the Jews, and the 
 Jewish saints had, considering the difference in the results; 
 for, as to the result which the knowledge of God gained 
 from the creatures, wrought upon the Gentiles, not from 
 failure upon the part of God, but from their own failure, 
 was, as stated by St. Paul (Eom. i. 21), ''that they became 
 vain in their imaginations;" whilst the result that the 
 knowledge of God, gained from the Scriptures, wrought 
 upon the Jewish people, not from any fault upon the 
 part of God, but from their own fault, was that of which 
 we read in the books of Kings, which are filled with the 
 idolatries of that people ; and the result which the know- 
 
212 5. MATTHEW XL 25-30. 
 
 ledge that the Jewish saints got of God, by the favour of 
 God, through the nature of the law, was what we read in 
 all the lioly old Testament Scriptures ; it kept them in con- 
 tinuous fear and in continuous slavery. And the result 
 which Christian saints get from the knowledge of God, 
 through the revelation of Christ, from the nature of grace, 
 is that of which we read in the epistles of our two apostles, 
 St. Peter and St. Paul ; and that which we see, to some 
 extent, experimentally in persons truly Christian, that is, 
 in liberating them from all fear, and filling them with all 
 love, setting them loose from the bonds of laws and pre- 
 cepts, and causing them to delight in the imitation of 
 Christ and of God Himself, whom they know as children. 
 
 And therefore their knowledge is more perfect than 
 that of Jewish saints, and consequently than that of the 
 Jewish nation, and than that of the Gentiles ; nay, it is 
 so that these different degrees of the knowledge of God, 
 compared with that which Christian saints have through 
 revelations of Christ, ought not to be called knowledge ; 
 just as the knowledge which I had of Christ and of God 
 twenty years ago, comparing that with what I now have, 
 I do not call it knowledge ; so that Christ might well say 
 that He only knows God, knowing Him as He is ; and 
 that they only know God, who know God, through Christ, 
 knowing Him as the benign, merciful, and loving Pather. 
 
 And therefore Christ very much to the purpose adds, 
 " Corne unto Me, all ye that laboicr," &c., as though He 
 should say : And since it is for Me, to give the knowledge 
 of God, in which knowledge eternal life consists, con- 
 formably with that passage, John xvii. 3, " This is eternal 
 life, that tliey may kiioiv Thee, the only trice God^ and Jesics 
 Christ whom Thou hast sent." Come unto Me, all you, 
 who, finding yourselves involved in evils, outward or 
 inward, wish to get out of them, for I will get you out of 
 them, and thus I will give you rest and contentment. 
 
 Where it is worthy of consideration that Christ calls 
 none to go unto Him save those that labour and are heavy- 
 
S. MATTHEW XI. 25-30. 213 
 
 laden; those that are involved in outward evils, being 
 persecuted and afflicted by men of the world ; and suffer- 
 ing the varied forms of distress that are incident to 
 poverty ; and those who are oppressed by inward evils, 
 recognising their wrongdoings, their rebelliousness, and 
 their sins. For they, who do not feel themselves labour- 
 ing or heavy-laden, in one or other of these modes, are 
 not only deaf to Christ's words, but they laugh at them, 
 for they see no need of Christ, nor even of God. Such are 
 the rich of this world, who, depending upon their riches, 
 think of attaining perfect happiness by them ; and such are 
 the saints of the world, who, confiding in their works, aim 
 at attaining eternal life by them : they will both find them- 
 selves sorely deceived. Christ, proceeding to state what it 
 is that we have to do in order to go to Him and thus find 
 rest and repose, says, " Take My yoke upon yoic/' &c. 
 
 Where, as I have stated in my exposition of chapter vii. 
 upon that passage, " Unter in hy the strait gate," I under- 
 stand by " yoke " Christian faith, to which we have to 
 bow the necks of our human prudence, accepting it in our 
 hearts ; and thus I understand Christ to say. Take upon 
 you the yoke of My preaching, bringing yourselves to 
 believe in the general indulgence and pardon which I 
 preach to you ; and confirm your acceptance or your faith, 
 learning of Me the meekness and humility of heart, which 
 you have seen in Me; esteeming Me for the mode of 
 existence adopted by Me, that of passible and of mortal 
 man ; and thus you will come to attain the rest, which I 
 promise you, for it will be thus and in this way that you 
 will find true repose for your souls. 
 
 And Christ, desiring to facilitate this yet more to us, 
 adds, "/or My yoke is easy and My burden light ; " where I 
 understand that He calls that the burden, which He has said 
 that we ought to learn of Him, videlicet, the meekness and 
 the humility. And, as I have said upon chapter vii., and in 
 a reply, Christ's burden is light and Christ's yoke is easy for 
 those, who, through the gift of God, perfectly understand 
 
214 5. MATTHEW XI. 25-30. 
 
 wherein Christian faith consists, and wherein Christian 
 liviug consists ; the yoke being for all others a rough one, 
 and the burden a heavy one ; from the difficulty which 
 they find in subjecting themselves to Christian faith, be- 
 cause it is repugnant to human prudence, and to Christian 
 living, because it is repugnant to sensuality. 
 
 These words of Christ being thus understood, I under- 
 stand that, to learn the meekness of Christ, it is necessary 
 that we be attent to mortify and slay in us all the sallies 
 of wrath and of anger that may assail us ; for meekness 
 consists in a man's living amongst men like a sheep 
 amongst wolves. I understand, moreover, that, to learn 
 the humility of Christ, it is necessary that we mortify and 
 slay all the affections of ambition and of self-esteem to 
 which we are inclined ; for Christian humility consists in 
 a man's despising himself, in holding himself to be insig- 
 nificant and in self-annihilation, knowing his frailty and 
 his wretchedness. 
 
 Men, who have outward humility, which consists in 
 mere show, have not Christian humility ; so neither have 
 they Christian meekness, who, but have it apparently 
 and not in reality ; whilst they, who have Christian meek- 
 ness and humility, by how much the more spiritual and 
 the more perfect they are, so much the more meek and the 
 more humble are they ; because so much the more do they 
 know the very abject and the very vile plight in which 
 they are, whilst their flesh is passible and mortal. To 
 those, who have not attained to know this, it seems sin- 
 gular that Christ had humility in the heart. 
 
 I likewise understand that, in that clause " aiid yc shall 
 find rest unto your souls," Christ responded to that which 
 He had said, " and I will give you rest ; " meaning, that 
 the rest, which He gives to those, who go to Him, taking 
 His yoke and learning of Him, meekness and humility, is 
 inward ; for they feel peace of conscience, which is the 
 first and principal effect of faith, and is one of the things 
 in which the kingdom of God consists, I mean to say of 
 
S. MATTHEW XI. 25-30. 215 
 
 those which they enjoy, who are in the kingdom of God; 
 in which we begin to feel that repose in the soul, which 
 we shall feel in soul and in body after the resurrection of 
 the just, in life eternal. 
 
 But I understand that the easiness of Christ's yoke con- 
 sists in there being nothing in this life more sweet and 
 more grateful, than for a man to feel himself pardoned by 
 God and reconciled to God. Christ's burden is the imita- 
 tion of Christ, and that which makes it light, is, that they, 
 who have faith, are certified that it will be well with them 
 in the life eternal ; and thus becoming enamoured of it, they 
 disregard the present life, they abhor it, and are glad to lose 
 it ; and that because mortification is one of the effects of 
 faith, it comes to pass that, although meekness and humi- 
 lity, with all the other things that are associated with it, 
 and which constitute the burden of Christ, are ordinarily 
 oppressive, yet the mortification wrought by faith, which 
 is the yoke of Christ to believers, makes the imitation of 
 Christ light to them and easy to bear, because they delight 
 to mortify and to kill all that cleaves to them of Adam. 
 
 They, who have not taken the yoke of Christ upon them- 
 selves, being without faith, hold the burden of Christ to 
 be most oppressive and insupportable ; and such it, in 
 fact, is for flesh not mortified by faith. And therefore it 
 is a good sign, one by which a man may know whether 
 his faith be efficient or not, by the lightness or the weight 
 which he feels in the burden of Christ, in the doctrine of 
 Christian life, in the imitation of Christ. Thus, at this 
 present time, do I understand all these words of Christ ; 
 and I think, nay, I hold it for certain, that with time I 
 shall understand them better, for I know that, according 
 as increased gifts of faith and of the Spirit shall be vouch- 
 safed me, so will my peace and repose go on to increase ; 
 and I shall go on to feel the burden of Christ grow lighter ; 
 and, having greater experience of what Christ here states, 
 I shall come to understand it better, to the glory of God, 
 and of the Son of God, Jesus Christ our Lord. 
 
2i6 S. MATTHEW XII. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 XII. 1-8. — At tliat time Jesus went on the sab- 
 bath day through the corn ; and his disciples wera 
 hungry, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and 
 to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said 
 unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not 
 lawful to do upon the sabbath day. But he said 
 unto them, Have ye not read what David did when 
 he was hungry, and they that were with him ; how 
 he entered into the house of God, and did eat the 
 shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, 
 neither for them which were with him, but only for 
 the priests ? Or have ye not read in the law, how 
 that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple 
 profane the sabbath, and are blameless ? But I say 
 unto you. That in this place is one greater than the 
 temple. But if ye had known what this meaneth, 
 I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not 
 have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man 
 is Lord even of the sabbath day. 
 
 Here it has to be considered that Christ, knowing that 
 His disciples were hungry, took them through the corn- 
 fields, when the ears were already ripe, in order that 
 necessity should compel them to do that, which, without 
 it, they would not have done ; and that, in doing so, th^y 
 should give occasion for the calumny of the Pharisees 
 and for the defence wherewith Christ defended them ; by 
 
S. MATTHEW XII. i-8. 217 
 
 which they learned that the observance of the Sabbath 
 was not to be understood as superstitiously as the Phari- 
 sees understood it, and as they taught the people to un- 
 derstand it. 
 
 Thus one is led to consider here the divine wisdom of 
 Christ, the sincerity of the disciples of Christ, the super- 
 stition of the Pharisees. Christ, exonerating His disciples, 
 in the instance of David shovv^ed them, that which is ex- 
 pressed in the adage, that necessity has no law. I mean 
 that he, who, constrained by necessity, transgressed some 
 one of the observances of the law, did not offend against 
 God ; and He thus compares tte case of the disciples with 
 that of David : as though He! had said. Since David did 
 not do wrong when he entered the house of God (thus He 
 calls the place where the ark of the covenant was kept), 
 and ate through necessity the loaves of bread, which it 
 was not lawful for him to eat, so neither did His disciples 
 do wrong, in plucking the ears of corn and in eating them 
 on the Sabbath day, being constrained by necessity to do 
 so. 
 
 In the instance of the priests Christ greatly discovered 
 His divinity. He assumed that since it was lawful for 
 the priests to work on the Sabbath in the temple, so like- 
 wise it was lawful for His disciples to work on the Sab- 
 bath, the place where He was being greater than the 
 interior of the temple. And when He adds, " hut if ye 
 had known lohat this means" He shows that because the 
 Pharisees held sacrifice to be more agreeable to God than 
 to succour one's neighbour, it came to pass that they did 
 not blame the priests that, in offering sacrifices, they 
 worked upon the Sabbath, whilst they blamed His dis- 
 ciples, because they plucked ears of corn on the Sabbath, 
 not to die of hunger. 
 
 That passage, " / will have mercy, and not sacrifice" is 
 expounded in the commentary upon chapter ix. In say- 
 ing ''for the Son of man is Lord even of the sahhath day" 
 Christ concludes that even should it have been a breaking 
 
2i8 S. MATTHEW XII. 9-21. 
 
 of the Sabbath, His disciples, with His dispensation as 
 Lord of the Sabbath, were justified in doing so. Tiiis is 
 what I understand by these words, which, to my mind, 
 concerned more the period in which they were spoken, 
 than the present time. 
 
 XII. 9-21. — And when he was departed thence, 
 he \j^ent into their synagogue : And behold, there 
 was a man which had his hand withered. And 
 they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the 
 sabbath days ? that they might accuse him. And 
 he said unto them. What man shall there be among 
 you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into 
 a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold 
 on it, and lift it out ? How much then is a man 
 better than a sheep ? Wherefore it is lawful to do 
 well on the sabbath days. Then saith he to the 
 man. Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched 
 it forth ; and it was restored whole, like as the 
 other. Then the Pharisees went out, and held a 
 council against him, how they might destroy him. 
 But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from 
 thence : and great multitudes followed him, and 
 he healed them all ; and charged them that they 
 should not make him known : That it might be 
 fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, 
 saying. Behold my servant, whom I have chosen ; 
 my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased : I 
 will put my spirit upon him, and he shall show judg- 
 ment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive, nor cry; 
 neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. 
 A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking 
 flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment 
 
S. MATTHEW XII. 9-21. 219 
 
 unto victory. And in liis name shall tlie Gentiles 
 trust. 
 
 The case of the man, who had a withered hand, is one in 
 point against the superstitious observance of the Sabbath ; 
 an observance grasped at by the Jews, as men naturally 
 would, who act strictly where they might act laxly, and 
 who act laxly where they ought to act strictly : all, who 
 have minds of a Jewish tone, act thus ; they are strict in 
 external observations, and they are lax, living licentiously 
 and viciously ; tliey gratify their minds by indulging in 
 divers forms of vanity and curiosity. 
 
 From what Christ here says of the sheep, it appears that 
 it was then lawful to do as He states ; but it would not be 
 held to be lawful by modern Jews,^ who are more super- 
 stitious than were the Jews of those days : I think that this 
 must proceed from their being more vicious ; for it ever 
 holds true that the most vicious are the most superstitious. 
 The evangelist, in saying "that the Pharisees held a council, 
 consulting and devising how to kill Christ, shows how 
 ■ malignant and perverse they were : they could not convince 
 Christ, either by arguments or by the scriptures, and to 
 get rid of Him, they deliberated how they should put Him 
 to death. 
 
 Such as these are ever they, who show themselves 
 zealous of superstitious observances. That "m order that 
 it might he fulfilled',' in order to make this harmonise, it 
 must not be referred, as some do refer it, to the words 
 which immediately precede, but to those which preceded 
 it a little before : " hut when Jesus knew it, He withdrew 
 Himself from thence," so that St. Matthew's meaning is, 
 that Christ departed thence, not to continue to strive with 
 and to oppose the Pharisees; and he quotes Isaiah to show 
 that this modesty and meekness of Christ had been the 
 subject of prophecy. 
 
 These words of Isaiah are worthy of profound considera- 
 
 ^ The Jews of 1530. 
 
220 5'. MATTHEW XII. 9-21. 
 
 tion, for they adapt themselves so well to Christ, that if 
 they had been now written, they could not adapt them- 
 selves better. In the Ji7'st place, Isaiah, speaking in the 
 person of God, calls Christ servant, for He took the form 
 of a servant ; and as to this, I remit myself to what I have 
 said upon Ephesians ii. Secondly, he says, " whom I have 
 chosen," to show His perfection. Thirdly, he says, " 3fi/ 
 beloved'* to show His dignity. Fourthly, he says, " in 
 whom Re is well pleased," satisfied and gratified ; " My soul," 
 which echoes responsively to the Father's voice that was 
 heard at the Jordan. Fifthly, he says, " / will put My 
 spirit upon Him," meaning, in order that He may com- 
 municate it to others. Sixthly, he says, " and He shall show 
 judgment to the Gentiles ; " this, I think, refers to the day 
 of judgment. Seventhly, he commends the meekness of 
 Christ, saying, " He shall not strive nor cry, neither shall 
 any man hear His voice in the streets," or. He shall neither 
 be contentious nor clamorous. Eighthly, he commends 
 the modesty and innocence of Christ, saying, " a bruised 
 reed shall He not break," &c., meaning, that it would be so 
 alien to Him to do injury or harm to any one, that He 
 would not even break a fallen reed, which is of no mortal 
 use; nor, should He see a little flax smoke, would He 
 quench or extinguish it. Ninthly, he says, that Christ 
 would be such until the day of judgment; which is my 
 apprehension of the words " till He send forth judgment 
 unto victory," which is equivalent to His saying, until He 
 come victorious to judgment. These words demand pro- 
 found consideration, in order that one may see that Isaiah 
 presents in these words Christ in two predicaments : one, 
 the humblest, the meekest, and the most modest, in which 
 He is to this day in His members, in those who by faith 
 are incorporated into Him ; and the other, the most exalted, 
 the most glorious, and the most triumphant : of the which 
 we have seen and do see the one, and we do hope to see 
 the other, of which, we who believe have many evident 
 tokens. Te7ithly, he says, " and in His name shall the 
 
5. MATTHEW XII. 9-21. 221 
 
 Gentiles trust^' wherein lie prophesies the call of the 
 Gentiles to the grace of the Gospel. And thus under 
 these ten heads does Isaiah embody the divine union 
 between God and Christ, Christ in His humility and in 
 His glory, and the call of the Gentiles to the Gospel ; but 
 I have already stated that St. Matthew quotes them, with 
 the design of showing that Christ's meekness and modesty 
 had been the subject of prophecy. 
 
 According to the Hebrew text Isaiah speaks thus : 
 Behold My servant, I will lean upon Him, My chosen one, 
 My soul delights in Him, I have shed forth My spirit 
 upon Him, He shall bring forth judgment unto the 
 Gentiles : He shall not cry, nor lift up His voice, nor 
 shall He cause His voice to be heard in the market-place ; 
 He shall not break a bruised reed, nor shall He quench 
 smoking flax ; He shall bring forth judgment in truth ; 
 He shall not be saddened, nor discouraged, until He have 
 established judgment upon earth, and the islands shall 
 expect His law (Isaiah xlii. 1-4). Where, although there 
 is some variation made by the evangelist in his quotation, 
 in substance there is none. In that expression, " / shall 
 lean upon Him,'' or, My foundation will be laid in Him, 
 I understand that God, willing to be reconciled with men, 
 leaned upon, abided by, and based Himself upon Christ ; 
 laying the foundation for their security, and the satisfac- 
 tion of His justice, upon Christ's chastisement. In saying, 
 " He shall show forth judgment to the nations'' and after- 
 wards, " till He send forth judgment," he shows that until 
 Christ comes to judgment, the equity with which God 
 judges is hidden, and that then it shall come to be 
 revealed. 
 
 That expression " He shall not he sad," &c., is not opposed 
 to what we shall see further on, that Christ was sad in 
 the garden ; for then His sadness was on our account, and 
 not on His own ; had He been sad on His own account, I 
 mean, through the knowledge of some defect in Himself, 
 His mind might have been depressed, but, because He 
 
222 S. MATTHEW XII. 22-30. 
 
 grieved on our account, I mean, on account of our iniqui- 
 ties and sins, which He saw laid upon Himself, His mind 
 never yielded, nor did He refrain to offer Himself to death. 
 In saying " the isles shall wait for His law" he means the 
 conversion of the Gentiles, as St. Matthew understands it, 
 and says, " in His name shall the Gentiles trust," which is 
 tantamount to, that trusting in Him, they will expect 
 glory, immortality, and eternal life. 
 
 XII. 22-30. — Then was brought unto him one 
 possessed with a devil, blind and dumb : and he 
 healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb 
 both spake and saw. And all the people were 
 amazed, and said, Is not this the Son of David ? 
 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This 
 fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub, 
 the prince of the devils. And Jesus knew their 
 thoughts, and said unto them. Every kingdom 
 divided against itself is brought to desolation ; and 
 every city or house divided against itself shall not 
 stand : And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided 
 ao^ainst himself ; how shall then his kingrdom stand? 
 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do 
 your children cast them out ? therefore they shall 
 be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the 
 Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come 
 unto you. Or else, how can one enter into a strong 
 man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first 
 bind the strong man ? and then lie will spoil his 
 house. He that is not with me is against me ; and 
 he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. 
 
 These three things resulted from Christ's cure of the blind 
 and dumb demoniac. The first, that the multitudes, who 
 
5. MATTHEW XII. 22-30. 223 
 
 saw the miracle, began to think that Christ was the 
 Messiah, promised in the law : and it is ever thus that 
 they, who see something of the power of the word of God, 
 if they are without bias, immediately begin to think well 
 of it ; and I think this to be the first impulse that there is 
 in man, and I think so, because I experienced it myself. 
 
 The second, that the Pharisees discovered the malignity 
 which they had in their minds, by persuading the multi- 
 tudes that Christ was not the Messiah ; stating that He 
 wrought by a diabolic spirit ; where I do not think that 
 the Pharisees knew that Christ was indeed the Messiah, 
 but I do think that they too had begun, as had those of 
 the multitude, to think as to whether He were He ; and 
 they knew for certain that what He wrought. He did not 
 work by an evil spirit ; but they wished that Christ should 
 not prove to be the Messiah ; although they thought that 
 Christ was He ; they persuaded the multitudes that He 
 was not, saying that He wrought by a diabolic spirit: 
 and I think that their malignity consisted in this. 
 
 The third, that Christ confirmed what He preached, that 
 the kingdom of heaven was already come, by its great re- 
 sults which they witnessed ; and in order to confirm this 
 truth, that He worked by divine power and not by dia- 
 bolic power, as the Pharisees slanderously stated, Christ 
 uses these three arguments. 
 
 The first. He states thus : the kingdom, the city, or the 
 house, where there is division, always comes to ruin. Well, 
 if there be division in the kingdom of Satan, as you think, 
 since you say that I cast out other demons by virtue of a 
 demon, his kingdom will come to ruin ; Christ's argument 
 being, that it is not reasonable that Satan should wish to 
 destroy his kingdom. And here it is to be understood 
 that Beelzebub was not the prince of all demons, but of 
 some of them. 
 
 In the second argument, Christ speaks thus : if it be, as 
 you say, that I cast out demons by virtue of Beelzebub ; 
 it will be the same with My disciples also, who are your 
 
224 S. MATTHEW XII. 22-30. 
 
 children ; that they cast out demons by virtue of Beel- 
 zebub, for it was I who gave them authority to cast them 
 out ; it must be presupposed that the Pharisees approved 
 of the casting out of demons by Christ's disciples as a 
 divine act ; otherwise the argument would be invalid. 
 That " therefore they shall he your judges,'' I understand 
 thus : that at the day of judgment Christ will condemn 
 the impiety of the Pharisees by the piety of the disciples, 
 malignity by sincerity, &c. 
 
 In the third argument, Christ speaks thus : since it is 
 a fact that no one can enter a brave and strong man's 
 house, in order to rob and plunder it, unless he first take 
 and bind him ; so likewise, no one could cast demons out 
 of human bodies, where they have got the mastery, unless 
 he first take and conquer the prince of all the demons. 
 Christ, in summing up this argument, says : " He that is 
 not with Me, is against Me," meaning, since I do not favour 
 demons, nor do I assist them to wheedle, to gain over, and 
 to collect men into their kingdom ; nay, on the contrary, 
 I thwart them, by casting them out of human bodies, 
 breaking down and subverting their tyranny, it is clear that 
 I am opposed to them and that I destroy them. That 
 declaration which is in Mark ix. 40 is not contrary to 
 this ; there Christ says, " For he that is not against us is 
 on our part," for He there means, that men being natu- 
 rally enemies to God, it may be said, that he who is not 
 against Him is on His part ; in St. Mark Christ spoke of 
 Himself, whilst here He delivered a general decision, which 
 is declared with relation to the point in question. 
 
 In this manner Christ shows how depraved the minds 
 of the Pharisees were, in judging, or in pretending to judge, 
 concerning Him, that He worked by diabolic agency, by an 
 evil spirit ; and He tliereby confirmed what the multitudes 
 began to think of Him, as to whether He was the Messiah, 
 whether he was the Son of David, the promised perpetual 
 King of the people of Israel ; not of the carnal and out- 
 ward, but of the spiritual and inward ; over whom Christ 
 
S. MATTHEW XII. 31-37. 225 
 
 the son of David, reigns, and over whom He shall reign, 
 until that He, as St. Paul says, shall deliver up the king- 
 dom to His eternal Father. 
 
 XII. 31-37. — Wherefore I say unto you, All 
 manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven 
 unto men : but the blasphemy against the Holy 
 Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And who- 
 soever speaketh a word against the Son of man, 
 it shall be forgiven him : but whosoever speaketh 
 against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven 
 him, neither in this world, neither in the world to 
 come. Either make the tree good, and its fruit 
 good ; or else make the tree corrupt, and its fruit 
 corrupt : for the tree is known by his fruit. gene- 
 ration of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good 
 things ? for out of the abundance of the heart the 
 mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good 
 treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things : 
 and an evil man, out of the evil treasure, bringeth 
 forth evil things. But I say unto you. That every 
 idle word that men shall speak, they shall give 
 account thereof in the day of judgment: For by 
 thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words 
 thou shalt be condemned. 
 
 Christ continues to censure the Pharisees, who persuaded 
 the people that He cast out devils by diabolic arts, attri- 
 buting that to Satan, which proceeded from the Holy 
 Spirit, they speaking in opposition to their convictions. 
 Christ says, "All sin and^Uasiohemy shall he pardoned,'' &c., 
 meaning, that only that sin which the Pharisees committed, 
 being, as it was, against the Holy Spirit, was irremissible ; 
 as it is in all them, who, being Pharisees, are opposed to 
 
 p 
 
226 S. MATTHEW XII. 31-37. 
 
 the children of God, as were these to Christ. Whence 
 considering that the sin of these Pharisees consisted in 
 their attributing to the evil spirit what Christ wrought by 
 the Holy Spirit ; not because they believed it to be so, but 
 because they wished that it had been so ; and wished that 
 the people should believe that it was so ; do I come to 
 understand that a man then sins against the Holy Spirit, 
 when, with mental malignity, he persuades men that the 
 works of the Holy Spirit are the works of the devil, he 
 being soul-convinced of the contrary. 
 
 I understand this sin to be irremissible ; because it 
 never exists, except in men the most depraved, and 
 obstinate in their depravity, such as were the Pharisees 
 arrayed against Christ. They who are predestinated to 
 life eternal never fall into this sin, for God holds them by 
 His hand ; whilst those severe words which are in Isaiah 
 vi. 10, " Make the heart of this people fat, and make their 
 ears heavy, and shut their eyes ; lest they see with their eyes, 
 and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, 
 and convert and he healed^' specially attach to those, who 
 fall into this sin ; they are quoted against them as such by 
 all the four evangelists ; ^ I understand St. John to call 
 this sin, " the sin unto death" (i John v. 16), for which he 
 would not have us pray, because they, who fall into it, are 
 in the predicament spoken of by St. Paul (Eom. i. 28). 
 God has delivered them up to a reprobate mind. Of such 
 was Pharaoh, and of these was Saul, and the Pharisees 
 were such, and such are all they, who walk in their 
 steps. 
 V " I'he blasphemy of the Spirit/' is the same as the sin 
 of blasphemy said to be against the Holy Spirit. Christ 
 adding, " Whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of 
 Man!' I understand as commenting upon what He has 
 said, as though He should say. And know that this sin 
 against the Holy Spirit is so grave, that although God will 
 pardon men, who shall sin against Me, He will not pardon 
 
 ^ Matt. xiii. 15 ; Mark iv. 12 ; Luke viii. 10 ; John xii. 40. 
 
5. MATTHEW XII. 31-37. 227 
 
 them that wherein they shall sin against the Holy Spirit, 
 who works in Me. 
 
 Whence I understand that they sinned against Christ, 
 who said of Him that He was a glutton and a tippler, a 
 friend of publicans and sinners ; whilst they sinned against 
 the Holy Spirit which worked in Christ, who said that He 
 cast out devils by virtue of Beelzebub, the prince of the 
 devils. And I understand that sin against the person of 
 Christ was excusable, because it could spring from ignor- 
 ance without malice ; m.en saw Christ go into such company 
 as they knew they could not frequent without falling into 
 depravity; they judged evil of Christ as they judge evil 
 of the members of Christ when they see them do what 
 Christ did, for it is peculiar to men to judge of others by 
 that which they judge of themselves, I mean, to judge 
 others by what they know of themselves. 
 
 And I understand that sin against the Holy Spirit that 
 worked in Christ was inexcusable, for it could not spring 
 save from the most depraved minds, obstinate in depravity. 
 Such are they, who, imitating the Pharisees, persuade the 
 multitudes that the works which the Holy Spirit works 
 in those, who are true members of Christ, in those, who, 
 having taken Christ's yoke upon them, go on to imitate 
 the inward meekness and humility of Christ, are the works 
 of the devil ; they who say so, feeling otherwise. " Neither 
 in this world nor in the world to come'' is, as I understand, 
 equivalent to saying that it never will 
 
 Christ subjoining, " Either make the tree good and, its fruit 
 good!' &c., I understand it to be His purpose to show that 
 which we have stated, videlicet, that that wherein the 
 Pharisees sinned against the Holy Spirit proceeded from 
 the depravity they had in their minds ; and thus I under- 
 stand it to be a general utterance, as though Christ should 
 say, Would you see how^bad the minds of these Pharisees 
 are ? Look at what they say; for it is a fact that just as 
 a good tree produces good fruit, and the bad tree bad fruit, 
 so likewise the good man speaks the thing that is right, and 
 
228 S. MATTHEW XII. 31-37. 
 
 the bad man speaks that which is wrong ; so that just as 
 the tree is known by its fruit, so the man is known by his 
 words. Christ means by his speech, by his own words ; 
 I say this, because it frequently happens that a bad man 
 utters good words, but they are not his own, but those of 
 the person of whom he learned them ; and when these fail 
 him, having to utter his own, he can say nothing but what 
 is bad. 
 
 I do not understand here that Christ, in saying " a had 
 man," comprehends all, who are not renewed by the Holy 
 Spirit, neither do I understand that in saying " a good 
 man," He comprehends but those, who are renewed by 
 the Holy Spirit, but I understand Him to speak as a man, 
 calling the depraved man a bad man, him, who obstinately 
 perseveres in diabolic malignity, who interprets all the 
 good he sees as evil ; and such were the Pharisees ; and 
 calling him a good man, who has a kindly disposition, even 
 though he should interpret the bad as good. 
 
 This apprehension pleases me, and, although it may not 
 be wrong to understand that Christ calls all, who are 
 without the Holy Spirit, bad men, and that He calls only 
 those, who have the Holy Spirit, good men, yet the other 
 jipprehension of it pleases me the more, for it seems to me 
 that it most concerns the Pharisees, telling them that even 
 amongst men, who, as we have seen in chapter vii., are 
 naturally inclined to evil, "if you being evil," &c., they 
 were the worst, and they discovered their wickedness by 
 persuading the people that what Christ wrought by the 
 Holy Spirit were works of the devil, whilst they did not 
 feel it to be so. 
 
 That epithet '^generation of vi2)ers," Sec, is directed 
 against the Pharisees ; effectively, it seems that Christ was 
 moved to resentment, by the blasphemy spoken against 
 the Holy Spirit ; a resentment partly felt by those, who 
 are members of Christ, when they see that the truth of 
 the gospel and the truth of Christian life is blasphemed ; 
 feeling no resentment when they are personally murmured 
 
S. MATTHEW XII. 31-37. 229 
 
 at or calumniated, for that which does not affect Christian 
 truth. Christ, when He adds " Bict I say unto you that 
 every idle word,'' &c., intends to emphasise what He has 
 said ; as though He should say, See how important it is 
 that the heart be good, in order that the words may be 
 good ; for a reckoning will be made at the day of judgment, 
 not only of the blasphemous and injurious words that 
 shall have been spoken ; but also of the idle ones which 
 shall have been spoken, without a motive beyond that of 
 occupying an idle moment. 
 
 Whence I understand that the men, who shall pretend 
 to justify themselves by their works, will have to pass 
 through all this rigour at the day of judgment. And by 
 how much the more I consider this, so much the more do 
 I know myself under obligation to my Christ, who, having 
 incorporated me into Himself, in dying slew me, and in 
 rising again raised me up again, and thus He exempted 
 and liberated me from passing through this rigour ; it being 
 fact that God does not consider, neither will He consider, 
 me, by what I am in myself, but by what I am, incorporated 
 into Christ ; by which incorporation, that is not imputed 
 to my condemnation, which is so to men who are out of 
 Christ; according to what St. Paul writes in Eomans viii. 
 
 Christ, concluding His words inveighing against the 
 Pharisees and against those, who are like them, says," For 
 by thy ivords thou shalt he" &c., meaning, that the ungodly 
 shall be condemned at the day of judgment by his bad 
 words, with which he shall have borne testimony to his 
 ungodliness, malignity, and depravity ; whilst the godly 
 shall be justified at the day of judgment by his good 
 words, wherewith he shall have borne testimony to his 
 godliness, righteousness, and holiness ; I mean that since 
 there will be outward sentences passed, the outward rea- 
 sons, justifying them, will be given too ; that the bad words 
 proceed from an ungodly mind, and that the good words 
 proceed from a godly mind. Upon this subject I have 
 spoken in a Consideration (xcviii.) 
 
230 S. MATTHEW XII. 38-42. 
 
 XII. 38-42. — Then certain of the scribes and of 
 the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see 
 a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto 
 them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh 
 after a sign ; and there shall no sign be given to it, 
 but the sign of the prophet Jonah : For as Jonah 
 was three days and three nights in the whale's 
 belly, so shall the Son of man be three days and 
 three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of 
 Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this genera- 
 tion, and shall condemn it : because they repented 
 at the preaching of Jonah, and, behold, a greater 
 than Jonah is here. The queen of the South shall 
 rise up in the judgment with this generation, and 
 shall condemn it : for she came from the uttermost 
 parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon ; 
 and behold a greater than Solomon is here. 
 
 Christ, having spoken thus severely against the Phari- 
 sees, it seems that they and the scribes, persevering in 
 their malignity, said to Him, " Master, we ivould see a sign 
 from Tkee^' meaning, that they were not satisfied with 
 those which He wrought, and that they wished to see 
 greater ones : whilst Christ, knowing that they did not 
 ask a sign or miracle because they desired to believe, but 
 because they believed that He could not work them, says 
 to them, " An evil and adulterous generation" &c., mean- 
 ing, that He would not give them the sign that they 
 asked ; but that He would give them a sign, which, when 
 they saw they would not understand it, that is, His death 
 and His resurrection. 
 
 Where it is to be understood that from the Jews having 
 been accustomed to this, that ever when God promised 
 them something. He gave them some sign by which they 
 might be assured of it; it came to pass that these asked 
 
S. MATTHEW XII. 38-42. 231 
 
 Christ for some palpable sign for confirmation that it was 
 the Holy Spirit that worked in Him ; and this is conform- 
 able with what St. Paul says (i Cor. i. 22), " the Jews seek 
 signs;" and it ever is so, that they, who have Jewish minds, 
 ask signs and miracles for the confirmation of the truth of 
 the gospel; just as they, who have Gentile minds, ask for 
 the same confirmation, knowledge ; they wished to know, 
 in order to believe, whilst God wills that they believe, in 
 order to understand. 
 
 The sign or miracle, which these people demanded of 
 Christ, I understand to have been something superlatively 
 prodigious, which I think tliey would have calumniated, 
 as they had calumniated all the others ; for their intention 
 in demanding a miracle was not from a desire to believe, 
 but to find that which they might calumniate, which was 
 the intention of those, who, at the time that Christ was on 
 the cross, said, ''If Thou art the Son of God, come now down 
 from the cross, and ive will believe it,'' which was not to 
 believe in Christ, but to mock Christ. And such are the 
 purposes of all those, who ask miracles for the confirma- 
 tion of evangelic truth, who all may take this reply, which 
 Christ gave to the scribes and Pharisees for their own, 
 saying, " an evil and adulterous generation," &c. 
 
 Where I consider that nearly that very same thing 
 happened to these with Christ, that occurred to Ahaz with 
 Isaiah (Isaiah vii. 1-16), for that, just as to impious Ahaz, 
 who would not believe in the promise of God, Isaiah gave 
 as a sign the incarnation and birth of Christ, which sign 
 he did not understand, neither have his successors under- 
 stood it, so Christ, to these who demanded of Him a sign, 
 gave them His death and resurrection as a sign, which 
 sign neither they understood nor have their successors 
 understood it, so that, as the incarnation and birth of 
 Christ was given as a sign to impious Ahaz, but he under- 
 stood it not ; so to the impious scribes and Pharisees, the 
 death and resurrection of Christ was criven for a sisrn, but 
 they understood it not. 
 
232 S. MATTHEW XII. 38-42. 
 
 And as these two signs availed nothing, save to those 
 who accept the grace of the gospel, to whom Christ's 
 incarnation and birth is a puissant sign, as has been stated 
 in the first chapter, and the death and resurrection of 
 Christ is a most puissant sign, in which He has declared 
 Himself to be the Son of God; and because I understand the 
 resurrection of Christ to be the most puissant, I likewise 
 understand (why it is) that St. Paul brings it the most 
 frequently before us in all his epistles, together with the 
 sign of death, which are always coupled together, as Christ 
 has here coupled them, quoting the instance of Jonah, 
 which was as a death and resurrection borne for the salva- 
 tion of the inhabitants of the city of Nineveh. 
 
 And it is to be understood that the sign of the death of 
 Christ certifies us of our justification, conformably with 
 that which we have frequently stated, that God in chas- 
 tising our sins in Christ, did not less purpose to secure us^ 
 than to satisfy His justice; whilst the sign of Christ's 
 resurrection certifies us of our glorification ; but after that 
 we have accepted the general indulgence and pardon, and 
 that we, through it, hold ourselves to be reconciled with 
 God ; for that previously, these signs are no more to us, 
 than they were to the scribes and Pharisees, and to those, 
 who are like them. 
 
 As to the three days and nights, I hold it to be certain 
 that those which Christ went through were peculiarly 
 similar to those which Jonah experienced ; and I say that 
 had I known what was Jonah's experience, I should have 
 known Christ's, but that not knowing the one I do not care 
 to set myself the task of verifying the other, contenting 
 myself with the knowledge that the one was like the other. 
 With relation to Jonah's sign, Christ goes on to say that at 
 the day of judgment the Ninevites will condemn the Jews, 
 meaning that the conversion of the Ninevites by Jonah's 
 preaching will condemn the obstinacy of the Jews, who, 
 having Christ's presence in their midst, His excellence far 
 transcending Jonah's, they did not what the Ninevites did. 
 
5. MATTHEW XI I. 43-45. 233 
 
 The same sense holds in what Christ says of the Queen 
 of the South, or Shebah ; and here two things are to be 
 understood : the one, the mode in which the saints of God 
 will judge and condemn the saints of the world, and the 
 men of the world at the day of judgment ; and the other, 
 that there will be an universal resurrection of the bad and 
 of the good. Where if it shall appear strange to some 
 one, that they, who have never known Christ, nor believed 
 in Christ, have to be raised with Christ, I will tell him to 
 consider that in Christ's obedience which he considers in 
 Adam's disobedience, and that he ponder that just as in 
 Adam's disobedience we all have been disobedient, and 
 therefore have all been condemned to eternal death, as 
 rebels and enemies to God, from which condemnation we, 
 who believe in Christ, are free ; for although we die, yet 
 in due time we resuscitate to live for ever ; so in Christ's 
 obedience we all have been obedient, and for that reason 
 habilitated for life eternal, as being reconciled to God, and 
 friends of God ; from which habilitation they are excluded, 
 who do not believe in Christ, for, although they shall in 
 due time resuscitate, they shall not live for ever, so that 
 none will enjoy the habilitation to life eternal, but those, 
 who embrace the grace of the gospel, who shall hold it to 
 be sure and certain that just as they disobeyed in Adam, 
 so have they obeyed in Christ, and that thus they are 
 obedient in Christ, righteous in Christ, and holy in Christ. 
 All the others will indeed be resuscitated, not to eternal 
 life, but to eternal death. And he that shall desire to 
 make himself perfectly master of this consideration, which 
 is most important, let him read St. Paul's fifth chapter 
 of his Epistle to the Eomans, praying to God to give him 
 the right apprehension of what he will read. And upon 
 this I have written a Consideration (cviii.) 
 
 XII. 43-45. — When the unclean spirit is gone 
 out of a man, he walketh through waterless places, 
 seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will 
 
234 5. MATTHEW XII. 46-50. 
 
 return into my house from whence I came out ; and 
 when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and 
 garnished. Then goeth he and taketh with him- 
 self seven other spirits more wicked than himself, 
 and they enter io and dwell there : and the last 
 state of that man is worse than the first. Even so 
 shall it be also uuto this wicked generation. 
 
 Had I known the natural condition of these unclean 
 spirits of whom Christ here speaks, I should he ahle to 
 tell why the one that comes forth out of a man goes 
 through places without water, and I should be able to tell 
 how he finds the man, out of whom he came forth, vacant, 
 swept, and decorated, and what spirits they are who are 
 worse than him, and so of all the rest, that one desires to 
 know here ; but as I do not know it, so neither can I say 
 anything of this other, not understanding either one or the 
 other. I understand right well that Christ's purpose is to 
 say that that was about to befall the Jews, which befell the 
 man out of whom the evil spirit came forth ; for that, just 
 as it would have been less evil to the man had the devil 
 not gone forth out of him, since he returns with seven 
 spirits worse than himself ; so it would have been less evil 
 to them had Christ not come amongst them, nor wrought 
 the miracles which He wrought, nor preached that which 
 He preached, nor taught that which He taught, since, 
 remaining in their unbelief, or rather hardening themselves 
 in it, they became every day worse ; this is what He calls 
 the last state being worse than the first. In that expres- 
 sion " seven spirits," I understand a finite number for an 
 infinite. And that, " so shall it he also" is to be under- 
 stood, not as to the spirit, but as to the man. It is 
 important to consider these modes of speaking in all the 
 similes which Christ institutes. 
 
 XII. 46-50. — While he yet talked to the people, 
 
S. MATTHEW XII. 46-50. 235 
 
 behold liis mother and his brethren stood without, 
 desiring to speak with him. Then one said uuto 
 him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand 
 without, desiring to speak with thee. But he 
 answered and said unto him that told him, Who is 
 my mother ? and who are my brethren ? And he 
 stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and 
 said. Behold my mother and my brethren ! For 
 whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in 
 heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and 
 mother. 
 
 By these words of Christ we learn that the true Chris- 
 tian, who, regenerated by Christ, has ceased to be a child 
 of Adam and has become a child of God, converts and 
 settles all his love and all his affection, which before re- 
 generation he had for his parents, brothers, and relatives, 
 upon those, whom he knows to be similarly regenerated ; 
 whom he loves and cares even more for than parents, than 
 brothers, and than relatives, because the bond of Christian 
 regeneration is stronger than that of human generation 
 (birth). Where I understand it to be a most excellent 
 token for a man, whereby to certify himself of his Chris- 
 tian regeneration, that he finds himself more attached to 
 those, who become, by Christian regeneration, his father, 
 mother, brothers, and children, than to those, who are his 
 father, mother, brothers, and children by human genera- 
 tion. Those, who do not gratefully experience this attach- 
 ment, only experiencing that which is of human generation, 
 may rest certain that they have not entered upon Christian 
 regeneration ; and, if they should desire to enter upon it, 
 let them pray to God, with great faith and with great im- 
 portunity, that He may plant them in it. 
 
 Hence it is to be understood that the Christian's con- 
 cern in the present life is to maintain the decorum, and to 
 meet the obligation of Christian regeneration ; not in order 
 
236 5. MATTHEW XII. 46-50. 
 
 to be a Christian, but because he is a Christian ; and this 
 obligation consists in accepting Christian faith and in 
 devotinoj himself to Christian life, because to do this, is to 
 do the will of God, for this is what God requires of us. 
 
 It imports but little to know what it was that Christ's 
 mother and brothers desired to say to Him ; but it is of 
 great importance, to consider that those words of Christ 
 " WTio is My mother ? " show some resentment, as though 
 Christ resented that He should have been called away to 
 the obligation of human generation. He being occupied, as 
 one might say, in the obligation of Christian regeneration. 
 Where it is not to be understood by these words that 
 Christ meant that His mother, nor that even His brothers, 
 did not do the will of God, as His disciples did it, but 
 that Christ spoke in response to him, who delivered the 
 message, for I mean to say that Christ knew its tend- 
 ency was to drag Him away, as it were, from the obli- 
 gation of Christian regeneration to the obligation of human 
 generation; Christ replied to him conformably to its 
 tendency, meaning, I hold as mother and as brothers, but 
 those, who do the will of My Father. 
 
 The Jews call first cousins, the children of brothers, 
 brothers, and so they commonly call other relatives. In 
 saying " seeking," he means endeavouring. In saying 
 " standing ivithout" he means, outside the house wherein 
 Christ was. 
 
S. MATTHEW XIU. 237 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 XIII. 1-23. — The same day went Jesus out of 
 the house, and sat by the seaside. And great mul- 
 titudes were gathered together unto him, so that 
 he went on board a boat, and sat ; and the whole 
 multitude stood on the shore. And he spake many 
 things unto them in parables, saying. Behold, a 
 sower went forth to sow : and when he sowed, 
 some seeds fell by the wayside, and the birds came 
 and devoured them up. Some fell upon stony 
 places, Avhere they had not much earth ; and forth- 
 with they sprung up, because they had no deepness 
 of earth : and when the sun was up, they were 
 scorched ; and because they had no root, they 
 withered away. And some fell among thorns ; and 
 the thorns sprung up, and choked them. But other 
 fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some 
 a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. 
 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. And the 
 disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest 
 thou unto them in parables ? He answered and 
 said unto them. Because it is given unto you to 
 know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but 
 to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to 
 him shall be given, and he shall have more abun- 
 dance : but whosoever hath not, from him shall be 
 taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I 
 
238 S. MATTHEW XIII. 1-23. 
 
 to them in parables ; because tbey seeing, see not, 
 and heariog, they hear not, neither do they under- 
 stand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of 
 Isaiah, which saith, " By hearing ye shall hear, and 
 " shall not understand ; and seeing ye shall see, and 
 *' shall not perceive : For this people's heart is waxed 
 " gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their 
 " eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should 
 *' see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and 
 " should understand with their heart, and should be 
 '' converted, and I should heal them." But blessed 
 are your eyes, for they see ; and your ears, for they 
 hear. For verily I say unto you, that many pro- 
 phets and righteous men have desired to see those 
 things which ye see, and have not seen them ; and 
 to hear those things which ye hear, and have not 
 heard them. Hear ye therefore the parable of the 
 sower. When any one heareth the word- of the 
 kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh 
 the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was 
 sown in his heart. This is he which received seed 
 by the wayside. But he that received the seed 
 into stony places, the same is he that heareth the 
 word, and anon with joy receiveth it : yet hath he 
 not root in himself, but dureth for a while ; for 
 when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of 
 the word, by and by he is offended. He also that 
 received seed among the thorps, is he that heareth 
 the word ; and the care of this world, and the 
 deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he 
 becometh unfruitful. But he that received seed 
 into the good ground, is he that heareth the word. 
 
5. MATTHEW XIII. 1-23. 239 
 
 and understancletli it ; who also beareth fruit, and 
 bringeth forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, 
 some thirty. 
 
 Here Christ begins to speak by parables, by comparisons, 
 or similitudes. There is no occasion for us to occupy our- 
 selves, by surmises, as to His motive for speaking thus, 
 since Christ, Himself, being asked by the disciples, de- 
 clares it, saying, " For this reason spake I to them in para- 
 bles, because they seeing, see not!' &c. 
 
 Christ's purpose in this parable of the sower is to 
 show that of those, who hear the gospel preached, who 
 admit it and receive it, only they retain it, so that it is 
 effectual in them, who are the good soil ; whence I under- 
 stand that they are good soil, who, being predestinated to 
 life eternal, are endowed with such a good nature, with 
 such a natural disposition, that hearing the word of the 
 gospel, they embrace it and inwardly retain it; so that 
 this goodness is through the gift of G-od, who has given 
 them that good disposition, having predestinated them to 
 eternal life, amongst whom the word of the gospel falls, 
 like seed that falls upon good ground, but (that is so only) 
 when he that speaks the word is inspired to speak it, for 
 then that word is the word of God ; because the mouth of 
 that man who utters it, is the mouth of God, and not of 
 man: St. Paul understood it thus, in Eomansx. 17, where, 
 having stated " that faith is from hearing," &c., he added, 
 " and the hearing by the word of God,'' meaning, that to 
 believe, it is necessary to hear, and that what is heard be 
 spoken by divine inspiration ; so that for the word of God 
 to be effectual in any one, he must needs be the good soil, 
 prepared by God Himself ; and that the word, which he 
 hears, proceed from the mouth of God, he who utters it 
 being inspired to speak~it, and that God with it touch the 
 heart of the person hearing it. 
 
 Christ's meaning, then, throughout this parable, is, that 
 the apostle's experience, who goes forth to proclaim to 
 
240 S. MATTHEW XIII. 1-23. 
 
 men tlie reconciliation, which God hath wrought with 
 them, through Christ, in pardoning them their sins, is the 
 same with the sower, who goes forth to sow ; for that, just 
 as the sower, in sprinkling his seed, loses three-fourths, 
 because it falls in unsuitable places for fructification, so 
 the apostle, in proclaiming the gospel, loses three-fourths, 
 because it falls on men, who, not being predestinated to 
 life eternal, are not adapted to the reception of the gospel, 
 so that it can be effectual in them ; and for that, just as 
 the sower gets much fruit from one-fourth of his seed, 
 corresponding to the greater or less ' fertility of the soil 
 whereon it falls ; so the apostle gets much fruit from the 
 fourth part of his proclamation of the gospel, because it 
 fructifies, more or less, according as they are, more or less 
 disposed for it, who accept it, in that disposition which 
 God has given them. Which appears natural, for they 
 have it before they embrace the gospel, but I understand 
 this to be nothing other than supernatural, God having 
 given them it, in order that they should embrace the gos- 
 pel, and because they had to embrace it. 
 
 Those words, " He that hath ears to hear, let him hear!' are 
 worthy of great consideration whenever Christ speaks 
 them, for by them He invites us, that we be attentive to 
 understand what He says. And it is very necessary that 
 a man attentively understand this parable, in order that 
 he understand that of the four- fourths of men who hear 
 the proclamation of the gospel, only one-fourth receives it 
 so, that tlie gospel bears fruit in them ; if a man find him- 
 self bearing evangelic fruit, let him thank God for it, and 
 if he find himself not bearing fruit, let him pray to God 
 to grant him grace to do so, and in the meanwliile let him 
 attend to get rid of, and to separate himself from those 
 things, which prevent the gospel from bearing fruit in 
 those who receive it; such are subjection to the bad 
 spirit, whom Christ calls the evil one ; the instability and 
 levity with which they stumble and fall in tribulations 
 and persecutions, which present themselves to those, who 
 
S. MATTHEW XIII. 1-23. 241 
 
 accept the gospel ; those of them who are easily moved by 
 things and the care of things of this present life, and by 
 the world's respect. And here a reply which I wrote to 
 a question (xxi.) setting forth the reason why Christ says 
 that no one can be His disciple who does not abhor father, 
 mother, &c., would come in appositely. 
 
 That statement, " For to him that hath shall he given," 
 &c., I understand thus : That to them, who, being good 
 soil, in whom the grace of the gospel fructifies, never 
 severing themselves from it, neither by the persuasions of 
 the devil, nor by the persecutions of the world, nor by the 
 cares of outward things, nay, drawing others to it, this 
 moreover shall be given to them, that the mysteries of the 
 kingdom of God shall be revealed to them, with other 
 graces and other favours from God, wherewith they shall 
 be increased ; whilst that to them, in whom, not being 
 good soil, the grace of the gospel shall not fructify, that 
 little that they shall understand shall be taken from them, 
 that which they shall have heard and not understood. 
 And Christ, coming to the point upon which His disciples 
 had questioned Him, says, " For this reason do I sjpeak to 
 them in paralles" declaring that the cause why He spoke 
 to the multitudes in parables was on account of their 
 malignity and depravity, in which they were so held, that 
 seeing they did not see, and hearing they did not hear, 
 nor did they understand ; and that thus was fulfilled in 
 them what Isaiah says in chapter vi., " By hearing ye shall 
 hear and shall not understand," &c. 
 
 The meaning of these words, according to this quota- 
 tion, in which the evangelist follows the Greek translation, 
 (the Septuagint), which was then more used amongst them 
 for whom he wrote, I understand to be this, that the 
 minds of the Jews were so hardened and so obstinate that 
 they w^ould not understand the truth in order to be con- 
 verted to God, and thus to obtain mercy and salvation. 
 The words of the prophet, according to the Hebrew text, in 
 which tongue it appears that Christ spoke, or in the 
 
 Q 
 
242 5. MATTHEW XIII. 1-23. 
 
 Syriac, which was almost the same, run thus : " And God 
 said^ Go and say to this people, Hearing, hear, but under- 
 stand not ; and seeing, see, but know not : the heart of 
 this people make it dull, and make their ears heavy, and 
 their eyes blind : lest peradventure it see with its eyes, 
 and hear with its ears, and understand with its heart, and 
 be converted and be healed." 
 
 Whence, by the words that precede and by those which 
 follow, it appears that God commanded Isaiah that he 
 should speak those words to the Jews, "hearing, hear" 
 &c., which apparently involve malediction ; nay, I under- 
 stand their effect to be as follows : make dull and obstinate 
 their heart; as though God should say to Isaiah, Make 
 the hearts of this rebellious and perverse people stupid, 
 obstinate, and hardened; make their ears heavy, and 
 blind their eyes, that it may not come to pass that their 
 eyes having the ability to see, their ears that of hearing, 
 and their heart that of understanding, it repent and 
 convert itself, and thus that I should have to heal it. 
 Where three things worthy of being considered present 
 themselves. The first, that ungodly men, whenever they 
 hear tho^e words of Isaiah, " Hear, hut in hearing do not 
 understand" &c., they become more obstinate and more 
 hardened in their ungodliness, it working in them that 
 peculiar effect, for which God spoke to them by Isaiah, 
 because they have made up their minds to hold God to 
 be unjust and cruel. The second is, that just as the words 
 which are spoken by God to them, who are the good soil, 
 soften and soothe them, so to those, who are bad soil, they 
 harden and petrify them ; and here it is apt to illustrate 
 with a comparison deduced from the action of the sun, 
 which softens and melts wax, whilst it hardens clay and 
 makes it dry. The third, that it is the work of God, that 
 they, who are ungodly and rebellious, obstinate in their 
 rebellion and in their ungodliness, become even more 
 hardened and more obstinate ; God does not will that 
 such persons attain salvation in any way, and to these 
 
' S. MATTHEW XIII. 1-23. 243 
 
 that passage of St. Paul is peculiarly applicable : " God 
 hath delivered them up to a reprobate mind " (Eom. i. 28). 
 
 Where if human prudence shall object, saying that God 
 is unjust; it shall be answered that it is blind, since it 
 does not see that men depart from and rebel against God, 
 before that God sends and visits them with this chastise- 
 ment ; and if the flesh shall complain, saying that God is 
 cruel, in shutting up the way of salvation to those whom 
 He hardens and delivers over to a reprobate sense ; it 
 shall be told that it is rash in imposing law upon God ; and 
 that it is ignorant, not considering that all God's works 
 are tempered by mercy ; there not being cruelty in any 
 one of them ; cruelty being as alien to God as it is natural 
 to man, as is clearly seen in the fourth chapter of Jonah. 
 
 But reverting to Christ's words, I understand that He 
 quoted the prophecy of Isaiah to show His disciples, that 
 that occurred to those multitudes, which had been pro- 
 phesied by Isaiah : and I understand that when Christ 
 added, ''But Messed are your eyes for they seel' &c.. He 
 means, the eyes and ears of these are unfortunate, for they 
 neither see nor hear, whilst your eyes and ears are blessed, 
 because they see and hear. And what He subjoins, ''for I 
 tell you of a truth!' &c., is worthy of great consideration , for 
 the confirmation of what is stated in chapter xi., showing 
 how much greater is the dignity of the saints of the gospel, 
 than that of the saints under the law; since it appears 
 from these words, that they of the gospel enjoyed, what 
 they of the law desired to enjoy, just as the saints, who 
 are with Christ, enjoy that, which those, who are still 
 living, desire to enjoy. 
 
 Here this occurs to me, that if the disciples of Christ 
 had had the Holy Spirit, which they afterwards had, to 
 know Christ and to enjoy the vision of Christ, and the 
 conversation of Christ, whilst He lived amonost them, 
 their happiness and their contentment would have been 
 such, that they could not have borne such felicity, for 
 that their flesh w^as passible and mortal. And herein I 
 
244 5. MATTHEW XIII. 1-23. 
 
 uiiderstand one of the reasons why God ordained that 
 Christ should not be perfectly known, until that He had 
 ascended into heaven. Where He says " Some a hundred, 
 and some sixty'' &c., He means, that one portion of the seed 
 yielded a hundredfold, whilst another yielded sixtyfold. 
 For that which He here says, " Because they seeing , see not" 
 &c., is reported by St. Mark, that they in seeing, may not 
 see ; and this agrees better with the words of Isaiah, as 
 though Christ should say : I speak to them in parables, 
 because I do not will that they should understand Me. 
 
 This reason seems strange to human prudence, and it 
 says to Christ, if it be not Thy will that they understand 
 Thee, why dost Thou speak to them ? And Christ might 
 answer, in order ; as Son of God, to justify the wisdom of 
 God, as they all do justify it, who are the children of 
 God, so that nothing may remain to exculpate men of 
 the world. And because the task would be a hard one 
 were I to attempt to justify this work of God, I remit 
 myself to that exclamation of St. Paul's : " the depth 
 of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God'!] 
 how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past 
 finding out ! " (Rom. xi. 33). 
 
 In saying " The word of the kingdom" I understand what 
 He said to be, " the kingdom of heaven is near at hand." In 
 saying, " He dureth hut for a while" Christ means that he 
 is inconstant, that he entertains it but for the moment, 
 and this is what the Greek word signifies. In saying " By 
 and hy he is offended" He means, that as soon as the man 
 is persecuted, he doubts ; and, in doubting, he departs from- 
 the faith, stumbling at persecution. And here I will say 
 this, that I do not feel fully assuiied in relation to any, who 
 accept the grace of the gospel, believing in reconciliation 
 with God, until I see that they are stable, firm, and con- 
 stant under persecutions. Where Christ says " the deceit- 
 fulness" it might be said "the leading astray," because riches 
 divert and caus3 the man to deviate from the right way. 
 
S. MATTHEW XI 1 1. 24-32. 245 
 
 XIII. 24-30. — Another parable put he forth 
 unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is 
 likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his 
 field : but while men slept, his enemy came and 
 sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. 
 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought 
 forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the 
 servants of the householder came and said unto 
 him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field ? 
 from whence then hath it tares ? He said unto 
 them. An enemy hath done this. The servants 
 said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and 
 gather them up ? But he said. Nay ; lest while ye 
 gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with 
 them. Let both grow together until the harvest : 
 and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers. 
 Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them 
 in bundles to burn them : but gather the wheat 
 into my barn. 
 
 This parable being expounded by Christ Himself, as 
 we shall presently see (37-43 verses), it is better that 
 we abide by His exposition, and proceed to these other 
 parables. 
 
 XIII. 31,32. — Another parable put he forth 
 unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like 
 to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and 
 sowed in his field : which indeed is the least of all 
 seeds : but when it is grown, it is the greatest 
 among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the 
 birds of the air come and lodge in the branches 
 thereof 
 
246 vS. MATTHEW XIII. 33-35. 
 
 Christ means that just as the grain of mustard seed, 
 which is the least of all that are sown, being sown, goes 
 on to increase in size until it becomes a large tree ; so the 
 kingdom of heaven, being, in this present life, the meanest 
 and the most despised of all things that are taught, it, 
 wlien preached, goes on to increase in size, in numbering 
 more persons, and, in character, giving greater perfection 
 to those who are comprehended in it ; until that, mani- 
 festing its importance in the life eternal, it will be seen 
 that it transcends all the kingdoms of the world, which, 
 in this present life, are great and illustrious. 
 
 This is the proper application of the parable, where there 
 is no occasion to insist upon the birds building their nests, 
 since it appears that Christ only mentions it as an inci- 
 dent, indicative of the greatness of the tree ; and as I have 
 stated, our attention should only be directed to Christ's 
 principal intention in them. 
 
 XIII. 33. — Another parable spake he unto them; 
 The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven which 
 a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, 
 till the whole was leavened. 
 
 Christ suggests by this parable that there comes to pass 
 in the kingdom of heaven that which occurs to leaven 
 and dough ; for that just as a little leaven has such power 
 that it suffices to leaven a great mass of dough, so the 
 preaching of the kingdom of heaven, which, in the eyes 
 of the world, is insignificant and vile, is of such power 
 that it suffices to justify, to mortify, to vivify, and to glo- 
 rify all who are the people of God, predestinated to life 
 eternal ; so that Christ's purpose in this parable is to show 
 the power of preaching the kingdom of heaven, the power 
 of the kingdom itself. In saying " three measures" He 
 means a great mass of dough. 
 
 XIII. 34, 35. — All these things spake Jesus 
 
5. MATTHEW XIII. 36-43. 247 
 
 unto tlie multitude in parables ; and witliout a 
 parable spake he not unto them : That it might be 
 fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, 
 I will open my mouth in parables ; I will utter 
 things which have been kept secret from the foun- 
 dation of the world. 
 
 St. Matthew means, that by Christ's speaking in para- 
 bles, that came to be fulfilled which is written : " I will 
 open my mouth in a parable ; I will utter dark sayings of 
 old " (Ps. Ixxviii. 2). As to the sense of that verse, I remit 
 myself to what I have stated upon that psalm. 
 
 XIII. 36-43. — Then Jesus sent the multitudes 
 away, and went into the house ; and his disciples 
 came unto him, saying. Declare unto us the parable 
 of the tares of the field. He answered and said 
 unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the 
 Son of man ; The field is the world ; the good seed 
 are the children of the kingdom ; but the tares are 
 the children of the wicked one ; The enemy that 
 sowed them is the devil ; the harvest is the end of 
 the world ; and the reapers are the angels. As 
 therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the 
 fire ; so shall it be in the end of this world. The 
 Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they 
 shall gather out of his kingdom all things that 
 ofi'end, and them which do iniquity ; And shall 
 cast them into a furnace of fire ; there shall be 
 wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the 
 righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of 
 their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. 
 
 This exposition of the parable of the tares ought alone 
 fully to satisfy us to make up our minds not to labour to 
 
248 S. MATTHEW XIII. 36-43. 
 
 make the other parables square in all and everything, with 
 that which is understood to be by them ; since we see that 
 Christ, in expounding the parable which He Himself had 
 spoken, left some things in it without application in His 
 exposition, as, for instance, that "whilst men slept'' and 
 their wish to go and pull up the tares," &c. 
 
 Christ's purpose in the parable of the tares, as it appears 
 by this His exposition, is to show, that although in the 
 present life there are false Christians, who are the chil- 
 dren of the devil, amongst true Christians, who are the 
 children of the l^ingdom, for it belongs to them, at the 
 day of judgment the false Christians shall be cast into 
 hell, whilst the true ones shall be glorified : so that this 
 parable is like a menace to false Christians, and like a 
 consolation for true Christians, who, in the present life, 
 are censured, persecuted, and maltreated by false Chris- 
 tians. 
 
 That expression " T/ie good seed " is, as in other parables, 
 used interchangeably for the fruit of the seed, which Christ 
 has sown and sows in the world, whence spring the true 
 Christians ; just as the fruit of the seed, which the devil 
 has sown and sows in the world, are the false Christians : 
 so that Christ is the sower, who sows by the agency of 
 His apostles ; whilst the field is mankind ; and the seed 
 is the intimation through the gospel of the reconciliation 
 of men with God ; and the fruit of this seed are the true 
 Christians ; the enemy is the devil ; and the tares which 
 he sows are the false opinions, which are contrary to Chris- 
 tian faith ; and the false doctrines, which are opposed to 
 the doctrine of Christian life ; the fruit of the tares are 
 false Christians, who, at the day of judgment, when Christ, 
 the sower, shall come with His angels to get in the fruit 
 of His preaching, shall be cast into the fire of hell. 
 
 " Where there shall he wailing!' &c., He means, there they 
 shall be in consummate misery, whilst the true Christians 
 shall then be glorified, and occupy a position very like to 
 that in which Christ was seen after His resurrection, and 
 
6'. MATTHEW XIII. 36-43. 249 
 
 to that, in which Christ was seen by the three disciples at 
 Mount Tabor ; I understand this thus, because He also 
 says here, then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun, 
 as it is stated there, that Christ's presence shone forth as 
 the sun. 
 
 " All the things that offend,'' is tantamount to all scan- 
 dals, obstacles and impediments ; Christ calls false Chris- 
 tians such, for these are they, who molest and afHict true 
 Christians ; and shows that these are amongst the children 
 of God, what tares are amongst wheat. 
 
 Here it might be added that the sower's labourers, who, 
 by sleeping, gave the enemy the opportunity to sow the 
 tares, are they, who have it in charge to preach the gospel 
 and to teach Christian life ; and that their sleep is their 
 negligence ; and that the tares come to be visible amongst 
 the wheat, when they, who receive false opinions and false 
 doctrines, begin to resist those, who hold the true faith 
 and the true doctrine. And it migjht likewise be added 
 that the labourers show their indiscretion and even their 
 imperfection and want of charity, in wishing to remedy 
 their negligence, by collecting the tares, by separating 
 those, who hold false opinions and false doctrines, from 
 those, who hold the true faith and the true doctrine ; and 
 that the Lord shows His prudence. His goodness, and His 
 charity, by not consenting to their doing so ; on account of 
 the inconvenience which would incidentally follow there- 
 upon ; and that in saying, " Let both grow together" &c., 
 Christ purposes to take away the jurisdiction of judging 
 between the wheat and the tares ; nay, this is most certain, 
 that had Christ not expounded His parable, we might 
 think that His intention throughout it was this. 
 
 And when I consider this, I am ashamed of myself, 
 when I reflect, in how many things I may have deceived 
 myself in these expositions : effectively, how very great is 
 our ignorance, whilst our temerity is much greater still, 
 when we presume to account for everything, and assume 
 that we always succeed in doing so. I say then, that all 
 
250 S. MATTHEW XIII. 44. 
 
 this might well be said, but I do not think that Christ 
 contemplated it ; as well because I do not see that He has 
 declared it, having^ declared the other ; as also, because I 
 see in chapter xviii., that Christ wills that he, who having 
 been corrected, does not mend, be held for the fruit of the 
 tare ; and because I likewise see that St. Paul separated 
 the tares from the wheat, excommunicating some and pub- 
 lishing the faults of others, in order that they should not 
 spoil the good seed, which he, as Christ's apostle, sowed ; I 
 mean to say the good seed which sprang from what he sowed. 
 
 XIII. 44. — Again, the kingdom of heaven is like 
 unto treasure hid in a field ; the which when a man 
 hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth 
 and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that 
 field. 
 
 Christ's meaning is, that the experience of those, who, 
 by acceptance of the grace of the gospel, find themselves 
 in the kingdom of heaven, is like that of a man, who casu- 
 ally finds treasure hid in a field upon an estate; for that 
 just as this man, as soon as he finds the treasure in the 
 field, very joyously sells all that he has, and buys that 
 estate, in order to get possession of that treasure ; so he, 
 who, having accepted the grace of the gospel, finds him- 
 self in the kingdom of God, very joyously sells all that he 
 has, stripping himself of everything which, as a child of 
 Adam, he possesses, abhorring it all and renouncing it all, 
 in order to be able thoroughly to enjoy the happiness of 
 the kingdom of God ; of the rule and government of the 
 Holy Spirit, by which they are ruled and governed, who, 
 being the children of God, are in the kingdom of God, in 
 order to maintain themselves in the possession of the 
 kingdom, which, by accepting the grace of the gospel, they 
 have taken. Effectively all true Christians have the expe- 
 rience of this parable, and by it we are admonished that 
 
5. MATTHEW XIII. 44. 251 
 
 to enjoy the kingdom of God, and to maintain ourselves 
 in possession, we must needs sell all that we have, re- 
 nouncing all our human prudence, our natural light, and 
 our knowledge of good and evil, and mortifying all our 
 affections and all our appetites, to which, as children of 
 Adam, we are inclined. 
 
 And here it has to be observed that just as this compari- 
 son does not agree in the hiding of the treasure until the 
 purchase of the estate, for we do not hide the kingdom 
 until the purchase has been made ; so neither does it 
 agree as to the purchase ; for we have seen in chapter xi. 
 that the kingdom is not bought, for it is not for sale ; on 
 the contrary, it is taken by force ; and if it had been for 
 sale, no one would have enjoyed it, for there could have 
 been no equivalent price paid, even had one person had 
 all, that all the men in the world have ; and had he been 
 able to do himself all the violence, that all the men in the 
 world can do themselves ; so that the parable may agree 
 in that one treasure be like the other ; and that the man 
 finds one as he does the other, without seeking for it ; and 
 that the one like the other be enjoyed ; and that he gives 
 all that he has for the enjoyment of one treasure, so like- 
 wise for the other. 
 
 And the most remarkable thing here is this, that just as 
 he who finds the treasure in the field, finds it, as one might 
 say, fortuitously, not seeking for it ; so he who finds the 
 treasure of the kingdom of God, finds it, as one might say, 
 fortuitously, not seeking for it ; and effectively, it is so, 
 that all who have found the treasure of the kingdom of 
 God, say and confess that they had never thought of 
 finding such a thing, nor had ever imagined such a thing, 
 so that the quotation which St. Paul makes, taken from 
 Isaiah, is verified in them, " / was found of them that 
 sought me not" (Rom. x. 20; Isa. Ixv. i), so that they too 
 know, by experience, that to be truth, which St. Paul him- 
 self quotes from Isaiah himself, " what eye hath never seen" 
 &c. (i Cor. ii. 9; Isa. Ixiv. 4). 
 
252 5. MATTHEW XIII. 45-50. 
 
 XIII. 45, 46. — Again, the kingdom of heaven is 
 like unto a merchant-man, seeking goodly pearls : 
 Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, 
 went and sold all that he had, and bought it. 
 
