/ AN EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPELS. Digitized by the- Internet Archive in 2008 with, funplifip,froni IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/expositionofgospOOmacerich ;.<^^'^'' '^•.;^ AN EXPOSITION THE GOSPELS coNsrsTixa OP AN ANALYSIS OF EACH CHAPTER AXD OF A COMMENTARY CEITICAL, EXEGETICAL, DOCTRINAL, AND MORAL BY HIS GRACE THE MOST REV. DR. MacEVILLY AECHBISHOP OF TUAM FOUBTII EDITION, REVISED AND CORRECTED " Go ye into the whole world and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved ; but he that believeth not, shall be condemned." — Maek xvi. 15, 16 . " And how shall they preach unless they be sent ? " — Rom. x. 15. DUBLIN M. H. GILL & SON, 50 UPPER O'CONNELL STR NEW YORK: BENZIGER BROTHERS, 113 BROADWAY. i8q8. LOAN STACK Already Published by same. AN EXPOSITION OF THE EPISTLES, PAULINE AND CATHOLIO. In 2 Yols. Price 18s. In a form corresponding with the Gospels. Third Edition, enlarged. ■ ' B> WENJ5RAL INmODCCTION. / It^ /^^- A CONSIDERABLE jieriod lias now elapsed since I first ventured on laying before tho public a Commentary on the Epistles of St. Paul, and those commonly called Catholic. I resolved at the time to continue these Scriptural subjects with a similar Commentary on the Four Gospels, and the Acts of the Apostles. Circumstances, however, soon changed ; and from tiie retirement of college life, so well suited for such studies, I found myself unexpectedly charged with varied and multiplied duties of the gravest nature, which it would be criminal to overlook or neglect. I was, in consequence, reluctantly forced to give over, for a time, the almost constant and uninterrupted application which the publication of a Scriptural Commentary would almost exclusively demand. I was determined, however, not to lose sight of my original design of publishing a Commentary on the Grospels ; any spare time I had on hands from episcopal or missionary duties, I devoted to this study particularly. The reading over voluminous Commentaries involved no small amount of labour, to me by no means distasteful, as well as the sacrifice of other important studies. The following Commentary on St. Matthew and St. Mark is partly the result. The notes which I made on St. Luke, St. John, and the Acts, are not yet arranged for publication. I trust to be able, in a short time, to publish them in a supplemental volume. It is right to inform, at least some of my readers, that the Commentary on St. Matthew almost fully embraces the two other synoptical Grospels, as they are called, of Mark and Luke. The reader of the Commentary on St. Matthew will be able to perceive that most of the Gospel of St. Luke is included in the Commentary on Matthew and Mark. From St. Matthew's Gospel, St. Luke differs but very little, save as regards the two first chapters in the Gospel of the latter (having reference chiefly to the facts and circumstances connected with the birth and infancy of the Baptist, the birth and infancy of our Blessed Lord), and some few parables not contained in the Gospel of St. Matthew. A large portion of St. John, particularly in what regards our Lord's Passion, has been commented on, by anticipation, in St. Matthew. The great favour with which the Commentary on the Epistles has been received, as it has already reached a third edition, after having been a considerable time out of print, for want of time to superintend its re-publication, emboldens me to hope, that the Commentary on the Gospels will be received with at least equal favour by the public. It is hoped it may serve to promote the objects for which the Commentary on the Epistles was designed, viz., to furnish the intelligent laity and reading portion of the Catholic community with a thoroughly Catholic exposition, in their own language, of one of the most important portions of the SS. Scriptures — to supply the ecclesiastical student with a compendious treatise from which to draw materials, at a future day, for instructing others, which is by no means the least important of the exalted duties of the sacred ministry — and lastly, to serve as a practical reply to the clumsy calumnies so often refuted, of those who charge the Catholic Church with inter- dicting, for her own purposes, the reading of the SS. Scriptures, even when such reading is hedged round with the proper safeguards. We cannot meet this stupid charge with h 481 IKTEODUUllOW. a clearer refutation than by adducing the authoritative words of the successor of St. Peter on this subject — " Illi enini sunt fontes uberrimi qui cuique patere debent ad hauriendam et morum et doctrince sanctitatem, depulsis erroribus qui liis corruptis temporibus late disseminantur." "For they (viz., the SS. Scriptures), are the most abundant sources, that ought to be left open to every one, to draw from them purity of morals and doctrine, to eradicate the errors which are widely disseminated in these corrupt times." (See letter of Pius YI. to Martini, prefixed to Martini's Bible.) But does not this charge, with which our ears are every day assailed, come with good grace from men who, themselves enjoying singular advantages, have never produced anything in elucidation of the SS. Scriptures, unless it be an occasional indecent article or empty placard, abusive of every attempt on the part of Catholics to supply an acknowledged want ? It is not for me to say why the sons of the Irish Establishment are so barren of Scriptural knowledge. But while the fact cannot be gainsaid, that a word of abuse of those who differ from us in religion is never uttered, or perpiitted to be uttered, from Catholic altar or pulpit in this .country, those men who accuse the Catholic Church of witliholding the Bible from the people, in many instances, '^' fulfil the lau;^^ by the iinmeaning abuse of Catholic doctrine and practices, blaspheming what they understand not, and chari- tably substitute the grosseot misrepresentation, which costs them but little study, for that ecclesiastical and Scriptural knowledge which some of them are too ignorant of, and many too indolent, to acquire. On tliis subject I may be permitted to quote the Avords of an exceedingly learned and voluminous commentator on SS. Scripture — "J believe no Church iv the icorld has done less for the critical study of the Bible than the Irish Establishment. After a diligent search through all the biographical indexes within my reach (see E. Gr. Home's Introdixc, last edition, wherein the index is ver}' complete), 1 cannot find tlie name of one Irishman, trained and serving in the Anglo-Irish Church. Avho has published a comment on even one chapter of the Bible. I do not speak of such men as Bramhall, Bedell, Jeremy Taylor, Jebb,* Mant, Whately, and Trench, educated abroad, and imported lifre because their services were needed, and Irishmen could not be found to take their places. I speak of the sons of the Irish Establishment, of those brought up under her care, and I say that few, perhaps not even one, of them can be named among biblical interpreters. It is evident that the curse of barrenness has blighted the whole life of the Irish Establishment, from its first planting down to the present hour, when the just sentence is at length heard, 'Cut it down, therefore, why cumbereth it the ground.' " (Very Eev. D. MacCarthy, D.D., Vice-President and Professor of SS. Scripture, College, Maynooth, 1868.) In addition to the foregoing reasons, the character of the age on which we have ffillen considerably influenced me in publishing a Commentary on the Gospels at the present time. Was it ever more necessary at any period in the history of Christianity than it is at the present day, to place before the world, in as clear a light as possible, an exposition, in accordance with the unerring teachings of the Catholic Church, of the fundamental principles of faith and morals, with which the Son of God came down to enlighten a world which He found sitting in darkness, and in the shadow of death ? Does the condition, into which many parts of the world are at this moment relapsing promise to be an improvement on that state of Paganism, in which He found it when He came to proclaim glory to God and peace to men ? Has not His spouse and repre- sentative, the Catholic Church, with whom He deposited the fulness of truth, and to whom He bequeathed the plenitude of His authority, as fierce a struggle before her, enemies as embittered to encounter, as she had when she was forced to seek shelter • Kot Bishop Jebb, bnt his uncle Dean Jebb of CasheL INTRODUCTION. for a time in the bowels of the earth, and the Flavian Amphitheatre re-echoed to the savage yells of " Christianos ad leonos.^^ Are the principles of atheism, materialism, total negation of all future sanction, dimly shadowed forth even in the very fables of Paganism, less deadly or noxious in their consequences, both as regards here and hereafter, than the principles of polytheism she succeeded in utterly extirpating? As regards public authority, was the all-absorbing power of the Pagan rulers more crushing than the iron despotism men would now fain establish, in the most powerful kingdoms, under the specious name of liberty? Liberty — that name, like religion itself, so often injuriously invoked, which can never be found dissociated from the holy influences of God's Spirit, for, " JFhere the Spirit of the Lord is, there (and there only) is lilerty " (2 Cor. iii. I?). Do we not every day see efforts persistently made, and unjustly enforced, even at the certain risk of anarchy, to render to Coesar not only what belongs to Ctcsar, but also to concentrate in him all rights, human and Divine ; to constitute him the sole guardian, depositary, and dispenser of what belongs to God ; and this, in defiance of all the principles of true liberty, despite solemn treaties, and in vielation of all guaranteed rights of conscience ? Does not this all-absorbing power of the State, resting solely on brute force, by an unholy league which embraces both hemispheres. , unjustly inv£_^ 26 COMMENTAEY ON historically records, to convey an idea of the universal reign of the Messiah, not only over Juda, among whose cities Bethlehem, humanly speaking, was rather insignificant, but over the entire people of Israel, embracing all the peoples of the earth who were spiritually numbered in Israel, and born of Abraham, through Isaac, the heir of God's promises. 7. " Then " — after ascertaining the birthplace of the Messiah, according to the prediction of the ancient prophecies — '^privately calling the wise men.'''' He wished to know noiselessly all about the appearance of the star which indicated the birth of the Messiah, in order to compass his murderous designs the more securely, by removing all grounds for excitement among the people, which the public discussion of the particulars respecting the apparition of this miraculous star was calculated to produce in so large a city, and among a people who had been so long anxiously awaiting this happy event. " Learned diligently the time of the star,-- &c. He concluded that the Messiah must have been born at the time of the star's appearing ; and having already ascertained the place, he woxdd now ascertain the time of His birth, in order to ensure the success of his designs on the life of the child, so that if the Magi should proceed home without returning, he still would have secured all the necessary information to enable him successfully to effect his wicked purpose. Our Redeemer calls his son, who, no doubt, inherited his father's vices, a fox " Go, tell that fox" (Luke xiii. 32). 8. The murderous hypocrisy displayed here may be easily seen from the steps he had taken to adore^BAm. (v. 16). Of course, he meant to do away with Him. " After the child.''' He could not bring himself to style Him the " the King of the Jews," as the Magi had designated him. Perhaps he employs this simple form to conceal more effectually, by this affected indifference, his murderous designs. It was, possibly, from the same motive he omitted sending any person to accompany ih.Q Magi, lest the presence of his satellites might put either the people of Bethlehem or the parents and supposed attendants of the child on their guard. No floubt, be his wicked designs what they may, this was all arranged by the overruling' providence of Grod, who is sure to compass His ends, sweetly, but infallibly. " Deus, cujusProvidentia in sui dispositione non fallitur" (Dom. vii., Post Pentecost). 9. " Haling heard the king,*' of whose wicked designs and feelings on the occasion of the intelligence imparted by them, they were, doubtless, unconscious, " went their way " towards Bethlehem, whither he despatched them (v. 8). " The star they had seen in the East." Prom this, some expositors infer, contrary to the commonly received opinion, that the star did not move before them from the East guiding them on their journey. However, there seems to be no argument here against the common opinion ; for, it is not denied that it did go before them. '• Went before them " — appeared in its original brilliancy. This would rather imply that the star did go before them in the previous part of their journey. It disappeared at Jerusalem, in order to force the Magi to prosecute their search by making inquiries through the ordinary human channels of information, and thus proclaim the birth of the child whom they came to seek. " Stood over where the child was." It moved no longer ; so as to indicate to them that they had now reached the term of their journey. It is quite clear that this was not one of the stars belonging to our system, from its position in the lower regions of the air. otherwise, it could not indicate a particular place ; from its motion from ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. II. 27 East to West, and from North to South — Bethlehem was seven miles to the south-west of Jerusalem — also from its appearing, most likely, in the daytime; as, probably, it was in the daytime, the Magi left Herod for Bethlehem in search of the child ; and also from its remaining stationary ; the fixed stars in the firmament and the comets, which are in the upper regions of the atmosphere, being ever in motion. 10. The reappearance of the star filled them with exceedingly great joy. All their V- fears and doubts are banished ; for, now they have a heavenly, divine indication assuring them of the prosperous issue of their journey. Now, by anticipation, they enjoy the well-earned reward of their toilsome journey, of their undoubting confidence in trusting themselves to the guidance of God's unerring providence, in whom no one ever confided and was confounded. " In Te Domine, speravi, nan confunda/r in externum " (Psa. XXX.) — " In Thee, Lord, have I hoped, let me never he confounded.'''' 11. " The house ' ' is commonly understood by the holy Fathers, to refer to the stable S" where our Lord was born. This is called, a house, in accordance with Jewish usage, which gives the name of '■'■house'''' to every dwelling place. Thus the Psalmist (ciii. 17) calls the heron's nest his house, ** Serodii domus.^'' Others say it refers to some more commodious dwelling to which our divine Lord was transferred. Those who, with St. Epiphanius, &c., maintain tliat it was only two years after His birth the Magi adored our Lord at Bethlehem (v. 16), after sojourning in the meantime at Nazareth, are unanimous in asserting, that the place where the Magi saw our Lord was a house different from the stable where He was born. The same opinion is adopted by others who do not share in the views of St. Epiphanius, &c. But, the common opinion of almost all the holy Fathers and ancient writers is, that the word " house ^' lefers to the stable in which our Redeemer was born. ^^ They found the child with Mary H'is mother. ^^ Probably, Joseph was absent on w some domestic business on this occasion. Providence so arranging it, lest the Magi, who might have learned from the Sybilline books, or from other sources, that the future deliverer of Juda was to be born of a virgin, should imagine he was the father of the child ; and the Blessed Virgin, having brought forth our Lord without the throes of childbirth — the punishment of woman's sin — was, in the absence of al7 attendants, able to mind her ordinary domestic duties ; or, if Joseph was present, which is most likely — as it is hard to think, after all he suffered, he would be deprived of this consoling spectacle — he was designed in the phrase, ^' Mary, Mis motJier," since, with her, he was the guardian and protector of Jesus Christ. The phrase, '■^ Mary His mother," without being meant to exclude Joseph, conveys that Joseph and Mary so acted in the presence of the Magi that, by Divine instinct, these understood that our Lord was not begotten after the manner of other children, but by the power and operation of the Holy Ghost. Most likely, the Blessed Virgin, who was, doubtless, endowed with the gift of tongues, conversed with the Magi, and narrated to them the wonders connected with the birth of the adorable infant. Hence, interiorly enlightened by Divine faith, ^^ falling down, they adored Sim,^'' not merely as the tribute due to an earthly king, but as a homage due to the God of heaven. Whatever may be the etymological meaning of the word '•'■adore" {-nrpoo-KweS)) — which in the Scriptures of the Old Testament is sometimes used to designate mere civil respect and reverence (Gen. xxiii. 7), in the New Testament, however, it has always reference to religious worship — it is the opinion of the hol^^ Fathers generally, among them, Irenseus, Chrysostom, &c., that here the word denotes Divine honour, and that these Magi were enligntened by the Holy Spirit to believe in our Lord's Divinity, and •28 COMMENTAEY ON to adore Him, as God ; and, indeed, the entire history of their coming to Jerusalem, •with all its circumstances, would hardly leave us any grounds for arriving at any other conclusion. For, as Patrizzi well observes (Diss, xxvii. de Magis), it is clear the Magi regarded our Lord in a different light from other kings ; for, how could it possibly happen, that one would proceed to venerate a foreign king hardly iishered into existence, and that from a far distant country, without any hope of emolument; nay, with manifest danger arising from the jealousy of another king ? Arriving at Jerusalem, where they discovered that Herod reigned, if they thought of a mere earthly king, would they not have supposed Him to be Herod's son ; that the only place to find Him was the Royal Palace; why then cry out, " TTbi est qui natus est, Sfc.^^ f And although they find Him to be unknown to the Jews themselves ; still, they have no doubt regarding Him. They perceive that the sources of information consulted are the oracles of the ancient Prophets, and the answer to their question to be given from that quarter. If there were question of a mere earthly king, could Herod's offer to adore an infant king, born of his own subjects, in his own dominions, have any meaning ? Although they discover Him without the ordinary insignia of royalty, in a state ofhumiliation, they still ^^ fell down and adored Him.'''' Could this be so if they had only human ideas regarding Him ? They must have regarded Him in the true light of a Man-God — the repairer of the human race, especially as it was not unlikely that the Spirit of God enlightened their minds, and that the Blessed Virgin disclosed to them the wondrous circumstances of His birth, &c., rather than as the carnal Jews expected Him as a temporal ruler, who was to subject to His sway all nations; for, viewed in this latter capacity, they should naturally entertain feelings of aversion for Him. '■'■And opening their treasures,''^ &c., that is, the caskets in which they carried the precious gifts destined for the new-born King. It was a custom among the Easterns that no one would visit a king or prince, at least for the first time, without presenting gifts to him. The law of Moses prescribed " non apparehis in conspeetu meo vacuus.^' (Exod. xxxi., &c.) Thus we also find the Queen of Saba bringing costly gifts to Solomon, and receiving costlier still (2 Par. ix. 12). The Magi present to our Lord "gold," &c., gifts with which their country abounded. We are informed by Ezechiel (xxvii. 22) and by Pliny (Lib. xii. c. 14). that these gifts were found in great abundance in Arabia, from which the Magi, most likely, had come. In the time of St. Epiphanius (Expositio Oath. Fid.) it was a tradition among the Jews, that Abraham gave his children, by Cetura, gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, and now the Magi, their descendants, after his example, present the same gifts to the infant God. Whether they believed Him to be the Man-God (which is most likely) or not, these gifts are interpreted by the holy Fathers to have a very liiarked and significant adaptation for expressing this belief. Even though they did not under- stand this significance, still the holy Fathers are almost unanimous in asserting that the providence of God arranged these gifts so as to convey this meaning, just as the anointing of our Lord's feet by Magdalene had reference to His death and burial (^' ad sepeliendum me feciV), although, probably, she never meant it. "6^o/(f"i8a present suited for a king, or to express royal dignity ; franhincense, which was used in sacrifice, was a suitable gift to be offered to God; and '■'■myrrh," which was used for preserving and embalming bodies, suited as a present to Him as a mortal man ; so that these presents were a real and practical profession of belief in His kingly dignity, in His Divine and Human natures. This was well expressed by an ancient writer, the poet Juvencus : "■ Anrum, thts, myrrliam regique hominique Deoque dona fer tint." These gifts denote that this was He of whom the Prophets sung (Isa. xl. ; Psa. Ixxi.), •' Otnnes de Saba venien-i axirum et thus d^f&rentes ;" "Reyes Tharsis et InauhE munern ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. ll. 29 efferent, re^es Arabum" &c. These gifts signified the ofi'erings we should present to Q-od : oi charity, symbolized by. -om that time," i.e., from the time that John was imprisoned, and our Lord took up His abode in Capharnaum, *' Jesus hegan to preach,'''' publicly and unceasingly. No doubt, He had already preached among the Samaritans, and had baptized by His disciples, and, most likely, the miracles He had performed (John ii. 23 ; iv. 45) were accompanied with instruction. But, it was not till after the imprison- ment of the Baptist, and the work of the precursor was accomplished, that the Sun of Justice publicly appeared, and our Lord publicly entered on the mission of preaching everywhere through Judea and Galilee. ^' Me stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, heginning from Galilee to this place " (Luke xxiii. 5). ^'' Do penance." He commences with the same theme as the Baptist's, to confirm his preaching, and show how thoroughly both were in unison (see iii. 1). St. Mark (i. 15) says, our Lord preached, " The time is accomplished, and the kingdom of God is at hand," i.e., the time marked out by God for the coming of His Son, and the accomplishment of all the prophecies — ^the time so eagerly looked forward to by the entire Jewish nation, who were expecting their deliverer — has arrived. He is now among them, to open the gates of that kingdom so long closed against them. But, in order to obtain these spiritual blessings, now about to be plenteously dispensed, St. Mark adds, that our Lord proposed two things : let, to do penance; 2nd, to believe the Gospel (Mark i. 15), which is an abstract of all our duties, both in regard to faith and moral conduct. TEXT. 18. And Jesus walking hy the sea of Galilee, saw two 'brethren, Simon who ts called Peter, and Andrew his brotJier, casting a net into the sea (for they were fishers). 19. And he saith to them : Gome ye after me, and I tvill make you to be fishers ofmsn. 20. And they immediately leaving their nets, followed him. 21. 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. 22. And they forthwith left their nets and father and followed him. 23. And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the Gospel of tJw kingdom : and healing all manner of sickness and every infirmity, among the people. 24. And his fame went throughout all Syria, and they presented to him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and such as were possessed by devils, and lunatics, and those that had the palsy, and he cured them : 25. Andjnuch people folloiced him from Galilee, and from DecapoJis, and from JerU' talem, a'ndfrom Judea, and from beyond th& Jordan. COMMENTARY. 18. " And Jesus walking by the Sea of Galilee," near which Capharnaum was built Our Lord having now entered on His public mission, resolved on attaching to Himself as witnesses — non possumus quce vidimus et audivimus non loqui (Acts iv. 20) — of His doctrine and miracles, a body of men to whom He was to delegate the pleni- tude of the power given Him by His Eternal Father, to be transmitted by them to faithful men, who were to be in succession, to the end of time, charged with the government of the kingdom, He was to establish, viz., the kingdom of His Church. Hence, in view of the withdrawal of His visible presence. He sets about choosing His followers and representatives ; and these He takes from the foolish, base, and contemptible things of this world, to prove that the wonderful success of the Gospel ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. IV. 69 was solely the woi-k of God, and not of man. While " ■walldng," our Lord was medi- tating on the means of establisliing and consolidating this kingdom. " Sea of Galilee,'^ so called, because on the confines of Upper and Lower Galilee, It is a fresh-water lake, about thirteen miles in length. The river Jordan flows through it. It is also called " the Lalce of GenesareW^ from the country of that name on its western shores ; or from a town of that name, whose site was afterwards occupied hy the city of Tiberias ; also " the Sea of Tiber ias,''^ from the name of the town close by it. All large collections of water were, by a Hebrew idiom, termed seas. ^'He saw two Ir others, Simon" &c. This calling of Peter and Andrew is quite different from the introduction to our Lord, of Andrew, who before was a disciple of John, and the introduction, through him, of Peter to our Lord, recorded (John i. 42), as this latter can hardly be termed a vocation at all. The Baptist was not then in prison. It is disputed whether the vocation recorded here, as also in Mark (i. 16-20), be the same, as that recorded in Luke (v. 1-11). Some expositors, with St. Augustine, Maldonatus, &c., say it is not. These maintain, that there were three calls of Peter, &c. The first (John i. 42), when there is question of a call to the knowledge and faith of Christ. The second (Luke v. 1-11), a call to familiar intercourse with our Lord. The third, the call to the Apostleship referred to here and Mark (i. 16-20). Maldonatus maintains, that, although on the occasion recorded by St, Luke, the Apostles '■^leaving all things, followed Him," and attached themselves to Him as His friends and disciples, and had been present at His miracles at Cana and Judea (John ii, 2, 11, 23; John iii, 22; iv. 2 ; Acts i. 21, 22) ; still, they were not calleA to the Apostleship, save on the occasion referred to here by St. Matthew, who expressly says, ^^ He called them" With this call, they faithfully corresponded, never again leaving Him nor resuming their former occupation as a profession, save only for recreation and diversion, to banish the grief caused by His death (John xxi. 3). It is, however, more generally held, and seems more likely, that however, Matthew here and Luke (v. 1-11) may differ in detailing circumstances, they both refer to the same event. They both agree in detailing one fact, viz., that " leaving all things, the Apostles followed Him" (Matthew iv. 20-22 ; Luke v. 11) ; and it is by no means likely that, having once followed Him, they again putting their hand to the plough, looking back, rendered themselves unfit for the kingdom of God. The difference in the detailed account of circumstances given by Matthew and Luke in reference to the same event may be easily reconciled, if it be borne in mind, that it is usual with St. Luke to detail events more fully and circumstantially, while he refers to the order of events, only in a general way. Whereas, Matthew is more particular in detailing the order of events than the circumstances ; and in the history of the Gospel, it is observable, that one Evangelist describes certain circumstances often omitted by the other, even when speaking of the same thing, and, vice versa ; so that, by connecting both, we generally have a full and detailed account of the events they record. And, in reference to this call of the Apostles, one Evangelist in describing it, does not deny what the other records. When St. Luke says, ** they followed Him," after the miraculous draught of fishes (v. 11), he does not say that this happened at the same instant. Hence, he does not contradict St. Matthew's narrative regarding the short interval between the call of the brothers, Simon and Andrew, and John and James, and the successive order in which they were called, " and going on thence " (v. 21). The miraculous draught of fishes recorded by St. Luke as preceding, and leading to, the call of the Apostles (c. v.), St. Matthew only omits, but does not deny. When St, Matthew says, our Lord saw *' two Irethren casting a net into the sea," his words may be verified of His own command to them to do so, as St. Luke (v.) states 70 COMMENTAEY ON The sons of Zebedee having assisted Simon and Andrew in the haul of fishes, were afterwards found by our Lard mending their nets, and then called by Him, who before that had called Simon and Andrew ; and the former, having " left their nets and their father^^ (v. 22), which is put for all their possessions and occupations, and equivalent to the words of St. Luke, ^^ leaving all things," followed Him. The ord T of events, then, was this : Our Lord was walking along the Sea of Galilee, and, pressed by the crowds who wished to hear Him, He entered Peter's boat moored to the beach, and from it taught the multitudes. He then performed the miracle, and immediately after called Simon and Andrew. The words (Luke v. 10), "/roOT henceforth thou shalt catch men,'" are perfectly similar to those (Matt. iv. 19), ^^ I will make you to le fishers," &c. For, when our Lord says that a thing will be, it is equivalent to His doing it. Then, proceeding a little further on, where the sons of Zebedee, who had before that assisted in the miraculous draught of fishes, had returned to mend their nets, He called them also, who, leaving all, followed Him. ** Walking hy the Sea of Galilee,'" and " seeing two brothers casting a net into the sea," need not be understood to have occurred at the same time. He saw them casting the net after He Himself had commanded them to do so. (Luke v.) 19. '■'■Fishers of men," that is, destined to bring men into the Church and to life eternal. This is said in allusion to their former occupation. Our Lord is fond of borrowing examples from the ordinary occupations of those He addresses. The words are in accordance with the prophecy (Jer. xvi.), " Behold I shall send many fishers, and they shall fish them ; many hunters, and they shall hunt them," &c. It is not undeserving of remark, what St. Luke pointedly records, viz., that it was up into Peter's ship, our Lord went to teach ; that it was to Peter He specially applied the woi'ds, ^^ eris capiens homines" (c. v. 10), all, no doubt, strikingl}^ significative of the special prerogative of primacy of jurisdiction, granted afterwards to him, over the universal Church (Matt. xvi. 18, 19) ; " lambs aiid sheep," i.e., pastors and people (John xxi.lo). 20. Hecognising His voice, in whom they believed, on the testimony of John, whose miracles they witnessed, especially the latest one, in the capture of the fishes, they at once, while the Holy Q-host interiorly enlightened them, obey His call, gene- rously resigning themselves to His Fatherly protection and providence, for all their future wants and necessities. 21. ^^ James, the son of Zebedee," to distinguish him from James, the son of Alpheus, called James the lesser, " and John, his brother," the Evangelist. 23. ' * Went about all Galilee," accompanied by the four disciples referred to. He did not confine Himself, like the Baptist, to any particular place, where the people flocked to Him ; but He Himself, the heavenly Physician, who came to save what was lost, went about in quest of those who needed Him. ^^All Galilee," vifhick we learn from Josophus (Lib.iii.de Bel. c. 2), was very populous. *' Teaching in their synagogues," out of the sacred books, the doctrines of salvation, and the meaning of their sacred oracles, so as to prepare them for the G-ospol, and also ^^ preaching the Gospel of the kingdom " i.e., proposing to them the joyous tidings regarding the near ajiproach of the kingdom of Heaven (see iii. 1). The word *^ Synagogue," according to etymology, like the word " C/mrcA," means assembly or congregation ; and generally, as here, the word denotes the place, where the Jews ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. IV. 71 were wont to assemble on Sabbath, and festival days for religious purposes, prayer, reading the Holy Scriptures, explanation of the Law and the Prophets, &c. The use of synagogues is supposed by many to take its origin from the Babylonish Captivity, when the Jews, far away from the Temple, assembled together for religious pur- poses, especially in the houses of the Prophets, or of some other holy men, to hear religious instruction, or the reading of the sacred books (Ezech. xiv. 1 ; xx. 1 ; Dan. vi. 1). After their return from captivity, they had similar places specially set apart for religious purposes, for reading and explaining the law, and for prayer. They had only one place for sacrifice, viz., the Temple of Jerusalem. But, they had several synagogues. According to Josephus, the erection of synagogues was more ancient in other countries than in Palestine, where they appear, for the first time, under the Asmonean Princes. At the time of our Lord, wherever a congregation of Jews could be found, there was a synagogue. They were to be found in every town, and more than one in large towns or cities. It is said that, in the time of our Lord, Jerusalem alone contained 480 synagogues. Although, by law, the right of teaching belonged to the Priests and Levites ; and by custom, to the Scribes ; still, any one learned in the law might be invited and allowed to teach there (Acts xiii. 15). Hence, our Lord, although He belonged to neither class of Priests or Scribes, taught in the synagogues, as most suitable for propounding His doctrine, which He did not choose to preach in a corner, but in places most frequented, where it might reach all. He also preached outside the synagogues, wherever an opportunity of addressing large multitudes presented itself. ^^ And healing all manner of sicTcness,''^ i.e., inveterate habitual bodily distempers of every kind, whether curable by the healing art or not, " and every infirmity,''^ i.e., the languor and debility which precede inveterate confirmed bodily diseases. 24. ^' Fame,''^ the rumour of His doctrine and wonderful miracles. *^ All Syria," a very extensive district, bounded by Cilicia, on the north ; Egypt, on the south ; the Mediterranean, on the west ; and the Euphrates, on the east. In a word, it com- prised all the countries between the Mediterranean and the Euphrates. It embraced Idumea, Palestine, Syro-Phoenicia, Syria of Damascus, Arabia, Judsea, Pserea, Gralilee, and Samaria. " And they presented to JSim," owing to the fame of His miracles, all kinds "of sick people, that were taken with divers diseases, and torments," i.e., persons whose limbs were contracted from excruciating, torturing pains similar to those caused by being distended on the rack, " and such as were possessed by devils," whom the devils bodUy possessed and tortured. Of these demoniacs, we have several instances in the Gospel. The fact of their corporal possession is shown from the preternatural acts they per- formed, and the language they indulged in, and the mode in which our Redeemer employed, on more than one occasion, for expelling them, and the effects of such expulsion. "Lunatics " and epileptics were, in some cases, considered to be under demo- niac influences; but, here " lunatics" are distinguished from demoniacs. The sign4 ■which showed the working of demons are mentioned in several cases in the Gospel. Our Redeemer recognises the operations of the evil spirit, whom He rebukes and chastises. Hence, the fact of demoniac possession did not rest on a mere popular per- suasion. "Lunatics," who sufi'ered from changes of the moon, such as epileptics afflicted with the fallen sickness; "those that had the palsy," paralytics, who suffered irovn paralysis of the limbs. "And He cured them all." He confirmed His doctrine by miracles wrought tr alleviate the miseries of the people, and bring comfort to the miserable and afflicted 72 COMMENTAEY ON 25. "From Galilee,^' which had tracts of land each bide of the Jordan. " Follotved JETim,^^ in His missionary excursions among the people, attracted by the fame of His miracles. " Decapolis," the district of the ten small cities on the east of the Upper Jordan, and the Sea of Tiberias, including also a portion of Southern Galilee, around Scythopolis. Authors are not agreed in numbering them. The principal of them is called by Josephus (de Bel. Jud., c. x.), Scythopolis, or Bethsan. " Judea,^^ strictly speaking, comprised Juda and Benjamin, the southern part of Palestine, between Samaria and Idumea. "Beyond the Jordan," the districts of Euben, Grad, and half tribe of Manasses, and the country east of the Jordan. CHAPTER V. ANALYSIS. In this chapter we have a full account of a portion of our Eedeemer's admirable discourse, com- monly called, the Sermon on the Mount, continued and concluded in the two succeeding chapters, in which He delivers a comprehensive abstract of Christian faith and morality, perfecting at the same time the Law of Moses, and correcting the false glosses and corrupt interpretations of the Scribes and Pharisees. The Evangelist first briefly describes the circumstances in which it was delivered (1-2). He next records our Redeemer's words, in which are pointed out the means for arriving at the secure enjoyment of happiness, commonly termed, the eight beatitudes; the very opposite of what mankind had hitherto supposed and followed, as the means of happiness (3-12). He admonishes the Apostles and all prelates, of their strict duty to edify and enlighten others by the example of a holy life and the shining light of pure doctrine (13-16). Meeting a charge to which His doctrine of perfection might expose Him, He shows, that far from being the enemy of the Law and the Prophets, He thoroughly fulfils and perfects them ; and He declares, that the observance of the law by His fol- lowers must far exceed that of those reputed to be most observant among the Jews, viz., the Scribes and Phaidsees (17-20). He more fully propounds the precept of the Decalogue relating to homicide ; and He shows that the moral guilt and eternal punishment attached to it are incurred by those who violate it not only by act, but by thought or word ; and as a means of observing it, He points out the necessity of fraternal union and concord (21-26). He next explains the law on the subject of adul- ter}', which He declares to be violated by deliberate and -s^dlful thoughts ; and He insists on the necessity of sacrificing every object, however near or dear to us, that may prove the occasion of sin (27-30). He explains the law of divorce (31-32). He next fully explains the law on the subject of perjury, and shows the extent to which it binds us (33-37). He next explains the law of retaliation, lex talionis, and shows the retaliation alone suited to a Christian — forgiveness, patience, beneficence (38-42). He fully explains the law relating to the love of our enemies, and He points out the motives for the perfect observance of this precept (43-48). TEXT. A NB, neeing the multitudes he went up into a mountain, and when he was set down, his disciples came unto him. 2. And opening his mouth he taught them, saying : 3. Blessed are the poor in spirit : for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4. Blessed are the meek: for they shall possess the land. 5. Blessed are they that mourn : for they shall be comforted. 6. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice : for they shall have their JUL 7. Blessed are the merciful : for they shall obtain mercy. 8. Blessed are the clean of heart : for they shall see God. 9. Blessed are the peace-makers : for they shall be called the children of God. 10. Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake : for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11. Blesfii'd are ye when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you. untrnlt/, for my sake ; 12. Be g.'ad and rejiiice,Jbr your reward is very great in heaven. For so they persecuud the prophets that were before yuu. ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. V. 73 COMMENTARY. 1. ^^ And seeing the multitude, Se went up into a mountain.^^ St. Jerome thinks it was Mount Thabor, or some other mountain in Q-alilee. The first question which suggests itself here is, whether the discourse recorded by St. Matthew be the same as that in the Grospel of St. Luke (vi. 20-49), the circumstances of which are narrated in the preceding part of the chapter, particularly from v. 12 to v. 20, as also in St. Mark (iii. 13-19?) On this subject, there is a great diversity of opinion — some answering in the affirmative ; others, in the negative. The opinion of those who say, that Matthew and Luke give the same identical discourse, seems the more probable . First, the commencement, the body, the termination of each discourse, in both Evangelists, is nearly the same. Each commences with the Beatitudes, and terminates with the beautiful simile of the house built on the rock, and of the house built on the sand. The body, or intermediate part, of the discourse in each, contains the peculiar doctrine of Christ, both as to the works to be performed, and the motives from which they should proceed. After it, both Evangelists record the cure of the Centurion's servant after He entered Capharnaum. Secondly ; the difficulties against this opinion, on the ground of the difference of circumstances referred to by both Evangelists, are very trifling, and more apparent than real. This will appear clear if all the circum- stances, as collected from the three Evangelists, be fully considered. They appear to be as follows: — Our Eedeemer having cured the man with the withered hand (Luke vi. ; Mark iii. ; Matthew xii.), on the Sabbath day, betook Himself, in order to avoid the fury of the Pharisees, to the Sea of Galilee, and after having performed several miraculous cures, He ascended the mountain in order to avoid the crowd, and there spent the whole night in prayer ; and in the morning, " when it was day " (Luke vi. 13), He selected the twelve Apostles. After that. He came down into a plain or level ground, on the side of the mountain, and delivered this discourse in presence of His disciples, more particularly addressing some points of it, to His disciples, and other portions of it, to the multitude. For, " the people, after Jesus had fully ended these words, loere in admiration at His doctrine " (Matt. vii. 28). They must, thereforp, liave heard it Moreover, St. Luke, who says that at the commence- ment of the discourse, '■'■He lifted up His eyes on His disciples^' (vi. 20), tells us (vii. 1), " that He had finished all His words, in the hea/ring of the people.^'' What one Evangelist asserts the other does not deny ; and in reconciling any apparent discrepancies between them, we should bear in mind the character which marks the Gospel of St. Matthew, and that which distinguishes the Gospel of St. Luke. St. Matthew is remarkable for passing over facts and circumstances, when they come not directly within his scope ; but always careful in recording fully, and in detail, the words of our Eedeemer. St. Luke, on the other hand, is very particular in recording facts and circumstances, but not so diffuse, as St. Matthew, in detailing words. Hence, St. Matthew omits the object of our Eedeemer in ascending the mountain, the selection of the Apostles on the top of the mountain — for, he had not hitherto described his own call to be a disciple of our Lord ; this he does (c. x.) — the descent into the plain, or level tract of ground on the side of the mountain, where the multitude awaited Him. All these facts are recorded by St. Luke, and only omitted, but not denied by St. Matthew. Whatever, then, St. Luke says of the "-plain'' (vi. 17), is not in opposition to what St. Matthew says of ''the mountain,''' as, in the supposition made, the open plain was a part of the mountain-side When, then, St. Luke says our Lord selected His Apostles on the mountain (vi. 13), St. Matthew does not deny this. Neither does he deny t^:!e object of our Lord in ascending the mountain, viz., to pray. Neither 74 COMMENTARY ON does he deny, that He delivered the discourse, in a standing posture. He only says, ^^ His disciiiles came to Sim when He wan set down,^'' but he says nothing of the posture of His body, when delivering the discourse. Nay, St. Matthew would insinuate that the discourse was delivered by Him on an occasion different from that referred to when ^^JSe sat down." For, it was to avoid the multitudes He ''went up into a mountain,'* and, then, the disciples came to Him, apart from the crowd. Now, the crowds heard the discourse ; for, tJiei/ admired it. It must be, then, on another occasion and in another place it was delivered, which St. Luke says was an open plain, and in a standing posture ; although, indeed, it may be held that neither Evangelist records anything conclusive, as regards the posture of His body, whether sitting or standing, when delivering the discourse. St. Luke says, "Se stood in a plain place" (vi. 17) ; but, He may have sat down before He commenced the discourse. St. Matthew says. He sat, when His disciples came to Him. But, He may have stood up before commencing His discourse. St. Luke gives but four Beatitudes ; but, they contain the eight Beatitudes of St. Matthew ; and \h.Q first and last coincide in both. It seems most probable that St. Matthew records but one discourse delivered by our Kedeemer at one and the same time. Indeed, a close, critical analysis of the discourse, as recorded by St. Matthew, composed of the several parts which constitutes a perfect discourse — its exordium in the Beatitudes, the proposition of the subject, the refutation of the objections, in the intermediate part, and its perfect peroration — would lead any judicious mind to the conclusion that it records one single, perfect discourse, and not two or more discourses, so bonnected by the Evangelist, as to present only the appearance of one. From this it follows, that St. Luke, who omits all that is recorded in the sixth chapter of St. Matthew, gives only a part of the discourse, or rather the disjointed parts of that delivered by our Redeemer ; and, indeed this, too, would appear from a close examination of the discourse recorded by St. Luke. It seems most likely, if not altogether certain, that this discourse was delivered, not a portion of it before the Apostles alone, and a portion before the multitude, but aH at once, and entirely in the hearing of the Apostles, disciples, and multitude. It is evident that the sermon, as recorded by St. Luke, is a portion of that recorded by St. Matthew. Now, by neither Evangelist are we told that a portion was delivei-ed before the Apostles alone, and a portion before the multitude — a circumstance the Evangelists would hardly omit recording, were it a fact. In truth, they record the contrarj^ ; for, St. Matthew tells us (vii. 28), that, *' the people were in admiration at His doctrine,'' after finishing His words. They, therefore, must have heard all His words. St. Luke tells us, the crowd came ''to hear Him" (vi. 18), that "He cured those who were troubled with unclean spirits ;" and without the slightest intimation that He retired a second time from them, St. Luke tells us, all at once, that He addressed them, " lifting up His eyes on His disciples," an omission, if such it were, that would hardly occur in St. Luke, who is most accurate in detailing the actions of our Divine Redeemer. St. Luke also says (vii. 1), "that He had finished all these words in the hearing of the people" which are identical with the words of St. Matthew (vii. 28), and uttered in the same circumstances, after the example of the house built on the rock, and before he entered Capharnaum. The fact of our Redeemer having His disciples near Him, and raising His eyes upon them, proves nothing whatever against this opinion ; since, even supposing the entire multitude to be present, it is but natural that His beloved disciples were near Him, and surrounded His sacred person. If He addressed some portions of His discourse to them in particular, and some to the multitude, He did no more than is done every day by men who address diversified congregations, composed of priests, and laity, and persons in several conditions of ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. V. 75 life. Nothing more common than to hear portions of a discourse peculiarly addressed to one class of men, and peculiarly to another, for whom they may be specially suited, while each part, in a general way, may apply to all. Certain counsels of perfection were in a special manner addressed by our Redeemer, in this sermon, to His Apostles — certain admonitions which, in a general waj^, applied to the entire multitude. It seems, then, all but certain that this discourse was addressed all at once to the Apostles, disciples, and assembled multitudes, " who came to hear our Lord, and to he healed of their diseases^'' (Luke vi. 18). "■Andichen Hewas set down.^^ St. Matthew does not here say. He sat down when delivei'ing the discourse. Nor, indeed, does it follow necessarily from St. Luke, that He delivered it standing. St. Luke only says, " J?e stood in an open plain'''' (vi. 17) ; but. He might have sat down before commencing His discourse, so that from neither account can the posture of His body, while speaking, be determined for certain. " His disciples came unto Him.'''' St. Luke (vi. 13 ; Mark iii. 13), says, this coming was the result of His having " called'''' them to Him. 2. " And opening His mouth," is understood by some to convey, that heretofore, up to the present time, He opened the mouths of the prophets, but now He opens His own moutli, to disclose treasures of wisdom hitherto concealed from mankind. St. Chrysostom understands the words to mean, that now He is about to employ a vehicle of instruction, viz., through words, different from that conveyed by the silent eloquence of His life and miracles. Others, whose opinion is yery probable, interpret the words ; now, He is about to treat diffusely of sublime and important truths, hitherto concealed in mystery. O^iening one's mouth is a Hebrew idiom, serving as an introduction to a solemn and important discourse. Thus it is said of Job, '■'■aperiem 09 suum Joh maledixit," &c. (Job iii. 1 ; Dan. x. 16). Our Redeemer had hitherto only touched, in a summary way, on subjects of faith and morals, saying, ^^ poenitentiam agite," &c. Now, He treats diffusely on the chief subjects of Christian faith and morals. 3. *' Blessed." Our Lord proposes, as a stimulus to the practice of the Christian virtues, and perfection of life He is about inculcating, the attainment of what all mer. naturally aspire to, and necessaril}'^ seek, in all they do or suffer. This is happiness. It was to bestow eternal happiness, and rescue man from eternal tortures and misery, the destined punishment of sin, that Jesus Christ came upon earth. It was this, the Vt'hole course of His sacred life, death, and passion had for object. He declares, however, that true happiness is enjoyed in this life only in /iq/je, which results from the adoption of the means for securing eternal happiness hereafter ; or rather, that the means and practices necessary for securing true happiness, are the opposite of what men hitherto imagined, or what the philosophers taught. In truth, the eight Beatitudes announced by the Son of God are so many paradoxes, opposed to all that men hitherto conceived or imagined ; as may clearly be seen on comparing each virtue leading to happiness, with the ideas and practices of mankind. ^^ Blessed" in hope, not in possession; ^^ blessed," in via, but, not yet, inpatria; blessed, not in regard to the certainty of attaining the end, but in regard to future enjoyment, should there be no obstacle arising from want of perseverance. " 27ie poor in spirit." This phrase is variously intei-preted. The Greek word, TTTwxot. means those really poor, destitute of the goods of this world. It is opposed to the really rich in St. l^uke (vi. 24\ Our Lord pronounces, (iontrary to what man- kind always thought, who regarded riclies and worldly possessions as securing the summit of happiness, the state of poverty, to be a state of blessedness ; but, lest it 76 COMMENTARY ON might be imagined that poverty, of itself, conferred happiness, He adds, " in spirit,''^ to show that it must be either poverty vohmtarily assumed, or -Rillingly borne for Christ's sake, and in a spirit of holy conformity to God's adorable will. The words, "m spirit," include in the beatitude, those who are in heart, and will, and affection, detached from the wealth which they possess, as has happened many of the saints of the Old, as also of the New Law, who, though in elevated positions, were still detached from this world, " ats having nothing, and possessing all things" (2 Cor. vi. 10), " «s if they ivere not possessing anything'''' (1 Cor. vii. 30). The words, " in spirit,'" exclude one class and include another. They exclude thosi. poor, who, being such, fail to conform to Grod's holy will, and bear not their sufferings and privations with patience. Many poor may be robbers, liars, »S:c. : poverty must be accompanied with other prescribed virtues. This is always supposed, when there is question of an affi.i*mative proposition. They include a class not actually poor, viz., the rich, whose hearts are weaned from the wealth of this world. These words show that not to all who are actually poor, nor to them only, does the beatitude extend; not to all poor, but only to such of them as are so, in spirit, nor is it confined to them. It embraces those who, though in possession of riches, possess them as if they possessed them not, by detachment of heart. Indeed, our Lord, by exalting poverty, lays the axe to the root of all evils, which is the love of riches, ^^ radix omnium malorum cupidifas " (1 Tim. vi.) The words, "poor in spirit," indirectly mean humility, inasmuch as the love and possession of wealth are apt to render m.en haughty and proud. The words, " in spirit," are to be understood in each of the seven other beatitudes. For, it is to the heart and the interior disposition God chiefly looks, and, indeed, the chief scope of this Sermon on the Mount is to demonstrate the utter worthlessness of external, Pharisaical observances, unless proceeding from the heart, and from pure interior motives. " For theirs is the hingdom of heaven." " Theirs is," at the present moment, not in actual fruition ; but in certain hope, and in virtue of God's unfailing promise. Nay, even, they actually enjoy, by a kind of sensible foretaste and contented happiness, " the hingdom of heaven" which, by its overflowing abundance of heavenly riches and exalted honours, shall amply compensate for the present poverty and depression of God's elect. They shall reign with God, and entering into His rest, shall, in a certain sense, participate in His reign over all creation, "fecisti no8 Deo Nostra regnum et regnalimus super terram" (Apoc. v. 10). Abundance of heavenly riches is a con- gruous reward for those who suffer the loss of all things here below. The same reward is attached to all the beatitudes ; but, viewed under different respects, according to the different virtues w hich merit it, and the privations it is intended to compensate for. To the poor, it is granted under the name of a " hingdom ;" to the meek, under the name of land, &c. 4. "Meeh," not those who, from natural temperament or stoical indifference, quietly bear the evils of life ; but, those who, from a Christian spirit, patiently endure the evils of this life ; if sent by God, without murmuring or repining; if inflicted by man, without retaliation or vengeance, " to no man rendering evil for evil, hut oiercoming evil ly good" (Rom. xii. 17-21), To these, who for God's sake submit to be deprived, by the wicked, of their inheritance, lands, and possessions here, is appropriately assigned as a reward, the inheritance of lands far more valuable, or, the rich inheritance of lieaven, Ufereafter. " Shall possess (in the Greek, shall inherit) the land," is commonly understood after St. Jerome, of the land of the living, viz. ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. V. 77 heaven, '■'■credo videre bona Domini in terra viventium.^'' They shall possess the new heavens and the new eai-th. Indeed, in all these beatitudes, the rewards held out by our Redeemer are heavenly. They all refer to eternal happiness, viewed under different respects. Meekness is very appropriately placed after its kindred virtue of poverty of spirit. One is generally found ai=sociated with the other. The words of our Redeemer are very similar to those of David, " mansueti hcereditabunt terram et (lelectabiintur in muUitudine pacis." (Psa. xxvi.) In the Greek version, this is placed third, in the order of beatitudes. '' Messed are they that mourn " (v. 5), is placed before it, second, in order. 5. " Mourn.'''' The words, " in spirit,'''' are understood to affect this as well as the several other beatitudes. Hence, by mourning ,h.eve is meant, enduring sorrow for our own sins and those of others. It also includes, in general, sorrowing for the adversities and misfortunes of this world, the want of success in life, all patiently endured for God's sake, and in a spirit of resignation to His adorable will. It is opposed to those " who laugh " — " Woe to you who now laugh " (Luke vi. 25) ; the oppressed are opposed to the oppressors ; the vanquished, to their conquerors. In this beatitude, our Redeemer pronounces, contrary to what the world has always believed and prac- tised, that mourning and sorrow, as a state, is preferable to joy and mirth. But^ then, it must be mourning, in the sense already explained. It does not extend to those who mourn from disappointed ambition, or for punishment deservedly inflicted and impatiently endured, nor to that worldly sadness which ^^ worketh death''' (2 Cor. vii. 10). " They shall he comforted,^'' hereafter in heaven, when God shall wipe away every tear from their eye, and there shall be no more mourning, nor sorrow (Apoc. xxi. 4). Even in this life, they sometimes receive consolation in the peace and joy of conscience, which is but a foretaste of everlasting joy to come, which made St. Bernard exclaim, " If it be so sic eet to weep for Thee, what to rejoice with Theef'' Heaven, where no sorrow can enter, shall be their consolation. Everlasting comfort and consolation hereafter is a congruous reward for their virtuous and Christian Borrow and discomfort, for God's sake, in this life. 6. " Who hunger and thirst after justice.'''' In St. Luke, there is merely question of hungering — '■^ that hunger now " (vi. 21). This can hardly be understood of a general desire of justice. For, our Redeemer speaks of special virtues, and the desire of justice referred to, is a general virtue. Moreover, He speaks of what the world dreads and recoils from. Now, the world esteems those who desire to be just and virtuous. And as it is opposed by St. Luke (vi. 25), to those ^^that are filled,''^ on whom is pronounced a woe, " shall hunger" cannot mean spiritual hunger ; nor ^^ filled," filled with justice. Hence, it means real, bodily hunger, which mankind so much dread. Hunger and thirst, however, of themselves, will not secure happiness. Like all the other virtues to which happiness is annexed and promised, it must be "t» spirit;" or, as St. Matthew expresses it, in the cause of justice. Hence, the words mean ; blessed are they who are subjected to hunger and thirst, because justice is refused them, which refusal they bear patiently for God's sake, and to injustice inflicted on them for justice sake ; or, because they endure such suffering rather thav violate justice, regarded as a general virtue, i.e., rather than act against conscience, or, who voluntarily endure hunger and thirst, for an increase in themselves of virtue and sanctity. " ^hall he filled,''^ another form of expressing: the fulness of joy to be reappd for 78 COMMENTARY ON ever in heaven, " inehriabuntur ah uhertate domus ttice, torrente voluptatis tuce potahis ^o«" (Psa. XXXV. 9). 7. This beatitude is apparently subjoined to the preceding, as Mercy and Justice should go hand-in-hand. They supplement each other. *' Merciful," who from tender, compassionate feeling, sympathize — and practically manifest this sym- pathy — in the miseries, whether corporal or spiritual, of others ; who, therefore, are generous in forgiving injuries, as is referred to (Matt, xviii. 