 Here we ought to notice the manner in which Christ 
 was wont to compare; for that, wishing to state that a 
 precious stone (pearl) of great value was like the kingdom 
 of heaven, and that every one of those, who, by accepting 
 the grace of the gospel, enter into the kingdom of heaven, 
 is like a merchant, He says that the kingdom is like a 
 merchant. This observation is of great importance for 
 the comprehension of these comparisons. And I under- 
 stand Christ's intention in this to be the same as that in 
 the last, to show how precious is the kingdom of heaven, 
 and how much it is esteemed by those who find it ; by 
 those, whom God of His grace plants in it ; in order that 
 we all may be enamoured of it, that we may desire it, and 
 desiring it, that we pray Gcd to place us in it. So that this 
 parable may agree in this, that he, who seeks the kingdom 
 of God, does not care for anything else, nay, he renounces 
 everything and postpones them to revel at his ease in the 
 kingdom ; just as the merchant, who finds the precious 
 stone, does not care to look for others, contenting himself 
 with that only, and giving all that he has for it. 
 
 III. 47-50. — Again, the kingdom of heaven is 
 like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and 
 gathered of every kind : Which, when it was full, 
 they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the 
 good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall 
 it be at the end of the world : the angels shall 
 come forth, and sever the wicked from among the 
 just ; and shall cast them into the furnace of fire : 
 there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 
 
5. MATTHEW XIII. 51, 52. 253 
 
 The sea is this present life : the fishermen are the 
 apostles, as we have seen in chapter iv. ; the net^ which 
 they cast, is the gospel they preach, which is identical 
 with the kingdom of heaven ; the fish, that are caught in 
 this net, are they, who accept the grace of the gospel; 
 those, who do not accept it, remaining outside the net, 
 are outside of the kingdom and thus, of the Christian 
 Church. And amongst those who accept it, for all do not 
 accept it, by the gift of God, by the Holy Spirit, there 
 are some, who accept it by man's persuasion, others 
 through fear, and others by temperament, Christ means, 
 that, although in the present life, they will be in the net, 
 they will be in the kingdom, enjoying that which they 
 can enjoy in the present life, in company with those, who 
 by the gift of God and by the Holy Spirit, accept the 
 grace of the gospel; but at the day of judgment, when 
 they both shall be raised up, the good shall enter into 
 life eternal, whilst the bad shall go into eternal fire, of 
 which [judgment] Christ says the angels shall be the exe- 
 cutioners. I understand the design of this parable to be 
 almost the same as the parable of the tares. 
 
 XIII. 51, 52. — Jesus saith unto them, Have ye 
 understood all these things ? They say unto him, 
 Yea, Lord. Then said he unto them, Therefore 
 every scribe, who is instructed unto the kingdom 
 of heaven, is like unto a man Avho is a householder, 
 who bringeth forth out of his treasure things new 
 and old. 
 
 It would appear, that Christ, desiring that His disciples 
 should have all this which He had spoken, well impressed 
 upon their minds, asked them, whether they had under- 
 stood it all ; and I understand that they answering said, 
 that they had understood it ; He wished to show them 
 what the kingdom of heaven, such as He had depicted it 
 
254 S. MATTHEW XIII. 51, 52. 
 
 to them, was, comparing it to the grain of mustard seed, 
 to leaven, to treasure, to a merchant-man, &c., the result 
 is this, that the educated man, having learned the things 
 affecting the kingdom of heaven, is as free in communi- 
 cating what he has learned, as is a host, who sets before 
 his friends all that he has in the house, without keeping 
 back anything from them. 
 
 Whence I consider the difference between those, who 
 are educated in the kingdom of the world, and those, who 
 are educated in the kingdom of heaven ; in that these, as 
 Christ here says, are very liberal, whilst those are very 
 pinching ; these communicate all that they have, and had 
 they more, they would communicate more ; whilst the 
 others keep back what they have, and it grieves them to 
 communicate it, unless prompted by self-interest. I un- 
 derstand this to proceed from the fact, tliat they, who are 
 of the kingdom of heaven, having learned without any 
 effort or labour of their own, are liberal of that which 
 costs them little ; whilst they of the kingdom of the 
 world, having learned by effort and with labour, sell dearly 
 that which they paid for dearly, it likewise proceeds from 
 the fact, that they of the kingdom of heaven, as they learn 
 of a master, who has ever some new things to teach, they 
 never fear that they shall fall short of them, and they 
 bring forth all that they have ; whilst those of the king- 
 dom of the world, as they learn from men and from books, 
 that can only teach that whereunto they have attained ; 
 they fear lest their stock should be exhausted, and that 
 thus they should have no more to teach ; and moreover, 
 that they of the kingdom of heaven, learning from God, 
 who is most liberal ; they learn, amongst other things, 
 liberality ; whilst they of the kingdom of the world, learn- 
 ing from men of the world, who are most avaricious ; they 
 learn, amongst other things, avarice. 
 
 That which Christ says, " Therefore every scribe i7isiructed 
 in the Jdngdorn of heaven is," &c., refers to what imme- 
 diately precedes, and designs to convey this meaning; 
 
5. MATTHEW XIII. 53-58. 255 
 
 because you understand all this, " the scribe instructed^' &c. 
 I refer it to all that has been said above, and I understand 
 Christ to say : forasmuch as the kingdom of heaven is 
 precisely that which I have depicted it ; it is so, that they, 
 who have been disciples in it, are already instructed by 
 it ; they are like the master of the house in point of libe- 
 rality, &c. The "scribe instructed,'' is the same as one 
 educated, who has learned, and the Greek text has this 
 By new and old," He means everything. 
 
 XIII. 53-58. — And it came to pass, that when 
 Jesus had finished these parables, he departed 
 thence. And when he was come into his own 
 country, he taught them in their synagogue, inso- 
 much that they were astonished, and said, Whence 
 hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty 
 works ? Is not this the carpenter s son ? is not his 
 mother called Mary ? and his brethren, James, and 
 Joseph, and Simon, and Judas ? And his sisters, 
 are they not all with us ? Whence then hath this 
 man all these things ? And they were ojffended in 
 him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not 
 without honour, save in his own country, and in 
 his own house. And he did not many mighty works 
 there because of their unbelief. 
 
 Here the perversity of the human mind is worthy of 
 consideration, which, not being able to calumniate the 
 words, nor to censure the life of Christ, it calumniates 
 and it censures the meanness of His person and of His 
 descent. These men were constrained by Christ's words 
 and works to form the highest opinion of Him ; but in 
 order not to hold it, they stumbled and fell at the mean- 
 ness of His parents and of His relatives; as effectively 
 
256 S. MATTHEW XIII. 53-58. 
 
 they all stumble, for they, who are like these, ever do so, 
 in connection with things, which members of Christ have, 
 who amongst other men are regarded as despicable and 
 vulgar ; and it is so that when they see in them more than 
 they see in others, in order not to recognise that there is 
 anything supernatural or divine in them, they set them- 
 selves to seek out what there is in them that is mean and 
 low. Whence members of Christ ought to rejoice and be 
 glad, considering that the world looks down upon them, 
 just as it looked down upon Christ; whilst men of the 
 world, when they stumble and are scandalised by the 
 lowliness and want of education of members of Christ, 
 ought to feel sad, by considering that they do as the 
 Jews did. "Where it is said, " He taught them," it is to be 
 understood, of His own countrymen. For miracles the 
 Greek text says " mighty acts." By that expression, " Is 
 not this the carpenters son?" it is to be considered that 
 Christ was always held to be the son of Joseph. 
 
 As to the brothers and sisters, it has been already stated 
 that the Jews call their male and female relatives so. 
 That ; " they were offended in Him," is tantamount to their 
 saying, that they stumbled at Him, at the meanness of 
 His birth, according to the flesh, not recognising His 
 greatness according to the Spirit. That which Christ 
 stated, " That a prophet is not without honour" &c., is 
 always so, and is constantly seen to be so experimentally, 
 that men think lightly of those to wdiom they are nearest 
 related. In stating that He did not work many miracles 
 in His own country on account of the unbelief of its 
 inhabitants, St. Matthew shows that the faith of those 
 among whom the miracles are wrought is to a great 
 extent the reason why they were wrought ; being so for 
 the confirmation of the faith of believers. Whence it 
 might be said tliat Christ does not work many miracles 
 nowadays on account of our unbelief. 
 
S, MATTHEW XIV. 257 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 XIV. I-I2. — At that time Herod the tetrarch 
 heard of the fame of Jesus; and said unto his 
 servants, This is John the Baptist ; he is risen 
 from the dead ; and therefore mighty works do 
 show forth themselves in him. For Herod had 
 laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in 
 prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife. 
 For John said unto him. It is not lawful for thee 
 to have her. And when he would have put him 
 to death, he feared the multitude, because they 
 counted him as a prophet. But when Herod's 
 birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias 
 danced before them, and pleased Herod. Where- 
 upon he promised with an oath to give her what- 
 soever she would ask. And she, being before 
 instructed of her mother, said. Give me here John 
 the Baptist's head in a charger. And the king was 
 sorry : nevertheless, for the oath's sake, and that of 
 them who sat with him at meat, he commanded it to 
 be given her. And he sent, and beheaded John in 
 .the prison. And his head was brought in a charger, 
 and given to the damsel : and she brought it to 
 her mother. And his disciples came and took up 
 the body, and buried it ; and they went and told 
 Jesus. 
 
 R 
 
258 5. MATTHEW XIV. 1-12. 
 
 From the false notion that Herod formed of Christ, in 
 believing Him to be St. John the Baptist, St. Matthew 
 takes occasion to relate the history of St. John's death ; 
 wherein I consider two things. The one, that God employs 
 His servants to do the work He requires of them, and 
 afterwards cuts them off by temporal death, in order to 
 confer eternal life upon them ; He did so with St. John : 
 He employed him to testify of Christ, and afterwards 
 allowed Herod to decapitate him. And here I learn that 
 Christians ought not to be saddened, either by their own 
 premature deaths, nor by those of other Christians, when 
 they consider that God has already employed them, in 
 the doing of that which He required of them. And the 
 other, that we Christians ought never to regard what, kind 
 of death we die, provided that the will of God be accom- 
 plished in us ; remembering that death with us is but an 
 affair of time, our life being eternal. 
 
 As to the reason why God ordained that St. John should 
 die before Christ, and by such an out-of-the-way and secret 
 death as he died, I should think that the first was in order 
 that the people should not be divided, some following after 
 Christ and others after St. John, who, it appears, was not 
 to follow Christ in social life, he having commenced life 
 so roughly and hardly : whilst the second was in order that 
 St. John should not be like Christ in anything, in order, 
 too, that none of the prophecies written concerning Christ 
 should in any way agree in him : but I remit myself in 
 what affects either the one or the other to judgment that 
 is more spiritual than mine. 
 
 And as to the other things which may be considered as 
 involved in this history, I remit myself to wliat others 
 write. In saying, " And therefore mighty works do show 
 forth themselves in him'' I think this to be tantamount to 
 his saying : and for this reason he works miracles : the 
 evangelists frequently call miracles mighty acts. And I 
 will not contend with him, who shall affirm, that the 
 supernatural powers by which St. John wrought miracles, 
 
S. MATTHEW XIV. 13-21. 259 
 
 proceeded from his having been raised from the dead. 
 Herod's fete day is the same as Herod's birthday. Where 
 he says, " the guests," the Greek word signifies those who 
 were seated at table with him at the banquet. 
 
 XIV. 13-21. — When Jesus heard of it, he de- 
 parted thence by boat into a desert place apart : 
 and when the people had heard thereof, they fol- 
 lowed him on foot out of the cities. And Jesus 
 went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was 
 moved with compassion toward them, and he 
 healed their sick. And when it was evening, his 
 disciples came to him, saying. This is a desert 
 place, and the time is now past; send the multi- 
 tudes away, that they may go into the villages, and 
 buy themselves victuals. But Jesus said unto 
 them, They need not depart ; give ye them to eat. 
 And they say unto him. We have here but five 
 loaves, and two fishes. He said, Bring them hither 
 to me. And he commanded the multitudes to sit 
 down on the sfrass ; and took the five loaves and 
 the two fishes, and, looking up to heaven, he 
 blessed, and brake ; and gave the loaves to his 
 disciples, and the disciples to the multitudes. And 
 they did all eat, and were filled : and they took up 
 of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. 
 And they that had eaten were about five thousand 
 men, beside women and children. 
 
 St. Matthew reports that when Christ knew of St. John 
 the Baptist's death, He left that district where He was, 
 and went in a boat to a' desert place ; and that, when the 
 multitudes knew that He had gone there, they left their 
 towns, and followed Him on foot. And he says, that 
 when Christ came forth from that solitary place to which 
 
26o S. MATTHEW XIV. 13-21. 
 
 He had gone, that seeing how numerous they were who 
 followed Him, He commiserated them ; and that He 
 healed those of them who were sick. And he then nar- 
 rates that Christ fed them all miraculously; by doing 
 whicli, I understand that He has confirmed and does con- 
 firm the faith of His disciples, showing them how mighty 
 He is to fulfil what He has stated in chapter vi., where 
 He promised to all those, who sought the kingdom of God 
 and His righteousness, these outward things additionally. 
 
 Where every one of Christ's disciples may consider, and 
 say ; since it is a fact that Christ manifested His power 
 to feed such a multitude, out of the course of nature, who 
 merely followed Him from human promptings ; it will 
 likewise prove fact that He will show His power in pro- 
 viding me with food, without anxiety on my part, who 
 follow Him by Christian promptings. And it will not be 
 to the point for any one to say, how do I know that I fol- 
 low Christ from Christian promptings ? for it concerns every 
 one that follows Christ to be assured that he follows Christ 
 from Christian promptings ; and that Christ will fulfil to 
 him what He promises. I find two things for consideration 
 in the conversation between Christ and the disciples. TJie 
 one, the little confidence they had in the person of Christ, 
 having witnessed the great things which He had done. 
 And I exonerate the disciples, when I recollect the little 
 confidence which the Jewish host had in God when in the 
 desert, having witnessed greater things : and I exonerate 
 both, by the infidelity and unbelief of the human mind, 
 which brings itself with the greatest difficulty to place 
 confidence in God, and in those who are God's ; nay, it is 
 such, that they can in no way bring themselves to believe, 
 unless God Himself bring them to it. None feel this infi- 
 delity and unbelief, save those, who, through God's grace, 
 are being delivered from it. 
 
 Tlie other thing, which I consider, is the patience with 
 which Christ tolerated the unbelief of the disciples ; and 
 how He proceeded to induce them to belief, and that they 
 
S. MATTHEW XIV. 22-36. 261 
 
 should believe in Him. " In saying The hour is now past" 
 they meant for them to return home. That expression, 
 " And looking up to heaven," &c., is worthy of considera- 
 tion, for it appears that Christ did the same when per- 
 forming this miracle, which He did at the institution of 
 the Holy Eucharist, as to the looking up into heaven ; the 
 benediction and the distribution. What the benediction 
 involved is unknown. The baskets of broken bits or fracj- 
 ments render the miracle more evident; since, had they 
 eaten nothing, it was miraculous to gather so many frag- 
 ments from five loaves. And yet with all tliis, there is 
 no remedy to bring us to forget personal anxiety, and to 
 bring us to cast our cares upon God, to forget self in what 
 concerns the present life, and to be careful in what con- 
 cerns the life eternal, assured that God will take care of 
 us, as it appears, that He has cared for those, who have 
 followed Him and walked in His ways. Effectively, faith 
 encounters the greatest contradiction in our own minds. 
 Let us pray to God that He may wholly remove it, in 
 order that we may wholly confide in Him. 
 
 Xiy. 22-36. — And straightway Jesus constrained 
 liis disciples to get into a boat, and to go before 
 him unto the other side, while he sent the multi- 
 tudes away. And when he had sent the multitudes 
 away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray : 
 and when the evening was come, he was there 
 alone. But the boat was now in the midst of the 
 sea, tossed with waves : for the wind was contrary. 
 And in the fourth watch of the nisfht Jesus went 
 unto them, walking on the sea. And when the 
 disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were 
 troubled, saying. It is a spirit ; and they cried out 
 for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, 
 saying, Be of good cheer; it is I ; be not afraid. 
 
262 5. MATTHEW XIV. 22-36. 
 
 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be 
 tliou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And 
 he said. Come. And when Peter was come down 
 out of the boat, he walked on the water, to go to 
 Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he 
 was afraid ; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, 
 Lord, save me ! And immediately Jesus stretched 
 forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, 
 thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt ? 
 And when they were come into the boat, the wind 
 ceased. Then they that were in the boat came and 
 worshipped him, saying. Of a truth thou art the 
 Son of God. And when they were gone over, they 
 came into the land of Gennesaret. And when the 
 men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent 
 out into all that country round about, and brought 
 unto him all that were diseased : And besouo^ht 
 him that tbey might only touch the hem of his 
 garment : and as many as touched were made 
 whole. 
 
 Christ's design, in sending His disciples away before 
 Him, is understood by what resulted from their going; 
 it is, that they, seeing themselves in danger, were afraid, 
 and that recurring to Christ, they were delivered from 
 danger, and they thus found fresh cause why to distrust 
 themselves, and to trust in Christ, confiding in His words ; 
 and it very clearly appears, that all Christ's design was 
 to bring His disciples to believe, and that they should not 
 doubt what He promised them. And I understand that 
 in giving them assurance in these outward things, as in 
 this danger and in their preceding necessity, He purposed 
 two things: the one, that they should lose solicitude as 
 to things of the present life, and that they should wholly 
 
S. MATTHEW XIV. 22-36. 263 
 
 transfer it to things of the life eternal: and the other, 
 that, by what they saw wrought by Christ with them and 
 for them, in these outward things, they might certify 
 themselves of the remission of sins and of reconciliation 
 with God, which are inward things. And here we learn 
 what fruit we Christians have to realise from the external 
 and bodily favours that we daily receive from God. 
 
 What follows is involved in this history : in the first 
 place, that although all the Christian's life ought to be one 
 continuous prayer, one continuous desire for the glory of 
 God, at times it is right for the Christian to set apart a 
 season for prayer, which must be in seclusion, in order 
 that the mind may be more absorbed in God, as did 
 Christ, who withdrew Himself, in order to pray alone. 
 Secondly, that, although God may indeed consent that His 
 people be tempted; He at times bringing them under 
 trial, as it appears that Christ here brought His disciples ; 
 He does not consent that they perish under trial, nay, at 
 the right time. He succours them, even without their call 
 to Him for help, bringing Himself before them, in order 
 to remind them to recur to Him, as did Christ here with 
 His disciples. 
 
 Thirdly, that man, when moved by fear, forms strange 
 conceptions of God: some hold Him to be inhuman, 
 others to be cruel, others to be niggardly, &c., as did the 
 disciples of Christ, who being afraid, saw Christ and 
 thought that He was an apparition. Fourthly, that God 
 succours His own people even when they recur to Him, 
 under fear and at their wits' end, such is the desire 
 which He has, to show us the love He has for us, as did 
 Christ here with His disciples, who called on Him, being 
 alarmed. Fifthly, that so long as we do not call our 
 human prudence into deliberation, to see whether we 
 shall trust, or whether we shall distrust, God's word, our 
 affairs go well ; but, when we call it into deliberation, 
 we begin to doubt and to vacillate in the faith, as it 
 here occurred to St. Peter with Christ. 
 
264 S. MATTHEW XIV. 22-36. 
 
 Sixthly, that the Christian ought then to rely most 
 upon the word of God, when he is in the greatest danger, 
 and when he sees least ground for reliance; and if St. 
 Peter had done so here, he would not have been rebuked 
 as unbelieving and of little faith. And here I under- 
 stand that because danger stares you in the face at the 
 hour of death, that then it is, when the man is most 
 tempted to doubt in Christian faith, that then he ought 
 to be most animated to believe. Seventhly, that God 
 allows us at times partly to lose our confidence, in order 
 that when He succours us, we may not be able to attri- 
 bute His munificence, not even to our own confidence; 
 like St. Peter, who having partly lost his confidence 
 through fear, yet by calling upon Christ, at the time 
 when he was at his wits' end, showed that he had not 
 wholly lost it. There are some illustrations of this in 
 the Psalms. 
 
 ^?;^A^A^y, that although godless men recognise God by 
 outward miracles, they do not follow God, which hap- 
 pened to the men that were in this boat, who knew that 
 Christ was the Son of God, by outward miracle, but they 
 did not follow Christ. So that we know by the result, 
 that there is this difference between the confession of 
 these men, who affirm that Christ is the Son of God, and 
 the confession of St. Peter, which we shall see in chapter 
 xvi. : that theirs was of flesh and blood, of human dis- 
 course and judgment; which judged by that, which it 
 saw, of that which it did not see ; whilst that of St. Peter 
 was by divine inspiration and revelation; and for that 
 reason Christ did not pronounce these persons blessed, as 
 He did St. Peter, nor did these persons follow Christ, as 
 did St. Peter. And here we understand that miracles, 
 although they apparently work some impression upon 
 men ; effectively it is very slight and is soon dissipated ; 
 and thus it remains that miracles only avail to confirm 
 the faith of those, who believe by revelation and divine 
 inspiration. 
 
5. MATTHEW XIV. 22-36. 265 
 
 Ninthly, that faith is of such efficacy that it obtains 
 from God all that it desires, although he who believes to 
 attain that which he wishes or desires, is not righteous, 
 not having that inspired and revealed faith, which em- 
 braces the remission of sins and reconciliation with God ; 
 as was the case with these men of Gennesaret, who 
 believed that in touching the hem of Christ's garment, 
 there would be such efficacy that it would heal them of 
 their infirmities ; by touching it, they were healed. I am 
 sure that the person who shall well consider these nine 
 thingrs will slather much Christian edification from them. 
 
 " Re constrained them to get" &c., is tantamount to His 
 having made them go on board ; and " to send them away " 
 is the same as to dismiss them : " didst thou doubt ? " is 
 the same as "didst thou vacillate V "the hem'' is the 
 edge : and " made whole " is the same as they were 
 healed. 
 
266 S. MATTHEW XV. 
 
 CHAPTEK XV. 
 
 XV. i-ii. — Then came to Jesus from Jerusa- 
 lem, Scribes and Pharisees, saying, Why do thy 
 disciples transgress the tradition of the elders ? 
 for they wash not their hands, when they eat 
 bread. But he answered and said unto them, 
 Why do ye also transgress the commandment of 
 God by your tradition ? For God commanded, 
 saying, Honour thy father and mother ; and. He 
 that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. 
 But ye say. Whosoever shall say to his father or his 
 mother, that wherewith thou mightest have been 
 profited by me is given to God, he shall not honour 
 his father or his mother. Thus have ye made 
 the commandment of God of none efiect by your 
 tradition. Ye hypocrites ! well did Isaiah prophesy 
 of you, saying. This people draweth nigh unto me 
 with their mouth, and honoureth me with their 
 lips : but their heart is far from me. But in vain 
 they do worship me, teaching for doctrines, the 
 commandments of men. And he called the multi- 
 tude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand : 
 Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth the 
 man ; but that which cometh out of the mouth, 
 this defileth the man. 
 
 The Scribes and Pharisees, like the worldly-wise and 
 
S. MATTHEW XV. i-ii. 267 
 
 the world's saints, seeing that their wisdom fell prostrate 
 before the wisdom of Christ, and that their sanctity was 
 disparaged by Christ's sanctity, wanted to find something 
 that they might censure in Christ, to sully His doctrine 
 and His sanctity ; and finding nothing to censure in His 
 person, they censure His disciples, that they did not wash 
 their hands before meals, according to the tradition of 
 their elders ; not to censure His disciples, but in order to 
 reprehend Christ, their Master, who knew their injurious 
 purposes. 
 
 He does not reply to their question, but to stop their 
 mouths. He censures them for a very weighty thing wherein 
 they sinned, teaching the people to break the fourth (the 
 fifth) commandment of the decalogue, by their bad tra- 
 dition ; and it was this, that the son might offer to the 
 temple, that which he should spend upon his father, telling 
 the father, that that offering would likewise be profitable 
 to him ; for that God would do him good on account of it. 
 And Christ having stopped the mouths of the Scribes and 
 Pharisees by this censure and by the words of Isaiah 
 xxix. 13, He, being unwilling that the calumny of the 
 worldly-wise and the saints of the world, should leave an 
 impression upon the minds of the multitudes, who had 
 heard it, calls them and tells them, what reply should be 
 given to others, when they should ask in sincerity ; and 
 Christ means by His reply that man does not offend God 
 by what he eats with his mouth, but by what he brings 
 forth out of his mouth. 
 
 This is the meaning of these words, by which we learn 
 this. First, that they are always mortal enemies of the 
 Godly-wise and of the saints of God, who are, and pretend 
 to be, worldly-wise and saints of the world. Second, that 
 external observances are ever sources of strife. Third, 
 that they, who are superstitious in outward observances, 
 are licentious in inward ones, preferring human things to 
 divine, as did these Scribes and Pharisees. Fourth, that 
 God's saints should not be anxious to refute the calumnies 
 
268 5. MATTHEW XV, i-ii. 
 
 of the saints of the world ; but they ought to endeavour 
 to convince those, who hear the calumnies, by showing up 
 the malice of saints of the world. Fifth, that the services 
 which men render to God, and the respect which they have 
 for Him, are not pleasing to God, when moved by human 
 teachings and commandments of men. Sixth, that God is 
 not offended, save by the malignity that proceeds from 
 the heart ; whence issue evil works, as Christ will declare 
 further on. 
 
 Coming to the details of the text, when he says : " From 
 Jeriosalem," he means, that they had come from Jerusalem, 
 and that they therefore were of greater authority. That 
 expression " When they eat bread," is a Hebraism : it means, 
 when they sit down to eat. " Let him die the death," is 
 equivalent to, let him die for it. That " But ye say',' &c., 
 this is expressed with such brevity as to be scarcely intel- 
 ligible, and hence has been differently expounded ; I under- 
 stand that the Scribes and Pharisees had commanded that 
 the son should present that as an offering to the temple, 
 which he should have spent upon his father's mainte- 
 nance ; telling the father that the offering was made for 
 him too, and that God would benefit the father on account 
 of that which he offered in the temple ; and thus by this 
 their apparentlypious ordinance, showing that God as father 
 stands first, they brought it about, that the children broke 
 the commandment of God, failing to provide necessaries 
 for their parents ; for this, in Jewish parlance, signifies to 
 honour them. 
 
 Christ most appositely quotes Isaiah's words, to show 
 the false religion and apparent piety of those saints of 
 the world, who calumniated Him to His disciples. That 
 passage, " Teaching for doctrines!' &c., is worthy of great 
 consideration, in order that every Christian may he upon 
 his guard not to teach hu7)ian things, man's suggestions, 
 however holy they may he, and however holy they may 
 appear ; since there is so much to teach of divine, things, 
 that many lives of many men would not suffice to teach 
 
S. MATTHEW XV. 12-20. 269 
 
 the hundredth part of them ; and since God says, that 
 they waste time, who teach as doctrines the command- 
 ments of men. Where He says : " Bo they worship mel' 
 the Greek word signifies to attend divine worship. By 
 " defileth'' the Greek word here signifies to make common, 
 conformably with the Hebrew tongue, which calls every- 
 thing prohibited in the law of God, " common ; " and thus 
 St. Peter said, " Never have I eaten anything common or 
 unclean " (Acts x.), and " to profane a man " is tantamount 
 to severing him from God ; as, for instance, disobedience 
 profanes him, and severs him from God. 
 
 The words of Isaiah, according to the Hebrew text, run 
 thus : " And the Lord said : " Then as quoted {oh afflicted) 
 this people is so with its mouth, and with its lips doth it 
 honour me, whilst it hath removed its heart far from me, 
 and its fear for me is taught by the commandment of 
 men ; therefore hehold ! I will proceed to do marvellous 
 works among this people, marvel upon marvel, for the 
 wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the prudence 
 of their prudent ones shall he hid (Isa. xxix. 13, 14). 
 Where it appears that God, irritated that His people should 
 not serve Him according to the law, which He had given 
 to it ; but conformably to what they commanded, who 
 pretended to interpret the law, He threatened the people 
 with the preaching of the gospel, which prostrates the 
 wisdom of the wise, and hides and obscures the prudence 
 of the prudent ; it being so, that all natural light, all 
 human prudence and reason, is annihilated and subverted 
 by the spiritual wisdom and prudence of those, who accept 
 the grace of the gospel. St. Paul was engaged in the 
 same consideration, when he quoted part of these words, 
 (i Cor. i.), and the comprehension of these, serves to facili- 
 tate the apprehension of those. 
 
 XY. 12-20. — Then came his discij)les and said 
 unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were 
 
270 S. MATTHEW XV. 12-20. 
 
 offended, after they heard this saying ? But he 
 answered and said, Every plant which my heavenly 
 Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. Let 
 them alone : they are blind leaders of the blind. 
 And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into 
 the ditch. Then answered Peter and said unto 
 him, Declare unto us this parable. And Jesus said, 
 Are ye also even yet without understanding ? Do 
 not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in 
 at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out 
 into the draught ? But those things which proceed 
 out of the mouth come forth from the heart ; and 
 they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed 
 evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, 
 thefts, false witness, blasphemies : These are the 
 things which defile a man : but to eat with un- 
 washen hands defileth not a man. 
 
 It may be gathered, from what the disciples say to 
 Christ, Knowest Thou that the Pharisees were scandalised 
 when they heard this Thine address to the multitude, 
 videlicet, that " Kof that which entereth into the month de- 
 fileth the man" that they either were actually scandalised, 
 the statement appearing to them to be an impious one ; or 
 they feigned to be scandalised, in order that they might 
 scandalise the multitudes, so that they should not follow 
 Christ; for as against the saints of God, the saints of the 
 world ever make the most of such things. From what 
 Christ replies to the disciples, saying, " Uverij plant which 
 my heavenly Father hath not planted shall he rooted vp," it 
 is to be inferred that Christ held it to be a light matter 
 that the Pharisees should be scandalised; for He knew 
 that they were not planted by God ; and that they there- 
 fore could not be in the kingdom of God ; for this pertains 
 to predestination, and nearly concurs with what Christ 
 
S. MATTHEW XV. 12-20. 271 
 
 says, in St. John x. 28, " JS^o one shall snatch them out of 
 My hand" for just as Christ here means, that as to those, 
 who are not planted by God, it cannot but be that they 
 shall be uprooted from the kingdom of God ; so He there 
 means, that as to those, who are His sheep, it is impossible 
 that they should be separated from Him. 
 
 And from what Christ subjoins, saying, " let them alone, 
 they are Uind guides of the Uind," it is to be inferred that 
 the multitudes left Christ, led away, scandalised by the 
 Pharisees, whom they trusted rather than Christ, because 
 they were not Christ's sheep ; thus, stumbling at the scan- 
 dal over which the Pharisees fell, they also fell over it. 
 Prom what St. Peter asks Christ, saying. Tell us, or, " De- 
 clare unto us the parable," it is matter of inference that the 
 disciples were not without a tendency to stumble. And 
 from what Christ said in reply, "Are ye also even yet 
 without understanding?" it is to be inferred that accord- 
 ing to Christ, it is not what we eat that defiles us and 
 separates us from God, but what we think, speak and 
 do. 
 
 Whence I hold it to be certain, that had some one re- 
 plied to Christ ; does the eating, then, of things, which 
 the law prohibited, defile or separate a man from God ? 
 that He would have replied ; the things themselves would 
 not do so, but the disobedience of mind to God, with 
 which he would eat those things that he ate, would do so ; 
 and thus I understand, that if the disciples of Christ had 
 ceased to wash their hands, through contempt of the elders 
 who had ordained that ceremony, they would have been 
 reprehended by Christ, as they ever deserve to be repre- 
 hended, who similarly break the tradition of their elders ; 
 whilst they deserve to be exculpated, who break them in 
 the simplicity with which the disciples of Christ ceased to 
 wash their hands, when they sat down to meals ; amongst 
 whom there could be neither malice nor presumption, for 
 they learned from their heavenly Master to be humble 
 and to be meek ; and they, who are so, do not despise 
 
272 S. MATTHEW XV. 12-20. 
 
 their inferiors, and a fortiori they will not despise their 
 superiors. 
 
 From all this it is to be inferred : First, that they are 
 not God's plants, that they are not of the number of the 
 predestinated to life eternal, who are scandalised by Chris- 
 tian truth, who leave it and condemn it, because it does 
 not harmonise with their, understandings, as did those 
 Pharisees. As to scandal (as a topic) I remit myself to 
 what I have said in a Consideration [IxxvL] Secondly^ 
 that neither the tongues of men, nor of angels, are able 
 to render a man capable of (receiving) Christian truth, 
 unless he have the Holy Spirit within him to render him 
 capable. 
 
 That this is so, appears from the fact, that had they 
 been equal to the task, the tongue of Christ Himself, the 
 Son of God, would have been much more so, which, how- 
 ever, from what we see in the disciples, appears not to 
 have been so ; and it is no use to say that it was through 
 their dulness, for it is most certain that it was wholly due 
 to the excellence of Christian topics, this being certain 
 that by how much the more the disciples were acute and 
 intelligent, so much the more were they incapable of the 
 things which Christ said to them ; nay, they were scan- 
 dalised as much as others. And here I understand that the 
 man, who is capable of Christian truth, understanding it 
 and beginning to feel its effects within him, which consist 
 in remission of sins, and in reconciliation with God, through 
 the justice of God executed upon Christ, may rest assured 
 tliat he has the Holy Spirit within him, through whose 
 favour he is capable of this Christian truth. 
 
 Thirdly, that they merit to be exculpated, who, in sim- 
 plicity, and not through malice or deceit, break some tra- 
 dition of their elders ; such, for instance, as the eating of 
 that which is forbidden, because the fault is not in the 
 eating : whilst they deserve to be reprehended, who, through 
 malice and deceit, break some such traditions, because the 
 fault is in the mind, whence it springs; and they, who 
 
5. MATTHEW XV. 21-28. 273 
 
 have malice and deceit in their minds, have not yet taken 
 up Christ's yoke, nor have they yet learned to be humble, 
 and to be meek, in the mode of which we have spoken in 
 chapter xi. 
 
 Xy. 21-28. — And Jesus went out thence and 
 withdrew into the parts of Tyre and Sidon. And 
 behold, a Canaanitish woman came out from those 
 borders, and cried, saying. Have mercy on me, 
 Lord, thou son of David ; my daughter is grievously 
 vexed with a devil. But he answered her not a 
 word. And his disciples came and besought him, 
 saying. Send her away ; for she crieth after us. But 
 he answered and said, I was not sent, but unto the 
 lost sheep of the house of Israel. But she came 
 and worshipped him, saying. Lord, help me. And 
 he answered and said. It is not meet to take the 
 children's bread and cast it to the dogs. But she 
 said, Yea, Lord : for even the dogs eat of the crumbs 
 which fall from their master's table. Then Jesus 
 answered and said unto her, woman, great is thy 
 faith : be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her 
 daughter was healed from that hour. 
 
 Christ, seeing that those saints of the world, and the 
 multitudes that followed Him, had been scandalised by 
 His words, and He, neither caring to dispute with them, 
 nor to occupy Himself in making them capable of (receiv- 
 ing) the truth, contented Himself with the fact that He 
 had fully propounded it to them, and He went thence to 
 the Gentiles ; the mystery beginning to unveil itself, that 
 the grace of the gospel, rejected and despised by the Jews 
 was about to be presented to the Gentiles, who were about 
 to accept it, knowing themselves to be in the utmost need 
 
 s 
 
274 S. MATTHEW XV. 21-28. 
 
 of it, and therefore embracing it with all their heart. So 
 that it appears that this Canaanitish woman was, as it 
 were, a type of what was about to be realised throughout 
 heathendom ; nay, in this woman, I consider every inci- 
 dent betiding every one of us, who accept the grace of the 
 gospel ; for that, just as this woman, seeking that Christ 
 should heal her daughter, does not consider herself, but 
 considers Christ; so we, seeking that Christ should heal 
 our consciences, should quiet them and pacify them, w^e do 
 not consider ourselves, but we consider Christ. 
 
 Had this woman considered herself, knowing that she 
 "svas most alien to God, she would not have confided in 
 Christ, nor would she have dared to present herself before 
 Christ ; but as she considered Christ only, and recognised 
 the goodness of God in Christ, she confided in Christ, pre- 
 sented herself before Christ, and with her arguments she 
 almost moved Christ to grant her what she sought ; and 
 if we, each and all, had considered self, knowing self to be 
 full of malignity and of perversity, and, therefore, an enemy 
 of God, no one of us would have confided in Christ, nor 
 would have dared to present himself before Christ; but, 
 as the individual considers Christ only, and in Christ sees 
 that all his sins have been castigated, and sees himself, in 
 Christ, reconciled to God, his conscience quiets down and 
 becomes pacified, he holding himself to be pardoned and 
 to be reconciled with God. 
 
 And for that, just as this woman, being, as it were, 
 tempted by Christ's answers to be dissuaded from believing, 
 and thus to desist from her entreaty; she was not dis- 
 suaded, nor did she desist, nay, she was more incited and 
 more strengthened in her faith and in her entreaty ; so we, 
 being at certain times tempted by the persuasions of men, 
 at other times by our own imaginations, and again by those 
 which demons set before us, all which are designed to 
 divert us from the faith, which we hold of our reconcilia- 
 tion with God through Christ; we are not diverted from 
 the faith, nay, we wax warmer in behalf of it, and we 
 
5. MATTHEW XV. 21-28. 275 
 
 strengthen ourselves the more in it, so that it comes to pass 
 that, just as this woman's faith increased, being tempted to 
 disbelieve, so our faith increases, when we are tempted not 
 to believe. And this is a most reliable token, by which 
 a man may understand whether the faith he holds be in- 
 spired, or whether it be taught ; for the faith that is taught 
 never increases, and when it is tempted (tried) it wanes. 
 
 In this same woman I consider the difference that there 
 is between the person who prays, having been taught ; 
 and the man who prays, being inspired ; for that he, who 
 prays being taught, is like those whom Christ calls the 
 heathen, who think that they will be heard for their much 
 speaking ; whilst he who prays, being inspired, is like this 
 woman, who asked Christ, in two words, what she wanted 
 of Him, propounding her need in terms corresponding with 
 what she felt in her mind. This woman in calling Christ 
 " The Son of David'' seems to have felt inwardly assured 
 that He was the Messiah, whom the Jews expected, of 
 whom, through proximity, they, who lived in those parts, 
 were informed, that He had to be the Son of David. 
 
 Christ, by abstaining from all answer to this woman's 
 cries, exercised her faith ; and, by exercising it, increased 
 it. The disciples, in saying to Christ : " Send her away!^ 
 or, get rid of her, &c., showed the fear they had of the 
 scandal, which the saints of the world and other persons 
 brought on them. Christ, in saying, " / am not sent hut 
 unto the lost sheep'' &c., exercised the woman's faith ; and 
 He meant, that, since the Father had sent Him for the 
 benefit of the Jews, whom He calls lost sheep, on account 
 of the condemnation to eternal death, which is common to 
 all men, it was not well to embarrass Himself with the 
 Gentiles. Where Christ, in calling those, whom He came 
 to redeem, lost sheep, conforms Himself with what Isaiah 
 says, " All we like sheep Iiave gone astray" (liii. 6). Christ, 
 in replying, " It is not meet," or, it is not just, " to take the 
 children's bread," &c., persevered in exercising the woman's 
 faith, and He means : since I am not sent but to the Israel- 
 
276 S. MATTHEW XV. 21-28. 
 
 ites, it is not just that I should do for the Gentiles that 
 which I have to do for the Israelites, as it is not right 
 that the father take away the children's bread, and that 
 he give it to curs. 
 
 And it seems that those words of Christ were more 
 than superlatively adequate to overthrow the faith of all 
 the men of the world, as effectively they would have over- 
 thrown the woman's faith, had she believed, or had she 
 prayed, being taught ; but because she believed, and prayed, 
 being inspired, by them she increased in faith, and thus 
 she continued her prayer, moving Christ by her self-know- 
 ledge, that she was the vilest and most abject of beings, 
 calling herself a bitch, because when she looked upon her- 
 self, she recognised herself to be such; and, as she was 
 great in faith, so would she be great in works, never would 
 she have humbled herself to appropriate the appellation 
 bitch, for self-respect is as annexed to works, as humility 
 is annexed to faith. Christ, in saying, " woman, great is 
 thy faith," &c., showed that the woman's faith constrained 
 Him to cure her daughter; and I hold it to be certain, 
 that had the disciples said to Christ, since Thou art not 
 come but to Israelites, why dost Thou this beneficent work 
 for this woman, who is no Israelite ? Christ would have 
 answered, that faith had made her an Israelite, as it makes 
 all those, who believe, Israelites, as St. Paul states, in Eom. 
 iv. II. 
 
 I have yet two things to speak of here. The one, that it 
 seems to me as though I saw this woman, inspired to be- 
 lieve and to pray inwardly, by Christ Himself ; who seemed 
 outwardly, as about to divert her from faith and from 
 prayer ; so that as perseverance in faith and in prayer was 
 the work of Christ, so was the temptation, to depart both 
 from one and the otlier : and, therefore, that pleases me, 
 which I once heard say to a person, repeating those words, 
 " woman, great is thy faith,'' he said, " Good faith, Lord, 
 Your faith is great, that which You gave her; for, had 
 You not given it to her, she had never had it." The other 
 
S. MATTHEW XV. 29-39. 277 
 
 that, if before that Christ had made peace between God 
 and men by dying on the cross, reconciling us to God, God 
 was so munificent to men, who were His enemies ; how 
 much more will He be so now, after that, being already 
 reconciled, we are His friends (Eom. v. 6-10)? Where 
 every one of us may certify himself, saying ; if I, being 
 the enemy of God, have been reconciled unto God, by the 
 death of Christ ; for God chastised in Christ, what He had 
 to chastise in me ; what reason have I to doubt, that, being 
 His friend, and reconciled to Him, but that He will give 
 and grant me what I desire, which is immortality and 
 eternal life with Christ Himself ? 
 
 XV. 29-39. — And Jesus departed thence, and 
 came nigli unto the sea of Galilee ; and he went 
 up into a mountain, and sat there. And there 
 came unto him great multitudes, having with 
 them the lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many 
 others, and they cast them down at his feet ; and 
 lie healed them : insomuch that the multitude 
 wondered, when they saw the dumb speaking, the 
 maimed whole, and the lame walking, and the 
 blind seeing : and they glorified the God of Israel. 
 And Jesus called unto him his disciples, and said, 
 I have compassion on the multitude, because they 
 continue with me now three days and have nothing 
 to eat : and I would not send them away fastiog, 
 lest haply they faint in the way. And the dis- 
 ciples say unto him. Whence should we have so 
 many loaves in a desert place, as to fill so great 
 a multitude ? And Jesus saith unto them. How 
 many loaves have ye ? And they said. Seven, and 
 a few small fishes. And he commanded the multi- 
 tude to sit down on the ground ; and he took the 
 
278 5. MATTHEW XV. 29-39. 
 
 seven loaves and the fishes ; and he gave thanks 
 and brake, and gave to the disciples, and the dis- 
 ciples to the multitudes. And they did all eat 
 and were filled : and they took up that which 
 remained over of the broken pieces, seven baskets 
 full. And they that did eat were four thousand 
 men, beside women and children. And he sent 
 away the multitudes, and entered into the boat, 
 and came into the borders of Magdala (Magadan). 
 
 Beyond that which has been already stated, as to the 
 restoration to health which Christ gave to these multi- 
 tudes, this presents itself here ; that every Christian ought 
 to consider, that since* Christ healed the bodies of these 
 persons, in order that they might enjoy the present life, 
 that not being His own peculiar office ; how much more 
 will He resuscitate our bodies, in order that they may 
 enjoy the life eternal, this being His peculiar office ; con- 
 formably with that passage in John x. 10, — "/ came that 
 they might have life;" and moreover, that since Christ 
 healed these, on account of the faith which they had, that 
 He could heal, and that He would heal them ; how much 
 more will He resuscitate us, who, by believing, enjoy 
 (participation of) His righteousness, since it was to this 
 end that He came into the world ? 
 
 Beyond what is stated in the preceding chapter, as 
 to Christ's miraculous feeding of these multitudes, this 
 presents itself: that since Christ commiserated, to the 
 extent which we here see, those, who followed Him with 
 human affections from personal interests and for material 
 things, and He, being unwilling that they should perish 
 by the way, miraculously supported them; how much 
 more will He commiserate us, who follow Him, with 
 spiritual affections, and therefore to the glory of God, 
 and for spiritual things, will He, being unwilling that we 
 perish by the way, miraculously provide us with every 
 
S. MATTHEW XV. 29-39. 279 
 
 necessary in the present life ; and will defend ns against 
 all those things, which might sever us from Him, causing 
 us to lose the portion which we have in the kingdom of 
 Jieaven ; and beyond that, since Christ did not separate 
 Himself from His disciples on account of the little faitli 
 wdiich they had in Him, which is manifest from this, 
 that they, having witnessed, just previously, the miracle 
 of the five loaves, doubted now that they had seven ; on 
 the contrary He went to them, and helped to fortify them, 
 and to confirm them, in the faith, we ought not to wonder, 
 nor to fear on account of our weakness in the faith, when 
 we shall vacillate, being tempted to doubt, nay to rest 
 assured that Christ will do with us, as He did with His 
 disciples, fortifying us and confirming us in the faith. 
 
 And ever when I recollect the many miracles which 
 Christ's disciples saw, and the many good discourses 
 which they heard, and of the slight impression which 
 both these wrought upon them, because they had not yet 
 received the Holy Spirit; Christ not having yet been 
 glorified; I certify myself in this truth, that miracles 
 avail but little, that good discourses avail but little, to 
 them, w^ho have not the Holy Spirit; it is indeed true, 
 that they both avail much to dispose man to ask of God 
 His Holy Spirit, and to assist him after that he has 
 received the Holy Spirit, just as what the disciples of 
 Christ heard and saw of Christ, before they received the 
 Holy Spirit, greatly influenced them. 
 
28o S. MATTHEW XVI, 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 XVI. 1-4. — And the Pharisees and Sadducees 
 came, and tempting him asked him to show them 
 a sign from heaven. But he answered and said 
 unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be 
 fair weather : for the heaven is red. And in the 
 morning, It will be foul weather to-day : for the 
 heaven is red and lowring. Ye know how to dis- 
 cern the face of the heaven ; but ye cannot discern 
 the signs of the times. An evil and adulterous 
 generation seeketh after a sign ; and there shall no 
 sign be given unto it, but the sign of Jonah. And 
 he left them and departed. 
 
 The saints of the world, intolerant of the presence of 
 Christ's sanctity, because it prostrated their sanctity, 
 were ever tempting Him, as they ever have and con- 
 tinue to tempt Him ; and thus feigning, that they desired 
 to be certified that He was the Messiah, and that the 
 miracles which He wrought were inadequate to assure 
 them, they demanded that He should work some miracle 
 in the heaven, such, for instance, as bidding the sun to 
 stand still, as did Joshua. Whilst Christ, knowing their 
 evil intentions, and being unwilling to give them any 
 other sign than that of His death and resurrection, re- 
 bukes them for the blindness and ignorance with which 
 they treated the Holy Scriptures ; telling them that they 
 had faculty and reasoning powers wherewith to judge this 
 day of the morrow's weather, as to there being sunshine or 
 
5. MATTHEW XVI. 5-12. 28 
 
 rain, but that they had not the faculty or reasoning powers 
 wherewith to understand from the Holy Scriptures, that 
 that was the proper time in which the Messiah should 
 come. This is the sense of these words. '' It will he fair 
 weather," is equivalent to " there will be sunshine." That 
 which is here rendered gloomy, the Greek renders " sad or 
 troubled," and means what we call gloomy. Christ calls 
 the Pharisees and Sadducees hypocrites, for this was the 
 title He ordinarily gave them, and because they came to 
 tempt Him ; being one thing outwardly and apparently, 
 whilst they were another inwardly. 
 
 As to the sign of the prophet Jonah, I remit myself to 
 what I have stated upon chapter xii. ; adding this, that it 
 would have gratified me much had Scripture stated that 
 the Ninevites knew of that which had befallen Jonah : 
 and that they thence had believed him, and were con- 
 verted; and although this may not be inferred from it, 
 neither can the contrary ; accommodating myself thereto, 
 I say, that I understand that just as Jonah's being three 
 days and three nights in the whale's belly, was a sign to 
 the Mnevites, by which, convinced in their consciences, 
 they believed in Jonah's preaching and were converted to 
 God ; so the three days and three nights that Christ was 
 in the sepulchre was a most powerful sign to convince the 
 consciences of men to believe Christ's testimony to our 
 reconciliation with God, by His blood ; which He poured 
 forth at the time that our sins were chastised in Him; 
 and thus of our justification, resurrection, and glorifica- 
 tion. They, who are not convinced by this sign, would 
 not be convinced by all the signs that could be seen in 
 the heavens and upon earth ; and I hold it to be certain 
 that men are convinced by it, in proportion as they believe 
 in it. 
 
 XVI. 5-1 2. — And the disciples came to the other 
 side and forgot to take bread. And Jesus said 
 
283 S. MATTHEW XVI. 5-12. 
 
 unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of 
 the Pharisees and Sadducees. And they reasoned 
 among themselves, saying. We took no bread. And 
 Jesus perceiving it said, ye of little faith, why 
 reason ye among yourselves, because ye have no 
 bread ? Do ye not yet perceive, neither remember 
 the five loaves of the ^ve thousand, and how many 
 baskets ye took up ? Neither the seven loaves of 
 the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took 
 up ? How is it that ye do not perceive that I spake 
 not to you concerning bread ? But beware of tlie 
 leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Then 
 understood they how that he bade them not beware 
 of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the 
 Pharisees and Sadducees. 
 
 Three things may be inferred from these words. The 
 first, that the incredulity of the human mind, however 
 much it may believe, so long as it is human, will doubt, 
 when want presents itself to the eye ; like the disciples, 
 who, seeing that they were without bread, thought to 
 suffer hunger; as appears from what they said to each 
 other and from what Christ says in answer to them. And 
 here I understand, that, if we would never doubt, how- 
 ever great our want may be, we should pray to God to 
 strip us of all that we have from Adam, because, as long 
 as we shall have a vestige of Adam, we shall be tempted 
 to doubt, and we shall doubt. 
 
 The second, that men, so long as they are absorbed in out- 
 ward things, are most incapable of inward things ; like the 
 disciples, who, occupied about bread, interpreted Christ's 
 words in connection with bread. And here I understand 
 that he, who would be capable of receiving inward and 
 spiritual things, should first divert his mind from outward 
 
S. MATTHEW XVI. 13-19. 283 
 
 and material things, sure that he will never understand 
 the former, whilst absorbed in the latter. 
 
 The third, that it concerns the saints of God to be ever 
 alert, looking, observing, and on their guard, that no trace 
 of th^ teaching of the saints of the world, the Pharisees 
 were such, nor of the worldly wise, the scribes were such, 
 be to any extent entertained by them ; each one of them 
 taking for himself the counsel which Christ here gives 
 His disciples; because the teaching of the saints of the 
 world and of the worldly-wise is always a leaven of evil. 
 And here I understand how little I ought to trust to the 
 persuasions of men that are held by the world to be holy 
 and wise ; and I understand that the best means by which 
 I shall be enabled to guard myself from them, is to pray 
 continuously to God, that He should impress upon my 
 memory the Christian faith, together with the teaching of 
 Christian life, which the apostles and the evangelists preach 
 and teach me; in order that, when the persuasions of the 
 saints of the world and of the worldly-wise come to this 
 comparative trial, that may happen to them, which befalls 
 artificial (sham) precious stones, when placed by fine ones ; 
 and even that which befalls fine ones, when placed by 
 those which are finer than them. 
 
 Since I had written this, it occurred to me, that Christ's 
 aim here was to counsel His disciples, that they should be 
 upon their guard against that, which the scribes and Sad- 
 ducees taught, as to the pomp, of which they raved, as 
 about to be manifested by the Messiah ; and this appre- 
 hension is greatly favoured by the confession of St. Peter, 
 which immediately follows. Where it says : " Because we 
 took no hread," I think that it is to be understood, He says 
 this, because we have not taken bread. 
 
 XVI. 13-19. — Now when Jesus came into the 
 parts of Cesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, say- 
 ing, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am ? 
 
284 S- MATTHEW XVI. 13-19. 
 
 And they said, Some say, John the Baptist ; some, 
 Elijah : and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. 
 He saith unto them. But who say ye that I am ? 
 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the 
 Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus 
 answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, 
 Simon Bar- Jona : for flesh and blood hath not 
 revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in 
 heaven. And I also say unto thee, that thou art 
 Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church ; 
 and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 
 I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of 
 heaven : and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth 
 shall be bound in heaven : and whatsoever thou 
 shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 
 
 There are many things in these words worthy of much 
 consideration, for the understanding of which a man should 
 be denuded and laid bare of every human affection, of every 
 human opinion, and even of all discourse of human pru- 
 dence. I shall state what I now understand respecting 
 them, always remitting myself to the apprehension of those 
 saints, who better understand them. 
 
 As to the first, I do not understand that Christ asked 
 His disciples the opinion that men held of Him, in order 
 to know it, but, that they, telling what opinion they held, 
 which He well knew, should remain confirmed in it by 
 His reply to them. And here I understand that God wills 
 that we should confess the faith, which He imprints on 
 our hearts, in the presence of our superiors, in order that, 
 they confirming us in it, we may attain salvation and eter- 
 nal life, and, therefore, St. Paul says, " TFith the heart man 
 believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is 
 made unto salvation" (Rom. x. 10). 
 
 Prom the various opinions which it appears that men 
 
S. MATTHEW XVI. 13-19. 285 
 
 held of Christ, which all tended to detract from the glory 
 of Christ and the omnipotence of God, as though He could 
 not create a new prophet save by the resuscitation of one 
 of these already dead ; and from what I, in the course of 
 some experience, have seen, I understand that men as 
 men, and without intending to do so, always form opinions 
 of Christ, and of those who are members of Christ, that 
 issue in detracting from the glory of Christ and the omni- 
 potence of God ; whence, therefore, it would be very sound 
 counsel to all, to refrain from forming any opinion upon 
 spiritual and divine things, whilst they are men unre- 
 generated and unrenewed by the Holy Spirit ; and even 
 then, it will be well for them to hold by the anchor of 
 Christian faith and by the purpose of Christian life, main- 
 taining Christian decorum; and as to other matters, not 
 to bind themselves by any opinion ; because, when they 
 bind themselves to one, they become obliged to defend it ; 
 and when they wish to defend it, they deviate from Chris- 
 tian meekness and Christian decorum. 
 
 St. Peter in saying, " Thou art the Christ, the Son of the 
 living God" confessed, as I understand, Christ's humanity 
 and divinity ; His humanity, in that Peter confessed Him 
 to be the Messiah promised in the law, from which it 
 appeared that He had to be a man of Abraham's lineage, 
 of the seed of David ; His divinity, in that Peter confessed 
 Him to be the Son of God, one and the same with God ; 
 upon which confession the Christian faith is founded ; for 
 that we, who accept the general indulgence and pardon, 
 which has been intimated to us in the gospel, found our 
 faith upon Christ's being the Messiah, and His being the 
 Son of God ; and thus we certify ourselves as to the re- 
 mission of our sins and as to our reconciliation with God, 
 holding ourselves to be the children of God, incorporated 
 into Christ, and heirs t)f eternal life with Christ. They, 
 who do not know themselves to be pardoned and recon- 
 ciled with God, in Christ and through Christ, neither do 
 they know themselves to be the children of God, habili- 
 
286 5. MATTHEW XVI. 13-19. 
 
 tated unto the inheritance of God, which is life eternal ; 
 though they speak of Christ as St. Peter spoke ; they may 
 hold it to be certain that they do not speak by divine 
 revelation, but by human instruction ; and such persons 
 never follow Christ, they do not imitate Christ's meek- 
 ness or humility, for they are not subject to the yoke of 
 Christ. 
 
 I understand that He calls God the live or living, be- 
 cause He alone has life in Himself, and gives existence 
 and life to all things that exist and live ; and as to this 
 mode of speaking used in Scripture, calling God the living, 
 living water, living stone, living hope, &c., I have expressed 
 my views in my Commentary on the First Epistle of St. Peter, 
 Chapter I. 
 
 By those words of Christ, " For flesh and blood hath 
 not revealed it unto thee" I understand, that they are not 
 blessed, who confess Christ to be the Messiah, the Son of 
 the living God, by report and by human and outward 
 instruction ; but that they are so, who confess Him by 
 revelation, and by divine and inward inspiration, like St. 
 Peter. And the blessedness consists, in that they, being 
 incorporated into Christ, God does not look upon them as 
 to what they are in themselves, but as to what they are in 
 Christ ; whilst, thus united and incorporated into Christ, 
 they enjoy what Christ enjoys, their position being the 
 same as Christ's. Whence I understand that it concerns 
 every man, who makes the same confession that St. Peter 
 here makes, to examine himself very closely, whether the 
 confession produces its effects upon him ; in order that, if 
 he find himself with the confession, but without its effects, 
 he may understand that his faith is of flesh and of blood, 
 and, therefore, that St. Peter's bliss is not his ; and this 
 being understood, that he turn with fervour to God, 
 supplicating God to give him faith by revelation and in- 
 spiration, that he, too, may participate in the bliss that is 
 annexed to Christian faith inspired and revealed. Bar- 
 jona is the same as the son of John. 
 
S. MATTHEW XVI. 13-19. 287 
 
 Holy Scripture habitually calls men, with all that they 
 possess as children of Adam, "flesh and blood," compri- 
 sing the knowledge of good and of evil, natural light, which 
 is peculiar to Adam, for he acquired it, by eating of the 
 tree of knowledge of good and of evil. 
 
 I understand Christ to speak as requiting and confirm- 
 ing St. Peter's confession, when He says, " And I also say 
 unto thee that," &c., as though He had said, " Thou hast 
 confessed Me to be the Messiah, the Son of the living 
 God, and I give thee this name of " stone," on account of 
 the firmness which there is in this thy confession, which is, 
 as it were, stone ; and I tell thee, moreover, that upon this 
 stone I will build my church, &c. Where I understand 
 Christ to say that He was about to build His church upon 
 St. Peter's confession ; meaning that the foundation of 
 the Church is to confess Christ to be the Messiah, the Son 
 of the living God ; for that they, who accept the grace of 
 the gospel, have remission of sins and are reconciled unto 
 God, by the justice of God already executed upon Christ ; 
 whenever they are tempted to doubt of this truth, they 
 recur to this firm and stable foundation, saying : He, who 
 hath wrought out this benefit for us, and He, who hath 
 published it and causes it to be published throughout the 
 world, is Jesus, the ISTazarene, who is the Messiah, pro- 
 mised in the law of God, and is the Son of God ; and this 
 beincr thus wanted to be truth, that is also truth, which 
 He published and causes to be published, which is the 
 general indulgence and pardon, which they enjoy, who 
 believe in it. It is thus that I understand the Christian 
 Church is founded upon belief in Christ, according to that 
 confession which St. Feter here makes. 
 
 I likewise understand, that Christ, willing to show the 
 excellence of His Church and to give assurance to those, 
 who belong to it, says, "And the gates of hell shall not pre- 
 vail against it ; " meaning, that all the infernal spirits com- 
 bined shall not be able to subvert this Church, to pull it 
 down, and to prostrate it to the earth, for that it shall be 
 
288 S. MATTHEW XVI. 13-19. 
 
 mighty through Christ to resist them all ; so that this is 
 but tantamount to what Christ said elsewhere, " No one 
 shall pluck them out of My hand " (John x. 28, 29). Which 
 declarations, and those which are like them, we, who are 
 Christ's sheep, ought to keep well before our eyes; for, 
 when we give due credit to Christ's words, we are able 
 with St. Paul thoroughly to certify ourselves, that neither 
 death, nor life, nor any creature, shall be able to separate 
 us from Christ ; and consequently, neither shall they from 
 the kingdom of Christ in the present life, nor from the 
 kingdom of God in the life eternal. 
 
 Christ, willing by a further gratification, the more to 
 confirm and the more to establish St. Peter's confession, 
 says to him, " And I will give unto thee the keys of the 
 kingdom of heaven ; " and I understand, that declaring 
 what these keys are. He says, " And whatsoever thou shalt 
 hind on earth!' &c., so that these keys consist in binding 
 and in loosing. I understand that Christ had these keys, 
 whilst He lived bodily amongst men; and I understand 
 that He, here, in pronouncing St. Peter blessed, and in 
 confirming him in the faith, which he had from Christ, 
 used one of the keys ; and I understand that He used the 
 other, when He proclaimed Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Caper- 
 naum to be infidel ; and when He proclaimed the High 
 Priests, Scribes, Sadducees, and Pharisees, to be hypocrites. 
 
 I likewise understand that the apostles used one of 
 these keys, when they admitted those that confessed that 
 Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God, into the 
 Christian (Church) congregation ; as St. Philip admitted 
 the eunuch ; St. Peter, Cornelius ; St. Paul, Titus, &c. ; and 
 that they used the other key, when they separated from 
 the Christian congregation, those who lived viciously and 
 profanely, who gave testimony concerning themselves that 
 the faith which they had was neither revealed nor inspired, 
 but historic and taught. So that the use of these keys, 
 whether to confirm the faith of the man, who throuorh the 
 Holy Spirit, believing with the heart, confesses with the 
 
5. MATTHEW XVI. 13-19. 289 
 
 mouth, that which he believes, affirming to him that his faith 
 is good, as did Christ here with St. Peter ; a most necessary 
 thing in the church ; because the mind of man is so greatly- 
 solicited to doubt, that however great the inward inspira- 
 tion he may have, he always stands in need of outward tes- 
 timony ; or whether the use of these keys be to condemn 
 the infidelity of the individual, who does not believe that 
 of Christ w^hich St. Peter did; as also that of the man, 
 who, although he confess with the mouth, that which St. 
 Peter confessed, shows, by his bad life, that he does not 
 confess it with the heart; that he speaks, being taught 
 and not inspired, and that he speaks by report of flesh 
 and blood, and not by revelation of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 I will here add this, that we know Christ by revelation 
 of God, when God removes the blind from the eyes, that 
 we may know Him to be the Messiah, and that we may 
 know Him to be the Son of God ; knowing Him to be the 
 son of David, according to human generation, and to be 
 the Son of God, according to divine generation. They, 
 who know Christ thus, accepting the grace of the gospel, 
 hold all their sins, past and future, to be pardoned ; and 
 holding themselves to be friends of God, they love God ; 
 and recognising themselves to be the children of God, they 
 study to imitate Christ, with the purpose of maintaining 
 the decorum of the children of God, They, who know 
 Christ by report of men, or by books, never hold them- 
 selves to be pardoned by God, nor to be friends of God, 
 nor sons of God, and thus they do not love God, nor do 
 they study to imitate Christ. 
 
 This is what I at present understand by these words, 
 which are of such importance, that, although it seems I 
 may rest satisfied with this apprehension of them ; still I 
 am yet desirous of attaining another, a better ; and thus I 
 pray God that He may give it me, either Himself, or 
 through the instrumentality of some one. His servant ; but 
 that, relatively to His glory and that of His only-begotteu 
 Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 
 
 T 
 
290 S. MATTHEW XVI. 20-23. 
 
 XVI. 20-23. — Then charged he the disciples that 
 they should tell no man that he was the Christ. 
 From that time began Jesus to show unto his dis- 
 ciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and 
 suffer many things of the elders and chief priests 
 and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be 
 raised up. And Peter took him, and began to 
 rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee. Lord : 
 this shall never be unto thee. But he turned, 
 and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan : 
 thou art a stumbling-block unto me : for thou 
 knowest not the things of God, but the things 
 of men. 
 
 I think the reason why Christ prohibited His disciples 
 from proclaiming Him to be the Messiah, was because 
 God had ordained that this mystery should neither be 
 discovered nor proclaimed amongst men, until that Christ 
 had died, had risen, and had been glorified. By that pas- 
 sage, " From that time forth hegan Jesus" &c., I note this, 
 that Christ confirmed His disciples in what they had to 
 believe concerning Him, before that He discovered to 
 them the mystery of His death ; and I understand that 
 He told them of it before it came to pass, in order to faci- 
 litate their reception of it. And here I learn, that they, 
 whom God brings to Christ, ought to be confirmed and 
 strengthened in what they have to believe of Christ, before 
 that they be told that they have to suffer for Christ ; and, 
 moreover, that before the suffering come, that it be fre- 
 quently brought before them, in order that, when it shall 
 come, they may be found armed and ready ; so that they 
 may not be separated from Christ by suffering, relinquish- 
 ing Christian faith and Christian life. The word " elder " 
 is equivalent to presbyter, and is of titular dignity. And 
 here it is worthy of consideration^ that they, who filled the 
 
S. MATTHEW XVI. 20-23. 291 
 
 highest posts of the Jewish hierarchy, were they, who put 
 Christ to death. 
 
 I consider St. Peter here to be the type of all them, 
 who (prompted) by human prudence, presume to rebuke 
 and counsel those, who, being children of God, are ruled 
 and governed by the Spirit of God ; for that, as St. Peter, 
 elated possibly by the words which Christ had just ad- 
 dressed to him, presumed to rebuke Christ, because He 
 was about to carry out the will of God, being led by the 
 Holy Spirit ; so they, elated with the name of Christians, 
 with Christian ceremonies, and with some knowledge of 
 Christian things, which they have attained by revelation 
 and from Scripture, presume to rebuke those who follow 
 Christ ; and who, in following Christ, are about to carry 
 out the will of God, being led by the Holy Spirit. 
 
 Where I understand that it is the duty of those, who, 
 incorporated into Christ, are the children of God, to answer 
 men, who with a show of zeal rebuke them, by saying, 
 as Christ did to St. Peter, " Get thee out of My sight, Satan,^' 
 &c. And to be able to answer them thus, they must first 
 be persuaded and assured, that all, who are not children of 
 God, being unregenerate and unrenewed by the Holy Spirit, 
 are as Satan himself to them ; for, entertaining this con- 
 viction, they will regard all their rebukes as suspicious, 
 for all their zealous actions and all their counsels being 
 human, can have no other origin than flesh and blood. 
 
 Christ, in saying, " Thou art a scandal to Me!' means, 
 thou weariest and troublest me, as does the stone over 
 which we stumble. And here we learn a mode of scan- 
 dalising men of God and those who are the children of 
 God. And Christ in declaring whence it proceeded that 
 St. Peter was a scandal to Him, says, " For thou knowest 
 not the things!' &c., meaning that the disgust, which St. 
 Peter's words gave Him, proceeded from St. Peter's not 
 knowing the things of God, because he did not understand 
 or fathom them. Had St. Peter known the divine coun- 
 sel in the death of Christ, he would not have set himself 
 
292 5. MATTHEW XVI. 24-28. 
 
 to rebuke Christ, because He went to die ; and had he 
 only considered the divine wisdom and power which He 
 saw in Christ, he would have been silent, and would have 
 left Him to do as He pleased ; but as He did not con- 
 sider the one, and did not know the other, knowing only- 
 things, as men regard them ; that death was bad, and an 
 ignominious death much worse ; he, hearing Christ speak 
 of His death, thought, that in speaking to Christ as he 
 spoke to Him, it was to the point. 
 
 Where Christians may consider^ that since Christ, 
 offended by St. Peter's words, which proceeded from a 
 lively mind not yet mortified by faith, did not cast Him 
 off from Himself, and only spoke sharply to him, that 
 neither will He cast them off from Himself, when they 
 shall offend Him, as did St. Peter, by the vivacity of a 
 mind not yet mortified by faith, although He should speak 
 sharply to them, making them feel that He holds Himself 
 to be offended by them. Where He says, " Thou knowest" 
 one may say, appreciatest, esteemest, and feelest. In that 
 passage, " Be it far from Thee, Lord : may this never he to 
 Thee," and in that, " Get thee out of My sight, Satan" these 
 are the substitution of Spanish modes of expression for 
 Hebrew ones. 
 
 XVI. 24-28. — Then said Jesus unto his disciples, 
 If any man would come after me, let him deny him- 
 self, and take up his cross, and follow me. For 
 whosoever would save his life shall lose it : and 
 whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find 
 it For what shall a man be profited, if he shall 
 gain the whole world, and forfeit his life ? or what 
 shall a man give in exchange for his life ? For the 
 Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father 
 with his angels ; and then shall he render unto 
 every man according to his deeds. Verily I say 
 
S. MATTHEW XVI. 24-28. 293 
 
 uuto you, there be some of them that stand here, 
 which shall in no wise taste of death, till they see 
 the Son of man coming in his kingdom. 
 
 Christ, having intimated to His disciples the mode of 
 His passion after that He had confirmed them in the 
 faith, intimates to them, what each one of them would 
 have to suffer, having, as good disciples, to follow their 
 master ; to go the way He went. Where it appears that 
 Christ takes occasion, from what St. Peter had said, con- 
 demning suffering as an evil, to speak thus to all His dis- 
 ciples : not only is it necessary that I go and suffer, to lose 
 this life which I have as a child of Adam, but know, that 
 it is, moreover, necessary, that they, who are about to fol- 
 low Me, should go the same way that I do, denying them- 
 selves, depriving themselves of all their pleasures, of all 
 their satisfactions, and of all their comforts, and that 
 shouldering their cross, the agony and the disgust, which 
 this privation will cause them, and the dishonour and 
 the ignominy which this will cause them in the eyes of 
 the world ; and that then, they will follow Me, in the 
 manner, in which I will that they follow Me. I have 
 spoken on this in two Considerations [xvii. and Ixiv.], 
 commenting upon these same words of Christ. 
 
 And here I understand that Christ, willing to declare 
 wherein this denial consisted, adds : " For whosoever will 
 save!' &c., showing that a man denies himself, when in 
 order to save his life, in order to be raised to life eternal, 
 he loses it in this ; despising it, and making light of it ; 
 depriving himself of all that has above been spoken of, 
 and offering himself to martyrdom, whenever it shall be 
 necessary for the manifestation of the gospel. 
 