28), and by bearing their neighbours' burdens, fulfil the law of Christ (Gral. vi. 2), who are liberal in dis- pensing alms for the relief of bodily want. Hence, our Lord utters here what is a paradox witli the world, who deem it better to receive than to give. This virtue of mercy also inculcates the practical reHef of all the miseries, whether spiritual or cor- poral, of our neighbours. Those who have not the means nor the opportunity of relieving miseries, shoidd have the disposition to do so. The Apostles had no means of relieving the poor; but, they had much injury to pardon. " Thsy shall obtain mercy," eternal life, which shall free them from all evils and miseries. It is an appropriate reward for those who show mercy themselves, to have mercy shown them, and a judgment of mercy — that is, a favourable judgment, passed on them. Eternal life is a mercy from God. It is the fruit of God's mercy and gratuitous gifts, who, " ill crowning our merits hut crowns .Wis own gifts" (St. Aug. Epist. 105). 8. " Chan of heart" is understood by some, of a general purity of conscience, free from duplicity and deceit ; free from the defilement of grievous sin, and wicked, corrupt thoughts and desires of sin, including purity of intention and candid simplicity, so opposed to the spirit of the world, which " totiis in maJigno posit us est" (1 John V. 19). This general purity of heart, so necessary to see God, of course embraces exemption from the sins and desires of the flesh, and the practice of the holy virtue of purity. As bodily humours blind the eyes, and prevent them from seeing the Sim ; so, duplicity of heart and conscience, defiled with wicked desires, is a great obstacle to the vision, i.e., the proper consideration of God in this life, and shall eter- nally exclude from the beatific vision in the life to come. In this life, God will not reveal Himself, nor make Himself Icnown to such as do not look towards Him with simplicity of mind, purity of heart, without defilement, and with upright intention. Others understand the words, of cleanness of heart, in regard to carnal defilement, so that they understand the words, of the holy virtue of purity, both in thought and act. This virtue, which our Lord so much prized and inculcated on His followers ; which He made the distinctive glory, in all its perfection, of His ministers and chosen spouses, was regarded as impossible in the world before His time, and utterly under- valued in practice. *' The coyicupiscence of the flesh " was among the chief predominant maxims in the world. This purity of heart, whether understood of the virtue of chastity, or taken in a more general signification, was ver}' appropriately subjoined to the preceding virtue of mercy, inasmuch as many externally exhibit great mercy and tenderness, who are the slaves of wicked thoughts and carnal indulgence. The word " heart" more directly refers to the affections than to the intellectual faculties of man; and hence, our Redeemer regards beatitude quite difterently from the philosophers, who regarded the learned and wise as approaching nearer to God; or from the Phari- sees, who only looked to external ablutions, regardless of the interior purity which they were intended to signify. " Shall see God" who makes Himself, His perfections, His designs of mercy known to the simple and pure of heart in this life, and shows Himself to them, as He ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. V. 79 IS, ''face to face,'' in the life to come. It is this last, that is held out as the reward, being another form of saying, they shall obtain the bliss of heaven. The seeing of God ^Ti this life, is a means towards the other as its end. 9, "Peflce-jwa/ters," those who devote themselves to the work of reconciling such a? Are at variance, whether with themselves, their neighbours, or with God. The world regards those as happy who bravely overcome and trample under foot their enemies, and display their prowess and strength in doing so. But, our Lord pronounces those, on the contrary, " hlessed,'' who, instead of making a great noise in the world, by the force of their prowess and strength in trampling on their enemies, and thus sow the seeds of further wars and dissensions, devote themselves to the quiet work of reconciling all who are at variance. The Apostles and Apostolic men are included, who, by preaching the Gospel of peace, reconcile man with God. " Shall he called,'' i.e., shall be in reality, and publicly known to be, " the children of God; " like unto God the Father, who is the God of peace and not of dissension ; to God the Son, who came into the world as peace-maker, to reconcile God with man, and man with himself and his fellows ; and as sons of God — and this is the reward directly promised— they shall be sharers in His kingdom, as His heirs and co-heirs of His Son, Christ. This is another form of words promising the happiness of heaven. 10. " Suffer persecution." The preceding beatitudes consist in action; this and the following, which is included in this as a special part of it, consists in suffering, which is more perfect than action — ^' fortia agere, Romanum est ; fortia pati, Christianum.'' Indeed, the preceding beatitudes, entail this, inasmuch as men, by the constant practice of the preceding virtues, bring on themselves persecution from the world — *' opprimamus justum, contrwrius est operibus nostris." It will not secure this beatitude to suffer the just punishment of crime, although this may satisfy common justice and common equity ; what is required here is, to suffer for doing, and for persevering in doing, some good and laudable act ; or, for following a virtuous course of life, rather than escape punishment or persecution. *'Zet no one suffer as a homicide,'' &c. ( 1 Peter iv.), " hut, if for justice' sake, blessed" (in.) ; and, "But if doing well you suffer patiently , this ii praiseworthy before God " (1 Peter ii. 20). Hence, those are referred to, who suffer for the faith ; for the rights of the Church ; for the practice of any Christian virtiie. Pagans and infidels, if they suffer, cannot suffer for justice' sake. It is not the suffering that begets merit or makes the martyr, but the cause. The death of the wicked it not the glory of faith, but the penalty of perfidy (St. Augustine). " Theirs is the Jcingdom of heaven.''' " The hingdom of heaven" is considered in this beatitude, as conferring great exaltation ; since, it is congruous, that those who are trampled on and despised here below, should be exalted hereafter. In the first beatitude, it is regarded as conferring the abundance of heavenly treasures, on those who had no wealth, or were detached from the wealth of this world. It is to be observed that all these beatitudes are connected intimately with one another ; and that happiness is not in store for the man who is possessed of one virtue, and devoid of another. Each of these general promises ol beatitucTo implies ihd condition, provided, nothing else be wanting which is prescribed. Indeed, every affirmative proposition implies such a condition in the general assertion it may convey ; and to each of these eight beatitudes, " the kingdom of heaven " is promised under a difierent name and title, suitable to each work, and to the exercise of each virtue. 80 COMMENTARY ON 1 1 . He applies the preceding beatitude, which, in general, embraces all kinds of persecution for justice' sake, to His Apostles, since a new kind of persecution was in store for them, for Christ's sake ; and He thus forewarns and forearms, and prepares them, for the sufferings that were to await tliem for preaching the Grospel. " W/ieti men shall revile you,^'' and use contumelious, opprobrious language towards you, in yoxir presence ; it is the same as "reproach you " in Luke vi. 22 (oveiSio-coo-j.). " And persecute you,^^ by action — it is more limited than '^persecution,''^ in verse 10 • or verse 12, "persecuted the prophets " — "and lay all manner of evil against you,^^ in youi absence, charging you with all sorts of crimes, wicked motives, and intentions. " Falsely,''^ unjustly calumniating you, and placing false charges to your account. *' For My sake^ They thus speak ill of you, and persecute you ; because, you profess and preach My faith. My Divinity, My death and sufferings to redeem the world. My revelation, hitherto concealed from the world — a subject of scandal and folly to unbelievers — and My moral precepts and commandments, so opposed to the corrupt dictates of flesh and blood. St. Luke has four members in this sentence: " shall hate you,^' ^hioh refers to Ulterior feelings ; " shall separate you, " shall exclude them from all human intercourse , " shall reproach you,^^ the same as "revile you " in St. Matthew ; " and cast out your name as evil," i.e., render their name detestable and abominable among future generations. 12. Our Redeemer not only promises eternal rewards to those who suffer thus on His account ; but He also invites them, far from being cast down by adversity, to rejoice at the prospect of the measureless magnitude of the reward in store for them. He also proposes, as a motive for rejoicing, the example of the ancient prophets, whose successors they are in a still more exalted sense, who were persecuted in the several ways already foretold to the Apostles. Nothing new was about to happen them ; they are only to be subjected to the treatment of the saints of old. Hence, He warns them not to be disturbed, but rather to rejoice, when these persecutions shall befall them ; for, to the same treatment were the saints of old, whom the world venerates and admires, subjected. They should be prepared to suffer like indignities, and like ■^^er8ecutions, in the same cause. TEXT. 13. You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt lose its savour, wherewith shall it he salted f It is good for nothing any more but to be cast out, and to be trodden on by men. 14. Tou are the light of the tcorld. A city seated on a mountain cannot he hid. 15. Neither do men light a caiidle and put it under a bushel, out upon a candlestick, that it may shine to all that are in the house. 1 6. So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. COMMENT AET. 13. " You are the salt of the earth." " You are" — j'ou ought to be. You are destined by Me to be, and are selected by Me to be such, which, by My grace, you shall be in reality, " the salt of the earth." Salt is the symbol of wisdom, which is partly in the intellect, partly in the will or moral conduct. These words are addressed to the Apostles in particular, whom our Redeemer wishes to stimulate to patient suffering for His sake, and to zeal in executing His commands, by pointing out the exalted position which He assigns to them, as leaders and guides of His people. By several similitudes, He shows the character and position they hold. The ST. MA.TTHEW. CHAP V. 81 Prophets were the salt of Judea only, the Apostles " of the (entire) ea/rth,^^ hence the superiority of the latter. The twofold property of ** salt," viz., to impart flavour to insipid food, and preserve from corruption, symbolizes the character and office of the Apostles, in their relations with the world. What salt is to the food, seasoning and preserving it from corruption, they should be to the rest of mankind. By their preaching and holy example, they should render men, otherwise insipid before God, whom He would ^^ vomit out of Sis mouth^^ (Apoc. iii.), agreeable in His sight, and J'eeing them from the corruption of sin, preserve them for eternal incorruption. Our Bedeemer here implies that the whole earth, of which the Apostles were the salt, was sunk in the corruption of sin. '■^ If iolt lose,''^ &c., there is nothing to restore to it its properties of flavouring and curing. If the teacher teaches ^hat is false, or scandalize by his corrupt and immoral life, who can correct or restore him ? The implied answer is, that although it be a thing, that may happen, it is a thing very difficult of accomplishment, and that rarely happens, as, indeed, a sad experience every day confirms. *' It is good for nothing hut to he cast out.^^ It is unfit for any useful purpose, like the wood of the vine (Ezech. xv. 2, 3, 4). St. Luke (xiv. 35) more fully expresses it: *' It is neither profitahle for the land nor for the dunghill,'''' &c. Other things, even if they miss their destination, may be utilized — gold, food, &c. — not so salt, once it loses it properties of savouring and preserving. The cure of the perverse teacher is almost hopeless. Earely, aud with difficulty, is he converted. Degradation and misery here, by being contemptuously trodden under foot by the passers-by, and eternal degradation under the feet of demons, hereafter, is generally, it is to be feared, the portion in store for him. " But, if the salt lose its savour.*^ Some say salt never loses its savour ; hence, our Kedeemer here supposes what is false. Eesp. The assertion is only hypothetical. Our Eedeemer does not say it does lose its savour. It is a supposition like " st angelus de ccelo evangelizaverit^'^ &c. (Gal. i. 8.) Eock salt, it is said, loses it savour, but not sea salt. Shaw and other modern travellers say, they saw, in their travels in the East, salt that lost its savour. Many commentators here say there is allusion made by our Lord to bitumen taken from the Dead Sea, with which the victims in the temple were besmeared. This, after exposure to the air, lost its savoury qualities, and was then thrown on the floor of the temple, to prevent the priests from slipping in wet weather. 14. He once more illustrates the character and duties of the Apostles by tht example of light. They were destined to enlighten the world by the soundness and purify of their teaching and example — a world, sunk in the darkness of sin and error. Both illustrations refer to the doctrine of faith and morals, with which they were to enlighten and reform tlie intellects and minds of mankind. Salt especially refers to morals or example ; light, to teaching. '* You are,'' that is, you ought, and are destined, to be, and shall be, if you correspond, as is meet, with My grace. They are a light^ but having only a briUiancy borrowed from without, and imparted by Him who is of ffimself '^ the true (essential) light, which enlightens every man'" — the true Son of Justice itself. "^ A city,'*^ &(i. Here is a third example tending to the same thing, viz., to stimulate the Apostles to zeal in the discharge of the great Apostolic functions confided to them, of enlightening and saving the rest of mankind, by the preaching, in season and out of season, of the Gospel of truth, and by the constant, open and public example of saintly lives. There is an ellipsis here of the words, " You are a city set on a mountain.'' ^ 82 COMMENTARY ON 15. These words have the same object as the preceding, to stimulate the Apostles to shine as lights before the world, to enlighten the surrounding darkness, and impart to all the world the light of a holy, spotless life, and of pure teaching. As a city on a hill cannot be hid, so neither can the Apostles, from their exalted position, be con- cealed from the eyes of men ; and, hence, their duty, to live so as to edify men. At no one lights a candle for the purpose of concealing its light, so neither did God constitute the Apostles as the lights of the world, in order to hide their light and detain the truth of Q-odin injustice. Their duty is quite plain, viz., to diffuse this light far and near ; to be deterred by no obstacles, in the free exercise of the exalted commission confided to them by God Himself, and to show forth the brilliancy of their virtues, and by their example to allure others to God. 16. Here, we have the explanation and application of the foregoing parables. In the preceding. He shows, that their light should shine before men. In this, He shows how it is to shine, how they are to discharge the duties of enlightening and saving the world, imposed upon them, and the end or motive they should have in view, viz., the glory of their Heavenly Father. In this verse is insinuated, that unless our worlcs correspond with our teaching, we cannot bring men to God. The particle "that," denotes the oonseqiience, not the end or motive, at least the ultimate one. Our ultimate end or motive should be, not our own personal glory, nor the praises of men ; but, God's glory. Hence, this is not opposed to vi. 1, " that you may be seen by them," as in these latter words, is conveyed the ultimate end or final motive of catching the applause and securing the praise of men. " Sit opus in publico, ut intentio maneat in occulta" (St. Gregory). Those, then, violate the injunction of our Lord — 1. Who indolently hide their light under a bushel, or traffic not with the talent confided to them. 2. Whose lives correspond not with their teaching. 3. Whose motives are sorrupt, viz., vanity, desire of applause, and not God's greater glory. TEXT. 17. Do not think that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 18. For amen I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot, or one tittle shall not pass of the law, iill all be fulfilled. 19. Se therefore that shall break one of these least commandments, and shall so teach men, shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaveti. But he that shall do and teach, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20. For I tell you, that unless your justice abound more than that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. COMMENTARY. 17. Our Redeemer now guards against the imputation, to which the promulgation of loftier precepts than those to be met with in the old Dispensation might expose Him, viz., that He meant utterly to abolish the Old Law — by showing that, far from that, He came to accomplish and fulfil it. Others (Maldonatus, &c.), connect this with the preceding verse, thus : He wishes to impress upon those who ' •' were the light of the world" HOW " their light should shine before men," both in their conduct and teaching, viz., by a more careful and perfect observance of the law, following His own example, and by not imagining, that, as members of His household, they were released from strict observance. " To destroy,'" by violating the precepts and abolishing the teachings of th« law ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. V. 83 By " the law" which sometimes compriseathe entire Old Testament, are meant her« the five books of Moses, and by " the Prophets," the rest of the books of the Old Testament. The books containing the law are put for the law itself. Our Redeemer fulfils the moral law, the chief portion of the law, which, as comprising the natural law, was unchangeable, by a more clear exposition of its precepts, and by incorporating it with His own law; by observing it Himself, and teaching others to do so ; by giving grace, whereby it might be fully observed ; by superadding counsels of perfection so useful to ensure its full observance. He fulfilled the ceremonial law, by substituting the reality for the figure ; by bringing about the realities, which in their mystical signification these ceremonial precepts typified ; (by executing a promise one rather fulfils than destroys it). He also fulfilled the ceremonial law, by inculcating the spiritual obligations it signified. Even when abolishing the ceremonial precepts in their literal acceptation. He fulfilled them ; since it was predicted of them that they were to be abolished after a time. He fulfilled the Prophets, since He fully verified and accomplished the ancient prophecies. He ful- filled ih.Q judicial law, by commuting temporal sanction into threats and promises of a spiritual and eternal character. 18. Far from coming to destroy and utterly abrogate the law ; on the contrary, 1 solemnly assert, •'•Amen, I say to you," that until the end of the world, when " heaven and earth," that now are, shall pass away in their present corrupt form, and be changed into a " new heaven and a new earth " (Apoe. xxi. 1), the slightest point of what the law contains (and the same is true of the Prophets), shall not be left without its due fulfilment. The ceremonial law shall be fulfilled in i\vci realities which it typified; the judicial, in the rewards of a higher and more exalted kind which it shall administer, the moral, in the unchangeableness of its preceptive binding moral force, at all times, under pain of sin, and in the sanction which its observance or violation, in the smallest degree, shall entail ; although, indeed it is to the completion and exhibition of the promises of the law He here refers ; He also refers to the addition of precepts com- pleting and perfecting the law. ^^Amen," if prefixed to a sentence, is assertive ; if after it, it is confirmatory. Our Redeemer, in employing it, as He does frequently, conveys that peculiar significance should be attached to the subject which it precedes. In the Old Testament, it is never found at the beginning of a sentence ; sometimes, however, it is found at the end of a sentence. In the New, it generally commences, but seldom ends a sentence. " Heaven and earth pass atvay," i.e., till the end of the world, when the present heaven and earth shall change their form, and there shall be "a neuf heaven and a new earth." Others interpret the words : Sooner shall heaven and earth pass away, and cease to be (a thing utterly impossible), than any part of the law be unaccomplished ; just like the phrase, " It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle," a thing utterly impossible. " One jot," (icoTtt tv), iota unurn. The iota is supposed to have been placed here for the Hebrew jod, the smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet. '* One " tittle " (Kepaia), the very point of the smallest letter, the smallest mark distinguish- ing one letter from another, v.ff., Gt- from C (St. Jerome) ; xepata, '* tittle," is the little top or distinguishing mark of a letter, which indicates the most trivial precepts or ordinances of the law. " Till all is fulfilled " (see above). 19. As, therefore, I am come to perfect and fulfil the law, whosoever shall violate «ven what may be regarded as one of the least of these commandments, which I am about to propose, either from the law, or superadded for perfection' sake by myself. 84 COMMENTAEY ON He calls tiiem ^Heast,^^ not in themselves ; but as they may be regarded by men, and by the Pharisees, who regarded the external act, v.g., of homicide as sinful ; but not the deliberate intention of perpetrating it. " And shall teach men so.''^ The particle, " »o," is interpreted by some to mean : As I am just now teaching ; so that it refers to the man who teaches well, but through frailty, violates the commandments, not practising what he teaches. In this interpre- tation, '* leasf* means, shall be lowered in his grade, and not obtain the place he would otherwise be entitled to. For, the violation of the least commandment, such as to be angry ^rom a sudden impulse, would hardly utterly exclude from heaven. Others, more probably, understand the words to refer to the man that violates the least precept, and shall teach others they may lawfully " ffence ; fur, a man is not bound to forego injury in property ; and he should, moreover, on public grounds, uphold, by the prosecution of evil-doers, the well-being of society. 24. '^ And go first to le reconciled " &,(i. The mode of doing this must depend, in a great measure, on circumstances. We must go actually and seek the necessary reconciliation, unless circumstances and motives of prudence should point out an opposite line of conduct, as the most conducive to the permanence of charitable rela- tions in future ; and in this latter case, it is preceptive to go in spirit and in will. Indeed, like all affirmative precepts, this is to be a good deal modified by circum- stances and considerations of prudence. 25. A continuation of the subject of reconciliation with our offended neighbour, and a new motive for doing so. In the preceding verses, is urged its necessity, in order that our other actions would be pleasing to Q-od. In this verse, it is urged, in order to avoid the punishment which the neglect or voluntary omission to make due reparation would entail upon us. ** Thy adoersary " (an-i8tfco9), an antagonist in a law suit ; thy offended or injured fellow-creature. The words of this verse are, in their literal sense, allusive to the ease of litigants on their way to a court of law, where the offending party wisely arranges matters, settles the case with his " adversary," to avoid the penalty which the judge would award, perhaps the disgrace of imprisonment which might ensue. But, in their spiritual sense and application to the subject in hand, which is chiefly intended by our Eedeemer under the guise of legal and forensic terms, all of which need not be applied to the chief subject of illustration, they are meant to convey, that we should be reconciled with our offended brother, ^Hhe adversary,^'' ^^who has someiJiing against m " (v. 2,^), while " in the way,"" i.e., in this life, journeying to eternity and approaching nearer and nearer to the judgment seat of Jesus Christ, before which we must all '^ appear^' (2 Cor. v. 10). *' Lest perhaps, the adversary deliver thee to the judge,^^ by remitting the matter to Q-od, who will take cognizance of it in His own time, or, lest his just cause and the injury unatoned for should plead with the judge against thee. *' Tl^ officer ^^ the devil and his angels. It is not, however, necessary to apply every word and part of a parable to the subject illustrated. The whole idea is, lest neglecting to discharge the duty of just reconciliation and reparation, you die in your sins, and be condemned by the just judgment of God, to everlasting and un- changeable punishment in the gloomy prison of hell, out of which there is no escape or ransom. It is not necessary, as regards the chief subject, to inquire into the appli- cation of the word, <' officer,'' or " last farthing ,-" &c. These terms are merely used to perfect the parable ; and, probably, not intended to be applied to the chief subject. 26. In this is conveyed the rigour with which the sentence of the Eternal Judge shall be carried into execution in the life to come. If there be question of condemna- tion for mortal guilt, and of hell's prison, whereas, full satisfaction—" the last farthing "—can never be made, the culprit shall not leave it for eternity. Some writers, from the particle, " until,'' regard it as possible that reparation would be made in the case, and the accused party would leave his prison ; and hence, they derive an argument in favour of the doctrine of Purgatory. But this does not neces- sarily follow from the text. It can be understood, and, most likely, ought, of never- endmg punishment, as St. Augustine says, " donee poenaa oeternas luent," i.e., always paying eternal punishment. The meaning would be, " you must remain there, till 90 COMMENTAEY ON you pay the last farthing, and if unable to pay it, then you shall never leave it." If there were question of venial sin, then, the interpretation would be different. But it serves no purpose to be adducing weak or dubious arguments in proof of a doctrine clearly established from other undoubted sources. It only does mischief. And the enemies of the faith will be sure to enlarge upon the weak arguments, as if no better were forthcoming, leaving the undoubted arguments unheeded. (See comment, on 2 Peter i. 15.) TEXT. 27. You have heard that it was said to them of old : Thou shall not commit adultery. 28. But I say to you, that whosoever shall look on a woman to lust after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29. And if thy right eye scandalize thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee. For it is expedient for thee that one of thy members should perish, rather than thy whole lody be cast into hell. 30. And if thy right hand scandalize thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee : for it is expedient for thee that one of thy members should perish rather than that thy whole body go into hell. 31. And it hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a bill of divorce. 32. JBut I say to you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, excepting the cause of for- nication, tnaketh her to commit adultery : and he that shall marry her that is put away, com- mitteth adultery. COMMENTARY. 27. '* Thou shalt not commit adultery." After treating of the sins springing from the irascible appetite, so natural to man, our Lord now proceeds to treat of the sins appertaining to the conetipiscible appetite, not less natural to man in his present fallen state. This precept — the sixth — immediately follows in order, the preceding in the Decalogue. ^'Adultery," under which is included fornication, and all other external acts of illicit intercourse. 28. " But I say to you, that tohosoever shall look upon woman to lust after her." " To," may mean the consequence of looking on her ; so that lusting after her is the result of looking^ which implies that the act of coveting or lusting must be fully deliberate, and voluntarily indulged in. The mere look is not sinful. It is only the look, followed by deliberate desire and consent, that is so. Or, it more probably means, the end, the purpose for which he looked on her (Trpos), viz., for the purpose of indulging in desires of sinning with her, if the occasion or opportunity offered. In either inter- pretation, it is supposed, that in order to be a mortal sin, a thought or desire against chastity must be deliberately indulged and fully consented to. What is said of look- ing applies equally to the other senses, hearing, touch, &c., which are the inlets of sin and death. Sin is equally committed through them, if they are made the organs for admitting into the soul the deliberate desire of committing the external prohibited act. Although human laws, which cannot directly reach the soul, cannot punish or take cognizance of internal desires, the latter shall entail mortal guilt before God, the just Judge and searcher of hearts. But to be sinful, desires or thoughts should be wilful and deliberate, as is clear from the words of our Lord just explained. Wicked ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. V. 91 thoughts, irresisted and battled against, far from being sinful, only prove a source of greater merit. In this our Eedeemer perfects the Old Law, and corrects the false interpretations of the Scribes and Pharisees. Altliough coveting another's wife was prohibited by the Ninth Commandment of the Decalogue ; still, some e xpositors say the Scribes understood the Ninth Commandment of that concupiscence, or those internal sins of adultery merely which were made known by some external act, and only in circumstances in which they would lead to the violation of the Sixth Commandment, which, according to them, was confined to the commission of the act of adultery, but did not extend to internal acts of consent, as such. Josephus, a Pharisee, speaking of Antiochus Epiphanes, says he committed no crime in merely wishing to rifle the temple of Diana, "quia voluntas tantum, ac non perfecisse sacrilegiuem non vidatur res supplicio digna.'" (Lib. xii. ; Antiq. c. xiii.) Moreover, it is likely they confined the prohibition of the Ninth Commandment to coveting their neighbour's wife only, but not to the coveting of women in general. No doubt, the Ninth Commandment did prohibit internal acts of consent ; but it did not declare so expressly or so precisely as our Lord did, that looking on a woman with impure eyes and coveting her entailed the guilt of adultery. Our Redeemer, then, more fully explains the Sixth Com- mandment ; first, as forbidding, under pain of incurring the guilt of adultery, mere internal acts, without any external manifestation. Secondly, as referring not only to our neighbour's wife, but to any woman whatsoever. " Shall look on a woman. " Prom these words may be derived a very salutary lesson as to the custody of our senses, particularly when the holy virtue of chastity is in question, " pepigi foedus cum oculis meis ut non cogitarem quidem de virgine'^ (Job xxxi.); "nervspicias in mulieris speciem.^' (Eccles. xxv.) 29, 30. From the allusion made by our Eedeemer in the foregoing to the scandal or spiritual ruin sometimes occasioned by looking at a woman. He takes occasion to inculcate a general lesson regarding the necessity of avoiding scandal in general, and the occasions of sin, and of putting away any person or thing, be they ever so dear, useful, or necessary for us, that may prove a source of scandal, be the removal or avoidance of such object ever so painful, and should it cost us the greatest sacrifice in life. The words of these verses are to be understood metaphorically. The idea is borrowed from the treatment used by surgeons, who, on seeing" danger to the body from any diseased limb or member, at once amputate it, be it ever so necessary, in order to save the rest of the body. This exaggerated metaphor never can bear a literal sig- nification, as it is never necessary to amputate any member of our body to avoid sin ; and hence, it is never allowed. But, in its exaggerated form, the metaphor conveys that if such amputation were necessary (which it never is or can be) it should be done, if the salvation of our soul required it. '' The right eye " and " the right hand'''' give an idea of objects very dear, very near, useful, and necessary for us. The words, " pluch it out" " cast it o^'" — a very painful operation, imply great torture and sufi'er- ing in parting with it. It is better we would part with this object, however dear, however great the pain or privation such parting would entail ; and sacrifice the gra- tification its presence gives us, than after enjoying it for a time, suffer, on its account, in the end, the eternal torments of hell The allusion to the looking after a woman in preceding verse suggests the idea of " the ege,'' in the first place, as one of the inlets of sin, and one of the most necessary members or organs of the body. "Scandalize thee.''* The word, scandal, primarily and literally conveys the idea of a stumbling block of offence against which one jostles and is made to fall. Transferred to a spiritual sig- nification, it means, whatever is the occasion of our spiritual ruin, that is, whatever 92 COMMENTARY ON is the occasion of our falling into mortal sin, which causes the spiritual death of the soul. There is hardly any point of Christian morality upon which we should observe such vigilant care as upon the subject of avoiding the proximate occasions of sin; nor is there any other point upon which those who are charged with the care of others, should so inexorably insist as upon this, particularly if there be question of thf external and proximate occasion of sins against chastity. A melancholy experiencb unhappily attests that the only means of obtaining a victory on this point is flight. In this point particularly, owing to the corruption of human nature, the words of the Holy Q-host-are verified, "qui amat periculum in illo peribit." Every other means of avoiding sin, every other remedy, shall prove unavailing if this be neglected. As a general rule, it may be laid down, that so sure as a man voluntarily exposes himself to the proximate and external occasion of this sin in particular, so surely shall he fall. Hence, the rigour with which the most approved spiritual writers treat this case, although mild in regard to almost every other ; so close is the connexion they trace between frequenting the occasion and the commission of sin (see St. Alphonsus Liguori in his Moral Theology and all his spiritual works " on the proximate occa- sions OF sin") ; also our Commentary (1 Cor. vi. 18). 31. " Whosoever shall put away his wife,^^ &c. In this form of expression, it i& clearly conveyed, that putting away or divorcing one's wife, even for a just cause, was not commanded, but only permitted or tolerated in the Old Law (see xix. 8). All that was commanded, as is here expressed, was, that in case a man divorced his wife, she should get from him a (written) " bill of divorce,^' and it was only after the wife left her husband's house, furnished with this written bill of divorce, the act of separation was valid. As regards the power of divorcing their wives granted to husbands in the Old Law, it is to be observed that the law of Moses permitted this divorce solely on account oisome uncleanness. (Deut. xxiv. 1, &c.) Many understand the words, not only of a sin against purity, but of any uncleanness, whether physical or moral. At a later period of Jewish History — after their return from captivity — a great dispute arose on this point ; and in our Redeemer's time, the Jewish doctors of the two famous schools of Hillel and Schamai, took different views of the question; the former contending for the sufficiency of any c«msc, however trifling; me latter restricting the privilege of divorce to the case of adultery (see Matt. xlx. 1-10), (Dixon, vol. ii. 296). 2ndly. The privilege of divorcing was not given to the wife, but to the husband only, although, towards the end of the Jewish kingdom, females of the higher class, claimed to themselves, after the example of Roman matrons, the right of divorce. The law of Moses permitted the aggrieved wife not to give a bill of divorce herself, but to seek it at the hands of the judge (Exod. xxi. 10). 3rdly. This permission of the law of Moses most probably dissolved the vinculun of the former marriage, so that it was dissolved in foro interno et Coram Deo (set? c. xix., commentary on). 4thly. The husband could receive back his divorced wife, after giving her a bill of divorce, unless she was married to another ; but not, once she was married to another (Deut. xxiv. 1-4 ; Jer. iii. 1), thus consulting, for public decency, lest husbands might seem to have given their wives for a time to another, which would savour of a community of wives. He was commanded to give a bill of divorce, in order to consult for the condition of liis wife ; and this also was hampered with conditions, all of which should concur in order to render valid the bill of divorce. The consequence was, that thn bill of divorce was rendered very difficult ; and time ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. V. 9» for deliberation was given to the husbands in case they rashly resolved in sending- away their wives, even for a just cause (see Carriere de Mat. vol. ii., p. 170-179). Our Redeemer altogether abolishes this law of divorce, so far as the vinculum or marriage tie is concerned, which is never dissolved after consummation, if there be question of Christian marriages. (Concil. Trid. §§ xxiv. Can. vii. — See c. xix.) 32. Our Eedeemer here declares, that if a man put away his wife without a justifying cause — " excepting the cause of fornication " — he incurs the guilt of adultery, to which he unjustly exposes her. For, quantum in se est, he makes her commit adultery, and a man incurs the guilt of the sins, which by his injustice he occasions (Eom. i. 32). But if the husband have a just cause for sending away his wife, and for dismissing her, quoad thorum, then, should she commit adultery, she herself is guilty of the sin, by putting herself perversely in the occasion, and not he. Although there are several causes that justify a separation, quoad thorum et mensam in the New Law, in which the rights of the husband and wife, as regards the marriage contract, are made equal (1 Cor. vii. 4 ; Mark x. 12), still, our Eedeemer only instances that of ^' adulttry ;^' because, it was the only cause peculiar to the marriage state, arising out of it exclusively, that justified a separation. The other causes usually alleged, as warranting a separation, would justify a departure from any contract whatsoever, v.g., the attempt of one party to bring the other into sin, and cause his spiritual ruin, and so with the rest. Moreover, '* adultery " is the only permanent cause of separation, even after the party so guilty had done penance, and made all possible reparation. Even if this were done, the innocent party is not bound to take back the adulterous party. The other causes are not permanent, but temporary, ceasing, when the offending party becomes repentant. That the vinculum, or tie of marriage, is not dissolved in case of adultery, as the Catholic Church teaches in regard to consummated Christian marriages (Cone. Trid. §§ xxiv. Can. xii.), is clear from the general form, without any exception, used here by our Divine Eedeemer, that " whosoever shall marry her that t» put away " (whether with cause or without it ; no distinction is made), ^' committeth adultery." The same is clear from St. Mark x. 11, 12; Luke xvi. 18. St. Paul (1 Cor. vii. 11) gives the wife who left her husband, even with a just cause, no alternative but to remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband. That St. Paul speaks of a departure from a just cause, is clear from his giving her the option referred to. Had she left without some justifying cause, the Apostle woiild have given her no such alternative. He would have commanded her to return at once and fulfil her plighted obligations (see c. xix. 4-9). TEXT. 33. Again you have heard that it icas said to them of old, Thou shalt not forswear thyself: hut thou shalt perform thy oaths to the Lord. 34. But I say to you not to swear at all, neither hy heaven, for it is the throne of God : 35. iVbr hy the earth, for it is his footstool : nor hy Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great Tcing. 36. Neither shalt thou swear hy thy head, hecause thou canst not make one hair white or hlach. 37. But let your speech he yea, yea : no, no: and that which is over and above these, is of evil. COMMEIVTAKY. 33. Here, our Lord passes from the sixth to the second precept of the Decalogue, ** Thou shalt not forswear thyself.^' These words are found in substance, although 9^ COMMENTAEY ON not identically (in Exod. xx. 7; Levit. xix. 12; Deut. v. 11), where the original Hebrew word, scau, signifies, thou shalt not take the name of God in tain, or falsely. For, "in vain," means also, '^falsely." Hence, our Redeemer here quotes only the substance of the law. These words hav« reference to assertori/ oaths. "But, thou shalt perform thy oaths,'^ &c. These words are quoted substantially from Numbers xxx. 3. They refer to promissory oaths, and mean, that whatever we promise the Lord to do, whom we invoke by oath, we should fulfil it. By others (among them, Suarez), these latter words are understood to convey that in our oaths we should swear by the true God, and not in the name of idols, " ef per nomen ejus jurabis." (Deut.) 34. " Wot to swear at all.''* The Scribes and Pharisees understanding the words, *'»n vain," to mean only falsely, which signification also, as has been observed, the Hebrew word, scau, bears, interpreted the prohibition contained in the Second Commandment, as simply meaning, " Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in a lie; " and hence, they inferred that it was not prohibited to invoke His holy name irreverently, on every occasion, no matter how trivial or unimportant the cause; 2ndly, as appears from the following verses, and xxiii. 16, they interpreted the words, " the Lord thy God," strictly, so that in this commandment was not conveyed the prohibition to swear by creatures, whether common, such as heaven and earth ; or those cansecrated to God, such as Jerusalem, the Temple, &c. They also taught that such oaths were not binding, save in cases favourable to their own avarice (xx. 16). 35. It was, then, in reference to these false notions of the Pharisees on the subject of oaths, that our Redeemer tells us "not to swear at all," in the sense in which an oath was allowed by the Scribes and Pharisees, i.e., not to invoke the holy and adorable name of God rashly and without cause, nor, to swear by creatures either, without the like cause ; since, in swearing by them, we swear by God, their Creator, whose attributes they reflect, whose creatures they are, and who is intimately connected with them. " Seaven is the throne of Ood, the earth Sis footstool." These words contain an allusion to Isaias (Ixvi. 3), and are understood figuratively in accommodation to human ideas. These words mean, that the majesty and immensity of God are resplendent in them. "City of the great king," are allusive to Psa. xlvii., '* Mount Sion, founded on tlie sides of the north, the city of the great king." From the city where God resides, and is specially worshipped, chosen preferably to all others. His Majesty is resplendently reflected. 36. "By thy head," &c. The mention of heaven and earth, &c., as specially belonging to God, suggests to our Redeemer, to prevent swearing by our head, as if our head belonged to ourselves, so that we might dispose of it, as we thought proper. He meets this insinuation by saying that, although given for our use, it is not ours exclusively; we neither created it, nor can we change its condition. "Thou canst not make one hair white or Mack." It belongs to God, as do all the other members of our body, of which the head was the principal. This form of oath, "hy the head," was common among the Greeks and Romans, from whom, in their intercourse with them, the Jews probably borrowed it, 37. " Let your speech he yea, yea," &c. The meaning is, when yoi assert any thing, content yourselves with mere simple affiraiation of its truth ; when you denv ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. V 95 anything to be true, confine yourself to mere denial, without having recourse to swearing, to corroborate what you assert or deny. These particles are doubled, to express the certain truth of what is asserted or denied. " And that which is over and above these, ''^ for the greater confirmation of what we say, viz., an oath, *'Vs of evil. ^' By *' mZ," some interpreters (Maldonatus, &c.) understand the evil one, or the devil. The Greek, tov Tvovqpov, the evil, would render this opinion probable ; and according lo it, our Redeemer would institute an opposition between Himself, or rather between His precepts, ^^ I say to you,''^ &c., and' the suggestions of the devil. I command one thing, viz., to abstain from all oaths, in the sense already assigned. The devil suggests to you to employ oaths in the same sense, viz., unnecessarily and frivolously. The devil may be said to be not so much the suggester, as the occasional cause of all oaths, inasmuch as he was the first soiirce of sin ; and the necessity for having recourse to oaths in any circumstances, arises from sin. This latter sense, although, according to it, '■^ from evil,''^ is referred to the devil, hardly much differs, in substance, from the interpretation, which understands ^^ from evil,'^ not to refer directly to the devil, but to the wickedness and duplicity of man, his iixconstancy and weakness, arising from the evQ principle of sin, implanted in his nature, in its present fallen condition. Our Redeemer does not say, that what is beyond mere assertion or negation is in itself evil ; but only that its necessity and existence are derived /ro»» evil, as already explained. Our Redeemer's prohibition here of swearing would seem to be founded on three reasons — 1st. The danger of perjury, to which the habit of swearing exposes us (St. Augustine, in hunc locum). In Eccles. (xxiii. 9), we have, " Let not thy mouth be accus- tomed to swea/ring,''^ &c. 2ndly. On account of the reverence due to God's name. For, if it would be indecorous to be invoking the name of man on every trivial occasion, how much more so when there is question of the holy and adorable name of God '? To this reference is made in the words, ''Nor by heaven, for it is God^s throne," &c. 3rdly. On account of the good faith and mutual confidence which should exist among Christians. This would render swearing unnecessary ; and, to it reference is made in the words, " Let your speech be yea, yea," &c. Our Redeemer does not prohibit resorting to an oath, in certain circumstances, and when vested with certain conditions, viz., ^^judymetit," with a cause or necessity. '' justice," when its object is just and lawful ;' and *' truth." " Thou shalt swear : as the Lord liveth, in truth, in judgment, and injustice" (Jer. iv. 2). In such circumstances an oath is an act of homage, in recognition of God's supreme veracity. It is, how- ever, when vested with these conditions, that it is an act of homage ; and only then is it lawful. That it is sometimes lawful to swear, is a point of Catholic faith against the Anabaptists and Wickliffe. The Apostle tells us that an oath is the termination of controversy (Heb. vi. 16). Moreover, W3 have the example of God swearing, ^^ Juravit Bominus," &c. (Heb. vi. 13.) The Apostle swears. So do Abraham, Moses, &c. (See Comment. St. James v. 12.) TEXl . 38. Ye have heard that it teas said : An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. 39. But I say to you, not to resist evil: but if one strike thee on thy right cheeh, turn to him the other also. 40. And if a man will contend ivith thee injudyraent, and take away thy coat, let go thy cloak also unto him. 41. And whosoever will force thee one mile, go with him other two. 42. Give to him who askelh of thee, and from him who would borrow of thee, turn 7iot away. 96 COMMENTAEY ON COMMENT AEY. 38. In this verse our Redeemer corrects tlie false traditions and interpretations of the Scribes and Pharisees, respecting the precept of the Mosaic law, on the subject of retaliation for injuries inflicted, the lex talionis. He also perfects the law itseK by substituting a species of retaliation hitherto unattended to — the retaliation of patience and forgiveness. The law of retaliation {lex talionis) is laid down (Exod. xxi. 24 ; Deut. xxiv. 20). It wa^ a just enactment, sanctioned by the usage of all the ancient peoples and nations. It had the effect of serving as an efficacious check on evil doers, whom the dread of sustaining a like injury restrained within the bounds of duty. It also served to check the vengeance of the injured party, since it did not permit him to exercise the punishment of retaliation himself, to demand " an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,^^ by private authority. It only allowed recourse to the Judges, whom it directed, or rather instructed, as to the amount of reparation they were to exact in the case of malicious injury done the members or limbs of the human body. It also had only reference to equals, because, even to curse a prince, much less to injure his person, was punishable with death among the Jews. Noi did it hold between master and slave (Exod. xxi. 26). It also admitted of a fair latitude of interpretation, and the party aggrieved might, either before or after the sentence of the judge, accept of pecuniary compensation. The law of Moses strictly prohibited feelings or dispositions of a revengeful character (Lev. xix. 18). 39. ''Hut, I say to you,^' &c. As the lex talionis did not authorize private revenge, an)- more than does the New Law; as, moreover, it only regarded the Judges, from whom the injured party might seek just reparation, a thing equally permitted in the New Law, for the occupant of power carries the sword to restrain evil-doers (Rom. xiii.) — nor are men prevented from having recourse to them for redress, should every other means fail, — it may fairly be asked, what then, does our Redeemer enact here, that did not exist already, "But I say to you ? " &c. As regards the law itself, on this subject, it does not appear that our Redeemer adds anything. He only perfects and corrects it, viewed according to the false interpretation of the Scribes and Pharisees, who, it would seem, explained the law, as if it allowed indi- viduals to retaliate, and to demand, of their own private authority, the reparation wliich the law allowed only after the sentence of the judge. This was evidently unlawful, as it would foster a spirit of vengeance, and would tend to great injustice. In this sense, our Redeemer tells us, *' not to resist evilJ'^ " Etil " may refer to the injury sustained, or the person unjustly inflicting it ; if the former, the words mean, we should not retaliate for the injury ; if the latter, we should not seek to take revenge on him. Our Redeemer goes farther, and proposes a Christian kind of retaliation, both as regards personal honour, property, or personal injury (39-41). •' atrihe thee on the right cheek,^' i.e., if a man strike you on one cheek, turn to him the other also, as St. Luke expresses it (vi. 29). The form employed by our Lord shows He is speaking of private injury and satisfaction, "strike thee" &c., but not of satisfaction to be exacted, on public grounds, or from the public authorities. The words of this and the following verses are, in certain circumstances, preceptive ; in others, only matters of counsel ; and sometimes, even inexpedient. They are pre- ceptive in this sense, that we should never, even on public grounds, seek due satisfaction from a spirit of private vengeance, and that we should actually submit to the evils referred to. rather than avenge them from a private spirit of anger; and. ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. V. 97 moreover, we should be prepared in our minds to bear these injuries whenever the glory of God and the salvation of our neighbour demand it. But these circumstances do not always concur, and the instructions conveyed, in affirmative propositions, lika the present, are not, therefore, always preceptive. St. Augustine (hie. and Ep. 5, ad Marcellinum et Lib. de Mendacio, c. 15), understands the precept, conveyed here, of the preparation of the mind, rather than of observance in act. That they are not always to be observed and practised in act, is clear from the example of our Divine Eedeemer Himself, who, though often patiently submitting to personal injuries and insulting treatment, of the description referred to here (Isa. 1. 6), still, at times refused doing so ; v.g., He did not give His other cheek on the occasion, when He was struck by the servant of the High Priest; He rather reproved His striker (John xviii. 22, 23) ; from th^ example of St. Paul, who, though often beaten with stripes (1 Cor. iv. 11, 12), still, when sentenced to be struck bef )re the High Priest, did not gently put up with it, ''percutiat teBominus, paries dealbate,^^ Sec, was his reply to the iniquitous judge. He had, at the same time, a heart prepared to suffer for the truth and for God's sake. Circumstances sometimes occur in which the patient endurance of evils and reproaches would only have the effect of exciting our aggressors the more. In this case, it would be imprudent to do so. Hence, we are told " to answer a fool according to his folly, lest he imagine himself to he wise " (Prov. xxvi. 5). Sometimes, it would only serve to let loose and embolden a whole herd of malefactors, whose only aim would be to subvert the altar and the throne. In such a case, forbearance would be opposed to the good order of society, and would, therefore, be utterly inexpedient. 40. '^And if a man will contend with thee,^^ &c., i.e., if any man wishes to drag you unjustly before a court of justice for the purpose of depriving you of one of your garments ; or, if he wishes to dispute with you in court for your coat, which he has unjustly taken away from you (the words, " contend in judgment,'''' and " take away thy coat,'''' may bear either meaning), then, sooner than violate charity, or suffer the loss of a greater good, viz., patience and peace of soul, be prepared to make over to him your cloak also. In St. Luke (vi. 29), the order is different, " and him that taketh away from thee thy cloa]c,forhldnot to take thy coat also?'' This is the more natural con- struction ; as the cloak, which is the outer garment, is taken off first. The sense is the same in both constructions, the meaning being, if he take away one garment, be pre- pared to give him the other. The words of St. Luke may mean, if he take away the cheaper gai-ment, give him the more costly one. According to St. Matthew, if he take away the inner, give him the outer, or more necessary garment. How far this is preceptive, and, in what circumstances, it is only of counsel, and when even inex- . pedient, may be gathered from the foregoing. 41. " And whosoever will force thee " (dyyapeucrei). In the original term for ^^ force " {angariaverit), which is a word of Persian origin {angar, in Persic, means a courier), is conveyed an allusion to the Persian custom of employing in the public service couriers, termed in the Persian language, angari, who, stationed at certain distances from one another, transmitted the public intelligence ; they were in some respects, like our post- men. These public couriers, or king's messengers, had authority to press men, or horses, or ships, into their service. The same custom was afterwards adopted among the Eomans, in regard to their provincials, and is still in use among the Turks. This exotic Greek term (ayyapo?) is found in St. Matthew xxvii. 32 ; also, Mark xv. 21. The words mean; should you be forced on an errand for a G P8 COMMENTAEY ON certain distance, rather than resist and forfeit peace of mind, go voluntarily double the distance. How far this is obligatory, may be inferred from the foregoing. In the Greek, for "^o other two" it is, ^* go two," as if to convey; instead of going one mile when pressed in the public service to that extent, go voluntarily double the required distance. 42. " Give to htm" &c. In the foregoing maxims, our Redeemer shows we should have the dispositions of not retaliating injuriously on those who injure and act violently towards us. In this verse. He points out our obligation to exercise acta of benevolence and liberality towards our afl&icted and indigent brethren, be they friends or be they foes, the sole consideration to be attended to being, their wants and necessities. Hence, in place of the law of retaliation and vengeance, our Lord substitutes the law of charity and beneficence. Wherefore, ''give to him that asketh of thee," whoever he be, fi-iend or foe, even if he be of those who may have " struck thee on thy right cheek " (v. 39) ; and shoidd he wish to borrow of thee, even though he may have maltreated thee, do not, on this account, turn away thy face indignantly from him ; but, lend to him, just as if he inflicted no injury whatever on thee. The words, " would borrow " i.e., wishes to borrow, and from feelings of shame or modesty, may not actually prefer his request, convey that we are not to turn away in disgust from such persons, even though they may not actually apply to us ; but rather attend to their wants. St. Luke (vi. 30), to this, adds another precept, " and of him who taketh aicay thy goods, ask them not again," which shows that our Redeemer is speaking of those who did us an injury. This and the preceding are preceptive whenever our neighbour is either in extreme necessity, or reduced to such grievous necessity, as would call upon us to relieve his wants. Outside this state of things, they are only a matter oi counsel; and circumstances may arise where their observance would be inexpedient, and not in accordance wit^ the dictates of prudence. In other words, the above instructions may be said to be preceptive in this sense, that we are bound to have the prompt dispositions of relieving our neighbour's wants, as often as it is in accordance with right reason that we should do so, i.e., whenever the glory of God and our neighbour's salvation require it. But if it should happen that their observance would be opposed to right reason and the good of society, which, in certain conceivable circumstances, might occur ; then, in such circumstances, our Redeemer never meant that they should be observed. St. Luke (vi. 31), adds, " and as you would that men should do to you, do you also to them in like manner," which is also found (c. vii. 12) of this Gospel. This shows that the above instructions are to be attended to only when our neighbour could reasonably expect similar treatment from ue. Our conduct towards him and our wishes in regard to the treatment he would show us, are always to be in accordance with the dictates of prudence and right reason. TEXT. 43. Tou have heard that it hath been said, Thou shall love thy neighbour, and hate thy enemy. 44. But I say to you, Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you : and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you : 45. Hiat you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven, who maketh his sun to rise upon the good and bad, and raineth upon the Just and unjust. ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. V. 99 46. For if you love them that love you, what reward shall you have ? do not even the puhlicans this ? 47. And if you salute your brethren only, what do you more ? do not also the heathens this f 48. Be you therefore perfect, as also your heawenly Father is perfect. COMMENTARY. 43. '* Thou shalt love thy neighlour,''^ &c. The first part of this verse, regarding the love of our neighbour, is found in Leviticus (xix. 18). The Hebrew word for neigh- hour, Reagh, also signifies ^'friend;'''' and hence, it is rendered by St. Jerome, in the above passage, " thou shalt love thy friend: diliges amicum tuum.