 That expression, " For my sake" is worthy of con- 
 sideration, that men may understand, that when they lose 
 their lives, whether by the above-mentioned privations, or 
 whether by martyrdom, they will not find them in the 
 life eternal, unless they have Christ for their object ; their 
 
294 S. MATTHEW XVI. 24-28. 
 
 main intent being the glory of Christ, not their own pecu- 
 liar interests, nor their opinions and passions. And here 
 I understand that none lose their lives for Christ's sake, 
 save those, who hold themselves to be righteous in Christ ; 
 for these alone are they, who cannot pretend to either jus- 
 tification or glorification ; knowing that they have attained 
 it by Christ, they only strive to imitate Christ from the 
 obligation of Christian regeneration : whilst all others, in 
 losing their lives, lose them in order to justify themselves 
 before God, but not through Christ. 
 
 That, " For what shall a man he profited," &c., I under- 
 stand to be said comparatively ; for just as it avails a man 
 but little that he be lord of the world, if he give his life 
 to attain it; so likewise it avails but little to another man, 
 that he enjoy in this world all that can be enjoyed in it, 
 since he thereby loses the enjoyment of the life eternal. 
 And in saying, " What shall a man give" &c.. He means, 
 that life is a thing so precious, that there is nothing ade- 
 quate to offer for its redemption; as though He should 
 say : and since I offer you eternal life in exchange for the 
 present life, it ought not to appear to you to be harsh to 
 propose the loss of the present life. Agreeably with what 
 is read in Psalm xlix. 
 
 And Christ, purposing to declare when this life eternal 
 shall fully and completely commence, says, " For the Son 
 of man shall come" &c., meaning, that it shall commence 
 from the day of judgment ; on which day, He says, God 
 shall, " Give every man according to his work" meaning, 
 that He will give eternal life to those, who shall have lost 
 the present life for His sake ; and that He will give eter- 
 nal death to those, who shall not have been willing to lose 
 the present life for His sake. 
 
 I do not understand what Christ subjoins, saying, " / tell 
 you of a truth that there he some of them" &c., and I state 
 that I do not understand it, for it does not agree with 
 what some say, that they saw Christ in His kingdom, who 
 saw Him transfigured upon Mount Tabor; for I do not 
 
5. MATTHEW XVI. 24-28. 295 
 
 understand that to have been the kingdom of Christ, 
 neither would it be to the purpose in relation to what 
 precedes ; neither do I agree with what others say, that 
 the disciples did not taste of death, because they did not 
 feel the agony of death, like other men ; for I know, that 
 according to the idiom of the Hebrew tongue, " to taste of 
 death " is the same as to die ; neither do I agree with 
 what others say, that they saw Christ in His kingdom, 
 who saw Christ glorified, after the coming of the Holy 
 Spirit, His gospel having been accepted by the majority 
 of the nations ; because I see that Christ here speaks 
 of the day of judgment, on which day. He will discover 
 His glory and His majesty to the whole world. 
 
 True it is that St. Mark's words, " Till they have seen the 
 kingdom of God come with power" (ix. i), might be applied 
 to the coming of the Holy Spirit ; and there is no doubt 
 but that the disciples saw it come as such, at the time 
 they received the Holy Spirit ; from which time we under- 
 stand the kingdom of heaven commenced, that which was 
 preached in the time of Christ. Aod if it could be said 
 that some of those, who were present at the time Christ 
 spoke these words, are reserved unto the day of judg- 
 ment, never having died, there would be nothing to doubt. 
 In point of fact, we attain to know but little of the mys- 
 teries of God, however much we presume upon our attain- 
 ment of them ; and, therefore, it is a safe thing to confess 
 our blindness in relation to them. 
 
296 S. MATTHEW XVII. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 XVII. 1-9. — And after six days Jesus taketh 
 with him Peter, and James, and John his brother, 
 and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart : 
 and he was transfigured before them : and his face 
 did shine as the sun, and his garments became white 
 as the light. And behold, there appeared unto 
 them Moses and Elijah talking with him. And 
 Peter answered, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is 
 good for us to be here : if thou wilt, I will make 
 here three tabernacles ; one for thee, and one for 
 Moses, and one for Elijah. While he was yet 
 speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed 
 them : and behold a voice out of the cloud, saying, 
 This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased ; 
 hear ye him. And when the disciples heard it, they 
 fell on their face, and were sore afraid. And Jesus 
 came and touched them and said, Arise, and be not 
 afraid. And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one, 
 save Jesus only. And as they were coming down 
 from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, 
 Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be 
 risen from the dead. 
 
 What Christ's purpose was in giving those three dis- 
 ciples this taste of the glory of the life eternal, may, 
 indeed, be conjectured, but is difficult to realise ; the 
 more so by those, who, like myself, shall never have found 
 
S. MATTHEW XVII. 1-9. 297 
 
 ourselves in aught similar, whereby we might be enabled 
 to testify of the effect which such a vision works upon 
 the mind of the person who sees it; wherefore I remit 
 myself to what they say, or shall say, who shall be some- 
 what experienced. To whom likewise I remit the con- 
 sideration of the reason, why Christ selected those three 
 disciples from amongst the others ; whether it was, because 
 these were more capable than the others of greater morti- 
 fication and purification in their minds ; or, whether it 
 was, because these had greater need of being certified and 
 confirmed in the opinion which they were to hold of Christ, 
 although I maintain this, that it depended upon the will 
 of Christ, to elect preferably these three than any one of 
 the others, in order to show them His majesty and His 
 glory in the life eternal. 
 
 In saying, " He was transfigured" it means, that He 
 presented Himself in another form, from that in which 
 He was wont to do so ; it was His wont to present Him- 
 self as a human being, passible and mortal, whilst here He 
 presented Himself as a Divine Being, impassible and im- 
 mortal. I think that Christ presented Himself upon the 
 Mount to these three disciples as He presented Himself 
 to all after the resurrection, at the time of His ascension 
 to heaven. 
 
 St. Matthew, wishing to show wherein this transfigura- 
 tion consisted, says, " And His face did shine" &c. ; and 
 by saying, " His raiment" &c., meaning, that His garments 
 also changed colour. Where He says, " Like the light" St. 
 Mark says, like the snow. They understand that Moses 
 and Elijah were seen with Christ, because the law and 
 the prophets bear testimony to Christ, and are, as it were, 
 ministers of Christ. 
 
 What Moses and Elijah spoke to Christ is understood 
 from St. Luke ix. 31, 32, who states, that they spoke of 
 the death which He was about to die at Jerusalem ; they 
 spake, as it were, of infamy, being in glory. Whence 
 we may learn that it is a good thing to converse about 
 
298 S. MATTHEW XVII. 1-9. 
 
 what we have to suffer for Christ, and to think about it 
 when we find ourselves specially favoured of God and of 
 Christ, in order that favour may not make us presumptuous. 
 I think that this conversation was not held for Christ's 
 sake, but in order that the disciples should hear ; in order 
 that they might know, that it was necessary, that what 
 Christ had already told them, should take place, should 
 find its accomplishment ; and that they should not hold 
 it to be a defect in Christ, but perfection ; since they wit- 
 nessed that Moses and Elijah, the law and the prophets, 
 spoke of it. Here it might be said that Moses was with 
 Christ in spirit, whilst Elijah was so in body and soul, 
 from what is read in his history of the chariot or whirl- 
 wind of fire, in which he was carried up. 
 
 What St. Peter said to Christ, " Lord, it is good for us to 
 he here," is ever said to Christ by those, who, conscious of 
 Christ's favours, feed both soul and body upon them; whilst 
 they do not say so, who, knowing that sufi'ering is more 
 associated with the condition of the present life than joy, 
 when in glory remember infamy, and find it not less plea- 
 sant to be crucified with Christ on Mount Calvary, than 
 to be transfigured with Him on Mount Tabor ; to be cruci- 
 fied with Christ than to be glorified with Christ ; nay, they 
 hold themselves to be safer when they find themselves 
 crucified, than when they feel themselves to be, as it were, 
 transfigured. 
 
 i And here I understand two things. The one, that Christ 
 ^ does that with us all, which He did with these disciples, 
 for that, just as He made these disciples taste of His glory, 
 before that He did so of His ignominy, showing Himself 
 to them transfigured before that He did so crucified; so 
 He makes us taste peace of conscience, through reconcilia- 
 tion with God, with the other eifects that faith works in 
 us, which incorporates us into Him, before that He delivers 
 us up into the hands of those, who treat us as they treated 
 Him. And the other, that they show great imperfection, 
 who, in their inward tastes and feelings, give way to such 
 
S. MATTHEW XVII. 1-9. 299 
 
 transports, as to allow the flesh to participate in them ; 
 just as it is imperfection in outward things to give way to 
 such transports as to allow the mind to commingle plea- 
 surably with them ; for, it is so that, it behoves the per- 
 fect Christian to use outward things, that pertain to the 
 body, with care and circumspection, that the mind do not 
 mix up pleasurably with them ; and to use inward things, 
 that pertain to the mind, with care and circumspection, 
 that the body do not take pleasure in them ; leaving out- 
 ward things, when the mind is about to feed on them, 
 and leaving inward things, when it feels that the body 
 is about to feed on them. 
 
 St. Peter's motive for wishing to erect three tents or 
 huts, wishing that each one of the three should have his 
 own, is, I think, impossible to know ; and it is of little 
 importance to know it, since he spoke it like an imperfect 
 man. It would be well worth knowing how these three 
 disciples, being still imperfect, were capable of enduring 
 such glory and such majesty, as were presented to them, 
 in witnessing Christ transfigured, and with Him, Moses 
 and Elijah ; but as to this, I content myself, understand- 
 ing that God Himself, by whose will they ascended the 
 Mount, rendered them capable of enduring that glory and 
 majesty. And here this occurs to me : that it is no mark 
 of perfection to see visions and revelations; since these 
 three disciples, being still imperfect, were admitted to this. 
 I state this, in order that neither they, who shall have 
 them, may be elevated by it, nor they, who shall not have 
 them, may be depressed by it ; considering that Christ sent 
 His Holy Spirit as well upon those disciples, who did not 
 ascend the Mount, as upon those who did ascend it. 
 
 The terms in which the Eternal Father gives us testi- 
 mony of Christ are worthy of profound consideration, since 
 it is so, that by them we understand that Christ is the Son 
 of God; and because He calls Him, "His beloved" we 
 understand that Christ is the Son of God, wholly otherwise 
 than are they so, whom Holy Scripture calls children of 
 
300 5. MATTHEW XVII. 1-9. 
 
 God, since Christ is the beloved, the dear and favoured one, 
 and He is the first born and only begotten, His generation 
 being divine, and, as might be said, " Whose goings forth 
 have been of old, from everlasting " (Mieah v. 2), being one 
 and the same, and of the same substance with God, the 
 same as the Father. And, therefore, with Christ alone has 
 God been, and still is, well pleased, for, as says Isaiah (liii. 
 10), " In Him the pleasure of the Lord has prospered," mean- 
 ing, that in Christ, God's purpose has been accomplished ; 
 for that. He laying the sins of us all upon Christ, and 
 chastisinof us all in Christ, Christ bore the chastisement 
 without deviating a point from the will of God. And it 
 is well to observe that in that expression, " / am well 
 pleased," this word in the Greek, ^vBoKijaa, is that, which 
 St. Paul uses, when he speaks of our predestination. 
 
 That (command) " Hear ye Him" is much more to be 
 noted by us Christians, in order that we may know that it 
 concerns us to stop our ears wholly against human prudence 
 and reason, and to all natural light, and to open them to 
 Christ only ; to follow what He shall tell us ; however 
 much human prudence with natural light shall roar and 
 shout the contrary. And to him, who shall wish to know, 
 in two words, what it is that he has to hear from Christ, 
 as to the things wherein he has to obey Christ, I will tell 
 him them, in those, which He has said in chapter xi., " Take 
 My yoke upon you, and learn of Me," &c., in which Christ 
 has included Christian faith and Christian life, as we have 
 there declared. 
 
 In that which St. Matthew narrates, that, " When they 
 lifted up their eyes, they no longer saw Moses or Elijah, 
 seeing Christ only" may be understood, what Christ Him- 
 self has stated in chapter xi., that the law and the pro- 
 phets served until John came ; nay, I understand that it 
 ever is so, that although every one, whilst he does not 
 hear the Father's voice, whilst he has not inward inspira- 
 tion, sees Moses and Elijah with Christ, using the law and 
 the prophets, to see Christ ; but when hearkening, he hears 
 
S. MATTHEW XVII. 10-13. 301 
 
 the voice of the Father, being inwardly inspired and drawn 
 to Christ, Moses and Elijah disappear, no longer availing 
 himself either of the law and of the prophets, in order to 
 see Christ, to accept His righteousness, and to cleave only 
 to that. Where I will say this, that Moses and the pro- 
 phets are so polite, that as soon as Christ enters, they 
 walk out, giving way to Christ ; and, therefore, the best 
 expedient of all to liberate a man from Moses and the 
 prophets is to introduce him to Christ, to Christian faith, 
 and afterwards to Christian life. 
 
 I understand that Christ commanded these three dis- 
 ciples not to publish this vision, for the same reason that 
 He previously had commanded them all that they should 
 tell no one that He was the Christ ; in fact, it is most 
 clear that Christ would not manifest to men who He was, 
 whilst He wore humanity. And here a letter that I have 
 written, having for its aim to show the reasons why Christ 
 at times concealed Himself, whilst at other times He dis- 
 covered Himself, comes in most appositely; and so does 
 Consideration [Ixxxix.,] where I have given six reasons, why, 
 according to what I then understood, Christ lived amongst 
 men in that form of life in which He lived. 
 
 XVII. 10-13. — And his disciples asked him, 
 saying, Why then say the scribes that Elijah must 
 first come ? And he answered and said, Elijah in- 
 deed Cometh, and shall restore all things : but I 
 say unto you, that Elijah is come already, and they 
 knew him not, but did unto him whatsoever they 
 listed. Even so shall the Son of man also suffer of 
 them. Then understood the disciples that he spake 
 unto them of John the Baptist. 
 
 The disciples, assured that Christ was the Messiah, ap- 
 pear to have had a doubt awakened in them from having 
 seen Elijah in His company ; and seeking to be certified 
 
302 S, MATTHEW XVII. 10-13. 
 
 in relation to it, they ask Christ, saying, " Why then do the 
 scribes say" &c., as though they had said, since it is a fact, 
 that Thou, Lord, art the Messiah, and that Elijah has not 
 come before Thee, what foundation have the scribes for 
 saying, " that Elijah must come before the Messiah ?" 
 • Erom this question I understand two things. Tlie first, 
 that the scribes were at that time, what doctors of Theology 
 are at present, men well read in the Scriptures. And the 
 second, that it is a safe thing for all Christians to manifest 
 the doubts that will present themselves on Christian topics, 
 to persons capable of satisfying them in relation thereto ; 
 doing as the disciples did with Christ ; and not as do many, 
 who, partly through fear and partly through shame, because 
 it is a dishonour to doubt, dare not communicate their 
 doubts ; and, keeping them to themselves, they do not take 
 it into account, that they act upon their minds as poison 
 would do upon their bodies. 
 
 Christ answers the disciples' doubt by saying, " True it 
 is, that Elijah will come" &c., where, considering that I do 
 not see how it can pertain to St» John the Baptist to re- 
 store everything; and that Malachi (iv. 5) says, that Elijah 
 shall come before the day of judgment, I understand that 
 by saying, " True it is that Elijah" &c., He confirms the 
 opinion of the scribes, which was founded upon Malachi's 
 prophecy, stating that Elijah will come before His second 
 advent to judgment ; and that with his coming, all things 
 shall be restored to their proper form of existence ; and I 
 understand these things to be those which reason and 
 human prudence, pretending to prepare and to rectify, have 
 disfigured and spoiled, in the Christian Church, together 
 with those which Antichrist will have disfigured and 
 spoiled. 
 
 And I understand that Christ in saying, " But I say unto 
 you, that Elijah" &c., means, that the Elijah, who had to 
 come before His first advent, was already come ; and that 
 the Jews, not recognising him as the person that he was, 
 had put him to death, obeying their malevolent wills. And 
 
S. MATTHEW XVII. 14-21. 303 
 
 thus I understand Christ to say that St. John the Baptist 
 filled the ofi&ce at His first advent, which Elijah will fill at 
 His second advent ; for that, just as Elijah will prepare the 
 Christian Church for the coming of Christ in glory, so St. 
 John the Baptist prepared the Hebrew Synagogue for the 
 coming of Christ in humility ; and I understand that the 
 preparation consisted in showing its depravity to it, and 
 in showing Christ to it, at the same time, as its remedy. 
 Christ going on to say, " Uven so shall the Son of man," 
 &c., means, that same which happened to St. John the 
 Baptist at the hands of these, shall also betide Me, for 
 that just as they, not knowing that John the Baptist came 
 in the spirit and power of Elijah, as had been announced 
 by the angel to Zachariah, his father, before his birth, put 
 him to death, so they, not recognising Me as the Messiah, 
 will put Me to death. 
 
 That, " And they hneio Him not'' may be referred to the 
 scribes, together with that, " Shall also suffer of them" 
 All, who are eminent in the Christian Church, ought to 
 accept this reply which Christ made to the doubt, pro- 
 pounded by the disciples, as a pattern by which to regu- 
 late themselves in relation to those, who shall come to 
 propound their doubts to them, for solution; therein fol- 
 lowing what Paul teaches in Komans xiv. 
 
 XYII. 14-21. — And when they were come to 
 the multitude, there came to him a man, kneeling 
 to him, and saying, Lord, have mercy on my son : 
 for he is epileptic, and suflfereth grievously ; for oft- 
 times he falleth into the fire, and oft-times into the 
 water. And I brought him to thy disciples, and 
 they could not cure him. And Jesus answered and 
 said, faithless and perverse generation, how long 
 shall I be with you ? how long shall I bear with 
 you ? bring him hither to me. And Jesus rebuked 
 
304 S. MATTHEW XVII. 14-21. 
 
 him ; and the devil went out from him ; and the 
 boy was cured from that hour. Then came the 
 disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not 
 we cast it out ? And he saith unto them, Because 
 of your little faith : for verily I say unto you. If 
 ye have faith as a grain of mustard-seed, ye shall 
 say unto this mountain, Kemove hence to yonder 
 place ; and it shall remove ; and nothing shall be 
 impossible unto you. 
 
 It seems that at the time in which Christ took the three 
 disciples, with whom He ascended the Mount, the other 
 disciples remained, with the multitude that followed Christ, 
 on the plain ; and thus Matthew narrates, that when 
 Christ came down with the three disciples to the spot 
 where the others had remained, the event happened, which 
 is here recorded, in which these things present themselves 
 as worthy of consideration. 
 
 First, the indignation of Christ against the unbelief of 
 His disciples and of the other people, and the disgust 
 which He felt in the company and converse of the men, 
 and the desire that He had to get free from them. And 
 here I understand two things : The one, that just as faith 
 is the thing which most pleases God, so unbelief is the 
 thing which most displeases Him and offends Him ; and 
 the other, that Christians may hold a feeling of indigna- 
 tion against the unbelief of men, and the desire to get free 
 from them, in order neither to feel, nor to see, their mani- 
 festations of unbelief, to be a good token of their faith. 
 
 Second, that unbelief is an evil so deep-seated, that few 
 recognise it, not even when they have been brought into 
 difficulty by it, like Christ's disciples, who, not having 
 been able, through their unbelief, to cure another, were 
 unaware that their inability sprang from unbelief. And 
 here I understand that it concerns every Christian to re- 
 
S. MATTHEW XVII. 14-21. 305 
 
 cognise himself as unbelieving and wanting in faith, attri- 
 butincr all his faults and all his defects to his unbelief. 
 
 Third, that since it is a fact, that there is nothing im- 
 possible to the believer, even to the moving of mountains 
 from one place to another, it concerns every Christian to 
 persevere in prayer, asking of God faith and still more faith, 
 never desisting from this prayer, until he recognise such 
 faith within him, as should seem adequate to move moun- 
 tains from one place to another, whenever the occasion 
 shall arise in which the glory of God shall be illustrated 
 by this change. What I say of mountains, I say likewise 
 of all other miracles, by which the glory of God is illus- 
 trated, the truth of the Christian faith being thereby con- 
 firmed. The comparison of the grain of mustard-seed I 
 understand as illustrating relative smallness. 
 
 Fourth, that as Christ when consoling His disciples, and 
 unwilling that they should be dispirited by what He had 
 said to them about their unbelief, added, " But this hind" 
 &c., meaning, and there is also this (to be considered) that 
 demons, like this one, do not come forth from men's bodies, 
 save by prayer and fasting. Where there is nothing im- 
 proper in understanding that the prayer of the person 
 ejecting the demon is kindled by fasting : so that prayer 
 is kindled by fasting, whilst faith is increased by prayer ; 
 and by faith, strong and energetic, the demon is ejected ; 
 because, as Christ has just said, nothing is impossible to 
 the man who believes. 
 
 Fifth, that Christ is superior to everything, for since it 
 is so that that kind of demons was of such a character 
 that they do not come forth from human bodies, save by 
 prayer and by fasting, Christ made that one come forth, 
 without fasting and without prayer ; as appears from this, 
 -that when the demoniac was brought before Him, the 
 demon at His rebuke left the man, free and sound. 
 Whence it is certainly something wondrous, that the 
 men of that time should witness a thing like this, and 
 that men of the present time should believe it, and that 
 
 u 
 
3o6 S. MATTHEW XVII. 22, 23. 
 
 neither the former should have had eyes to 
 Christ to be the Son of the living God ; nor the latter 
 have eyes to know that this Christ, whom they confess to 
 be the Son of the living God, shall fulfil to them what 
 He promises, upon the part of God, saying, that he who 
 shall believe the gospel, and shall be baptized, shall obtain 
 salvation and life eternal. Whilst they, who believe in 
 the gospel, who accept the general indulgence and pardon, 
 hold themselves to be pardoned and to be reconciled with 
 God, by Christ and in Christ, being incorporated by faith 
 into Christ. 
 
 XVII. 22, 2 3. —And while they abode in Galilee, 
 Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be de- 
 livered up into the hands of men ; and they shall 
 kill him, and the third day he shall be raised up. 
 And they were exceeding sorry. 
 
 There are two things worthy of consideration in these 
 words. 21ie one, that Christ went on mingling the sweet 
 with the bitter for His disciples, resurrection with death. 
 And here I understand that Christ is always doing the 
 same with us, mingling vivification with mortification for 
 us, God's inward favours with the world's outward dis- 
 favours, in order that we may not faint by the way. And 
 the other, that the disciples were so attached to the things 
 of the present life, that although resurrection was inti- 
 mated to them in connection with death, they were sad- 
 dened; though indeed their sadness may be referred to 
 the natural inclination of man, which is ready to believe 
 in evil and slow to believe in good ; and thus, the disci- 
 ples as men, readily believing in death, and not being so 
 ready to believe in resurrection, were saddened. Whilst 
 they would not have been saddened, had they believed as 
 much in resurrection, as they believed in death. The 
 Greek word rendered " abode " means hved, conversed. 
 
S. MATTHEW XVII. 24-27. 307 
 
 XVII. 24-27. — And when they were come to 
 Capernaum they that received the half shekel came 
 to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay the 
 half shekel ? He saith, Yea. And when he came 
 into the house, Jesus spake first to him, saying, 
 What thinkest thou, Simon ? the kings of the earth, 
 from whom do they receive toll or tribute ? from 
 their sons, or from strangers ? And when he said, 
 From strangers, Jesus said unto him, Therefore the 
 sons are free. But, lest we cause them to stumble, 
 go thou to the sea, and cast a hook, and take up 
 the fish that first cometh up ; and when thou hast 
 opened his mouth, thou shalt find a shekel ; that 
 take, and give unto them for me and thee. 
 
 Matthew relates that Christ having come with His dis- 
 ciples to Capernaum, which was His own country, they^ 
 who collected the (Eoman) Emperor's tribute there, think- 
 ing that Christ, as a native, ought to pay as did others, 
 but still marvelling at what had passed, came up to Peter, 
 standing outside the house, and asked him whether Christ 
 meant to pay that which others did ; to which Peter de- 
 finitely replied, that He would ; and that Peter having 
 entered the house where Christ was, He, showing that He 
 knew what had transpired with these men, spoke to Peter 
 about it, before that Peter could speak to Him ; and that 
 Christ, wishing to show Peter that he had answered the 
 collectors unadvisedly, showed by His own answer that 
 just as the children of princes are free from all payment, 
 so He, as the Son of God, and they, who are incorporated 
 into Him, as children of God, are free from all payment ; 
 and that Christ wishing to show Peter that he did not say 
 this in order not to pay, but that He actually wished to 
 pay, in order not to scandalise the men ; and that to pay 
 it there was no need to ask it, He being Lord of every- 
 
308 S. MATTHEW XVII. 24-27. 
 
 thing ; neither to take it from any one, to whom it could 
 be useful, He commanded Peter to go to the sea, and that 
 he should cast a hook with a fishing-rod, and that he 
 should open the mouth of the first fish he should take ; 
 and that finding, as he would there find, a piece of money 
 worth twice the amount of what Christ had to pay, that 
 he should take it, and that he should give it to those men, 
 for them both. 
 
 Whence we learn all this : First, that we, who are in- 
 corporated into Christ, are children of God, and are free 
 and exempt from all payment to which other men are 
 subject, not being in relation to God, or by strict obligation 
 bound to pay anything ; and this is a part of Christian 
 liberty. And Paul feeling thus said (i Cor. ix. 19), "For 
 though I he free from all men!' &c. And in another place 
 (i Cor. vi. 12), " All things are lawful unto me." 
 
 Second, that we ourselves, who, incorporated into Christ, 
 are the children of God, voluntarily pay the same as others, 
 being called upon by Christian charity to do so. And 
 Paul feeling this said (i Cor. ix. 19), ^' I have made myself 
 the servant of all" &c. And in another place (i Cor. vi. 
 12), ''All things are not expedient," &c. 
 
 Third, that it behoves the children of God themselves 
 to have more regard net to scandalise men of the world in 
 human things, than saints of the world in divine things ; 
 since it is a fact that Christ had respect for these men of 
 the world, lest He should have scandalised them, had He 
 not paid them what they expected to receive from Him, 
 which was a worldly thing ; not having had respect for 
 the Pharisees not to scandalise them, saints of the world, 
 as He scandalised them, when He defended His disciples 
 against the calumny cast upon them by the Pharisees, 
 in relation to their washing or their not washing of their 
 hands. 
 
 Fourth, that since it is a fact that Christ could, with the 
 same facility, provide for the necessities of all those, who 
 incorporated into Him, are His brethren, with which He 
 
S. MATTHEW XVII. 24-27. 309 
 
 provided the money to pay the double tribute ; so it is also 
 a fact, that in caUing upon us to be almoners, that we should 
 act benevolently to Christians, He does not so much com- 
 mand us in order that we should relieve their necessities, 
 as that we should show, through them, the love we have to 
 Christ and to God, in helping those persons whom Christ 
 and God have promised to help, it being our only aim, that 
 they, realising what truth there is in the promises of Christ 
 and of God, may increase the faith and confidence which 
 they have in Christ and in God. 
 
 In commanding Peter to pay for them both, I simply 
 understand Christ to have evinced liberality and great 
 voluntary subjection, since in having been asked but for 
 Himself, He paid for Himself and for Peter. The di- 
 drachma or double drachma was a piece of money of the 
 value of fifteenpence-halfpenny, equal to two carlins* 
 or two reals, f The stater or shekel was another piece 
 of money, twice the value of the didrachma. 
 
 * The carlin is a small Neapolitan coin, quoted here, because Valdes 
 was then living at Naples. 
 
 t The real is a small Spanish coin of silver, value fivepence-farthing. 
 
3IO S. MATTHEW XVIII. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 XYIII. 1-6. — In that hour came the disciples 
 unto Jesus, sayiug, Who then is greater in the 
 kingdom of heaven ? And he called to him a little 
 child, and set him in the midst of them, and said, 
 Verily, I say unto you, Except ye turn and become 
 as little children, ye shall in no wise enter into 
 the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall 
 humble himself as this little child, the same is the 
 greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso 
 shall receive one such little child in my name re- 
 ceiveth me : but whoso shall cause one of these 
 little ones who believe on me to stumble, it were 
 better for him that a great millstone should be 
 hanged about his neck, and that he should be sunk 
 in the depth of the sea. 
 
 I understand by what I read in the gospels by Matthew 
 and Luke, that there arose amongst the disciples, from 
 what Christ had said of His death and of His resurrection, 
 a dispute, as to who would be the greatest in the kingdom 
 of heaven ; and that from the dispute it came to pass that 
 they came to Christ with this question, saying, " WTio then 
 is greater'' &c. Where it appears that Christ desirous of 
 repressing the ambitious spirit which He recognised in His 
 disciples, calling a child unto Him, He said to them, 
 " Verily I say unto you, except" &c., as though He had said : 
 see what false notions you hold, which, if you do not cease 
 
S. MATTHEW XVIII. i-6. 311 
 
 from, and become as little children, yon shall not enter into 
 the kingdom of heaven. And I understand that when the 
 disciples received the Holy Spirit, by the regeneration 
 which He wrought in them, they became as children, and 
 thus took possession of the kingdom of heaven ; and I 
 likewise understand that as they grew in Christ, so they 
 became perfect men in Christ. 
 
 And what I consider in these disciples of Christ, I con- 
 sider likewise in all, who are the disciples of Christ; who, 
 every one of them, regenerated by the Holy Spirit, become 
 as children, and as such enter into the kingdom of heaven, 
 where, striving to imitate Christ, they grow from being babes 
 in Christ to the full stature of men in Christ ; and thus by 
 Christian faith they come to be children in Christ, and, as 
 children, they enter into the kingdom of heaven, and, by 
 Christian living, they come to be full-grown in Christ, and 
 they preserve themselves in the kingdom of heaven. 
 
 When Christ further says, " Whosoever therefore shall 
 humble himself," &c., I understand Him to answer the dis- 
 ciples' question, meaning that that person shall be greatest 
 in the kingdom of heaven, who shall be most childlike, 
 being as humble as a child, holding himself to be, and to 
 be worth in himself, as little, as any child may be and is 
 worth in itself. 
 
 And Christ, bein^r desirous of encouracrin^ His children 
 that they should not think that, in reducing themselves 
 to be children, they are lost, adds, ''And whoso shall receive 
 one such," &c., as though He had said : and do not think 
 that they, who shall reduce themselves to be children, 
 shall remain unprotected; for I would have you know, 
 that they shall ever find a protector ; for it shall come to 
 pass, that he, who, in My name, shall protect one of these, 
 it shall be as though he had protected Me, since it was I, 
 who converted him into a child ; and He adds : " And 
 whoso shall cause one of these little ones to stumhle" &c., as 
 though He had said ; and do not think, that they, who 
 shall be My children, will have no one to look after them, 
 
312 S. MATTHEW XVIII. 7-10. 
 
 for I would have you know, that he, who shall offend the 
 least of them, in the least thing of the world, shall be 
 chastised by God in such a manner, that it had been better 
 for him, to have been previously drowned in the depths of 
 the sea. So that Christ's children may rest assured that 
 they will never want protection, without going in quest of 
 it, which they do not attain as children of the world ; nor 
 will they ever want a protector when men shall maltreat 
 them, without their making resistance, which, as children 
 of the world, they did want. 
 
 The millstone turned by an ass spoken of by Christ, is 
 the lower one in the corn mill, which is made to revolve, 
 being drawn by an ass. 
 
 XVIII. 7-10. — Woe unto tbe world because of 
 occasions of stumbling ! for it must needs be that 
 the occasions come ; but woe to that man through 
 whom the occasion cometh ! And if thy hand or 
 thy foot causeth thee to stumble, cut it off, and 
 cast it from thee : it is good for thee to enter into 
 life maimed or halt, rather than having two hands 
 or two feet to be cast into the eternal fire. And 
 if thine eye causeth thee to stumble, pluck it out, 
 and cast it from thee : it is good for thee to enter 
 into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes 
 to be cast into the hell of fire. See that ye despise 
 not one of these little ones ; for I say unto you, 
 that in heaven their angels do always behold the 
 face of my Father which is in heaven. 
 
 Christ, having entered upon the consideration of that 
 most terrible impropriety into which men fall, when they 
 scandalise, when they molest and annoy His children, pro- 
 ceeded to say, " Woe unto the world" &c., meaning, that 
 the castigation wherewith the men, who shall scandalise 
 
5. MATTHEW XVIII. 7-10. 313 
 
 His children, shall be castigated, will be most terrible and 
 most cruel. And when He says, " For it must needs he" 
 &c., His meaning is the same as that expressed by St. 
 Paul (i Cor. xi. 19), where he says, that there must needs 
 be sects, heresies, and divisions, in order that the goodness 
 of the good be manifested. And when He adds, " But woe 
 he to that man through whom" &c., His meaning is, that 
 the necessity which there is that there should be scandals 
 shall not exonerate the scandaliser from chastisement, be- 
 cause the scandaliser never intends to meet that necessity, 
 but to carry out the malice and malignity of his own mind ; 
 as we see in Pharaoh, who scandalised the Jewish people ; 
 and, as we see in Judas, who scandalised Christ, and those, 
 who were His ; and, as we have seen in those, who, from 
 one generation to another, have scandalised the children 
 of Christ and the saints of God. 
 
 In relation to scandal, I understand that Christ here 
 gave a most necessary counsel to every Christian, who, 
 regenerated by Christ, has entered into possession of the 
 kingdom of heaven, saying, " If thy hand or thy foot causeth 
 thee to stumhle" &c., where Christ means, that for the man, 
 who, by Christian faith, is entered into possession of the 
 kingdom of heaven, and, by Christian life, conserves him- 
 self in its possession, and who lives otherwise than do 
 they, who are in the kingdom of the world, living like 
 those who are in the kingdom of God, it behoves him to 
 leave, separate from, and cast off from himself, everything, 
 be it what it may, that can impede or disturb his Chris- 
 tian life, the imitation of Christ, although they may be as 
 necessary to him, and although they may be as dear to 
 him, as hands, feet, and eyes. Thus do I understand 
 these words of Christ ; and as to the reasons why I under- 
 stand, that they cannot be understood literally, I remit 
 myself to what I have said in Chapter v., where nearly 
 the same words occur. 
 
 Christ, reverting to speak in favour of His children, says, 
 " Take heed that ye despise not" &c., where I understand 
 
314 S. MATTHEW XVIII. 11-14. 
 
 that He counsels those, who are strong in the faith, and 
 who are perfect, that they should neither despise nor set 
 at naught those, who are yet weak in the faith, and are 
 children, so that this counsel harmonises with St. Paul's 
 discourse in Eomans xiv. And Christ, in stating why 
 His children ought not to be despised, says, " For I tell 
 you that their angels" &c., meaning the angels, whom God 
 has given them, in order that they should do for them, 
 that which is stated in Psalm xci. 11, 12, for they are so 
 favoured of God that they are ever in the presence of God ; 
 and, their angels being so, they are there also themselves ; 
 and being so themselves, God takes special care of them, and, 
 therefore, they ought not to be despised and set at naught. 
 And here they, who, by acceptance of the grace of the 
 gospel, are children of Christ, ought to encourage and 
 strengthen themselves ; for, knowing themselves to be chil- 
 dren of Christ, they study to lead a Christian life, to imi- 
 tating Christ, and to be men in Christ perfect and entire, 
 considering that God takes very special and very peculiar 
 care of them, having them always in His presence. And 
 here likewise all men ought to learn, as well the spiritual 
 as the animal and carnal, but the spiritual more especially, 
 that it is safest not to despise or set at naught any one, 
 however weak, however vile or contemptible he may ap- 
 pear in his manners or in his life, or to go so far as to 
 maltreat him, and thus offend him and scandalise him, 
 considering that that very man may be one of Christ's 
 children. 
 
 XVIII. 11-14. — For the Son of man came to 
 save that which was lost. How think ye ? if any 
 man have a hundred sheep, and one of them be 
 gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, 
 and go unto the mountains, and seek that which 
 goeth astray ? And if so be that he find it, verily 
 
S. MATTHEW XVIIL 11-14. 315 
 
 I say unto you, he rejoiceth over it more than over 
 the ninety and nine which have not gone astray. 
 Even so, it is not the will of your Father which 
 is in heaven, that one of these little ones should 
 perish. 
 
 Christ proceeds to show, in relation to His children, 
 that He values and esteems them, however insignificant 
 they may be ; and in these words tells three things. First, 
 that the main design of His coming into the world was, 
 " to save that which is lost," He means to give eternal life 
 to those, who lost it in Adam. And here it is right to say, 
 that just as through Adam's disobedience we all died, so 
 through Christ's obedience we all rise again ; though the 
 resurrection will only be glorious for those, who believe 
 that they have died in Adam, and that they have risen 
 again in Christ ; they will study to live in the present life 
 as dead and as risen again, imitating that life which has 
 to be lived in the life eternal, the pattern of which, as to 
 purity, goodness, sincerity, truth, and fidelity, &c., we see 
 in Christ. 
 
 Second, that it is the joy of Christ's heart, that every one 
 of those, whom He leads to believe that they have died in 
 Christ and that they are risen in Christ, do study to live 
 as dead and as risen again. Christ compares this His joy 
 to that of the shepherd, who, going in search of a sheep 
 that he had lost, finds it, so that the comparison of the 
 shepherd may agree in this, that just as the shepherd goes 
 diligently in search of the lost sheep, and when he finds it, 
 rejoices over it, so Christ came diligently in search of those, 
 who are His sheep, predestinated to life eternal, who were 
 lost, wandering amongst men of the world, condemned to 
 eternal death, and it rejoiced His heart when He found 
 them, having died for them, and having risen again for 
 them; and He rejoices continuously with every one of 
 them, who accept His death and His resurrection for their 
 own. 
 
3i6 S. MATTHEW XVIII. 15-20. 
 
 Third, that it is the will of God that these children, 
 whom Christ sought and found, and whom He seeks and 
 finds, should in no wise perish ; understanding that they 
 would be in danger of perishing were they to be despised, 
 scandalised and maltreated by men ; especially by those, 
 who are pre-eminent in Christian life ; to whom I under- 
 stand that Christ here principally addresses Himself; 
 admonishing them, that they should not despise or scanda- 
 lise His children, when they shall be infirm and weak in 
 faith. But I have already stated that what St. Paul says 
 as to scandalising the weak, affects this. And as to scandal 
 I remit myself to what I have stated in a Consideration 
 [Ixxvi.] 
 
 And since all this argument is in favour of the children 
 of Christ, let us avail ourselves of it, but in such manner 
 that we steadily study to believe in Christ, until we come 
 to be perfect in Christ ; and it behoves such persons to be 
 on their guard, lest they should scandalise such as our- 
 selves, who are Christ's children ; and they will not scan- 
 dalise us, unless they despise us, considering that it is the 
 will of God that not one of us should perish ; and that 
 Christ rejoices, when He finds us and draws us unto Him- 
 self, that we may be His children, to which end He came 
 into the world. And here I understand that all we 
 men came into the world to live, and that Christ only 
 came into the world to give life. The Greek word irXavaco, 
 rendered lost, gone astray, signifies to wander, lost, from the 
 right way. 
 
 XVIII. 15-20. — And if thy brother sin against 
 thee, go, show him his fault between thee and him 
 alone : if he hear thee, thou hast gained thy 
 brother. But if he hear thee not, take with thee 
 one or two more, that at the mouth of two wit- 
 nesses, or three, every word may be established. 
 And if he refuse to hear them, tell it unto the 
 
5. MATTHEW XVIII. 15-20. 317 
 
 church ; and if he refuse to hear the church also, 
 let him be unto thee as the Gentile and the pub- 
 lican. Verily I say unto you, What things soever 
 ye shall bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven : 
 and what things soever ye shall loose on earth, shall 
 be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you, That 
 if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any- 
 thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them 
 of my Father which is in heaven. For where two 
 or three are gathered together in my name, there 
 am I in the midst of them. 
 
 Because, one of Christ's disciples, might in the name of 
 all those, who are perfect men in Christ, reply to what 
 Christ has stated, by saying : If one of these little ones 
 shall offend me, scandahsing me, whether directly or in- 
 directly, have I to tolerate him, in order not to scandalise 
 him, in order not to give him occasion to dissever himself 
 from Thee ? Christ proceeds to say : " And if thy brother 
 sin against thee," &c., where Christ gives those, who in 
 Him are perfect, the rule, by which they have to regulate 
 themselves with those, who are children in Him, keeping 
 themselves ever on their guard not to scandaHse any one 
 of them, in any manner. 
 
 And the rule is this, that when he, who is perfect in 
 Christ, shall see one of us, who are children in Christ, do 
 something wrong, against whomsoever it may be, departing 
 from Christian obligation or from Christian feeling, he 
 should not go and publish it, because it will irritate him 
 to do worse ; but that he should privately rebuke him, 
 lovingly and charitably ; and that, in case such an one 
 shall not correct himself, nay, should he persevere in that 
 his evil life or bad feeling ; that he return to rebuke him 
 in the presence of one or two Christians, in order that they 
 may be able to testify to this second rebuke ; and that, in 
 
3i8 S. MATTHEJV XVlll. IS-20. 
 
 case he shall not be willing to correct himself even with 
 this, that he tell it to the Church, to the whole congre- 
 gation of Christians, perfect and imperfect, who shall be 
 found there, in order that the whole Church may rebuke 
 him ; and that, in case he shall not amend at this common 
 rebuke, that he be no longer held to be a child of Christ, 
 but to be a man of the world, such as are the ethnics and 
 publicans, and that he no longer care to scandalise him, to 
 dissever him from the company of those, who are the chil- 
 dren of Christ. 
 
 And in order that he, who, as being incorrigible, shall 
 be separated from our company, may know for certain 
 that he is separated, too, from union with God, and from 
 incorporation into Christ ; and in order likewise that he, 
 who, being separated (from our company), shall repent, 
 and shall be desirous of returning to it, becoming a good 
 child of Christ, and striving to become a perfect man in 
 Christ, may know for certain, that, in being admitted to 
 our company, he is also admitted to union with God, 
 Christ adds, " Verily, I say unto you, what things soever" 
 &c., meaning that they, who, as being incorrigible, shall be 
 excommunicated from the Christian Church, shall also be 
 excommunicated from fellowship with God, and from in- 
 corporation into Christ ; and that they, who repent and 
 correct themselves, shall also be readmitted into the Chris- 
 tian Church, and likewise to fellowship with God, and to 
 incorporation into Christ. 
 
 As to what remains, I remit myself to what I have said 
 upon Chapter xvi., where these same words recur, only that 
 the word " heavens" is there used in the plural, whilst that 
 same word is here used in the singular — but the Jews were 
 lax in their use of their numbers. 
 
 And in order that there might be no doubt as to the 
 number of persons required to constitute a Church that 
 could bind and loose, Christ, as I understand, here adds, 
 " Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree," &c., 
 meaning that two of those, who are perfect men in Christ, 
 
S. MATTHEW XVIII. 15-20. 319 
 
 suffice to bind the incorrigible and to loose the corrigible ; 
 so that their binding and loosing shall be effectual with 
 God, provided that they be agreed, and that they both 
 concur in the same sentence. And by adding, " For where 
 there are two," &c., He confirms what He has stated, show- 
 ing that the sentence of these is, by His presence, effectual; 
 for, they being assembled in His name, He is in their midst, 
 in whom and through whom their prayers are accepted 
 by the Father, and, being accepted, are rendered valid by 
 the Father. 
 
 Thus do I understand that these words of Christ go on, 
 each dependent upon the other, understanding that Christ 
 addresses them to every one of those, who are influential 
 in His Church, for I see that He conversed with His dis- 
 ciples, whom He instructed, although they then were im- 
 perfect, as to what they should do when they were perfect ; 
 and that, when He says, " Thy brother" He means him, 
 who, like thyself, is my member ; and that, when He says, 
 " Shall sin against thee" He means, shall offend thee, shall 
 scandalise thee, either by doing that which he ought not, 
 or by feeling that which he ought not ; and that when He 
 says, " That at the mouth of two" &c.. He means, in order 
 that everything may be affirmed by the testimony of two 
 or three persons ; and understanding that, by " The Church'* 
 He means, the number of children in Christ, and the per- 
 fect in Christ, incorporated into Christ. The ethnic (Gen- 
 tile) is the same as infidel, no Christian. 
 
 I also understand Him, when He says, "As touching 
 anything that they shall ask" &c., Christ magnifies the 
 power of those, who being agreed, are assembled in Him ; 
 they determine a matter ; for their faculty is unlimited as 
 to what they shall ask of God; because they never ask 
 anything but that which is conformable to the will of God, 
 for they, being such, ask, being moved by the Spirit and 
 not by the flesh. 
 
 When He says, " Two of you" He means what I have 
 stated, that they, who have to achieve this result, must be 
 
320 S. MATTHEW XVIII. 21, 22. 
 
 perfect men in Christ, since He does not say two of the 
 children, but two of you, whom He taught as to how 
 you should regulate yourselves with my children. And 
 if there shall be some one, who hereupon may doubt and 
 say that he has frequently seen persons assembled in 
 Christ, to ask of God something; as, for instance, the 
 apprehension of a passage of Holy Scripture, which was 
 not at that time conceded to them, as appears from this, 
 that they, at another time, have understood it in a dififerent 
 manner from what they then did ; and that thus, by the 
 second apprehension, they come to know that the first was 
 incorrect, I shall remit myself to what I have stated in 
 Eeply [xvii.], adding this, that we often desire these appre- 
 hensions, and ask them, from carnal motives, from mental 
 curiosity, and they are denied us when we ask them, being 
 conceded to us when we do not ask them, because that 
 now we have lost the affection of curiosity. 
 
 And if it shall appear strange to any one that St. Paul 
 at Antioch, publicly rebuking Peter, should not have fol- 
 lowed this Christ's teaching, in giving him first the secret 
 admonitions of which Christ here speaks ; let him consider 
 these three things, and it will not appear strange to him. 
 First, that St. Peter was not a child in Christ, but a per- 
 fect man in Christ, and that St. Paul, therefore, could not 
 think that his rebuke could scandalise St. Peter. Second, 
 that the thing was of such importance, involving Christian 
 liberty and evangelical truth, that it did not admit of such 
 delay as would have been needed to give the prior admo- 
 nitions. Third, that the Holy Spirit does not subject itself 
 to any laws or doctrines, save those which promote the 
 glory of God, dispensing with them for the sake of the 
 glory of God, which the Holy Spirit designs in persons, 
 who are ruled and governed by it, as was St. Paul, 
 
 XYIII. 21, 22. — Then came Peter, and said to 
 Lim, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against 
 
5. MATTHEW XVIII. 21, 22. 321 
 
 me, and I forwe him ? until seven times ? Jesus 
 saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven 
 times ; but, Until seventy times seven. 
 
 St. Peter, having learned that the brother, who, having 
 been rebuked once, twice, and thrice, without amendment, 
 shall be ejected from the Church, and be held as a heathen 
 and a publican, but that he ought to be readmitted to the 
 Church upon his repentance and amendment (for herein 
 consists the loosing), and wishing to know how many times, 
 he that shall have been ejected ought to be readmitted, 
 asks Christ whether seven times will suffice. And I hold 
 it to be certain that it appeared to St. Peter that his sugges- 
 tion was an ample one, and, in point of fact, according to 
 the dictates of human charity, his suggestion was ample ; 
 but his suggestion, measured by the dictates of Christian 
 charity, was narrow, as appears from Christ's reply ; who, 
 employing a Hebraism representing infinite number, says, 
 that He wills that the man, excommunicated from the 
 Church as incorrigible, be readmitted to it, as often as he 
 shall demand pardon for the past, and shall promise to 
 live and feel like a Christian. 
 
 As to the limitations with which these words are limited, 
 I remit myself to the truth, and say, that although it seems 
 that Christ having previously said ''shall sin against thee," 
 and that St. Peter saying here "shall sin against me" is 
 to be understood of what a Christian does directly offend- 
 ing another, that the offended rebuke the offender, and that 
 he pardon him ; it is not to be understood otherwise than 
 in a general sense; as though one should say that that 
 Corinthian sinned against St. Paul, who (in i Cor. v.) 
 took his father's wife, because his departure from Chris- 
 tian life, was a scandal to the Church. That this be so, 
 appears from this, that if St. Peter's question be under- 
 stood of personal offences, he might be excused, since he 
 had already learned from Christ that the Christian has to 
 be very free in pardoning ; and that having known this, it 
 
322 S. MATTHEW XVIII. 23-35. 
 
 would have been a most impertinent thing for him to say, 
 " Until seven times ? " Because it may there be inferred 
 that St. Peter would, after the seventh time, have wished 
 to avenge himself upon the man, who should have sinned 
 against him. 
 
 From Christ's reply, we understand that we are never to 
 lose hope of a man's improvement, so long as he lives, con- 
 sidering that God has power to lead him to live like a 
 Christian and to feel like a Christian, however widely he 
 may deviate from the one, and however alienated he may 
 be from the other. They, who think that this revulsion 
 depends upon man, lose at once all hope, whilst they, 
 who know that it depends upon God, never lose it ; for 
 they do not found their hope upon man but upon God, 
 knowing that He has power to convert stones into chil- 
 dren of Abraham. 
 
 XVIII. 23-35. — Therefore is the kingdom of 
 heaven likened unto a certain king, who would 
 make a reckoning with his servants. And when 
 he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, 
 who owed him ten thousand talents. But for- 
 asmuch as he had not wherewith to pay, his lord 
 commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and chil- 
 dren, and all that he had, and payment to be made. 
 The servant therefore fell down and worshipped 
 him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I 
 will pay thee all. And the lord of that servant, 
 being moved with compassion, released him, and 
 forgave him the debt. But that servant went out, 
 and found one of his fellow-servants, who owed 
 him a hundred pence : and he laid hold on him, 
 and took him by the throat, saying. Pay me what 
 thou owest. So his fellow- servant fell down and 
 
S. MATTHEW XVIII. 23-35. 323 
 
 besought him, sayiDg, Have patience with me, and 
 I will pay thee. And he would not : but went 
 and cast him into prison, till he should pay that 
 which was due. So when his fellow-servants saw 
 what was done, they were exceeding sorry, and 
 came and told their lord all that was done. Then 
 his lord called him unto him, and saith unto him. 
 Thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, 
 because thou besoughtest me : shouldest not thou 
 also have had mercy on thy fellow-servant, even as 
 I had mercy on thee? And his lord was wroth, 
 and delivered him to the tormentors till he should 
 pay all that was due. So shall also my heavenly 
 Father do unto you, if ye forgive not every one his 
 brother from your hearts, their trespasses. 
 
 By this parable or similitude it seems that the above 
 expressions, " Shall sin against thee " and " Shall sin 
 against me," are to be understood of personal sins and 
 offences, whilst, from what we have above seen, they are 
 not to be understood otherwise than of sins and offences 
 in general ; and not knowing how to get out of this diffi- 
 culty, I prefer to confess my ignorance, rather than do as 
 do some, who, wresting this parable, would make it speak 
 contradictorily of what Christ Himself manifests to be His 
 intention to say, where, towards its end, He says, " So shall 
 my heavenly Father also do unto you," &c., from which words 
 it most clearly appears that Christ's design in this parable 
 is to admonish us that we should pardon our brethren 
 the injuries, wrongs, and damage which they shall do us, 
 considering that God pardons us our iniquities, our rebel- 
 lions, and our sins; whilst He threatens us, that, if we 
 shall not actually pardon our brethren, that neither will God 
 pardon us, that He will revoke the general pardon which 
 He has made us, not permitting us to participate in it. 
 
324 S. MATTHEW XVIII. 23-35. 
 
 This is really the design of the parable, which, so far as 
 admonition is concerned, affects those, who, being imper- 
 fect Christians, forgetful of the benefit which they have 
 received through Christ, do not treat their brethren as 
 God treats them ; where I hold it to be certain that it is 
 impossible for him not to pardon, whose memory is alive 
 to the fact that he is pardoned, thinks about it, and con- 
 siders how important it is to him ; and, as regards its 
 threat, I understand that it affects those, who, being almost 
 aliens from Christ, are not well assured that they are par- 
 doned by Christ. And here I understand, that they, who 
 do not hold themselves to be pardoned by God, never do 
 pardon as they ought ; so that it is a good token, by which 
 a man may be assured that he actually does hold himself 
 to be pardoned by God, when he feels that he pardons his 
 brethren, with all his heart, without any retention of ran- 
 cour in his mind ; for it is so, that he, who pardons, testifies 
 concerning himself that he holds himself to be pardoned ; 
 whilst he that does not pardon, testifies concerning him- 
 self, that he does not hold himself to be pardoned, that he 
 does not believe in the gospel of Christ, and that he is no 
 true Christian. 
 
 As to what is personal in the parable, it is to be under- 
 stood, that, in saying that the kingdom of heaven is likened 
 nnto, or is compared to, a man, a king, it does not mean 
 that the kingdom is like the king, but that in the kingdom 
 this happens to the king; for that just as the king, in 
 settling accounts with his servants, brings them to humble 
 themselves, for they know that they cannot pay him, and, 
 after that they have been humbled, he pardons them ; so 
 God, settling accounts with those whom He has elected 
 for His own, gives them to know themselves, whereby 
 He brings them to humble themselves, for they know that 
 they cannot justify themselves in His presence, and humi- 
 liated, He shows them how He has pardoned them in 
 Christ ; and that just as the king, in order to pardon his ser- 
 vant, overlooked the insolence which he showed, when he 
 
S. MATTHEW XVIII. 23-35. ^ 325 
 
 said, " And I will pay thee all," but dwelt upon the hu- 
 mility he showed, when he fell down and worshipped him, 
 saying, " Lord, have patience with me ; " so God, to admit 
 us to the benefit of Christ, to the grace of the gospel, over- 
 looks the insolence and presumption with which we think, 
 that with time, we shall be able to satisfy His justice, but 
 dwells upon the fact that we humble ourselves, for we 
 know, that in the condition in which we find ourselves, 
 we can do nothing without His mercy, remitting ourselves, 
 as we best can, unto it. 
 
 God knows our evil nature, and hence is not as rigorous 
 with us, as we are with each other ; and it is so, that those 
 of us, who do not know the nature of man as God knows 
 it, are so rigorous against the weak and infirm, that they 
 do not pardon them, not even that which they ask to have 
 pardoned in themselves; whilst God pardons us more 
 fully than we ask that He should pardon us ; doing with 
 us that which this king did for his servant ; for the ser- 
 vant asked for time to pay, knowing that then he would 
 be unable to pay ; whilst the king, knowing that he would 
 not be able to pay at the end of the period, pardoned him 
 all the debt, releasing him from it. 
 
 That likewise comes to pass in the kingdom of God 
 which occurred in that of this king, for that just as the 
 pardoned servant, forgetful of the benefit received, would 
 not pardon his fellow, so they, who forget that they are 
 pardoned by God, will not pardon their brethren ; and 
 here let every Christian learn to keep alive in his mind 
 the memory of the pardon which God has wrought for 
 him in Christ; and that just as the king, ofiended at 
 the baseness of the servant, revoked the pardon which he 
 had given him, and insisted that he should pay him the 
 whole debt, delivering him to this end into the hands of 
 those who tormented malefactors ; so God, offended at the 
 baseness of those, who will not pardon their brethren, will 
 revoke the pardon which He has wrought for them in 
 Christ, since they, by withholding pardon, will show and 
 
326 S. MATTHEW XVIII. 23-35. 
 
 will testify concerning themselves, that they do not hold 
 themselves to be pardoned ; that they do not believe in 
 the general pardon through Christ ; and, insisting upon 
 their payment of the whole debt in full, He will cast them 
 into hell-fire, where all they shall go to dwell, who, with- 
 holding pardon, testify concerning themselves that they do 
 not hold themselves to be pardoned. Such is my appre- 
 hension of this whole parable. 
 
 And because, when speaking of the king, where the text 
 says "fellow and fellows,'' the Greek word signifies fellow- 
 servant and servants of the same Lord ; and when, in 
 speaking of God, it says " brethren," it would seem that 
 this pardon might be restricted to those who belong to 
 Christ, to the Christian Church, and that, in such case, 
 this parable might, in some manner, apply to the inter- 
 pretation of the preceding words generally ; but there are 
 two things contrary : the one, that the parable does not 
 say that the hundred pence, for which the one servant 
 cast the other servant into prison, were his lord's; and 
 the other, that Christ attaches much importance that 
 the pardon be from the heart, with all the soul, which can- 
 not be, save in personal offences, and, therefore, I again 
 confess my ignorance. 
 
S. MATTHEW XIX. 327 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 XIX. 1-9. — And it came to pass when Jesus had 
 finished these words, he departed from Galilee, and 
 came into the borders of Judea beyond Jordan ; 
 and great multitudes followed him ; and he healed 
 them there. And there came unto him Pharisees, 
 tempting him, and saying. Is it lawful for a man 
 to put away his wife for every cause ? And he 
 answered and said, Have ye not read, that he who 
 made them from the beginning made them male 
 and female, and said. For this cause shall a man 
 leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his 
 wife ; and the twain shall become one flesh ? So 
 that they are no more twain, but one flesh. What 
 therefore God hath joined together, let not man 
 put asunder. They say unto him, Why then did 
 Moses command to give a bill of divorcement, and 
 to put her away ? He saith unto them, Moses for 
 your hardness of heart suff*ered you to put away 
 your wives : but from the beginning it hath not 
 been so. And I say unto you. Whosoever shall 
 put away his wife, except for fornication, and shall 
 marry another, committeth adultery : and he that 
 marrieth her when she is put away committeth 
 adultery. 
 
 The Pharisees, like saints of the world, envious of 
 Christ's holiness, came to Christ to tempt Him in connec- 
 
328 S. MATTHEW XIX. 1-9. 
 
 tion with matrimony ; where I think the temptation con- 
 sisted in this, that that law of divorce being held to be 
 very lax, the Pharisees felt assured that Christ would 
 speak against it, and that in speaking against it, they 
 would find occasion to calumniate Him, and to put Him 
 to death ; so that, when it is said that they tempted Him, 
 it may be understood that they provoked Him to speak 
 against the law. Whence I understand that Christ, know- 
 ing their wicked minds, does not answer them as to what 
 they asked of Him, as to what was then lawful, according 
 to Moses' law, but as to what was lawful by natural law. 
 
 And here I see a very great difference between the law 
 and the gospel ; for the law, condescending to man's weak- 
 ness, permitted that to him which was not permitted to 
 him by natural obligation, granting him dispensations in 
 matrimony and in many other things ; whilst the gospel, 
 correcting man's weakness by regeneration and Christian 
 renovation, causes him to fulfil the natural obligation of 
 human generation and brings it to pass, that getting 
 beyond this, he fulfils the spiritual obligation of Christian 
 regeneration; nothing being reckoned up against him 
 wherein he fails, in either the one or the other whilst he is 
 imperfect, nay, showing him that his shortcomings are not 
 reckoned up against him, it brings him to such perfection, 
 that he is led to fail in nothing, from the vivid perception, 
 that his failings are not reckoned up against him. 
 
 They, who being carnal, live after the flesh, will never 
 in any wise believe in this truth, for they know that if 
 they believed that their misdeeds were not reckoned up 
 against them, they would be more vicious and licentious 
 than they are ; but they will believe it, who, being 
 spiritual, live after the spirit, for they experimentally 
 realise it. 
 
 Here this occurs to me, the law rendered men irresolute, 
 weak, and faint, whilst the • gospel makes them brave, 
 valiant, and stout ; and I understand that irresolution, 
 and weakness and faintness necessarily affected those, who 
 
5". MATTHEW XIX. 1-9. 329 
 
 were under the law, because they never dared to separate 
 themselves from the observance of its ceremonies ; whilst 
 fortitude, valour, and spirit necessarily affect those, who 
 are under the gospel, for as Christ has stated in chapter 
 xi., the valiant are they, who take the kingdom of God by 
 force. 
 
 When Christ says, " Have you not read" &c., I under- 
 stand it to be His design to tell them, that since it is so, 
 that God when He created the first man and woman, made 
 the one male and the other female, saying by mouth to 
 Adam that it was His will that man should be so united 
 to woman, that he should take her for his companion ; and 
 that for her sake he should separate himself from every- 
 thing else in the world, even from father and mother, 
 being instructed, that although before they were united, 
 they were two bodies, yet after their union they were 
 but one body ; and such being the fact, that the man 
 ought to persevere in company with the woman, and the 
 woman in company with the man, without a thought of 
 separation, either of him from her, or of her from him, 
 and that it is great audacity in man, when by his own 
 authority, he separates a thing that God has united so 
 intimately. 
 
 And because Christ's reply did not admit of the infer- 
 ence, that He condemned what the law prescribed, the 
 Pharisees, seeking to carry out their design, interrogated 
 Him afresh, saying, " Whj then did Moses'' &c. To 
 which Christ replied, that Moses disregarded the obliga- 
 tion of human generation (birth), but considered the hard- 
 ness, or, more properly speaking, the weakness, of the Jews, 
 who wanted spirit to remain with the woman of their 
 choice ; so that men were permitted to do that by the law 
 of Moses, which was forbidden them by the law of nature, 
 by the obligation of (birth) human generation. 
 
 What Christ adds, when He says, " And I say ttnto you. 
 Whosoever shall ;put away his wife,'' &c., I understand as 
 pertaining to the time of the gospel ; in which it appears 
 
330 5. MATTHEW XIX. 1-9. 
 
 to be the will of God that the Christian in matrimony- 
 should follow the o]pligation of human generation, which 
 in matrimony nearly conforms with the obligation of 
 Christian regeneration ; and not with the permission of 
 the law of Moses, which deviated from one obligation and 
 did not come up to the other. And I have said " nearly" 
 because the obligation of Christian regeneration, going 
 beyond the obligation of human generation, requires, for 
 the sake of the gospel, that the man leave the wife, not 
 that he repudiate her ; but that he lose the affection which 
 he had for her as a wife ; and that he wholly leave her, 
 when she shall become an impediment to him ; whether it 
 be to his preaching Christian faith, whether it be to his 
 teachimr Christian life, whether it be to his livin^ like a 
 Christian, imitating Christ. The same holds of the wife 
 with the husband, as of the husband with the wife. 
 
 As to what I have said upon St. Paul's seventh chapter of 
 his first Epistle to the Corinthians, and as to divorce, to the 
 desertion or not of the woman, as to Christian matrimony, 
 as to the Christian's design when he contemplates marriage, 
 and as to how he has to regulate himself in marriage, and 
 as to the marrying or not marrying of the deserted or 
 repudiated wife, I remit myself to what is practised.^ 
 
 Where He speaks " of putting away, and of her who is 
 put away,'^ we must understand to repudiate and the 
 repudiated wife, and in saying, " He who made them 
 from the heginning" I think His meaning to be : He who 
 originated everything, He who created them, giving them 
 the existence which they have. And where He says "for 
 this cause!' I understand, " for this union's or matrimony's 
 sake." And in saying, " shall put away" He means, shall 
 separate from himself, shall forsake. Where He says 
 *' joined together" the Greek word signifies yoked together, 
 placed under the same yoke. Where He says " for 
 adultery," there is a different word, used in the Greek, from 
 that which is used where He says " commits adultery" but 
 
 * Valdds possibly said so, fearing the Inquisition. 
 
5. MATTHEW XIX. 10-12. 331 
 
 in both instances the word " adultery " rightly presents 
 the sense. 
 
 XIX. 10-12. — The disciples say unto him, If 
 the case of the man is so with his wife, it is not 
 expedient to marry. But he said unto them, All 
 men cannot receive this saying, but they to whom 
 it is given. For there are eunuchs, who were so 
 born from their mother's womb ; and there are 
 eunuchs, who were made eunuchs by men ; and 
 there are eunuchs, who made themselves eunuchs 
 for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able 
 to receive it, let him receive it. 
 
 The law of matrimony which Christ dictated confor- 
 mably to the obligation of human generation, appearing 
 to the disciples to be a hard one, because they had, by 
 permission of the law of Moses, been accustomed to one 
 opposed to it, they say to Christ, " If the case stands thus," 
 &c., meaning that if the man has to be bound to the 
 wife whom he takes, conformably to the obligation of 
 human generation as Christ has stated, it is not well for 
 him to take a wife, to marry. And Christ answers them, 
 saying, " All are not capable of receiving this" &c. ; He 
 confirms what the disciples have stated, that it is not well 
 for the man to marry, for the reasons which St. Paul lays 
 down in i Cor. vii., whilst He adds, " hut they to whom it is 
 given" meaning that they, who have God's gift to that 
 end, are able to live without a wife, whilst all others are 
 unable to do so, for they want the self-mastery to live 
 chastely. 
 
 And because it mighty have been replied that there are 
 those who live without a wife, not having that gift of God 
 which He suggested, He adds, "for there are eunuchs" &c. ; 
 laying it down, that there are three classes of men, who 
 
332 S. MATTHEW XIX. 13-15. 
 
 can live without a wife. First, there are those, who are 
 by nature cold, being born so from their mother's womb ; 
 these, through defective nature, can live without a wife. 
 Second, there are man-made eunuchs ; this was done in 
 former days to promote the state of those, who employed 
 such men, they, by the caprice of men, lived without 
 a wife. Third, there are those, who endowed by God 
 with the ability to live without a wife, and knowing that 
 it is better for them to do so, for that they are more free 
 and less preoccupied to enjoy the kingdom of God and to 
 serve Christ in it they do not marry. 
 
 When Christ subjoins, " He that is able to receive it, let 
 him receive it," He shows two things : one that it is good to 
 be wifeless, and the other, that it is difficult ; since it is a 
 fact, that of all the men, who are not comprehended either 
 amongst the first or second whom Christ here classifies, it 
 is only good for them to live without a wife out of ma- 
 trimony, who know that God has endowed them with the 
 ability to do so ; who know that they are capable of living 
 chastely. A style of life that is good so far as the man 
 enjoys the advantages and is freed from the disadvantages, 
 of which we read in i Cor. vii. ; and I remit myself to 
 what I have stated in my Commentary upon that chapter, 
 here adding this : that it appears to be a thing worthy of 
 consideration that it is only upon this subject of matri- 
 mony that Christ speaks so reservedly, that He neither 
 persuades to it, nor dissuades from it. 
 
 Where He says, " Able to receive it, let him receive it,'* in 
 the Greek it is the same word as where He says " capable.'* 
 And where He says " thing," it may be rendered " saying." 
 Eunuchs in Greek signify keepers of the bed, for it is to 
 this end that wealthy grandees made them eunuchs. 
 
 XIX. 1 3-15. — Then were there brought unto him 
 little children, that he should lay his hands on them, 
 and pray : and the disciples rebuked them. But 
 
5. MATTHEW XIX. 13-15. 333 
 
 Jesus said, Suffer the little children, and forbid 
 them not to come unto me : for of such is the king- 
 dom of heaven. And he laid his hands on them, 
 and departed thence. 
 
 From what has been stated in the preceding chapter 
 in relation to children, we must understand what Christ 
 designed when He says, " Of such is the kingdom of hea- 
 ven;" where I understand that Christ, considering that we 
 Christians are converted, by regeneration and Christian 
 renovation, into children, in the manner we have seen, 
 delighted and rejoiced in that age ; so that He, when 
 saying, "of such" be understood as speaking of those, 
 who were children like these, not by generation, but by 
 regeneration. 
 
 The intention, which they had, who brought these chil- 
 dren to Christ, was the same that they have who take their 
 children to one, whom they know to be a good Christian, 
 to pray over and to bless them, saying, " God bless and 
 prosper thee," or something like that ; and it is thus that 
 instead of our blessing, the Jews were wont to lay their 
 hands upon the head, possibly imitating the patriarch 
 Jacob when he blessed his children. 
 
 When it is said, " And that He should pray" it means, 
 and that He should pray to God for them. The reason, 
 why the disciples scolded or rebuked those, who brought 
 the children, was, that they thought Christ would hereby 
 be wearied and annoyed ; and Christ's motive, when He 
 says, " Suffer little children" &c., is that which we have 
 stated, and to show that the Christian, who takes posses- 
 sion of the kingdom of heaven, should recognise himself 
 to be a child, and should live on in hopes of growth in 
 Christ, until he attain manhood in Him. 
 
 Here it may be said that they forbid Christ's children 
 to come to Christ, who, pretending to preach Christ and 
 the gospel, do preach Moses and the law. They likewise 
 
334 'S". MATTHEW XIX. 16-26. 
 
 prevent Christ's children to come to Christ, who withhold 
 the water of baptism from them. 
 
 XIX. 16-26. — And behold one came to him and 
 said, Master, what good thing shall I do, that I 
 may have eternal life ? And he said unto him, Why 
 callest thou me good ? One there is who is good, — 
 that is God ; but if thou wouldest enter into life, 
 keep the commandments. He saith unto him. 
 Which ? And Jesus said. Thou shalt not kill. Thou 
 shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, 
 Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy 
 father and thy mother, and, Thou shalt love thy 
 neighbour as thyself. The young man saith unto 
 him, All these things have I observed : what lack 
 I yet ? Jesus said unto him. If thou wouldest be 
 perfect, go, sell that thou hast, and give to the 
 poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven : and 
 come, follow me. But when the young man heard 
 the saying, he went away sorrowful : for he was 
 one that had great possessions. And Jesus said 
 unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, It is hard 
 I for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. 
 And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel 
 to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man 
 to enter into the kingdom of God. And when the 
 disciples heard it, they were astonished exceedingly, 
 saying. Who then can be saved ? And Jesus, 
 looking upon them, said to them. With men this is 
 impossible ; but with God all things are possible. 
 
 The Christian ought, with all the greater attention, to 
 see to it that he do not allow himself to be deceived in his 
 
S. MATTHEW XIX. 16-26. 335 
 
 apprehension of this conversation between Christ and the 
 youth ; for that, because Christ was speaking with a Jew, 
 it seems that it might be gathered from it, that a man 
 may attain eternal life, by outward works, a thing most 
 contrary to evangelical truth ; now therefore it is right to 
 observe that Christ is speaking with a Jewish youth, who 
 sought to justify himself and to attain eternal life, but by 
 his works, and not through Christ, as he shows by asking, 
 " What good shall I do ? " — and that he had a good opinion 
 of himself, being self -persuaded that he had fulfilled the 
 law, he shows by saying, '' All these things have I observed 
 from my youth ; " and he was, moreover, more attached to 
 his riches than to eternal life, as he shows when he leaves 
 Christ sad, because Christ had touched him to the quick. 
 