^* ^^ And hate thy enemy y These latter words are found in no part of the t)ld Testament, and hence, our Lord says, ^"^ you have heard,''^ i.e., from the false glosses and interpretations of the Scribes and Pharisees, who, finding it laid down in the law, " thou shalt love thy friend,''^ by a false interpretation and contrary induction inferred, " therefore, thou shalt hate ihy enemy. ''^ But, this is found nowhere in Scrip- ture. For, although the Jews are ordered to put to death, and extirpate the Chanaanite nations, nowhere are they told to hate them, any more than an executioner, who carries out the sentence of death , or the soldier ordered to slay his enemies, is told to hate them. On the contrary, the Jews are commanded in several passages of the books of Moses, to show kindness, and to practise benevolence towards their enemies. The Hebrew word, Reagh, signified ^^ friend'''' — those connected with us by blood or kindred, and also all those with whom we have any relations whatever, including the known relations of necessity under which he may labour. The Scribes and Pharisees took the word in its limited sense, confining it to the Jews, the seed of Abraham, and drew a false inference, as if all, not of the seed of Abraham, i.e., all the Gentiles, were to be hated. Our Divine Eedeemer, taking the word in its full, universal, and extended sense, corrects the false and contracted interpretation given the word by the Pharisees, as well as their false induction, and explains the precept as obligatory, in its most extended sens6, so as to include our enemies, who are joined to us not alone in the relation of common origin from the same original stock in the first Adam, and redemption through the second ; but also in the relation of spiritual necessities, which the very fact of being our enemies, and their injuring us, implies. 44. ^^ But I say to you?'' "/," who am your Master, and your Sovereign Lord. " /," who cannot lead you astray, as I am the infallible truth, incapable of deceiving you or being myself deceived. Interpreters remark, as has been noticed in the preceding verse, that our Eedeemer does not say, " It has been said to themof old,^* or it has been enjoined on your fathers; but, '^ you have heard that it was said,''^ as if He meant to correct not what was really said, but what they heard was said — that is to say, to correct the false glosses and interpretations of their teachers — the Scribes and Pharisees. ^^ I say to you.^'' I command you " #o love your enemies,^'' which expresses the interior and sincere feelings of the heart. Far from entertaining feelings of hatred, they should, on the contrary, have feelings of love and affection for their enemies, who — as appears from our Lord's own teaching, and the illustra- tion (Luke X.), where He gives the parable of the good Samaritan, the enemy of the Jew — are also our neiglibours, whom we are bound to love, as we would reason- ably hope to be loved ourselves, and this is not merely to be confined to the heart ; it should be exhibited *'m work and truth." "i?o good to them that hate you," refers to charity towards our neighbour, exhibited in work ; " a?id pray for them that persecute 100 COMMENTAEY ON yoM," refers to the tongue, or the expression of charity by the tongue or by words. Hardly is there any violation of charity so common, and withal so little scrupled, as that committed by words and by the wicked tongue. This " world of iniquity " (James iii. 6). ** Ifanyman think himself religious, not bridling his tongue . . . this man^ s religion is vain" (James i. 26). "Detract not one anofher,^^ &c. (James iv. 11. — See commen- tary on). In the Greek, the phrase, " bless them that curse you,^^ is added and inserted between " do goodto them that hate you," and " pray for them that persecute,''^ &c. The order of this latter member also is inverted in the Greek, which runs thus, "pray for them that calumniate and persecute you." The precept conveyed in this verse obliges us, per se, only to show our enemy the common marks of friendship and charitj-. To exclude him from the common offices of friendship would be a grave violation of this precept. To exhibit special marks of friendship to him if he be not in extreme or grievous want, saluting him by name, familiarly accosting him, &c., is only a matter of counsel. Isaid, j?(?r se, because there may be special grounds of obligation to show him peculiar marks of friendship in certain circumstances, v.g., if scandal arose from the omission, or the salvation of our enemy required it, &c. (See c. xviii. 23, &c.) 45. Our Redeemer commends the obsei-vance of the precept of loving our enemies, from which corrupt nature so strongly recoils, and which grace alone could enable us to fulfil, by a two-fold consideration of the most pressing nature. The/;-«^ is, that by loving our enemies, we demonstrate that we are, by imitation, sons, or faithful imitators of our Heavenly Father, whose sons we are already become by grace and adoption, and give proof that we are deserving to be reckoned among His children, when, by our actions, we faithfully reflect His boundless beneficence. Without distinguishing between His friends or His enemies, between " the just and the unjust," between " the good and the bad," He diffuses His blessings alike on all, without distinction. He bestows the priceless blessings of rain and heat on all without distinction, which are the great sources of the temporal blessings which we enjoy. 46. The second consideration, to influence them to love their enemies, is that, if they act otherwise, they are entitled to no supernatural reward. They do no more than the "publican," whom they despise, whose unjust course of life they detest and abhor ; and whom they universally regard as placed outside the pale of salvation. If, then, the former motive should be regarded by them as too exalted, as exceeding their strength or aspirations, viz., that of becoming like to God ; the latter could not by any means, as, they surely must aspire to a higher course of life, of virtuous actions, and to more exalted rewards, than " the publican " could pretend to or expect. " The publicans" were the collectors of the taxes among the Jews — a class of heartless oppressors, everywhere throughout the Gospel regarded, by our Redeemer, as outside the pale of salvation. " If you love those (only) that love you." Our Redeemer speaks of exclusively loving those that love us. For, to love oxu- friends from good motives, is praiseworthy, and deserving of reward. It has charity for its principle. Our Lord speaks of that exclusive love of our friends, as in next verse He speaks of "saluting our brethren only. " What reward shall you have ? " He, of course, speaks of supernatural rewards hereafter, as in returning the love of our friends, there is some earthly reward here, with a continuance of reciprocal love. Hence, He speaks of the reward in store in heaven hereafter, of which, by exclusively loving their friends — ^thus showing that ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. V. l(n their love is purely natural — they will show themselves no more deserving than the publicans do, who exercise natural love towards their friends. " Shall you have ? " In the Greek, it is present, " hme you" which means, laid up for you in heaven, and thus the meaning of the present and future reading of the verb, as in the Vulgate, amount to the same. 47. "•Salute,^'* the Greek word, aa-iraa-rjaOiy denotes the mode of salutation among friends, practised among the ancients, both Tews, and Gentiles, by embraces. It was observed also among the early Christians, '* Salutate invicem in osculo sancto" (2 Cor. xiii. 12). It denotes all other modes of expressing friendly feelings. " Your hrethren only," i.e., those united to us by ties of blood or kindred. The Jews regarded the whole Jewish race, the whole seed of Abraham, as " hrethren." " What do you do more ?" " More," may mean, more than those do whose actions have no supernatural merit; like the Pagans referred to, or, '^more," irepia-aov, may mean, excellent, deserving of commendation. *' Heathens," as well as you, show peculiar marks of friendship and affection to their friends. Christians must surely aspire to higher merits and reward than Pagans are entitled to, who, although capable of supernatural acts under the influence of Divine grace, still are incapable of supernatural merit, since faith, although not abso- lutely, the^r*^ grace — for, Pagans receive many actual graces — still, it is the first grace in the order of justification. The love confined to friends exclusively, without extending to our enemies, is but Pagan love, which is, by no means, meritorious before God. For " Pagans," the common Greek reading has " Publicans." But, the Vulgate is supported by the Vatican, and other MSS., and the Fathers generally. 48. " Be you, therefore, perfect," &c. " You," who are children of God by grace and adoption ; and who must far exceed Pagans and Publicans in the practice of virtue. " Therefore," on account of your Christian position and relations to God, as sons, '^ made partakers of the Divine nature" by grace and faith, '^Perfect," St. Luke has (c. vi.), ^'merciful," which embraces not only the exercise of mercy towards the unfortunate and miserable ; but, also, beneficence and benevolence towards all, a signification which the word, mercy, often bears in SS. Scripture (Gen. xxxix. 21, &c.), and is well suited to express the meaning of ^^ perfect" here, which generally refers to the observance of God's commandments, as explained in the pre- ceding chapter, and, in a special way, to the exercise of beneficence to all mankind, our enemies included; and, in this twofold sense of the word, "perfect," the particle, " therefore," expresses a general conclusion, drawn from the foregoing chapter, and a particular conclusion, derived from what immediately precedes, regarding the love of our enemies. ^^ As your heavenly Father is perfect.^' "As," expresses only similitude, a resemblance, but not equality, by any means ; as there can be no equality between the finite and the Infinite. God is Infinite in all perfections ; man can only, in a limited degree, imitate and resemble Him in the practice of perfection. The "perfection " referred to here, while embracing the exercise of all virtues, refers, in a special degree, to the exercise of mercy, beneficence, and benevolence towards all mankind, as is expressed by St. Luke (vi. 36), " as your heavenly Father is merciful." The word, " merciful,^' is taken in its most extended sense, to embrace the exercise of beneficence to all the world. The Greek for " £e you," is future, "you shall be;" but this is a gentle form, of conveying a precept, common to the Greek with other languages. These words are partly preceptive and of obligation ; partly, of counsel. It is 102 COMMENTAEY ON preceptive on all Christians to strive to acquire the jierfection necessary for their state, 80 far as the precepts of God bearing on that state, and the duties of their state, are concerned. Hence, it is preceptive, so far as the observance of God's commandments in general are concerned. It is preceptive also on us, as regards the love of our enemies, and the showing of benevolence to them, to show them the common marks of friendship, and if they be in extreme or grievous -want, to come to their relief ; and to show special marks of friendship and affection, whenever God's glory or our neighbour's salvation would be injured by our withholding them. Outside these cases, it is only of counsel, to show special marks of friendship to our enemies ; or, taking the text in a more extended sense, to do more than observe God's com- mandments. CHAPTEE VI. ANALYSIS. Having pointed out in the preceding chapter, the works of justice we are obKged to perform, our Lord commences this chapter with pointing out how they are to be performed, and the motives from which they should proceed. He inculcates the necessity of avoiding vain glory in the per- formance of our good works in general (1). Descending to particulars, He reduces our good works to the general heads of alms-deeds, prayer, fasting. He first points out how alms-deeds are tobe performed, viz., in private, in order to secure an eternal reward (2-4). Next, point out how we should discharge the duty of prayer, the faults we are to avoid, common among the Pharisees (5j, and among the Pagans (7-8) ; the secrecy with which we should perform the duty of private prayer (G). He next teaches us that most excellent and most comprehensive form of prayer, called the Lord's Prayer (9-13), and He points out the necessity of forgiving injuries referred to in one of the peti- tions of the Lord's Prayer (14-15). He next points out the faults committed by hypocrites in the exercise of fasting, and shows how we ought to appear, while fasting (16-18). He next inculcates detachment from earthly goods, and dissuades us from amassing earthly goods, on several grounds, because of their fleeting character and insecure tenure, as contrasted with heavenly goods (19-20) ; because, they engross all our thoughts, and withdraw us from heavenly things (21) ; because, they destroy the merit of our good actions, and withdraw us from God (22-23) ; because, they make us slaves of that wealth which we worship and idolize (24). He, next, by way of meeting a tacit objection, which might be made to His teaching on the subject of indifference and detachment in regard to earthly treasures, on the ground of the necessity of making provision for the future, shows on several grounds, the foUy of too much anxiety on this head ; first, because of the goodness of God manifested in the past provision made for us (25) ; again, from a comparison of the care He takes of the worthless birds of the air (26) ; again, on the grounds of the utter uselessness of such inordinate solicitude (27). Again, referring to the subject of raiment, so necessary for our subsistence. He suppresses inordinate solicitude on this head, from a consideration of what God has done to clothe with beauty the very grass of the field (28-31). Finally, from the consideration that such solicitude is Pagan in its tendency (32) . He concludes with exhorting to make God's kingdom and His justice the chief object of our solicitude, and not inordinately forecast future troubles, which will all be provided for by God's providence, in their own good time (33-34), rpAKE heed that you do not your justice hefore men, to he seen by them : otherwise you shall not have a reward of your Father who is in heaven. 2. Therefore when thou dost an alms-deed, sound not a trumpet before thee, as the hypo- crites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be honoured by men. Amen I say to you, they have received their reward. 3. But when thou dost alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doth. 4. That thy alms may he in secret, and thy Father who seeth in secret will repay thee. 5. And when ye pray, you shall not he as the hypocrites, that love to stand and pray in the synagogues and corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men : Amen I say to you, they have received their reward. 6. JBut thou ichen thou shalt pray, enter into thy chamber, and having shut the door, pray to thy Father in secret : and thy Father who seeth in secret will repay thee. ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. VI. 103 7. And wheti you are praying, speaJc not much, as the heathens. For they think that in their much speaking they may he heard. 8 . Be not you therefore like to them, for your Father knoweth what is needful for you, hefora you ask him. COMMENTARY. 1. " Take heed,^^ &c. Our Redeemer, having fully shown, in the preceding chapter, how far our ^^ justice, ^^ i.e., our observance of the moral law should excel that of the Scribes and Pharisees, and having also pointed out their violation of the law, both in their teaching and their actions, commences this chapter by showing how far we should excel tlieni as to the motives which should actuate us in the performance of the precepts of the law, common to His followers and the Jews. The words, " take heed,'''' convey, that we should employ the utmost vigilance and caution in guarding against vain glory, as the most dangerous, insidious, and subtle of all our spiritual enemies, since it destroys all the merit of our good works. It is the evil which those particularly are most liable to, who lead a life of virtue, and against which, therefore, they should be chiefly on their guard. Other passions domineer over the wicked ; this, chiefly attacks those who lead a life of virtue. The opinion which some expositors put forward, viz., that this portion of the discourse, which embraces quite a difi'erent subject from the foregoing, was not a continuation of the preceding, which they say, was delivered to the Apostles on the mountain ; tliis, to the multitude in the plain, is fully answered (c. v.-l). For, one and the same speaker, in the same discourse, and before the same audience, may, and frequently does, employ different subjects, and treat them differently, in accommodation to the wants of his audience, or of several portions of his audience. ^^ Justice,'" means our good works in general, by which we are made just, and the law is fulfilled ; or, our observance of the law of God, without reference to any particular class of works. These are called ^^ justice," because by them we are justified (c. V. 20). In the Greek, for "justice," it is " alms-deeds,'" which is also the reading of St. Chrysostom. The Vulgate reading, ^^ justice," is supported by the Vatican and other MSS., St. Augustine, Jerome, &c. However, there is practically but very little difference as regards the meaning, since " alms-deeds " signifies works of justice, which the rich owe the poor and necessitous. Alms are styled "justice'^ (Psa. cxi. 9; Prov. x. 2 ; 2 Cor. ix. 10), The general signification conveyed by the Vulgate reading, "justice," would seem to be the more appropriate ; so that from general, our Redeemer would proceed to particular virtues, which He specifies in detail. He supposes that all the duties of religion are comprised under the three following works, and may be classed under them : Prayer comprises, in a general way, our duties to God, and His worship ; " «?»is-f our sins. " Who hath given Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to rollers ? Hath not the Lord Himself, against whom we ha/ve sinned ** " (Isa. xlii. 24). From the above may be seen the importance of this sixth petition. Some com- mentators (among whom Jansenius Gandavensis) say, that in the Lord's Prayer there are only six petitions altogether; that the concluding words, " lut deliver us from evil," only express, in an ajfirmative form, what was negatively expressed in the foregoing member; and that the word, ^^ evil," conveys, that there is question in the preceding only of such temptations as are " evil," and intended to lead to sin. It is, these inter- preters say, because the clause expresses, in an affirmative way, what was negatively expressed in the preceding clause, it was omitted altogether by St. Luke (xi. 4). But the different clauses of such propositions do not always refer to the same thing ; they often refer to quite different things. The common opinion, then, is, that there are seven petitions (St. Augustine in Enchiridio, c. 115, 116), corresponding with seven of the evangelical beatitudes, and the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost {Idem L. 2, de Sermone Domini, c. 11). In verse 12, we pray to be delivered from aU sins what- soever ; in verse 13, from all temptations and dangers of committing sin ; and in the words, ^^lut deliver us," &c., from all afflictions whatsoever, the consequences of sin, corporal or spiritual, temporal or eternal. "But, deliver us from evil. Amen." This is the seventh petition. By "evil" some commentators understand the devil, called "evil," because he was the author of all evil, of all guilt and sin, " a murderer" — who slew the souls of men — from the beginning — "evil," too, because he is the instrument which God employs in visiting sinners with evil and punishment. In reference to this latter circumstance, it is said b}^ the Prophet Amos : " there is ro evil in the citij which the Lord had not done ;" and elsewhere, " I am. the Lord . . . making peace and creating evil." The devil is also called " evil," because by his very nature, full of malice, he boars an ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. VI. 119 undying hatred, and entertains the deepest malignitj^ for the human race. According to this interpretation, adopted by many of the Fathers (Tertullian, St. Chrysos- tom, &c.), the words mean : " but deliver us from the power of the devils The construction of the sentence in verse 13, ^Head us not into temptation, hut deliver us from evil," with the adversative particle " but," would favour this view. It is. moreover, in its favour, that the great source of temptation, the great enemy with whom we have to contend, is the devil, who employs the world and the flesh as his associates and auxiliaries; and hence, " lead us not into temptation" would be clearly expressed in an affirmative form in the words, " hut deliver us," Sec, the meaning of the entire sentence in such a construction being, *'do not allow us to fall into temptation; but, rather deliver us from the power of the devil, the source of temptation in this life." The Q-reek words, aTro tov urovrjpov, will bear this construction, "from the evil one." However, the words, even with the article, will bear a neuter and more extensive sense, so as to mean evil in general, in which sense it ia used in some parts of the SS. Scripture, v.p. (Deut. iv. 25 ; Rom. xii. 9 ; Thess. iii. 3). So that, according to the views of the best critics, it must be determined from the context, whether the words are to be taken in a limited sense to designate the wicked one, or in a more extensive sense, to designate, evil in general. The more common opinion, as has been already observed, is, that the word " evil" is taken in a neuter and more extensive sense, to denote the temporal evils and misfortunes of this life, and we deprecate them as possibly leading to spiritual and eternal ruin. So that, as in the preceding petitions, we begged to be freed from the guilt and eternal consequences of sin, whether past, present, or future, in this last petition we beg to be freed from the temporal consequences of sin ; the condition, however, being understood, that such exemption may not prove detrimental to our souls ; otherwise our prayers would be inordinate, as opposed to the great end of ouj creation. Indeed, the word may be taken in its most extensive sense to embrace evil of every kind, temporal and eternal. So that this petition will not be fully accomplished save in the resurrection of the dead; when "death" (with all the ills to which flesh is heir) *' is swallowed up in victory." In this petition, then, we pray to be saved from water or drowning, from fire, thunder and lightning, from the injurious efi'ects of the seasons on the fruits of the earth, from famine, seditions, rebellions, and wars. We beg of God to avert disease and pestilence, devastations, robberies, chains and imprisonment, and all the other evils whereby the life of man is rendered unhappy. We beg that the goods which mankind prize or esteem be not converted, as they sometimes are, into sources of evil and misfortune for us. We beg to be preserved from a sudden death, which is oftentimes inflicted, only as a temporal punishment for sin — in a word, we beg of God " to preserve us," in the language of the Church, "from all evils past, present, and to come." When, however God sends us temporal evils, we must receive them humbly from the hands of our loving Father who is in heaven, as fatherly chastisements. This good Father sees that temporal afflictions are sometimes useful and necessary for us ; and hence, when we pray to be delivered, He will not hear us, knowing that instead of bread He would be giving us a stone ; instead of a fish, He would thus be giving us a serpent. We should patiently bear temporary evils and sufferings, following in the footsteps of our great leader and captain. " It would be unseemly," says St. Bernard, **to find delicate members under a head crowned with thorns." "Amen," which St. Jerome calls *' signaculum Dominicse Orationis" (Comment. hie), is a Hebrew word retained in the Latin edition of the SS. Scripture and ecclesiastical prayers, as St. Augustine assures us (Lib. 2 de Doctrin. Christ, c. 11), 120 COMMENTAEY ON '* propter sanctiorem auctoritatem " but chiefly from a feeling of reverence for our Divine Lord, who frequently used the word. Firstly, it has the force of affirmation in the beginning of a sentence, the same as the Grreek, vat, akrjOois. Secondly, at the end of a sentence it means "so be it," expressive of assent to, or desire of, what precedes. When it is used in the Lord's Prayer, in the Mass, it is not said by the people, with the words, " sed libera nos a malo,^^ but by the priest, after them, to convey to us, that God Himself, between whom and the people, the priest is mediator, ratifies what is done, and declares on His part that He has heard the petitions presented to Him by priest and people in the Lord's Prayer ; as our Lord said formerly to the Chanaanite woman, ^^fiat tihi stout vis^* (Matt, xv.) ; (Catechism of Council of Trent on this prayer). In the received Greek text, to this prayer are added the words, '^ For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever^ This form of Doxology has, no doubt, the chief weight of extrinsic evidence in favour of its authenticity. It has almost all the Greek MSS., the Syriac, as also the Persian, Ethiopian, Armenian, Gothic, and Sclavonic versions, and some Greek Fathers, among the rest, St. Chrysostom. Notwithstanding this, the judgment of critics is decidedly opposed to its genuineness. We are informed by Bloomfield (Greek Testament, vol. i., p. 34), "that, with the exception of Matthei, all the more eminent editors, from Erasmus and Grotius down to Scholz, have rejected it." Although the Byzantine family of MSS. is favourable to its genuineness, still Scholz, whose leaning to this family of MSS. is so well known, after weighing the evidence /or and against, subscribed to the judgment of those critics who rejected the passage as spurious. " Egomet," he says, "cum complut. Erasmo, Camerario. Grotio, Milio, Bengelio, Wolsteinio, Griesbaehio, eam ut spuriam rejeci " (Novum Testamentum Greece ; Scholz textum recensuit, vol. i., p. 15). Against it we have intrinsic evidence. It by no means harmonizes with the context. Its insertion, on the contrary, gives an appearance more harsh still to the reference made by our Redeemer, from verse 12 to verse 14. Extrinsic evidence is far from being altogether in its favour. It has eight very ancient MSS. against it, including the Codex Vaticanus (see Bloomfield, vol. i., page 35). It is marked as doubtful in other Greek MSS. It is wanting in the Vulgate before and after St. Jerome's time, and in some other versions. Many of the Greek and Latin Fathers are opposed to it. It is wanting in St. Luke (xii. 4), and it would be much easier to account for its insertion in St. Matthew, although not genuine, than it would for its omission in all the copies of St. Luke, if really genuine. No reason could be assigned for its total, universal omission in the latter case ; whereas, its insertion in St. Matthew, even supposing it spurious, can be probably accounted for thus : — ^It was the custom of the Greek Church, from which is principally derived the extrinsic evidence in favour of the genuineness of the form in question, to make frequent use of Doxologies in the Liturgy. To the Greek Church, the Doxology, " Olory he to the Father and to the Son," &c., now so commonly in use at the end of the Psalms, is attributed. It was the Greeks also that added to the "Hail, Mary," because thou hast brought forth our Saviour. It was quite usual with St, Chrysostom and other Greek preachers to eouclude their sermons with such words as these, ^^ For thine is the power and glory," &c. It is likely, then, that from the margin in which these and similar words were written, they were introduced into the text, through the mistake of copyists, by whom they were supposed to be part of the geuuine text. Their introduction into the text of St. Matthew may be thus probably accounted for ; whereas, if genuine, there could be no conceivable way of accounting for their omission in all the copies of St. Luke. Although spurious, ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. VI. 121 the Doxology in question must be, from a very early date, found in the text of this 13th verse of St. Matthew, since it is in the Peschito-Syriac version. It must come by surprise on those who charge the Catholic Church with curtailing the Lord's Prayer, in consequence of omitting the Doxology in question, to find that the most eminent Protestant critics and editors have agreed on rejecting it as spurious. — In the very last revision of the Bible published by the most uistinguislied Protestant Divines, it is utterly ignored and omitted. 14, 15. '■'■For if you forgive,^'' &c. In the words of these verses, our Lord explains the reason of the addition made to the fifth petition, ^' as ive forgive our debtors^^ (v. 12). He explains tiie condition of our obtaining the forgiveness we ask of God, viz., that we forgive our enemies, and He puts it in an affirmative and negative form, to show its importance ; its absolute, indispensable necessity. It is, indeed, a most equitable condition. It is most equitable, that we should not obtain forgiveness of the vast debts we owe our Heavenly Father, our Creator and Master, if we refuse to remit to our brethren, His children, the trifling debts, which, on the grounds of offence, they owe us. In singling out this petition and the condition of securing it, our Lord shows the great importance as well as the necessity of charity and brotherly union. ^'' If you forgive men their offe'nces, your Heavenly Father" &c. This being an affir- mative proposition, of course, can only mean, that the other requisite conditions be added, that is to say, if there be no other obstacle, God will forgive. If a man be the slave of other sins unrepented of lust, gluttony, &c., he cannot expect to be forgiven, even though he exercise mercy to his neighbour, unless he also repent of his sins and abandon his evil ways. At the same time, the exercise of charity and forgiveness will, no doubt, help, and very efficaciously, to obtain from God, the graces necessary to abandon sin and be reconciled to Him. '■'■But, if you do not,'''' &c. This is putting the same in a negative form, whence, it follows, that under no circumstances, can a man obtain forgiveness from God, who hates his neighbours and forgives not. The justice of requiring, that we forgive others before we are forgiven, is clearly expressed (Eeclesiasticus xxviii. 4, 5), '■'Man to man reserveth anger, and doth he seek remedy of God ? He hath no mercy on a man Wee himself; and doth he entreat for his own sins ? Me that is hut flesh, nourisheth anger, and doth he ash forgiveness of God?^^ TEXT. 16. And when you fast, he not as the hypocrites, sad. For they disfigure their faces, that they ma/y appea/r unto men to fast. Amen I say to you, they have received their reward. 17. But thou, when thou fastest anoint thy head, and wash thy face : 18. That thou appear not to men to fast, hut to thy Father who is in secret : and thy FatJier who seeth in secret, will repay thee. COMMENTARY. 16. Having given them instructions to avoid ostentation and vain glory in the practice of alms-deeds and prayer, our ijord now gives similar instructions regarding fasting. He places ^'prayer'''' between alms-deeds and fastings, as they hold the place of the two wings whereby it is borne aloft, " hona est oratio cumjefunio et eleemosyna." 122 COMMENTARY ON " Sad," putting on a penitential, mournful appearance, wearing a morose coun- tenance. Our Lord does not censure sadness of heart and soul, which produces contrition and penance ; but only that stern sadness of visage, assumed for purposes of vain glory, and of gaining the praises of men. That sadness which may be the natural effect of fasting is not here censured, but the motive of putting it on. *' Disfigure, ^^ i.e. destroy the naturally cheerful and pleasing appearance of their countenance. Hiding this, they put on a pallid, emaciated aspect. This is the meaning of the Grreek word, a^avi^ouo-i, which is well rendered in the Vulgate, exter- minant, and this they do in order that their fasts may be made known to men, and thus gain them the repute of being mortified men. He speaks of fasts really under- gone, but for the purposes of vain glory. St. Chrysostom speaks of men in his day who did not fast at all, and pretended they did. These were greater hypocrites still than the Pharisees of old, who really fasted, but fasted from bad motives. 17, 18. " Anoint,'^ &G. This is allusive to thecustomprevalentinJudea, of anointing their hair and washing their face on festive and joyous occasions (Ruth iii. 3 ; 2 Kings xii. 20 ; Luke vii. 46). The climate and great heat made this process a necessary external accompaniment of joy. On the other hand, when in mourning, they paid no attention to their persons, the better to express the interior sorrow of their souls (2 Kings xiv. 2). The wordsof our Redeemer are not to be taken literally, as of obligation. They are to be understood metaphorically (although where the custom of " anointing the head," &c., on occasions of joy existed, they may be taken literally in connexion with their metaphorical signification), and are chiefly meant to convey to all Christians, at all times and periods, that in fasting they should dissemble it, and avoiding every incentive to vain glory, they should, putting aside all appearance of grief, appear to men cheerful and joyous, like those who " anoint the head," &c. So that our fasts may be seen by our Heavenly Father only, from whom alone we expect to receive the reward of our good actions. Some expositors (among them Bloomfield) say, the Jews, like the Greeks, regularly anointed their heads and washed their faces, save in times of mourning (Dan. x. 3). In that case, the words here would mean, when- ever you fast, appear as usual, and put on no appearance of mourning or sorrow. Our Redeemer here refers only to voluntary fasting, privately practised ; since, in reference to public fasting, performed on public grounds, and by public authority, there would be no particular grounds for boasting or indulging vain glory, as all should join in it ; and hence, no motive for concealing the sorrow and penitential spirit which dictated it. TEXT. 19. Lay not tip to yourselves treasures on earth: where the rust, and moth consume, and 'joliere thiems break through, and steal. 20. But lay up to yourselves treasures in heaven : where neither the rust nor moth doth consume, and where thieves do not break through, nor steal. 21. For where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also. 2'. The light of thy body is thy eye. If thy eye be single thy whole body shall he lightsome. 23. But if thy eye he evil thy whole body shall be darksome. If then the light that is in thee be darkness : the darkness itself how great shall it be. 24. No man can serve two masters. For eitJier he will hate the one, and love the other : or he will sustain the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon ! ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. VI. 123 COMMENTARY. 19. The PliaiisL( s were slaves not only to vain-glory, the inordinate fondness for human applause, but also to avarice, the inordinate love of treasuring up riches Hence, our Eedeemer here cautions His followers against imitating them in this latter vice of avarice also, and dilates chiefly on this subject, to the close of this sixth chapter. Having pointed out the mode of giving alms, He here exliorts His followers to the practi(2e of this good work, as a necessary accompaniment of prayer and fasting, of which He has been after treating ; and having inculcated already the contempt of earthly goods, on the grounds of making them the means of showing mercy to our enemies (c. v. 40), here He inculcates the same for our own sakes, in order to secure greater treasures hereafter. Our Lord does not censure the possession of riches; but, the inordinate attachment and desire of possessing them. *' Lay not up treasures on earth." If they must amass treasures, they are to amass them not on earth, where the}'' are so fleeting and insecure. ^^ Rust " consumes the precious metals ; " moths," clothes ; " and thieves" rifle and take away everything else of any value. This, then, is the first argument against amassing treasures here below, grounded on the fleeting and insecure possession we can have of them. Similar is the exhortation of St. Paul (1 Tim. vi. 9, 16-19). " Where the kust and the moth," &c. The Greek has it inverted, " where tJie MOTH and the rust," &c. The Greek for "rws^" means, "a canker," whatever consumes and eats into a thing. 20. " But lay up" (not for worthless ungrateful children or heirs, but), for your- selves treasures in heaven." Heaven is the secure and permanent place for treasuring up their riches, by depositing them in the bosom of the poor, in alms-deeds. They shall thus amass their wealth more securely. That our Redeemer refers to alms- deeds, is clear from St. Luke (xii. 33). In this verse is contained another argument the opposite of the foregoing, viz., the permanent, eternal stability and firm security of the treasures laid up with God in heaven. (Tobias iv. ; xii. ; Psa. cxi. ; Prov. xix.) 21. ^^ For, where thy treasure is," &c. For, ** thy," the received text, has ^' your" (w/ACDv) ; but, the Vulgate " tuus" is supported by the Vatican MS., and versions generally. In tliis verse is adduced a second argument, founded on a proverbial saying generally admitted. The argument is this ; admitting even that riches were not uncertain or fleeting on this earth, as has been stated already ; stiU, it would be unworthy of hearts created for heaven, tending towards heaven, to be attached to them, as they surely would, according to the adage, " wherever our treasure is, there i$ our heart," there our afi'eetions are centred. By " treasure," is meant, whatever we regard as most precious, the object of our love and affections. By " heart," our love, our afi'eetions. As it would be unworthy of those created for heaven, which is our true country, whither we are tending, to have their afi'eetions centred on the things of this earth, this land of exile, through which we are journeying to our eternal home ; we should not, therefore, love riches here, but transmit them to Heaven through the hands of the poor. Our Redeemer's object in this verse is to regulate our wills, and cause us to value eternal goods only ; and by regarding them as alone of any value, to have no other view, but to arrive at their secure possession in heaven. The same is suggested in the following illustrations also. 22. The eye holds the same place, or rather does the same service in the body, 124 COMMENTAEY ON tliat a lamp does to the place where it is lighted. In the received Greek text it is, " THE eye is the light of the hody.'''' " Thy " is omitted. In the Greek edition of Cardinal Mai it is, " thine eye is the light of the body." A general adagial truth is affirmed here. " Single,'''' clear, sound, free from noxious humours; " thy whole hody shall he lightsome," i.e., furnished with sufficient light to perform its proper functions. In these words, and in the beginning of next verse (23) is drawn the deduction from the general truth of the preceding adage. Hence, we have in the Greek, " if (there- fore) thine eye be single," &c. 23. '^JSvtl," the opposite of "single," dim, affected with noxious humours. "Body . . . darksome" groping in the dark, in performing its functions, because deprived of the directing guidance of the eye. " If, then, the light that is in thee," i.e., that should be in thee. If what should be lightsome, be itself, "darkness," "the darkness itself, how great shall it be ?" ».e.,how darksome shall the other members of the body become, which are of their own nature destitute of light, in case the eye itself be "darksome"? The words may be also interpreted to include the eye itself, supposed to be destitute of light, like the other members of the body, thus: " If the light that is in thee he darksome, how great will the darkness of the entire hody he ?" In these latter words, " If then, the light that is in thee," &e., is contained the application of the parable "The eye," it is needless to say, is used metaphorically. Some understand it t , refer to the practical judgment of the mind or intellect, the same as the light of conscience, which holds the same relation, or performs the same office, in regard to the soul, that " the eye" does in relation to the " hody." If the mind or intellect be free from the evil humours and clouding influences of the passions, the soul wiU tend to God, and be enlightened by His heavenly grace. But, if it be clouded by passion» and particularly by avarice or the love of money, against which our Redeemer here cautions us, which is strongly denounced by the Wise Man (Eccles. x. 10), and 80 fearfully depicted by St. Paul (1 Tim. vi, 9, &c.); " the whole hody " {of our actions), all the other faculties of the soul, shall be infected with this darksome evil. The heart shall be bent on earthly things. The connexion with the foregoing in this interpretation will be this : If our treasure be on earth, everything, even our best actions, shall be referred to the sordid acquisition of peK, in which the heart of the aviiricious man is centered, and God lost sight of. Hence, the evil of having our treasure on the earth. By " tlie eye," St. Augustine and others understand our intentions in our actions. If the intention be simple, upright, and directed to God, it will impart goodness to aU our actions, not otherwise evil. If impure, if it have in view the gratification of our passions, particularly the sordid passion of avarice, then, all our actions are infected by it ; they become darksome, and cease to be meritorious with God. In this interpretation the connexion with the preceding is this : If we wish to lay up treasures in heaven, we must do so, having our hearts raised up to God with a pure intention. The scope of our Redeemer in this entire chapter, regarding the tnode of praying, fasting, &c., favours this latter mode of connexion and interpretation , or, we need not necessarily connect it with the preceding at all. It may be an independent maxim uttered, among others, by our Sovereign Lord, without any reference to what precedes or follows. 24. This is a furtlier reason for not laying up for ourselves treasures on earth. ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. VI. i25 The j)receding reasons or arguments were grounded on the fleeting nature and instability of such treasures (i'J); on the total absorption of our affections by them (21) ; on their destroying the merits of our actions and withdrawing us from God (22, 23). Here, it is founded on tlie grievous slavery it entails. We become the staves of this earthly treasure, on which our hearts are set. 'We cannot serve it and God at the same time. " ^0 man can serve two masters.'" This is an adage generally received, and true in almost all cases; and from the reasoning which follows, "/or, he will either hate the owe," &c., it is clear that our Redeemer refers to the service dictated by love and affection (and it is against the absorbing love of riches He here wishes to caution His followers). The adage, generally true in all cases of double service, where different orders aie given, is particularly true where the two mastcT-i give opposite orders. There is an incompatibility in a servant, from the very nature of his position, having his love and faithful service distracted between both. If there be question of masters who, though different or distinct, are subordinate, one to the other, they may be regarded as one. Thus, one servant can serve the several members of a household, as subordinate, all to the head. By " master,^'' is understood every- thing, to which we are too much addicted, as if enslaved. " For, either he will hate the one and love the other. ^^ " One,^^ is by a well-known Hebrew idiom, put for ^^Jirat;" " the other,^^ for " second.^^ The words may be thus illustrated : Suppose the masters to be Peter and Paul. He will either hate the first (that is, Peter), and love the second (Paul) ; or he will hold to the first (Peter), and serve him, and despise the other (Paul). The opposition in the disjunctive clauses is not between the persons, but between the love and the hatred ia one and the same person. ^^ Sating" and " loving " may be understood in a lesser or greater degree of intensity. The Greek word for " sustain " (av^e^crai) denotes the strongest attachment St. Augustine understands ^^ sustains," or, '■^ hold to," of riches or ^'mammon," and translates it, patietur, he will endure or tolerate, as if to say, if he devote himself to the service of this tyrant, mammon, to the rejection and contempt of God, he can only endure or tolerate him, but love him he cannot. The former interpretation is more in accordance with the received meaning of the Greek word, avOeieTcu. '■^You cannot serve God and mammon." This is the application of the general adage quoted in the foregoing. " Mammon " is a Syriac word, signifying riches. In the Chaldaic Targum of Onkelos, it is used for money (Exod. xxi. 21) ; and oi Jonathan (Jud. xviii. 30). St. Augustine tells us that in the Punic language, it means gain (De Ser. Dom. Lib. ii.) It is here personified ; for, indeed, the avaricious man makes a god of his riches, just as some make " a god of their helly" (Phil. iii. 19). Hence, St. Paul terms riches " the serving of idols " (Eph. v. 5). Our Redeemer does not say, " you cannot he rich and serve God ;" because, a man may be rich, like the patriarchs of old, and many just men, without being inordinately attached to riches; without " serving" them as the treasures of their hearts. God and riches are antithetical. It is the service of both that is incompatible. The love of riches is generally one of the greatest obstacles to the salvation of the world. The desire of riches, or their abuse, if possessed, is one of the means most successfully employed by the devil for the ruin of man. "/i5 is easier for a camel" &e. (See also St. Paul, 1 Tim. vi.) On this account, it is, our Redeemer commands all those who range themselves under His standard, to despise the riches of this earth, after His own example ; or, to use them, only as means towards possessing and enjoying the riches of heaven. 126 COMMENTARY ON TEXT. 25. Therefore I say to you, he not solicitous for your life, what you shall eat, nor for your hody what you shall put on. Is not the life more than the meat ; and the body more than the raiment ? 26. Behold the birds of the air, for they neither soio, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns: and your heavenly Fatlier feedeth them. Are not you of much more value than they ? 27. And which of you by taking thought, can add to his stature one cubit ? 28. And for raiment why are you solicitous ? Consider the lilies of the field how they grow : they labour not, neither do they spin. 29. JBut I say to you, that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these. 30. And if tlie grass of the field, which is to-day, andto-mm'row is cast into the oven, God doth so clothe : hoiv much more you, ye of little faith? 31. Be not solicitous, therefore, saying : What shall we eat : or what shall we d/rink, or wherewith shall we he clothed ? 32. For after all these things do the heathens seeTc. For your Father hnoweth that you have need of all tJiese things. COMMENTARY, 25. Since, then, we cannot serve Grod and mammon at the same time, and cannot have our hearts attached to the things of earth, if we wish to serve God ; we must, therefore, in order to serve Grod, whom alone we should serve, not merely be content with avoiding the unnecessary amassing of riches, but we must divest ourselves of all anxious, corroding solicitude for the very necessaries of life; all distrustful forecasting of future provision as regards these necessaries. Such solicitude generally binds the soul to earth, and belongs to the service of mammon. In this, our Lord obviates a tacit objection, or rather pretext, for concealing avarice, which men would put forward in justification of their constant striving for the things of earth, viz., the plea of securing the necessaries of life. Our Redeemer knew well how deeply rooted such a feeling of solicitude is in the human heart ; hence. He not only draws an argument from the foregoing against indulging in such solicitude ; but, in the following, He proceeds to show, from several arguments, the utter folly and inutility of the anxiety He condemns in reference to these very necessaries, either as regard soul or body ; for of both, soul and body, human nature is composed. " Solicitous,*' the Greek word, /Acpi/xvarc, signifies distracting care, corroding anxiety. In one or two passages of the New Testament, /xepi/iva denotes laudable anxiety (2 Cor. xi.; Philip, ii. 20), but it is generally used to denote distracting, distrustful care. (When laudable solicitude is in question, the Greek word used is, aTravSrj.) In employing the former word, our Redeemer shows He does not censure a prudent, thoughtful diligence in regard to the necessaries of life, as is sanctioned by right reason, and the example of all the saints. It is only the man that sows that can expect to reap, and reap fruit of the same kind as the seed sown. The Scripture itself praises the diligence of the laborious ant (Prov. vi. 6). St. Paul laboured with his hands to procure an independent sustenance (Acts xx. ; 1 Thess. ii.) ; and, writing to the Ephesians (c. iv.) he commands the idle to labour so as to furnish necessaries to the needy. He tells the idle among the Thessalonians, "not to eat" (2 Thess. iii. 10). What our Lord, then, censures and warns us against is that anxious, fretful, anticipating solicitude, which implies a distrust in God's providence, and also fixes the heart on earth and withdraws it from God. " The life,'' {anima) is understood by some to mean, the souloi man. It is opposed to the " body," not that the soul needs food ; but, food is necessary to keep the soul. ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. VI. 127 which is the principle of life, in the body. Others understand it to mean, in accordance with the Hebrew usage, life (Job ii. 6 ; St. Augustine, Lib. ii. de Serm. Domini, c. 22). To the words, " what you shall eat,''^ are added in the Greek and Syriac, ^^ nor what you shall drink.'^ St. Jerome rejects them. '* Is not the life more than the food ? " &c. Our Redeemer adduces several reasons to dissuade us from indulging in these distracting anxieties. The first is given here. He, who gave what is greater and more valuable, will not refuse what is less valuable, and is, moreover, necessary for the preservation of His own more precious gifts. The ^oul or life given by Q-od is more valuable than the aliments necessary to sustain it ; and the body more valuable than the necessary covering. We must, therefore, trust that He, who gave the former, will not fail to provide the latter. 26. A second reason to dissuade us from inordinate anxiety : If God takes such care of the birds of the air, ^^the (worthless) ravens^' (Luke xii. 24), as to provide them with food, without any solicitude on their part, how much greater care will He not take of men, for whose use and benefit the rest of creation was formed? {See also Psa. 9 ; Job xxxviii. 41.) " Of the air," to show forth in a still clearer light, God's providence, as the birds of the air are not fed by men, like domestic fowl. He instances " birds " beyond any others ; because, they are the most insignificant of animals. They remind us of raising ourselves above the things of this earth. They also seem the most indifferent beings in creation, about providing themselves, save casually, with food. *' They neither sow," &c. This by no means implies, that in contravention of the primeval decree, "«» sudorevultus tui, Sfc." (Gen. iii. 19), we, like the birds of the air, should follow no industrial pursuit, nor labour for our support. It conveys merely this, that, since the Creator feeds these animals, who have no other occupation or direction, save the dictates of their animal instincts, we should be persuaded, that He who is not only our Creator, but our Father also, will not fail to provide the necessary means of subsistence for us. His children, while engaged in following His holy will and precepts. So that if our duties in life should engage us in occupations other than those necessary to provide sustenance, such as sowing and reaping, we need not fear that we shall be deprived of the necessary sustenance. The force of the argument consists, not in the comparison of man, or his occu- pations, with the birds ; but, in the difference of relations and dispositions of God in regard to both, indicated in the words, "your heavenly Father." (Jansen. Gandav.) " Your Father." He is only their Creator ; but. He bears also the tender relation and natural solicitude of a parent for you. "Heavenly," conveys that, while dwelling in the heavens, He does not disdain to regulate earthly and temporal concerns ; since His providence extends to the very ravens ; and surely He will do more for His children than for the worthless ravens of the air. 27. '* And which of you hy talcing thought f " &c. This is a third reason for laying aside all distracting solicitude, derived from its utter folly and inefficacy. The words of St. Luke (xii. 25, 26) would seem to point to this as an argument, a minore ad majus. According to some commentators (among them Barradius), our Redeemer institutes no comparison whatsoever. These understand the words to mean, "If by anxious thought, you cannot add a single cubit to your stature, a very inconsiderable thing; if you cannot do the least thing by it, why, then, employ anxious thought about anything else in regard to which such disquieting solicitude can be of no avail, unless God's providence interposes? " Why are you solicitous for the rest '^ " 128 COMMENT AliY ON Lixke xii. 26). According to these interpreters, there is no comparison whatsoever instituted. Others understand the words as expressing a comparison, as is implied in St. Luke, and interpret them thus, in allusion to the necessaries of life: "If you cannot, by your solicitude, add to your stature a single cubit, how much less can you procure the necessaries of life, which is but a conservation in existence, a continued series of acts of creation of the entire man, requiring, therefore, more power than if required to add a single cubit to your stature?" When, therefore, all your solici- tude will prove of no avail to you to do a comparatively trifling thing, why, then, indulge in such vain feelings of solicitude, in reference to greater, viz., food and the preservation of life, and not rather commit yourself to His providence who, without any anxiety on your part, has preserved you to the present time, confeiTed on you your present stature, and will, no doubt, provide for your continuance in existence. Others, understanding the Grreek word for ^^ stature ^^ to mean, age, and ^^ cubit " a period of time, interpret the passage thus: "If you cannot add the shortest time to your age, how much less can you prolong life during the entire term of your existence ? " ^^By thiniking ?'' The Greek word implies, distracting care, which shows whaf kind of solicitude our Redeemer warns us against here. 28. A fourth reason to dissuade us from solicitude. From food — the more necessary means of subsistence — He proceeds to treat of raiment, which is less necessary, and also serves for ornament. He now employs an illustration, borrowed from the flowers of the field, as He had already done with regard to the birds of the air, to dissuade us from distracting solicitude. " The lilies of the field,''^ which, growing wild, unlike the flowers of the garden, tended by man, owe nothing to human care or culture. ^^ How they grow? ^^ Their growth and expansion in leaves and foliage is their clothing. '^ They labour not" to obtain clothing, as do men, ^'nor spin," the occupation of women. 29. " Solomon," the most magnificent of monarchs, whose apparel was so costly, " in all his glory" at the very height of all his glory and magnificence. Or, during the entire period of his glorious reign (St. Chrysostom). " Was arrayed as one of these." "What silken works, what royal purple, what woven picture, can be compared to flowers ? What so blushing as the rose ? What 80 white as the lily? " (St. Jerome.) 60. What He calls above, " the lilies of the field," He now calls " grass of the field," to show how God can and does invest the most worthless thing with exquisite beauty. " TFhich to-day is, and to-morrow is cast," &c., a thing of short-lived, passing existence. " God doth so clothe," as to exceed the glory of Solomon, vrith how much greater care will He not provide the necessary clothing for His own children, and invest them with beauty, who are to exist not for a day ; but, destined to live for eternity with Himself, as heirs of His kingdom, and who, now, for want of due faith and confidence, distrust His paternal providence ? " ye, of little faith." The words, " labour not," &c., are not opposed to our labouring and earning our dread with the sweat of our brow, as has been already explained (v. 26). They are only meant to convey, that God will not be wanting to us any more than He is to the very flowers of the field, even though our occupations in life may not directly tend to our providing bodily sustenance, such as, sowing, reaping, spinning, &c., ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. VI. 129 as is the case with those engaged in preaching the Gospel, &c, This passage conveys a wholesome lesson, and a well-merited reproof to those who display an excessive desire for the vanities of dress. 31. Having adduced proofs in the foregoing of the fatherly providence of God in our regard, and of the utter folly of anxious solicitude on our part, our Redeemer now concludes what He already proposed, and more clearly explains in what this solicitude consists, " What shall we eat?" &c. He shows that He has been censuring that timorous, anxious solicitude which betrays distrust in God's providence. 32. Such solicitude is heathen and not Christian ; and as our love of our fellow- creatures should differ from that exhibited by the Pagans (c. v. 47), so also should our confidence in God's fatherly providence ; and, as we must surpass the Scribes and Pharisees, if we wish to enter into the kingdom of heaven ; so must we surpass the unbelieving Pagans who know not .God. In this is conveyed a fifth reason for avoid- ing undue anxiety. " For, your Father knoweth,^' &c. In this is conveyed a sixth reason, and from it we clearly see the nature of the solicitude condemned by our Redeemer. It arose from a want of faith in God's power, omniscience, and fatherly providence. " Your Father,^' shows God's benevolence towards us. His will to assist us. His power is implied and expressed in the words, " Heavenli/ Ysither,^^ and more clearly still in the Greek (6 ovpavLo<;), "He ivho dwells in the heavens.''^ His omniscience and knowledge of our wants is clearly expressed, " knoweth," &e. Why not, then, cast all our cares on Him? "for, He hath care of us''^ (1 Peter v. 7). Where is the father with a full knowledge of the wants of his children, that will refuse, when in his power, to succour them ? And if this be true of earthly fathers, how much more so must it not be of the best of Fathers who is in heaven ? As God, He knows our necessities ; as a Father, He wishes to relieve them ; as Heavenly Lord of all things. He can do so. TEXT. 33. Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of Ood, and his justice, and all these things shall he added tmto you. 34. Be not therefore solicitous for to-morrow ; for the morrow will he solicitous for tzself Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof COMMENTARY. 33. After the negative precept prohibiting excessive anxiety in regard to the neces- isaries of life, our Redeemer now proposes a positive or affirmative precept, showing how we are to difi'er from the Pagans, and how we are to obtain through God's paternal providence, the necessaries of life, without any excessive solicitude on our part. " Seek. " He does not say, " he solicitous." For, even in reference to our spii-itual wants, -we should not indulge in distracting solicitude, "nihil soliciti sitis,^' &c. (St. Paul, Phil, iv.) " Therefore. " The Greek is (8c, hut) as if, in opposition to the conduct and thoughts of the heathens. He said, the Pagans seek after temporal matters ; " hut,^' as for you who have God for Father, " seekfirst,^^ &e. " First,^^ i.e., chiefly, in preference to anything else; "first,'''' in order, not of time, but, of appreciation. 