 Having brought ourselves up to the apprehension of 
 these words, to the conception that Christ formed of the 
 youth, when he began to speak to Him, we shall go on 
 with them after this manner. The youth, in saying to 
 Christ, " Good Master, what shall I do ? " &c., showed 
 three things. One, that he held Christ to be good, whilst 
 he recognised Him to be nothing more than man ; and, 
 consequently, that he held himself to be good, since 
 he persuaded himself that he had fulfilled what the law 
 commanded. Second, that his aim was to attain eternal 
 life, for which aim's sake, I think that Christ felt com- 
 placency in him, as is shown by St. Mark. Third, that 
 he thought to attain eternal life by works; wherein he 
 showed, that he neither knew himself, nor did he know 
 God ; for, had he known himself, and had he known God, 
 it would have been impossible for him to entertain such 
 a thought, as I have stated in a Consideration [cvii.] 
 
 Christ, answering the youth, " Why callest thou Me good ?" 
 &c., began to give him some knowledge of Himself, in order 
 that he might lose the good opinion that he held of his 
 own goodness, by considering : this person is better than 
 me, and does not desire to be called good, therefore neither 
 am I good, since God alone is so. Therefore, let us not 
 
336 S. MATTHEW XIX. 16-26. 
 
 understand that Christ rebuked the youth because He 
 called Him good, but because, not recognising Him to be 
 more than man, he called Him good ; holding himself also 
 to be good ; and let us understand that, in the same man- 
 ner that God is good, Christ is good ; that being in the Son 
 which is in the Father ; because He is of the same substance 
 as the Father. And here I will say this: that it is as 
 natural to God to be good, as it is natural to man (by 
 birth), by human generation, to be bad : it being natural 
 to those to be good, who cease to be men, by death and 
 resurrection with Christ, through faith and baptism, 
 wherein Christian regeneration consists. 
 
 Christ, in saying, " If thou wouldest enter!' &c., answers 
 him in the spirit of the time in which He spoke, in which 
 the law was in all its glory and majesty, whilst the gospel 
 had not as yet begun to be openly preached, for Christ had 
 not yet been chastised for our sins ; and His answer meets 
 his question. He asked, What shall I do ? and Christ 
 answers him. Do this. The youth replying, " WJiich f " it 
 seems that he attached but little importance to the observ- 
 ance of the commandments of the decalogue, and that he 
 wished to know whether there were other commandments 
 to keep, whilst he rejoins, after having heard the com- 
 mandments of the law, by saying, " All this have I observed,'* 
 &c., and showed his rashness by affirming that he had 
 fulfilled the law. 
 
 Which rashness presents itself to me as so much the 
 greater, when I recollect what David says, " Who can 
 understand his errors 1 " (Ps. xix. 1 2). And thus I under- 
 stand that the saints of the world, persuading them- 
 selves that, by their moral life, they fulfil the will of 
 God, they by so doing affirm that which the youth rashly 
 affirmed when he said, " All this have I kept ; " whilst they, 
 who are saints of God, knowinp; themselves and knowinc: 
 God, are never persuaded that they fulfil the will of God, 
 nay, they always say with David, " Who can understand his 
 errors?" And the- more they possess of this knowledge, 
 
S. MATTHEW XIX. 16-26. 337 
 
 SO much the more do they hold themselves to be righteous, 
 not in themselves, however, but in Christ. 
 
 But the rashness of this youth is more especially seen 
 in his affirmation, that he had fulfilled the obligation of 
 love to his neighbour, by loving him as himself; which was 
 most false ; for he had great possessions, and he was very 
 sorrowful when he was told that he should sell them, and 
 that he should give them 'to the poor, who were his neigh- 
 bours ; whilst, if he had loved them as himself, he either 
 would not have had such great possessions, or he would 
 have been happy to have sold them, when Christ told him 
 to do so. 
 
 When he adds, " Wliat lack I yet ? " he showed that he 
 was not yet fully assured in his conscience, although he 
 had persuaded himself that he had fulfilled the law. And 
 here it has to be considered, that, however much man may 
 persuade himself of his own righteousness ; doing so him- 
 self, he is always dissatisfied, for it seems to him that 
 there is something wanting ; for so it is, faith alone, that 
 with which we embrace the righteousness of Christ, quiets 
 the conscience, affirming to us that we fail in nothing. 
 
 Were I to state this, there would be nothing wrong in 
 saying it, that this youth did not come to Christ to learn 
 what he asked ; but that Christ should hold him to be a 
 saint and pronounce him to be so ; and thus, I think, that 
 in saying, " What lack I yet ? " he thought that Christ 
 vrould have to reply : thou lackest nothing, eternal life is 
 thine, and thou canst justly ask it of God, and complain 
 of Him, if He do not give it thee ; since thou hast done 
 all that it was thy duty to do; nay, I believe that the 
 young man had no other design than this ; and I think so, 
 because I know that man, by nature, is full of vanity and 
 presumption (Ps. Ixii. 9), and I know that this vanity and 
 this presumption is more natural to those, who are saints 
 of the world, as was this youth. 
 
 To whom Christ replied most appositely, " If thou 
 wouldest he perfect, go," &c. ; Christ knew him to be arro- 
 
 y 
 
338 S. MATTHEW XIX. 16-26. 
 
 gant, for he was a saint of the world; and Christ knew 
 him to be covetous, for he loved his riches ; and, because 
 Christ saw that he already held himself to be holy, Christ 
 summons him to perfection in holiness ; as though Christ 
 had said, since it is, as thou sayest, that thou hast kept 
 the commandments, if thou wilt keep them perfectly, sell 
 thy estate, and give it to the poor, and thus shalt thou have 
 treasures in heaven ; having given them up to attain eter- 
 nal life ; and, having them in heaven, thou wilt also have 
 thy heart in heaven, and, having done this, come and fol- 
 low Me ; for there is no other way by which thou wilt be 
 able to be perfect. This, I think to be that, which Christ 
 purposed to say to the youth. 
 
 And from it we may gather that it does not suffice that 
 a man keep the commandments, even were it possible to 
 keep them ; neither does it suffice that he sell all that he 
 has, and that he give it to the poor, but that he follow 
 Christ, imitating His meekness. His humility of mind, 
 His suffering. His patience, His obedience, and His 
 charity. It may likewise be gathered from these words 
 that the rich, who are so attached to their riches, that not 
 to lose them, for they would indeed grieve to do that, they 
 would cease to follow Christ ; they are here admonished, 
 that, not to be brought into this most terrible predicament, 
 they should sell their possessions, liberate themselves from 
 them, and divest themselves of them. 
 
 The youth showed himself when leaving Christ grieved 
 and ill-pleased, the cause of his displeasure, being as 
 already stated, his ownership of great possessions or in- 
 heritances ; that he did not speak the truth, when he said, 
 that from his youth, he had loved his neighbour as him- 
 self ; and he showed that two passions strove within him, 
 love of the life eternal with the love of riches ; from this 
 strife proceeded his grief, for he loved himself, and showed 
 that, although the love of the life eternal was great, yet 
 the love of riches was greater ; since he would not, from 
 love to the former, deprive himself of the latter. Whence 
 
S. MATTHEW XIX. 16-26. 339 
 
 Christ took occasion to say to His disciples, " Verily, I say 
 unto you, it is hard for the rich," &c., where I understand 
 " th^ kingdom of heaven," to mean the control and govern- 
 ment of the Holy Spirit, which is communicated to those 
 who accept the gospel. 
 
 Seven reasons present themselves to my mind, suggest- 
 ing why it is difficult for the rich man to enter into this 
 kingdom of the heavens. 
 
 The first is, that worldly honour and esteem are annexed 
 to riches, whilst worldly ignominy and reproach are an- 
 nexed to the control of the Holy Spirit ; and it is with 
 the greatest difficulty that a rich man, who is honoured 
 and esteemed by the world for his riches, submits him- 
 self, for Christ's sake, to be insulted and reproached by 
 the world. 
 
 The second is, that the results of riches is outward 
 welfare, wherein the man gratifies all his affections and 
 all his appetites, by which he is the more stimulated in 
 proportion as he has greater means to indulge them ; 
 whilst the result of the control of the Holy Spirit is to 
 deprive tbe man of his satisfactions and of his comforts, 
 by mortifying his affections and his appetites ; whence it 
 comes to pass that the man finds it so much the more 
 difficult to submit himself to the mortification, with which 
 a person lives in the kingdom of heaven, in proportion as 
 his share in the riches of this world is larger. 
 
 The third is, that it being peculiar to riches to maintain 
 man's body and his health in this present life, whilst it is 
 peculiar to the kingdom of heaven that man should expect 
 his maintenance from God only, it comes to pass that it 
 is almost impossible for the rich man to expect his bodily 
 maintenance from God only ; bringing himself to a similar 
 condition with that of the poor man, that depending upon 
 God only, he should express himself in these or similar 
 words : God, through Christ, has promised me, that whilst 
 occupied in seeking the kingdom of God and His righteous- 
 ness, He will provide me with outward things ; I go on 
 
340 5. MATTHEW XIX. 16-26. 
 
 seeking them both, therefore I shall not want, even though 
 all others should. For it seems to be peculiar to the poor 
 to say and to feel this ; it is a fact that the rich never 
 think that the necessaries of life can fail them ; they re- 
 member, that with money, they can purchase them ; and 
 therefore, although they say, ** Give us this day our daily 
 hread," they say so from mere habit, and they say it, hav- 
 ing been taught to do so ; and not because they expect 
 maintenance from God, distrusting every other way of 
 obtaining it. 
 
 The fourth is, that it being necessary for me, in order 
 that I may enter into the kingdom of heaven, to divest 
 myself of all the affection that I have for things of the 
 world; and riches being those that most attract us and 
 affect us by the comforts which they procure for our en- 
 joyment ; it comes to pass, that the more the riches that 
 I possess, so much the greater is the difficulty that I find in 
 losing my affection for them, in order that I may enter 
 the kingdom of heaven free from all attachment to them. 
 
 The fifth is, that in proportion as a man has more 
 things that please him and make him contented with the 
 kingdom of the v^orld, so much the more difficult is it for 
 him to be disenamoured of them, in order that he may 
 enter into the kingdom of God ; since it is a fact that, the 
 richer a man is, so many the more things has he, which 
 hold him imprisoned in the kingdom of the world ; it is 
 also a fact, that so much the greater is the difficulty which 
 he encounters in entering the kingdom of God, into which 
 one enters, having lost th^ love of everything that is in- 
 volved in the kingdom of the world. 
 
 The sixth thing is, that care stands associated with 
 riches, whilst indifference is associated, by those who live 
 in the kingdom of God, with everything that does not 
 pertain to it ; whence it comes to pass that the greater a 
 man's wealth, the more are his cares ; and the more cares 
 he has, the greater difficulty has he to enter and to remain 
 in the kingdom of heaven. 
 
5. MATTHEW XIX. 16-26. 341 
 
 And the seventh is, that the rich man, persuaded by- 
 false religion, that man is justified by his alms and pious 
 works, seeing that he can do many, does not think of getting 
 that from God, which he persuades himself he can himself 
 get ; and thus he does not enter into the kingdom of 
 God. 
 
 Where, should a rich man ask me, saying, since it is so 
 difficult a thing for a rich man to enter into the kingdom 
 of God, with riches, do you advise me to get rid of my 
 wealth ? I shall reply, that he should not rid himself 
 of his riches, until that having practised Christian life, 
 and having experimentally learned that he cannot follow 
 Christ, that he cannot remain in the kingdom of God, 
 with wealth, he begin to desire to be set free from it, 
 because of the difiiculty he would find in retaining it, and 
 in remaining with it in the kingdom of heaven ; and then 
 I will tell him to divest himself of all his riches ; but, I 
 shall tell him to pray to God, that God, by some expedi- 
 ent, take them from him, and that he be on the watch 
 not to resist those men, who would take them, partly or 
 wholly, from him, by whatever means ; resting assured 
 that it is not man who takes them, but that it is God, who 
 does so, by man. His instrument ; and that, in acting thus, 
 he will gain this, that having wealth, he will have it without 
 being attached to it ; nay, that he will hold the possession 
 of wealth to be a heavy cross, and, in losing it, he will be 
 certain that he has not relinquished it from any whim of 
 his own, but by the will of God ; and thus, he will be most 
 contented, as are Christians in everything that they know 
 themselves to be, by the will of God ; being most dis- 
 contented with everything that they know themselves to 
 be, by personal desire. 
 
 Should human prudence here, under pretext of piety, 
 reclaim, and say, that H is better for a man to divest 
 himself, than to allow himself to be divested ; and that 
 he should give his property to good men rather than that 
 he should allow it to be taken away and usurped by bad 
 
342 5. MATTHEW XIX. 16-26. 
 
 men : I shall in addition say, " let it say on and shout ; " 
 but let him follow this out, for the more contrary he acts 
 to what human prudence approves, and to man's natural 
 inclination, which delights in things done by its own will, 
 and grieves and resents at those which it is constrained to 
 do against its will, so much the better is it. 
 
 And reverting to Christ's words, I understand that He, 
 purposing the more to enhance the difficulty of which 
 He had spoken, added, " And again I say unto you, it is 
 easier" &c., and effectively it is so, for the reasons we 
 have above noticed, when man alone, not being aided by 
 Christ's Spirit, presumes to enter and to remain in the 
 kingdom of God, to live like a Christian ; whilst it is not 
 so, when man accepts the grace of the gospel and receives 
 therewith the Christian spirit, he goes on gradually to 
 adopt Christian life, and he lives as one should live in the 
 kingdom of God ; for it is thus, that in such a person, 
 the Spirit of God renders that possible which is naturally 
 impossible. And for this reason meeting the disciples' 
 amazement, Christ said, " With men this is impossible,'' &c., 
 whilst all things being possible to God ; all things are pos- 
 sible to those who have the Spirit of God, as had St. Paul, 
 when he said (Phil. iv. 13), "/ can do all things through 
 Christ that strengtheneth me" whilst Christ saith (Mark 
 ix. 22), " all things are possible to him that believeth." 
 
 It seems to me that I may rest satisfied with the com- 
 mentary upon these words, and, if it shall appear extra- 
 ordinary to anybody that Christ should have invited this 
 person to be His associate, knowing that he would not 
 consent ; whilst Christ had rejected the society of others, 
 who desired to follow Him, let such an one know that 
 Christ never purposed that this youth should be a follower 
 of His, save to quell his arrogance, by giving him self- 
 knowledge. And if, to another, it shall appear hard that 
 Christ should put such difficulty in the way of a rich 
 man's entrance into the kingdom of heaven, and then have 
 to solve it, by saying, that what is impossible to men is 
 
S. MATTHEW XIX. 16-26. 343 
 
 possible to God ; since it appears that the same difficulty 
 may be put in the way to everything else to which we 
 men as men are attached ; let him know that, because 
 riches are those which most tyrannise over us, and those 
 which keep the other affections of this present life alive 
 within us, Christ, willing that we, who accept His gospel, 
 should lose all the affection that we have to everything 
 of the present life, in order that we make room for the 
 affection that we ought to have for things of the life eter- 
 nal, He puts all this difficulty in the way of the rich 
 man's entrance into the kingdom of heaven. Now the rich 
 man is he, who is affectionately devoted to his property, be 
 it little or much ; whilst, on the contrary, he is poor, who 
 has lost all affection for all that he possesses. 
 
 As to the text, where it says, " but one, and He God," it 
 means, but one, and this is God. By that, " thou shalt do no 
 murder, thou shalt not steal," &c., it is to be understood that 
 Christ repeats the very words of the law. By what it 
 here says, " What lack I yet f " the Greek of the text says, 
 " what more then ? " but it signifies, " what more do I 
 need ?" And by what it says, "thy estate, thy effects," the 
 Greek says, " what thou hast," and means thy possessions. 
 Where it says " that thing," the Greek says, " that saying," 
 but as a Hebraism, it means " thing-." By " camel " some 
 understand a ship's rope, but it is of no importance ; all that 
 needs to be understood is, that Christ designed to indi- 
 cate the impossibility. 
 
 That expression, " And Jesus looking upon His disciples," 
 may be understood as indicating that Jesus looked upon 
 His disciples that they might be more attentive to that 
 which He wished to say to them, and that they might be 
 more capable of receiving it ; it being of great importance 
 to them to know that God can do everything, in order that 
 their minds might be tranquillised, by considering, that 
 just as to God all things are possible, so to them, as chil- 
 dren of God, all things are possible. And there is no 
 doubt, but that, if this truth were well impressed upon 
 
344 5. MATTHEW XIX. 27-30. 
 
 our minds, we, who, feeling our incorporation into Christ, 
 know for certain that we are the children of God, holding 
 for certain that to us all things are possible, we should 
 never doubt about anything, and much less, than of all 
 other things taken together, of our reconciliation with 
 God, and, therefore, of our resurrection to immortality and 
 to eternal life. 
 
 They, who are uncertain about this, testify concerning 
 themselves that they do not believe that to God all things 
 are possible ; and, if they say they do believe it, whilst 
 they are uncertain about this, they show that they do not 
 believe that to Christ all things are possible, or, that they 
 4o not hold themselves to be incorporated into Christ, and, 
 by degrees, they come to confess that they have not the 
 Spirit of Christ, and that, in point of fact, they are not 
 Christians. Since it is a fact that they, who are Chris- 
 tians, have the Spirit of Christ, they are incorporated into 
 Christ, they are mighty through Christ, just as Christ is 
 mighty through God ; and thus they are certain that, 
 through Christ, all things are possible to them, and that 
 principally they can conquer themselves, the world, the 
 devil, hell, and death, and thus attain immortality and 
 eternal life with Christ Himself. 
 
 XIX. 27-30. — Then answered Peter and said 
 unto him, Lo, we have left all, and followed thee ; 
 what then shall we have ? And Jesus said unto 
 them, Verily I say unto you, that ye who have 
 followed me, in the regeneration, when the Son of 
 man shall sit on the throne of his glory, ye also 
 shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve 
 tribes of Israel. And every one that hath left 
 houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, 
 or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall re- 
 ceive a hundredfold, and shall inherit eternal life. 
 
S. MATTHEW XIX. 27-30. 345 
 
 But many sball be last that are first; and first that 
 are last. 
 
 Peter, reflecting that the -youth, when he heard Christ 
 say " leave all and follow me," would not do either the 
 one or the other, began to consider how he and his com- 
 panions had done both ; and he began to think more highly 
 of it than he previously did; and, therefore, he asked Christ, 
 saying, " Lo, we have left all" &c., meaning, we have done 
 that which thou toldest the youth that he should do, 
 " what, then, shall we have ? " from which question I gather 
 that the disciples followed Christ simply without having 
 been moved by any ulterior purpose, to follow Him ; having 
 been moved only by Christ's outward call, and by the 
 inward inspiration of God. 
 
 And I hold it to be certain that the experience of 
 Christ's disciples, in following Christ, is realised by all 
 those, who follow Christ, having the same call and inspira- 
 tion; I mean to say that just as the disciples followed 
 Christ without ulterior purpose, so they all follow Christ 
 without any personal ulterior purpose. I likewise hold 
 it for certain that what occurred and what will occur to 
 these disciples, in following Christ, does occur and will 
 occur to all, who follow Christ, without ulterior purpose, 
 as did these disciples ; I mean to say, that just as these 
 disciples, in following Christ, have attained and will attain 
 beyond all comparison much more than they, prompted 
 by any ulterior purpose, could have imagined ; so likewise 
 they, who shall follow Christ as they did, shall attain, in 
 the present life and in the future, much more than they, 
 by any ulterior purpose, could have imagined. 
 
 And here I understand two things. The one, that they 
 who shall find themselves in the way to Christ, following 
 Christ, and shall know that they did not enter on it with 
 any ulterior purpose, but simply by the outward call of 
 the Gospel, which calls us all to Christ, and by inward 
 
346 S. MATTHEW XIX. 27-30. 
 
 inspiration ; they will be able to certify themselves 
 that they are really disciples of Christ. And the other, 
 that they, who, in following Christ, shall find on 
 their way things that they never thought of finding, 
 may rest assured that they will find in the life 
 eternal greater happiness than any they are able to 
 imagine in the present life. Thus it is a good token, 
 that the disciples, having left all that they had to follow 
 Christ, should not have known what awaited them, 
 although it seems that the desire to know it has a savour 
 of curiosity in it; which I do not understand to have 
 been bad in the disciples, considering that its result was 
 that they were thereby confirmed in and certified of, their 
 happiness, by Christ's reply; which confirmation and 
 voucher could not make them either insolent or vicious, 
 as it would have done had they been moved to follow 
 Christ by any personal motive. 
 
 And here I understand that to them, who follow Christ 
 as did these disciples, the assurance of their glorification 
 makes them more modest and loving, more humble and 
 more careful, in following Christ, in imitating Christ ; but 
 they, who have not experienced it, do not believe this 
 truth ; and are therefore unwilling that man be assured 
 in the present life of his glorification ; acting wrongly to 
 the Gospel of Christ, and wresting Christ's words; they 
 would fain make the words say what He never wished 
 that they should ; as in this instance, where they would 
 fain make Christ in His reply speak conditionally : if you 
 shall persevere in that which you have commenced, &c. 
 
 And if any one shall say that if Christ had said these 
 words without this condition, they would not have been 
 true in Judas ; I shall reply, that Christ addressed them 
 to those, who believed them, m whom they were true, 
 as they will also be true in all, who shall believe them ; 
 and that He did not address them to Judas, who never 
 believed them, because, had he believed them, he would 
 not have sold Christ, postponing the felicity which Christ 
 
S. MATTHEW XIX. 27-30. 347 
 
 here propounded for so very low a price ; nay, belief in 
 them would have been as efficacious in him as in the 
 other disciples, to mortify them, and thus to make them 
 perpetually persevere in Christ. 
 
 And coming to the exposition of the words, it must be 
 considered that the disciples in having propounded two 
 things to Christ : the one, that we have left everything ; 
 and the other, and we have followed Thee; Christ, in 
 replying to them, takes first the more important, which 
 comes after the former, and says, " You who have followed 
 Me, &c., showing that that which is of importance is to 
 follow Him, and not the leaving of everything. 
 
 That expression " in the regeneration,'* may be combined 
 with what precedes, so that it may say : you who have 
 followed, and do follow Me, in the state of regeneration, 
 meaning that Christian one which the Christian spirit 
 works in us, you shall in the state of resurrection, be 
 seated upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of 
 Israel; it may also be combined with what follows, so 
 that it may say: you, who have followed Me in the 
 present life, at the resurrection, which will be a new 
 generation, you shall sit, &c. ; this second interpretation 
 appears to be the clearer, but, considering that Holy 
 Scripture calls the state of Christians in the present life, 
 that of regeneration ; calling their state in the life eternal 
 that of resurrection, the first interpretation contents me, 
 and is countenanced by that expression of St. Paul in 
 Titus iii. 5 ; "hy the washing of regeneration," &c., and that 
 of St. Peter (i. 3), " who hath regenerated us (begotten us 
 again) unto a living hope" " Upon the throne of His glory!* 
 is tantamount to, upon His glorious throne ; it is thus that 
 He designates the glory and the majesty with which He 
 will come at the day of judgment. 
 
 When Christ says, ^^he twelve tribes of Israel," I think 
 His meaning to be, that the apostles, being Jews, shall 
 condemn the infidelity of the Jews; just as they, who, 
 from amongst the Gentiles, shall accept the Gospel, will 
 
348 S. MATTHEW XIX. 27-30. 
 
 condemn the infidelity of those Gentiles who shall not 
 have accepted it, so that the word "judging," is equivalent 
 to condemning. 
 
 Christ having replied to the important part of the 
 disciples' proposition, and proceeding to answer the other 
 part, says : "And every one that shall have forsahen" &c., 
 meaning, that he, who in order to follow Christ, whether 
 to preach the gospel, or to teach Christian life, whether to 
 imitate Christ, or to live like a Christian, shall actually 
 deprive himself of these things, or of one, or of some of 
 them, as obstructing him ; just as the disciples deprived 
 themselves of their things, because, that retaining them, 
 they could not follow Christ, he shall be largely rewarded 
 by God in the present life and in the future one ; in the 
 present one, for that he shall be enriched with spiritual 
 gifts, things pertaining to the present life shall be given 
 in to him, by way of addition ; whilst in the future life, 
 he shall, as a member of Christ, made a child of God, 
 attain the inheritance of God, which is eternal life with 
 Christ Himself. Here it will be convenient to remark 
 that there are two ways for a man to leave everything in 
 order to follow Christ. 
 
 The one is by losing attachment to them, and this 
 generally concerns all ; I mean to say that it concerns all 
 Christians to lose attachment to all these things, losing 
 the affection which they naturally had for them, so that 
 in being attached to them their attachment is no longer 
 natural, but spiritual ; and this is conformable with what 
 St. Paul says (i Cor. vii. 29), " It remaineth, that they thai 
 have wives, he as though they had none." The other is actu- 
 ally to get rid of them, and this particularly concerns 
 those, who, as to houses and inheritances, resemble the 
 Jew of whom the evangelist has just spoken ; whom it 
 concerns actually to get rid of their riches ; and it like- 
 wise concerns those, who are so attached to their relatives, 
 that to fulfil their obligations to them, they cease to 
 discharge the obligations of Christian regeneration, or 
 
5. MATTHEW XIX. 27-30. 349 
 
 tliey discharge them less fully than they ought. And I 
 recollect having treated this subject in a reply [No. xxi.]. 
 As to the husband actually leaving his wife, or, as to the 
 wife actually leaving the husband, I remit myself to what 
 St. Paul says in i Cor. vii. 
 
 In that expression, " Shall receive a hundredfold" I 
 understand a finite number for an infinite ; and effectively 
 it is so, that every one, who for Christ's sake, in order to 
 follow and to imitate Christ, to teach Christian life, or to 
 preach the gospel of Christ, deprives himself, as we have 
 said, of all these things, which Christ here enumerates, 
 issues in having much more than he leaves ; for he has 
 all that, which all the members of Christ have, and has as 
 many brothers, as many sisters, as many fathers, as many 
 mothers, and as many children, as there are members of 
 Christ ; this is in the present life, as is pointed out by St. 
 Mark x. 29 ; whilst in the future life, Christ says, that they, 
 who shall have left these things, in order to follow Him, 
 shall attain life eternal, not for that which they have left, 
 but for the end for which they have left it, which is to 
 follow Christ. 
 
 And therefore Christ added, " But many that are first 
 shall he last, and the last shall he first" meaning, that 
 many, who shall think to be first in the life eternal, 
 because that, in their opinion, they will have left much, 
 shall be last ; whilst that many, who shall think to be 
 last, for that, in their opinion, they will have left but 
 little, shall be first. Where it is not to be understood 
 that some will precede others, in the life eternal, but that 
 some will be admitted to it, whilst others will be excluded 
 from it ; but as in that passage, in St. Matt. xxi. 31, where 
 Christ says, that " the puhlicans and the harlots shall precede 
 you in the kingdom of heaven," He does not mean that 
 they shall have a better place than the Pharisees, but 
 that they shall be admitted into the kingdom, whilst the 
 Pharisees will be excluded ; and I have indicated this 
 mode of speaking practised by Christ in my observa- 
 
350 S. MATTHEW XIX. 27-30. 
 
 tions upon that passage in chapter v., " he shall be called 
 least" &c. 
 
 " TJie first, who shall be last,'' I understand that they 
 will be, of those, of whom Christ speaks, who will say to 
 Him at the day of judgment, "Lord, Lord, have we not 
 prophesied in Thy name," &c., whilst the last that shall 
 be first, I understand, will be of those, who will say to 
 Christ at the day of judgment, " Lord, when saw we Thee 
 hungry," &c., to whom Christ will reply, that what they 
 have done to one of His, they have done it to Him. 
 
S. MATTHEW XX. 351 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 XX. I -1 6. — For the kingdom of heaven is like 
 unto a man that is a householder, which went out 
 early in the morning to hire labourers into his vine- 
 yard. And when he had agreed with the labourers 
 for a penny a day, he sent them into the vineyard. 
 And he went out about the third hour, and saw 
 others standing in the market-place idle ; and to 
 them he said. Go ye also into the vineyard, and 
 whatsoever is right, I will give you. And they 
 went their way. Again he went out about the sixth 
 and ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the 
 eleventh hour he went out, and found others stand- 
 ing idle ; and he saith unto them, Why stand ye 
 here all the day idle ? They say unto him. Because 
 no man hath hired us. He saith unto them. Go ye 
 also into the vineyard. And when even was come, 
 the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, 
 Call the labourers, and pay them their hire, begin- 
 ning from the last, unto the first. And when they 
 came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they 
 received every man a penny. And when the first 
 came, they supposed that they would receive more ; 
 and they likewise received every man a penny. 
 And when they received it, they murmured against 
 the householder, saying. These last have spent but 
 
352 S. MATTHEW XX. 1-16. 
 
 one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, 
 who have borne the burden of the day and the 
 scorching heat. But he answered and said to one 
 of them, Friend, I do thee no wrong : didst not 
 thou agree with me for a penny ? Take up that 
 which is thine, and go thy way ; it is my will to 
 give unto this last even as unto thee. Is it not 
 lawful for me to do what I will with mine own ? 
 or is thine eye evil, because I am good ? So the 
 last shall be first and the first last : for many are 
 called, but few chosen. 
 
 From the words, whence it seems, that Christ took occa- 
 sion to utter this parable, and from the words with which 
 it concludes, which are the same as that addition, viz., 
 " Many are called, hut few chosen" it is readily inferred, 
 that it is His intention to show how the first shall be last, 
 and the last first. Where it is to be understood that the 
 householder is God ; the vineyard is the Church ; which, 
 as Christ has showed in other parables, comprises good 
 and bad ; the labourers, who go to dig the vineyard, are 
 we all ; and the householder's steward is Christ. And it 
 is so, that all who enter into the Church, enter, being 
 called of God, but some are so with only the outward call- 
 ing, which is the preaching of the gospel, whilst others 
 are so, both outwardly and inwardly. 
 
 They, who enter with only the outward call, believing by 
 report, they never understand the righteousness of Christ, 
 and, pretending to attain eternal life by their works, labour- 
 ing and wearying themselves by day and by night, they 
 find themselves to be so rich in outward works, that they 
 hold themselves to be the first in the kingdom of God; 
 whilst those, who enter with the outward and with the 
 inward call, believing by revelation, they embrace the 
 righteousness of Christ, and, as they do not work in order 
 
vS. MATTHEW XX. 1-16. 353 
 
 to be righteous, but because they are righteous, however 
 much they may work, it always appears to them that they 
 work but little, and thus they hold themselves to be last 
 in the kingdom of God ; but, when Christ shall come to 
 judgment, He will admit those, who hold themselves to be 
 last, and He will cast out from the kingdom those, who 
 hold themselves to be first; disregarding the amount of 
 works done by both, but regarding the faith and the inten- 
 tion with which they will have worked. Whence will 
 result the murmurs of those, who will be excluded from 
 the kingdom, who will plead their good works ; but their 
 pleas will profit them but little. 
 
 Thus do I understand this whole parable, considering 
 in the murmurers, the peculiar plight of saints of the 
 world, who hold themselves, and are held by men, to be 
 the first; and, considering in the others, the peculiar 
 plight of the saints of God, who hold themselves, and are 
 held by men, to be the last ; and, considering the goodness 
 and liberality of God (exemplified) in the householder, 
 and, understanding that, in the many who are called, they 
 are comprised, who only have the outward call ; and that, 
 in the few chosen, they ate comprised, who have both the 
 one and the other. Where, if it shall appear strange to 
 any one that we understand that the first, (of whom Christ 
 speaks, saying they shall be last,) will be excluded from 
 the kingdom, let him read Luke xiii. 6-9, where he will 
 see that these words of Christ cannot be understood other- 
 wise. 
 
 And if, to another, it shall appear hard that this parable 
 does not harmonise in many things, and chiefly in this, 
 that the murmurs of the first were not because they were 
 not paid, but because they were placed upon the same foot- 
 ing with the others, let him read in Matthew xiii. 24-40, 
 Christ's exposition of the parable of the tares, and, finding 
 that the exposition does not harmonise in every detail with 
 the parable, nor even with what we might have thought to 
 have been its design, as I have shown in my Commentary 
 
 z 
 
354 S' MATTHEW XX. 17-19. 
 
 upon it, he should not marvel, nay, he will know, that 
 parables, being taken from human things in order to 
 explain divine ones, whilst they differ exceedingly each 
 from the other, it fully suffices that they harmonise in the 
 main design. 
 
 Here I will add two things. The one, that this is ever 
 thus, that they, who, according to human judgment, are 
 first, for that they are very rich in outward works, are, 
 according to divine judgment, last, for they work without 
 faith ; and just as faith, without works of faith, is nothing 
 worth ; so works without faith are worth nothing ; whilst, 
 on the other hand, they, who, according to human judg- 
 ment, are last, as being poor in outward works, are, accord- 
 ing to the divine judgment, first, because they have faith, 
 which is efificient in their hearts to bring them that in 
 working they work from pure love ; whilst a work, in 
 itself small, wrought in faith, is worth more than a hun- 
 dred thousand great ones without faith. And the other, 
 that they, who work without faith, working from self-love, 
 are always rash, presumptuous, and murmurers ; whilst 
 that they, who work with faith, working from pure love 
 to God, are always modest, humble, and silent; these 
 testify concerning themselves that they are the saints of 
 God ; whilst those bear testimony concerning themselves 
 that they are saints of the world, and therefore they will 
 be condemned with the world. 
 
 XX. 17-19. — And as Jesus was going up to 
 Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples apart, and 
 in the way he said unto them. Behold we go up to 
 Jerusalem ; and the Son of man shall be delivered 
 unto the chief priests and scribes ; and they shall 
 condemn him to death, and shall deliver him unto 
 the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify: 
 and the third day he shall be raised up. 
 
S. MATTHEW XX. 17-19. 355 
 
 In chapter xvi. 21 and 22, we have already seen, in 
 an address m,ade by Christ to His disciples, a passage 
 couched in almost the same words as our text, only 
 they are in this latter somewhat clearer, for in saying 
 " ITe shall he delivered up to the chief priests," &c., and 
 afterwards " they shall deliver Him unto the Gentiles, &c., 
 He shows that He was about to be sold and placed in the 
 hands of those, who, amongst the Jews, held the highest 
 rank in sanctity and letters ; and that they were about to 
 condemn Him as worthy of death, and that they, being 
 unable to be His executioners, were about to place Him 
 in the hands of Pontius Pilate and of his officers, in order 
 that they should be His executioners, preluding the 
 grief and pangs of death by mockery and scourging; 
 whilst the kind of death was in itself most cruel and 
 most terrible ; Christ condescending to the weakness of 
 His disciples, intimates resurrection as associated with 
 death. 
 
 Where I understand that whenever the cross of Christ 
 is propounded to those, who accept the grace of the gospel 
 — the cross being that to which they all bind themselves 
 to suffer with Him — Christ's resurrection ought always to 
 be propounded along with it ; showing them that it is so, 
 that none will participate in the joy of Christ's resurrec- 
 tion, save those, who have experienced, little or much, the 
 cross of Christ in the present life ; now we experience 
 the cross of Christ, when devoting ourselves to Christian 
 faith and to Christian life, we are murmured against, or 
 despised, or persecuted, or martyrised, by men of the 
 world. And I feel assured that there is not a man of 
 those, who devote themselves to Christian faith and to 
 Christian life, that does not, to some great extent, experi- 
 ence this cross ; I feel assured of this by my own experi- 
 ence, and by what Paul says in 2 Tim. iii. 12, ''All those, 
 who will live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution," 
 which sentence has been, is, and will be true, until the 
 end of the world ; and he that does not experience this 
 
356 5. MATTHEW XX. 20-23. 
 
 persecution and contradiction for Christ's sake, will I 
 think be at a loss when he looks for assurance that he 
 lives godly in Christ. 
 
 XX. 20-23. — Then came to him the mother of 
 Zebedee's children with her sons, worshipping him, 
 and desiring a certain thing of him. And he said 
 unto her, What wilt thou ? She saith unto him, 
 Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on 
 thy right hand, and the other on thy left, in thy 
 kingdom. But Jesus answered and said, Ye know 
 not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup 
 that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the 
 baptism that I am baptized with ? They say unto 
 him. We are able. And he said unto them, Ye 
 shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with 
 the baptism that I am baptized with : but to sit 
 on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to 
 give, but it shall be given to them, for whom it is 
 prepared of my Father. 
 
 Christ having intimated His death and His resurrection 
 to His disciples, it appears that the two sons of Zebedee 
 thought that the time had already come to ask favours of 
 Christ ; and they asked their mother, that she should 
 speak on their behalf; Matthew reports that she came 
 humbly to Christ and asked Him some favour, and that 
 when Christ told her to ask what she wanted, she asked 
 Him for the two first places in His kingdom for her two 
 sons, — this is what I understand by sitting one on Thy 
 right and one on Thy left, on Thy right hand and on Thy 
 left. Where it is worth the while to consider how little 
 were the two disciples mortified, since their designs were 
 euch, and that they, moreover, imagined that the kingdom 
 of Christ resembled the kingdoms of the world, not even 
 
5. MATTHEW XX. 20-23. 357 
 
 yet understanding, that though in the life eternal Christ's 
 kingdom consists in glory, that in the present life it 
 consists in reproach ; forasmuch as the world holds and 
 judges it to be ignominious and matter of reproach to be 
 in the kingdom of Christ, by accepting of the righteous- 
 ness of Christ, and by studying the imitation of Christ. 
 
 From what Christ says in His reply, " Yoio know not 
 what yoio ask!' two things are to be understood : the one, 
 that Christ knowing the request did not proceed from the 
 mother but from the sons, He did not answer her, but 
 them ; and the other, that He wished to show them that 
 His witholding their request did not proceed from any 
 failure on His part, but from ignorance on theirs, which 
 had prompted them to make an impertinent request. 
 
 Christ subjoining, " Can you drink the cup," &c., showed 
 them very clearly that the way to the glory of His king- 
 dom is necessarily by that of reproach, travelling the way 
 by which He went ; I mean to say, that only they will 
 enjoy Christ's glory, who will have tasted and experi- 
 enced the reproach of Christ. Where it is not to be 
 understood that the glory is given as a premium for 
 reproach, but that reproach is the way by which one goes 
 to glory, just as it is, that by sweat one goes to victory ; 
 for victory is not given on account of the sweat, but 
 they must needs sweat, who would come forth victo- 
 rious. 
 
 " Oup " is equivalent to lot or part. Holy Scripture 
 occasionally employs the word in a bad sense, as in that 
 passage in Psalm xi. 6, where "Jlre, brimstone, and a horrible 
 tempest are represented as being the portion of the cup of the 
 wicked ; " and in that, in Isaiah li. 1 7, where Jerusalem is 
 represented as having " drunk the cup of the Lord's fury ; '' 
 whilst at other times it is employed in a good sense, as in 
 Psalm xvi. 5 : ^\The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and 
 of my cup!' ^^^ then in Psalm xxiii. 5, ''My cup runneth 
 over" Adding, " And with the baptism with which L am 
 baptized" &c., which expounds what I have stated, mean- 
 
358 5. MATTHEW XX. 20-23. 
 
 ing that His cup was His death and passion, and that His 
 baptism was the same as His cup, so that they drink 
 Christ's cup and are baptized with Christ's baptism, who 
 being baptized in the present life, are reproached and 
 martyrised for Christ's sake, for that of Christian faith, 
 and for that of Christian life. 
 
 The disciples, in answering, " We can" admitted that the 
 request proceeded from themselves, and fully proved the 
 desire they had to obtain that which their mother had 
 requested for them ; affirming that they had courage 
 enough to go through, they knew not what ; and that they 
 were able to do that, which they could not, as they proved 
 when they fled, as did the other disciples ; for had they 
 been able to do what they thought, they would not have 
 fled ; and such as were these two disciples of Christ at 
 that time, who persuaded themselves that they were able 
 to do that which they could not, (though indeed after that 
 they had received the Holy Spirit they were enabled,) are 
 all they, who self-reliantly persuade themselves that they 
 can do great things, and afterwards fall in little ones; 
 who never would be able to do that, which they persuade 
 themselves they can do, unless God in His mercy send 
 them His Holy Spirit. 
 
 Christ, in replying, " Ye shall indeed drink of my mp" 
 &c., prophesied the martyrdom of the two disciples, and 
 confirmed the sentence of predestination, by stating that 
 God has already prepared the places that every one will 
 occupy in the heavenly kingdom. And this humble reply 
 of Christ's is well worthy of consideration, in which He 
 attributes to the Father only, the prerogative of granting 
 and of distributing grades of glory; as though He had 
 said, it is my function to acquire eternal life for you, to 
 habilitate you to share in my Father's inheritance, in my 
 ^Father's kingdom ; whilst it is my Father's prerogative to 
 give those places which you solicit, and He will give them 
 to those, to whom, in His divine mind. He has determined 
 to give them. 
 
S. MATTHEW XX. 24-28. 359 
 
 Here it will be apposite to repeat this, that he, who 
 holds it to be certain and sure that God has prepared him 
 a place in the life eternal, strives to live in the present 
 life with that purity, righteousness, and holiness, with 
 which he will live in the life eternal ; and that he, who 
 does not so strive, testifies concerning himself that he has 
 not the assurance ; so that the assurance is most efficient 
 instrumentally in promoting mortification ; whilst mortifi- 
 cation, with meek and humble life, is a great token of 
 assurance. Whenever in the life of Christ His humility 
 and obedience to God are brought before us, there should 
 be brought before us too, how much it behoved Him to 
 be humble and obedient, since He came to restore that 
 which Adam had lost by pride and by disobedience. 
 
 XX. 24-28. — And when the ten beard it, they 
 were moved with indignation against the two 
 brethren. But Jesus called them unto him, and 
 said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles 
 exercise dominion over them, and they that are 
 great exercise authority upon them. But it shall 
 not be so among you : but whosoever will be great 
 among you, let him be your minister. And who- 
 soever will be chief among you, let him be your 
 servant : even as the Son of man came not to be 
 ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his 
 life a ransom for many. 
 
 From the circumstance that the ten disciples resented 
 the ambitious request of the two, wherein they showed 
 that they desired to be elevated above the others, we gain 
 this most necessary reply of Christ, which I understand 
 concerned the apostles at the time, in which, having 
 received the Holy Spirit, they found themselves and knew 
 themselves to be in the kingdom of Christ; which also 
 
36o 5. MATTHEW XX. 24-28. 
 
 concerns all those, who having received the same spirit, 
 find themselves and know themselves to be in the same 
 kingdom, who are all apprised by these words that he 
 ranks first and is chief in the kingdom of Christ, who is 
 most like to Christ; especially so in this, that just as 
 Christ came not into the world to be ministered unto, to 
 be honoured, prized, or esteemed, but to minister. His 
 ministry consisting in His giving His life for the lives of 
 many, He dying in order that He might raise many to 
 life eternal ; so he that is in the kingdom of Christ is not 
 \/ to expect to be ministered unto, to be honoured, prized, or 
 esteemed for the rank that he holds in the kingdom, but 
 to minister; his ministry being constituted in his laying 
 down his life and everything else in order to preach the 
 gospel to others, to teach them Christian life, and thus to 
 assist them to the enjoyment of " the benefit of Christ." 
 
 Where I understand that they, who in this manner 
 imitate Christ, in ministering as He ministered, can say 
 with Paul (Col. i. 24), " that they fill up on their part of 
 that which lacked in the passion of Christ, for His tody's 
 sake, which is the Church" sincefit is a fact that Christ, in 
 . dying, ransomed the lives of all, whilst they, in preaching 
 and teaching, and in suffering all that occurs to them 
 when they preach and teach, are instrumental in bringing 
 many to enjoy the ransom of Christ ; and this is peculiarly 
 Christian ministry, into which ambition does not enter, 
 nor is there aught that savours of it therein. 
 
 They who affect primacy and to be princes in the king- 
 dom of Christ, testify concerning themselves that they are 
 not yet in the kingdom of Christ ; or, that allowing them- 
 selves to be conquered by their affections, they are weak 
 and imperfect, and therefore that they are not first but 
 last. When Christ says, " Ye know that heathen princes" 
 &c., He designs to show the difference there is between 
 the kingdom of the world and the kingdom of God, which 
 is the kingdom of Christ ; for that in the kingdom of the 
 world they are the greatest and rank highest, who are 
 
S. MATTHEW XX. 29-34. 361 
 
 ministered unto, and who 'hold men subject to their 
 tyranny ; whilst in the kingdom of God, in the Christian 
 church, they are the greatest and rank highest, who most 
 minister, and who, on that account, are by men the most 
 oppressed and the worst treated. 
 
 Where Christ says, " Uven as the Son of man" &c., He 
 invites us to imitate Him, that we should in the present 
 life aim at the greatness at which He aimed; that we 
 should live as He lived; that we should follow that 
 which He followed ; and that we should die as He died, 
 giving, by His death, life to many. Christ indeed by His 
 death gave life to all men, for that God slew all in Him, 
 and in Him God has raised us all; but, because only 
 they will enjoy this resurrection, who shall hold them- 
 selves to be dead in Christ and to be risen in Christ, 
 Holy Scripture states in some passages that Christ died 
 for many, having regard to the result; whilst it states 
 in other passages that He died for all, having regard to 
 the act. Here it is to be noted that these, Christ's words, 
 do not remove dominion or pre-eminence from amongst 
 Christians, eithej in temporalities, or in Christian life, 
 for Christ was above the disciples, by whom He was 
 called Lord. 
 
 XX. 29-34. — And as they departed from Jericho, 
 a great multitude followed him. And behold two 
 blind men sitting by the wayside, when they 
 heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying. 
 Have mercy on us, Lord, thou son of David. 
 And the multitude rebuked them, because they 
 should hold their peace : but they cried the more, 
 saying. Have mercy on us, Lord, thou son of 
 David. And Jesus stood still, and called them, 
 and said. What will ye that I shall do unto you ? 
 They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be 
 
362 S. MATTHEW XX. 29-34. 
 
 opened. So Jesus had compassion on them, and 
 touched their eyes : and immediately their eyes 
 received sight, and they followed him. 
 
 Had these two blind men not known their blindness, 
 they would not have asked soundness (of vision), and had 
 they not very greatly desired soundness, they would not 
 have been thus importunate in asking it; and at the 
 least, having been rebuked, they would have been silent, 
 and thus they would not have recovered the sight of 
 their eyes. Precisely thus does it happen to men ; and 
 thus it is, that they, who do not know themselves to be 
 blind, do not ask God to open their inward eyes ; whilst 
 they, who know themselves to be blind, if they do not 
 very strongly desire to see, they are not importunate in 
 prayer, and thus neither these nor those recover sight; 
 whilst they only do recover sight, who, by the gift of 
 God, know themselves to be blind, and, imitating these 
 two blind men, ask of Christ importunately that He cure 
 them ; and they never desist from asking, however much 
 men of the world or hellish fiends rebuke them and 
 interrupt them ; nay, they are so much the more impetuous 
 and the more importunate in asking, in proportion as 
 they are the more rebuked and interrupted. Christ opens 
 the inward eyes of such, and they, recognising Christ by 
 them, follow Christ, imitating Christ. And here I under- 
 stand that none follow Christ, save those, who, having, 
 by the benefit of Christ, recovered their inward sight, 
 begin to know Christ. 
 
S. MATTHEW XXI. 363 
 
 CHAPTEE XXI. 
 
 XXI. 1-17. — And when they drew nigh unto 
 Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the 
 mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, 
 saying unto them, Go into the village over against 
 you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, 
 and a colt with her : loose them, and bring them 
 unto me. And if any man say ought unto you, 
 ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them ; and 
 straightway he will send them. All this was 
 done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken 
 by the prophet, saying, Tell ye the daughter of 
 Sion, Behold, thy king cometh unto thee, meek, 
 and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an 
 ass. And the disciples went and did as Jesus 
 commanded them, and brought the ass, and the 
 colt, and put on them their clothes, and they 
 set him thereon. And a very great multitude 
 spread their garments in the way ; others cut 
 down branches from the trees, and strawed them 
 in the way. And the multitudes that went before, 
 and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the 
 son of David I Blessed is he that cometh in the 
 name of the Lord ; Hosanna in the highest. And 
 when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city 
 was moved, saying, Who is this ? And the multi- 
 
364 5. MATTHEW XXI. 1-17. 
 
 tucle said, Tliis is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth 
 of Galilee. And Jesus went into the temple of 
 God and cast out all them that sold and bought 
 in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the 
 money-changers, and the seats of them that sold 
 doves. And said unto them, It is written. My 
 house shall be called the house of prayer ; but ye 
 have made it a den of thieves. And the blind 
 and the lame came to him in the temple ; and he 
 healed them. And when the chief priests and 
 scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and 
 the children crying in the temple, and saying, 
 Hosanna to the son of David ; they were sore dis- 
 pleased. And said unto him, Hearest thou what 
 these say ? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea ; 
 have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes 
 and sucklings thou hast perfected praise ? And 
 he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany ; 
 and he lodged there. 
 
 It appears to me that Christ manifested more majesty 
 in this His entry into Jerusalem and into the temple, 
 than in any one of the many things that He did ; which 
 majesty presents itself so much the greater as I see it 
 the more blended with the most profound humility. Very 
 great majesty was incident to the entry into Jerusalem 
 with the ceremony of boughs (as at the feast of taber- 
 nacles) which the Jews were wont to make in the seventh 
 month, agreeably with the prescript given them in Leviticus 
 xxiii. 38, 44, together with the acclamations of Hosanna, 
 which the Jews had associated with the ceremony of the 
 boughs, as appears by their histories; whilst there was 
 very great humility, when entering with that majesty, 
 to enter riding upon an ass, precisely as the prophet 
 
S. MATTHEW XXI. 1-17. 365 
 
 Zechariah had seen Him enter, when he said in chapter 
 ix. 9, " Tell the daughter of Sio7i," &c. There was also 
 very great majesty in Christ's entry into the temple of 
 Jerusalem, making the upset which He did, and uttering 
 the words which He spoke; whilst, very great was the 
 humility with which He went forth, outside the city, 
 that night, not desiring to carry out, as one might say, 
 the victory over the rulers of the synagogue. 
 
 Such is the mode in which I envisage it generally, and, 
 proceeding to particulars, I understand that Christ, in 
 sending the two disciples, with all those incidents, in 
 order that they should bring Him the ass and her colt 
 whereon to enter Jerusalem, designed to certify them, and 
 to confirm them, in the faith and in the estimate which 
 they ought to hold of Him ; of His omnipotence, for they 
 saw that nothing resisted His will ; and of His truth, for 
 they saw that all that He said was verified. 
 
 In that expression, " The Lord hath need of them," it 
 might seem strange to some, that Christ, who was humility 
 itself, in speaking of Himself should call Himself, Lord ; 
 but if we consider, that it was necessary that Christ should 
 express the very words to the disciples which they had to 
 say, it will not appear strange, especially since it was less 
 likely that Christ should enter into any ambition as to 
 the titles that men should give Him, than that the ocean 
 should overflow its limits, because a rivulet discharged 
 itself into it. 
 
 In that, " And all this was done," &c., the evangelist 
 means, that what Christ here did, harmonised with the 
 prophecy of Zechariah ; not that He did it, having regard 
 to what Zechariah had said ; nay, Zechariah had said it, 
 because Christ was about to do it ; and he, who should 
 have eyes to compare what he saw in Christ with 
 Zechariah's words, might well know that Christ was the 
 Messiah, being that person of whom Zechariah spoke, who 
 according to the Hebrew text [for Matthew follows the 
 Greek, the Septuagint] speaks thus (Zech ix. 9), '' Bejoice 
 
366 S. MATTHEW XXI. 1-17. 
 
 greatly y daughter of Zion ; shout for joy, daughter of 
 Jerusalem ; behold thy King cometh unto thee, He is just 
 and having salvation ; lowly and riding upon an ass, and 
 upon a colt, the foal of an ass." Whilst further on he says, 
 " And His dominion shall he from sea to sea, and from 
 the river to the ends of the earth." Where I understand 
 that this glorious entry of Christ into Jerusalem, being 
 shown in vision to the prophet, he, thoroughly glad and 
 contented, began to say, ''Rejoice greatly," &c., calling 
 Jerusalem, which was situate upon Mount Zion, daughter 
 of Zion ; and calling the Christian Church, which sprang 
 up in Jerusalem, for it was there that the preaching of 
 the Gospel commenced, daughter of Jerusalem. 
 
 I understand the words, " heing just and having salva- 
 tion," to be equivalent to " free from all sin," wherein con- 
 sists Christ's glory, nay rather our own, for we base our 
 righteousness and our innocence upon the righteousness and 
 innocence of Christ ; resting assured that God's chastise- 
 ment, which He laid upon Christ, was not because He had 
 sinned, but because He had taken our sins upon Himself ; 
 recognising Himself and finding Himself to be as guilty 
 before God for each one of them, as though He had really 
 committed them all. [See Consideration Ixxxii.] 
 
 In that, " lowly and riding" &c., we may consider that 
 the prophet aptly combined humility with riding upon an 
 ass. The foal of an ass, that had been broken in, spoken 
 of by the evangelist, differs in nothing from the foal of an 
 ass spoken of by the prophet. 
 
 From Mark's narrative (xi. 1-7), it is to be understood 
 that Christ entered riding upon the ass' colt, possibly sig- 
 nifying His superiority over Christians, who recognise no 
 other Lord than Christ. In those words, '' His dominion 
 shall he from sea to sea," Zechariah intimated or pro- 
 phesied that Christ's kingdom has to extend over the 
 whole world; I do not say the temporal and outward, 
 but the spiritual and inward ; for He has absolute 
 power in heaven and on earth. Thus do I understand 
 
S. MATTHEW XXI. 1-17. 367 
 
 Zechariah's prophecy, which well agrees with the evan- 
 gelist's quotation. 
 
 It will appear strange to some that where in the pro- 
 phecy it says, " having salvation/' that it should not say 
 Saviour, not considering that what would be understood 
 by saying Saviour is understood by saying " thy King'* 
 for the Messiah is so called; neither considering that 
 the "just one" combined with " the one having salvation," 
 agree well together, it being usual with the prophets, 
 when they desire to enhance a thing, to combine two 
 words that signify the same thing and to repeat the same 
 sentence twice, using different words. 
 
 This same prophecy greatly scandalises the Jews, that 
 it should state that their King comes riding upon an ass ; 
 and they cannot make out how this riding upon an ass 
 can agree with their Messiah ; and this sets their imagina- 
 tion straining at strange things ; because, Christ's two 
 states, the humble and the glorious, are beyond their com- 
 prehension ; they do not know how to distinguish between 
 the prophecies that speak of Christ; those which speak 
 of Him in a state of humiliation, and those which speak 
 of Him in a state of glorification ; which two states are so 
 bknded in the prophets, that it seems they both were pre- 
 sented to them combined, in order that they should speak 
 of them both in combination, as though they were one ; 
 as though God willed to deceive human prudence, by 
 causing it to come to pass that the more it studied the 
 Scriptures, the more it should find itself in the dark in 
 relation to them. 
 
 As to the ceremony of the boughs, I have already said 
 that they referred to the feast (of tabernacles) which they 
 held in the seventh month ; and it is truly something 
 divine, that those multitudes, without knowing what they 
 did, should have done in honour of Christ what they did 
 in honour of God, adding thereto the casting of their gar- 
 ments on the road ; a ceremony taken I know not where ; 
 but it pleases me to consider Christ, who, as to Himself, 
 
368 S. MATTHEW XXI. 1-17. 
 
 humbled Himself by riding upon an ass, whilst as to the 
 multitudes, He was exalted by all those ceremonies to the 
 best of their ability ; by the boughs, by their garments, 
 and by the exclamations, which they shouted ; Hosanna, 
 which is tantamount to help us now; and, by adding, 
 " Thou Son of David," they confessed Christ to be the 
 Messiah, as we have previously seen. And by saying, 
 " Blessed he He that cometh" &c., they confirmed the opinion 
 they held, that He was the Messiah, sent by God to re- 
 deem Israel ; but not as they thought, from the tyranny 
 of men in the present life ; but from the tyranny of the 
 flesh, of the devil, of hell, and of death, to life eternal ; 
 which liberation they begin to feel in the present life, 
 who have to enjoy it in the life eternal. Eepeating their 
 Hosanna with that '' in the highest" I think that they 
 meant that their voices should ascend on high, so that 
 they should be heard of God. 
 
 And it is to be understood that, to shout Hosanna, is 
 the same as though they had cried out God save the 
 Kinor, which we are in the habit of doincr when the Kinjj 
 enters any place. And also, that these words with which 
 the multitudes honoured Christ are taken from Psalm cxviii. 
 25, 26, where there is a verse that says,"/ beseech Thee, 
 Lord, save now : I heseech Thee, Lord, prosper now : 
 Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." Where 
 remitting myself to my Commentary upon this psalm, I 
 will say this ; that it would have been the greatest happi- 
 ness of those multitudes had they known what they did 
 and what they said; knowing that they were inspired 
 by God to do it and to say it ; as it will be our greatest 
 happiness, when, being inspired by God, as were they, 
 we shall know that that is inspiration of God, and we shall 
 embrace it; our happiness consisting in that we shall 
 know both the omnipotence of God and of Christ; the 
 power of their inspirations within us ; and we shall thus 
 be the more certified of our justification, resurrection, 
 and glorification. 
 
S. MATTHEW XXI. 1-17. 369 
 
 The disturbance or movement and tumult which then 
 was in Jerusalem upon Christ's entrance, with glory and 
 with majesty, blended with lowliness and with humility, 
 typify to me the disturbance, the movement, and the tumult 
 which takes place in every one of those, in whom the 
 Spirit of Christ enters, with inward glory and majesty, 
 blended with external lowliness and humility, for that 
 such an one is rendered humble and lowly by the self- 
 knowledge then imparted to him ; whilst the disturbance 
 that there was amongst the citizens is typified by the 
 affections and the lusts which are after the flesh, all of 
 which resent the entrance of the Spirit of Christ. 
 
 From the reply made by those, who came with Christ, 
 to them in the city, saying, " This is Jesus the prophet,'' &c., 
 it appears, that without knowing what they did, they 
 attributed to Christ more than what they actually held 
 and believed concerning Him. 
 
 In the authority and majesty with which Christ cast 
 out of the temple those who bought and sold, without any 
 one presenting himself to desire Him not to do it, I con- 
 sider Christ as much more glorious than when I consider 
 Him transfigured upon Mount Tabor; holding it to be 
 certain that, if those multitudes had not seen in Him 
 more than they had been wont to see on other occasions, 
 they would not have allowed Him thus to carry out that 
 severity which He exercised upon them. 
 
 Those words, with which Christ stopped the mouths of 
 the High priests and learned Jews, by saying to them, 
 " My house shall he called a house of prayer" are taken 
 from Isaiah Ivi. ; whilst Christ, by adding, " hut you have 
 made it a den of thieves" means, that the temple being 
 the house of God, where adoration and prayer should be 
 offered to God, they had rendered it as pernicious as a 
 den of thieves ; for that, just as evil-doers, highwaymen, 
 assemble in their cave, so they, who tyrannised over and 
 robbed the people of God, assembled themselves in the 
 temple ; for that in the temple, under the pretence of the 
 
 2 A 
 
370 S. MATTHEW XXI. 1-17. 
 
 temple, feigning religion and sanctity, they robbed the 
 poor, stripping men of their property, in order to increase 
 the treasures and riches of the temple. 
 
 Christ, by curing those in the temple, the blind and the 
 lame, who came to Him, confirmed the opinion which the 
 multitudes held of Him, and gave occasion to the High 
 priests and scholars, who then ranked highest for external 
 sanctity, to discover the malignity of their minds, by ask- 
 ing Christ if He heard what the multitudes said, pretend- 
 ing to tell Him that He did wrong to consent to it; for 
 that, according to them, the people assigned to Him that 
 which did not belong to Him ; just as if, the saints of the 
 world, hearing that one of those, who, in Christ, are saints 
 of God, called by other men just and holy, they would 
 wish to show him up as proud and impious, because he 
 consents that they should attribute to him that, which, 
 according to them, does not belong to him, for that they 
 judge him by what they see in him. 
 
 Where I understand that just as Christ was not offended 
 by that which the multitudes attributed to Him, for He 
 knew that to be in Himself which those saints of the 
 world did not know; neither did that elate Him with 
 pride, which would have elated those saints of the world ; 
 so that holiness and righteousness which is attributed to 
 members of Christ does not offend them, for they know 
 themselves to be incorporated into Christ, and therefore 
 to be just and holy in Christ; neither does this elate 
 them with pride, as it would elate the saints of the 
 world, for they do not recognise themselves to be right- 
 eous or holy in themselves, but in Christ. 
 
 And I understand too, that just as Christ defended 
 those who praised Him, by quoting David's words, so 
 the members of Christ can defend those, who praise them, 
 by quoting Paul's words, nay, those of Christ Himself, 
 where in John xvii. He speaks of the union there is 
 betwixt Himself and His members. And I understand, 
 that Christ in quoting these words, " Out of tlu moutlis of 
 
5. MATTHEW XXI. 18-22. 371 
 
 hahes" &c., intended to say, these do not praise Me, but 
 they praise God in Me and by Me, and their praise is 
 acceptable to God ; and that this is so, appears from what 
 David says, that God makes His praise to be perfect and 
 entire, by opening the mouths of children that they 
 should praise Him; and they were all children, who 
 addressed these words to Christ, for it was not they, who 
 spake them, but the Spirit of God in them, whilst they 
 did not understand what they said. 
 
 And here I understand, that we, who are just born 
 again in Christ, are children, whilst we love, believe, hope, 
 and desire, not knowing what we love, believe, hope, or 
 desire, although the Holy Spirit, who inspires us, and 
 moves us to love, believe, hope, and desire, does know ; 
 for it is He, who being in us, does love, believe, hope and 
 desire. And I understand that in proportion as we 
 become capable of comprehending what we love, believe, 
 hope and desire, knowing it and understanding it, so do 
 we go on to grow in Christ until that we become entire 
 and perfect men in Christ. That which here according 
 to the Greek text is rendered " hast perfected praise" is 
 rendered in the Hebrew "hast ordained strength" as to 
 the exposition of which I remit myself to what I have 
 said upon Psalm viii. 
 
 XXI. 18-22. — Now in the morniDg as he re- 
 turned into the city, he hungered. And when he 
 saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found 
 nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto 
 it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for 
 ever. And presently the ^g tree withered away. 
 And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, 
 saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away ! 
 Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say 
 unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall 
 
372 S. MATTHEW XXI. 18-22. 
 
 not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but 
 also, if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou 
 removed, and be thou cast into the sea ; it shall 
 be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask 
 in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. 
 
 When I read that Christ hungered, I know that He 
 was, by human generation, subject to the miseries, to 
 which our flesh is subject whilst it is passible and mortal; 
 and when I see Christ go to the fig tree in quest of figs, 
 and when I see that He found none, and that He cursed 
 the fig tree, and that the fig tree withered, which excited 
 wonder in the disciples, and that thus Christ found 
 occasion to enhance faith and prayer with faith, I am 
 led to understand that Christ did not go to the fig tree, 
 thinking to find figs on it, for He well knew that it had 
 none, it not being the season for figs, as is reported by 
 St. Mark ; but He sought opportunity to say to the dis- 
 ciples what He told them about faith, and prayer in faith, 
 which was strengthened by the incident of the fig tree. 
 
 It was Christ's design, as we have on other occasions 
 stated, to show His disciples that they were incredulous, 
 wanting in faith, in order that they might be moved to 
 ask Him to increase it in them ; and here I repeat that 
 it concerns every Christian to hold himself to be incredu- 
 lous and wanting in faith, so long as he has not enough, 
 that he therewith can move mountains, in order that he 
 may ask to have his faith increased. 
 
 / likewise state that prayer without faith is worth- 
 less; and that my prayer is in faith, when I hold it to 
 he certain that God will give me what I ask ; and I state, 
 that whenever I recognise this inward assurance, I can 
 ^rest assured that I pray, being inspired and not taught. 
 [See Consideration lix.] And therefore what Christ says 
 is most certain, that we obtain from God all that we ask of 
 Him, when assured that He is about to give us it ; for then 
 
S. MATTHEW XXI. 23-27. 373 
 
 we ask inspired and not taught ; we ask according to the 
 will of God, and not from our own suggestions; they, 
 who ask being taught and from their own promptings, 
 cannot possibly ask in faith. 
 
 Wliere He says, "And doubt not" the Greek ivord 
 signifies, to examine, to vacillate in faith, as ive do, when 
 desirous of obtaining something from God, and looking 
 to ourselves, we ask hesitatingly, partly on a^ccount of 
 the imperfection we recognise in ourselves, in our habits, 
 and in our mode of living ; just as though God, whether 
 about to grant, or to withhold, what we ask of Him, 
 should have regard to %cs ; or, as though it were not 
 greater imperfection in us to doubt, by making these exa- 
 minations, than all the other imperfections that we can 
 possibly have. 
 
 The Christian when he shall desire to obtain something 
 from God, let him first look to it whether he has the pro- 
 mise of God whereon to found faith in his prayer ; and 
 afterwards let him beware of looking to himself in any 
 way, and let him look to God only and to God's promise, 
 and then, believing, he will obtain all that he shall ask. 
 And as to the promises of God, I remit myself to what I 
 have said in a reply. And like this fig-tree, which only 
 bore leaves but no fruit, are they, who only bear the name 
 of Christians, who observe ceremonies and outward works, 
 but are without the fruit of the Christian name, which is 
 imitation of Christ, the humility, meekness, purity, charity, 
 and obedience of Christ; and are without the fruit of 
 Christian ceremonies and works, which is mortification 
 and vivification ; to them who are such, that will happen 
 which betided the fig-tree. 
 
 XXI. 23-27. — And when he was come into the 
 temple, the chief priests and the elders of the 
 people came unto him as he was teaching, and 
 said, By what authority doest thou these things ? 
 
374 5. MATTHEW XXI. 23-27. 
 
 and who gave thee this authority ? And Jesus 
 answered and said unto them, I also will ask you 
 one thing, which if ye tell me, I in likewise will 
 tell you by what authority I do these things. The 
 baptism of John, whence was it ? from heaven, or 
 of men ? And they reasoned with themselves, say- 
 ing, If we shall say. From heaven ; he will say 
 unto us, Why did ye not then believe him ? But 
 if we shall say. Of men ; we fear the people : for 
 all hold John as a prophet. And they answered 
 Jesus and said. We cannot tell. And he said unto 
 them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do 
 these things. 
 
 I do not understand that these persons asked Christ by 
 what authority He did what He did, such as His entrance 
 into the city with the pomp with which He entered it 
 the day before; His entrance into the temple with the 
 severity with which He entered it the day before ; doing 
 what He did and saying what He said, because they 
 doubted whether He did it by divine authority, for of this 
 they were certain, although it vexed them that it should 
 be so ; they endeavoured to persuade themselves that it 
 was not so; as it happens to saints of the world, who, 
 although they are certain of the sanctity of the saints of 
 God, because it grieves them that they are saints, try and 
 persuade themselves that they are not so. But I do 
 understand that they asked Him with two purposes ; one 
 to show the people that they, who ranked the highest in 
 the world in religion and in sanctity, had not resolved to 
 uphold Christ's credit, in order that the people too should 
 not come to that resolution ; the other, to come to words with 
 Christ, in order to get an opportunity to catch Him up in 
 something He might say, or at least to discredit Him with 
 the people, with vhoni He stood in high consideration. 
 
S. MATTHEW XXI. 23-27. 375 
 
 I understand that Christ knew these their purposes, 
 and He so answered them that they could not succeed in 
 either the one or the other, not choosing to answer them 
 on the subject propounded, reasoning with them as to 
 their rejection of John the Baptist and his baptism ; upon 
 their promised observance of the law, and upon their 
 failure in doing so ; He shows this by the parable of the 
 two sons, which He then submits. They are like the 
 chief priests and elders of the people, who, (when they see 
 that those who are members of Christ prostrate their false 
 doctrines and expose their hypocrisies by the sincerity of 
 their doctrine and by the purity of their lives,) strive to 
 bring it about that they be discredited by the masses, and 
 plot how to catch them in their words in order to ruin 
 them. 
 
 When Christ asked these persons whether St. John's 
 baptism was from heaven, or of men. He meant was it 
 divine or human, was it an ordinance of God, or an 
 imagination of St. John's brain. The evangelist, in saying 
 they reasoned among themselves, means, that desiring to 
 answer Christ, because they wished that He should answer 
 them, they held these arguments amongst themselves. 
 Truly it is something divine, that when these persons 
 came to put this question to Christ, they being the most 
 eminent in sanctity and in authority amongst the Jews, 
 whilst Christ was held to be a low and common fellow, 
 that He should have such authority over them, that re- 
 fusing to answer their question unless they first answered 
 His, He should succeed in doing so ; which I do not so 
 much attribute to the credit that Christ had attained over 
 the people, as I do to the majesty and gravity which He 
 maintained in that His lowliness, which manifested forth 
 itself without His obvious presentment of it. And I under- 
 stand that there are traces of it in every one of those who 
 have the Spirit of Christ, more or less, accordingly as they 
 are more or less like Christ. I have written a Considera- 
 tion upon this subject [number Ixxxi.] 
 
'^,'je S. MATTHEW XXI. 28-32. 
 
 XXI. 28-32. — But what think ye ? A certain 
 man had two sons ; and he came to the first, and 
 said, Son, go work to-day in my vineyard. He 
 answered and said, I will not : but afterwards he 
 repented, and went. And he came to the second, 
 and said likewise. And he answered and said, I 
 go, sir : and went not. Whether of them twain 
 did the will of his father ? They say unto him. 
 The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say 
 unto you, that the publicans and the harlots go 
 into the kingdom of God before you. For John 
 came unto you in the way of righteousness, and 
 ye believed him not : but the publicans and the 
 harlots believed him : and ye, when ye had seen 
 it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe 
 him. 
 