130 COMMENTAEY ON *' The kingdom of God,''^ i.e., the attainment of heavenly bliss, compared with ■which everything else is mere dross. This is the first and chief object to be sought for as regards ourselves. But, in reference to Q-od, and absolutely speaking, God'a glory is the first thing to be sought for. Hence, in these words, there is no opposi- tion to the order of petitions in the Lord's Prayer. *' Hallowed he Thy name ; Thy king- dom come;'' which is ranged in the second place. For, even while labouring and seeking to obtain heavenly bliss, we must ^' first, " and absolutely, seek God's glory. " And His justice." The justice of God — in contradistinction to that of the Scribes and Pharisees — which is grace, sanctification, the observance of God's law, which are the necessary means for obtaining God's kingdom. Others, by " the kingdom of God,'" iinderstand. His grace, by which He reigns in our hearts; and these understand the words, " and His justice," to be explanatory of the word, " kingdom," so as to mean, " seek God's kingdom," that is to say. His justice, grace, and sanctity. "And all these things," i.e., temporal blessings, the necessaries of life, &c., "shall he added unto you." This does not mean, that we are never allowed to seek for temporal things as subservient to our eternal interests ; since, we are commanded to pray for them. " Give us this dug our daily hread," &c. The words mean, that if we devote our chief care and solicitude to the concerns of salvation, and propose its attain- ment, as our absolute final end in all things, God will provide all other things for us, aa far as they may answer these ends. The words show that temporal interests are mere accessories of the affairs of salvation ; mere secondary appendages, subservient to them. In this promise, is always implied the condition, viz., "provided the granting of thote temporal hlessings he not an ohstacle to our salvation." Similar is the promise, with a like implied condition, " inquirentes Bominum non deficient omni hono," " non est inopia timentihus cum," and although in the case of jnany just men " seeking the kingdom of God," the necessaries of life are withheld; still, in their case, the promise is verified, as He gives them blessings of a higher order, in which "all these things" are eminently contained. If God give not these things specifically, He gives them in gifts of far higher value. And He, who rewards every man's work according to merit, may, for the fuller and more perfect remuneration of the just man, subject him to poverty and want in this life, as a temporal punishment of some fault ; lest, the eternal reward be retarded, or diminished — and moreover. He means to give him an opportunity of increasing his merit by patience and conformity to His adorable will. 34. " Solicitous." The Greek word {fiepifivrjcniTe) shows what the solicitude referred to is. " Therefore," shows this to be an inference from the foregoing. As the birds of the air are fed and their future provided for by God ; as God will add the neces- saries of life, if we seek the kingdom of heaven ; we should, therefore, banish all dis- tracting cares in regard to the future. " To-morrow." St. Augustine vmderstands this word to mean, temporal things; as if to say, be not solicitous about temporal things. They shall be solicitous for themselves ; they shall be at hand when wanted. It will be sufficient to take what necessity may require. St. Chrysostom understands it, of the superfluities of life. Be not concerned about whatever is above the necessary provision for each day's sub- sistence. Superfluities will mind themselves, were you to amass ever so much of them, and enjoy them not ; they will be always sure to find one who will use them. The labour and misery which you suffer for the necessaries of life are sufficient; do not^ ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. VII. 131 therefore, labour for superfluities, lest the labour be yours, and the fruition belong to others. The most probable meaning of " to-morroto^^ is, the future time — the sense it bears (1 Kings xxviii. 19) — '^ eras eris tu et filii tui" &c." (Josue xxii. 24); " ), in the present. St. Jerome renders it in Osee (vi. 6), in the past, "volui miser icordiam,'" '^Idesired mercy.^* " Mercy ^^ denotes the exercise of beneficence towards those in distress. The relief of our neighbours' spiritual wants, and the removal of spiritual misery, are the chief works of beneficence. *' Sacrifice " embraces the external acts of Divine worship pre- scribed by God Himself, of which acts sacrifice is the principal ; and it was only for external acts of worship the Pharisees had any zeal. In preferring mercy to tacrifice, our Lord speaks of the sacrifices of those who neglected the exercise of mercy, whom He here silently taxes with inhumanity. Not that mercy, which is the exercise of charity towards our neighhour, is more exalted than sacrifice or religion, which is the exercise of charity towards God; but the former is more necessary. God stands not in need of sacrifice, as our neighbour needs mercy. Hence, the man devoid of mercy can never present an acceptable sacrifice. "He does not love his neighbour, whom he sees, how can he love God, whom he sees not ? " (1 John iv. 20 ) The words, then, mean: "If you disregard my teaching, go, and learn from your- selves the meaning of the words of the Prophet ; and, then, cease to reproach me for the exercise of that mercy, to which God gives a preference before sacrifice, or external worship, which you prize so highly." "i^or / am not come," &c. In these words is assigned an additional reason why our Redeemer conversed and sat down to meat with sinners, derived from the nature of the office He came to discharge (or, perhaps, it may be, with stiU greater probability, said that these words are but a more clear exposition and application of the words, v. 12, " they that are in health, ' ' &c. He here calls those ' ' sinners, ' ' whom in v. 12 He termed " sick "). The words mean, " My chief object or purpose in coming into this world was to call sinners to repentance." " For all have sinned, and do need the glory of God." (Rom. iii.) Although our Lord found on earth some just men on His coming, such asZachary, Elizabeth (Luke i.), Nathanael, and others; just, however, in virtue of the graces derived from His future merits j and although our Lord came to save ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. IX. 169 them, to render them more perfect, and confirm them in justice, still. He did not come to convert them, which the word, ^^call, " means. The words, '* to penance,''^ are added in St. Luke (v. 31), and they are found in the ordinary Greek of St. Matthew and St. Luke, and although not found in several MSS. versions and Latin Fathers, they are still admitted by several respectable critics. Some (among the rest St. Chrysostom, Horn. 31 ; St. Jerome, Matth. ix., &e.), hold, that our Lord ironically alludes to the Pharisees in the word, '■'■just,^'' as if He said, I am not come to those who are ^^just " in their own estimation, and need no Saviour or spiritual physician ; since, it would be folly in a physician to approach those who acknowledged not their diseases, and boasted of being well in health. The words may also mean, that such is God's goodness and mercy, that if there were one hundred men on earth, and only one of them unjust. He would leave the ninety-nine just, and seek the unjust one, and submit to death on his account (Maldonatus). The words, ** to penance,''^ determine the meaning of the passage. They do not determine what our Saviour would do if all were just, whether He would come or not, if there were no sinners to be saved on earth. TEXT. 14. Then eanie to Mm the disciples of Join, saying: Why do we amd the Pharisees fast often, hut thy disciples do not fast ? 15- And Jesus said to them: Can the children of the bridegroom mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them f But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then they shall fast. 16. And nobody putteth a piece of raw cloth unto an old garment. For it talceth away the fulness thereof from the garment, and there is made a greater rent. 17. Neither do they put new wine into old bottles. Otherwise, the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish. But new wine they put into new bottles : and both are preserved. COMMENTARY. 14.. '^The disciples of John?"* St. Luke says (v. 33), it was the Scribes and Pharisees. Mark (ii. 18) says, it was " the disciples of John and the Pharisees.''^ Pro- bably, St. Mark's is the accurate accoimt, and St. Matthew speaks only of ^'' the disciples of John,^^ as they were the spokesmen put forward by the Pharisees on the occasion. A feeling of low jealousy animated the disciples of John, who was at this time in prison. Not unlikely, on the very day our Lord was entertained at the house of Matthew, they observed a fast, as is insinuated in the context of St. Mark, although the words may also mean, that they were in the habit of fasting. *' Why do we and the Pharisees fast often f'' They speak of fasts of supererogation, as the word, ^'- often,^'' implies, besides those prescribed by the law. For, with these, no doubt, our Redeemer and His disciples strictly complied, as He wished '• to fulfil all justice.^'' This question was meant to be a rejoinder to His explanation of the reason which induced Him to associate with sinners, viz., for the purpose of converting them. They wish in this question to insinuate, that self-indulgence was His motive. 2he question was also insidiously meant by His enemies, as a snare for our Redeemer. They hoped He might censure John, which would not serve His own influence, as John was so much respected ; or, if He approved of John's fasting, then. He would be censuring the line of conduct pursued in this respect by Himself and His disciples. 15. " Can the children of the bridegroom mourn ?" " Mburn,^^ denotes the particular 170 COMMENTAEY ON kind of mourning, consisting in fasting. " Children,''^ by a Hebrew idiom, signifies, near friends, the associates and companions of the *' Iridegroom." Although our Redeemer knew well the malevolence and vain ostentation which dictated these remarks, at least on the part of the Pharisees, still, He answers them gently ; and in the mildest form, justifies Himself and His disciples. For, it was against Himself chiefly the charge was made. He rests His defence on the grounds — 1st. That the time was unsuited for fasting (v. 15). 2ndly. That the persons were unsuited for fasting or sorrow (vv. 16, 17). It would be unseemly for the friends of the bridegroom to fast or indulge in mourning, while celebrating his nuptials. Now, those who heard John the Baptist, must have heard him point to our Lord as the spouse (John iii. 29). Hence, while our Lord was celebrating His nuptials with His Church (Eph. v. ; 2 Cor. xi. 12), it should be for His friends a season of joy and jubilee, to which the austerities of fasting would be quite unsuited. Christ is the spouse ; because He espoused human nature, and through it the Church, in His Incarnation, by an indissoluble bond. These espousals He commenced by grace in this Ufe (Matt. xxii. 2), and will consummate by glory in heaven, when the perpetual nuptials of the Lamb with His Elect shall be for ever celebrated. (Apoc. xix.) On this account it was that John called himself the friend of the Bridegroom (John iii. 29), and his disciples, who heard him, must, therefore, have known that Christ was called the Bridegroom. Hence, there is nothing in the above example against fasting. Our Redeemer only points out the incongruity, on the part of His disciples, to fast during Sis life-time. The example goes no farther. In this verse, it is implied, however, that in future ages the Church will impose the wholesome rigours of fasting. And from Apostolical institution and tradition, she has instituted, besides other fasts, the solemn fast of Lent, to prepare for the commemoration of the bitter Passion of her heavenly Spouse, anddispose us to share in the spiritual joys of His glorious resurrection. 16. The illustrations in this and the following verses regard the unsuitableness of the persons for the rigours of fasting. The preceding had reference to the time or season. " Raw doth" in the original, means rough, new- woven cloth, fresh from the weaver, without having passed through the hands of the d5'er. " For it taheth away the fulness thereof from the garment,''^ i.e., the addition of this piece of new, strong cloth, takes away its soundness and integrity from the old garment, by the tear which the strong new piece shall cause in the yielding old garment; and so the rent shall become worse than it had been before. Similar is the idea conveyed by the example, (v. 17), about the bursting of old bottles. The Greek for " the fulness, " both here and in Mark (ii. 21), is, irX-qp^im. It is rendered in the Vulgate here, plenitudo ; in Mark, supplementum. From both Mark and Luke, it would seem clear, that the words, ^^ from tlie garment," refers to the old garment, although some interpreters refer it to the new garment (Luke v. 36). But this latter interpretation would hardly Buit the subject of application. Others read the original thus : " For, he, i.e., the man in question, ofltended by the unsightly dissimilarity of appearance produced by attaching the new piece to the old garment, '■^taheth away the fulness thereof" (irXr/pw/ia), i.e, the supplement which was added from the (old) garment, and thus the rent will become greater than it was before. Likely, this illustration was taken from some proverbial saying, then well known. " The fulness thereof," may also mean, that it would not seem to be one garment at all, whether one old or one new; but two, partly old and partlv new. The application of these similitudes is quite easy, and is ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. IX. 171 meant by oiir Redeemer to justify His mode of acting in not subjecting His disciples at first to the rigours of penance, for which, in their present imperfect state, they were unfit. His disciples He compares to old garments and old bottles; an austere system of life, to new cloth and new wine ; and He argues, that if His disciples were all at once subjected to austerities quite new to them, they might fall into despondency, and desert His service altogether. Austerities are reserved for the time when, after being disciplined in the school of perfection, they shall become strong in the fulness of the grace of God's Holy Spirit. 17. This is the third illustration, to show that our Redeemer ought not, during His lifetime, subject His followers to the austerities of fasting. " Old lottles,^^ flasks made of goat or sheepskins, quite common among the ancients, and still in use in Spain and other southern countries. Leathern bottles, when old and inelastic, could not expand with the fermentation of the new wine ; but if the skins were new, they could distend ; and, so, the bottles would not burst. The application is the same as the foregoing. Those who are lately converted, are unable to bear the heavy burdens for which the fulness of the grace of the Spirit will fit and strengthen them. TEXT. 18. As he was speaking these things unto them, hehold a certain ruler came up, and adored him, saying : Lord, my daughter is even now dead ; hut come, lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live. 19. And Jesus rising up followed him, with his disciples. 20. And hehold a woman who was trouhled with an issue of hlood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment. 21. For she said within herself: If I shall touch only his garment, I shall he healed. 22. But Jesus tu/rning and seeing her, said : Be of good heart, daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hou/r. 23. And when Jesus was come into the house of the ruler, and saw the minstrels and the multitude making a rout, 24. Se said : GHve place, for the girl is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. 25. And when the multitude was put forth, he went in, and took her by the hand. And the maid arose. 26. And the fame hereof went abroad into all that country. 27. And as Jesus passed from thence, there followed him two blind men crying out ana saying. Save mercy on us, Son of David. 28. And when he was come to the house, the blind men came to him. And Jesus saith to them, Bo you believe, that lean do this 'into you? They say to him, Yea, Lord. 29. Then he touched their eyes, saving. According to your faith, he it done unto you. 30. And their eyes were opened, and Jesus strictly charged them, saying^ See that no man know this. 31. But they going out, spread his fame abroad in all that country. 82. And when they were gone out, behold they brought him a dumb man, possessed with a devil. 33. And after the devil was east out, the dumb man spoke, and the multitudes wondered toying. Never was the like seen in Israel. 34. But the Pha/risees said, By the prince of devils he casteth out devils. 172 COMMENTAEY ON COMMENTARY. 18. " As Se was sjpealcing these things." A diflterent order of narrative is given by Mark and Luke. But the order followed by St. Matthew is, most probably, the correct one (see v. 2). While He was in the act of refuting the calumnious charges of the Pharisees, " behold a certain ruler," &c. This shows, how deserving of condemna- tion was the obstinate malice and unbelief of the Pharisees, since the fame of our Redeemer's miraculous works had reached every order of persons, rich and poor. The word, " lehold," would show that the ruler came uj) at once while our Redeemer was speaking. " A certain ruler." St. Mark says (v. 22), " one of the rulers of the synagogue" — it would seem that there were many such — ^^ named Jainis, falleth down at His feet." St. Luke (viii. 41) says, the same. Whether this implies supreme worship, which the Greek word {irpoa-tKyvu) may, and generally does imply, or mere bodily prostration in token of reverence for a holy man, it is hard to determine from the context. Some think, from the fact of his asking our Lord to " come and lay IKs hand on her" which did not equal the great faith of the centurion (viii. 8), that it was not supreme adoration. At all events, it conveyed a silent censure on the carping Pharisees, to whose sect, very likely, this ruler belonged, who regarded the power of Jesus as the most efficacious means of resuscitating his daughter. " My daughter." St. Luke (viii. 42) says, she was " an only daughter, almost twelve years old." '^Is even now dead." The other Evangelists represent him as saying " she is at the point of death" (Mark); '^ she was dying" (Luke). Most likely, he made both statements — first, that she was on the point of death, when he left ; and, then, in his hurried excitement, judging from the symptoms, and other circumstances he witnessed, he said, " she is dead," at the time he was speaking. The other Evangelists (Mark v. 35 ; Luke viii. 49) say, that whUe he was with our Lord, word was brought to him, '* thy daughter is dead, trouble Him no further," and that our Lord told him, ''fear not," and went and raised the girl to life. "Lay Thy hand upon her." He heard of the cure of the centurion's servant, and of other miracles, at Capharnaum ; his faith, however, was not so strong as that of the centurion. 21. "And behold." While on His way to Jairus' house (Mark v. 24), our Redeemer had it mercifully so arranged, that He would work the following miracles, so as to strengthen the ruler's faith. " Twelve years," shows the inveteracy of the disease. Mark (v. 25), and Luke (viii. 43), say, it was incurable; that she suffered great pain in striving to have the cure effected by physicians, and incurred great expense also, but all to no effect. " Came behind Him," both from feelings of modesty, owing to the nature of her ailment, and also from a fear lest she might be driven away by the crowd, if she came not as privately as possible and unobserved, this flux of blood being reckoned among legal uncleanness by the law of Moses (Lev. xv. 25). " The hem." The Greek word (toS Kpaa-n-eSov) more properly signifies, a tassel. The Jewish garment should, according to law, have four corners, from each of which a tassel of strings, or threads, was suspended, to distinguish them from the Gentiles (Deut. xxii. 12; Num. xv. 38). Circumcision was also meant for the same purpose, that thus the Jews would be reminded of their obligation to observe the law. Even now, the dress of religious is meant to remind them of their religious obligations. From, this verse is derived an argument in favour of the veneration of relics of the saints, and of attaching efficacy to them, as is sanctioned by the Catholic Church. The same is clear, also, from the miracles wrought by the contact of the bones of Jlliseus (4 Elings xiii. 21), and the shadow of Peter curing diseases (Acts v. 15). ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. IX. 173 That tlie woman referred to here, did not act superstitiously, as is irreverently asserted by some Protestants, is clear from our Redeemer's attributing her cure to her great faith. The woman, not only believed in our Redeemer, but she touched His garment, from a conviction, that there was some efficacy in it, and our Redeemer felt that a virtue had proceeded from Him (Mark v. 30). " Thy faith,''^ viz., her belief in the power of our Lord, and her confidence in His goodness. For the word ^^ faith" here includes both. ** Hath made thee whole." His omnipotent power was the primary and principal cause of her cure ; but her own faith acted as a disposition, or meritorious cause, for the beneficent exercise of this Almighty power in her favour (see v. 2, Commentary). Faith, though, at all times, essential, it being the "radix et fundamentum omnis justificationis" (Council of Trent), was especially so in the beginning of the Church, as being the essential characteristic of the believers, to distinguish them from unbelievers. The woman here did more than believe, although to faith her cure is attributed. She also touched the hem of His garment, and believed there was efficacy in it. Eusebius (Lib. 7, His. Eccles. c. xviii.) ; Sozomen (Lib. 5, c. vi.), and Philostorgius (Lib. 7, n. 3), say, this woman was a native of Csesarea Philippi, and that she erected a statue of our Lord in front of her house, to commemorate this event. Socrates relates, in his Tripartite History (Lib. 6, c. 41), that Julian, the apostate, removed this statue, and had his own set up in its place, and that a strong fire from heaven shattered the apostate's statue to pieces. 23. Minstrels" hired mourners, introduced in accordance with the prevailing usage among the Jews, for the purpose of lamentation, and of exciting and stimu- lating, by their mournful strains, the grief of the relatives of the deceased. This shows that the girl had really departed this life. The practice of employing mourners of both sexes, with musical accompaniments, to bewail the dead, was com- monly in use among the Greeks and Romans. Jeremias (ix. 17) speaks of " mourning women ; " Ecclesiastes (xii. 5), " the mourners shall go round about in the street." " And the multitude making a rout." By their external manifestations of grief, at the premature death of the girl (Mark v. 38 ; Luke viii. 52). 24. " The girl is not dead, hut sleepeth." Death is frequently called sleep in the Scriptures (Psa. Ixxv. 6; Jer. li. 39 ; 1 Thess. iv. 12, &c.) Hence, from Christian usage, the word, cemeteries, or sleeping -places, to designate the graves of the departed. Our Redeemer says, " the girl is not dead," in the way the crowd imagined, in the sense that she would remain in death, and not to be soon resuscitated. In the same sense. He says of Lazarus, in his grave, " he sleepeth " (John xi. 11), because he was at once to be raised from the grave, by the same Divine power. His temporary death was like a sleep. Some Rationalists, and others, say the girl was not really dead. But that she was really dead, appears clear from the context, " the crowd laughed at Sim, knowing she was dead" (Luke viii. 53). How know this, if she were not dead ? Nor would " the minstrels" be present, if she were not dead ? Hence, our Redeemer says here, ^^ she sleepeth," just as He said of Lazarus, " Our friend, Lazarus, sleepeth," and afterwards explains it, by saying plainly, ** Lazarus is dead." This explanation He gives in the case of Lazarus, as the disciples who heard Him, required it. Here, it was not wanted, as all saw the girl was dead. Hence, "not dead" means, so as not to return to life, which the idea of death implies. 25. " When the multitude was put forth." Our Lord permitted no one to be present, 174 COMMENTAEY ON on His own part, at the miracle, except the chief among His Apostles (Mark v. ; Luke viii.), Peter, James and John, who were specially admitted to witness other manifestations of His glory, as on Thabor, and were destined to be unimpeachable witnesses, to disclose this to others, at a future day ; and, on the part of the girlj He admitted her parents, who were most closely allied to her. He put out all the others, for several reasons; among the rest, probably, to conceal the miracle from those who were disposed to attribute it to diabolical agency. Moreover, He did not wish to irritate His enemies too much at this period, as His hour for suffering, at their hands, had not yet come, and He may not have wished to drive them to desperation, before the time. When He raised Lazarus, He made no secret of it from the multi- tude, as His destined hour was near at hand. " Took her hy the hand" to show that there resided in His sacred flesh, from its hypostatic union with the Divinity, a vivifying power. The other Evangelists add that our Lord addressed to her the words, Tdbitha, oumi — " Maiden, arise" and that He ordered food to be set before her (Luke viii. 55), in proof of the reality of her resuscitation. 26. This is added by the Evangelist, in proof or confirmation of the truth of the miracle. The entire of Galilee, including men interested in denying the truth of the miracle, if they could, were witnesses of it. The other Evangelists (Luke viii. 56 ; Mark v. 43), say our Lord charged her parents to tell no one of it, probably, with a view of avoiding the imputation of vain glory, and not to give offence to His enemies, as also to prevent the excesses of popular applause. 27. On His way home, after leaving the house of Jairus, ^*two blind men" who heard of the many miraculous cures He performed, *^ followed Him" (loudly) " crying out" &c., " Son of Da/vid." This was one of the titles ascribed by the Jews to the promised Messiah, and in this sense, the words are used on this, as on another occasion, by two other blind men (Matt. xx. 30 ; Mark x, 47 ; Luke xviii. 38) — " ha/oe mercy onui" and restore our sight. It implies their belief in His power, as the promised Messiah," who was expected about this time, by the Jews (John i. 25). They only invoke the exercise of His mercy. 28. Our Lord deferred complying with their earnest prayer, for the purpose of testing and confirming their faith, and of showing the necessity of persevering prayer. So, when they came " ^o ^w house" at Capharnaum, He asked, did they believe in His power, ** that I can do this ? " not merely by obtaining it for you through prayer, but, by My own power, not merely as legate, but as God ; and on their replying in the affirmative. He cured them. 29. "Do you believe that lean do this ?" Hence, the primary conception of the theo- logical virtue of faith — this virtue so essential for justification — is not faith in the remission of our sins, through the merits of Christ, as some Protestants imagine it ; but an act of assent, on the part of the intellect, accompanied by the pious motion of the will, enlightened and aided by God's grace, to receive all that God has taught. No doubt, to this faith was joined, on the part of those whom our Redeemer cured, on several occasions, an act of firm confidence in His mercy and goodness. Indeed, any one who will take the trouble of reading the eleventh chapter to the Hebrews, will see that faith consists in a belief in God's attributes, especially His veracity. ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. IX. 175 The blind men could come to a knowledge of our Saviour's miracles, merely through hearing. He required of them a profession of faith, and, according to that faith, that is, to the helief in His power, accompanied with confidence in His merciful goodness, was the miracle performed. 30. " Their eyes were opened ^^ (*-^-)> *^®y began to see. Thus, in common conver- sation, we say of a man, who sees something, he did not see before, ^^ his eyes are opened^ In the same way, we say of men who received the faculty of hearing, " his ears were opened." " JSe strictly charged them" for the reasons already explained (v. 25), " see that no man know this." 31. " £ut they, going out, spread Sis fame," &c. Some Protestant writers maintain that they sinned, in thus openly violating our Lord's positive injunction. However, it is more generally held, that they did not sin ; for, many of the Holy Fathers hold, with St. Chrysostom, Theophylact, St. Jerome, Venerable Bede, St. Gregory (Moral. Ixiv. c. 18), that our Lord did not mean to enjoin this on them absolutely ; but that He meant to repress their first emotions of gratitude, so that the knowledge of the miracle would only gradually reach the people. No^ doubt, He acted from feelings of humility, and with a view to teach us to avoid all ostentation and vain glory. Hence, they, looking to our Redeemer's motive and intention, rather than to the strict meaning of His words, published it in good faith, from feelings of gratitude, believing it would redound so much to the glory of their Benefactor, when the people were made aware of His goodness and power in these miracles. Our Lord acted from motives of prudence also. The more stupendous the miracle, the greater the hostility of the Pharisees, with whom He did not wish, at the time, to come into open collision, nor would it suit His designs, to be now delivered up by them. His prohibition regarding publicity, only extended to raising the dead, or restoring sight to the blind, as these works, being beyond the reach of natural agency, would expose Him to greater odium and peril. 32. " When they had gone out," full of joy and gratitude at their deliverance, they met a wretched sufferer — " a dumb man possessed of a devil," and brought him. The Greek for ** dumb" {KOi^iov), may also be rendered " deaf" In fact, it means that the devil, who possessed, him, deprived him of the use of his senses, rendering him perfectly insensible. Hence, the demon is called " mute " by St. Luke (xi. 14), from the effect produced by him on the man possessed. Some hold that this miracle is different from that recorded (Luke xi.) ; and that this latter is the same as that recorded in Matthew xii. 33. " The dumb man spoke," thereby showing his dumbness to be, not a natural effect ; but attributable solely to diabolical agency or demoniac possession. " I^ever was the like," &c. The admiration of the crowd was not caused by this solitary miracle. It was caused by the many miracles wrought by our Divine Hedeemer. Never before did such miracles appear " in Israel" or, never before did such a person appear in Israel, if we regard the number of miiacles wrought, their variety, the facility, celerity, and, above all, the authority with which they were brought. The prophets wrought miracles, after invoking the Divine aid. He wrought them from His own innate power. In this sense, no such miracles were ever wrought in Israel. 