 Christ, having stopped the mouths of the high priests 
 and elders, who had come to call Him to account for what 
 He had done and said in the temple, and being desirous 
 of showing them that all their sanctity consisted in words, 
 propounded a parable to them, saying, " A certain wan had 
 two sons," &c., meaning, that the man was God ; and that 
 the work in the vineyard was to live conformably to the 
 law of God, and (that to do so) is to live conformably to 
 the will of God ; and that the son, who, being sent into 
 the vineyard, said, that he would not go, but who after- 
 wards, recognising that he had done wrong, went ; such 
 as he were and are men of the world, who, in order to 
 satisfy their affections and lusts, say, that they will not 
 subject themselves either to the law of God or to the will 
 of God ; but afterwards, recognising that they have done 
 wrong, subject themselves to it; and that the son, who, 
 being sent to the vineyard, said that he would go ; but 
 never went ; such as he were and are the saints of the 
 
S. MATTHEW XXI. 33-XXII. i. ^77 
 
 world, who, taking sanctity for their point of honour, say, 
 that they will submit themselves to the law of God and to 
 the will of God, whilst they do the very opposite of what 
 God wills, being ambitious, murmurers, envious, malignant, 
 and diabolic ; such were the priests and elders with whom 
 Christ conversed ; and such are all they, who affecting 
 sanctity, persecute Christ ; who will be excluded from the 
 kingdom of God, whilst publicans and harlots are admitted 
 to it ; because they will humble themselves and will accept 
 the righteousness of Christ. So that, as I have several 
 times stated, Christ, in saying, "Shall go in before you" 
 does not mean, are more pre-eminent than you, but they 
 are admitted, whilst you are excluded. Christ, when He 
 subjoins, " For John came unto you" &c., means, this which 
 I say, I understand thus, considering that you never 
 brought yourselves to believe in John, whilst the pub- 
 licans and harlots did believe in him, accepting his 
 preaching and his baptism ; and I understand the accept- 
 ance consisted in that they believed that the kingdom of 
 heaven was at hand, and they knew themselves to be 
 disqualified for it, and they were baptized as a token of 
 their knowledge, penitence, and repentance. The second 
 son, in saying, " / go, sir," seems to respond to what the 
 first had said : " / will not ; " as though he should say, 
 " I, yes, I will." When he says, " In the way of righteous- 
 ness" or, " ly the path of righteousness" He means, preach- 
 ing, repentance, or penitence ; which is the way to 
 (attain) the righteousness of the gospel, for they, who do 
 not repent, do not accept the indulgence of the gospel, for 
 it does not appear to them that it concerns them. 
 
 XXL 33-XXIL I. — Hear another parable: 
 There was a certain householder, who planted a 
 vineyard, and hedged it round about and digged a 
 winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to 
 husbandmen, and went into a far country : And 
 
378 S. MATTHEW XXI. 33-XXII. i. 
 
 when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent 
 his servants to the husbandmen, that they might 
 receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took 
 his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and 
 stoned another. Again, he sent other servants 
 more than the first : and they did unto them like- 
 wise. But last of all he sent unto them his son, 
 saying, They will reverence my son. But when 
 the husbandmen saw the son, they said among 
 themselves, This is the heir ; come, let us kill him, 
 and let us seize on his inheritance. And they 
 caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and 
 slew him. When the lord therefore of the vine- 
 yard Cometh, what will he do unto those husband- 
 men ? They say unto him, He will miserably 
 destroy those wicked men, and will let out his 
 vineyard unto other husbandmen who shall ren- 
 der him the fruits in their seasons. Jesus saith 
 ■unto him. Did ye never read in the Scriptures, 
 The stone which the builders rejected, the same is 
 become the head of the corner : this is the Lord's 
 doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes ? Therefore 
 say I unto you. The kingdom of God shall be taken 
 from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the 
 fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this 
 stone shall be broken : but on whomsoever it shall 
 fall, it will grind him to powder. And when the 
 chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, 
 they perceived that he spake of them. But when 
 they sought to lay hands on him, they feared 
 the multitude, because they took him for a 
 prophet. 
 
S. MATTHEW XXI. 33-XXII. i. 379 
 
 Christ's intention in this parable, as appears from those 
 words, Therefore I say unto you, the kingdom of God," &c., 
 clearly appears to have been to prophesy the ruin of the 
 Jewish synagogue ; which was governed by the high 
 priests, the presbyters, the Pharisees and the scribes ; and 
 the succession of the Christian Church, which is governed 
 by apostles, evangelists, and teachers, not of acquired 
 learning, hut of inspired teaching. And thus I under- 
 stand that the householder is God; that the vineyard 
 is the people of God ; the hedge, the winepress, and the 
 tower, are the Scriptures of the law and of the prophets ; 
 and that the husbandmen are the high priests, the pres- 
 byters, &c. ; whilst the fruits of the vineyard are the 
 love of God and of one's neighbour, and divine worship ; 
 that the Lord's servants, whom the husbandmen slew, 
 were the prophets and righteous men, whom God sent to 
 the synagogue, all of whom the rulers of the synagogue 
 persecuted, or caused to be put to death, as Christ will 
 tell us in chapter xxiii. ; and that the Lord's son is Christ, 
 whom they themselves slew. As to whether they knew 
 Him or not, / remit myself to what I shall say upon St. 
 Mark's gospel. Christ means that God's vineyard, the 
 people of God, was about to be taken from these rulers of 
 the Jewish synagogue, and given to the rulers of the 
 Christian Church. 
 
 Where I understand that these rulers then give to God 
 the fruit of His vineyard, when preaching the Gospel, 
 teaching Christian living, and supplying the necessities 
 of Christians, they can say with St. Paul, in Eomans i. 9, 
 that " they serve God in the spirit in the gospel of His 
 Son," and that they have profited greatly in that same 
 gospel. That, " They will reverence my son,'' though it 
 harmonises with the householder, the Lord of the vine- 
 yard, it does not harmonise with God, but I have already 
 stated, that in parables, we are but to look to the accom- 
 plishment of the purpose designed (by the parable). 
 
 Where Christ says, " Have ye never read" &c., it is His 
 
38o 5. MATTHEW XXI. 33-XXII. i. 
 
 aim to enable them to comprehend the parable ; that the 
 Son, whom the bad husbandmen were about to kill, God 
 was about to put in the most eminent place in His king- 
 dom, making Him King and head in the kingdom, ful- 
 filling truly in Him what was spoken of David, in Psalm 
 cxviii. 22 and 23, for that just as David, having been 
 rejected by the rulers of the kingdom, was at last settled 
 as ruler in the kingdom, being made king; so Christ, 
 crucified and put to death by those, who were at that 
 time the rulers over the people of God, is placed as head 
 in the kingdom of God, and is made King. 
 
 As to the rest I remit myself to what I have stated 
 in the exposition of the Psalm, appending this : that I 
 do not understand it to have occurred in ^^the construction 
 of the temple, as do some, that a stone which had been 
 rejected was afterwards carved and placed aloft in the 
 temple, but, that it is a figurative speech, not unusual 
 in Holy Scripture. 
 
 In saying, " The Lord hath done this'' He means, this 
 thing is of the Lord's doing, that the stone rejected is 
 placed aloft, and tnat we hold it to be an admirable 
 thing, a thing at which we may reasonably marvel. In 
 saying, " And he that shall fall wpon this stone!' &c., He 
 means, that at one time the man is offended at Christ, at 
 another Christ is offended at the man, so that in one 
 way or the other such a man will perish; a mode of 
 speaking commonly used by us, who say, if the stone 
 strike the jug, it is a bad job for the jug, and if the jug 
 strike the stone, it is a bad job for the jug; that they 
 always get smashed, who come to Christ impelled by 
 their own caprice or by human motives, not having 
 been called by God; they all perish, either through their 
 being scandalised at Christ's humiliation and lowliness, 
 or through Christ's being offended at their pride and 
 arrogance. 
 
 Where it is to be understood that Christ is called 
 "stone," as well because that all, who come to Him 
 
S. MATTHEW XXI. 33-XXII. i. 381 
 
 without the Holy Spirit, stumble and break their heads 
 asainst Him ; as because that all, who come to Him with 
 the Holy Spirit, are safe, firm and steady in Him, like 
 an edifice erected upon living stone. It would seem that 
 Simeon understood this, when he said (in Luke ii. 34), 
 "Behold this is He, who is set for the fall and rising 
 again of many in Israel." 
 
 The evangelist adding, that when the chief priests 
 and elders perceived that Christ spoke what He said 
 against them, they would have laid hands on Him had 
 they dared, well shows us what fruit the word of God 
 produces in saints of the world. Where I understand 
 that had these been men of the world, they, knowing that 
 Christ had spoken concerning them, would have been 
 confused and ashamed, and possibly they might have 
 amended ; but, as they professed to be saints, they deli- 
 berated how they should take Christ and put Him to 
 death, seeing that He went about discovering their mis- 
 deeds, malpractices, and delinquencies. Now, they, who 
 who make a profession of personal sanctity, as did these 
 rulers of the synagogue, always hold such deliberations 
 against them who are members of Christ. 
 
382 S. MATTHEW XXII. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 XXII. 2-14. — The kingdom of heaven is like 
 unto a certain king, who made a marriage for his 
 son, and sent forth his servants to call them that 
 were bidden, to the wedding : and they would not 
 come. Again, he sent forth other servants, saying. 
 Tell them who are bidden. Behold, I have pre- 
 pared my dinner : my oxen and my fatlings are 
 killed, and all things are ready ; come unto the 
 marriage. But they made light of it, and went 
 their ways, one to his farm, another to his mer- 
 chandise. And the remnant took his servants, and 
 entreated them spitefully, and slew them. But 
 when the king heard thereof, he was wroth : and 
 he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those 
 murderers and burned up their city. Then saith he 
 to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they 
 who were bidden were not worthy. Go ye there- 
 fore into the highways, and as many as ye shall 
 find, bid to the marriage. So those servants went 
 out into the highways, and gathered together all, as 
 many as they found, both bad and good : and the 
 wedding was furnished with guests. And when 
 the king came in to see the guests, he. saw there a 
 man who had not on a wedding garment. And 
 he saith unto him, Friend, how earnest thou in hither, 
 
S. MATTHEW XXII. 2-14. 383 
 
 not having a wedding garment ? And he was 
 speechless. Then said the king to the servants, 
 Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and 
 cast him into outer darkness ; there shall be weep- 
 ing and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, 
 but few are chosen. 
 
 It is well to notice the mode of comparison employed by 
 Christ in all these parables, saying that the kingdom of 
 heaven is compared, or is like, to the Lord of the Vine- 
 yard, or to the King, whilst He means, that that will come 
 to pass in the kingdom of the heavens which occurred to 
 the Lord of the Vineyard or to the King. 
 
 Christ has two aims in this parable : one is the same as 
 that of the preceding parable, as to the Hebrew synagogue 
 being rejected, in order that the Christian Church should 
 take its place ; whilst the other is the same that we have 
 seen in other parables, as to their being cast out of the 
 kingdom of God, of the Christian Church, who enter it 
 without Christian faith, and who are in it, without 
 Christian characteristics, coming of themselves/ without 
 having been called by God. 
 
 The king is God. The dinner is eternal life, of which 
 they take possession in the present life, who having been 
 called to it, leave everything else and obey the call. The 
 viands for the table, the bulls and the capons already 
 killed for the feast, typify as I understand the glory and 
 happiness prepared for those, who accept the grace of the 
 gospel ; for just as those things are the substance of the 
 human and temporal feast, so these things are the sub- 
 stance of the divine and eternal feast. 
 
 They, who were invited to the dinner or wedding, under 
 the law, were they, who were subject to the law, at which 
 time, the servants, who called, were the prophets and just 
 men ; whilst under the gospel the guests invited are men 
 generally, for the indulgence and pardon published in the 
 gospel is general, at which time the servants, who call, are 
 
384 S. MATTHEW XXII. 2-14. 
 
 the apostles, they who have the gift of the apostolate, and 
 what they say is laid down by Paul (2 Cor. v. 20, 21), " We 
 beseech you in Christ's name, he ye reconciled to God. For 
 He hath made Him to he sin for us, who knew no sin, that 
 we might he made the righteousness of God, through Him." 
 
 They, who, being under the law, were called, who would 
 not come, but went the one to his farm and the other to 
 his merchandise, are they who made light of God's call, 
 because they were absorbed in the things of the present 
 life ; they did not at once resolve to leave everything to 
 obey God; and they who laid hands upon the king's 
 servants are the saints of the world, who, under the law, 
 caused the prophets and the just men to be put to death, 
 because they called them to the kingdom of God ; they 
 held themselves to be saints, and they were held to be 
 such, and therefore they could not endure that any other 
 holiness, than that which they had, should be intimated to 
 them. The armies with which the king destroyed his 
 guests, burning their city, were, we can say, those of 
 Titus and Vespasian, who massacred the Jews and burnt 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 They, who being under the gospel were called, who 
 would not come, being unwilling to accept the grace of 
 the gospel, are the men of the world, who despise Christ's 
 purity, meekness, and humility. Whilst they, who make 
 profession of external sanctity, who say that they believe 
 in Christ, whilst they deny the grace of the gospel, the 
 benefit of Christ, are typified in the man who entered 
 the marriage-feast without a wedding-garment ; and such 
 practically typify all those, who enter the Christian Church 
 with human prudence, and as mercenaries with human 
 designs ; coming clad in works, without faith, and desti- 
 tute of faith and of works of faith ; and coming thus clad 
 with the law, and destitute of the gospel, clad with Moses, 
 and destitute of Christ, with whom all must be clad, who 
 have to sit down to participate in God's feast in the life 
 eternal, because this is the wedding-garment, and there- 
 
5. MATTHEW XXII. 2-14. 385 
 
 fore Paul says in Eomans xiii. 14, " Fut ye on the Lord 
 Jesus." Now we put on Christ when, striving to com- 
 prehend the perfection in which we are comprehended, 
 we imitate the divine perfections which we see in Christ ; 
 and we then show that we have put on Christ when 
 Christian characteristics are seen in us. 
 
 And because Christ concluded this parable by saying, 
 " For many are called, whilst hut few are chosen^' we are 
 constrained to say, that all those who have but the out- 
 ward call, who accept the gospel from human motives after 
 their own fashion, are comprehended in that one person 
 who was turned out of the feast; and that we are to 
 understand that the number of the called and not chosen 
 is greater than that of those who are chosen ; and that we 
 may rest assured that the parables do not harmonise in 
 everything, for had this one harmonised in everything, we 
 should have been compelled to say, that the chosen are 
 beyond all comparison more numerous than the called, 
 since the parable speaks but of one who was turned out 
 of the wedding feast, of the many who were assembled 
 at it. 
 
 In this parable I consider four classes of men. The 
 first are they, who loving this life more than the life 
 eternal, and being called to the life eternal, have not the 
 courage to lose this in order to gain the other; these 
 manifest their unbelief. 
 
 The second are they, who holding themselves to be, and 
 being held by the world to be, saints, if they are called to 
 be saints of God, they become indignant against those who 
 call them, and they lay hands upon them and kill them : 
 these manifest with their unbelief, their malice and their 
 malignity ; and here I understand in what great danger 
 are they, who are saints of the world. 
 
 The third are they, who desire humanly and naturally 
 to attain eternal life ; and being called to it by an outward 
 call, without waiting for the inward one, they go, without 
 knowing either how or where ; clothing themselves with 
 
 2 B 
 
386 S. MATTHEW XXII. 2-14. 
 
 garments made by the hands of man, not knowing that 
 garment wrought by the hands of God, which is Jesus 
 Christ our Lord ; these manifest their ignorance and blind- 
 ness, and these are almost like the second, and are in 
 danger of doing the same as they did in this life ; whilst 
 in the other life, their end will be the same, since they will 
 be cast into outer darkness, which has been described in 
 chapter xiii. 50. 
 
 The fourth are they who, by God's grace, know them- 
 selves to be ungodly and inwardly hostile to God, whilst 
 they feel a nascent desire to be just and friends with God; 
 and, the gospel being presented to them, which offers 
 them, both one and the other, freely and graciously, and 
 being inwardly moved to accept it, with a call both inward 
 and outward, they know themselves to be just and friends 
 of God, not of themselves, but through Christ ; and, know- 
 ing themselves to be so, they enter into possession of the 
 kingdom of heaven, divesting and stripping themselves of 
 everything that could rob them of possession, such as the 
 pleasures, satisfactions, honours, and dignities of the pre- 
 sent life, to all which they cease to be attached, and of 
 the like are external justifications, which become odious 
 to them, lest they should be brought by them to be saints 
 of the world ; now clothing themselves and dressing them- 
 selves in every garb that can maintain them in possession, 
 as for instance, mortification and vivification, associated 
 with which are ever those Christian characteristics which 
 Christ manifested in His life ; these show that they are 
 the elect of God, that they are the children of God, and 
 that they are ruled and governed by the spirit of God ; 
 and thus they only are admitted to the feast of the great 
 king, who is the father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 That which is here rendered " capons" is in the Greek 
 "fatted poultry ; " and that which is here rendered ''killed," 
 is in the Greek "killed in sacrifice." In saying "the 
 highways," He means the cross- ways, where certain roads 
 traverse other roads, because there men would be met with 
 
S. MATTHEW XXII. 15-22. 387 
 
 more readily. When He says " reclining or seated," He 
 means the men seated at table ; but the bad did not eat, 
 only the good did so ; now the bad are they, who, being 
 without Christian faith, are destitute of works of faith, 
 who are without Christian characteristics ; whilst on the 
 contrary, the good are they, who have faith, and works 
 done in faith, their goodness consisting in faith, of which 
 their works of faith bear testimony. 
 
 XXII. 15-22. — Then went the Pharisees, and 
 took counsel how they might entangle him in his 
 talk. And they sent out unto him their disciples 
 with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that 
 thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, 
 neither carest thou for any man : for thou regardest 
 not the person of men. Tell us therefore. What 
 thinkest thou ? Is it lawful to give tribute unto 
 Caesar, or not ? But Jesus perceived their wicked- 
 ness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites ? 
 Shew me the tribute money. And they brought 
 unto him a penny. And he saith * unto them, 
 Whose is this image and superscription ? They say 
 unto him, Caesars. Then saith he unto them, 
 Eender therefore unto Caesar the things which are 
 Caesar's ; and unto God the things that are God's. 
 When they had heard these words, they marvelled, 
 and left him, and went their way. 
 
 In the same manner that these Pharisees, saints of the 
 world, convicted by Christ's words, consulted against Him, 
 how they should ensnare Him in His words, to cause Him 
 to say something whence they might find occasion to lay 
 hands on Him, and kill Him ; so all they, who are saints 
 of the world, finding themselves convicted by the words of 
 the saints of God, consult against them, to make them say 
 
388 S. MATTHEW XXII. 15-22. 
 
 something, whereupon they may lay hands upon them, 
 and kill them. Whence therefore it concerns the saints 
 of God, either not to argue with saints of the world, or 
 should they do so, to be upon their guard to say nothing, 
 which may expose them to calumny. 
 
 All this Pharisaic malice is saturated with artifice. The 
 Jlrst consists in that the Pharisees, desiring to ask Christ 
 as to the tribute or census which the Jews paid to the 
 Eoman Emperor, for to the Jews it appeared to be an ex- 
 travagant thing that the people of God should be tributary 
 to a godless man, they sent men to Him, who were of opinion 
 that it ought not to be paid, in order that Christ should 
 express Himself the more freely, that it was not lawful to 
 pay it, and that they thus should accomplish their purpose, 
 of accusing Him, that He forbade that tribute should be 
 paid to the Emperor ; of which they falsely did accuse Him 
 after that they had laid hands upon Him. I differ in opinion 
 from those, who say that these Herodians collected the 
 tribute, or that they held that it ought to be paid, for it 
 would not have answered their purpose to have sent these 
 persons, for what they desired was that He should say 
 that it was not lawful to pay the tribute, as appears from 
 what they said to Him. 
 
 The second artifice consists in that, before they put 
 questions, they address Him in terms calculated to lead 
 Him to speak against the Emperor, terms peculiar to the 
 Pharisees, and in which we may consider three qualifica- 
 tions that ought to concur in a Christian preacher : first, 
 that he be true ; second, that his doctrine be truly Christian, 
 conformable to the will of God ; and third, that he disre- 
 gard men of the world, never ceasing to preach the gospel, 
 nor to teach Christian living ; nay, these three qualifications 
 always concur in those, who have the gift of the aposto- 
 late, and by them, we can judge whether he, who preaches 
 to us, is an apostle of Christ or of men. 
 
 Tliese same qualifications concur in those, who by divine 
 inspiration accept the gospel, which acceptance makes 
 
S. MATTHEW XXII. 23-33. 389 
 
 tliem true inwardly, whilst it teaches them the truth, in 
 order that they may be able to teach others, and so makes 
 them that having come to be resolved as to the world, they 
 only respect the gospel, Christ and God. And these three 
 qualifications may serve us as countersigns, by which we 
 may be able to know what effect the acceptance of the 
 gospel has wrought in us. Christ, in saying, " Why tempt 
 ye me, ye hypocrites ? " shows that the malignity and 
 crafty wickedness, with which they came to ensnare Him 
 in His words, annoyed Him. 
 
 When He asked them, " Whose image is this?" &c., 
 Christ did not pretend not to know, for He already knew 
 it, but to take occasion from what they replied, to tell them 
 what He said to them, " Bender then to Ccesar the things 
 which are Ccesar s" &c., meaning, that it imports little that 
 we render to men what they require of us, so that we 
 render to God what He requires of us ; as though He had 
 said, Give the Emperor what he claims as due from you, 
 what he requires of you; and render to God, what He 
 claims to be due from you, what He requires of you. The 
 Emperor claims tribute, as census or poll-tax, give him it ; 
 whilst God claims faith and love, give Him them. In 
 saying " tribute money" He means the money with which 
 the tribute is paid. Paul speaks upon this payment of 
 tribute in Eomans xiii. 7, and I remit myself to what I 
 have stated upon that passage. 
 
 XXII. 23-33. — The same day came to him the 
 Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection, 
 and asked him, Sayiog, Master, Moses said. If a 
 man die having no childrcD, his brother shall marry 
 his wife and raise up seed unto his brother. Now 
 there were with us seven brethren : and the first, 
 when he had married a wife, deceased, and havicg 
 no issue, left his wife unto his brother : likewise 
 the second also, and the third, unto the seventh. 
 
390 S. MATTHEW XXII. 23-33. 
 
 And last of all the woman died also. Therefore, in 
 the resurrection, whose wife shall she be of the 
 seven ? for they all had her. Jesus answered and 
 said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the Scrip- 
 tures, nor the power of God. For in the resurrec- 
 tion, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, 
 but are as the angels of God in heaven. But as 
 touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not 
 read that which was spoken unto you by God, say- 
 ing, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of 
 Isaac, and the God of Jacob ? God is not the God 
 of the dead, but of the living. And when the 
 multitude heard this, they were astonished at his 
 doctrine. 
 
 From what we read in these words, and in those of Acts 
 xxiii., it appears that, amongst the Jews, the resurrection 
 of the body was not believed in as an article of faith, but 
 merely as one of opinion ; the Pharisees afi&rmed it, whilst 
 the Sadducees denied it. These latter, seeking to con- 
 vince Christ, in order that He, like them, should deny it, 
 proceed to put a question to Him, which, although to their 
 mind perfectly adequate to test His views, is, to the 
 mind of any one, who shall not be an ardent partisan in 
 his desire to defend that opinion, most futile. 
 
 Whence I understand every one ought to be on his 
 guard against the adoption of any opinion ; for it almost 
 always proves so, that, after having adopted it, he is obliged 
 to defend it ; and, wishing to defend it, precisely that 
 happens, which happened to these Sadducees, who, deny- 
 ing the resurrection of the body, defended their opinion 
 with arguments similar to those laid down here. Nay, 
 this must have been that, which they held to be most 
 effective ; they imagined, that in the life eternal, these 
 bodies of ours raised up, impassible and immortal, will be 
 
S. MATTHEW XXII. 23-33. 39^ 
 
 SO with all the incidents that betide these bodies whilsU 
 they are passible and mortal. 
 
 This marriage law, which they here quote, is in Deu- 
 teronomy XXV. 5, and it appears that God designed by that 
 law to permanently sustain those Jewish families who had 
 divided the promised land between them, in order that the 
 benefit received might remain the more impressed upon 
 their memories. In saying " raise up," or resuscitate, " seed 
 unto his brother" it means, that he should beget children 
 by his deceased brother's wife, of whom the first should 
 be called the deceased brother's child and not his, who 
 begot him. "iVb^ having seed" is equivalent to, leaving 
 no children. 
 
 From Christ's reply, which says, " Ye do err, not knowing 
 the Scriptures," it is to be understood that all men's errors, 
 upon supernatural subjects, proceed from two sources ; one 
 of which is misunderstanding of the Holy Scriptures ; be- 
 cause, had they understood them, they would not have 
 erred, for it is most certain that they teach him, who under- 
 stands them, all truth ; whilst the other is the not under- 
 standing the power of God, for had men known that God 
 can do all that He pleases; when something should be 
 propounded to them, whereby the glory of God is illus- 
 trated, they would not doubt respecting it, for they would 
 consider : by this thing the glory of God is illustrated, God 
 is most omnipotent, whence it well follows that this thing 
 is true; and in the same manner when something other 
 should be propounded to them, whereby the glory of God 
 is lessened, they would in no wise admit it, for they would 
 consider : by this thing the glory of God is lessened, God 
 is most omnipotent, whence it follows that this thing 
 is not true, since it derogates from the glory of God. So 
 that it is sound advice to any man, first, to take up no 
 opinion, and afterwards to ask God to open his eyes, so 
 that he may know His omnipotence, and that he may 
 understand the Holy Scriptures, so that he may never err 
 in anything. 
 
392 S. MATTHEW XXII. 34-40. 
 
 It may well be inferred from these, Christ's words, that 
 he, who shall understand the Holy Scriptures, and shall 
 know the omnipotence of God, will believe in the resur- 
 rection of the dead, in which Christ affirms there will 
 be no marriages, for, although there will be bodies 
 of flesh, they will be as immaculate as the angels in 
 heaven. 
 
 And Christ, desirous of showing the Sadducees one of 
 those passages of the Holy Scriptures, whence one might 
 understand the -resurrection of the dead, quotes that in 
 Exodus iii. 1 5, where God says, ''lam the God of Abraham " 
 &c., and, when Christ adds, " He is not the God of the dead," 
 &c., it seems that Christ understood that, had not God, in 
 His divine mind, held Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to have 
 been resuscitated. He would not call Himself their God ; 
 for He, being the living God, would not call Himself the 
 God of the dead ; so that we are not to understand that, 
 when God says, " I am the God of Abraham," &c., that He 
 means, I am the God whom Abraham adored and served, 
 &c., but I am the God whom Abraham adores and serves, 
 and will adore and will serve ; for, although his body is 
 in the tomb, yet his soul is alive, and, at its appointed 
 time, it will return and be united with his body. It was 
 with reason that the multitude were astonished at this 
 doctrine of Christ, for there is no doubt but that no 
 man would ever have extracted this sense from those 
 words. 
 
 XXII. 34-40. — But when the Pharisees had 
 heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, 
 they were gathered together. Then one of them, 
 who was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting 
 him, and saying, Master, which is the great com- 
 mandment in the law ? 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. This is 
 
S. MATTHEW XXII. 34-40. ^93 
 
 the first and great commandment. And the second 
 is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as 
 thyself. On these two commandments hang all 
 the law and the prophets. 
 
 The Pharisees, gratified that Christ had so answered 
 the Sadducees that they could not answer Him, went to 
 Him, with the intention of gaining from Him the honour, 
 which the Sadducees, their opponents, had lost ; and thus 
 they caused one of their party, who was learned in Moses' 
 law, to test Christ's knowledge, and that the lawyer should 
 ask Him which commandment was the most important in 
 the law. 
 
 And from Christ's reply, we learn that the main thing 
 that God desires of man is love, desiring that this love be 
 without the slightest taint of personal interest, that it be 
 most pure, most perfect ; and then it is so, when man sets 
 all his love and all his affection upon God, having notliing 
 in his heart, in his soul, or in his mind, but God only ; 
 delighting himself in Him only, and keeping Him con- 
 stantly impressed upon His memory, never allowing it to 
 wander from Him. This is what God desires of every 
 man ; for this God caresses them, blesses them, with gifts, 
 benefits, and favours. 
 
 And thus it is, that God, desiring to be loved by man, 
 and knowing that the greatest impediment he has to love 
 Him is the knowledge that he has offended Him, because, 
 as is commonly said, " he that offends does not pardon" God 
 has laid all the sins of all men upon His only-begotten 
 Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord ; and He has chastised them 
 all in Him, giving a general pardon to all men, in order 
 that the impediment to love being removed, they may apply 
 themselves to love Him, as He desires to be beloved of 
 them. 
 
 And upon this I have written a consideration to which 
 I remit myself, here stating this, that so long as a man 
 shall not know himself to be pardoned by God in Christ, 
 
394 >S. MATTHEW XXII. 34-40. 
 
 it will be impossible for him to love God, in the mode 
 He desires to be loved, for Himself, without any other 
 motive whatever ; nay, effectively, he shall not know what 
 love to God is. Whence it is to be understood that man 
 then loves God as He desires to be loved " with all the 
 heart, with all the soul,'' when he loves God, without any 
 interest, solely because He deserves to be loved. 
 
 And men cannot love God thus, whilst unregenerated 
 by the Holy Spirit, because, man's first love is naturally 
 for himself; hence he comes to love God selfishly, and 
 does God manifest wrong ; who insists upon being loved 
 first, and wills that man love himself, and that he love 
 other men and God's other creatures, from love to God, 
 more or less, according as they illustrate, more or less, the 
 glory of God ; an intention only held by those, who love 
 God, not for themselves, but for the perfections which 
 they recognise in God. 
 
 Men, who do not know themselves to be pardoned by 
 God, reconciled to God, and friends of God, through 
 Christ, although they may bring themselves to love God, 
 and to act conformably with what they know to be the 
 will of God, would neither love nor act from love to God, 
 but from love to themselves, in order to be pardoned 
 by God, reconciled with God, and made friends of God ; 
 and they will never in this way come to attain what they 
 desire, for the true way is to accept the grace of the 
 Gospel, and afterwards to love, serve and act, because 
 God deserves to be loved, to be served and to be obeyed, 
 without man's having any other motive whatever. 
 
 So that there are four reasons why it is impossible for 
 man to love God as He requires to be loved, if he do not 
 hold himself to be reconciled to God, and to be a friend 
 of God, through Christ : First, that " he who offends never 
 pardons," and not pardoning, cannot love. Second, that 
 unregenerate man retaining alive his natural inclination, 
 it is impossible for him not to love himself first. Third, 
 that not holding himself to be righteous through Christ, 
 
S. MATTHEW XXII. 34-40. 395 
 
 he loves himself, and will love in order to be righteous. 
 Fourth, that not knowing Christ, he will not know God, 
 and, not knowing Him, he will not love Him, as He 
 requires to be loved, " with all the heart" &c. 
 
 We all have to labour to attain this posture, and foras- 
 much as he, who has not begun to move towards it, is 
 farthest from it, it concerns every one, who has accepted 
 the grace of the gospel, to persuade himself that he must 
 attain it, and that God is able to make him attain it; 
 and with this persuasion begin to move towards it ; pray- 
 ing to God to send him His Holy Spirit to be his guide 
 in this generous enterprise. 
 
 And let no man, unless he begin experimentally, think 
 himself qualified by knowledge, to comprehend this divine 
 love ; for his comprehension will be exactly correlative to 
 his experience. And let every one moreover know, that 
 he will never come to love his neighbour as himself, 
 unless he first love God supremely ; that love, beginning, 
 as has been stated, by faith and by knowledge. 
 
 And here I will say this : that when I stated in a Con- 
 sideration [Ixx.] that faith and hope are sustained by love, 
 and that love is self-sustaining, I meant, that if man does 
 not love God, he will not be steady in trusting Him, 
 neither will he hope for the fulfilment of God's promises ; 
 whilst that in loving God, because man loves Him for 
 Himself, knowing that He deserves to be loved, man does 
 not need to be sustained in the love, nor in the faith of 
 what he believes that God has done for him, nor in the 
 expectation of what he hopes that God will do with him, 
 because he loves without personal interest ; of which love 
 man is incapable whilst he is man, for he knows not how 
 to love without interest and without aim, because he 
 loves himself in everything and beyond everything. 
 
 When Christ adds, " U^^on these two commandments," &c.. 
 He means that the man, who fulfils these two command- 
 ments of the love of God, and of one's neighbour, fulfils 
 all that the law and the prophets command ; for it and 
 
39^ S. MATTHEW XXII. 41-46. 
 
 they have no other intention than to bring man to love 
 God and to love his neighbour ; now he that shall love 
 God, will not deviate from the will of God, nay he will 
 apply himself to everything that he shall know to be the 
 will of God, denying and renouncing his own will; and 
 he that shall love his neighbour will do nothing that can 
 prejudice him, nay he will apply himself to do him all the 
 good he can, even to deprive himself of his own comforts 
 and gratifications, in order to accommodate and gratify 
 his neighbour, as we see that Christ did, and as we see 
 that Paul, His apostle, did. 
 
 It is assuredly worthy of consideration that this com- 
 mandment affecting love should not be found in what 
 is called the decalogue, but in Deuteronomy, the second 
 law. Possibly God retained it for the second law, as 
 being more perfect and more pure, designing that the 
 people instructed and exercised in the commandments of 
 the first law, should be better qualified to understand 
 this, but this is a speculation of mine. 
 
 According to the Hebrew text this commandment runs 
 thus (Deuteronomy vi. 4), Hear, Israel : the Lord our 
 Crod is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God 
 with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and ivith all thy 
 might I " As though Moses had said : Since God is one, 
 love only Him, giving Him all your love. Where it says, 
 •' with all thy might," in Hebrew idiom it says, with thine 
 every faculty ; and I understand that this is said by way 
 of enhancement, and that there is no difiference between 
 the one and the other. 
 
 XXII. 41-46. — While the Pharisees were 
 gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, What 
 think ye of Christ ? whose son is he ? They say 
 unto him, The Son of David. He saith unto them, 
 How then doth David in spirit call him, Lord, 
 
5. MATTHEW XXII. 41-46. 397 
 
 saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on 
 my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy foot- 
 stool ? If David then call him Lord, how is he 
 his son ? And no man was able to answer him a 
 word ; neither durst any man, from that day forth, 
 ask him any more questions. 
 
 To comprehend these words two things must be con- 
 sidered. One, that Christ was not disparaged in being 
 called the Son of David, since it is evident that He was 
 so called, by them, who desired to honour Him, and that 
 St. Matthew commences his gospel by calling Him so, and 
 that St. Paul says (Rom. i. 3), that He was made of the 
 seed of David according to the flesh. And the other that, 
 that passage (Psalm ex. i), " The Lord said unto my Lord, 
 Sit Thou on my right hand," &c., was commonly understood 
 amongst the Jews as relating to the Messiah, to Christ ; 
 which even the Jews, who have lived since Christ, under- 
 stand in the same sense, though they do not admit that 
 it refers to our Christ, because they do not recognise Him 
 as the Messiah. 
 
 These two things considered, we understand that Christ 
 designed by these words to convince the Pharisees that 
 they ought to have held a higher opinion of the Messiah 
 than they did hold. They only held Him to be a Son of 
 David, and therefore a mere man, whilst Christ designs to 
 show them, that David held Him to be more than a son, and 
 therefore to be more than a mere man ; since, speaking 
 by the Spirit, he calls Him Lord, and he would not have 
 called Him Lord, had he not recognised Him to be more 
 than son ; David indeed knew Him to be a son by human 
 generation (birth), whilst he recognised Him to be the Son 
 of God, by divine generation, and therefore he called Him 
 Lord. 
 
 I understand this to be the right apprehension of these 
 words. And if any one shall say that the Pharisees might 
 
398 5. MATTHEW XXII. 41-46. 
 
 well have answered Christ, by saying, that David calls 
 the Messiah Lord, although He is his son, just as he 
 worshipped Solomon (i Kings i.), when he was elected 
 king, although he was his son ; I shall in reply say that 
 they could not ; for what David did with Solomon, was 
 not by the Spirit, as when he called the Messiah Lord, but 
 by the flesh ; it was an external ceremony appropriate to 
 temporal rule. 
 
 And if another shall say to me that the Pharisees might 
 well have answered Christ, by saying, that those words of 
 David do not affect the Messiah, nay, that it appears that 
 they are words spoken to David in the name of the 
 Jewish nation, as I have shown in my exposition of the 
 Psalms, I shall reply to him and say, that they could not ; 
 for we have stated that those words were commonly 
 understood of the Messiah before the time of Christ, of 
 which apprehension it appears to have been Christ's 
 design to avail Himself (in argument). 
 
 And therefore well does the evangelist say that no one 
 could answer Him a word, for they knew nothing of the 
 divine mystery of the divine generation of the Messiah. 
 And when it is added, " Neither durst any man from that 
 day forth" &c., the evangelist shows that all the questions 
 which they addressed to Christ were arined ivith malice^ 
 for they ceased to question, when they knew that His 
 answers were divine. Had they questioned with sincerity, 
 the desire to ash would have increased, "being delighted 
 with the answers He gave them ; hut, as they questioned 
 hut to calumniate, they would not ask, seeing that their 
 aim failed. 
 
S. MATTHEW XXIII. 399 
 
 CHAPTER XXIIL 
 
 XXIII. I-I2. — Then spake Jesus to the multi- 
 tude, and to his disciples, saying, The scribes and 
 the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat : All therefore what- 
 soever they bid you observe, that observe and do ; 
 but do not ye after their works : for they say, and 
 do not. For they bind heavy burdens, and grievous 
 to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders ; but 
 they themselves will not move them with one of 
 their fingers. But all their works they do for to be 
 seen of men : they make broad their phylacteries, 
 and enlarge the borders of their garments ; and 
 love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief 
 seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the 
 markets, and to be called of men. Rabbi, Rabbi. 
 But be not ye called Rabbi : for one is your Master, 
 even Christ ; and all ye are brethren. And call no 
 man your father upon the earth : for one is your 
 Father, which is in heaven. Neither be ye called 
 masters : for one is your Master, even Christ. But 
 he that is greatest among you, shall be your ser- 
 vant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be 
 abased ; and he that shall humble himself shall be 
 exalted. 
 
 There are three things involved in these words well 
 worthy of being considered. Fii^st, that what we stated 
 
400 S. MATTHEW XXIII. 1-12. 
 
 upon chapter v. is truth ; to wit, that Christ said many 
 things that only concerned the time in which He spoke 
 them, and for those who heard them, for so it is that the 
 scribes and Pharisees sitting in Moses' seat is equivalent 
 to their teaching the observance of Moses' law ; it is also 
 a fact, that he who shall assert that these, Christ's words, 
 concern all times, will be constrained to confess that the 
 whole law has to be observed concurrently with the gospel, 
 which has been condemned from the time of the apostles; 
 so that this, Christ's admonition, only concerned that 
 period whilst He lived amongst men, during which time, 
 and until the coming of the Holy Spirit, it was the will 
 of God that His people should be subject to the law; 
 from which subjection it was freed when the Holy Spirit 
 came, who succeeded to the rule and government of the 
 people of God, instead of the law. 
 
 And thus began to be fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah 
 (chapter xxxi. 31-33), which I understand they all feel in- 
 wardly to have commenced fulfilment, who, accepting the 
 gospel, receive the Holy Spirit ; and I understand that we 
 shall see the entire and perfect fulfilment in the life eternal, 
 where we all, small and great, shall know God, and in 
 Him shall know everything, and thus will have no neces- 
 sity of being taught. 
 
 They, who have not yet accepted the gospel, who have 
 not yet received the Holy Spirit, are, as St. Paul says, 
 still under the schoolmaster, under the law, the prophecy 
 of Jeremiah not having yet begun to be fulfilled in them. 
 And such as these are they, who, although they bear the 
 Christian name and read the gospel, go about seeking 
 quid licet, " what is permitted," whilst, had they been 
 Christians indeed, who had accepted the gospel, they would 
 have ceased to go about seeking the quid licet, " the what is 
 permitted," and they would have occupied themselves in 
 seeking out, quid expedit, " what is expedient," as I have 
 written in a Consideration [xc] ; besides which, see what 
 is said upon chapter xvii. 24, &c. 
 
S. MATTHEW XXIII. 1-12. 401 
 
 Christ, desiring to explain the reason why He willed 
 that His disciples should not act as the Scribes and 
 Pharisees did, says, "For they talk and do not," meaning, 
 for they do not observe that which they teach others to 
 observe ; and proceeding further with this explanation He 
 says, '' Fo7' they hind heavy burdens" &c., meaning, that 
 they burdened the people with strange and intolerable 
 observances, taking care not to bear them themselves, not 
 even so much as to move them with a finger. 
 
 It may be gathered from these words of Christ, that 
 although the life of the Scribes and Pharisees was bad, for 
 their minds were bad, their doctrine was not so bad as to 
 render it injurious, at that time, to follow it. Whereupon, 
 I, considering how much more injurious is the doctrine of 
 our Scribes and Pharisees, understand that ours are even 
 more pernicious than theirs. And as to the reason, I 
 remit myself to what I have stated in a reply. 
 
 And if it shall appear to any one that this is contrary 
 to what Christ stated in chapter xvi., cautioning His dis- 
 ciples that they should beware of the doctrine of the Scribes 
 and Sadducees, I will tell him, that, as I understand it, 
 Christ here spoke of the doctrine which consisted in doing 
 that which pertained to the fulfilment of the law and of 
 human constitutions; whilst there He spoke of the doctrine, 
 which consists in believing, in accepting Christ as the 
 Messiah promised in the law, which acceptance was im- 
 peded by the doctrine of those, who, in their dreamy 
 imaginations, conceived a profane and worldly Messiah, 
 and wrested the Holy Scriptures to make them speak of 
 what they had dreamt. 
 
 Prom that passage, " But all their works they do" &c., 
 we glean another thing worthy of consideration, for Christ, 
 in laying down the characteristics of those Scribes and 
 Pharisees, opens our eyes to recognise all those to be Scribes 
 and Pharisees in whom we shall see these features. 
 
 First, delighting that their works, which they hold to 
 be good, and which the vulgar persuaded by them hold to 
 
 2 c 
 
402 S. MATTHEW XXIII. 1-12. 
 
 be good, be seen of men, in order that they may be prized 
 by them and esteemed by them. 
 
 Second, the manifestation of sanctity by external indi- 
 cations, as by the Pharisees and Scribes with their 
 phylacteries, which bore certain sentences from the Bible, 
 or from the commandments in the decalogue, written on 
 them; and with their borders or fringes, which they 
 attached to four parts of their vestments, to indicate 
 austerity of life. 
 
 Third, the being ambitious, seeking to occupy the seat 
 of honour in all the public places they visited, such as 
 were the feasts held at that time, and in the synagogues. 
 
 Fourth, the being proud and hollow, seeking to be 
 saluted and reverenced in public, and to be called masters, 
 as did the Scribes and Pharisees, who insisted on being 
 called " Eabbi," which signifies master, but, being derived 
 from a word that signifies much, means master of many 
 sciences. 
 
 From that, " But be not ye called," &c., we glean another 
 thing, worthy of consideration, enabling us to understand 
 some things affecting the duty of the Christian. First, 
 that the Christian is in no way to pride himself upon being 
 called by a name that signifies greatness or authority, as 
 was that of rabbi, and as is now that of master. 
 
 Second, that he recognise no one as Master but Christ ; 
 whilst they recognise Christ as Master, who, having the 
 Spirit of Christ, begin inwardly to fee} the fulfilment of 
 the prophecy of Jeremiah within themselves. These, 
 although they call some masters, call them so but with 
 their mouths to humour them and in deference to usage, 
 but not with their hearts, nor because they recognise 
 them as masters ; knowing, that they know and under- 
 stand of spiritual and divine things, just so much as they 
 inwardly feel and experience ; which feeling and which 
 experience they have, being taught, never ceasing, however, 
 to esteem those, who, having the gift of the apostolate 
 and teaching, externally lead and guide them to inward 
 
5. MATTHEW XXIII. 1-12. 403 
 
 feeling, and to experience; but these do not pride them- 
 selves upon being called masters, neither are they called 
 masters by them, who know them. And it is not contra- 
 dictory to this, that St. Paul should call himself a teacher 
 of the heathen or of the Gentiles ; it being a fact that he 
 called himself a teacher, because having the gift of teach- 
 ing, with the gift of the apostolate, he taught the Gentiles 
 how to live like Christians. 
 
 The third thing of the Christian's duty is that he hold 
 as brethren, all those, who have the Spirit of Christ, seek- 
 ing to be held as a brother by every one of them ; and 
 there is equality in the brotherhood, with but little differ- 
 ence between an elder brother and a younger brother. 
 
 The fourth that he has to recognise no one for father, 
 save God ; whilst they recognise God for father, who, 
 being regenerated by the Holy Spirit, the Christian spirit, 
 recognise themselves as renewed in their habits ; be- 
 ginning to leave and to abhor profane habits, and be- 
 ginning to assume and to love Christian habits. These 
 recognise God as father, because they recognise them- 
 selves to be the children of God, ruled and governed by 
 the Spirit of God, and, although they call some fathers, 
 they call them so, but with the mouth to humour them, 
 and in deference to usage ; but not with their hearts, 
 not because they recognise their status as that assigned 
 them by the Spirit, since they recognise that only by God 
 through Christ. 
 
 And what St. Paul says is not contrary to this, where 
 he showed that they were his children, whom God brought, 
 by his preaching, unto obedience to the faith, to accept- 
 ance of the gospel; for his design was not the am- 
 bitious one, of seeking to be esteemed and respected as 
 father, for he only sought to be believed in that which 
 concerns the doctrine of Christian life ; and is a fashion of 
 speech as though he should say : since I have brought you 
 to the gospel, follow the doctrine of Christian life which 
 I teach you, and do not depart from it. 
 
404 5. MATTHEW XXIII. 13-33. 
 
 The fifth thing, as to the Christian's duty, that is to be 
 understood here, is, that Christian superiority consists in 
 serving those who are Christians ; so that that Christian is 
 greatest amongst Christians who serves most, not only in 
 inward and spiritual things, but also in outward and 
 corporal, humbling himself to any office, however low, in 
 the service of any Christian, recognising Christ in him, by 
 the Spirit of Christ. 
 
 And Christ concluding these. His admonitions, by say- 
 ing, "And whosoever shall exalt himself," &c., shows that 
 His design, throughout them all, has been to exhort us to 
 humility, that we should despise and abase ourselves, 
 doing the very opposite of what the Scribes and Pharisees 
 did ; so that we should show by humility what difference 
 there is between saints of the world and saints of God ; 
 and Christ means, that God will humble and abase to the 
 earth him, who shall exalt himself as did the Pharisees ; and 
 that He will exalt the man, who, following His example, 
 shall humble himself and prostrate himself, despising and 
 annihilating himself; and who shall rejoice, in being 
 despised and annihilated of men, until he lose that vain 
 arrogance, which by natural depravity attaches to all 
 men ; to effect which the most proper medicine is to 
 consider the humility of Christ, " who, being in the form of 
 God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but 
 made Himself of no Reputation," &c. (Phil. ii. 6, 7). 
 
 XXIII. 13-33. But woe unto you, Scribes and 
 Pbarisees, hypocrites ! for ye shut up the kingdom 
 of heaven against men : for ye neither go in your- 
 selves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to 
 go in. Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypo- 
 crites I for ye devour widows' houses, and for a 
 pretence make long prayers : therefore ye shall 
 receive the greater damnation. Woe unto you, 
 
5. MATTHEW XXIII. 13-33. 405 
 
 Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye compass 
 sea and land to make one proselyte ; and when he 
 is made, ye make him twofold more the child of 
 hell than yourselves. Woe unto you, ye blind 
 guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the 
 temple, it is nothing ; but whosoever shall swear 
 by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor. Ye 
 fools and blind ! for whether is greater, the gold, 
 or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? And, 
 whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing ; 
 but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon 
 it, he is guilty. Ye fools and blind : for whether 
 is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the 
 gift ? Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, 
 sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. And 
 whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, 
 and by him that dwelleth therein. And he that 
 shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of 
 God, and by Him that sitteth thereon. Woe unto 
 you. Scribes and Pharisees,, hypocrites ! for ye pay 
 tithe of mint, and anise, and cummin, and have 
 omitted the weightier matters of the law, judg- 
 ment, mercy, and faith : these ought ye to have 
 done, and not to leave the other undone. Ye 
 blind guides ! who strain off a gnat, and swallow 
 a camel. Woe . unto you. Scribes and Pharisees, 
 hypocrites ! for ye make clean the outside of the 
 cup and of the platter, but within they are full 
 of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee ! 
 cleanse first that which is within the cup and 
 platter, that the outside of them may be clean 
 also. Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypo- 
 
4o6 5. MATTHEW XXIII. 13-33. 
 
 crites ! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, 
 which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are 
 within full of dead men's bones, and of all unclean- 
 ness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous 
 unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and 
 iniquity. Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, 
 hypocrites ! because ye build the tombs of the pro- 
 phets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, 
 and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, 
 we would not have been partakers with them in 
 the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be wit- 
 nesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of 
 them who killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the 
 measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation 
 of vipers ! how can ye escape the damnation of 
 hell ? 
 
 Two things are worthy of consideration in these words. 
 First, that Christ, being meekness itself, benignity and 
 mercy to all people, even as we have seen Him in what 
 went before, was rough, rigorous, and severe against the 
 Scribes and Pharisees, because they arrogated the highest 
 sanctity, and did their utmost to be held holy, whilst they 
 were impious, iniquitous, and perverse. Whence we may 
 learn, that to God there is nothing more abhorrent than 
 is the hypocrisy, the external sanctity of those, who hold 
 themselves, and who joy to be held, saints by the world, 
 masking their wickedness and publishing their acts of 
 false goodness. And let us learn, moreover, that, to the 
 glory of God, we must ever oppose these, when we see 
 that they are prejudicial to the people of God, to the 
 church of God, and to God's elect; discovering their 
 hypocrisies and their baseness, in order to discredit their 
 false doctrines ; looking to it, however, that we do not act 
 passionately ; that we do not allow the flesh to feast itself 
 
6". MATTHEW XXIII. 13-33. 407 
 
 upon sucli work ; for this would be to depart from Chris- 
 tian duty and decorum. 
 
 With this aim do I understand Christ to have said 
 all this against the Scribes and Pharisees ; and with the 
 same aim do I understand St. Paul to have called false 
 apostles dogs and evil workers. Where 1 will add this : 
 that just as I shall not hold it to be bad, for one, imitating 
 Christ and St. Paul, to discover the false doctrine and 
 wickedness of those, who, being saints of the world, make 
 profession of being saints of God, for I shall believe, that 
 he says what he says from zeal for the gospel of Christ 
 and of God, free from human passion ; so neither should 
 I hold it bad for another, although he see and know the 
 false doctrine and the wickedness of the saints of the 
 world, if he pass it over and be silent, for I shall believe 
 that he has not the courage to speak, knowing himself to 
 be so weak, that he cannot speak without passion, with- 
 out mixing up himself in it. 
 
 The second thing which there is to consider in these 
 words is the eight characteristics which concur in those, 
 who are saints of the world, as were the Scribes and 
 Pharisees. 
 
 The first characteristic is their being opposed to Chris- 
 tian and spiritual life, interpreting the Holy Scriptures 
 after their own manner, according to their opinions, and 
 not according to that which they designed, who wrote 
 them. I understand this, to be the shutting up of the 
 kingdom of heaven against men, from which it ever follows 
 that such interpreters never enter into the kingdom of 
 heaven, into the Christian and spiritual church, nor do 
 they let those enter, who do enter, without impeding and 
 obstructing their entrance in every possible way and 
 manner : so that in saying, " Neither suffer ye them that do 
 enter" it may be understood, that as far as they are con- 
 cerned, no one of those would enter who do enter, for 
 they do their utmost not to let them enter. 
 
 The second characteristic of saints of the world is to 
 
4o8 S. MATTHEW XXIII. 13-33. 
 
 deceive widows and devout persons, but simpletons, eating 
 up their property ; giving them to understand that they 
 make long prayers to God for them. Christ says of such, 
 that they shall receive, or have, the greater damnation, 
 heaping up the wrong they do the widows, upon the wrong 
 they do themselves, being malignant and perverse. 
 
 The third characteristic of saints of the world is to travel, 
 with great effort, over sea and over land, or, as Spaniards 
 say, " to collect the winds and drink them" in order to make 
 a proselyte to their religion or profession : to make an 
 apparent Christian of a Jew, a Moor, or a Turk, and, after- 
 wards, to make him more diabolic and infernal than them- 
 selves ; for that such an one, disillusionised and liberated 
 from his religion, and not assuming the Christian, which 
 is wholly spiritual and inward, remains most impious. 
 And here, I understand, with what circumspection men 
 ought to proceed, when they lead a man from one religion, 
 in order to attract him to another, or from superstitious 
 life to spiritual life. 
 
 The fourth characteristic of saints of the world is an 
 avarice that is cloaked, such as was that of the Scribes 
 and Pharisees, who made it obligatory to swear by the 
 gold of the temple, and by the gift or offering upon the 
 altar, that he, who swore, should pay the gold, and should 
 give the offering, whilst they did not make it obligatory 
 to swear by the temple or by the altar, because he who 
 swore could not be condemned to pay for temple or altar, 
 since it was not allowed to erect another temple or another 
 altar ; whilst they did not consider what Christ states, that 
 the temple is greater than the gold, and the altar than the 
 gift; for it is so, that the gold was consecrated by the 
 temple, and the gift was consecrated by standing upon the 
 altar. This concerned those times. By " consecrated" I 
 understand dedicated to God. 
 
 It may also be, that by these words, Christ censured the 
 Scribes and Pharisees for their blindness to apprehension 
 of tlie law ; and thus blindness to apprehension of the 
 
5. MATTHEW XXIII. 13-33. 409 
 
 Holy Scriptures would be the fourth characteristic of saints 
 of the world. As to oaths, I remit myself to what I have 
 said upon chapter v. 
 
 The fifth characteristic of saints of the world is, that they 
 are scrupulous upon things of little importance. Christ 
 states, that the Scribes and Pharisees were such, who very 
 diligently paid tithes of pot-herbs, and of vegetables, and 
 of other things similarly unimportant, omitting from their 
 reckoning things that constituted the foundation of the 
 law, as, for instance, judgment, in judging all equally and 
 justly ; mercy, in showing commiseration for the wretched, 
 the indigent, and the affiicted ; and faith, in trusting God's 
 words, relying upon His promises, and depending in all, 
 and everything, upon God. 
 
 In gospel times we discharge these three things, striving 
 to be upright and equitable in judging between our neigh- 
 bours and brethren, and in being merciful to them, and in 
 believing that God, when He chastised our sins in Christ, 
 pardoned us, and holds us to be righteous, to be risen 
 again, and to be glorified ; and it is certainly something 
 worthy of marvel, that, amongst Christians, there is hardly 
 one, who confesses to himself his shortcomings in Chris- 
 tian faith. Christ, by adding. These indeed, it behoved you 
 to do" &c., paralysed the calumnious imputations they 
 might have made against him, by saying, that He inculcated 
 the non-payment of tithes : effectively, we see that Christ 
 designed that they should never be able to say that He 
 was in anything opposed to what the law commanded. 
 To treat things of little importance scrupulously, whilst 
 things of great importance are disregarded, is styled by 
 Christ, " to strain off the gnat and to swallow the camel." 
 
 The sixth characteristic of saints of the world is to be 
 very superstitious in external and apparent sanctity, and 
 to be very licentious inwardly and actually ; acting as do 
 they, who wash the outside of the vase or platter, but 
 leave it filthy inside, where cleanliness is more necessary ; 
 because outward impurity does not pollute that which is 
 
4IO S. MATTHEW XXIII. 13-33. 
 
 drank, or that which is eaten, although it offends the eyes 
 and the hands of the person, who drinks or eats ; whilst 
 internal impurity pollutes the one and offends the other. 
 Christ adding, " Thou hlind Pharisee, cleanse first," &c., 
 teaches us that we ought first to attend to the adjust- 
 ment and adornment of the inward man, for this cleansed, 
 it is easy to adjust the outward, nay, it adjusts itself; whilst, 
 when the outward is adjusted first, the inward remains 
 more disadjusted, because the man looks at himself out- 
 wardly, and, finding himself just and holy, he disregards 
 himself inwardly. The comparison that I instituted (in 
 the Alfaheto Cristiano, page 157), between the itch or the 
 scab, would appositely illustrate this. 
 
 The seventh characteristic of saints of the world, is their 
 being like to tombs and sepulchres, very ornate outwardly 
 and very stinking inwardly ; the external ornamentation 
 consists in all those things that have apparent sanctity; 
 whilst the inward stench springs from infidelity, from self- 
 love, from malice, and malignity, which are always asso- 
 ciated with them, who are saints of the world. 
 
 The eighth characteristic of those, who are saints of the 
 world, is to honour, prize, and esteem those, who [deceased] 
 were saints of God, and to dishonour, despise, persecute, 
 and kill those, who are saints of God : and it is so, that, 
 being unable to deny the sanctity of the deceased, evinced 
 by what was seen in them, they honour them, they prize 
 them, and they esteem them, as did the Scribes and Pha- 
 risees, the prophets, and other just persons, to whom they 
 erected sepulchres and memorials or monuments ; whilst 
 it is also a fact, that, not being able to tolerate the sanctity 
 of the living, because by it, their own which is false and 
 feigned, is condemned, they dishonour, despise, persecute, 
 and kill them ; as did the Scribes and Pharisees to Christ, 
 and they have since done to Christians, who are the saints 
 of God. 
 
 So that here Christ does not rebuke the Scribes and 
 Pharisees for what they did to the Prophets and just men 
 
5. MATTHEW XXIII. 34-39. 411 
 
 whom their Fathers had killed; but because they, per- 
 severing in being such as were their fathers, did that 
 which their fathers had done, though they afi&rmed the 
 contrary ; as though Christ had said, of what use is it that 
 you condemn what your fathers did ? since you, like them 
 do, and will do, what they have done. And adding, " You 
 Jill up" &c., Christ means, since you are just like your fathers, 
 you will take off' the mask, and do as they have done. 
 And Christ, considering the chastisement which was about 
 to be laid on them, added, " Ye serpents," &c., meaning, you 
 will do as did your fathers, and you will be chastised like 
 them, in the fire of hell. 
 
 These eight characteristics, which concur in saints of 
 the world, ought well to be considered by the saints of 
 God, in order to preserve them from their doctrines, and 
 from their conversations ; now the saints of God are they, 
 who occupy themselves with the eight beatitudes which 
 Christ lays down in chapter v., which are, as it were, the 
 eight characteristics of those, who are the saints of God. 
 
 XXIII. 34-39. — Wherefore, behold, I send unto 
 you prophets, and wise men, and scribes : and 
 some of them ye shall kill and crucify ; and some 
 of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and 
 persecute them from city to city : that upon you 
 may come all the righteous blood shed upon the 
 earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the 
 blood of Zacharias, son of Barachias, whom ye slew 
 between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto 
 you. All these things shall come upon this genera- 
 tion. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest 
 the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto 
 thee, how often would 1 have gathered thy children 
 together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens 
 under her wings, and ye would not ! Behold, 
 
412 5. MATTHEW XXIII. 34-39. 
 
 your house is left unto you desolate. For I say 
 unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye 
 shall say. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of 
 the Lord ! 
 
 Christ, having defined the eight characteristics that con- 
 curred in the Scribes and Pharisees, which concur to the 
 letter in all the saints of the world, forasmuch as they 
 too are Scribes and Pharisees, proceeds terribly to menace 
 the whole Jewish nation impersonated by the Scribes and 
 Pharisees and by Jerusalem, saying, " Wherefore, behold, 
 I send unto you" &c. Whence, because it does not 
 appear to me that these words properly harmonise, that 
 Christ should speak these words of Himself, that He sent 
 prophets, &c., although, indeed. He might well have said 
 them of Himself, I remit myself to St. Luke's gospel 
 (chap. xi. 49), where he says, " Wherefore also the Wisdom 
 of God said," &c. The evangelist declares that Christ 
 did not utter these words in His own name, but in the 
 name of the Wisdom of God; and this affects Christ's' 
 humility, who being able to speak them in His own name. 
 He being the Wisdom of God, because they were un- 
 becoming the position He had assumed, spake them in 
 the name of the Wisdom of God ; I mean to say, that 
 although He spake them of Himself, He desired to attri- 
 bute them, not to Himself, but to the wisdom of God, 
 which spoke by Him ; in order that, what He said, might 
 be more highly thought of by those who heard Him ; nay, 
 I think that this was a Hebraism, for it is like that at 
 the beginning of the book of Ecclesiastes, where its says, 
 " Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, all is vanity," and 
 the Jews understand that Solomon attributed his words to 
 the wisdom of God, which he calls songstress or preacher. 
 
 So that we may understand, that Christ, in saying, 
 " Wherefore, behold I send unto you," &c., means : and since 
 you are such, I wish you to know what the Wisdom of 
 God has determined concerning you ; it is this ; that since 
 
5. MATTHEW XXIII. 34-39. 413 
 
 He has sent, does send, and will send, prophets, wise men, 
 and scribes, or educated men, to put you in the way of 
 truth, and you not only have not pleased to listen to 
 them, but you have treated them with every form of 
 cruelty, killing them, crucifying them, and persecuting 
 them, that there fall upon you the chastisement of God 
 which these your malpractices and crimes deserve ; so 
 that all the blood of the righteous men that has been 
 shed upon earth from the beginning of the world unto the 
 present hour may be chastised in you. Thus do I under- 
 stand these words. 
 
 Opinions differ as to whom this Zacharias, the son of 
 Barachias, was. I however think him to have been a 
 person, who was slain in the time of Christ, and even 
 after the death of John the Baptist. And Christ, by 
 adding, " Verily I say unto you" &c., showed clearly that 
 He meant the destruction of Jerusalem, which it is said 
 happened seventy-five years after the birth of our Lord 
 and Saviour Jesus Christ : and this is the more con- 
 firmed by the exclamation against Jerusalem, which He 
 adds, saying, " Jerusalem, Jerusalem," &c. Where two 
 things are to be understood ; the one, that under the name 
 of Jerusalem, Christ meant the whole Hebrew nation ; 
 and the other, that He spoke of what had happened, and 
 of what was about to happen. 
 
 By that : " How often would I have gathered," &c., it 
 appears that men can resist the will of God, so that God 
 cannot do with men what He would, where combininor 
 this with what Christ says in John vi. 44, " No man can 
 come to Me, unless the Father, who hath sent Me, draw him," 
 I think that it might be said, that we men are so far from 
 willing what God wills, viz., that we submit ourselves to 
 His will ;, that He cannot bring us to it whilst He exerts 
 ordinary power, which He appears to have exercised 
 towards Jerusalem, since He could not succeed in His 
 design ; whilst He reduces us by the exercise of absolute 
 power, which, as Holy Scripture frequently states, no 
 
414 S. MATTHEW XXIII. 34-39. 
 
 one can resist ; and this is what God exerts upon all those 
 whom He brings to Christ ; bringing them to Christ by 
 force, not rigorous, but loving, sweet, and grateful. 
 
 I, however, can well affirm this concerning myself, that 
 I was so compelled to come to Christ, that I am certain 
 that I could not have resisted it had I wished ; and 
 thinking this to be the same with every one of those, who 
 are incorporated into Christ, I think that God exerts 
 absolute power with them, forcing them and compelling 
 them to leave the kingdom of the world and to enter into 
 the kingdom of God ; to leave the image of Adam and to 
 assume the image of Christ, by acceptance of the grace 
 of the gospel. As to the manner in which I understand 
 that God forces us and compels us, I remit myself to what 
 I have stated in a consideration (xxiii.) 
 
 It may likewise be said here that some persons assign 
 two wills to God, and that they call one, " voluntas signi" 
 the will of intimation, and the other " voluntas heneplaciti" 
 the will of complacency. So that Christ's meaning may 
 be, that God had made many demonstrations to Jerusalem, 
 of His desire to bring her back and to unite her to Himself, 
 but that she would not ; for men can resist this will of 
 God, manifested by signs and external admonitions, such 
 as were those made to Jerusalem ; to which prophets, 
 wise men and scribes were sent ; whilst it is impossible 
 to resist the will of God, that is deliberate and determined, 
 because such is His will and pleasure. 
 
 According to this distinction, it is to be understood that 
 whenever Holy Scripture states that men resist the will of 
 God, it means the one that is called " the will of intimation ; " 
 and that whenever it states that men cannot resist the will 
 of God, because it carries out all He wills, it means, that 
 which is called " the will of complacency" 
 
 This apprehension is good, but the former pleases me 
 more and edifies me more ; and I hold it to be more cer- 
 tain, as well from my personal experience of it, as also 
 because the depravity of our depraved nature is more dis- 
 
S. MATTHEW XXIII. 34-39. 415 
 
 covered by it ; whilst the glory of God in His goodness 
 and in His liberality is more illustrated by it ; since it is 
 so, that God seeing that men resist His ordinary power, 
 exerts His absolute power when He wills, and upon whom 
 He wills; giving them to recognise His goodness and 
 mercy, putting Christ before their eyes, and showing to 
 them the happiness of the life eternal, and thus with a 
 loving and gracious violence. He makes them do His 
 will. 
 
 When Christ says, " Behold yo2ir house is left unto you 
 desolate" He means, since you have not willed, what the 
 wisdom of God, God Himself willed, but have resisted it, 
 know assuredly that the wisdom of God, God Himself, 
 will depart from you, and will leave you to follow after 
 your own fancies. That, '' For I say unto you that ye shall 
 not henceforth see Me,'' &c., is obscure ; if we understand 
 that all the words are spoken in the name of the wisdom 
 of God, we shall understand Him as meaning, that those 
 multitudes would be incapable of (comprehending) the 
 wisdom of God, unless they recognised Christ ; and even 
 though we understand them, as spoken in the name of 
 Christ Himself, this may be the sentence that Christ de- 
 livers : well then, I assure you that you shall never see Me 
 more, unless you first recognise Me, so as to be able joy- 
 fully to applaud my coming into the world ; being sent as 
 I am by God, and that ye say, " Blessed is He that cometh 
 in the name of the Lord," so that, that " until ye shall say" 
 is tantamount to His having said : until you first say. 
 
 I am not fully satisfied in the apprehension of these 
 words. Here human prudence might reclaim, and say: 
 that God wronged the inhabitants of Jerusalem, by chas- 
 tising them for the blood that had been shed by their an- 
 cestors, and not by them ; to which it should be replied 
 that God indeed exercised mercy to their forefathers, in 
 not chastising, from time to time, the blood they continued 
 to shed ; and that He exercised no injustice in chastising 
 it all upon them ; as well because, though it be expressed 
 
4i6 S. MATTHEW XXIII. 34-39. 
 
 thus, it was not greater chastisement than their own mis- 
 deeds deserved, as also because we are His creatures, and 
 He may dispose of us at His will, without its ever being 
 possible to implead Him of injustice. 
 
 And here it may be noted how different are God's judg- 
 ments from the judgments of man, and God's justice from 
 the justice of man, which ought to be sufficient to mortify 
 and to slay all that human prudence can adduce, as affect- 
 ing its desire to judge the works of God, in presuming to 
 call Him to account why He punished these and not those, 
 why He constrains some with His absolute power, and not 
 others ; in which act, more than in any other, men mani- 
 fest their arrogance and their impiety ; whence these in- 
 quisitions are never made by persons incorporated by faith 
 into Christ, for they are humble, and cherish piety, they 
 therefore approve of all the works of God, as holy, just, 
 and good ; they adore, where they do not comprehend. 
 
S. MATTHEW XXIV. 417 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 XXIV. 1-14. — And Jesus went out, and de- 
 parted from the temple : and his disciples came to 
 him to shew him the buildings of the temple. And 
 Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things ? 
 Verily I say unto you. There shall not be left here 
 one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown 
 down. And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, 
 the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell 
 us, When shall these things be ? and what shall be 
 the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the 
 world ? And Jesus answered and said unto them, 
 Take heed that no man deceive you. For many 
 shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and 
 shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars 
 and rumours of wars : see that ye be not troubled : 
 for all these things must come to pass, but the end 
 is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, 
 and kingdom against kingdom : and there shall be 
 famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers 
 places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. 
 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and 
 shall kill you : and ye shall be hated of all nations 
 for my name's sake. And then shall many be 
 offended, and shall betray one another, and shall 
 hate one another. And many false prophets shall 
 
 rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity 
 
 2 D 
 
4i8 S. MATTHEW XXIV. 1-14. 
 
 shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 
 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same 
 shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom 
 shall be preached in all the world for a witness un- 
 to all nations : and then shall the end come. 
 
 I find more difficulty in understanding this chapter than 
 any other of the New Testament ; I will state what I do 
 understand of it up to this present time : remitting myself 
 to a better and more certain apprehension. As to the first, 
 I understand that the disciples pointed out to Christ the 
 temple as a magnificent structure, and that Christ took 
 occasion from that to prophesy to them the destruction of 
 the temple, saying, " There shall not he left here one stone" 
 &c., intimating that the destruction would be, in the 
 highest degree, terrible. 
 
 And I understand that the disciples, having heard this 
 prophecy, desired to know the precise time in which it 
 was to be fulfilled ; and that they, imagining to them- 
 selves that the fulfilment of that prophecy was to be at 
 Christ's second advent, at the end of the world, came to 
 Christ to ask Him every detail, respecting two things ; of 
 the destruction of Jerusalem, and of His coming to judg- 
 ment at the end of the world. 
 
 And I understand that Christ answered on both subjects 
 so blending the one with the other, that the disciples 
 might confirm themselves in their thought, that they both 
 should be accomplished at the same time. 
 
 The reason why Christ thus answered them I do not 
 know ; I do indeed think that the disciples were mainly 
 led, by this reply, to think that the world would come to 
 its end in their time, as I have commented upon St. Paul 
 (i Cor. XV. 51 and 52) ; nay, from 2 Peter iii. 9 it appears, 
 that some Christians of the primitive church began to va- 
 cillate in their faith, seeing that Christ delayed His com- 
 ing; and it is possible that Christ may have replied thus 
 
S. MATTHEW XXIV. 1-14. 419 
 
 confusedly to the disciples, in order to hold us ever ex- 
 pectant of His coming. 
 
 Which expectation works these two effects upon those 
 whom it involves ; the one is, that it keeps them spiri- 
 tually joyous and contented ; whilst the other is, that it, 
 to a great extent, mortifies in those, who hope, all desires 
 and aims of the flesh and of the world ; whilst I experi- 
 mentally know the divine efficacy of this expectation of 
 Christ, and I hold it to be certain, that this hope is that 
 divine virtue placed between faith and charity. 
 
 As to Christ's answer, I understand that all these words, 
 which I have translated, affect the whole period of the 
 manifestation of the gospel, commencing from the coming 
 of the Holy Spirit up to the very day of judgment; 
 throughout which period, just as all these things, which 
 Christ has there prophesied to us as associated with the 
 disciples of Christ, so are all these notifications which 
 Christ here gives us, necessary for us. 
 
 And I understand that, by all these words, Christ's 
 purpose is to put us on our guard, that we be neither 
 heedless of His coming, nor that we lightly believe in it ; 
 from the inconveniences which might result to us from 
 either of these two things ; for that our heedlessness might 
 result in making us licentious, whilst lightly to believe 
 might result in separating us from Christ, by leading us 
 to think that we come to Christ, when we take Antichrist 
 for Christ. 
 
 And thus He says, " Take heed that no man deceive you" 
 &c. And that which follows, " For many shall come," &c., 
 I understand to be in gradual process of fulfilment, and 
 that it will be fulfilled at last. And that ; " Ye shall hear 
 of wars" &c., I understand to be intended to put us upon 
 our guard, that although we shall see and hear tell that 
 the whole world is wrapt in the flames of war, we are not 
 to think that it will perish by war, because although wars 
 will be as preludes and skirmishes to the end of the 
 world, it will not be they, which will put an end to it. 
 
420 S. MATTHEW XXIV. 1-14. 
 
 Christ adding, "For nation shall rise against nation*' 
 &c., agrees with what He has said : " You shall hear of 
 wars" to which He adds pestilences and famine, which 
 are always connected with wars, and He adds earth- 
 quakes, that terrify and alarm men. When He says, " All 
 these are the heginning of sorrows" He means, these evils, 
 which had and have to be accomplished from time to 
 time in the world before the end of the world, will not 
 be of all evils the worst to men of the world, but the 
 beginning of evils; the end being the day of judgment, 
 the day of the utmost grief for men of the world, and of 
 the highest joy for the children of God. 
 
 Christ adding, " Then shall they deliver you up" &c., 
 appears to mean that throughout all these periods the 
 hatred which the men of the world will conceive against 
 the children of God, the saints of God, will increase extra- 
 ordinarily, as though surmising that they desire that the 
 world should perish, and therefore they will most cruelly 
 persecute and slay them. 
 
 And I understand that this persecution will be beyond 
 all comparison more terrible and more cruel in the period 
 just prior to the judgment, than that which the Christians 
 of the primitive church and than that which those have 
 suffered from time to time, from that time to the present ; 
 that which is most fearful consisting in this, that they, 
 who shall bear the name of Christians, pretending to 
 religion and Christian sanctity, will persecute those, who 
 shall confess the Christian faith, and shall live like Chris- 
 tians, imitating Christ; and thus will it come to pass, 
 that the glory of the Christian church shall be greater at 
 its close, than at its commencement. 
 
 Erom that : " And then shall many he scandalised" I am 
 confirmed in my thought, that all this persecution shall 
 be wrought by false Christians against true Christians, 
 many of whom shall be scandalised, shall be offended, 
 when they see that God permits them to be thus treated 
 by those, who shall call themselves Christians. 
 
S. MATTHEW XXIV. 1-14. 421 
 
 " They shall he betrayed," is equivalent to, they shall 
 be sold; false Christians shall sell true ones, and they 
 shall hate them ; and truly such a confusion and general 
 scandal, amongst persons not well grounded and fortified 
 in the Christian faith, by having it confirmed by their 
 own experience of Christian life, presents itself to me, in 
 this last persecution of the church, that I scarcely dare 
 think of it ; nay through weakness and timidity my mind 
 is unequal to it, especially when I associate with it what 
 Christ adds, " And many false prophets shall rise," &c., for 
 it occurs to me, that false Christians will follow them, 
 whilst they both, pretending to render service to God and 
 to Christ, shall persecute true Christians, not being able 
 to tolerate or endure that they should not follow what 
 they do, and that they should not live as they do. 
 
 He calls those " prophets," who shall pretend to preach 
 the gospel and to understand the Holy Scriptures. That : 
 " And because iniquity shall abound" I understand this to 
 be said inversely, such being in Hebrew idiomatic: I 
 mean to say that Christ understood, that "from love wax- 
 ing cold in many," the result was abounding iniquity; 
 whilst He says that from abounding iniquity the love 
 waxed cold. 
 
 I understand this thus, because I understand that 
 Christ here speaks of bad Christians ; whose depravity, I 
 understand, commences in their neglect of Christian faith ; 
 whence results their waxing cold in Christian love ; from 
 which coldness results depravity in Christian manners, 
 and thus malice and malignity in their minds ; and this 
 is ever thus, that when we strive to keep our Christian 
 faith alive in our minds, we increase in Christian love 
 and in Christian manners; whilst, if we neglect our 
 Christian faith, we grow cold in Christian love, and we 
 thus lose Christian manners. 
 
 I have treated this subject in two replies. And although 
 this interpretation appears to me to be good, I hold it 
 to be better, to say Christ means, that from iniquity, 
 
422 S. MATTHEW XXIV. 1-14. 
 
 malignity and perversity, abounding in men of the world, 
 it will -result, that many saints of God, terrified by the 
 fury with which they will be persecuted by men of the 
 world, will wax cold in their love. 
 
 Christ adding, " But he that shall endure unto the end,'* 
 &c., means, that they shall be saved, that they shall attain 
 eternal life, who shall not, either by the persecutions of 
 false prophets, or by the persecutions of false Christians, 
 sever themselves from Christian faith and Christian love. 
 
 And Christ, concluding this His admonition, which 
 virtually runs till the day of judgment, adds : " And this 
 gospel shall he preached," &c., meaning, that before the end 
 of the world come, the gospel has to be preached through- 
 out the world; the good news of the remission of sins 
 and reconciliation to God, which is generally intimated to 
 all men ; in order that there may be no one, who shall be 
 able to find fault, save with himself. » 
 
 Where I understand that, because men might plead 
 frailty in their defence, their being conceived and born in 
 sin, according to that in Psalm, li. 5, " Behold I was shapen 
 in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me ; " the 
 gospel takes this exoneration away from them, for it offers 
 them remission of sins, which they decline to accept, and 
 there remains then no disculpation to them ; and in this 
 way the gospel will be a testimony against all nations, for 
 it will show them their infidelity, impiety, and malignity. 
 
 Here there remains this scruple : how shall the gospel 
 be a testimony against those nations, who shall have died 
 without having had any notification of it, as instanced 
 in the Indians, who have died without hearing Christ 
 named, and even in many nations who die before Chris- 
 tian truth is propounded to them, with the remission of 
 sins and reconciliation to God. which they enjoy who 
 believe in it, wherein the gospel consists ? But here it is 
 necessary that man bring his understanding to submit, and 
 that confessing his ignorance, he adore that which he does 
 not understand, resting assured by Christ's words, that as 
 
S. MATTHEW XXIV. 15-22. 423 
 
 soon as the gospel shall be preached all over the world, 
 the end of the world will come. 
 
 XXiy. 15-22. — When ye, therefore, shall see 
 the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel 
 the prophet, stand in the holy place (whoso readeth 
 let him understand), then let them who are in 
 Judea flee into the mountains : let him who is on 
 the housetop not come down to take anything out 
 of his house : neither let him who is in the field 
 return back to take his clothes. And woe unto 
 them that are with child, and to them that give 
 suck in those days I But pray ye that your flight 
 be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath-day. 
 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not 
 since the beginning of the world to this time, no, 
 nor ever shall be. And except those days should 
 be shortened, there should no flesh be saved : but 
 for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. 
 
 It appears that these words affect the first question 
 which the disciples made concerning the destruction of 
 Jerusalem ; and thus it appears, that in what Christ says 
 of the abomination of destruction, or abomination of deso- 
 lation, quoting it from Daniel, He alludes to a statue of 
 Hadrian which is said to have been in the temple at 
 Jerusalem some years. And it appears that because 
 Daniel's words are obscure, Christ added, " He that readeth, 
 let him understand ; " I however do not understand them, 
 neither can I understand how Hadrian's statue placed in 
 the temple at Jerusalem should be the token of its ruin, 
 which had already been accomplished. I do indeed under- 
 stand, that Christ, desiring to express a terrible and fearful 
 ruin and persecution, adduces those things that occur when 
 
424 S. MATTHEW XXIV. 15-22. 
 
 a city is taken by assault, and when it is made a scene of 
 massacre, for that its inhabitants, having lost the hope of 
 saving their property, only care to save their lives, fleeing 
 to the mountains, hiding themselves on their house-tops, 
 and not even caring to take their clothes ; and for that it 
 goes hard with pregnant women, because they cannot flee; 
 and with those who give suck, because natural afiection 
 forbids them to desert their offspring. 
 
 And Christ, being desirous of expressing the fury of 
 persecution, yet more forcibly adds, " Fray that your flight" 
 &c., wherein He accommodates Himself to the time in 
 which He spoke, in which it was not lawful to walk upon 
 the Sabbath more than a given number of steps; nay I 
 hold the expression to be common parlance; meaning, 
 " may God preserve you from being compelled to flee in 
 winter, when the roads are bad, and on the Sabbath, when 
 to travel is illicit." And setting forth the reason for these 
 admonitions, He says, " For then shall he great tribulation" 
 &c. ; and when He adds, " And if those days" &c., it may 
 be understood, that if God had not shortened the tribula- 
 tion of that time, not permitting that the persecution 
 should extend further, not one Jew would have survived ; 
 and in adding, " But for the elect's sake" &c., it may be 
 understood, that God would stop the fury of that persecu- 
 tion, in order that the Jews, whom He had elected to bring 
 to Christ and to give them eternal life with Christ, should 
 not perish in it. 
 
 I remain dissatisfied with all this interpretation, for it 
 appears to me, that these last words at least would have 
 harmonised better with the day of judgment, as well be- 
 cause I do not understand that the destruction of Jerusalem 
 has been greater than was that of the deluge, nor than 
 will be that of the day of judgment; and I do under- 
 stand, that the judgment will be greater than that of 
 Jerusalem, and than that of the deluge ; as also because 
 that " there should no flesh be saved" which is the same as 
 though He should have said, not a man will be saved, is 
 
S. MATTHEW XXIV. 23-28. 425 
 
 more connected with the day of judgment than with the 
 ruin of Jerusalem, it being a common mode of speaking ; 
 as likewise because that, "hut for the elect's sake," har- 
 monises much better with the day of judgment, by which 
 God will abbreviate and cut short the persecution with 
 which the Christian faith shall be persecuted, and Chris- 
 tian living shall be persecuted, in order that His elect may 
 not perish in it, and thus that all flesh perish not. These 
 words, which relate to the judgment, with those which 
 relate to Jerusalem and even to the persecutions of true 
 Christians that have been, and that shall be to the end of 
 the world, are so commixed, that man can scarcely distin- 
 guish one from the other. 
 
 XXIV. 23-28. — Then if any man shall say unto 
 you, Lo, here is Christ, or there ; believe it not. 
 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, 
 and shall shew great signs and wonders ; insomuch 
 that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very- 
 elect. Behold I have told you before. Wherefore 
 if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the 
 desert ; go not forth : behold, he is in the secret 
 chambers ; believe it not. For as the lightning 
 cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the 
 west ; so shall also the coming of the Son of man 
 be. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the 
 eagles be gathered together. 
 
 These words peculiarly relate to the period of the final 
 judgment and end of the world ; by them we learn five 
 things. 
 
 First, that we are not to credit any man presenting 
 himself to us as Christ, though we should see him work 
 much greater miracles than those, of which we read, 
 wrought by Christ. 
 
426 S. MATTHEW XXIV. 29-31. 
 
 Second, that they, who feeling their inward calling, know 
 themselves to be God's elect, may rest assured, that how- 
 ever much men of the world, aided by the devils of hell, 
 may labour to deceive them, they shall not be able to 
 do it. 
 
 Third, that the delusion of God's elect might consist 
 in going to seek the self-constituted Christ, located in the 
 desert or hid in some, the most secret, closet of the house, 
 because they would incur the risk of following him, and 
 in following him, of departing from Christ. 
 
 Fourth, that Christ's coming will be rapid, illustrious, 
 bright, and manifest throughout the world, like to lightning, 
 which in one moment shows itself from east to west. 
 
 Fifth, that at the day of judgment, God's elect shall be 
 assembled around Christ, as vultures congregate around a 
 carcase. That, " They shall deceive the very elect," &c., seems 
 to respond to what He has stated, that for the elect's sake 
 those days of persecution shall be shortened, the remedy 
 for it being the quickness of Christ's coming. By that, 
 " In the desert, and in the secret chambers," all those other 
 places are to be understood, whither false Christians shall 
 call true ones, leading them away to Antichrist, under 
 pretext of leading them to Christ. 
 
 XXIV. 29-31. — Immediately after the tribula- 
 tion of those days shall the sun be darkened, and 
 the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall 
 fall from heaven, aud the powers of the heavens 
 shall be shaken : And then shall appear the sign 
 of the Son of man in heaven : and then shall 
 all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall 
 see the Son of man coming in the clouds of 
 heaven with power and great glory. And he shall 
 send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, 
 and they shall gather together his elect from the 
 
S. MATTHEW XXIV. 32-36. 427 
 
 four winds, from one end of heaven to the 
 other. 
 
 Christ means, that when the affliction and persecution 
 shall have ceased, which will be before His coming:, it will 
 come to pass that the sun shall be darkened, &c., and that 
 then, when there shall be no light of the sun and brightness 
 of the moon. He will come with His light and brightness 
 into the world, and that, in this light and brightness, His 
 glory and His majesty shall be seen, which I understand 
 Him to call, " the sign of the Son of man" meaning His 
 glorified humanity. And Christ purposing to show that 
 this, His coming, will have two results, one, the misery of 
 the ungodly, and the other, the glory of the righteous, 
 says, " And then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn," &c. ; 
 and by mourn, the Greek word signifies to wail madly, as 
 do they who tear out their hair, who lacerate their flesh, 
 and who bite their hands. 
 
 By tribes, I understand nations or peoples. And in 
 saying, " From the four winds," He means, from the four 
 cardinal points ; and when He says, from " one end of the 
 heavens," &c., He means from one extremity of the heavens 
 to the other, for in Greek, the same word [a/cpo?] means 
 both height and extremity ; and it appears that Christ, in 
 these words, has responded to the two things which He 
 had touched upon in those, which preceded, as to His 
 coming, which He compared to the lightning, and as to 
 the assemblage of His elect around Him, like to vultures 
 about the carcase. 
 
 XXIV. 32-36. — Now learn a parable of the fig- 
 tree : When its branch is yet tender, and putteth 
 forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh : so like- 
 wise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know 
 that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say 
 unto you, This* generation shall not pass, till all 
 
428 5. MATTHEW XXIV. 32-36. 
 
 these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall 
 pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But 
 of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the 
 angels of heaven, but my Father only. 
 
 There are four things in these words. First, the com- 
 parison of the fig-tree, wherein Christ's meaning is, that 
 just as we know the coming of summer by the fig-tree, so 
 by the fulfilment of all these tokens, of which He has 
 spoken, shall we know of His coming to judgment. 
 
 Second, that the ruin of Jerusalem should come, before 
 that generation of men, who were then living, should pass 
 away, as, in point of fact, it came. And although it appears 
 strange to refer these words to the ruin of Jerusalem, I 
 know of no other expedient whereby to get out of this 
 difficulty ; for the expedient employed by those, who, by 
 generation, understand the Jews, making Christ say : this 
 Jewish race shall not be wholly destroyed, unless all these 
 things be first fulfilled ; but the Greek text does not per- 
 mit it, which properly means : this generation, these men, 
 who are now alive, and it is commonly said that a gene- 
 ration is the space of a century; whilst the expedient 
 which others adopt, who say that all the things which 
 Christ here mentions, as to persecutions, as to wars and 
 rumours of wars, and as to false Christs and to false 
 prophets, were, even as Josephus writes, seen before the 
 destruction of Jerusalem ; neither does this harmonise 
 thus, for Josephus does not write that those false Christs 
 and false prophets wrought the great signs and prodigies 
 or miracles of which Christ has here spoken, as because 
 the same inconvenience is incident to this expedient as 
 in referring these words to the ruin of Jerusalem, since it 
 is so, that, in that declaration, " Till all these things be fid- 
 filled" it seems, that all that He has said of the sun, of the 
 moon, and of the stars, with all that remains pertaining 
 to the universal judgment, has also to be included ; and, 
 
S. MATTHEW XXIV. 37-44. 429 
 
 therefore, I tliink it to be a good expedient to refer it to 
 what He has said of the destruction of Jerusalem. Whilst 
 it is a better expedient for a man to confess his ignorance 
 and say : this, I do not understand. 
 
 The third thing that there is in these words is the sta- 
 bility and firmness of Christ's words, which are more stable 
 and more firm than heaven and earth. 
 
 The fourth thing is the profound mystery that God 
 maintains in His own purposes, since He has not even 
 revealed to His angels, the day when the final judgment 
 shall take place ; and, if it be hidden from the angels, 
 how very great would be our temerity, were we to pretend 
 to know it. 
 
 St. Paul likewise understands that the angels never 
 heard of the call of the nations to participation in the 
 grace of the gospel, until they saw it, whilst he proves 
 that some Jews, as, for instance, David and Isaiah, under- 
 stood it : and, if these understood it, and prophesied con- 
 cerning it, it is a great thing to say that the angels should 
 not have understood it, at least from the Scriptures ; as a 
 matter of fact, our blindness is very great. 
 
 XXIV. 37-44. — But as the days of Noah were, 
 so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For 
 as in the days that were before the flood they were 
 eating and drinking, marrying, and giving in mar- 
 riage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, 
 and knew not until the flood came, and took them 
 all away ; so shall also the coming of the Son of 
 man be. Then shall two be in the field ; the one 
 shall be taken, and the other left. Two women 
 shall be grinding at the mill ; the one shall be taken, 
 and the other left. Watch therefore : for ye know 
 not what hour your Lord doth come. But know 
 
430 5. MATTHEW XXIV. 37-44. 
 
 this, that if the goodman of the house had known 
 in what watch the thief would come, he would have 
 watched, and would not have suffered his house to 
 be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready : for in 
 such an hour as ye think not the Son of man 
 Cometh. 
 
 Christ here touches upon three remarkable topics, by 
 all which He designs to keep us alert, daily and hourly, 
 in expectation of His coming to judgment. 
 
 The first, that His coming to judgment will be like 
 the coming of the deluge, for that, just as in the deluge 
 almost all perished, because they were heedless, as though 
 it were not about to come, they only saving themselves, 
 who were heedful, expecting, knowing and believing, that 
 it was about to come ; so at His coming to judgment 
 almost all will peHsh, because they will be heedless, as 
 though He were not about to come; they only saving 
 themselves, who shall be heedful, expecting, knowing, and 
 believing that He is about to come, whilst it will make 
 men of the world [feel] secure. / Tiave spoken of this same 
 similitude in i Peter iii. 20, 21, and here there comes 
 appositely a Consideration [civ.] which I have written. 
 
 The second, that at Christ's coming, the good and the 
 bad, the just and the unjust, will be mixed up together ; 
 that the good and the just will be taken up and borne away 
 to immortality and eternal life, whilst the bad and the 
 unjust will be left in affliction and misery. Moreover I 
 junderstand this election of God does stand connected with 
 ipredestination. And I call him good and just, who, by 
 /his Christian life, imitating Christ, bears testimony to his 
 / Christian faith, of his incorporation into Christ. 
 
 The third, that it is the duty of every Christian to keep 
 Christ's coming always before his eyes, daily and hourly 
 expecting Him, without ever lapsing for a moment, were 
 it possible, into heedlessness ; and how useful and pro- 
 
S. MATTHEW XXIV. 45-51. 431 
 
 fitable this continuous heedfulness is to Christians, to 
 maintain them in Christian duty, in order to make them 
 live in the present life as dead, leading a life very similar 
 to that which is about to be lived in the life eternal, they 
 know by personal experience, who, being true Christians, 
 strive to live Christianly. 
 
 As to the comparison wherein the day of judgment is 
 compared to the burglar, / remit myself to what I have 
 stated oh i Thess. v. 2-4, that Christ's meaning is : that 
 just as the master of the house, being aware that a burglar 
 is about to come to break into it, is alert to defend it ; so 
 every one of us, being aware that this day of judgment is 
 about to come, and that it will involve those in perpetual 
 misery whom it shall find unprepared, ought to be alert 
 and prepared to defend himself on that day, as did Noah 
 against the deluge. 
 
 When He says " marrying" He speaks of men ; and 
 when He says " being given in marriage" He means 
 women. In saying, " and they knew not," He means, the 
 danger in which they were. In saying, "grinding at the 
 mill" He alludes to those handmills, revolved by women. 
 He, whom He called " your Lord" He subsequently calls 
 " the Son of man" 
 
 XXIY. 45-51. — Who then is a faithful and wise 
 servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his 
 household, to give them meat in due season ? 
 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he 
 cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, 
 That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. 
 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, 
 My lord delayeth his coming ; and shall begin to 
 smite his fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with 
 the drunken ; the lord of that servant shall come 
 in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an 
 
432 S. MATTHEW XXIV. 45-5^1. 
 
 hour that he is not aware of, And shall cut him 
 asunder, and appoint him his portion with the 
 hypocrites : there shall be weeping and gnashing 
 of teeth. 
 
 It appears that this parable exclusively concerns the 
 disciples of Christ ; I mean those, who, by the gift of God, 
 are apostles and teachers in the Christian church, who 
 preach the gospel and teach Christian life ; every one of 
 whom is like the butler or steward, whom the Lord places 
 over his other servants ; for that it is his duty to be 
 engaged in preaching the gospel and in teaching Christian 
 life to those who are committed to him. And when he 
 shall act thus, Christ, coming to judgment, will confer on 
 him a high grade of glory ; just as, on the other hand, the 
 bad disciple, who, heedless of Christ's coming, to whom it 
 appears that because Christ delays to come, that He will 
 not come, shall abuse the gifts that he will have received 
 from God, tyrannising over those who depend upon him, 
 whilst living viciously and licentiously with the vicious 
 and licentious, disregarding Christ's coming. He will be 
 punished most terribly. 
 
 Where it is to be understood that just as the glory will 
 be greater in those, who shall well employ the gifts that 
 God shall have given them, so the punishment will be 
 greater in those, who shall misemploy the gifts that God 
 shall have given them. In point of fact it is readily seen 
 that Christ wills, that we His Christians be ever vigilant, 
 never unmindful of His coming, and that we strive to well 
 employ the gifts which He shall have conferred upon us. 
 
 Where Christ says, " Over his household'' He means over 
 his family, over those of his house ; and where He says, 
 " the other servants," the Greek word signifies those, who 
 like himself were his fellow-servants. Where Christ says, 
 " And shall cut him asunder," He means, shall severely 
 punish him, as severely as they are punished, who are 
 
S. MATTHEW XXIV. 45-51. 435 
 
 drawn and quartered. I understand that, " With the hypo- 
 crites," to be tantamount to His saying, with the saints 
 of the world, who are hypocrites, for that attending to 
 external sanctity, but not to inward, they appear to be 
 what they are not ; and this name attaches to them, even 
 when they have not that intention, I mean when they do 
 not intend that their works should be held to be holy in 
 the eyes of the world, if they pretend to justify themselves 
 by them before God. 
 
 And here I understand how severe will be the punish- 
 ment with which the saints of the world will be punished, 
 since Christ, wishing to enhance the punishment of the 
 wicked servant, says, that his appointed portion will be 
 with the hypocrites, who are the saints of the world, who 
 shall be placed in perpetual misery, defined by wailing, 
 weeping, and gnashing of teeth. 
 
 This is what I attain up to the present to understand 
 about all this chapter ; should I at any time understand 
 anything better, I will not fail to add it here as I shall 
 now add two things. 
 
 The one is, that I, seeing that to the curious ques- 
 tions of the disciples, who desired to know the time 
 of the ruin of Jerusalem and of the day of judgment, 
 Christ so answered, that from His reply they could neither 
 gather the one nor the other ; because as to the ruin of 
 Jerusalem, it seems that He does not tell them, but that 
 they should understand Daniel's prophecy ; and, as to the 
 day of judgment, He does not tell them, but of many signs 
 that shall previously be seen, advising how they should 
 regulate themselves at that time, and bring them down 
 to the exhaustion of all their curiosity in a continuous 
 waiting, daily and hourly, for His coming to judgment ; I 
 here learn that I ought to mortify and to slay all manner 
 of curiosity in myself, being in the same way admonished 
 to mortify it and slay it, in the Christians, who shall hold 
 intercourse and converse with me. And I here learn 
 curiosity to be all that, wherein there is no Christian 
 
 2 E 
 
434 S. MATTHEW XXIV. 45-51. 
 
 edification, as were these questions of Christ's dis- 
 ciples. 
 
 The other thing is, that all this chapter being a prophecy 
 of the ruin of Jerusalem and of the day of judgment, it 
 is no marvel that Christ should proceed throughout it, 
 mixing the one with the other, in the way that some 
 prophets, nay the leading ones, proceed in their prophecies, 
 mixing some things with others, as is seen in Isaiah and 
 Jeremiah, who, prophesying the liberation of the Jewish 
 nation from the Babylonish captivity, their return to 
 Jerusalem, the rebuilding of the city, and of the temple, 
 with the two advents, the humble one which we have seen, 
 and which we see in those who are His members ; and 
 the glorious one, which we shall see in Him, and in those 
 who are His members; and thus the happiness of the 
 kingdom of Christ in the present life, as to the com- 
 munication of the Holy Spirit which is communicated to 
 those who believe, with the glory of the kingdom of God 
 in the life eternal, as to the seeing God face to face, the 
 knowing of Him as He knows us, so do they go on 
 mixing up one thing with another, that all human pru- 
 dence combined does not sufi&ce to enable any man to 
 distinguish the one from the other. 
 
 Where I understand that just as the spirit of prophecy 
 is necessary to make distinction in what the prophets 
 state, so likewise is the spirit of prophecy necessary to 
 make distinction in what Christ here states, by the spirit 
 of prophecy. 
 
 I likewise understand that just as the happy return of 
 the Jewish nation to Jerusalem was as a shadow of the 
 most happy return of the Christian people, after the 
 resurrection, to the kingdom of God and life eternal, 
 which is the heavenly Jerusalem ; so the special ruin of 
 Jerusalem, with the persecutions, with the hardships, and 
 with the miseries that went before it, was as a shadow of 
 the general ruin of the whole world, with the persecutions, 
 with the hardships, and with the miseries which will 
 anticipate it. 
 
5. MATTHEW XXIV. 45-51. 435 
 
 For all which, we must needs all be armed with these 
 admonitions that Christ here gives to His disciples, and 
 by them to all of us, taking for chief admonition, the 
 being continually alert, expecting this most auspicious 
 coming of Jesus Christ our Lord, certain that He comes 
 to give us immortality and life eternal ; because this, as I 
 have stated, I understand to be the Christian hope, which 
 the apostle St. Paul places between faith and charity, as I 
 have stated in a Consideration [Ixx.] 
 
436 S. MATTHEW XXV. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 XXV. 1-13. — Then shall the kingdom of heaven 
 be likened unto ten virgins, who took their 
 lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. 
 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 
 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took 
 no oil with them. But the wise took oil in their 
 vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom 
 tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at 
 midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bride- 
 groom Cometh ; go ye out to meet him. Then all 
 those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. 
 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of 
 your oil, for our lamps are gone out. But the 
 wise answered, sayiug. Not so ; lest there be not 
 enough for us and you : but go ye rather to them 
 that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they 
 went, to buy, the bridegroom came ; and they that 
 were ready went in with him to the marriage : and 
 the door was shut. Afterwards came also the 
 other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But 
 he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I 
 know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know 
 neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of 
 man cometh. 
 
S. MATTHEW XXV. 1-13. 437 
 
 Christ's design in this parable, as appears by the words 
 with which He concludes it, is the same that we have seen 
 in the preceding parable, to counsel us that we be alert 
 and perfectly prepared, ever looking out for His coming to 
 judgment. Whilst none hope for it, but they, who desire 
 it ; and none desire it, save those, who, through the gospel, 
 hold it to be certain, that for them it will be glorious. 
 
 Where the mode practised by Christ in moulding His 
 similitudes has to be noted, for He says, " Then shall the 
 kingdom of heaven he likened to ten virgins" meaning, that, 
 at His coming to judgment, that shall betide Christians, 
 comprising good and bad, which happened to ten virgins 
 at a wedding ; for that, just as all these ten prepared 
 themselves with their lamps to receive the bridegroom, so 
 all Christians prepare themselves by baptism and by the 
 other sacraments, and by the other ceremonies of the 
 church, to receive Christ, when He shall come to take 
 away with Him His bride, which is the Church ; and for 
 that, just as the five virgins, being foolish, took not the oil 
 with them, wherewith they should light their lamps; whilst 
 the other five virgins, being wise, took oil with them in 
 their vessels ; so bad Christians, being foolish, do not take 
 with them that living faith, with which, man accepting 
 the grace of the gospel, makes the righteousness of Christ 
 his own, while it keeps the man in continuous hope of 
 Christ's coming, certain that it will be glorious for him ; 
 and it, mortifying and vivifying the man, works in him 
 those effects of love which St. Paul sets forth in i Corin- 
 thians xiii., which faith with its effects it is, that makes 
 the lamps to burn, that the bodies rise glorious : and good 
 Christians, being wise with that divine wisdom, take that 
 living faith with them (ever supplicating God that He 
 increase it in them), which keeps their lamps alive, ever 
 holding in lively memory the blood which Christ shed for 
 them; and for that, jhst as the bridegroom delaying his 
 coming, all the ten virgins, overcome by drowsiness, slept, 
 so Christ's coming to judgment being delayed, all we Chris- 
 
438 S. MATTHEW XXV. 1-13. 
 
 tians, bad and good, die ; and for that, just as when the 
 bridegroom came, the virgins were awakened by shouting, 
 and they all awoke ; so, upon Christ's coming to judgment, 
 we Christians shall all be called, by sound of trumpet, to 
 go forth to receive Him, and we shall all rise ; and for that, 
 just as the foolish virgins, wishing to light their lamps, fell 
 short of oil, seeing that they did not burn, so bad Chris- 
 tians, wishing to present themselves before Christ, will 
 fall short of faith and the effects of faith, seeing that they 
 will have misgivings to present themselves with their ex- 
 ternal justifications, issuing from self-love ; and for that, 
 just as the oil, which the wise virgins carried, did not help 
 the foolish ones, so the Christian faith and the effects of 
 faith, which good Christians shall bear, will not help bad 
 Christians. 
 
 The rest of the parable harmonises well as to human 
 things, but it does not harmonise as to divine things ; I 
 specify the reply of the wise virgins, with the departure 
 of the foolish ones to buy oil, and their return after having 
 bought it. And if any one shall say : if it do not har- 
 monise, why did Christ put it? I shall reply, that He 
 put it, in order to utter that terrible declaration which 
 will be made to bad Christians : " I do not know you." 
 
 And Christ knows none, save those, who, by divine in- 
 spiration, accept His holy gospel, which acceptance is eflB- 
 cacious in them, for that it incorporates them into Him, 
 to make them live as He lived, to strive to live in the 
 present life, a life very similar to that which they have to 
 live in the life eternal, with purity and integrity, with 
 humility and meekness, and with love and obedience to 
 God in everything. Those, who are not such, Christ does 
 not know, and, therefore, they shall not enter the marriage- 
 feast of the life eternal, when Christ shall assemble His 
 Church around Him, and, as St. Paul states, " shall deliver 
 up the kingdom to His eternal Father " (i Cor. xv. 24). 
 
 For which feast Christ admonishes us to be ever pre- 
 pared by the oil of faith, which embraces remission of sins 
 
5. MATTHEW XXV. 14-30. 439 
 
 and reconciliation to God, by Christ and through Christ ; 
 and which is efficacious in us to make us live Christianly ; 
 as to Adam mortified, as to Christ vivified ; hoping with 
 earnest desire for Christ's coming ; certain that our lamps, 
 which are our bodies, having the oil of Christian faith 
 within them, will be glorious, bright, and resplendent, and 
 not like those of bad Christians, which will be like the 
 foolish virgins' lamps, obscure and dark. 
 
 And here it is well to say that the difference there is 
 between the human faith of false Christians and the Chris- 
 tian faith of true Christians, is this : that human faith 
 makes false Christians, who, believing by report, and by 
 information, believe the history of Christ ; but they do 
 not believe the promise in Christ, they do not believe that 
 they have been punished in Christ, that they are recon- 
 ciled to God through Christ; nor do they apply them- 
 selves to the imitation of Christ, for they do not love 
 either God or Christ, and, therefore, they do not hope for 
 the day of judgment, nay, they dread it, and could wish 
 that it should never come ; whilst Christian faith makes 
 true Christians, who, believing by inspiration and revela- 
 tion, not only believe the history of Christ, but believe 
 the promise of God in Christ and through Christ, by 
 accepting the grace which the gospel offers them, and 
 holding themselves to be righteous and to be reconciled 
 to God, in Christ, and by Christ; and they apply them- 
 selves to the imitation of Christ, desirous of comprehend- 
 ing the perfection in which they are comprehended, by 
 incorporation into Christ, and hence it is that they hope 
 for the day of judgment as the day of their entire glori- 
 fication, with the most earnest desire. Where He says 
 " There was a cry made^' in the Greek text it is said, " there 
 was shouting or vociferation." 
 
 XXV. 14-30. — For the kingdom of heaven is as 
 a man travelling into a far country, who called his 
 
440 S. MATTHEW XXV. 14-30. 
 
 own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. 
 And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, 
 and to another one ; to every man according to his 
 several ability ; and straightway took his journey. 
 Then he that had received the five talents went 
 and traded with the same, and made them other 
 five talents. And likewise he that had received 
 two, he also gained other two. But he that had 
 received one went and digged in the earth, and hid 
 his lord's money. After a long time the lord of 
 those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. 
 And so he that had received five talents came and 
 brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou de- 
 liveredst unto me ^we talents : behold, I have 
 gained beside them five talents more. His lord 
 said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful 
 servant : thou hast been faithful over a few things, 
 I will make thee ruler over many things : enter 
 thou into the joy of thy lord. He also that had 
 received two talents came and said, Lord, thou 
 deliveredst unto me two talents : behold, I have 
 gained two other talents beside them. His lord 
 said unto him, Well done, good and faithful ser- 
 vant ; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I 
 will make thee ruler over many things : enter thou 
 into the joy of thy lord. Then he who had received 
 the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee 
 that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou hast 
 not sown, and gathering where thou hast not 
 strawed : and I was afraid, and went and hid thy 
 talent in the earth : lo,/ there thou hast that is 
 thine. His lord answered and said unto him, Thou 
 
S. MATTHEW XXV. 14-30. 441 
 
 wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I 
 reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have 
 not strawed : thou oughtest therefore to have put 
 my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming 
 I should have received mine own with usury. Take 
 therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him 
 who hath ten talents. For unto every one that 
 hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance : 
 but from him that hath not shall be taken away 
 even that which he hath. And cast ye the unpro- 
 fitable servant into outer darkness : there shall be 
 weeping and gnashing of teeth. 
 
 Christ's design in this parable is to exhort and to admonish 
 those, who through His beneficence, have spiritual gifts im- 
 parted to them by Him, to employ them usefully amongst 
 their neighbours, in preaching the gospel to all, and in 
 teaching their brethren how to live Christianly, profiting 
 and ministering the one to the other, according to the 
 gifts which they have from God ; and to show that they, 
 who will act thus, will be admitted to the glory of the life 
 eternal, whilst they who shall act otherwise, shall be 
 miserably ejected from it. 
 
 The man, who desires to travel to a far country, who 
 distributes his property amongst his dependants and 
 servants, is Christ, who, continuously from heaven, where 
 He is seated at the right hand of His eternal Father, be- 
 stows His Spirit, with other divine treasures that God has 
 placed at His disposition, amongst those, whom God draws 
 to Him ; because these are His dependants, His servants. 
 And the apportionment is as St. Paul says, "According 
 to the measure of the gift of Christ " (Eph. iv. 7). And 
 as he says in another place, "According as God hath 
 dealt to every man the measure of faith" (Eom. xii. 3), 
 and this is the peculiar strength, ability, or capacity of 
 
442 ' 5. MATTHEW XXV. 14-30. 
 
 every one of us, who are the dependants and servants 
 of Christ. 
 
 By him that received the five talents, and by him that 
 received the two, are meant all those, who having received 
 gifts from God, employ them well; acquiring by them, 
 one more and the other less, according as the gifts are 
 greater or less. These at the day of judgment will be 
 praised by Christ and admitted to the life eternal, which 
 is, " the Joy of his Lord," where Christ is glorious and 
 triumphant. 
 
 In the man, who received one talent, all they are typi- 
 fied, who, holding a bad opinion of Christ, like slaves, fear 
 Him ; they fear Him as a cruel and vindictive tyrant ; 
 and therefore, being afraid that if they put out the gifts, 
 He has given them, at interest, men would the more quickly 
 spend and squander them, so that they would lose their gifts, 
 that they would not benefit others with them, they either 
 remain silent with them, not wishing to communicate them, 
 or they go and hide themselves up in deserts [as hermits] 
 or in solitary places [as monks]. These at the day of 
 judgment will be upbraided by Christ, and deprived of 
 what they received, being then cast into hell-fire. 
 
 Here we learn two very important things. The one, 
 that for as much as we men always regulate ourselves in 
 relation to God and to Christ, according to the good or 
 evil opinion that we hold of God and of Christ, it concerns 
 every one of us to form within our minds a good opinion 
 of God and of Christ; to do which, we ought, to avoid all 
 reading of writings written by the spirit of man, and to 
 apply ourselves to the reading of writings written by the 
 Holy Spirit, and interpreted by that same Spirit, with 
 which they were written ; conformably with what the 
 apostle St. Peter says in his second Epistle, chapter i. 
 What I state concerning books, I also affirm of conversa- 
 tion ; men as men cannot speak well of God or of Christ, 
 even though they should labour to speak well, for it is 
 from the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaketh; 
 
S. MATTHEW XXV. 14-30. 443 
 
 and the Holy Spirit in man, for the same reason, cannot 
 but speak well of Christ and of God. And it almost 
 always proves true, that we are like the books we read, 
 and the men with whom we associate, and with whom we 
 converse. 
 
 The other thing, that we here learn, is : how dangerous 
 is fear, since the fate of the bad servant awaits the fear- 
 ful. They, who read the Holy Scriptures without the 
 Christian spirit, seeing that almost all the piety of the 
 saints under the law was based upon fear, proceed to 
 deify fear, whilst they do not consider that fear was as 
 peculiar and as annexed to those saints, who were under 
 the law, as is love peculiar and annexed to evangelical 
 saints, that as St. Paul says [in Eomans vi.], " They are not 
 under the law hut under grace" nay, they do not consider 
 that the fear of the Jewish saints did not spring from their 
 holding a bad opinion of God, because they held Him to 
 be tyrannical, cruel, and vindictive, but because they held 
 a bad opinion of themselves, finding themselves to be most 
 lively in their affections and appetites, for that Chri^ had 
 not as yet mortified the flesh of His members, by slaying 
 His own upon the crossj; of which mortification they feel 
 the effects, who, by Christian faith, are incorporated into 
 Christ. 
 
 Where, I feel most sure, that all, who shall tread the 
 path of fear, which can never indeed be divine but human, 
 however much they may wish to disguise it, by entitling 
 it filial fear, they all will form the same opinion of God 
 and of Christ, that the wicked servant had of his master ; 
 I shall ever counsel those, who shall find themselves en- 
 dowed with spiritual and Christian gifts, to leave the road 
 of fear and to seek the road of love ; and it will most cer- 
 tainly prove, that one grain of love in them will be more 
 ef&cient to make them lead a spiritual and divine life, than 
 a hundred of fear. They, who do not love, because they 
 do not know what it is to love, do not believe that this is 
 possible ; just as he that is not magnanimous, because he 
 
444 >5. MATTHEW XXV. 31-46. 
 
 does not know what magnanimity is, does not believe 
 what is told him of magnanimity. 
 
 Christ, in making the master repeat the wicked servant's 
 words, in order to justify his sentence, shows that the Holy 
 Spirit convinces men of the world by their own words, 
 conformably with that passage in Job v. 1 3 and i Cor. 
 iii. 19, "He taJceth the wise in their own craftiness." That: 
 "For unto every one that hath, shall he given" is to be 
 understood as the employment by Christ of a vulgar pro- 
 verb, as though He had said, let the proverb be fulfilled 
 which says, " They give to him that has, and from him that 
 has not, they take what he has;" and although it appears 
 strange to say, that from him that has not, they take what 
 he has, it is not strange ; for Christ means, from the man, 
 who has no more than what he has received ; like the 
 wicked servant, from whom that is taken which he has, 
 that being what he had received. 
 
 And here it has to be observed that it is not neces- 
 sary that the parable harmonise, in that the talent of 
 the wicked servant will be given to the good servant ; 
 for although this harmonise well in the man, who distri- 
 buted his property, it does not harmonise in Christ, who 
 does not need to take from some to give to others, He, 
 being the richest and most abundant in spiritual and 
 divine gifts; just as the sun does not need to deprive 
 one person of its light, in order to make another person 
 see more light. 
 
 XXV. 31-46. — When the Son of man shall come 
 in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, 
 then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory : 
 and before him shall be gathered all nations : and 
 he shall separate them one from another, as a 
 shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats : And 
 he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the 
 goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto 
 
S. MATTHEW XXV. 31-46. 445 
 
 them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my 
 Father, inherit the kiDgdom prepared for you from 
 the foundation of the world : for I was hungry, 
 and ye gave me meat : I was thirsty, and ye gave 
 me drink : I was a stranger, and ye took me in : 
 naked, and ye clothed me : I was sick, and yQ 
 visited me : I was in prison, and ye came unto 
 me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying. 
 Lord, when saw we thee hungry, and fed thee ? 
 or thirsty, and gave thee drink ? When saw we 
 thee a stranger, and took thee in ? or naked, and 
 clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in 
 prison, and came unto thee ? And the King shall 
 answer and say unto them. Verily I say unto you. 
 Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least 
 of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. 
 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, 
 Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, 
 prepared for the devil and his angels : for I was 
 hungry, and ye gave me no meat : I was thirsty, 
 and ye gave me no drink : I was a stranger, and 
 ye took me not in : naked, and ye clothed me not : 
 sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then 
 shall they also answer him, saying. Lord, when 
 saw we thee hungry, or athirst, or a stranger, or 
 naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister 
 unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, 
 Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not 
 to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. 
 And these shall go away into everlasting punish- 
 ment : but the righteous into life eternal. 
 
 Just as I understand that it was Christ's design in the 
 
446 S. MATTHEW XXV. 31-46. 
 
 preceding parable to admonish those, who have spiritual 
 gifts that they should minister with them and benefit their 
 neighbours, in order to make them brethren ; and to their 
 brethren in order to lead them on to greater perfection ; so 
 do I understand that it is Christ's intention by these words 
 to persuade those, who have this world's riches, that they 
 minister and provide for the necessities of those, who are 
 His members, persuading them, as indeed is truth, that 
 they do not minister to them, but to Him, in them. 
 
 He does this by showing them, that at the day of 
 judgment He will not acknowledge them as His, who in 
 the present life have not recognised Him in His members ; 
 in those, who, by acceptance of His gospel, are incor- 
 porated into Him, and thus they will not have discharged 
 the obligation of Christians towards them, in manifesting^ 
 towards them, the love which they persuade themselves 
 they have to Him; while on that very day He will 
 acknowledge as His, those, who shall have recognised 
 Him, and have ministered to Him in His members ; and 
 thus He will give these eternal life, whilst He will send 
 away those to eternal fire. This is Christ's design in all 
 these words, in which there are many things worthy of 
 much consideration. 
 
 First, the form of the universal judgment, I mean, I 
 speak of the glory and of the majesty, with which Christ 
 will come to it. Second, that good and bad, the just and 
 the unjust, will rise again. Third, that Christ ever 
 delighted in comparing Himself to a shepherd, wherein, 
 we, who are Christ's, may console ourselves, assured that 
 He takes the same care of us that the good shepherd 
 takes of his sheep. Fourth, that these two qualities 
 concur in them, who are the just ; the one, that they are 
 blessed of God, which blessing makes them just ; and the 
 other, that they are predestinated to life eternal, which 
 greatly inspirits those, who inwardly experience God's 
 blessing; whereby, they are certified that they will be 
 heirs of the kingdom of God. 
 
S. MATTHEW XXV. 31-46. 447 
 
 The Fifth, that Christ will show the righteousness of 
 true Christians, by the mercy which they will have shown 
 to Him, in providing necessaries for His members; I 
 mean, that Christ, when alleging the works of mercy 
 which His members shall have done to His members, will 
 show that they have been righteous ; because, had they 
 not been so, they would not have done them ; for that 
 had they not been members of Christ, they would not 
 have recognised them as members of Christ; and not 
 recognising them, they could not have done for them, 
 what Christ here states. 
 
 Sixth, that because they, who are righteous, when per- 
 forming works of charity, do not pretend to justify them- 
 selves by them ; neither do they even hold, that they 
 perform them themselves, but that the Holy Spirit within 
 them does so ; as they do not hold them to be their own, 
 they do not take them into account ; and thus when spoken 
 to about them, they marvel. Such is the condition of those, 
 who work because they are righteous, not working from 
 interested motives, but from affection ; they, who work in 
 order to be righteous, who work from interested motives, 
 attach great importance to their good works ; whilst they 
 are not good, for they spring from self-love ; for it is so, 
 that they, who work from interested motives, work in 
 order to be righteous,''not being righteous ; and the bad 
 tree cannot yield good fruit. 
 
 Seventh, that Christ will condemn the unrighteousness, 
 the impiety, and the infidelity of false Christians, who are 
 the goats ; for this judgment is between true and false 
 Christians ; He charging them with not having practical 
 charity to His members ; for, had they practised it, they 
 would have ceased from unrighteousness, impiety, and 
 infidelity, for'no one can practise it, who does not depart 
 from all this; whilst had they departed from it, they 
 would have been true Christians. Where it has to be 
 considered, that if Christ will treat false Christians, who 
 shall not have practised mercy to His members with all 
 
448 S. MATTHEW XXV. 31-46. 
 
 this rigour, what may they expect will betide them, who 
 shall have persecuted Christ's members ? 
 
 Eighth, that just as God's inheritance, which is eternal 
 life, is prepared from the foundation of the world for 
 Christ and for Christ's members, so eternal fire is pre- 
 pared for the devil and for his angels ; and here it appears 
 that Christ calls men of the world and saints of the world, 
 the devil's angels ; and this name or this similitude is well 
 applied, for the devil avails himself of them to obstruct 
 God's works, by tempting, molesting, persecuting, and 
 slaying them, who are God's elect, in order to sever them 
 from Christ and from God. 
 
 Ninth, that although false Christians occasionally do 
 some good to Christ, to those, who are members of Christ, 
 forasmuch as they have no intention to serve Christ, not 
 being moved by love to Christ, but by self-love, by interests 
 attaching to the present life or to the future, that good 
 which they do, is not placed to their credit ; it is good in 
 that it ministers to God's elect, and it is not good in that 
 it does not proceed from a rightly disposed mind, and 
 therefore it does not please God. 
 
 Tenth, that the false Christians, who, not recognising 
 Christ in His members, shall not have ministered to 
 Him in them, shall be chastised with eternal punishment; 
 and that true Christians, who, recognising Christ in His 
 members, shall have ministered to Him, in them, will be 
 remunerated with eternal glory. Where it is not to be 
 understood that false Christians will be condemned, because 
 they will not have ministered to Christ, in His members ; 
 but they will be condemned, because, having accepted 
 Christ with the lips, and not having accepted Him into 
 their hearts, they will have remained in their sins, in their 
 impiety and infidelity, manifested to be such, by their not 
 having ministered to Christ, in His members ; for had they 
 not been such, they would have ministered to Him ; neither 
 is it to be understood that true Christians will be remune- 
 rated, because they will have ministered to Christ in His 
 
S. MATTHEW XXV. 31-46. 449 
 
 members ; but tliey will be saved, because, having accepted 
 Christ into their hearts, they will have obtained remission 
 of their sins, and they will have been pious, holy, and 
 righteous, manifested to be such, by having ministered to 
 Christ in His members ; for had they not been such, they 
 would not have ministered to Him. 
 
 So that the ministering to, or the not ministering to, 
 Christ, in His members, does not make us either righteous 
 or unrighteous, but it does testify to our righteousness or 
 unrighteousness. They, who shall pretend to be righteous, 
 by ministering to those whom they shall recognise, or shall 
 think, to be members of Christ, will testify concerning 
 themselves that they do not know Christ, and that they 
 do not know what the righteousness of Christ is, for there 
 is error in that pretension ; whilst they, who shall doubt 
 as to whether they are righteous or not, since it seems to 
 them that they do not minister to those who are members 
 of Christ, either because they know none, or because it 
 does not occur to them wherein to minister to them ; they 
 likewise will testify concerning themselves, that they do 
 not well know Christ; that they have not yet accepted 
 the righteousness of Christ into their hearts ; for it is so, 
 that they, who know Christ well, and have well received 
 Christ's righteousness into their hearts, know themselves 
 to be righteous in Christ ; they pretend to no justification 
 by their works, and when they work, they do so from affec- 
 tion and they work without calculation ; for they do not 
 work, but the Spirit of Christ does so in them; which 
 offers to them, and places before them, without their seek- 
 ing for or procuring them, great occasions, wherein, by 
 ministering affectionately to Christ, in His members, they 
 show that they know Christ, that they love Christ, that 
 they hold Christ's righteousness and innocence for their 
 own, and that therefore they are pious, just, and holy; 
 not of themselves, nor~by their services, but because by 
 believing they are incorporated into Christ, and they are 
 
 2 F 
 
450 S. MATTHEW XXV. 31-46. 
 
 attent to comprehend the perfection, wherein they are 
 comprehended, by incorporation, into Christ. 
 
 As to what might further be said upon these words I 
 remit myself to what I have written in a Consideration 
 [xcviii.] That, " Then shall the King say," has to be 
 considered; because, there, Christ speaking of Himself, 
 styles Himself King. It has also to be taken into con- 
 sideration, that under these works of mercy which Christ 
 here specifies, we have to understand all those which re- 
 dound in corporal utility to our brethren, because in these 
 we minister to Christ. In saying, " little ones," He means 
 those, whom the world despises, as being lowly and scorned. 
 
 And forasmuch as Christ makes no mention here but of 
 the good that is done to those, who, being His members, 
 are His brethren, and suffer like Himself, it is well here 
 to add this ; that it behoves the Christian to do good to 
 all ; to some, as neighbours, and to others, as brethren ; to 
 neighbours, with the intention of attracting them and of 
 inducing them to become brethren ; and to brethren, with 
 the intention of ministering to Christ in them ; making it 
 his aim to cause them to know and see that Christ fulfils 
 to them, what He has promised them, in the present life ; 
 in order that thus they may be better assured that He will 
 also fulfil what He has promised them in the life eternal ; 
 and, that being better assured, they be truer Christians ; 
 so that the brother be always preferred to the neighbour. 
 This is in accordance with what St. Paul says in Gal. vi. 
 10, "let us do good unto all, hut especially unto those who 
 are of the household of faith ! " 
 
 This form of the final judgment, as to condemnation 
 and to salvation, I understand to be expounded by Christ 
 in St. Luke vii. 37-50, in the case of the woman and 
 the Pharisee, as I shall show in that chapter. 
 
S. MATTHEW XXVI. 451 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 XXVI. I- 1 6. — And it came to pass, when 
 Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said 
 unto his disciples, Ye know that after two days is 
 the Passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to 
 be crucified. Then assembled together the chief 
 priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the 
 people, unto the palace of the high priest, who 
 was called Caiaphas, and consulted that they might 
 take Jesus by subtilty, and kill him. But they 
 said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar 
 among the people. Now when Jesus was in 
 Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, there 
 came unto him a woman having an alabaster box 
 of very precious ointment, and poured it on his 
 head, as he sat at meat. But when his disciples 
 saw it, they had indignation, saying. To what 
 purpose is this waste ? For this ointment might 
 have been sold for much, and given to the poor. 
 When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why 
 trouble ye the woman ? for she hath wrought a 
 good work upon me. For ye have the poor al- 
 ways with you ; but me ye have not always. For 
 in that she hath poured this ointment on my 
 body, she did it for my burial. Verily I say unto 
 you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in 
 the whole world, there shall also this, that this 
 
452 S. MATTHEW XXVI. 1-16. 
 
 woman liatli done, be told for a memorial of her. 
 Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went 
 unto the chief priests, and said unto them, What 
 will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you ? 
 And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of 
 silver. And from that time he sought opportunity 
 to betray him. 
 
 The evangelist tells us that the time having drawn 
 near, upon which God, in His divine providence, had 
 determined for the death of Christ, which is our life. He 
 again prophesied concerning it to His disciples, purposing 
 to prepare their minds, so that, in seeing Him die, they 
 should not be overmuch disturbed or scandalised ; and 
 he likewise states, that they, who were the heads of the 
 Jewish synagogue, consulted and deliberated how they 
 might craftily seize on Christ and slay Him ; he also 
 states that because great multitudes assembled at Jeru- 
 salem upon the day of the Passover, the Jewish high 
 priests feared that the people, who highly esteemed 
 Christ, might, under such circumstances, rise in tumult, 
 and they resolved to let the Passover pass. 
 
 Now when I consider that they did not let it pass, 
 nay, that they carried their purpose against Christ into 
 execution on the evening of the Passover, I recognise how 
 little the counsels and resolutions of men avail, when 
 God has ordained the opposite of that which they counsel 
 and resolve. God had ordained that Christ should die at 
 that great festival, in order that the type harmonising 
 with what had been typified, the work of God should be 
 more clear and manifest ; and however much the Jews 
 consulted and resolved to the contrary, they ultimately 
 did what God had ordained. 
 
 The evangelist having narrated the deliberation of the 
 Jews, relates the incident of the saintly woman, wlio 
 poured the vaseful of ointment upon Christ's head, be- 
 
5. MATTHEW XXVI. 1-16. 453 
 
 cause from that Judas took occasion to sell Christ, as is 
 more clearly reported in John xii. 4-6. And in the case of 
 this saintly woman, it is to be considered, how differently 
 human prudence and the Holy Spirit judge of things of 
 God; for the disciples, in judging this saintly woman's 
 work, by human prudence, condemned it, saying, that that 
 ointment was wasted, and that it would have been better 
 to sell it, and to have given its price to the poor ; whilst 
 Christ, judging by the Holy Spirit, defended the saintly 
 woman's deed, showing that it had been wrought in love 
 and by inspiration ; as though a Christian were to come 
 to my house, in whom I should recognise that Christian 
 spirit which I recognise in the Apostle St. Paul, and that I 
 should show him my affection, by offering him a banquet, 
 upon which I should spend [fifty pounds] one hundred 
 ducats, and that my servants should grumble against me, 
 saying, that that sum would have been better spent upon 
 the poor; and that Christian, in defending my loving feel- 
 ings, should say to my servants: Don't grumble against 
 your master for having given me this entertainment, for 
 of this world's poor you will ever have numbers, upon 
 whom you will be able to show your love and your 
 pity, but you will not always have a true Christian, 
 to whom you can show your Christian love and piety, 
 adding, that that is not wasted, but well laid up, 
 which one spends upon the person of Christ, on those, 
 who are incorporated into Christ, and who have the Spirit 
 of Christ. 
 
 In such a case, I understand that we may avail our- 
 selves, as against human prudence, of the incident that 
 befel this saintly woman with her ointment, and in cases 
 that are like this; for I understand that, since Christ no 
 longer converses bodily with men, that the converse which 
 we have with those, who have the Spirit of Christ, being 
 incorporated into Christ, and representing to us the image 
 of Christ, we hold it with Christ Himself, with whom we 
 cannot now hold it bodily ; for, as He says, " 3fe ye have 
 
454 S. MATTHEW XXVI. 1-16. 
 
 ^not always" meaning thereby, His bodily presence ; and, 
 therefore, we cannot say that we converse with Christ, 
 but that we converse with those, who are true members of 
 Christ. If I, in witnessing a case similar to that of this 
 holy woman, or to that of the banquet of which I have 
 spoken, examine myself, whether I should judge of it 
 as the disciples judged, or as Christ judged, I learn what 
 amount of human prudence, and what amount of the Holy 
 Spirit, there is in me. 
 
 And Christ by adding, " For in that she hath poured this 
 ointment," &c., shows clearly that this saintly woman had 
 wrought that work, not only from the affectionate love 
 proceeding from the faith which she had in Christ, but by 
 the movement of the Holy Spirit, which, in that case, 
 designed to show that Christ's death and burial were 
 at hand ; so that in saying, " She did it for my burial" He 
 may mean : she has predicted My approaching burial; for 
 the Jews were accustomed to anoint their dead. And 
 Christ, designing to enhance yet more the work of this 
 saintlike woman, says, " Verily I say unto you, Wherever 
 this gospel shall he preached" &c., affirming, that the loving 
 affection, combined with the movement of the Holy Spirit, 
 which had animated that saintly woman, was of such 
 worth, that ever thenceforth, wherever the gospel should 
 be preached throughout the world, the incident, connected 
 with this holy woman, should likewise be spoken of ; as 
 practically, it is spoken of. 
 
 Where it is to be understood that Christ, in saying, 
 " This gospel" does not mean this evangelical history ; for 
 it does not appear that there is aught in this that should 
 be matter of prediction ; but, this gospel which I preach, 
 intimating to men the near approach of the kingdom of 
 God ; with the gospel, which, after My death, resurrection, 
 and ascension, and the coming of the Holy Spirit, shall 
 be preached; in which remission of sins and reconcilia- 
 tion to God, through My death and passion, will be inti- 
 mated to men. Christ, in saying, " For a memorial of her" 
 
S. MATTHEW XXVI. 17-30. 455 
 
 means, that this incident shall be spoken of in order that 
 this holy woman shall be remembered. 
 
 They, who avail themselves of the case of this holy 
 woman, to save the expenses that Christians incur about 
 things that do not redound to the use of those, who are 
 Christ's poor, being Christ's brethren, and possessing 
 Christ's Spirit, they do not consider that Christ here 
 affirms that they had not Him always [with them], nor 
 do they consider that Christ bears testimony to this holy 
 woman, that she worked, being inspired ; nay, with the 
 spirit of prophecy, although she did not understand the 
 prophecy. The evangelist, by adding, " Then one of the 
 twelve," &c., shows that Judas thence took occasion to go 
 and sell Christ ; and it is ever thus, that they, who, amongst 
 Christ's members, sell Him, begin to do so from apparent 
 piety ; nay, the devil deceives them, with that apparent 
 piety, so blinding them, that, in selling Christ, they do 
 not see what they do, as Judas did not see ; and, when 
 he saw it, he hanged himself; the devil opening his 
 eyes, in order that he should hang himself ; just as he had 
 closed them, in order that he should sell Christ. 
 
 Just as we say a glass, or a crystal, meaning a vase of 
 glass or of crystal, so here he says an alabaster, meaning 
 a vase of alabaster. The pieces of silver were coins of 
 silver money of the value of the [Spanish] real or [Neapo- 
 litan] carlin [twopence-halfpenny English.] 
 
 XXVI. 17-30. — Now the first day of the feast 
 of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, 
 saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare 
 for thee to eat the passover ? And he said, Go into 
 the city to such a man, and say unto him, The 
 IVIaster saith, My time is at hand ; I will keep the 
 passover at thy house with my disciples. And the 
 disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and 
 
456 S. MATTHEW XXVI. 17-30. 
 
 tliey made ready the passover. Now when the 
 even was come, he sat down with the twelve. And 
 as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that 
 one of you shall betray me. And they were exceed- 
 ing sorrowful, and began every one of them to say 
 unto him, Lord, is it I ? And he answered and said, 
 He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the 
 same shall betray me. The Son of man goeth as it 
 is written of him : but woe unto that man by whom 
 the Son of man is betrayed ! it had been good for 
 that man if he had not been born. Then Judas, 
 who betrayed him, answered and said. Master, is 
 it I ? He said unto him, Thou hast said. And as 
 they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, 
 and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, 
 Take, eat ; this is my body. And he took the cup, 
 and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying. Drink 
 ye all of it ; for this is my blood of the new tes- 
 tament, which is shed for many for the remission 
 of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink hence- 
 forth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when 
 I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. 
 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out 
 unto the mount of Olives. 
 
 The evangelist reports two things that Jesus did at His 
 last supper; the one, to show or signify that Judas was he, 
 who was about to betray Him ; and the other^ to institute 
 the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist. One might say 
 that it was Christ's design by the first to exert ordinary 
 power to the last to divert Judas from his evil resolution, 
 in order that he be utterly and wholly inexcusable at the 
 day of judgment ; and I understand that it was Christ's 
 design by the second to leave His death, His blood shed 
 
5. MATTHEW XXVI. 17-30. 457 
 
 for us, impressed upon our minds, in order that whenever 
 the remission of sins and reconciliation to God is intimated 
 to us in the Gospel, as being a general indulgence and 
 pardon, we might be able to place the fullest reliance in 
 the pardon, considering that Christ is the justifier, and 
 seeing His blood shed. And here it is well to repeat what 
 I have frequently stated, that God in executing the rigour 
 of His justice upon Christ, was more intent upon giving 
 me assurance, than satisfaction to Himself. 
 
 As to what more it might be pertinent to state here, as 
 to the use of this most holy sacrament of the body and 
 blood of Christ, I remit myself to what I have said upon 
 I Cor. xi. In saying, " The first day of unleavened bread" 
 or of loaves without leaven, he means the first of the 
 seven days on which the Jews, in celebrating the feast 
 of their going forth out of Egypt, ate bread without leaven. 
 As to the reason why this festival was called Paschal, I 
 remit myself to what I have said upon i Cor. iv. ; whilst as 
 to the time at which Christ celebrated the passover, and as 
 to the time at which the Jews celebrated it, I remit myself 
 to what they say, who are informed upon this subject. 
 
 Where He says, " To such a ^person'' it might be thought 
 that Christ had stated the surname of that man in whose 
 house He desired that the passover should be prepared, 
 but that we learn from St. Mark's and St. Luke's gospels 
 that He did not mention it ; besides which, we learn that 
 Christ had the things, that were about to take place, pre- 
 sent to His mind as though they already had been done. 
 In saying, " My time is at hand," He means, My death is 
 at hand. That, "He that dippeth with me in the dish," &c., 
 is worthy of being considered as an example to be followed 
 of Christ's patience and meekness ; seeing that He not only 
 admitted Judas to His table, but likewise to His dish ; and 
 this after that he had made the agreement to sell Him. 
 And when I consider what I should have felt under such 
 circumstances, I recognise my imperfection, how little is 
 my mortification and how great my liveliness. And when 
 
458 5. MATTHEW XXVI. 17-30. 
 
 Christ added, ''The Son of Man goeth as it is written of 
 Him" &c., His design was to show that His death was 
 by Divine ordinance, although it appeared to be contrived, 
 machinated, and concerted by men. 
 
 And because some one might think and say, Then men 
 are blameless, Christ adds, " But woe unto that Tnan" &c., 
 meaning, that although His death was by Divine ordinance, 
 the man would not fail to be severely punished, who should 
 be the minister or executor of that Divine ordinance ; be- 
 cause such an one would not purpose the fulfilment of the 
 will of God, but his own damned, perverse, and diabolic 
 one, and Christ states of such a man that it had been better 
 for him never to have been born than to perpetrate such 
 huge treachery. 
 
 And these words give occasion to those who believe 
 more in what Aristotle says, when he states, " It is a lesser 
 evil to he, and to he hadly off, than not to he" than in what 
 Christ here states clearly to the contrary ; they do not 
 fatigue themselves by striving to make Aristotle say 
 what Christ says ; nay, they labour to make Christ say 
 what Aristotle says, as though Christ's authority depended 
 upon His conformity with Aristotle. Whilst I, tenaciously 
 adhering to what Christ says, understand that it would 
 have been a lesser evil to Judas, and to all the ungodly 
 and perverse like him, not to be than to be, let Aristotle 
 say what he may. 
 
 By those words, " This is my hlood," &c., it appears that 
 Christ alluded to those in Exodus xxiv. 8. " 27iis is the 
 hlood of the covenant which the Lord hath covenanted with 
 you concerning all these words," &c., as though Christ had 
 said, the testament or covenant established by Moses, 
 between God and the Jewish nation, was ratified by the 
 blood of brute animals ; whilst the testament or covenant 
 that I now establish between God and men, is ratified by 
 My blood, which certifies them that God has pardoned 
 them ; and believing this, they enjoy His pardon. 
 
 Where it is important to observe the perversity of the 
 
S. MATTHEW XXVI. 17-30. 459 
 
 human mind ; by this, that the Jews, confiding in God's- 
 word, held themselves to be reconciled to God by the 
 blood of the animals which they saw shed for their sins ; 
 whilst there is scarcely one, among those who call them- 
 selves Christians, who, confiding in the word of God, holds 
 himself to be pardoned as to his sins, to be reconciled to 
 God by the blood of the Son of God, which they see shed 
 for them ; the Son of God Himself, affirming that it is 
 shed for the sins of many, means, if all those, who, seeing 
 the blood shed for their sins, shall hold themselves to be 
 pardoned by it, and therefore just and holy ; and thence- 
 forth devote themselves to live righteously and holily. 
 
 I understand that there is this difference between the 
 remission of sins that was wrought by the blood of animals 
 and that which is so by the blood of Christ ; that they, 
 who were pardoned by the blood of animals, attained from 
 God, that which was promised to those, who fulfilled the 
 law, temporal benefits ; whilst they, who are pardoned by 
 the blood of, Christ, attain from God, that which is promised 
 to those, who believe in the gospel, eternal life. 
 
 And that which Christ subjoins, "But I say unto you, I 
 will not drink," Sec, I do not understand ; nor does that 
 satisfy me which some understand Christ to mean, by what 
 He said, that He would not drink wine until after His 
 death and resurrection, so that He should call the time 
 after His resurrection, " the kingdom of My Father," there- 
 fore, because I do not find Holy Scripture to employ this 
 mode of expression, as also because I do not understand 
 how that wine, which Christ drank after His resurrection, 
 should be new, I say that this apprehension does not satisfy 
 me, and I take pleasure in stating, that as I do not under- 
 stand these words, so neither do I understand those at the 
 close of chapter xvi., couched in almost the same terms. 
 By that, "And when they had sung a hymn,'' it indeed 
 appears that at the end of their meal, Christ with His 
 disciples were accustomed to have a psalm or hymn in 
 which they praised God. 
 
46o S. MATTHEW XXVI. 31-35. 
 
 - XXVI. 31-35. — Then said Jesus unto them, All 
 ye shall be oflfended because of me this night : for 
 it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the 
 sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. But 
 after I am risen again, I will go before you into 
 Galilee. Peter answered and said unto him. Though 
 all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I 
 never be offended. Jesus said unto him. Verily I 
 say unto thee, that this night, before the cock crow, 
 thou shalt deny me thrice. Peter said unto him, 
 Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny 
 thee. Likewise also said all the disciples. 
 
 The purpose entertained by Christ, when He prophesied 
 to His disciples that they were about to be scandalised on 
 the night of His apprehension, was, as I understand, pre- 
 cisely that which was realised ; for they promised Him 
 that they would not be scandalised, and that they would 
 die with Him were it needed, rather than deny Him ; 
 whilst they were scandalised, and they did desert Him, 
 which was virtually a denial of Him ; they all, but princi- 
 pally Peter, who, as he had been more bold to promise, was 
 more active in denying Him, doing so, once, twice, and 
 thrice — they all learned their great frailty, their little 
 stability, and their less constancy ; for having resolved to 
 die rather than to deny Christ, within a very short time, 
 some deserting Him fled, whilst another denied Him thrice; 
 whence it came to pass that he repented, and wept bitterly, 
 as he considered his inconstancy, his weakness, and his 
 want of stability. And he began thenceforth to think 
 but little of himself, and to trust but little to himself, as 
 he manifested, when Christ asked him : " Peter, lovest thou 
 Me ? " he was too dispirited to reply : " Yes, Lord ; but, 
 Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee." 
 
 St. Peter knew well that he loved Christ, but, taught by 
 
5. MATTHEW XXVI. 31-35. 461 
 
 experience in the denial, he dared not affirm that he loved. 
 I hold it to be certain that every one of the other disciples 
 came to this same knowledge, though that of St. Peter was 
 greater, because his boldness had been greater, he, having 
 been more bold in promising that, in relation to himself, 
 which he did not know that he should be able to fulfil. 
 
 Where it is to be understood, that in proportion to the 
 greatness of the error into which man falls, through weak- 
 ness and infirmity, so much the greater is the humility to 
 which he attains by the knowledge of his weakness and 
 infirmity ; and where also, we learn, as we have frequently 
 stated, to think rather badly than well of ourselves as men, 
 not to promise, nor to resolve upon that which is not in 
 our power to fulfil ; let us desire the good that is proposed 
 to us, and let us abhor the evil ; and let us pray to God 
 that He give us what we desire, and that He preserve us 
 from that which we abhor, and thus we shall not fall into 
 the trouble into which St. Peter fell, and into which the 
 disciples fell. 
 
 In whom I understand the scandal to have been both 
 inward and outward ; outward, in that stumbling bodily 
 at Christ's arrest, one went one way and another another ; 
 and inward, in that mentally stumbling at the same arrest 
 they began to doubt of that in which they previously 
 believed, hesitating as to whether Christ were, or were not, 
 the Messiah. 
 
 What scandal is, I have stated in a Consideration [Ixxvi.] 
 Christ, in quoting those words of Zechariah xiii. 7, " I will 
 smite the Shepherd" &c., meant, that in His arrest that pro- 
 phecy of Zachariah would come to be fulfilled, where God 
 speaks to the sword of His justice, which He rigorously 
 laid upon Christ, for being, as He was, clad in our sins ; 
 the Jews and Gentiles being His own sword. He says, 
 " Awake, sword, against my Shepherd, and against the man 
 that is my fellow, saith the Lord of Hosts : smite the Shep- 
 herd, and the sheep shall be scattered," &c. ; it is unimport- 
 ant that the prophet says " smite " where the evangelist 
 
462 S. MATTHEW XXVI. 36-46. 
 
 says " / will smite,'* for what God's sword does, God Him- 
 self does. 
 
 XXYI. 36-46. — Then cometh Jesus with them 
 unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the 
 disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. 
 And he took with him Peter and the two sons of 
 Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. 
 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding 
 sorrowful even unto death : tarry ye here, and 
 watch with me. And he went a little farther, and 
 fell on his face, and prayed, saying, my Father, 
 if it be possible, let this cup pass from me : never- 
 theless not as I will, but as thou wilt. And he 
 cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, 
 and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch 
 with me one hour ? Watch and pray, that ye enter 
 not into temptation : the spirit indeed is willing, 
 but the flesh is weak. He went away again the 
 second time, and prayed, saying, my Father, if 
 this cup may not pass away from me, except I 
 drink it, thy will be done. And he came and 
 found them asleep again : for their eyes were 
 heavy. And he left them, and went- away again, 
 and prayed the third time, saying the same words. 
 Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto 
 them, Sleep on now, and take your rest : behold, 
 the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed 
 into the hands of sinners. Eise, let us be going : 
 behold he is at hand that doth betray me. 
 
 Ispeak the truth, when I say, that I am so frail, that 
 I scarcely dare to place myself with Christ in the garden 
 
5. MATTHEW XXVI. 36-46. 463 
 
 to consider the agony, the sadness, and the anguish, which 
 He there felt; so small do I feel myself to be; whilst 
 the agony and emotion, which Christ there inwardly 
 witnessed, present themselves to me as huge, so great are 
 they. And I feel certain that were God so fully to open 
 my eyes that I might well consider what Christ felt in 
 that garden, reflecting that He suffered not for Himself, 
 but for me, and that He felt not His offences, but mine, 
 not only should I be assured of what the gospel affirms in 
 relation to remission of sins, and reconciliation with God, 
 but my flesh would remain so dead by the consideration 
 of what Christ's felt there, that nothing would thence- 
 forth live in mine that could have the savour of sin. 
 But I understand that God does not do this with us, 
 because our passible and mortal flesh is not an object 
 capable of such happiness; and thus I understand that 
 God goes on to moderate the knowledge in His elect of 
 what Christ suffered, with which He proceeds to assure 
 them gradually as to remission and reconciliation; and 
 according to the manner in which He proceeds to assure 
 them, does He proceed to mortify them ; assurance being 
 that which does mortify them. 
 
 As to that wherein I understand that Christ's agony 
 peculiarly consisted, what it was that so horrified Him, 
 grieved Him, saddened Him and afllicted Him, I remit 
 myself to what I have stated in a Consideration [Ixxxii], 
 which to my mind is of the greatest efficacy to assure 
 any one as to the remission of his sins past and future, 
 and to mortify him, and to slay in him all his desires to 
 sin. Here I will say this: that the fear which Christ 
 experienced, was not so much on account of the death 
 which He saw to be near at hand, as on account of the 
 shame, which the knowing Himself to be inculpated for 
 every one of our sins, caused Him ; and because that He 
 saw the rigour with which God punished Him for them 
 all. I understand that this consideration kept Him de- 
 pressed and terrified so as to cause Him to sweat drops 
 
464 S. MATTHEIV XXVI. 36-46. 
 
 of blood ; in fact, man's tongue is incapable of expressing 
 the thousandth part of what Christ suffered; nor is his 
 understanding capable of comprehending it: I pray to 
 God to make me feel it ; making me capable of such an 
 experience. 
 
 The reason why Christ would not take all His disciples, 
 and make them witnesses of what He felt in the garden, 
 is beyond me; nor do I either understand the reason 
 why He did not take them all to witness His glory on 
 Mount Tabor. By that : " He fell on His face!' &c., it is 
 a most devout consideration to say, that Christ, as though 
 ashamed of the sins which He had taken on Himself, and 
 which He recognised in Himself, finding Himself incul- 
 pated by them, as though He had committed them all, 
 Christ was too depressed to raise His face to heaven, He 
 bowed it to the earth. 
 
 In Christ's prayer, we learn how we should pray, when 
 we shall feel and find ourselves in similar circumstances 
 of sadness and anguish ; ever remitting ourselves to the 
 will of God, distrusting our own. " This cup," is equiva- 
 lent to this death, this anxiety, and this anguish. Christ 
 in saying, " If it he possible," meant, as I think : if it can 
 be. Lord, that this Thy divine will to reconcile Thyself 
 to men can be carried out by any other agency than Mine, 
 deliver Me from it ; whilst, if it be impossible, let Thy 
 will, My Father, be done ; I would not that this work 
 of Thy most holy will should, for My sake, be obstructed. 
 
 From that which Christ says in His second prayer: 
 " Thy will be done," it is matter for reflection that Christ 
 adopted for Himself the counsel which He gave His 
 disciples, when He told them for what they should pray. 
 That : " Watch and pray, that ye enter not," &c., belongs, as 
 I understand, to all times; I mean to say that it is a 
 general counsel given by Christ, from which we learn 
 that we shall resist temptation by vigilance and prayer ; 
 to watch, is for a man to be upon his guard, never being 
 heedless ; for the heedless are they, who are conquered by 
 
S. MATTHEW XXVI. 36-46. 465 
 
 temptations. As to that which Christ adds, " The spirit 
 indeed is willing, hut the flesh is weak," it is possible to 
 understand it as spoken of Himself, meaning : although, 
 in this transaction, you see My flesh is frail and in- 
 firm, I affirm that My spirit is strong and elevated to 
 go through all that it shall please God for it to go 
 through : whilst it is possible that it may be understood 
 of His disciples, meaning: I tell you to watch and to 
 pray against temptation, because I know, that although 
 you are prepared, as to your minds, not to be offended, 
 still your flesh is frail and infirm ; and it might come 
 to pass, that the flesh being vanquished, you might fall 
 in temptation. I should not know which of these views 
 to accept as the better. 
 
 In the comings and goings to and fro which Christ 
 made from His disciples to prayer, and from prayer to 
 His disciples, in waking them up, in admonishing them, 
 and in rebuking them, I consider the perturbation which 
 Christ experienced through sadness and anguish, which 
 is even more expressed by those words, "Sleep on now 
 and take your rest," which seem to be spoken in irony. 
 That : " Into the hands of sinners," has force. 
 
 He who shall desire to meditate more profoundly upon 
 this transaction in the garden, let him put himself in 
 Christ's place, and let him go on especially to meditate as 
 to what his feelings would be, were he to find himself in 
 a similar position to this in which Christ found Himself ; 
 finding Himself, on the one hand, most innocent and free 
 from all sin ; whilst, on the other, laden with many sins, 
 not His own, but of others ; again, finding Himself, on the 
 one hand, deprived and stripped of all human favour; 
 whilst, on the other, surrendered up by God to tribulation, 
 and finding Himself near to a most cruel and ignominious 
 death ; and that so much the more ignominious, for that 
 they who put Him to d^ath pretended to render God ser- 
 vice, and stated that they put Him to death as a wicked 
 man, the enemy of God. 
 
 2 G 
 
466 S. MATTHEW XXVI. 47-56. 
 
 The more that I set myself to think what I should feel 
 in such a position, I find my condition would be such that 
 I certainly think that I should die then and there ; and 
 thus I believe that it was God's work, that Christ did not 
 die of anguish in the garden at having to go through what 
 He underwent. I pray God to induce in me such mortifi- 
 cation, that it may be as sweet and grateful to contemplate 
 suffering for Christ, that which I know Christ suffered for 
 me; so sweet and grateful is the consideration of what 
 Christ has suffered for me, knowing that from His suffer- 
 ing my joy results in part in the present life, whilst it 
 will do so entirely and fully in the life eternal. 
 
 I have stated what I have felt upon this passage of the 
 garden; and let him, who shall desire to advance still 
 further, place himself by Christ's side in the garden, and 
 let him pray to God, with much earnestness, to do him 
 the grace to open the eyes of his mind that he may well 
 see what Christ there felt, and I am sure that he will 
 think but little of what I have written, even though I 
 combine the Consideration [Ixxxii.] with it, but neverthe- 
 less and notwithstanding, let him persevere, remaining in 
 the garden ; and let him not weary in prayer, but let him 
 pray, with great confidence in God, that He will give him 
 what he supplicates of Him, founding his confidence upon 
 that divine promise in Matt. vii. 7, "Ask and it shall he 
 given you." 
 
 XXVI. 47-56. — And while he yet spake, lo, 
 Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a 
 great multitude with swords and staves, from the 
 chief priests and elders of the people. Now he that 
 betrayed him gave them a sign, saying. Whomsoever 
 I shall kiss, that same is he : hold him fast. And 
 forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master ; 
 and kissed him. And Jesus said unto him. Friend, 
 wherefore art thou come ? Then came thej, and 
 
5. MATTHEW XXVI. 47-56. 467 
 
 laid hands on Jesus, and took him. And behold, 
 one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his 
 hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of 
 the high priest's, and smote off his ear. Then said 
 Jesus unto him. Put up again thy sword into its 
 place : for all they that take the sword shall perish 
 with the sword. Thinkest thou that I cannot now 
 pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me 
 more than twelve legions of angels ? But how then 
 shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must 
 be ? In that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes, 
 Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and 
 staves for to take me ? I sat daily with you teach- 
 ing in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me. But 
 all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets 
 might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook 
 him, and fled. 
 
 In Christ's arrest Judas assisted the Jews to show them 
 where Christ was, and to point Him out from amongst 
 others to them, who went forth to lay hands on Him, but 
 who peradventure did not personally know Him. 
 
 Here two things present themselves to me that are fully 
 worthy of consideration. The one, that Christ was betrayed 
 by His own disciple ; and by this I learn how little I can 
 confide in the best of men of the world who are without 
 Christian spirit. And the other, that they, who sent to 
 apprehend Christ, were the heads of the Jewish religion, 
 not in the eyes of God but of men ; and here I learn how 
 little I can confide in those, who are the heads of the 
 Christian religion, being such in the eyes of men, if they 
 are not so in the eyes of God ; and I recognise the error 
 of those, who depend upon man and confide in man ; as 
 for me, I adopt that in Psalm Ixxiii. 28, "It is good for me 
 to adhere to God," mihi autem adhaerere Deo, honum est. 
 
468 ' vS. MATTHEW XXVI. 47-56. 
 
 In those words of Christ, "Friend, wherefore art thou 
 come ? " two things are to be considered : the one, Christ's 
 meekness that calls His greatest enemy friend ; and the 
 other, that when He asks him why he came, it was a 
 reminder of the evil which he wrought, that he should 
 reflect that he came to deliver up Him, who is life itself, 
 to death. It is well to consider St. Peter's courage, evinced 
 by his daring to defend his Master with arms, amongst so 
 many enemies. 
 
 Christ's words, "For all they that take the sword shall 
 perish hy the sword," are simply to be understood as mean- 
 ing, that they, who walk about armed, incur the peril of 
 dying by arms, as though Christ had said : it is not My 
 wish that thou shouldest defend Me, nor thyself either, 
 with arms ; for I do not wish to die by arms, nor do I wish 
 that thou shouldest die so ; for I wish to die, and I wish 
 that thou shouldest die, another kind of death. Effectively 
 Christ wills that they, who are His, follow Him ; that they 
 do like Him, and that they go whither He went. Christ 
 adding, " Thinhest thou that I cannot now" &c., desired to 
 give St. Peter's mind confidence, assuring him, that al- 
 though apparently He died by the will of those who led 
 Him away to death, He did not die otherwise than by 
 His own will, which was conformed to the will of God ; 
 who not only willed that Christ should die for our sins 
 according to what He had promised, but willed that those 
 things, which had been prophesied, should concur in His 
 death, in order that the agreement between that which 
 had been prophesied and its execution might be a con- 
 firmation of the faith of those, who are inspired to believe. 
 
 The Scriptures, which I at this time find most in accor- 
 dance with what I see executed in Christ's death, are 
 Psalm xxii., which begins, " My God, my God," &c., and 
 Psalm Ixix., which begins, " Save me, God," &c., and the 
 liii. chapter of Isaiah. Christ, in saying, " As against a 
 thief" &c., purposed to show them the malice and wicked- 
 ness with which they came. In the Greek there is but 
 
S. MATTHEW XXVI. 57-68. 469 
 
 one and the same word which is rendered in the [Spanish] 
 translation knife and swords, which I have translated 
 differently, because it appeared to me to be an improper 
 thing to give a sword to St. Peter, whilst the Greek word 
 means both one and the other. From St. John, it appears 
 that it was St. Peter who cut off the ear. That word " ave" 
 hail, I have rendered in Latin, for I have no Spanish word 
 wherewith to express the signification of the Greek, which 
 is used in salutation both in writing and in speaking. I 
 have done the same in the " ave " of chapter xxvii. and in 
 the " avete " of chapter xxviii. 
 
 XXVI. 57-68. And they that had laid hold on 
 Jesus led him away to Caiaphas, the high priest, 
 where the scribes and the elders were assembled. 
 But Peter followed him afar ^ff unto the high 
 priest's palace, and went in, and sat with the 
 servants, to see the end. Now the chief priests, 
 and elders, and all the council, sought false witness 
 against Jesus, to put him to death; but found none ; 
 yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found 
 they none. At the last came two false witnesses, and 
 said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the 
 temple of God, and to build it in three days. And 
 the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest 
 thou nothing ? what is it which these witness 
 against thee ? And Jesus held his peace. And 
 the high priest answered and said unto him, I 
 adjure thee, by the living God, that thou tell us 
 whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus 
 saith unto him, Thou hast said : nevertheless I say 
 unto you. Hereafter ^hall ye see the Son of man 
 sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in 
 the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rent 
 
470 S. MATTHEW XXVI. 57-68. 
 
 iiis clotlies, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy ; 
 what further need have we of witnesses ? behold, 
 now ye have heard his blasphemy. What think 
 ye ? They answered and said. He is guilty of death. 
 Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him ; 
 and others smote him with the palms of their 
 hands, saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, who 
 is he that smote thee ? 
 
 Where St. Matthew states that [the whole body of the 
 hierarchy] the chief priests and elders, and all the council 
 sought false witness against Jesus, that they therewith 
 might condemn Jesus to death, but found none ; I under- 
 stand it thus : that they sought testimony, which, although 
 untrue, should be plausible, but that they found nothing 
 that could serve their purpose. 
 
 Where we ought to consider the purity and innocence 
 of Christ's life, since, not even with falsehood, could it be 
 inculpated with anything bad, done by Him, so as to 
 render it probable that blame attached to Him ; and 
 when I recollect, that to comprehend the perfection in 
 which I am comprehended, I have to bring myself to live 
 as purely and as innocently, whilst I see myself so far 
 from that, that I myself am ashamed of myself ; it occur- 
 ring to me how far I am from that degree of perfection, 
 which, as a Christian, I strive to attain, I pray God that 
 He keep me near Him. 
 
 The falsehood of these witnesses, who stated, " This 
 fellow said, I am able,'' &c., does not consist in its being 
 untrue that Christ had uttered these words, because it 
 appears that He spoke them ; but it does consist, in that 
 He did not speak them in the sense in which the wit- 
 nesses interpreted them : they interpreted them of the 
 temple of stone, whilst Christ had spoken them of the 
 temple of His body, as appears in St. John, chapter ii. 
 
 Christ, conjured by the living God, was constrained to 
 
S. MATTHEW XXVI. 69-75. 471 
 
 reply; but He moderated His answer, neither affirming nor 
 denying, as He had done with Judas at the supper. When 
 Christ added, " But I say unto you, hereafter shall ye see," 
 &c., it appears that what He said meant, if it scandalise 
 you to see Me in this vile and despised state, I tell you, 
 that erelong you shall see Me in a glorious and triumphant 
 state, occupying the highest rank near to God, and [coming] 
 on the clouds of heaven. Where Christ alluded to His 
 second coming to judgment ; and it is of no importance, 
 that it appears from His words, that He meant that He 
 was about to come very shortly, for although, according to 
 human judgment, it appears that this has not been realised, 
 since He has not as yet come ; according to divine judg- 
 ment it is so, for that a thousand years to God present a 
 term no longer to Him than was yesterday to us. 
 
 Had Christ, as man, known of His coming to judgment 
 by the spirit of man, speaking as a man, He would have 
 said, that after the lapse of ages they would see the Son 
 of man at the right hand of power, &c., but knowing it as 
 the Son of God, as the Word of God, with the Divine 
 Spirit, He spoke as God, saying, not long hence, or shortly, 
 " you shall see." " At the right hand of power,'' is equivalent 
 to, at the mighty right hand ; He means, of God. The 
 Jewish high priest rending or tearing his robes was 
 according to Jewish usage, and was intended to aggravate 
 what Christ had said, the proper office of a passionate and 
 blind Jewish prelate. Those words, " Prophesy unto us, 
 thou Christ" are full of scorn. 
 
 XXVI. 69-75. — ^^w Peter sat without in the 
 palace : and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou 
 also wast with Jesus the Galilean. But he denied 
 before them all, saying, I know not what thou 
 sayest. And when he was gone out into the porch, 
 another maid saw him, and said unto them that 
 were there, This fellow was also with Jesus the 
 
472 S. MATTHEW XXVI. 69-75. 
 
 Nazarene. And again he denied with an oath, I 
 know not the man. And after a while came unto 
 him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely 
 thou also art one of them ; for thy speech bewrayeth 
 thee. Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, 
 I know not the man. And immediately the cock 
 crew. And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, 
 which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou 
 shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept 
 bitterly. 
 
 Learning through all Christ's history that St. Peter was 
 very lively and very proud, taking the lead in everything, 
 and frequently without consideration ; as he did, when he 
 rebuked Christ, because He spoke of His death ; and as 
 he did, when he said that he should not be offended, when 
 Christ had told him that he would be offended ; and as he 
 did, when he cut off another man's ear ; I understand that 
 Christ purposed (as I have before stated), to mortify viva- 
 city in St. Peter, by allowing him to fall into temptation, 
 in order that he might learn to know himself, and might 
 be humbled ; as, indeed, he did learn to know himself and 
 was humbled. 
 
 And here, I understand the reason, why God often 
 allows those, who are His, to fall into temptations ; it is 
 because the human mind is exceedingly vain and arro- 
 gant; and, therefore, needs to be let down, beaten down, 
 and humbled. 
 
 Here likewise, I learn, that it concerns the Christian to 
 desire, as one might say, not to deny Christ for anything 
 upon earth ; and not to presume, concerning himself, that 
 he will be self-sufficient not to deny Him ; but, let him 
 ask God to give him strength to enable him to resist the 
 temptations, by which he will be solicited to deny Him. 
 
 Here also, I understand the reason why, to Christians, 
 who propose and resolve upon many things, that are holy 
 
S. MATTHEW XXVI. 69-75. 473 
 
 and good, they frequently issue quite contrary to what 
 they determined ; it is, because their resolution is taken, 
 without consideration of their own personal impotence, 
 just as I have written in a Consideration [vii.] 
 
 Forasmuch as St. Peter was not recognised by his 
 dress, but by his speech, we learn that Christ's disciples 
 went about, undistinguished by their dress, from other 
 men. 
 
 As to St. Peter's weeping, I understand that he wept 
 from regret, when he saw himself fallen into that offence, 
 in relation to which he had resolved and affirmed, that he 
 would not fall ; and I understand that they imitate St. 
 Peter, in weeping, when they weep, disgusted at their 
 deviation from Christian obligation, from Christian deco- 
 rum; weeping as do they, who are annoyed and vexed 
 with themselves; discontented at having offended Him, 
 whom they recognise themselves under obligation to serve, 
 and whom they affectionately desire to serve. 
 
 They, who weep from fear of the evil which they may 
 bring upon themselves by their sin or sins, pretending to be 
 pardoned by their tears, do not imitate St. Peter. Putting 
 this denial of St. Peter, together with what Christ has 
 stated in chapter x., that He will deny the man, who shall 
 deny Him; it is readily understood, that Christ means 
 but those, who deliberately and pertinaciously shall deny 
 Him ; knowing Him, but being unwilling to confess Him, 
 either with the lips or with Christian life. 
 
 St. Peter's denial proceeded from weakness and frailty ; 
 although, in the first instance, he denied simply ; in the 
 second he denied with an oath ; whilst in the third he 
 denied, adding curses to the oath. Where I understand, 
 that, if St. Peter had denied, having resolved to deny, 
 having made up his mind to do so, taking pleasure in 
 doing so, he would not have wept bitterly, as he did, im- 
 mediately upon his repentance ; nay, he would have done 
 what Judas did upon his repentance, as St. Matthew pre- 
 sently relates, setting before us, after an example of frailty, 
 
474 S. MATTHEW XXVI. 69-75. 
 
 wherewith the weak are comforted, another example of 
 malignity, with which the malignant are made to quake. 
 
 And here I will add this : that, from St. Peter's tempta- 
 tion, I learn of what kind are the temptations, with which 
 God permits His elect, being tempted, to fall ; whilst from 
 Judas' temptation, I learn of what kind are the tempta- 
 tions, wherewith they are tempted, who are not of the 
 number of God's elect, although it outwardly seems that 
 they are so, and they persuade themselves that they are 
 so ; for that these never know their error, and, if they do 
 know it, they despair of themselves, as did Judas ; whilst 
 those, presently or very quickly, know their error, and, as 
 soon as they know it, they grieve, knowing themselves to 
 have fallen into that, wherein they did not wish to fall, as 
 did St. Peter. 
 
S MATTHEW XXVII. 475 
 
 CHAPTEE XXVII. 
 
 XXVII. I- 10. — When the morning was come, 
 all the chief priests and elders of the people took 
 counsel against Jesus to put him to death. And 
 when they had bound him, they led him away, 
 and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor. 
 Then Judas, who had betrayed him, when he 
 saw that he was condemned, repented himself, 
 and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to 
 the chief priests and elders, saying, I have sinned, 
 in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And 
 they said. What is that to us ? see thou to that. 
 And he cast down the pieces of silver in the 
 temple, and departed, and went and hanged him- 
 self. And the chief priests took the silver pieces, 
 and said, It is not lawful to put them into the 
 treasury, because it is the price of blood. And 
 they took counsel, and bought with them the 
 potter's field, to bury strangers in. Wherefore 
 that field was called. The field of blood, unto this 
 day. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken 
 by Jeremy the prophet, saying. And they took the 
 thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was 
 valued, whom they of the children of Israel did 
 value; and gave them for the potter's field, as 
 the Lord appointed me. 
 
476 S. MATTHEW XXVII. i-to. 
 
 I understand that Judas knew that he was condemned, 
 and hanged himself, knowing his condemnation, by the 
 same spirit, by which he was excited to betray Christ, 
 and had betrayed Him; I mean that the same wicked 
 spirit, which blinded him before he wrought the evil, so 
 that he should not consider it, opened his eyes after the 
 evil was done, in order that he should recognise it, and 
 that he should know himself to be condemned on account 
 of it, and that he should hang himself ; where I under- 
 stand, that although Judas knew that he did wickedly in 
 selling Christ, because he did not know that he would on 
 that account be damned, he did not desist from his wicked 
 purpose ; that this is a fact appears from this, that as 
 soon as he knew himself about to be damned, he hanged 
 himself from remorse. And I feel certain that all they, 
 who, incited like Judas, persecute Christ in His members, 
 persecuting Christian truth and Christian life, finally 
 determine to do what Judas determined to do; and if 
 effectively, they do not hang themselves, it is because 
 their malignity is even greater than that of Judas, per- 
 severing to the end of life in exerting it, without ever 
 confessing themselves to be malignants, as Judas confessed 
 himself to be, which confession, although it did not help 
 him, served to manifest Christ's innocency, since the 
 veiy man, who sold Him, bore witness to it. 
 
 In the Jewish high priests and elders we have to 
 consider a natural illustration of the peculiar condition 
 of those, who devote themselves to a false religion, who 
 swallow the camel and strain off the gnat, who murdered 
 the Innocent, and then felt scrupulous as to putting the 
 money into the treasury, which they had given to the 
 person who had sold Him. Such things as these are 
 constantly witnessed in those, who are like these ; and 
 all they are such as these, who devote themselves to 
 false religion, which consists in vain ceremonies and in 
 superstitious observances of days, of months, of times, 
 and of years, &c., and they excite themselves on behalf 
 
S. MATTHEW XXVII. 11-26. 477 
 
 of it, because, not knowing true religion, which consists 
 in the acceptance of Christ, and in the imitation of Christ, 
 they are almost constrained to persecute those, who devote 
 themselves to it ; and still more those, who being devoted 
 to it, teach it; for just as the imperfections of an ugly 
 and ill-made thing are discovered by the brightness of 
 the sun, so are the imperfections and hideous features of 
 false religion discovered, by the brilliant light of true 
 religion. 
 
 As to the prophecy which St. Matthew quotes here, it 
 has given plenty to do, and to say, to those, who have 
 written upon it from that time to the present; I remit 
 myself to them. [Jeremiah is probably an interpolation ; 
 the prophecy is found in Zech. xi. 13.] What is here 
 rendered president might have been translated governor. 
 Where it says that he was condemned, it means that his 
 sin deserved hell. That which is here rendered alms-box 
 or treasury, the Greek word Kop^ava<;, which is a Jewish 
 one, signifies the place in the temple where the money- 
 offerings were placed; such as are the little boxes or 
 chests, which in Castile are placed in the churches for 
 visitors to put in their alms for the repairs of the struc- 
 ture of the church, which little arks we Spaniards call 
 cepos. Where the text says "Jleld," it means a tract of 
 land. And where it says " strangers," it might have said 
 pilgrims, foreigners, and guests. A " potter " is he, who 
 moulds earthen vessels; his Spanish title is OUero, his 
 Arabic Alfaharero. 
 
 XXVII. 11-26. — And Jesus stood before the 
 governor : and the governor asked him, saying, 
 Art thou the king of the Jews ? And Jesus said 
 unto him, Thou sayest. And when he was accused 
 of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. 
 Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how 
 many thiugs they witness against thee ? And he 
 
478 S. MATTHEW XXVII. 11-26. 
 
 answered him to never a word, insomuch that the 
 governor marvelled greatly. Now at that feast 
 the governor was wont to release unto the people 
 a prisoner, whom they would. And they had then 
 a notable prisoner called Barabbas. Therefore 
 when they were gathered together, Pilate said 
 unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto 
 you ? Barabbas, or Jesus, who is called Christ ? 
 For he knew that for envy they had delivered him. 
 When he was set down on the judgment seat, 
 his wife sent unto him, saying. Have thou nothing 
 to do with that just man : for I have suffered 
 many things this day in a dream because of him. 
 But the chief priests and elders persuaded the 
 multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and 
 destroy Jesus. The governor answered and said 
 unto them, Whether of the twain will ye that I 
 release unto you ? They said, Barabbas. Pilate 
 saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus, 
 who is called Christ? They all say unto him, 
 Let him be crucified. And the governor said. 
 Why, what evil hath he done ? But they cried 
 out the more, saying, Let him be crucified. When 
 Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that 
 rather a tumult was made, he took water, and 
 washed his hands before the multitude, saying, 
 I am innocent of the blood of this just person, 
 see ye to it. Then answered all the people, and 
 said, His blood be on us, and on our children. 
 Then released he Barabbas unto them : and when 
 he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be 
 crucified. 
 
5. MATTHEW XXVII. 11-26. 479 
 
 In these words eight things present themselves worthy 
 of consideration. First, that the saints of the world, who 
 questioned the propriety of putting the money that Judas 
 flung down on the floor of the temple into its alms-box, 
 presented themselves at the tribunal of Pilate, the Gentile, 
 as the accusers of the Son of God. Whence I learn that 
 it behoves me to avoid all appearance of sanctity, since 
 such are its effects. 
 
 Second, that Pilate, when he asked Christ whether He 
 were King of the Jews, really meant the Messiah, whom 
 it was notorious that the Jews expected. And here the 
 wickedness of the high priests and scribes is more recog- 
 nisable, for they put Christ to death, of whom it was, at 
 least, suspected that He was the Messiah. 
 
 Third, that just as Pilate marvelled, when he saw that 
 Christ was silent, and that when accused He offered no 
 defence, so do men of the world marvel when they see 
 that God's saints, members of Christ, offer no defence 
 when accused. And here I learn what it becomes me to 
 do, when like Christ, under accusation ; and it shames me 
 to think how little is my mortification, and how great my 
 vivacity, when I set myself to consider how I should act 
 were I to find myself circumstanced as Christ here found 
 Himself ; and I pray to God that He may bring me to the 
 same meekness and humility, that I may recognise that in 
 myself, which I consider in Christ. And it is most appo- 
 site to state, that Christ's silence fulfilled the prophecy of 
 Isaiah liii. 7, which says, that, " He was led like a least to 
 the slaughter, and that like a sheep, hefore its shearer, is 
 dumb, so He shall not open His mouth." 
 
 Foicrth, that just as Pilate, a man of the world, was not 
 so unjust to Christ as were the Jews, saints of the world, 
 so neither are men of the world so injurious to members 
 of Christ, as saints of the world. And here I learn that 
 I ought more to avoid the company of saints of the world, 
 than that of men of the world. 
 
 Fifth, that the devil acted extravagantly and inconsist- 
 
48o S. MATTHEW XXVII. 11-26. 
 
 eiitly towards Christ ; on the one hand, he procured His 
 death, putting it into the heart of Judas to betray Him ; on 
 the other hand, he impeded it by terrifying Pilate's wife 
 with dreams, so that she should send and tell her husband 
 not to interfere with Christ ; on account of that message 
 Pilate seriously attempted to liberate Christ, and from 
 fear he washed his hands, therein practising a Jewish 
 ceremony, because he was dealing with Jews. And here 
 I learn, that if God's mysteries are not understood by 
 devils, as in point of fact this of Christ's death was not ; 
 neither are they understood by Christians, whom God, 
 through their instrumentality, mortifies by temptations and 
 persecutions ; much less will they be understood by human 
 prudence, however refined and polished it may be ; nay, I 
 hold it to be certain that the more refined and polished it 
 is, so much the more is it incapable of the things of God. 
 And here I learn that I never should trust human pru- 
 dence in divine and Christian things, never admitting its 
 human arguments. 
 
 Sixth, that the people are generally like those who govern 
 them, especially so in things that pertain to religion; 
 and thus it does not astonish me that the Jewish people 
 allowed themselves so easily to he persuaded hy their high 
 priests, to shout for His death, who came to give them life, 
 whom they had just previously received with shouts of 
 " Hosanna to the Son of David!' A nd here I understand^ 
 that from vjhat I shall see in the customs of the lower 
 classes in their religion, I shall be able to conjecture what 
 the upper classes are in religious matters ; in order to keep 
 me from confiding in them, to preserve me from that which 
 they approve, and to render their condemnation a matter 
 of indifference to me. 
 
 Seventh, that that actually befell the Jewish people, 
 which they invoked upon themselves, saying, "Sis blood 
 be upon us and upon our children," beginning with the 
 destruction of Jerusalem, and descending gradually upon 
 those, who approved of what their fathers did, in slaying 
 
5. MATTHEW XXVII. 27-34. 481 
 
 Christ, for they pertinaciously maintain their fathers' 
 obduracy. And here the blindness, into which the Jews 
 had fallen at the time they uttered those words, surprises 
 me, whilst the blindness in which the Jews of our time 
 are, surprises me still more, whose eyes are not opened to 
 see the light of the gospel, even by the consideration of 
 what has come upon them by the death of Christ. 
 
 Eighth, that all the goodness that is founded and framed 
 upon what is false, upon fear, as was that of Pilate's, bears 
 its own stamp in falling to the ground ; at first Pilate 
 endeavoured to liberate Christ, whom he called a just 
 man, but whom he ultimately delivered up to death, after 
 having had Him scourged, which with the Eomans was 
 a customary preliminary to execution. And here I learn 
 what the effect is of fear, so praised as to be canonised 
 by those who, because they do not love, do not know 
 what love is; they do not know what Christian faith 
 is, for they do not possess it ; had they had it, they would 
 have loved; and had they loved, they would have con- 
 demned fear as that which is contrary and inimical to love. 
 
 XXVII. 27-34. — Then the soldiers of the 
 
 governor took Jesus into the common hall, and 
 
 gathered, unto him the whole band of soldiers. 
 
 And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet 
 
 robe. And when they had platted a crown of 
 
 thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in 
 
 his right hand : and they bowed the knee before 
 
 him, and mocked hiin, saying, Hail, King of the 
 
 Jews ! And they spat upon him, and took the 
 
 reed, and smote him on the head. And after that 
 
 they had mocked him, they took the robe off from 
 
 him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him 
 
 away to crucify him. And as they came out, they 
 
 found a man of Cyrene, Simon by najne : him they 
 
 2 H 
 
482 5. MATTHEW XXVII. 27-34. 
 
 compelled to bear his cross. And when they were 
 come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, 
 a place of a skull, they gave him vinegar to drink 
 mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, 
 he would not drink. 
 
 I hold it to be certain, that Christ was beyond all com- 
 parison more offended by the malignity with which He 
 was accused by the Jews than by the brutality with which 
 He was maltreated and derided by the Gentiles ; who, be- 
 cause Christ was accused of having made Himself a King, 
 put Him forward in derision and mockery in regal garb, 
 in order to treat Him afterwards worse than a servant and 
 slave. 
 
 It is said that the robe in which they mantled Him, 
 was a soldier's cloak ; I rather think it to have been a royal 
 robe. When they compelled Simon, the Cyrenean, to carry 
 Christ's cross, I do not think that they purposed to relieve 
 Christ of fatigue, but to get the more quickly to the place 
 of crucifixion. 
 
 It is said to have been customary with the Eomans to 
 offer to those whom they were about to execute vinegar 
 or strong wine as an anaesthetic, and hence that it was 
 offered to Christ as such, in t)rder that He might feel 
 the less torment. The mixing of gall with the vinegar 
 was an act of brutality, originating with the attendant 
 executioners. 
 
 Here I will say this, that he, who shall consider Christ, 
 standing amongst those soldiers, treated with such in- 
 humanity and brutality, and shall ponder those words of 
 Isaiah, where he says in chapter liii. 3, "Re is despised 
 and rejected of man, a man of sorrows, and experiericed in 
 grief, from whom we Md,xa3 it were, our faces; He wa^ 
 despised, and we esteemed Him not,'' will be constrained to 
 say that Isaiah, in vision, saw Christ precisely in that plight 
 in which the eviyigelist reports Him to have been. Whence 
 
5. MATTHEW XXVII. 35-44. 483 
 
 it may be gathered how profitable it is for those, who are 
 tempted to doubt in relation to Christian truth, to compare 
 with simplicity and humility the prophecies of Christ's 
 passion and death with the narratives written by the 
 evan^ielists. 
 
 XXYII. 35-44.— And they crucified him, and 
 parted his garments, casting lots : that it might be 
 fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They 
 parted my garments among them, and upon my 
 vesture did they cast lots. And sitting down they 
 watched him there ; and set up over his head his 
 accusation written, This is Jesus the King of the 
 Jews. Then were there two thieves crucified with 
 him, one on the right hand, and another on the left. 
 And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their 
 heads, and saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, 
 and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou 
 be the Son of God, come down from the cross. Like- 
 wise also the chief priests mocking him, with the 
 scribes and elders, said, He saved others, himself he 
 cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him 
 now come down from the cross, and we will believe 
 him. He trusted in God ; let him deliver him now, 
 if he will have him : for he said, I am the Son of 
 God. The thieves also, who were crucified with 
 him, cast the same in his teeth. 
 
 There are three things in these words whereon to com- 
 ment. 
 
 First, the division made of Christ's clothes by the sol- 
 diers amongst themselves, whereby that was fulfilled in 
 Him, which is written in Psalm xxii., and as to the expo- 
 sition of those words, I remit myself to the commentary 
 
484 S. MATTHEW XXVII. 35-44. 
 
 I have written upon that passage ; whence it may be in- 
 ferred that, although Christ's dress was not costly, still 
 it was not so vile, as not to be worth something, since 
 the soldiers distributed them amongst themselves, by cast- 
 ing lots. 
 
 Second, that it was brought about by God that Pilate 
 should place over Christ, the title. King of the Jews, not 
 so much to the confusion of the Jews, who delivered their 
 King up to death, as to the glory of true Christians ; for 
 that, when they saw Christ crucified, and read the title on 
 the cross, they prided themselves upon their having recog- 
 nised Him as King, whom the Jews condemned and put 
 to death as an ungodly person ; He, indeed, being their 
 King. 
 
 Third, that the insulting acts, wherewith Christ was 
 mocked, and the words wherewith He was insulted, by 
 those who passed by*that way (for it.appears that the cross 
 was erected near a highway), and by the heads of the 
 Jewish synagogue, and by the thieves themselves, who 
 were crucified with Him, it appears that these were so 
 many other temptations, wherewith Christ was tempted, 
 not only to resent His finding Himself in that condition, 
 but to deviate from the will of God, by coming down from 
 the cross. I am led to think thus, by considering that 
 Christ could, had He willed it, have come down from the 
 cross, and have made men believe in Him, and accept Him 
 for what He was ; that He could have destroyed the 
 temple, and reconstructed it in three days, just in the man- 
 ner in which they understood it ; and that He could have 
 shown that He was the Son of God, and that He was 
 mighty to save Himself, and to deliver Himself from 
 death, and that He was the King of Israel. And I under- 
 stand that the temptation which Christ most felt was that : 
 " He trusted in God, let Him deliver Him, if He like Him!* 
 or if He love Him ; for this affected the honour of God, 
 inasmuch as it appeared that He did not deliver Christ, 
 who had trusted in Him; and it affected Christ's piety, 
 
S. MATTHEW XXVII. 35-44. 485 
 
 inasmucli as it appeared that God did not love Him, since 
 He did not deliver Him. 
 
 I understand this thus, partly by what I read in David, 
 who was ever solicitous that it should not be said that he 
 had faltered in his confidence in God, or that God did 
 not love him, or hold him in consideration ; as I have 
 particularly shown in my exposition of Psalm iii. ; and 
 partly by what I feel myself, that there is nothing that 
 afflicts or torments me more, than thoughts which occa- 
 sionally annoy me, by suggesting to me doubts as to this 
 confidence and this love ; and than the calumnies of the 
 saints of the world, wherewith they calumniate my Chris- 
 tian faith, and my Christian life ; and I hold it to be 
 certain, that this is the experience of all, who have Chris- 
 tian faith, and devote themselves to live Christianly ; who, 
 if they consider, when they find themselves in a similar 
 position to that, in which Christ found Himself, from 
 which they might liberate themselves, but by deviating 
 from that which they know to be the will of God ; this is 
 what they would feel when similar expressions should be 
 addressed to them, which were addressed to (Shrist ; and 
 how frequently would they be moved to come down from 
 the cross ; they will the better feel what Christ felt when 
 hanging on the cross, and they will know whether Isaiah 
 was right, when, in chapter liii. io,he praised Christ for this : 
 *' That the pleasure of the Lord had prospered in His hand," 
 that God's purpose was realised in that which He willed 
 should be accomplished in Christ and by Christ; He ever 
 standing firm and constant in the will of God, without 
 ever in any way deviating from it ; and knowing it, they 
 will ask God to give them firmness and constancy, that 
 His divine will may likewise be prospered in their hand. 
 
 Considering the strength of the temptations with which 
 Christ was tempted by men, at the time of His death, I 
 firmly believe in the demoniacal temptations with which, 
 it is said, that Christians are visited, when just about to 
 die ; and I understand that, when those ungodly men 
 
486 S. MATTHEW XXVII. 45-50. 
 
 spoke those words, which they addressed to Christ, it was 
 not they who spake them, but it was the diabolic spirit 
 that spoke by them, doing in them as his children, that 
 which the Spirit of our divine and heavenly Father works 
 in us : this inspires us to glorify God and Christ, whilst 
 that inspired them to blaspheme God and Christ, as it 
 ever inspires them, who are such as were they. 
 
 Here it is readily seen that, when the evangelist says, 
 " That it might he fulfilled" &c., that it is not to be under- 
 stood that the design was to fulfil that prophecy, but that, 
 by that act, the prophecy was fulfilled ; it was not because 
 it had been prophesied, but it was prophesied, because it 
 had come to pass. In saying, " His accusation written" 
 he means the reason why He died ; this is better seen in 
 St. John. 
 
 The wagging of their heads was a Jewish usage, nay, 
 David describes it, in Psalm xxii., as though he had wit- 
 nessed it with his bodily eyes. To that which might here 
 be falsely objected, as the Jews actually do falsely object, 
 that it was not customary in Israel to crucify men, in the 
 manner in which we read that Christ was crucified, they 
 must be answered, that it is indeed true of the period prior 
 to Israel's subjection to the Koman empire, under which 
 subjection however, this, with many other things, was 
 changed. 
 
 XXVII. 45-50. — Now from the sixth hour there 
 was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. 
 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud 
 voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama, sabachthani ? that is 
 to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken 
 me ? Some of them that stood there, when they 
 heard that, said, This man calleth for Elijah. And 
 straightway one of them rtin, and took a sponge, 
 and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and 
 
S. MATTHEW XXVII. 45-50. 487 
 
 gave him to drink. The rest said, Let be, let us 
 see whether Elijah will come to save him. Jesus, 
 when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded 
 up the ghost. 
 
 Whether the evangelist by saying, " over all the earth " 
 means all over the world, I know not ; this I do know 
 that the Jews when they spoke of the land of Israel, called 
 it all the earth. And possibly it would not be improper 
 to say that the darkness was not such as is that of night, 
 but that it was such, that they, who had eyesight, knew 
 thereby that the sun, which gives us light, evinced feeling 
 for the sufferings experienced by the Sun of Eighteousness, 
 Jesus Christ our Lord, who gives light to our souls ; nay 
 it seems that we are constrained to understand it thus ; 
 because, if the darkness of those three hours had been 
 that of night, neither those scoffing spectators would have 
 been able to see Him, and still less would the women, 
 who, from a distance, were looking upon what transjjired ; 
 but on this I remit myself to those who know more and 
 understand it. 
 
 Those words of Christ, " Mi, Mi, lama, sahachthani ? " 
 or azabtani, as it is in Hebrew, are, word for word, the 
 opening words of Psalm xxii., which conforms so much 
 with what Christ suffered in His death. 
 
 That, " Why hast Thou forsaken Me ? " is to he regarded 
 as the voice of the flesh, which, seeing itself in that plight, 
 felt itself forsaken of God, and delivered up to tribidation ; 
 as was also that a voice from the flesh of Christ, when He 
 said in the garden, " Let this cup pass frotn Me." Christ's 
 flesh was like my flesh, so far as to its being passible and 
 mortal ; althoitgh, as to its being subject to sin, it was 
 unlike mine ; and for this reason, as passible flesh, it felt 
 suffering, nay it was necessary that Christ should manifest 
 and feel all this weakness, in order that I might be certain 
 that God executed the rigour of His justice, which should 
 have been executed upon my flesh, upon a flesh as passible as 
 
488 5. MATTHEW XXVII. 45-50. 
 
 my own, and that He should thus confirm me in the faith 
 of the gospel, that I should believe that things actually 
 are, as they are intimated to me in the gospel, which 
 intimation is based upon Christ's suffering; whilst the 
 foundation or basis is so much the firmer, in proportion 
 as the suffering was more rigorous : whilst it was not 
 possible for Him in any way to manifest His rigour to 
 such an extent, as in showing us that Christ, when He 
 suffered, felt Himself in the flesh to be forsaken of God. 
 
 And those Christians, who have at one time felt the 
 presence of God and the favour of God in their spirits, 
 and have seen themselves at another time persecuted by 
 men of the world, and tempted by the devils of hell; 
 whilst again at another, deprived of the feeling of God's 
 presence and of God's favour, they will be able to bear 
 some testimony as to what Christ intensely felt at the 
 time that He uttered these words; and these same persons 
 will understand, that just as they, under similar circum- 
 stances, said that God had forsaken them, they did not 
 say so in their hearts, but with their lips ; for in their 
 souls they did not feel so ; so Christ, when He said, 
 " Why hast Thou forsaken Mef" did not say so with the 
 heart, because heart felt, but with the lips, on account of 
 what the flesh felt. 
 
 They, who said, " This fellow calls upon Elijah" indeed 
 appear not to have been Jews but Gentiles, for if they 
 had been Jews, they would have understood His tongue, 
 nay they would have known the words of the Psalm. St. 
 Matthew does not record what Christ exclaimed with a 
 loud voice when He expired, or breathed out His Spirit, 
 neither does he record the other words which Christ 
 spoke, being on the cross, which are written by the other 
 evangelists, of which, if God will, we shall speak in their 
 proper place. 
 
 Where he says, "Jesus cried with a loud voice" and 
 where he says, that " Jesus loudly shouted" I have employed 
 Castilian modes of expression for Grecian. In that 
 
S. MATTHEW XXVII. 51-54. 489 
 
 " Straightway one of them ran,'' is not to be understood 
 that this man ran to do something from what he heard 
 Christ say, but that he moved spontaneously to do that 
 obeying some personal impulse. 
 
 XXVII. 51-54.— And behold the veil of the 
 temple was rent in twain from the top to the 
 bottom ; and the earth did quake, and the rocks 
 rent ; and the graves were opened ; and many- 
 bodies of the saints which slept, arose, and came 
 out of the graves after his resurrection, and went, 
 into the holy city, and appeared unto many. Now 
 when the centurion, and they that were with him, 
 watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those 
 things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, 
 Truly this was the Son of God. 
 
 Christ having persevered in obedience to God unto 
 death, without having allowed Himself to be overcome so 
 as to deviate from it, either by the cruelty with which 
 He was treated, or by the insults which were hurled at 
 Him, or by the temptations of men, who, it would seem, 
 by the words which they addressed to Him, tempted Him, 
 as we have seen, to come down from the cross, God illus- 
 trated His death with such miraculous demonstrations as 
 suf&ced to convince the minds of the Gentiles, who were 
 present, so that they confessed Him to be the Son of 
 God ; thus from the moment that Christ expired on the 
 cross, His death became more effective than His life 
 had been ; nay, it is a fact that He wrought this in dying ; 
 He was acknowledged to be the Son of God by those who 
 had been set as a guard over Him, to watch Him as an 
 enemy of God, much -more than if He had come down 
 from the cross, when the Jews tempted Him by telling 
 Him that He should come down. And what God wrought 
 with Christ, I understand that He always works with 
 
490 S. MATTHEW XXVII. 55-61. 
 
 them who are members of Christ, in that He renders them 
 more illustrious by their victories over temptations, than 
 they would have been, even then, when they should have 
 attained all that happiness which had been proposed to 
 them when they were tempted, in the event of their 
 having allowed themselves to be overcome by tempta- 
 tions. 
 
 In the scission; or rent of the veil of the temple, which 
 was before " the holy of holies," the sancta sanctorum, it 
 appears that the abrogation of the law was intimated, 
 which I understand to have remained in force until Christ 
 expired. In saying, " And many bodies of the saints," &c., 
 he means, that at Christ's shout in death many bodies, of 
 the saints, who were in their sepulchres, came to life 
 again, but that they did not come forth from them until 
 Christ had risen, in order that, as St. Paul states in Col. 
 i. 1 8, " Christ should be the first born from the dead!* In 
 this case of these dead, who came to life again, I have 
 some doubts from which I desire to be free, and, trusting 
 that God, when He shall please, will free me from them, 
 I do not record them here, to give others the occasion of 
 adopting them. That, '* who slept," is a scriptural mode 
 of expression, which calls the death of those who die, 
 knowing God to be their God, sleep, alluding, as I believe, 
 to the resurrection. 
 
 XXVII. 5 5-6 1 . — And many women were there, 
 beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Gali- 
 lee, ministering unto him : Among whom were 
 Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James 
 and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's children. 
 When the even was come, there came a rich man 
 of Arimathsea, named Joseph, who also himself was 
 Jesus' disciple. He went to Pilate, and begged the 
 body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body 
 
S. MATTHEW XXVII. 55-61. 491 
 
 to be delivered. And when Joseph had taken the 
 body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid 
 it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in 
 the rock : and he rolled a great stone to the door of 
 the sepulchre, and departed. And Mary Magda- 
 lene was there, and the other Mary, sitting over 
 against the sepulchre. 
 
 I understand that St. Matthew introduces these holy 
 women into his narrative, in order to praise their con- 
 stancy and perseverance, in the spiritual love with which 
 they loved Christ; for they not only remained on the 
 scene until they had witnessed Christ's death and burial, 
 but they persevered in remaining upon some spot or other, 
 whence they might be able to see the tomb or sepulchre, 
 where Christ's body was laid. They loved Him living, 
 dying they loved Him, they loved Him being dead, and 
 they loved Him when buried ; they would not have been 
 capable of love so great, and so persevering, neither would 
 it have been so firm or so constant, had it been merely 
 their own ; but the love was thus firm and constant, be- 
 cause it was divine ; for God had inspired them with it, 
 and it was He who conserved and maintained it in them, 
 for they did not love themselves in Christ, but they loved 
 God in Christ. 
 
 I understand that tlie evangelist narrates the incident 
 of Joseph, in order to show that there was faith and love 
 in that man too, and likewise because it was of importance, 
 in connection with Christ's resurrection, that it should be 
 known where and how He was buried. Possibly Isaiah's 
 words, where he says in liii. 9, " He made his grave with 
 the wicked, and with the rich in His death ; because He had 
 done no violence, neither^ had there been deceit in His mouth," 
 harmonise in this Christ's interment ; if understood as 
 meaning that Christ's tomb was committed to the care of 
 the wicked, as we shall shortly see, and that his sepulchre 
 
492 5. MATTHEW XXVU. 62-66. 
 
 was that, which that rich man had constructed as his 
 family vault ; magnifying Christ, that He never having 
 done or said anything that impugned His rectitude, was 
 treated as a man, who was pure, even by those, who were 
 bad and perverse. 
 
 XXYII. 62-66. — Now the next day, that fol- 
 lowed the day of the preparation, the chief priests 
 and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, saying. 
 Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he 
 was yet alive. After three days I will rise agaio. 
 Command therefore that the sepulchre be made 
 sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by 
 night, and steal him away, and say unto the people. 
 He is risen from the dead : so the last error shall 
 be worse than the first. Pilate said unto them. Ye 
 have a watch : go your way, make it as sure as you 
 can. So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, 
 sealing the stone, and setting a watch. 
 
 This is a most extraordinary thing, that the more that 
 human prudence strives and devises to suppress and to 
 shroud the glory of Christ, so much the more is it thereby 
 illustrated ; just so was Christ's resurrection signalised by 
 the malevolent industry of these saints of the world ; on 
 the other hand T understand that so much the more as 
 unaided human prudence endeavours to illustrate the 
 glory of Christ, so much the more is it obscured by the 
 mode employed to illustrate it. Of this numerous in- 
 stances might be given, which I remit to the spiritual 
 consideration of those, in whom the glory of Christ is 
 illustrated by the Holy Spirit, which, through Christ 
 Himself, is communicated to them. 
 
 " After three days" is here tantamount to saying, on the 
 third day. By that : " Sealing the stone and setting a watch" 
 
5. MATTHEW XXVI L 62-66. 493 
 
 I understand the evangelist to set forth, what the guard 
 was, that the Jews placed upon the sepulchre, to wit, by- 
 sealing the stone which was at the mouth of the sepulchre, 
 and by placing men on guard, who should not leave the 
 spot until the three days had elapsed. 
 
 The Christian, who, when under persecution, even by 
 those, who call themselves Christians, and then under the 
 imputation of not being a Christian, should well consider 
 the epithet, which the heads of the Jewish synagogue 
 applied to Christ, " that deceiver," and I feel assured that 
 he will not be dismayed by persecution, nay he will be 
 comforted and will gain strength, by seeing that he is 
 treated precisely as the Son of God was treated : whilst 
 the Christian's glory is greater or less, according as he is 
 more or less like to Christ, who not only died for us, but 
 has left us His life and His death, as a pattern of per- 
 fection, that we should follow His footsteps (i Peter ii. 21). 
 
494 S. MATTHEW XXVIII. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 XXVIII. i-io. — Now after the Sabbath, as it 
 began to dawn toward the first day of the week, 
 came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see 
 the sepulchre. And, behold, there was a great 
 earthquake : for the angel of the Lord descended 
 from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone 
 from the door, and sat upon it. His countenance 
 was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow. 
 And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and 
 became as dead men. And the angel answered 
 and said unto the women. Fear not ye : for I 
 know that ye seek Jesus, who was crucified. He 
 is not here : for he is risen, as he said. Come, see 
 the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly, 
 and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead ; 
 and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee ; 
 there shall ye see him : lo, I have told you. And 
 they departed quickly from the sepulchre with 
 fear and great joy ; and did run to bring his 
 disciples word. And as they went to tell his 
 disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying. All hail. 
 And they came and held him by the feet, and 
 worshipped him. Then said Jesus unto them, Be 
 not afraid : go tell my brethren that they go into 
 Galilee, and there shall they sec me. 
 
S. MATTHEW XXVIII. i-io. 495 
 
 St. Matthew, having narrated the incidents connected 
 with Christ's death and burial, upon which our justifica- 
 tion and mortification depend, for that we, who accept 
 the grace of the gospel, being incorporated into Christ, 
 enjoy the results attained by the justice executed upon 
 Christ, because we really and effectively died and were 
 buried with Christ, even as I have specially treated 
 in my reply to a question [xxv.], proceeds to give the 
 history of the resurrection of Christ, upon which depends 
 our vivification in the present life, and our resurrection 
 in the life eternal; for our experience will correspond 
 with His. 
 
 Where it behoves every Christian to consider, that 
 just as he increased Christ's agony in His passion by 
 his acts of disobedience to God as I have stated in a Con- 
 sideration [Ixxxii.], so likewise has he increased Christ's 
 joy in His resurrection, by his acts of obedience ; for I 
 understand that as Christ, when dying, had all our acts 
 of disobedience present to His mind, so likewise Christ, 
 when rising from the dead, had all our acts of obedience 
 present to His mind ; in order that, just as the former had 
 increased His agony, so the latter should increase His joy. 
 
 He, who shall desire to examine himself, in order to 
 see whether he has accepted the grace of the gospel, 
 under the impulse of flesh and blood, or under the im- 
 pulse of the Holy Spirit, by revelation of the eternal 
 Father, as did St. Peter, let him see well to it, whether 
 the death, and whether the resurrection of Christ, have 
 wrought their effects upon him, or have begun to work 
 them, by mortifying him and by vivifying him, setting 
 him to live in the present life like one dead and risen 
 again ; for they, who are not set to this, do not feel the 
 benefit of Christ, they neither recognise themselves, nor 
 do they feel themselves, to be dead with Christ, nor 
 risen again with Christ. Here it is to the purpose to 
 state that my Consideration [IxxxiiL] is upon Christ's 
 resurrection. 
 
496 5. MATTHEW XXVIII. i-io. . 
 
 To understand that, " How after the Sahhath, and towards 
 dawn of the first day of the week," it suffices to know that 
 as we [Spaniards] say Monday, the second, Tuesday, the 
 third, &c., the Jews said Sunday, the second, Monday, 
 the third, &c., for they made the first day of the week a 
 working day : with this, it is understood that these holy 
 women went to the sepulchre at dawn of Sunday morn- 
 ing, and that St. Matthew calls the whole of Saturday 
 night, the period beginning from the close of the Sabbath, 
 conformably with that in Genesis i. 5, "And the evening 
 and the morning were the first day" 
 
 From the other evangelists, it is to be understood, 
 that these holy women came to anoint Christ's body ; by 
 which act, although they showed their affection, they also 
 showed how small was their faith, since they thought 
 they should find Him in the tomb ; whilst He had pro- 
 mised that He would rise again on the third day. And 
 hence may be gathered what I am in the habit of saying, 
 that Christians are frequently moved by one intention of 
 their own, and by another, to which they are moved by 
 the Holy Spirit. The intention, by which these holy 
 women were moved, was to anoint Christ; whilst the 
 Holy Spirit's impulse, was with the intention that they 
 should see Christ risen from the dead. And here I 
 understand it to be a good token when a man is moved 
 by a good intention, but it issues in another, a better, 
 I mean that it is a token that that better is from the 
 Holy Spirit. 
 
 As to that, " There was a great earthquake" I am re- 
 minded of what I stated in my exposition of the psalms ; 
 that God was wont, upon such occasions as the death and 
 resurrection of Christ, to move the earth by earthquakes, 
 to certify us, that God Himself, as one might say, con- 
 sents sympathisingly in Christ's death, and raises Christ 
 up ; He it is, who created all things, rules them, and 
 governs them, as absolute Lord over them all; in order 
 that, certified of this, we, who feel ourselves to be incor- 
 
5. MATTHEW XXVIII. i-io. 497 
 
 porated into Christ, by acceptance of the grace of the 
 gospel, may rest secure in Christ's promises ; founding 
 our security upon the providence and omnipotence of 
 God ; and it is truly the greatest satisfaction and inward 
 glory of the true Christian, to know for certain, that he 
 is favoured by, beloved of, and endeared to Him, who 
 holds all creatures in His hand, by whom He is obeyed 
 in all and everything; this consideration therefore im- 
 parts life to me. 
 
 As to the angel coming down from heaven, and show- 
 ing himself resplendent and bright in his person and in 
 his garments, I remit myself to what they say, who speak, 
 having some experience, for I have none, and thus can 
 only report what others say. That, ''And the angel 
 answered and said," &c. ; this is a mode of speaking peculiar 
 to Holy Scripture, which appears to mean, that it is not 
 an answer to a question made and put, but that it is so, 
 to what one might have desired to ask, or should have 
 asked. 
 
 Here it has to be taken into consideration, that the 
 guard, who watched the sepulchre, were men, whilst they 
 who came to see the sepulchre were women ; now these 
 were firm and constant, whilst the men feared, trembled, 
 and became as dead men. God's works ever produce these 
 same effects, they terrify and alarm men of the world to 
 such an extent as to make them lose all self-control; 
 whilst they comfort and cheer the children of God, even 
 unto their transformation into God. That, "Behold ITe 
 goeth hefore you into Galilee" &c., has to be combined with 
 what Christ promised His disciples when the supper was 
 over, saying, "But after that I shall have risen again, I 
 shall go hefore you into Galilee." 
 
 As to the reasons why Christ was pleased to allow 
 Himself to be seen by His disciples in Galilee, and not in 
 Jerusalem, as He allowed Himself to be seen by the holy 
 women, I remit myself to what others say, since I dare 
 not speak upon conjecture of things, in relation to which 
 
 2 I 
 
498 S. MATTHEW XXVIII. i-io. 
 
 I cannot speak without some sort of evidence or experi- 
 ence. In those words of the angel, " Jesus, the crucified," 
 it is very worthy of consideration, that that which is igno- 
 minious in the eyes of the world, and of the children of 
 Adam, who follow the judgment of human prudence, is 
 glorious in the eyes of God, and of the children of God, 
 who follow the judgment of the Holy Spirit ; and for that 
 reason the angel of God, in speaking to the holy women, 
 who were the daughters of God, calls Christ, " Jesus, the 
 crucified" giving Him the most honourable and glorious 
 title that he could give Him as man, for that Christ has 
 conquered, not by resurrection, but by death. 
 
 St. Paul as a child of God felt this, and therefore desired 
 not to glory, save in the cross of Christ (Gal. vi. 14), neither 
 would he know [anything among the Corinthians] save 
 Christ crucified (i Cor. ii. 2), and they likewise feel thus, 
 who, having the spirit that St. Paul had, are children of 
 God, whilst some feel it more, and others feel it less, 
 accordingly as Christian faith and Christian spirit more 
 or less animate them. All other men hold the cross to 
 be an ignominious title, even when they praise and adore 
 the cross of Christ, because human prudence adjudges it, 
 and holds it, to be ignominious. 
 
 Where I understand that they hold the cross of Christ 
 to be honourable and glorious, who have come to an in- 
 flexible determination both as to the world and to them- 
 selves ; of such sort, that they as men would not be ashamed 
 of, nor would they resent, it, were they obliged to go through 
 that which Christ went through ; and if they are not wholly 
 and perfectly brought to this, they know that they ought 
 to be so ; they desire to bring themselves to it, and they 
 strive to attain it ; seeking to mortify all that they derive 
 from Adam, their purpose being, so to work upon them- 
 selves, that the cross of Christ may be to them glorious 
 and grateful, in suffering for the glory of Christ what Christ 
 suffered for our glory ; desiring to be very like Christ in 
 the state of passibility and mortality, in order that they 
 
5. MATTHEW XXVIII. 11-15. 499 
 
 may be very like Christ in the state of resurrection and 
 of glorification. 
 
 They who are not brought to this, or devoted to this, 
 desiring it and striving after it, however much they may 
 praise, and that they may adore the cross of Christ with 
 outward tokens and demonstrations ; it is clear that they 
 are not the children of God, for holding the cross of Christ 
 to be ignominious, not wishing to see it laid in any way 
 upon them, they testify of themselves that they do not 
 follow the judgment of the Holy Spirit, which the children 
 of God do follow, but that of human prudence, which the 
 children of Adam follow ; these are they, who adore the 
 cross of Christ with the body, and praise it with the lips, 
 whilst they abhor in their hearts and mentally spit upon 
 this same cross of Christ, because they love the glory of 
 men more than the glory of God and of Christ. By that, 
 " With fear and with great joy" the evangelist well ex- 
 presses the effect that such an incident produces even 
 on men. I have explained what that word, " avete^'' hail, 
 signifies in the exposition of the xxvi. chapter. 
 
 XXVIII. 11-15. — Now when they were golDg, 
 behold some of the watch came into the city, and 
 showed unto the chief priests all the things that 
 were done. And when they were assembled with 
 the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large 
 money unto the soldiers, saying, Say ye, His disciples 
 came by night, and stole him away while we slept. 
 And if this come to the governor's ears, we will 
 persuade him, and secure you. So they took the 
 money, and did as they were taught : and this say- 
 ing is commonly reported among the Jews until 
 this day. 
 
 When it is taken into consideration, that from the Jewish 
 chief priests having placed their guards about Christ's tomb 
 
500 5. MATTHEW XXVIII. 11-15. 
 
 and that from their having bribed the guards to deny that 
 which was true, and to affirm that which was false, it came 
 to pass that the glory of Christ's resurrection was more 
 illustrated, and that the wickedness and perversity of those, 
 who had put Him to death, became more notorious ; it seems 
 right to me to repeat here, what I have stated at the close 
 of the preceding chapter ; that in the very way that human 
 prudence endeavours to detract from, and to obscure the 
 glory and dignity of Christ, in order to illustrate and 
 magnify its own ignominy and its own unworthiness, the 
 glory and dignity of Christ is magnified and illustrated, 
 whilst the ignominy and unworthiness of human prudence 
 is aggravated and rendered obscure, as we see happened 
 to these Jewish chief priests ; and as, we know, happened 
 to those, who persecuted and killed them, who confessed 
 Christ in the time of the martyrs, and which, as it appears, 
 always has happened and does happen to them, who 
 have endeavoured and do endeavour to bring about 
 that, which the chief priests of the Jews endeavoured to 
 accomplish. , 
 
 Whence, taking into consideration that the same expe- 
 rience occurs to human prudence in connection with Christ, 
 and with them, who are His members, that occurred to 
 God Himself, before Christ's incarnation, as appears in 
 the instance of Pharaoh, in that of Sennacherib, and in 
 that of Nebuchadnezzar, I see a most striking testimony 
 to the divinity of Christ. 
 
 Having taken this into consideration, and having, on 
 the other hand, considered that human prudence, whenever 
 it endeavours and aims to illustrate, and to magnify the 
 name of God and of Christ, unaided by the Holy Spirit, 
 disparages and obscures them, by that very way in which 
 it aims and endeavours to magnify them, and to illustrate 
 them, I am led to understand this, that Christians ought 
 to regret, when they see men of the world endeavour to 
 illustrate and to magnify the glory of Christ ; holding it 
 to be certain that it will issue just contrarily ; whilst they 
 
S. MATTHEW XXVIII. 16-20. 501 
 
 ought to rejoice, when they see that these very men endea- 
 vour to disparage, and to obscure the glory of Christ, 
 knowing assuredly, that it will result wholly otherwise. 
 And I even understand that these same Christians ought 
 always to be grieved, when they shall recognise that men 
 of the world seek to illustrate and to magnify them ; whilst 
 they ought always to rejoice, when they shall see those 
 very men seek to oppress and to humble them ; holding 
 it to be certain that it will issue wholly otherwise; so 
 that to grieve at the acts of maltreatment inflicted upon 
 them by men, and to rejoice at being kindly dealt with 
 by them, they may hold to be a carnal affection ; whilst 
 to be grieved at kindly treatment, and to rejoice over mal- 
 treatment, they may hold to be an affection of the Spirit ; 
 just as the apostles rejoiced, when the Jews, seeking to 
 suppress the glory of Christ, scourged them, and com- 
 manded them not to preach Christ. 
 
 I likewise understand that it concerns every one to be 
 upon his guard, when he shall feel himself moved, to 
 magnify and to illustrate the glory of Christ, knowing 
 assuredly that, if the movement is carnal, of human pru- 
 dence, he, thinking to magnify and to illustrate it, will 
 disparage and obscure it. God is so jealous of His glory 
 that He does not will that it be illustrated, save by His 
 Holy Spirit, and through His Holy Spirit. 
 
 That, " Whilst you were sleeping/," is well worthy to be 
 considered ; for it might be retorted upon them, if you 
 slept, how came you to see His disciples steal Him away ? 
 By that : " Until this day" it appears that St. Matthew 
 wrote this history some years after Christ's resurrection, 
 but before the destruction of Jerusalem. 
 
 XXVIII. 1 6-20. — Then the eleven disciples went 
 away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had 
 appointed them. And when they saw him, they 
 worshipped him : but some doubted. And Jesus 
 
502 S. MATTHEW XXVIII. 16-20. 
 
 came and spake unto them, saying, All power is 
 given unto me in heaven and on earth. Go ye 
 therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in 
 the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
 Holy Ghost : teaching them to observe all things 
 whatsoever I have commanded you : and, lo, I am 
 with you alway, even unto the end of the world! 
 Amen. 
 
 St. Matthew, having recorded the testimony of the holy 
 women and of the guards, who were on watch at Christ's 
 sepulchre, by way of certificates of Christ's resurrection, 
 nbw records that of the eleven apostles, who saw Christ 
 risen in Galilee, at the spot where He had assured them 
 that they would see Him ; and he records what Christ 
 spoke to ;the.m.; commanding them that they should go 
 forth to preach the gospel, to baptize, and to teach Chris- 
 tian living.; ass;uring them that He would be perpetually 
 with them, without ever leaving them. Wherein are three 
 things worthy of profound consideration. 
 
 The first, that Christ's disciples had doubted the truth 
 of Christ's resurrection, notwithstanding that He had fre- 
 quently prophesied of it to them, and that the women had 
 told them of it ; whence I gather, that to doubt, is no in- 
 dication of infidelity, but of weakness and of infirmity ; 
 and, therefore, that they, who doubt, ought not to be held 
 as infidels, although they doubt in matters of faith, but 
 they ought to be held as weak and infirm; and they 
 should pray to God affectionately, that He give them in- 
 wardly to feel the benefit of Christ in their minds, so that, 
 increasing in faith, they may lay aside weakness and infir- 
 mity, and therewith doubt. I, therefore, am more sur- 
 prised by them who do not doubt, than by them who do 
 doubt ; so much do I hold the never doubting to be sus- 
 picious, unless it be in those, who have doubted ; because 
 I know that doubt, nay, that unbelief, is natural to man ; 
 
5. MATTHEW XXVIII. 16-20. 503 
 
 and that belief is supernatTiral ; that it is the gift of God, 
 and not to be acquired by human industry. 
 
 The second, that, from Christ's words, " All power is given 
 unto Me in heaven and on earth" we are partly enabled to 
 form the conception, which we, as Christians, ought to 
 hold of Christ ; upon which I have written a Con- 
 sideration [cix], to which I remit myself ; because that I 
 therein have stated, in what manner I understand Christ 
 to have said, that He holds this absolute power upon earth ; 
 and that, as to the mode in which He holds it in heaven, 
 I remit myself to the experience which I shall gain, when 
 finding myself there, I shall know Him, and shall see Him, 
 face to face. As to that which here exercises doubts in 
 some, who say, that Christ being the Word of God, the 
 Son of God, what occasion was there that God should give 
 Him what He already possessed ? it may be replied, that 
 God gave this absolute power to that Christ-man, who died, 
 was buried, and rose again ; and, in this very sense, St. Paul 
 says, in Philippians ii. 9, " Wherefore also, God hath highly 
 exalted Him," &c. ; nay, it seems that Daniel understood 
 this very same, when he says in chapter vii. 13, 14, "/ 
 saiu in the night-visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man 
 came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of 
 days, and they hrought Him near before Him. And there 
 was given Him dominion and glory, and a kingdom, that 
 all peoples, nations, and languages, should serve Him ; His 
 dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass 
 away, and His kingdom, that which shall not he destroyed." 
 
 Christ's answer to Caiaphas, which we have seen in 
 chapter xxvi., well agrees with these words of Daniel. I 
 understand that Christ, by thus notifying this. His absolute 
 power in heaven and on earth, to His disciples, purposed 
 that they should know His omnipotence, and that we may 
 know it; in order that they should be assured, and that 
 we may be assured, that all the creatures in heaven, on 
 earth, and in hell combined, avail nothing against us 
 whilst we are in Christ's school. He being with us, and we 
 
504 S. MATTHEW XXVIII. 16-20. 
 
 with Him; because that in Him we can do all things; 
 just as He could do everything ; St. Paul understood this, 
 when he said in Phil. iv. 13, " / can do all things, through 
 Christ, who strengtheneth me." 
 
 The third thing worthy of consideration in these words 
 of Christ, is the mode ;n which He instructed His disciples, 
 having purposed to send them fortli to preach, to baptize, 
 and to teach. 
 
 Where they, who are about to send forth men to preach, 
 to baptize, and to teach, may learn that they have first to 
 instruct those whom they send forth, in the conception, 
 which they ought to hold of Christ ; telling them that He 
 has all power in heaven and on earth ; then they have to 
 tell them the order ^ they should observe, and finally they 
 have to assure them, that the Spirit of Christ will con- 
 stantly attend them, let them go where they will ; in order 
 that being assured of this, they may be free from personal 
 solicitude, exerting all their solicitude upon the errand on 
 which they are sent. They, too, who are inwardly moved 
 to preach the gospel, and to teach Christian living, may 
 here learn that the first thing they have to intimate to 
 men, is the general indulgence and pardon through the 
 justice of God, already executed upon Christ, entreating 
 them upon the part of God and of Christ, that by the 
 acceptance of this indulgence, they may hold themselves 
 to be reconciled to God ; giving them the assurance, that 
 they, who believe it, and are baptized, enjoy it. 
 
 By these words, " Go ye therefore and teach all nations,'^ 
 I understand this to mean that the teaching is the proper 
 intimation of the gospel ; and that afterwards they have 
 to baptize them, in the name of the Father, of the Son, and 
 
 ^ The order to be observed in the introduction of the Christian doctrines, 
 ex. gr., 1st, man's fall through original sin ; 2d, man's lost estate, its 
 consequence ; 3d, its only remedy, the gospel of man's redemption, &c., 
 &c. See Valdds' tract " Upon the Fundamentals in Christian Teaching, " 
 the original Spanish MS. of which was recently discovered by Dr. Edward 
 Boehmer, and is nowfirst translated into English by the Editor, andpublished 
 by Trubner & Co., 1882, in Vald^a' Minor Works, the XVII Opuscules. 
 
S. MATTHEW XXVIII. 16-20. 505 
 
 of the Holy Ghost, who shall hold themselves to be recon- 
 ciled to God, who by acceptance of the intimation accept 
 the teaching ; it will be their duty to assure them, that 
 they are admitted into that union with the Father, with 
 the Son, and with the Holy Ghost, which they as men 
 can hold, who, by faith and by baptism, enjoy the general 
 indulgence and pardon, who are regenerated; they, as I 
 have stated in a reply, change their nature, in the manner 
 therein indicated. This is what I understand by those 
 words : baptizing them in the name of the Father, of the Son, 
 and of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 As to how I understand that baptism, by virtue of the 
 covenant, which consists in faith and in baptism, is a 
 constituent in justification, I remit myself to what I have 
 stated in a reply ; where I have also stated, that we, who 
 have been baptized as infants, then begin inwardly to feel 
 the fruit of baptism, when through divine inspiration, we 
 with the heart accept the grace of the gospel, and so 
 approve of our having been baptized; that had we not 
 been baptized, we would be baptized ; we resolve to live 
 Christianly, and we imitate Christ by putting an end to 
 all ambition and personal satisfaction. 
 
 Here likewise Christian preachers may learn, that to 
 those, who have put an end to every form of ambition, 
 and of personal satisfaction, having accepted the grace 
 of the gospel, having been baptized, or having approved 
 of having been baptized, they, the preachers, have to 
 teach Christian living, by placing before them all that 
 Christ taught His disciples, not as a, law, but as a lesson 
 in Christian life, in imitation of Christ; in order that 
 they, by their Christian life, may confirm their Christian 
 faith, and may bear testimony to their Christian baptism, 
 showing that, effectively, they believe with the heart; 
 and that they have baptized themselves, or have approved 
 of having been baptized, because they have previously 
 believed, because they have accepted the grace of the 
 gospel. 
 
5o6 S. MATTHEW XXVIII. 16-20. 
 
 This do I understand, by those words, " Teacliing them 
 to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you ; " so 
 that by these words of Christ, they, who are inspired to 
 preach the gospel, and to teach Christian living, learn 
 that they have to intimate the gospel generally to all 
 nations ; whilst they have not to baptize any, save those 
 who have accepted the grace of the gospel ; and that they 
 have not to teach Christian living to any, save those who, 
 having accepted the grace of the gospel, have caused 
 themselves to be baptized, or approve of having been 
 baptized, and have put an end to every ambition and 
 personal satisfaction, and have resolutely set themselves 
 to live Christianly, by imitating Christ. 
 
 Now it appears that this proper order was observed in 
 the primitive Church, and a very long period had elapsed 
 ere baptism was given, save to those who were well 
 instructed in Christian faith and in Christian livinfj • but 
 the apostles, as appears from their history, in following 
 this, which was Christ's order, then baptized those who 
 believed, those who accepted the grace of the gospel ; and 
 it appears necessary that it should so be done, for [as I 
 have stated in a reply] the faith of those who have not 
 been baptized is exercised by baptism, for it appears to 
 them to be but a joke, when told that they come to enjoy 
 remission of sins and reconciliation with God, through 
 Christ, by faith and by baptism without other further 
 observance of the law; just as the faith of those, who 
 have been baptized, is confirmed by baptism itself, bap- 
 tism serving them as a stay or support whereby their 
 Christian faith is confirmed, for they say, had I not 
 believed, I should not have been baptized, or, I should not 
 have approved of being baptized, having determined to 
 live as a baptized person, which is equivalent to saying, 
 like one dead and risen again, for in baptism, as St. Paul 
 says, we die and rise again with Christ (Eom. vi. 3, 4). 
 
 That, " Zo ! I am with you always" &c., I understand 
 that these words concern not only those who preach the 
 
5. MATTHEW XXVIII. 16-20. 507 
 
 gospel and teach the Christian mode of life, but likewise 
 those who accept the gospel and strive to live Christianly ; 
 who all may certify themselves that Christ is, and ever 
 will be with them without ever departing from them ; and 
 I understand that this assurance of Christ's presence 
 works a twofold effect upon us, who, having accepted the 
 gospel, and having approved of being baptized, and, having 
 put an end to every ambition and personal satisfaction, 
 strive to live like Christians. 
 
 The one is, that we live secure against all the evil that 
 all creatures combined can do us ; knowing and feeling 
 that we, through Christ's presence, are strong enough to 
 encounter them all, assured that they cannot hurt us. 
 Whilst the other is, that we live the more upon our guard, 
 never to deviate little or much from the obligations that 
 devolve upon Christians, amongst whom Christ is, and 
 will be, even unto the end of the world. 
 
 They, who are not certain of this, Christ's presence, live 
 in continual fear, because they trust in themselves, and 
 distrust Christ; and they do not live Christianly, neither 
 do they Jceep the obligation or the decorum of Christians; 
 and judging from themselves, they say and affirm that 
 there are no saints in the world, not remembering that 
 they confess their existence when they rehearse in their 
 creed " the communion of saints ; " whilst they say and 
 affirm, that no one can be sure that he is in grace with 
 God, not understanding that the gospel is nothing else but 
 good news notified to men, telling them that Christ has 
 reconciled them to God, that they should believe and be 
 baptized, and that they should enjoy the reconciliation; 
 whence it is to be understood that a man is to that extent 
 a Christian, in proportion as he is sure, that he is through 
 Christ in grace with God, being reconciled to God. 
 
 To whom I render infinite thanks, that He has brought 
 me to partake of this His divine grace, and has favoured 
 me with His Holy Spirit in the interpretation of this most 
 Divine Scripture of the life and teaching of His only- 
 
5o8 S. MATTHEW XXVIII. 16-20. 
 
 begotten Son, Jesus Christ our Lord ; whose glory has 
 been my aim, in stating what I have succeeded in de- 
 claring in this exposition; desiring that that wherein I 
 have erred, or have failed, may be to my own shame and 
 confusion, my own existence, that which I have as a child 
 of Adam, being recognised in my failure ; whilst in the 
 successful exposition, the other mode of my existence may 
 be recognised, that which I have as a child of God, incor- 
 porated by faith and by baptism into the only begotten 
 Son of God, Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with the 
 Father, and the Holy Spirit, be glory evermore ! 
 
 Amen. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Angel of the Covenant, 197 
 Assurance, 359, 463, 507 
 
 Baptism, 38, 336, 377, 505 
 Benefit of Christ, 132, 197, 198, 
 362, 384, 495, 502 
 
 Call inward and outward, 352 
 Call to follow Christ, 383 
 Ceremonies external ever occasion 
 
 strife, 267 
 Christ discovering and veiling him- 
 self, cons. Ixxxix., 204, 30I 
 Christ, a servant, 220 
 Christ, knowledge of, 289 
 Christ, following of, 31 1, cons, xvii., 
 
 Ixiv. 
 Christ's divinity, 300 
 Christ the sin-bearer, cons, ixxxii. 
 
 366 
 Christ's coming, 419, 426, 430, 
 
 cons. civ. 437, 471 
 Christ, a king, cons, xcviii. 450 
 Christ's death our life, 452 
 Christian life one continuous prayer, 
 
 263 
 Christian obligation, 473 
 Christian preacher — chosen of God, 
 
 386 ; three qualifications, 388 
 Church of Christ, 154 
 Commentary on Psalm Ixxviii., 
 
 247; cxviii., 368, 380; viii., 
 
 371, 398; xxii., 483; iii.; 485, 
 
 496 
 Commentary on Psalms xci., 49; 
 
 cxlix., 200 
 
 Commentary on Romans — on jud- 
 ging, 117; on paying tribute, 389 
 
 Commentary on i Cor., 64, 79 — on 
 miracles, 130 ; on marriage, 332, 
 418 ; on Lord's supper, 457 
 
 Commentary on Eph. — Christ a 
 servant, 220 
 
 Commentary on i Peter — Christ a 
 living stone, 286 
 
 Commentary on Mark, 379 ; Luke 
 contemplated, 450 
 
 Commentary on i Thess. 431 
 
 Commentaries on all gospels, 488 
 
 Considerations xc, 52 
 
 li., Ixxxv., 64 
 
 xxxix., 97 
 
 Ixxi., 99, on Lord's prayer 
 
 cii., 131, on Christian 
 
 life 
 
 xi., 158, on justification 
 
 liii., 171, men like wild 
 
 beasts 
 
 xl., xlix., 182, on provi- 
 
 dence 
 
 Ixxvi., 195, 272, on 
 
 scandal 
 
 Ixxv., 210; Ixxvi,, 316, 
 
 461, light of the sun 
 
 Ixxxv., 211, knowledge of 
 
 God by revelation 
 
 xcviii., 229, on good and 
 
 bad words 
 cviii., 233, on resurrec- 
 tion 
 
 xxiii., 414, God's power 
 
 absolute 
 
5IO 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Consideration cvii., 335, knowledge 
 of God and self 
 
 lix., 372, prayer inspired 
 
 Ixxxi., 375, spirit of 
 
 Christ 
 
 xxiv., 393, on pardon 
 
 Ixx., 395, on divine love 
 
 xc. , 400, quid licet 
 
 Ixx., 435, Christian hope 
 
 Ixxxii., 463, 495, Christ's 
 
 agony 
 
 Ixxxii., 466, persevering 
 
 prayer 
 
 vii., 473, frustration of 
 
 Christian resolution 
 
 Ixxxiii., 495, on Christ's 
 
 resurrection 
 
 cix., 503, conception of 
 
 Christ 
 Conscience quieted, 337 
 Cross of Christ, 188 
 Curiosity, 433 
 
 Death to worldly honours, 85 
 Death, not to grieve us, 258 
 Death and resurrection, 315, 361, 
 
 495 ; in connection with baptism, 
 
 506 
 Divinity of Christ, 137, 207 
 Doubt, 373, 502 
 
 Epistles of Vald^s, xxiii. and xxx., 
 45 ; divine counsel in the life 
 of Christ, 203 ; discovering and 
 veiling himself, 204, 301 
 
 Faith, 136, 279, 481 
 
 Christian, 15 
 
 effects of, are mortification 
 
 " and peace of conscience, 
 
 214,215 
 Faith and Christian living, 283, 3 II, 
 
 313, 355, 358 
 Faith, obligation to confess it, 
 
 284 
 Faith and love — two replies, 421 
 Faith, human and Christian, 439 
 Fear, 142, 443 
 
 Fishers of men, 56 
 Fundamentals of Christian teach- 
 ing, 504 
 
 General pardon proclaimed by 
 
 Gospel, 113 
 Generation human, 140 
 Gethsemane, 463 
 Gospel preached, 269 
 Gospel and law contrasted, 328 
 Gospel to be preached throughout 
 
 the world, 422 
 
 Holy Ghost, sin against, 226 
 Holy Spirit, ask of God, 122 
 
 given, 434 
 
 gives power to con- 
 
 vert, 133 
 
 misunderstood, 391 
 
 Holy Spirit's governance, 400 
 
 rule, 201, 339 
 
 Humanity glorified, 427 
 Human generation, 76, 88, 122 
 Human prudence and reason, 300, 
 
 480 
 Human prudence mortified, 174 
 Humility, 152, 404 
 Hypocrisy, 95 
 
 Imperfect, 87 
 Imperfect Christian, 117 
 Imitation of Christ, 215, 373, 
 
 439 
 Incorporation into Christ, I18, 121, 
 
 198, 285, 439, 449 
 Infidelity, 260 
 Inspiration, 368 
 
 to accept Gospel, 388 
 
 Jewish minds, 231 
 Judging others, 227 
 Judgment of God, 152 
 
 of men, 152 
 
 Justification, resurrection, glori- 
 fication, 368 
 
 Kingdom of God, 113, 138, 454 
 
INDEX. 
 
 511 
 
 Kingdom of heaven, taken by force, 
 
 201 
 Kingdom of heaven, become as 
 
 children, 311 
 Kingdom of the world, 360 
 
 Life, 124, 129, 131 
 
 Lions and tigers, men like, 171 
 
 Living Christian, 118 
 
 Love, 443 
 
 Love, Divine, 395 
 
 Love, God desires, 393 
 
 Marriage, 332 
 
 Men of the world, 501 
 
 Miracles, 264 
 
 Mortification, 38, 97, 214, 215, 
 
 356, 386, 443, 463, 466, 479, 
 
 495 
 
 Offence, 393 
 
 Pardon, general, 321, 457 
 
 Perfect and imperfect Christians, 
 299 
 
 Perfect Christians, 90 
 
 Perfection, 189 
 
 Power absolute, of God, 413 
 
 Prayer, 263 
 
 taught or inspired, 275, 
 
 320, 372 
 
 Prayer of Christian, 103 
 
 Preach the Gospel. See Opus- 
 cules, iii. 504 
 
 Preachers must be inspired, 379 
 
 Predestination, 205, 206 ; in a dis- 
 course, 270, 300, 358 
 240 
 
 Promise, 144; of God, 175 
 
 Promises of God ; a reply, 373 
 
 Providence of God, 182 
 
 Questions answered by Yaldds. 
 No. 21, 22 . . . _^p. 57 
 
 16 . . . 90 
 
 21 ... 97 
 
 23 . . . 122 
 
 No. I on fasting . . 155 
 
 27 on Providence . 182 
 
 27 will of God . 194 
 
 19 Saints under Gospel 2CX) 
 
 Christ's burden 213 
 
 on prayer . . 320 
 
 promise of God 373 
 
 on Pharisees' doctrine 401 
 
 on buried with Christ 495 
 
 on Baptism . 506 
 
 Regeneration, Christian obliga- 
 tion, 76, 81 
 
 Regeneration, 88, 122, 140, 187, 
 188, 201, 208, 235 
 
 Remission and reconciliation, 123 
 
 449 
 Resurrection, 97, 232, 495 
 Revelation, 211, 299 
 Riches with regard to mortification, 
 
 339 
 
 Sacrament, 456 
 
 Saints of the world, 117, 150, 152, 
 153, 267, 270, 280, 336, 353, 
 
 370, 374, 376, 381, 384, 385, 
 
 404, 407-411, 433 ; the devil's 
 
 angels, 448, 479, 485 
 Saints of God, 150, 336,407-411; 
 
 eight qualities, 411 
 Scab illustration, see Alfabeto, p. 
 
 157-410 
 Scandal, 195, 272, 313, 380, 460 
 School of Christ, 177, 181, 208 
 Scripture, Holy, 442 
 Self-love, 97, 354, 447 
 Self-will, 341 
 Serving, 404 
 Superstition makes men vicious, 
 
 219 
 Swearing, 83 
 
 Unbelief, 304 
 
 Union between God and Christ, 
 221 
 
 Wicked come oflf badly with the 
 good, 205 
 
512 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Will of God, 129, 195; remitting 
 
 to, 464 
 Wisdom of God, 412 
 Works, the world prizes, 96 
 because we are just, 97, 
 
 353 
 
 Workers for God, 1 72 
 sent of God to preach, 1 62 
 
 Yoke of Christ, 213 / 
 Yoke of Christ easy. Reply to 
 question, 125 
 
 THE END. 
 
 PRINTHU BY BAI.l.ANTYNK, HANSON AND CO. 
 KIJINBURGH ANU LONDON 
 
LIVES 
 
 OF THE TWIN BROTHERS 
 
 JUAN AND ALFONSO DE VALDES. 
 
 EDWARD BOEHMER, 
 
 D.D., Ph.D., 
 
 JMERITUS PROFESSOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF STRASBURG, 
 CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE SPANISH ACADEMY. 
 
 Extracted from the Bibliotheca Wiffeniana, tvith the Author'' s 
 Additions on Recent Disco1^eries of Valdes' Works, 
 
 WITH INTRODUCTION BY THE EDITOR, 
 
 JOHN T. BETTS, 
 
 Of C. C. C. Oxon. Member of Lincoln's Inn. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 TRUBNER & CO., LUDGATE HILL. 
 
 1882. 
 
 2k 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The Editor, engaged in publishing the works of Juan de 
 Valdes in English, anticipates that the interest of the 
 public will be concentrated upon Juan exclusively, and 
 conceives the surprise that will be felt by the reader, who, 
 desirous of learning the story of our author's life, finds 
 Professor Boehmer bringing forward the lives of the twins, 
 which have been so blended and confused by different 
 writers, that they were held to have failed to present them 
 distinctly apart. 
 
 The reader has to be informed that these twins were 
 marvellously like, each to the other, in features, in voice, 
 and otherwise ; whilst their memory has been mystified by 
 repeated statements, that the two Christian names Juan 
 and Alfonso belonged to but one and the same person. 
 
 The late Benjamin Wiffen ^ adduced evidence that 
 they were twins, proving Juan to have been a scholar, a 
 courtier, a Papal chamberlain,^ and subsequently the most 
 
 1 See Life and Writings of Ju^n de Valdes by Benjamin B. Wiffen, 
 with the CX Divine Considerations, translated and published by John T. 
 Betts. London, Quaritch, 1865. 
 
 ' The post which Valdes held at the court of Clement VII, will have been 
 that of " Cameriere d'onore, di spada e cappa," meaning a chamberlain of 
 honour, a secular, a layman, a post of honour involving no regular duties. 
 See Moroni's Historico-ecclesiastical Dictionary of Learning upon Papal 
 Chamberlains. Moroni's Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastical, 
 vol. vii., Venezia, 1841, p. 48.- See Hunadoro's Relazione della corte di 
 Roma, Venezia, 167 1, p. 14; where it is stated that they do not present 
 themselves at the palace except when they choose to do so, and that it is 
 usual for the Popes to send the Cardinal's hat by them to newly-appointed 
 Cardinals. 
 
iv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 influential reformer in Italy, and he accepted it as an 
 historical fact that Juan died at Naples in 1 540 ; whilst 
 he proved Alfonso to have been from early manhood 
 Latin Secretary to the Emperor Charles V., and a constant 
 attendant upon him in all his progresses j but of his 
 death Wiffen was without evidence. 
 
 We now know that Alfonso's death is vouched by Thomas 
 Cranmer's despatch to Henry VIII., given at length in 
 the lives now published. It is also certified by his sur- 
 viving brother in the very recently discovered letter of 
 Juan's. This letter presents Juan wailing over Alfonso's 
 death, which, as it for ever settles the question, I hereafter 
 append, with a notice of it in Professor Boehmer's own 
 words. It testifies to the loving, gentle soul of Juan, and 
 is in many respects extremely interesting, besides that of 
 its being the only autograph letter of his extant. 
 
 The knowledge of the moral character and of the social 
 status of these brothers cannot be matter of indifference 
 to those who read their works, for their position com- 
 manded the best information upon every subject they 
 discussed, and opportunity was not wasted upon men of 
 their commanding ability. They not only knew every- 
 thing that transpired, but they understood the facts and 
 impulses that brought them about. Noble by birth, 
 virtuous by discipline, diligent by habit, and the associates 
 of the choicest spirits upon earth, expectation is naturally 
 led to anticipate much from them, and that expectation is 
 fully justified. Their secular works, whilst instructive, 
 are admirable in point of style ; their devotional works, 
 written amidst superstitious gloom and fierce Inquisitorial 
 tyranny, blaze with evangelic light. The tone of their 
 works is charming and ennobling, and their moral repu- 
 tation stamps their statements with authority. 
 
 If the character and influence of the works of the 
 brothers Juan and Alfonso be such as above described, we 
 may learn what Juan's personal influence was upon his 
 
INTRODUCTION. v 
 
 contemporaries from a statement made by Antonio Carac- 
 ciolo in his life of Pope Paul IV.^ quoted by Dr. Gibbings. 
 He says, " that Naples was for the first time infested 
 with Lutheranism by German soldiers, of whom 6000 
 were infantry and 2000 cavalry, but Juan de Valdes 
 alone, who arrived there in the year 1535, caused, he 
 conceives, a far greater destruction of souls than had 
 been effected by these many thousands of military 
 heretics." 
 
 What Juan de Valdes was to his personal friends we 
 may learn from Giacomo Bonfadio's lament upon his 
 death, expressed in a letter to Pietro Carnesecchi : " Where 
 shall we go, now Signer Valdes is dead ? This has truly 
 been a great loss for us and the world, for Signer Valdes 
 was one of the rare men of Europe, and those writings 
 he has left on the Epistles of Paul and the Psalms of 
 David most amply show it. He was, without doubt, in 
 his actions, his speech, and in all his conduct a perfect 
 man. With but a particle of his soul he governed his 
 frail and spare body ; with the larger part, with his pure 
 understanding, as though out of the body, he was always 
 raised in the contemplation of truth and of divine things* 
 I sympathise with Messer Marc' Antonio [Flaminio], for 
 he loved and admired him above all others." ^ 
 
 Bonfadio, an accomplished scholar, wrote the annals 
 of Genoa; statements made in them affecting influential 
 members of that Eepublic, prompted them by vindic- 
 tive resentment falsely to accuse him before a criminal 
 tribunal, which sentenced Bonfadio to death ; and he 
 actually was beheaded. 
 
 The abbot Antonio Sambuca, editing Count Mazzu- 
 
 1 Vita e Gesti di Giovanni Caraffa cioe di Paolo IV., P.M. In folio, 
 preserved among the Harl. MSS. Brit. Mus. 
 
 2 Bonfadio's letter is found in the Aldine edition of the Lettere Volgari 
 di diversi nobilissimi hvomini. In Vinegia, mdxlv. 
 
vi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 chelli's collection of Bonfadio's letters and of his other 
 compositions in prose and in verse, speaks of Bonfadio 
 in his preface dedicated to Cardinal Querini, the librarian 
 of the Vatican, in these terms, " Now under the authority 
 of your protection do I present to the public Giacomo 
 Bonfadio's works, he heing the glory of scholars and an 
 honour to my country." 
 
 The following extract from Dr. Gibbings is quoted ^ in 
 order to give the reader a suitable conception of both 
 Bonfadio's and Valdes' friend (and Vald^s' pupil), Carne- 
 secchi, who in connection with Yaldes is a very impor- 
 tant personage. "Eiguccio Galluzzi,^ Historiographer - 
 Koyal of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, informs us that 
 Pietro Carnesecchi, the intimate and much-loved friend 
 of Cardinals Pole, Sadolet, and Bembo, was a member 
 of a Florentine family of high rank, which had always 
 followed the fortunes of the Medici. He was appointed 
 Secretary to Pope Clement YIL, one of that illustrious 
 race, and was afterwards Protonotary to the Apostolic 
 See. Such superior influence did he exercise as an 
 administrator, that it was rumoured and commonly be- 
 lieved that he, and not his patron, wielded pontifical 
 power. One of his preferments was an abbey in France, 
 in which country he was countenanced and protected 
 by Catherine de' Medici, Queen of Henry II.; he enjoyed 
 likewise the favour of Cosmo de' Medici, on whom Pope 
 Pius V. subsequently conferred the title of Grand Duke. 
 After the death of Clement, being weary of protracted 
 residence in Kome, or rather from abhorrence of the 
 abuses of the papal court, which he could no longer 
 restrain, he retired to his abbacy at Naples, and visited 
 various cities in Italy, devoting himself exclusively to 
 
 1 Report of the Trial and Martyrdom of Pietro Carnesecchi, some time 
 Secretary to Pope Clement VII, and Apostolic Protonotary : Dublin Uni- 
 versity Press, 1856, p. xiii. of Introduction (a highly valued work). 
 
 ^ Storia del Granducato di Toscana Firenze, 1822. 
 
INTRODUCTION. vii 
 
 study and to intercourse with learned men. He was 
 thorouglily conversant with Greek and Latin literature, an 
 eloquent speaker, and a poet. In Trance he was greatly 
 honoured ; he was regarded with the utmost esteem ; 
 and in his native land especially he became the light 
 and centre of all those who sighed and prayed for reform 
 in the Church. Such a man could not long escape the 
 vigilance of the Inquisitors; and the criminal process, 
 now divulged, discloses all the most important particulars 
 relative to the measures adopted against him for twenty- 
 one years (from 1546 to 1567)." 
 
 Carnesecchi's letters to Giulia Gonzaga, written through 
 a series of years, and many years before the final process, 
 were adduced against him as evidence of fact and of 
 sentiment, establishing his heretical dissent from Papal 
 doctrine and of opposition to Papal decrees; and they 
 doubtless served the Inquisitors as their warrant for his 
 condemnation to the stake. 
 
 Carnesecchi was called upon to justify every statement 
 and sentiment contained in these letters, expressed as 
 they were in the confidence of friendship, especially those 
 affecting their mutually -dearest friend, Juan de Valdes, 
 his life and teachings. In relation to these sentiments 
 Carnesecchi had to show that they admitted of orthodox 
 interpretation, or failing to do so, the Inquisitors availed 
 themselves of them, twisting them and perverting them, 
 as bases of criminal conviction. 
 
 Carnesecchi was upon the most intimate terms with 
 Juan de Valdes, nor was he less intimate with Giulia 
 Gonzaga after Valdes' death; this triple cord of mutual 
 regard was of the strongest. Possibly no man ever lived 
 that did more by word and by writings to teach another 
 spiritual truth, than did Valdes for Giulia. 
 
 On spiritual subjects Giulia and Carnesecchi were both 
 Valdes' pupils ; they both proved their spiritual loyalty to 
 his teachings, and their own convictions, by never recanting. 
 
viLi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 or receding from, them. Carnesecchi went to the stake in 
 vindication of his; neither did Giulia prove recreant to 
 hers ; death alone delivered her from the bloodthirsty tri- 
 bunal before which she had been summoned to appear just 
 before she expired, death thus saving her " from the evil 
 to come." Humanity has not been illustrated by three 
 more exalted personages. Carnesecchi's letters to Giulia 
 have been rendered historical documents, by embodiment 
 in Carnesecchi's process ; they reveal the soul of Valdes 
 so fully, so truthfully, so intimately, that he is thus better 
 known to us, who study these documents, than he was to 
 his contemporaries. 
 
 Brought from the archives of the Inquisition at Eome 
 by a French officer, one of Napoleon's soldiers, in sixty- 
 six volumes, they are deposited in the library of Trinity 
 College, Dublin, and the editor has now before him an 
 extract of Carnesecchi's process, contained in 381 pages of 
 printed matter, transcribed for the Italian Government,^ 
 and edited by Count Giacomo Manzoni of Lugo. 
 
 Here follows Juan de Yald^s' only letter, which is thus 
 introduced by Dr. Boehmer : — 
 
 " The following letter has been discovered by Dr. Otto 
 Waltz, Professor in the University of Dorpat, who sent 
 me the copy he himself made, and obligingly permitted 
 me to print it. He will shortly publish with his own 
 annotations some inedited letters of Alfonso de Valdds 
 to the same Dantiscus, copied from a Dantiscan collec- 
 tion (in which also was found this letter of Juan de 
 Valdes). Now, as to Dantiscus, I restrict myself to state 
 that he was born in 1483, was three times in Spain, and 
 died in 1548, Bishop of Ermeland, leaving much Latin 
 verse, subsequently collected in 1764 into a volume, in 
 which are found sacred hymns that testify to his piety. 
 Excepting this letter of Juan de Valdes addressed to that 
 
 ^ See " Miscellanea di Storia Italiana. " In royal 8vo, vol. x., published 
 at Turin in 1870. 
 
INTRODUCTION. ix 
 
 prelate, we have no other writing in an epistolary form 
 that is not a religious treatise. This letter is written in 
 Latin, and is, as far as we know, the only autograph of his 
 in existence. 
 
 " This letter, highly characteristic from its most amiable 
 and ingenuous tone, furnishes us with some interesting 
 facts. 
 
 " Since Juan himself here styles himself Alfonso's 
 brother and twin, it is no longer possible to deny the fact. 
 It is of greater importance still that Juan, when giving 
 his address, states that he will be with the Pope (Clement 
 VII.) 
 
 " The letter is written from Bologna ; ^ the original 
 address still remains. Dantiscus has written in his own 
 handwriting, ' Letter of Juan de Yaldes, dated Bologna, 
 1 2th January 1533.' 
 
 " The red seal is in good preservation. 
 
 " Ed. Boehmee. 
 
 " Vienna." 
 
 Beverendissimo Domino ac doctissimo viro, Domino Joanni 
 Dantisco, Upiscopo Culmensi, Serenissimi Polonice 
 Regis consiliario, Domino meo colendissimo, in Polonia. 
 
 Nisi compertum haberem, prsesul amplissime, tuum 
 animum, sic sanctissimis atque honestissimis disciplinis 
 prgeditum, ut ab illorum instituto, qui non virtutem sed 
 fortunam in hominibus diligere solent, penitus abhorreas, 
 handquaquam hoc negotii essem aggressus, nunc autem 
 quum meminerim te cum fratre meo Alfonso Yaldesio, 
 qui infselicissimo quodam fato nobis ereptus est, priusquam 
 ilium apud Caesarem locum nactus esset, amicitiam iniisse, 
 non veritus sum meis te literis interpellare quibus intelli- 
 geres me non seque ad fortunse bona, quae mihi ab ipso 
 fratre testamento relicta sunt, animum adplicuisse, atque 
 
 ^ See " Lives," p. 4. 
 
X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ad eorum gratiam ambiendam quos ille vel observabat ut 
 dominos ac majores, vel diligebat ut amicos, vel amplecte- 
 batur ut minores, ut eos ego aut venerari ut dominos, aut 
 observare ut majores, aut diligere ut aequales possim, 
 iidemque me veluti illius fratrem ac gemellum, cui natura 
 eadem faciei lineamenta eundemque vocis sonitum est 
 elargita, amplectantur ac diligant ; licet enim animi dotes, 
 quae ille dei optimi maximi beneficio erat assecutus, in me 
 non seque atque in illo inveniantur, non ideo ab iis, quibus 
 earns erat frater, sum despiciendus, quando non ut me 
 mea causa, sed fratris potius me amplectantur peto. 
 Quum itaque, amplissime prsesul, te ille semper ut ma- 
 jorem observaverit, tuque ilium semper ut amicum dile- 
 xeris amplexatusque sis, sequum erit ut tu hujus erga 
 eum amoris et benevolentise me haeredem facias, id quod 
 tum te f ecisse existimabo quum aliquid mihi in quo meum 
 erga te animum meamque spontaneam servitutem ostendere 
 possim injunxeris. Caeterum si tam cari amici jactura k 
 te aliquid quod cbartis commissum sic extorsit, illud, 
 quidquid fuerit, ad me mittas obsecro, ut hoc amoris tui 
 symbolo acerbissimum meum dolorem nonnunquam lenire 
 ac mitigare possim. Ut autem quo literas tuas ad me 
 mandare debeas, scias, me apud Summum Pontificem f utu- 
 rum scito ; ubi si quid fuerit quod ad te quomodocunque 
 pertineat, mihi committes id quod mihi quidem honorifi- 
 centissimum ac jucundissimum erit. Bene vale, amplis- 
 sime praesul, et me Alfonsi Valdesii loco ama. 
 
 BoNONiJE, xiJ. Januarii mdxxxiii. 
 
 Dominationis Tuse Keverendissimae 
 subditissimus clientulus 
 
 Joannes Valdesius. 
 
INTRODUCTION. xi 
 
 Teanslation. 
 
 To the most reverend and highly learned Master John Dan- 
 tiscus, Bishop of Culm, Counsellor of his most Serene 
 Majesty the King of Poland, my much-revered Lord, in 
 Poland. 
 
 Had I not the certainty, most honoured master, that 
 thy mind is so moulded by the most sacred and by the 
 most virtuous teachings, so as to be wholly averse to the 
 principles of those, who are wont to love a man, not for 
 his ability, but for his fortunes, I assuredly should not 
 have taken this step ; now, however, when I recollect that 
 thou wert intimate with my brother, Alfonso Yaldes, who 
 by sad fate has been carried off from us, before that he 
 attained that post about the Emperor's person, I feel no 
 hesitation in addressing myself to thee by letter, in order 
 that thou mightest thereby understand that my mind is 
 not so intent upon attaining the property bequeathed me 
 under my brother's will, as upon conciliating their favour, 
 whom he looked up to as his masters and superiors, or 
 whom he loved as friends, or whom he cherished as his 
 inferiors ; that I may be able either to venerate them as 
 masters, or to look up to them as superiors, or to love 
 them as equals, and that they also may esteem and love 
 me, as his twin-brother, to whom nature has given the 
 same features and the same tone of voice; for if the 
 intellectual endowments, which he, by the grace of our 
 good and great God, had acquired, be not found as richly 
 and copiously in me as in him, I am not on that account 
 to be despised by those to whom my brother was dear, 
 for I do not challenge of them that they value me for my 
 sake, but rather that they should do so for my brother's. 
 Since, revered master, he ever highly esteemed thee as a 
 superior, and that thou hast ever loved and valued him as 
 a friend, it will be just that thou now make me heir of 
 this thy love and of thy benevolence towards him, and I 
 
xii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 shall then assume that thou wilt have done so, when 
 thou shalt.give me something in charge wherein I may 
 be enabled to show my feelings towards thee by readiness 
 of service. Shouldest thou have felt constrained by the 
 loss of so dear a friend to commit anything to writing, I 
 earnestly entreat thee to send it, whatever it may be, to 
 me, that I may by this token of thy love occasionally 
 soothe and mitigate my most bitter grief. But in order 
 that thou mayest know where to address me by letter, 
 know that I shall henceforth be near the person of the 
 Pope; where should aught transpire, in any manner affect- 
 inof thine interests, thou wilt commit its management to 
 me, which will be most honouring and most agreeable 
 to me. 
 
 Fare thee well, most noble President, and love me in 
 the stead of Alfonso Valdes. 
 
 Bologna, 12th January 1533. 
 
 Of all clients under thy most reverend 
 sway I commend myself to thee 
 as the most submissive 
 
 JuXn de Valdes. 
 
 Don Luis Usoz i Eio's name must never be forgotten 
 in association with the revival of Valdes' works, for he 
 first translated Juan de Valdes' CX. Considerations into 
 Spanish, publishing them in 1850. This edition ranks 
 as the ninth in the series of the Eeformistas Antiguos 
 Espanoles, consisting of twenty volumes edited and issued 
 by him during twenty-five years. The biographer, when 
 commemorating Don Luis, the Christian gentleman, the 
 scholar, the patriot, and the philanthropist, will ever have 
 to couple the name of his faithful, assiduous, and worthy 
 friend, coadjutor, and correspondent, Benjamin B. Wiffen, 
 as the man whose honourable life was spent as his biblio- 
 grapher, in procuring the recondite materials for Don Luis' 
 
INTRODUCTION. xiii 
 
 use. Valdesian scholars have ever held Don Luis and 
 Wiffen as inseparably associated in their lifelong work, 
 the revival of the ancient Spanish Eeformers ; whilst they 
 who knew their labours more intimately, associate a third 
 name with theirs, which, if not mentioned here, is with- 
 held from publicity by prudential motives. 
 
 The re-prints of the works of Juan de Yaldes were 
 especially intended for the benefit of Spain. Don Luis 
 embodied this sentiment in his writings, he presented it 
 in the title-pages of the works he published. 
 
 In Wiffen's preface to the History of the death of Juan 
 Diaz, the last volume of the series, a posthumous volume, 
 which appeared in September 1865, six weeks after Usoz's 
 death, he summarises his deceased friend's character thug : 
 " Don Luis Usoz was a man of sound and exact learning, 
 of great simplicity and modesty, of genuine truthfulness 
 both in his life and in his writings. He loved his country, 
 he lamented its historical decline, and sought its highest 
 welfare, believing that universal eeligious liberty, with 
 the knowledge of the Bible, forms the surest basis of all 
 civilisation, national, social, and individual." 
 
 The translator of Juan de Valdes' works into English, 
 and their editor, believes Don Luis' effort to have been as 
 intelligent as it was beneficent, and that the publication 
 will prove to have been influentially "para Men de JEs- 
 pafia" for the welfare of Spain, and thus impressed, the 
 editor declares his sole motive for translating and pub- 
 lishing Valdes' works to be his firm belief that they are 
 eminently calculated to benefit the English-speaking 
 nations of the world. 
 
 The editor's attempt to popularise Yaldes' Writings, 
 by appending Dr. Boehmer's ' Lives ' to every one of his 
 translations now publishing, will be appreciated by every 
 reader who shall become interested in him and in them ; 
 and the reader will be led to approve it the more, when 
 told that but imperfect knowledge is now attainable 
 
xiv INTRODUCTION, 
 
 even by researches in the British Museum and in Univer- • 
 sity Libraries ; and that such information as he can get 
 there will be less definite and less reliable than that now 
 presented to him. 
 
 If Valdes' teachings, restricted by the Inquisition to 
 manuscript copies, circulated from hand to hand, at the 
 greatest personal risk to both giver and receiver, availed 
 in the sixteenth century by their influence on the choicest 
 spirits of that age, the wisest and the best, to shake the 
 Papacy, it was by the Holy Spirit's influence that they 
 did so ; what may we not expect with the same mighty 
 agency, now that the press issues the Prince Consort's 
 Life in sixpenny parts, that it issues the New Testament 
 in several languages at a penny each, and that Christian 
 gentlemen have began to publish parts of Valdes' minor 
 works for sale at a penny a copy, approximately two 
 thousand per cent, cheaper than the cost in the regular 
 form of publication ! 
 
 JOHN T. BETTS. 
 
 Pembuey, Kbnt, 3fay 1882. 
 
THE LIVES 
 
 JUAN and ALFONSO DE VALDES. 
 
 About the beginning of the sixteenth century, rernando 
 de Valdes, the hereditary Eegidor of Ciienca in Castile, 
 had twin-sons born to him, Alfonso and Jnan, who, after 
 careful training, distinguished themselves in Spanish 
 literature, not only as authors who knew how to write 
 their own language with classical purity, but also as 
 religious reformers. 
 
 Alfonso was in the suite of the Emperor Charles V. at 
 his coronation in Aix-la-Chapelle in the year 1520. He 
 saw, in the burning of Luther's books, in the following 
 year at Worms, " not the end, but the beginning of a 
 tragedy." It then appeared to him as impudent upon 
 the part of the monk of Wittenberg to declare the Pope 
 to be a heretic and schismatic ; but he nevertheless 
 found it deplorable that the Pope should stubbornly 
 oppose the convocation of a General Council, by which 
 alone the peace of Christendom could be secured. The 
 impossibility of bringing the Lutheran commotion to an 
 end without such a Council was persistently urged, at 
 Worms, by the Emperor's Grand Chancellor Mercurino 
 
1 6 ALFONSO DE VALDES. 
 
 da Gattinara.^ Under him we meet Alfonso, in the 
 year 1524, as an Imperial Secretary of State. 
 
 Alfonso de Vald^s was a great admirer of Erasmus, 
 whose writings, in the original and in translations, as 
 greatly promoted the reformation in Spain, as they did 
 everywhere else. At the time when the monks in 
 that country made a violent attack upon the famous 
 scholar, and tried to get from the Inquisitor- General 
 a prohibition of his works, Alfonso generously inter- 
 posed, and employing aU his influence in favour of 
 the great humanist, he succeeded in averting the 
 proscription. From that time we find Alfonso in cor- 
 respondence with Erasmus. It was presumably Alfonso 
 Vald^s who penned the Imperial answer to Erasmus, in 
 December 1527, expressing the Emperor's joy on learn- 
 ing, by Erasmus' letter, that the Lutheran phrenzy was 
 declining, a result brought about by the efforts of Erasmus 
 himself, who had published able polemical writings against 
 Luther's servum arhitrmm. 
 
 On the other hand, Alfonso's name is found subscribed 
 to Imperial letters of the years 1526 and 1527, addressed 
 to Pope Clement YII. and to the College of Cardinals, 
 in which a General Council is most energetically de- 
 manded.^ When Eome was stormed and sacked, in the 
 year 1527, Alfonso wrote a dialogue, in order to vindicate 
 the Emperor, and to prove that terrible catastrophe to 
 have been a retribution upon the sins of the Papal city. 
 In 1529 he accompanied the Emperor in his progress 
 through Italy; he attended the Pope's and Emperor's 
 Congress at Bologna, and he went on with the Court to 
 the Diet in Germany. Soon after the arrival at Augsburg, 
 he sent for Melancthon, in order, if possible, to bring 
 about an understanding with that champion of the Evan- 
 gelicals. The intercourse between these two mild and 
 
 1 The numbers refer to the notes in the "Bibliotheca Wiflfeniana : 
 Spanish Reformers of Two Centuries." Loudon : TiUbner, 1874. — Ed. 
 
JUAN DE VALDjES. 17 
 
 moderate men was a very friendly one, and with the 
 sovereign Valdes successfully set off the conciliatory and 
 reasonable tone of the Protestants, and smoothed the way 
 for a public reading of their Confession in the presence of 
 the Emperor and of the powers of the realm. For two 
 years more did he follow Charles through Germany as 
 his Secretary. It was with pleasure that he saw the 
 Emperor at the Diet of Eatisbon constrained to yield 
 greater liberty to the evangelical movement. 
 
 In the autumn of 1532 Alfonso de Valdes died at 
 Vienna. Thomas Cranmer, in a despatch to King Henry 
 VIII., dated from Villach, in Carinthia, October 20, 1532, 
 tells of a great infection of the plague, whereof many of 
 the Emperors household died, and among others {Valdes) 
 Waldesius, a Spaniard, the Emperor s Chief Secretary, who 
 enjoyed his singular favour. lie was well learned in the 
 Latin tongue, and partly in the Greek ; and whensoever the 
 Emperor would have any thing well and exactly done in 
 the Latin tongue, it was ever put to Waldesius? 
 
 His brother Juan found more leisure for literary 
 production. He had spent years absorbed in court- 
 life and in an insatiable perusal of chivalrous romances, 
 but impressed by the great religious historic events then 
 acting on the world's theatre, the Eeformation, the hidden 
 springs of which his brother could from his own experi- 
 ence explain, he found himself attracted by realities that 
 affected the glory of God and the welfare of man. 
 
 Shortly after that Alfonso had put his dialogue on the 
 sack of Eome into circulation, Juan composed another, 
 entitled " Mercury and Charon." Its tendency is both poli- 
 tical and religious. The author justifies the Emperor ; he 
 does so with respect to the challenge which he had given 
 to the King of France to fight him in duel, and he depicts 
 the then ruinously corrupt condition of the Eomish 
 Church. He eloquently accomplishes his design, prov- 
 ing both his statements by arguments, evolved in con- 
 
 2l 
 
V. 
 
 1 8 juAn de vald^s. 
 
 versations, which the ferryman of the lower world holds 
 with different personages'* on their way there. 
 
 Compromised by this work with the Holy Of&ce, the 
 Inquisition, Juan did not feel himself safe in Spain, and 
 about the year 1530 he left it for Naples, where the 
 Spanish Inquisition had not yet been established. In 
 1 5 3 1 he went to Eome. In January 1533 "^^ ^^^ 
 him nominated and acting as Chamberlain of the Pope 
 at Bologna. From thence he wrote to Dantiscus, Bishop 
 of Culm, an old friend of his brother Alfonso. This 
 letter is the only Latin document we have of Juan's, and 
 Ms only known autograph. The Pope and the Emperor 
 were at that time both present at Bologna. There 
 they concluded on February 24th a confederation, by 
 which the Pope promised to recommend to the Chris- 
 tian princes the convocation of a General Council, 
 and to accelerate by Papal decision the validity of 
 Queen Catherine's, the Emperor's aunt's, marriage, she 
 having been repudiated by her husband, Henry YIIL, 
 King of England. The Papal decision, withheld until 
 1534, was in favour of this unfortunate Queen, whom 
 Juan de Valdes had vigorously defended in his Dia- 
 logue between Mercury and Charon^ It was an act of 
 courtesy, so much the more refined, as it could not be 
 done witliout self-renunciation, that Clement VII. took 
 the author of this dialogue for his Chamberlain, he 
 having therein severely criticised this Pope's policy, and 
 being, moreover, the twin brother of Charles' late Secretary 
 of State, Alfonso, who had had a very serious altercation 
 with the Spanish Nuncio. Juan, however, did not stay 
 long at the Papal Court. Before Clement went to France 
 in the autumn of the same year, 1533, Valdes returned 
 from Eome to Naples, after an absence of two years, and 
 probably never again left this city and its environs.^ 
 
 At Naples he wrote in 1533 his Dialogue on Lan- 
 guage, viz., the Spanish language, a work which is ac- 
 
juAn DE VALDES. 19 
 
 knowledged to be of high authority in relation to that 
 idiom. It was with difficulty that some friends pre- 
 vailed upon him to devote his time to give these speci- 
 mens of his literary studies and principles, for he had 
 already directed all his efforts to the composition of works 
 of a devotional and biblical character. Without depreciat- 
 ing the various branches of what is called profane know- 
 ledge, and especially the humaniora, still he had learned 
 in the school of St. Paul to rank the Gospel, forasmuch 
 as it affects salvation, far above ail worldly wisdom. 
 
 After his return from Eome to Naples he was surrounded 
 by the choicest spirits of Italy, comprising such men as 
 Marcantonio Flaminio and Carnesecchi, Ochino and Peter 
 Martyr Vermiglio. He had also, at that time^ for his 
 pupils and friends a circle of accomplished women, among 
 whom stood pre-eminently Giulia Gonzaga, a beauty praised 
 by Ariosto,* and whose fame had spread so far, that 
 Barbarossa, an African corsair, in 1534, disembarked 
 near Pondi in the Terra di Lavoro, in order to kidnap 
 her as a present for the Sultan, a fate from which she 
 narrowly escaped. 
 
 During the Emperor's residence at -N'aples in 1536, 
 at one and the same time, Ochino preached there the 
 Lent sermons, with such wondrous power, that the 
 Emperor said "The stones must cry out;" Peter Martyr 
 convened assemblies, to whom he admirably expounded 
 the Scriptures; whilst Juan de Yaldes inspired all amongst 
 whom he moved with evangelical spirit. It was then 
 that Giulia Gonzaga became desirous to learn how to 
 live in newness of life, and asked of Valdes the way. His 
 Christian Alphalet is a dialogue sustained by him and 
 Giulia, and nothing could better serve to bring vividly 
 before us the religious movement then going on around 
 Valdes, and which, to the greatest extent, originated in 
 himself. Giulia soon withdrew into a nunnery at Naples, 
 where, without taking the vows, she found a quiet abode. 
 
20 juAn de valdes. 
 
 and escaped being engulfed in the restless world, the peril, 
 which a lady of her rank and endowments could in those 
 days and in that place, scarcely otherwise avoid. The 
 Alphabet, which Valdes gave her as a primer, composed 
 wdth relation to her special personal requirements,^ was 
 soon followed by his expositions of Scripture. 
 
 To Giulia Gonzaga he dedicated his own versions of 
 the Sacred Scriptures, translated from the Hebrew and 
 from the Greek into Spanish, and for her use did he 
 write his Commentaries upon them in the same language ; 
 first the Psalms,^ then all St. Paul's Epistles, exclusive 
 of that to the Hebrews,^ those of St. Peter, lastly the 
 Gospel of St. Matthew, and possibly the other Gospels 
 likewise. Of all these, we have at present but St. 
 Matthew's Gospel, the Epistle to the Eomans, the first 
 Epistle to the Corinthians, and his Commentaries upon 
 those three books. We have his translation of the 
 Psalms, with his Commentary upon the first book, that 
 is, from the ist to the 41st Psalm inclusive. 
 
 Ancient translations of the Old Testament, from 
 Hebrew into Spanish, which had never been printed, 
 existed indeed in the days of Vald(5s ; but it would seem 
 that to Juan de Valdes the honour is due of having 
 been the first person, who undertook to translate the 
 ISTew Testament from Greek into Spanish.-^^ 
 
 He, moreover, composed numerous religious treatises in 
 Spanish. We have a collection of CX Considerations ; 
 nearly two-thirds of them are but Italian translations. 
 We have seven of his doctrinal Epistles in the original, 
 (Spanish), with an eighth in Italian; and of such 
 epistles he at least wrote thirty. Of his Discourses, 
 some two or three are known, but only as Italian trans- 
 lations. Of his Questions and Answers, we know that 
 there were as many as thirty-three, but there is only one 
 extant, and that is found appended to the Alfabeto, an 
 Italian translation.^^ 
 
JUAn DE VALDES. 21 
 
 In 1545 Valdes' treatise on Christian Eepentance, on 
 Christian Faith, and on Christian Life, together with 
 four other of his minor works, were printed in 
 an Italian translation in Eome itself, in the very year 
 of the opening of the Council of Trent. In this 
 paper, of which the Spanish original has recently been 
 printed, he develops the following ideas : that had he had 
 to prescribe regulations for preaching the Gospel of Christ, 
 he would have prescribed that repentance should be 
 preached first; secondly, justification by faith; and thirdly, 
 connected with this article, the necessity of testifying to 
 Christian faith by Christian works ; which works, he 
 says, will be rewarded in the present life by corporeal 
 and spiritual benefits, and in the future life by graduated 
 glory. Moreover he suggests, that after three warnings, 
 the avaricious, the ambitious, the blasphemous, the 
 gluttonous, the luxurious, the quarrelsome, and those 
 who seek dishonest gains, and who delight in illicit 
 games, and similarly those who are given to vain cere- 
 monies and superstitious customs, attributing to creatures 
 and to times and to words more than is becoming, and 
 than Holy Scripture and Christian faith attribute to 
 them, should be excommunicated. Then should we 
 he says, in our own age, see a Christian Church very 
 similar to that of the Apostolic age. Those, however, he 
 adds, who are not in this Church, must not think 
 themselves aliens to it, so long as they like to look at 
 the Christian life ; they will by prayer and labour get 
 into it themselves. 
 
 Juan has also written a Catechism, instruction for 
 children. The Spanish is lost, the Italian translation, 
 recently reprinted, is entitled. Spiritual Milk, and was 
 translated by Peter Paul Vergerio into Latin,^^ and again 
 from the Latin, translations were made into German and 
 Polish.-^^ Towards its close Valdes puts forward those 
 articles, in which advanced youth is afterwards to be in- 
 
22 JUAN DE VALDAs, 
 
 structed ; as, for instance, the Lord's Supper and the Most 
 Holy Trinity. 
 
 Valdes' CX Considerations have been translated into 
 five languages ; they had also been retranslated into 
 Spanish before the originals of thirty-nine of them were 
 discovered. Three editions have appeared in English. 
 
 To the editor of the first English translation, Nicholas 
 Eerrar, who scrupulously hesitated to publish it, on 
 account of certain passages in the book, George Herbert 
 wrote in 1638: "I wish you by all means to publish it, 
 for these three eminent things observable therein : Eirst, 
 that God, in the midst of Popery, should open the eyes 
 of one to understand and express so clearly and excel- 
 lently the intent of the Gospel in the acceptation of 
 Christ's righteousness (as he showeth through all his 
 Considerations); a thing strangely buried and darkened 
 by the adversaries, and their great stumbling-block. 
 Secondly, the great honour and reverence which he 
 everywhere bears towards our dear Master and Lord, 
 concluding every Consideration almost with His holy 
 name, and setting his merit forth so piously, for which 
 I do so love him, that, were there nothing else, I would 
 print it, that with it, the honour of my Lord might be 
 published. Thirdly, the many pious rules of ordering 
 our life, about mortification, and observation of God's 
 kingdom within us, and the working thereof, of which 
 he was a very diligent observer. These three things 
 are very eminent in the author, and overweigh the 
 defects (as I conceive), towards the publishing there- 
 of." ^« 
 
 To Juan de Vald(^s' simple evangelical teaching is to 
 be traced back the book On the Benefit of Christ. The 
 first author of it was a monk of the Black Benedictines, 
 called Don Benedetto, of Mantua, who wrote it in a 
 monastery of his order near Mount Etna ; then he asked 
 his friend Marcantonio Elaminio to polish it, in order to 
 
JUAN DE VALDES, 23 
 
 render it more attractive, and so Flaminio, while leaving 
 the subject unaltered, remodelled the excellent tract 
 according to his taste.-'^ It was believed to have been 
 extirpated by the Inquisition, when it reappeared in 
 1855, reprinted from a copy preserved at Cambridge; 
 and it readily won the admiring love of all, who love the 
 Gospel. 
 
 Many interesting statements on Vald^s and the Val- 
 desian movement are given by Carnesecchi, in his depo- 
 sitions before the tribunal of the Inquisition at Eome.^® 
 "Althouojh I had known Juan Valdes at Eome in the 
 time of Pope Clement," ^^ Carnesecchi reports, " I can- 
 not say that I knew him as a theologian before the year 
 1540 in Naples. Eor when in Eome, I did not know 
 that he applied himself to the study of sacred literature, 
 but I knew him only as a modest and well-bred courtier, 
 and as such I liked him very much, so that the inter- 
 course and familiarity I afterwards had with him at 
 Naples was a continuation of our friendship made at 
 Eome ; at Naples, however, the friendship grew to be a 
 spiritual one, for I found him entirely given up to the 
 Spirit, and wholly intent on the study of Holy Scripture. 
 This, however, would not have been sufficient with me, 
 to give him the credit I did, now that the gentiluomo di 
 spada e cappa,t\iQ layman and courtier, had, for me, suddenly 
 become the theologian, had I not observed what a high 
 place he occupied in the eyes of Fra Bernardino Ochino, 
 who then was preaching, to the admiration of everybody, 
 at Naples, and who professed to receive the themes of 
 many of his sermons from Valdes, from whom he used 
 to get a note on the evening preceding the morning 
 on which he was to ascend the pulpit ;^^ and if Fra 
 Bernardino's opinion had not been in harmony with that 
 of Flaminio, whom I thought such a prudent and learned 
 man, that he would not have been imposed upon ; and 
 so sincere and worthy, that he would not have wished 
 
24 juAn de vald^s. 
 
 to delude others ; especially such a great friend of his as 
 I was, and on a matter of such importance as religion."^^ 
 It was by Valdds that Flaminio had been led to the 
 conviction of justification by faith.^^ Carnesecchi was 
 introduced by Yaldes himself to Peter Martyr Ver- 
 iniglio, who was a great friend of the Spaniard. ^^ 
 At Naples, Carnesecchi lived in the house of Giulia 
 Gonzaga.^^ In a letter to her, written almost twenty 
 years afterwards, in 1559, he acknowledges that he 
 owed to her mediation the beneficent influence on him 
 of Valdes' holy teaching and of the intercourse with 
 this man, whom he knew before Donna Giulia, but 
 not in such a manner as to derive that benefit from it.^ 
 Her he expressly thanked, as well that he had been 
 delivered from superstitious and false religion, and had 
 placed the hope of his salvation, not in works, but in 
 laith, as also that he was kept within due limits and 
 not engulfed by Lutheranism.^^ He believed that those 
 who differed from the modern Eoman Church in the 
 article of justification, whilst keeping what he was 
 persuaded to be the true catholic and apostolic faith, 
 would be saved.^^ But although he accepted that fun- 
 damental article of the German religious reformation, he 
 disapproved of Luther's separation from the body of the 
 Catholic Church. That separation he saw especially mani- 
 fested in the disobedience of the head of the Protestants, 
 by refusing to appear at the Council, and to submit to 
 its determination, and also by his contumacy against the 
 Apostolic See. This was likewise Flaminio's view.^^ 
 Nor was Carnesecchi, when accepting the main doctrine 
 of Luther and of Valdes, aware of those consequences, 
 which, as he was afterwards told, derived from it, viz., 
 "that we do not want the sacrament of penitence, nor 
 contrition, nor of satisfaction in order to regain grace lost 
 by mortal sin, nor of purgatory." ^^ Valdes and Plaminio 
 explained all this to him : justification by faith was 
 
juAn DE VALDES. 25 
 
 taught; not only by Holy Scripture, but also by all the 
 chief doctors of the Church, by Augustine, by Chrysos- 
 tom, by Bernard, by Origen, by Hilary, by Prosper, and 
 by others. Those doctors, it was true, in their sermons 
 .to the people, extolled works as necessary to salvation, 
 but they did so, only lest people should give themselves 
 over to licentiousness, which Carnesecchi stated before 
 his judges had been the case in Germany, and in other 
 countries, where justification by faith alone had been 
 freely preached. His friends at Naples asserted, that all 
 true Christians believed this article, and if not explicitly, 
 yet implicitly, and if not earlier, it was revealed to them, 
 at death. When to such subtleties Carnesecchi replied : 
 that he found it strange that there were so few persons, 
 who held that faith; they reminded him of the seven 
 thousand who had not bent their knees to Baal, and 
 moreover they said, that that section of modern preachers, 
 who suppressed that article, was silenced only by the 
 same reserve which moved St. Augustine not to preach 
 on predestination, in order not to scandalise the weak 
 ones.^^ Valdes taught justification by faith, without 
 touching upon, and even without hinting at, those conse- 
 quences ; be it, says Carnesecchi, that he did not accept 
 them, or be it that he dissimulated them, in order not to 
 scandalise his disciples.^^ Carnesecchi was also of opinion, 
 according to Valdes' teaching, that he who felt himself 
 justified by faith, could count himself among the elect, and 
 might consequently be sure, or at least greatly confident, 
 that he would be saved, if living that life which becomes 
 a true member of Christ, and if he showed his faith, when- 
 soever he had an opportunity to do it, by his good works 
 and good habits ; though doing this from gratitude for the 
 benefit received, and in order to glorify God, and not in 
 order to acquire eternal life, this being acquired by the 
 merits of Christ, imputed to the believer. He did not, 
 however, deny, that grace and justification were, by 
 
26 juAn de valdes, 
 
 means of such works, augmented in this life, and higher 
 degrees of glory acquired in the life to come ; nor that 
 he who is justified must strive to become just in him- 
 self, as he is just in Christ, acquiring the habit of this 
 righteousness formally, viz., procuring to have inherent 
 righteousness through love poured into the heart by the 
 Holy Spirit, not contenting himself with that righteous- 
 ness which is imputed to him, and of which he partakes 
 by faith.'* 
 
 Juan de Yald^s died in the summer of 1541.'^ His 
 decease was placid.'* He was, in his last illness, visited 
 by the Archbishop of Otranto, his dear friend, who 
 used to commend his writings and discourses in matters 
 of religion.'^ When, in 1543, the Archbishop, then a 
 member of the Council of Trent, and his friend Car- 
 nesecchi, saw each other for the first time after Valdes* 
 death, and could pass an evening together, at Venice, 
 they, as it were, vied in expressing their admiration and 
 praise of that blessed divine.'^ 
 
 When Cardinal Pole declared on his deathbed, in 1558, 
 that he had always held the Pope, and particularly the 
 then present one, to be the true successor of St. Peter 
 and the Vicar of Christ, and that he never had dissented 
 from the Papal will, nor from the belief of the Eoman 
 Church, such a declaration, given in the reign of Paul 
 IV., was by Carnesecchi deemed superfluous, not to say 
 scandalous. He and Giulia recollected that Juan de 
 Valdes had, neither in his testament nor in the discourses 
 shortly before his death, made any mention of the autho- 
 rity of the Pope or of the succession to the apostolate 
 of Peter, but had simply testified that he died in the 
 same faith in which he had lived. Carnesecchi and 
 Giulia did not question the Pope's succession to Peter's 
 apostleship, but they believed the successors had got a 
 more limited authority over the Church than was gene- 
 rally attributed to them, for they interpreted the Eoman 
 
juAn DE VALDES. 27 
 
 primacy as indicative of distinction rather than of sway.^^ 
 Conscious, therefore, of their own dissent from the con- 
 temporary Eomanism upon the article of justification, and 
 convinced that Pole had entertained their views, they 
 could not but regret his last declaration, which they 
 must have considered as apostasy or duplicity, at all 
 events as a symptom of weakness, upon the part of a 
 man whose death, at the first news of it, had been de- 
 plored by them as a loss to their circle of more nearly 
 related fellow- worshippers.^^ Vittoria Colonna was once 
 advised by Pole, in whom she confided as in an oracle, 
 to believe as if by faith alone she could be saved, and 
 to work as if her salvation depended upon her works. 
 Although she did not then succeed to get from him any 
 more definite opinion on justification,*^ still she gave 
 him to understand that she knew him to differ from 
 the views of the Council, when, just at the time that 
 it decreed that article, he withdrew from Trent to a 
 more salubrious place, feigning a catarrh.*^ In fact, he 
 acknowledged to Flaminio, that the term merits could 
 not properly be used of any other person than Christ.*^ 
 Prom Viterbo, where she lived, as did also Pole, Carnesec- 
 chi and Flaminio, in December 1 541, Yittoria expressed 
 thanks to Giulia for having sent to her there Valdes' 
 Commentary on St. Paul's epistles " so much desired by 
 those friends, but most by herself, who needed it most ;" 
 Vittoria invited Giulia to come herself. " Certainly," she 
 writes, " it would be convenient, that, after being so well 
 informed on the true celestial fatherland, you revisited a 
 little your country Lombardy, for you could also help 
 much." ^^ Caterina Cibo, Duchess of Camerino, likewise 
 believed in justification by faith, conforming to Valdes' 
 doctrine, and had evangelists recommended to her by 
 Carnesecchi.*^ The Cardinals Contarini and Badia 
 approved of the writings of Juan de Valdes.*^ 
 
 Soon after the death of Valdes, Vermigiio and Ochino 
 
28 yuJN DE VALDlS, 
 
 left Italy, where liberty of preaching was no longer left 
 them. For a short period the press at Venice was still 
 suffered to spread evangelical literature. The Benefit of 
 Christ was printed there and circulated in tens of thou- 
 sands of copies. About the year of the opening of the 
 Council of Trent, 1545, several works of Juan de Valdes 
 were published at Venice. Together with his brother's 
 dialogue on the sack of Eome, there appeared Juan's 
 Dialogue between Mercury and Charon, his Christian 
 Alphabet, and seven of his tracts on the fundamental 
 doctrines of Christianity.*'^ In 1548 such laxity of the 
 press was stopped. Valdes' Considerations were printed 
 at Basle, where they appeared in 1 5 5 o in Italian. The 
 Commentaries on the Eomans and on the First Epistle to 
 the Corinthians were edited in 1556—57 at Geneva. 
 
 Juan Perez, the editor of both the Commentaries, 
 dedicated that on the First Epistle to the Corinthians 
 to Maximilian, the future Emperor. In this Prince's 
 library have been preserved the MS. copies of several of 
 Valdes' works not to be found elsewhere : the Gospel 
 by St. Matthew, with its Commentary, the translation of 
 the Psalms, thirty-nine of the CX Considerations, seven 
 Doctrinal Letters, the treatise on Eepentance, Faith, and 
 Life, which all of them had to wait three hundred years 
 before they were printed. Valdes Commentary on the 
 first hook of the Psalms, from the first to the forty-first, 
 in MS. in Spanish, awaits a Mecmnas to defray the 
 expense of its publication. When persecution became 
 oppressive in the Neapolitan realm, some withdrew 
 beyond the Alps,*^ many recanted, many suffered capital 
 punishment. Giulia Gonzaga, who strictly kept to the 
 faith imbibed by the guidance of Valdes and to the 
 practice recommended her by him,*^ was summoned to 
 Home, but God by death mercifully released her from 
 more painful and fearfuf experience. She died at her 
 retreat in the Neapolitan convent, in the year 1566. 
 
juJn DE VALDES. 29 
 
 The Inquisition seized Giulia Gonzaga's papers, and 
 found amongst them the letters which Carnesecchi, 
 through a long series of years, had written to her. In 
 vain he urged that the doctrine of Valdes on justifica- 
 tion could not be considered to have been heretical 
 until the Council had determined that it was so ; that 
 high authorities and dignitaries had adhered to it ; 
 that he ■ himself, ever previously fluctuating in his 
 mind, had at last acquiesced in what the Council had 
 ultimately decreed and the Pope had approved.^^ He 
 ingenuously confessed, it is true, as for the relation of 
 inherent justice to that which is imputed, that he, not 
 knowing exactly to discern the difference between the 
 opinion of Yaldds and the determination of the Council, 
 was not yet quite resolved whether he ought to condemn 
 Valdes' doctrine on this point or not; but he declared 
 he would submit to his judges, his intention being en- 
 tirely to conform himself, in this as well as in all other 
 articles, to the orthodox Catholic faith.^^ On some cap- 
 tious question he also reminded them of his not being 
 a theologian.^^ He was beheaded and burnt in 1567. 
 Soon every spark of evangelical life within the reach of 
 the Inquisition was stifled.^^ 
 
 Valdds' Commentary on the First Book of Psalms, in Spanish, is in the 
 hands of Pastor Senor Don Manuel Carrasco. — Editor's Note. 
 
AN EPIGRAM OF DANIEL ROGERS ON THE 
 DEA TH OF JOHN JE WELL, 
 
 BISHOP OF SALISBURY, 
 
 Inserted at the end of Lawrence jkiunphrey' s Life and Death of Jewell ^ 
 published by John Day ^ K.T). 1573. 
 
 ON THE MORE PURE THEOLOGIANS [tHE REFORMERS] 
 OF DIFFERENT COUNTRIES. 
 
 The Italians will evermore assert the claims of the divine Martyr 
 
 (Peter Martyr Vermiglio). 
 France may extol her Calvin to the stars. 
 Germany may boast and pride herself upon Melancthon, 
 And Lnther drag, in the same triumphal car with him : 
 Neither may Bonn, O Bucer, forget thine honours, 
 She having, through thy name, gained the highest illustration. 
 May Zwinglius live for ever on Swiss lips, 
 Whilst Bullinger's memory shall never die amongst the inhabitants 
 
 of Zurich. 
 Alasco's fame let it be renowned through Poland : 
 John Huss be celebrated through Bohemia. 
 Hemming's intelligent labours, let the Danes acknowledge. 
 May John Knox's teaching characterise all Scotland. 
 Of Valdes, as an author, let all Spain be proud. 
 Hyperius, let Belgian verse worthily extol. 
 Let every region honour the name of its own teacher, 
 And show itself grateful to its own preceptors. 
 But happy England, may she rejoice in thee, Jewell, 
 And laud, in one for all, thee, her own Teacher. 
 
IDalb^e' 1ReU9iou0 Mor{^0 in finolieb. 
 
 The Editor has translated all the subjoined works, and 
 has published them, excepting the Commentaries upon 
 the Eomans and the Corinthians. 
 
 1. "Vald^s' XVII Opuscules," his recently discovered 
 
 Minor Works. Price 6s. 
 
 2. "Vald^s* Commentary upon St. Matthew's Gospel," 
 
 with Professor Boehmer's Lives of Judn and Alfonso 
 de Vald^s. Price 7s. 6d. 
 
 3. "Vald^s' Spiritual Milk;" or, Instruction for the Chil- 
 
 dren of Christian Parents. Translated from the Italian 
 (the editio princeps) most recently discovered by Boeh- 
 mer ; appended to which are his Lives. Price 2 s. 
 
 4. "Three Opuscules." An extract from Valdes' Minor 
 
 Works. Price is. 
 
 5. "Vald^s' Commentary upon our Lord's Sermon on 
 
 the Mount." An extract from "Valdes' Commentary 
 upon St. Matthew's Gospel," with Boehmer's Lives. 
 Price 2S. 6d. 
 
 6. Professor Boehmer's Lives of the twin brothers, Judn and 
 
 Alfonso de Yald^s, with Editor's Introduction. Price is. 
 
 7. " Vald^s* Commentary upon St. Paul's Epistle to the 
 
 Romans." Price 7s. 6d. 
 
 8. " Vald^s' Commentary upon the First Epistle to the 
 
 Corinthians." Price 7s. 6d. 
 
 Messrs. Trubner & Co., 57 Ludgate Hillj London. 
 
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