176 COMMENTAEY ON 34. This was a favourite calumny of the Pharisees, which our Redeemer formally refutes (c. xii. 25, &c.) It seems probable that the miracle recorded is quite different from that recorded (c. xii. 22). While the people were extolling the miracles of our Lord, the Pharisees, maddened by envy, and unable to gainsay the facts, ascribed them to diabolical agency, to magic, and a compact with the chief of the demons. The Jews believed, that there was a variety of ranks and powers among demons, which is comformable to SS. Scripture. They never, for an instant, seemed to reflect, that the expulsion of demons was not the only miracle He performed ; that He per- formed some miracles which exceeded the power of demons, such as raising the dead ; that He performed others, which were opposed to their nature, such as remitting sin, and leading men to Grod, by preachingthe Gospel of the kingdom, &c. Our Eedeemer, unmoved by these calumnies, goes about doing good, and accomplishing His heavenly mission. It would seem, that here these charges were made in our Redeemer's absence, before the multitude who extolled His miracles. TEXT. 35. And Jeius went ahavi all the cities, and towns, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of his kingdom, and healing every disease and every infirmity. 36. And seeing the multitudes, he had compassion on them : because they were distressed, and lying like sheep that have no shepherd. 37. Then he saith to his disciples, The ha/rvest indeed is great, but the labourers art few. 38. Pray ye therefore the Lm-d of the harvest, that he send forth labourers into his harvest. COMMENTARY. 35. Our Lord, regardless of the calumnies with which He was assailed, went about all the towns and villages of Galilee, of which Capharnaum, where He fixed His abode, was the metropolis, *' teaching in their synagogues,^'' which were established in all the cities and populous towns of Judea — nay, in large cities, there were more than one synagogue, "awoor and meek being nearly the same in Hebrew. The Septuagint read it anivm {poor) ; St, Jerome, anauim {meek). There is a great similarity of woi'd?, and of signification also, the ^joorbeincr'^'i"''' '■'-''l-. '* The Gospel preached to them" The Jews held that the Messiah was to found a kingdom. It was a wonderful thing, that this kingdom should be proposed to the poor; that beggars should, in a spiritual sense, become kings, was a wonderful thing, a wonderful feature of the Christian religion. It was different with the Jews and Pagans, who courted the rich and despised the poor. Wiiile the rich are not excluded, the poor are specially referred to in the prophecy ; and the rich must become ^^ poor inspirit" to become fit subjects for receiving the Gospel, and partaking of its rich spiritual blessings. 6. ^' And blessed is he" that is, he who does not depart from Me, who am the Saviour of mankind, and author of life, is so far blessed, and in the way of salvation; while he that does is. so far, unfortunate. ''^ That shall not be scandalized in me" The word, '^scandal" in its literal signification, denotes an obstacle or impediment in the way, which may cause us to fall. Transferred to a spiritual signification, it denotes whatever may cause our fall, 204 COMMENTAEY ON or that of our neighbour ; or turn us aside from the patli of Christian faith or morals, be it word, deed, or omission. Hence, scandal is described by divines, after St. Thomas to be, a word, deed, or omission, which is the occasion of the spiritual ruin of our neighbour, either because such word, t&c, is sinful ; or, has the appearance of being 80. That things only apparently sinful may be a subject of scandal is clear from Romans (c. vii). Our Redeemer was to the wicked and incredulous a stone of offence and a rock of scandal, and set for the fall, as well for the resurrection of many (Luke ii. 34), through their own fault and malice. These words are spoken in allusion to the incredulity and jealousy of the disciples of John, who probably were offended at our Redeemer not living apart from the crowd, and His not leading the same austere, ascetical life as their master led, as if He said, blessed is he, to whom My doctrines. My life, My Cross shall not prove a stumbling block, or rock of offence, as we are assui'ed by the Apostle, they were to the unbelieving Jews (1 Cor. 1); and, as a melancholy experience teaches us, they are, practically at least, to a great number of those who profess themselves Christians. Here also we see the wonderful benignity and prudent forbearance of our Divine Redeemer in displaying to the disciples of John His Divine power of searching into their hearts, and knowing their thoughts, without disclosing their latent feelings to the multitude by any personal allusion, or particvilar address. He thus leaves them to their own conscience, so that, from this occult reproach, they might see His Divinity and benignity, and be thus induced, after the Baptist's death, to adhere to Him. 7. After the disciples of John had gone away, and no sooner, lest any praise of John in the presence of his followers might savour of adulation. ^^ Jesus leg an to say to the multitudes," &c. Having cured the disciples of John of their incredulity, our Redeemer now prudently takes care to cure the multitude of any false notions this embassy from John might engender in their minds regarding John's constancy, and the unhesitating firmness of his belief in our Lord's Divinity, as if this message proceeded from any change of opinion on the part of John. ** What went you out into the desert to see? " He appeals to their own opinion of John, when leaving their homes, the towns and cities, they flocked into the desert, and to the banks of the Jordan, to hear this wonderful man, and be baptized by \\m. (c. iii.) " A reed shaken" &c. A man of a fickle inconstant character, blown to this side and that, by every blast of human opinion ; now holding this ; and again that ; now proclaiming Christ to be the Messiah — the eternal Son of God ; again, doubting it, as the embassy and words of his disciples would seem to imply. The well-known sanctity of the Baptist precluded any such suspicions so disparaging to his character. They regarded him rather as a man of unshaken firmness — immovable as the sturdy oak — who, at the cost of his head, would not fail fearlessly to proclaim the truth, for which he was now suffering in chains. Some take the word *'reed," in i^'S natural sense ; did they come out to the banks of the Jordan, to enjoy its scenery and the numerous reeds growing on its banks? However, it is clear from the context, that the metaphorical meaning, as above, is the one intended. 8. Perhaps, luxurious living, a spirit of accommodation to the whims and caprices of the great, with whose livery he was clad, at whose tables he was the welcome and accepted minister ; perhaps, the badges of courtly ignominy in which he was clad — ihe price of his criminal connivance at the domestic and public villanies of the great — fcT. MATTHEW, CHAP. XI. 205 so wrought on him as to make him changeable in his opinions, and now, tu gratify their caprices, not only make him "« dumh dog, unable to harh,''^ but also cause him to revoke the testimony he before rendered to tlie Divinity of Jesus. His place of abode from childhood, — the desert — his coarse dress, the prison where he just now was, preclude any such supposition ; neither luxurious effeminacy, nor ambitious, or self interested motives could cause any change of opinion in liim. " They that are clothed in soft garments " do not make the desert tlieir place of abode ; nor are they, for the bold announcement of unpalatable truths, cast into chains. They are to be found " in the homes of hngs,''^ the obsequious instruments of their capricious whims and tyrannical behests. John was firm and constant, and had all the qualities necessary to witness to the Divinity of our Lord. According to Calmet, John only meant to enquire, if the man who wrought the wonders, of which he heard so much, was the Messiah, the same of whom he himself had before borne testimony. So that, according to him, John's object merely was to ascertain the tdentitg of ouv Saviour's person. 9. Having shown what John tvas not, our Redeemer now shows, what he teas. *' A Prophet I " " All held John as a Prophet " (xxi. 26). This was the popular opinion regarding him, and this opinion our Redeemer contirms, " Yea; I tell you." For John knew our Lord by Divine instinct, and pointed Him out as Son of God, and so, he was a Prophet. But did not John himself deny this (John i. 21)? Yes ; out of humility, and he might say so, with all truth in one sense, looking to the primary and ordinary signification of the word, *' Prophet," viz., one who predicts future events to be fulfilled after a long interval. But, John pointed Him out as ])resent, and called on the people to prepare His ways by works of penance, who was the term of all the prophecies, and so he '^was more than a Prophet." He was also "more than a Prophet," for other reasons, grounded on the circumstances of his miraculous birth, and angelic life. Moreover, he was himself the subject of prophecy, in which he is placed on a level with the celestial spirits, " an Angel," who was immediately to precede his Lord, to be His Precursor and Paranymph. It is this latter reason our Eedeemer specially has in view when He says he was "more than a Prophet." "An Angel," in virtue of his office, not by nature. 10. "Behold . . . before Thyfac:'," &o. (Mai. iii. 1.) In Malaehyitis, "My face." The Evangelists have, " TuY face." But, the sense is no way affected by this difference or change of person; St. Jerome remai-ks (in Isaias, Lib. 3, c. 7), "that, in their quotations from the Books of the Old Testament, the Apostles and Evangelists attended more to the sense, than to the precise order of the words." Here, our Pedeemer clearly represents the Heavenly Fathe-, as speaking of His Son, "before Tut face," in Malachy. St. Jerome understands the words of Malachy to refer to Christ, speaking of Himself; and then, His Divinity is cleai-ly demonstrated. For, in Mai. iii. 6, He says,, "lam the Lord, and am not changed." If the words of Malachy be understood of Grod the Father, the consequence is just the same, as showing the identity of nature in Christ and in His Father. For, it was Christ that John preceded as Precursor ; and speaking of Him whom John preceded, the Lord says, *' My face," therefore, implying that, " He was in the Father and the Father in Him," both having the same nature. In truth, Christ or the Messiah was " the Lord," whom the Jews expected to come to His temple in Jerusalem ; for whom John was " to prepare the way ." It is the same that speaks of Himself in the first person, " I send My Angel," and in the third, " and presently shall come to His temple the Lord whom you seek (see Mai. iii. 1). If we suppose 206 COMMENTARY ON that it is God the Father that speaks in Malachy (iii.) ; then, the change of person, ^' I send," " the Lord shall come," &c., is intended to convey, that altlioiigh identical in nature with the Son ; still it was not the person of Grod the Eather that came to save us. The same is conveyed in the change of person given by the Evangelists, " befoi's Thy face — before Thee." " Ml/ Angel," by office, but not by nature, as some hold, which is clearly refuted in the Gospel — '■'■. there was a man sent ly God," &c. (Johni.) The angelic life led by the Baptist would entitle him to be called an " Anffel." " Who shall prejxire Thy tcay," &c., is allusive to the custom of preparing the ways, and removing every obstacle at the coming of kings into any part of their dominions. John, by his preaching and baptism, removed every obstacle to the proper reception of Christ; by his austere and heavenly life, by his preaching of the penance which he practised, he prepared the people for the doctrine of our Eedeemer. 11. He proves, that John '* was greater than a Prophet.** '* There hath not risen " that is, appeared, " among them that are lorn of women, a greater," &c. " Risen" is a term peculiar to prophets. St. Luke (vii. 28) says, " there is not a greater Prophet than John the Baptist ; " hence, the comparison is not between John and all other men, but between him and the Prophets of old. This, however, will make but very little difference, and the sense is fully given by St. Matthew; for, among men, the Prophets were deemed the most holy, and the word '■'■ Prophet" was, in a general and more extended sense, applied to holy men. The words, then, taken in a positive, affirma- tive sense — for this is necessary in order to show that John is '■'■more than a Prophet" —mean, that John the Baptist was the most holy and exalted of all the men that appeared before him, whether we consider the exalted prerogatives bestowed on him — his miraculous birth, the loosing of his father's tongue, his angelic life, his eanctification in his mother's womb, his being predicted by other Prophets, called an Angel, &c. ; or, whether we regard the more abundant gifts of the Holy Spirit plenteously bestowed on him. Other Prophets became such in course of life ; he, from his birth, was such. He leaped with joy in his mother's womb, at the presence cf his Blessed Saviour (Luke i. 41). Although " there a/rose no otlier Prophet in Israel like Moses " (Deut. xxxiv, 10, «&c.), which has reference merely to his seeing God, and working wonderful prodigies ; still, John was greater in the several prerogatives already referred to. It is between the ancient Prophets only and John this comparison is instituted ; hence, neither the Blessed Virgin, nor the Apostles are included, who, on account of their Apostolic dignity, and immediate association with Christ, are greater than John. Our Redeemer Himself can, by no means, be included, even supposing the comparison to be between John and all others, because He was not '*born of woman," in the sense here referred to, in the natural way; nor can the Blessed Virgin, either; for, it is between men the comparison is instituted. " Yet, he that is lesser" &c., according to some, means, the least saint reigning in glory is greater than John ; because, the former possesses the crown of glory, the latter is battling for it (St. Jerome) ; and, in this interpretation, our Redeemer's object would be, to stimulate men to labour earnestly for the kingdom of heaven, by entering the Church which is the gate to it. Others say the words mean, the least in the Church, the least of those who embrace the Gospel, is greater than John — ratione status novec legis — considering his state, is greater than any one outside the Church, greater than John who was nearest to it — the connecting link between che Old Law and the New. It tells against this interpretation, that the comparison \rould ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. XI. 207 not be between John and others, but between the New Law and other dispensations. Nor can it be seen what our Eedeemer's object, in using the words, according to this interpretation, would be, unless, possibly, to stimulate men to enter the Church, and embrace the Gospel. Others maintain, that our Redeemer, in this, was referring to Himself, thus: lo not imagine that, in bestowing these magnificent eulogiums on John, I include Myself in the comparison, or prefer him to Myself. Out of modesty. He would speak of Himself in the third person. " Lesser in the 'kingdom^'' that is to say, younger than John ; later in the ministry of preaching. *' Qui post me venturus est, ante me f actus est " (John i. 15). Up to ' this time, our Lord was lesser in the esteem of men than the Baptist. " In the Jclngdom of heaven,''^ may be joined with ** lesser, ^^ thus : he who is lesser in the Church of the just, in point of age and in the opinion of men ; or " lesser, ^^ later in preaching the kingdom of God, "«s greater than he" Or, they may be joined to the following words, ^^ greater than he, in the kingdom of heaven,''^ greater than he in spiritual gifts, which appertain to heaven ; or, reputed greater in heaven by God and His holy angels, who know how infinitely our Lord is placed above John, as the Creator above the creature. 12. It is greatly in commendation of John, that his preaching of the kingdom of heaven, which he was the first to proclaim as near at hand, joined to his holy and edifying example, has been so efficacious and fruitful in results, that, from his first appearance in public, men rush forward in crowds, with the most eager impetuosity, combined with the rigours of penance, and the violence they offer their passions and corrupt inclinations, to secure for themselves the peaceiol possession of this happy kingdom. " Siiffereth violence^'' conveys the idea of a fortress or citadel, which men rush forward with impetuous eagerness to attack and carry by assault ; or, of a precious merchandize, which men, with eager competition, contend with one another in purchasing. It was much in commendation of John, that his preaching had this effect on the people. The words convey, that John " was more than a Prophet," since, from his time, ^Hhe kingdom of heaven," which was referred to as distant by the ancient Prophets, was pointed out by him as near at hand, within the reach of the people. The ^^ violence which the kingdom of heaven suffers," must mean, the violence which the assailants offer themselves and their own passions, since violence cannot be offered to a kingdom — " et omnis in illud vimfacit" (Luke xvi. 16). Some commentators, with Maldonatus, say, the meaning is, that " the kingdom of heaven " is a prize ; no longer, as in the Old Law, a matter of hereditary right, confined to the chosen people, but open to all, so that all may compete for it, and successfully carry it off. " Many shall come from the east and west," &c. (Matt. viii. 11, 12). <' The violent lear it away." This is literally true of many among the Jews, who, moved by John and by our Redeemer, did penance with great ardour, and earnestly applied themselves to procure heavenly blessings. If there be question of heaven, they bore it away ; because, they established a claim to possess it, at a future day. *' The words may also mean, that since the time of John, Avho was the first to preach " the kingdom of heaven," this kingdom " suffers violence," i.e., cannot be obtained except by violence, and the violent alone secure it. So that there is not question of how many acquired the kingdom of heaven, or if any did so ; but only of the manner in which heaven is to be acquired, and of the necessary means to be employed for this purpose. 208 COMMENTARY ON " The violent hear it away" i.e., it is only those among men who shall have legiti- mately contended for it, by attending to the conditions of the warfare, and with ardent eagerness labouring for its acquisition, without any regard to birth, race, or country, that shall secure this prize ; but not those idle, indifferent men, who offer no violence to their own passions, and make no exertions for its acquisition. " Bear it away." The idea is borrowed from a camp or citadel, that is carried by assault. 13. The emphatic word in this verse seems to be "prophesied" as if He .said in commendation of John that, " the Prophets, or the zvritings of the Prophets," (as the word means, c. v. 17), and '^the Law" had obscurely pointed to Christ and the mysteries of His kingdom, as in the distance; but John pointed him out as present to whom all the Old Law had reference. For, " the end of the Law is Christ " (Rom. X. 4). They dealt in distant shadows and types. John pointed to the reality, not as distant, but present. Hence, in St. Luke (xvi. 16), it is said, "the Law and the Prophets were until John ; from that time the kingdom, of heaven is preached," and not "prophesied," or obscurely signified, as in preceding times. The words of this verse are placed, by some commentators, before those of preceding verse (12), following the order given in St. Luke (ut supra). However, the casual particle, "for," can be very naturally connected with the words of the preceding verse (12), from the days of John the Baptist," &c., and in this verse (13), is assigned a reason for saying, "from, the days of John the Baptist the kingdom, of heaven suffered violence," because till then, it was only obscurely and distantly pointed out in the Law and the Prophets ; but since his time it was opanly and clearly announced as present ; and hence, men rush forward to gain possession of it, as of an object now within reach. Before John's time, the Law only foreshadowed future blessings in figures ; and the Prophets foretold them. But, now, all these figures are fulfilled and realized in the Gospel, the antitype of the Law. Hence, the office of Law and Prophets has now ceased, and the kingdom of the Messiah, with its gifts and blessings, is now open to all who wish to compete for them, on the prescribed conditions, and to carry them away as prizes. 14. " If you will receive it," that is, if you receive John, and believe as you ought, not failing at the same time to co-operate, voluntarily, with the graces now tendered to you — without which co-operation on your part, those graces and opportunities shall avail you but little — John will be the same in your regard, that Elias will be in regard to those to whom he is to announce the second coming of the Son of God. " He is Elias that is to com,e." Elias is to precede " the great and dreadful day of the Lord," at His second coming (Mai. iv. 5), and the Baptist has preceded His first coming. He is not Elias in person. This John himself disavows (John i. 21), but he comes "in the spirit and power of Elias " (Luke i. 17), which may refer to the past spirit and power displayed of old by Elias, whose manner of life, dress, and works, resembled those of the Baptist ; or, more probably, to the future power and spirit of Elias to be displayed in the conversion of the Jewish people before the second coming of Christ at the end of the world. As then, John now discharges the same office of converting the Jews (Mai, iv. 6; Luke i. 17), which Elias is to discharge at the end of the world, the Messiah must already have made His appearance ; and it depends, in a great measure, on themselves, and their own co-operation- " if you will "—whether John will be, in this latter sense, an Elias to them, by converting them to the Lord. ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. XI. 209 The words, ^^ if you will,''^ may also denote, that John is not Elias in person, but, that they should look for another meaning in the words of Malachy, besides their literal import. 15. '^ Ears to hear,'' means, a docile and obedient spirit, fit for receiving and obeying the truth. " Let him hear,'" that is, let him attend to the mystical and moral meaning of the words, ^^ he is Elias." '* Mysticum enim erat et egens intelligentia " (St. Jerome). This refei's to the character and qualities of Elias ascribed to John, and to the consequent advent of our Saviour, which required their faith and obedience in embracing the Gospel. '* Let him hear," in other words, let him believe John to be a Prophet, and accept his testimony regarding Me as the Messiah ; and let him — which ^'hear," implies — believe Me to be the Eternal Son of Grod. For this, obedience of the will — " let him hear " — is required, " corde ereditur ad justitiam " (Ptom. X. 10). The words of this verse are understood by some commentators, to be an introduction to what follows. It is hard to say, whether they are to be connected with the preceding, or with the following. They are a form of expression employed by our Divine Redeemer, whenever He wishes to solicit particular attention to anything as very important, or, to any hidden secret. TEXT. 16. But whereunto shall I esteem this generation to he like ? It is lih>. in children sitting in the marhet-place. 17. Wlio crying to their companions say : We have piped to you, and you have not danced: toe have lamented, and you have not mourned. 18. For John came neither eating nor drinking ; and they say : He hath a devil. 19. The Son of man came eatiiig ind drinking, and they say : Behold a man that is a glutton and a wine-drinker, a friend of publicans and sinners. And wisdom is justified by her child/ren. OOMMENTABY. 16. Hitherto our blessed Lord was engaged in bestowing a magnificent eulogium on the Baptist, which tended to add weight to his testimony regarding our Redeemer's Divinity. In virtue of His Divine omniscience, He knew that many among the Scribes and Pharisees did not assent to what He said, and, " despised the counsel of God against themselves" (Luke vii. 30). On this account, He commences to reproach them. " Generation," does not embrace all the Jews then living, but only the Scribes and Pharisees, who paid no attention to His eulogiums on John, and heeded not His own Divine teaching. '* To be like." The comparison is instituted only in a general way, to illustrate the main features of the case. It is not meant to compare exactly all the parts of the parable, with all the corresponding parts of the principal subject. It is meant to illustrate th^e general scope of the subject. ^^ In the market-place" (dyo/oais), means, not only the market-place, but the broad places in the streets, at their intersection, where there is a concourse of people. " It is like to children." The generation of men, whom our Redeemer reproaches, were not like the children crying out in the market-place, but rather, like those who were not moved or afi'ected to grief or joy, by the performances of the children in question. Our Redeemer and John the Baptist correspond in likeness with the 210 COMMENTARY ON children referred to j and this our Redeemer insinuates in the application of the similitude (verses 18, 19). The meaning, then, is this: Something, like unto what would occur, in the case of ^^ children piping ^^ in the public streets, and personating the several turns of human life, without producing any effect, either in the way of joy or sorrow, on their companions or the bystanders, occurs in regard to the present generation. Similar are the phrases, " the kingdom of heaven is like unto a householder,''^ &c., "^s like to ten virgins " &c,, the meaning of the phrases being, that something similar to what occurs in the case of a householder, or of ten virgins, occurs in the kingdom of heaven. Some commentators say, there is allusion here to a common practice among the Jews, when two sets of boys dramatized in the public streets the vicissitudes of human life — one party representing marriage, and other festive scenes ; another, funeral mournings. It is not necessary, however to understand the allusion of any existing custom. The example itself supposes it to be the same party that played joyful and plaintive airs. Hence, we need not suppose it to be anything else than an imaginary case, or what might happen. " We have piped" (lyuXi^Ka/Acv), we have played on the flute, a merry, joyous tune. 18. The application. John the Baptist made his appearance as a teacher, exhibiting the sternest virtue, the most austere asceticism, suited to him, who came to preach penance as a preparation for the kingdom of heaven, " neither eating nor drinking" like other men, and they put him down as a madman, a lunatic, possessed of a devil. 19. " The Sonofman" — the peculiar designation of our Redeemer — "came eating and drinking" living, in this respect, like the rest of men, so that He might attract all men to Him, by His benignity and kindness, which well became Him who came to remit sin, who called upon all to approach Him as "meek and humble of heart." He acted so, in order that His benignity and affability might attract such as would be repelled by the austerity of John. And how is He received ? His condescension and kindness, far from recommending Him, are made the subject of calumnious reproaches. He is charged with loving good cheer; with wishing to make publicans and sinners His friends and associates. So that whether their preachers were austere or gentle, it was all the same ; no effect was produced by either coui-se, on such perverse men. " And wisdom is Justified," &c. By " wisdom " (in Greek, rj o-o^ia, " the wisdom "), is generally, and most probably, meant, the wise counsel and dispensation of God's providence employing every, even sometimes, the most opposite means, such as austere asceticism on the one hand, and mild, benigpa condescension on the other, as exhibited by the Baptist and our Redeemer respectively, in bringing men to salvation. This seems to be the meaning most naturally suggested by the context, and the comparison instituted by our Redeemer in the foregoing passage. ''And," may be interpreted, " hut," " however" — a sense it frequently bears — so that the words would mean : The Scribes and Pharisees have perversely resisted all the means, whether there be question of examples of meekness and condescension ; or, of austerity and ascetic rigoiir, intended by God for their conversion ; however, the wisdom of Divine Providence is declared just and approved of as having employed due, effectual means for the end it had in view. "£g her children" {arro twv tckvcov avrrj^), that is, by those who have availed themselves of the means furnished by God's wisdom as motives for receiving the ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. XI. 211 faith of Christ, which they actually embrace. " -5y," may signify, " on the part of,^* or, ^^ in regard ^o"her children, who are really wise, in contradistinction to the Pharisees, only wise in their own conceits, to whom our Saviour refers (v. 25), " Thou hast hid these things from the wise." The above interpretation accords well with the words of St. Luke (vii. 29), ''And all the people hearing, . . justified God, heinghapti%ed with Johnhlaptismy St. Luke (vii. 35), has, " ly ALL her children. Hence, some commentators (Maldonatus, &c.), understand, " her child/ren,''^ of the entire Jewish people. Those of them, who believed, justified God's wisdom, by following its adorable dispositions ; the incredulous portion also justified it, by showing, that no means was left untried for their conversion ; that they determinedly opposed every means proposed to them, and that their obstinate unbelief was the result of their own obstinacy, and not of God's wise providence. The former interpretation seems preferable. The wisdom of God's providence, exhibited in the austerity of John, and the condescension of our Lord, was declared just, irrepre- hensihle, and perfect. Others, by " her children," understand, John and our Redeemer, who justified God's wisdom in leaving nothing undone to save men. These understand, "aix her children," of all the other Prophets and teachers, who employed similar means and followed the same manner of life respectively. By all these, God's wisdom is justified, so that the impious are deprived of all excuse ; nothing was left untried to save them. " Quid ultra facere debui vinese meee et non feci ? " (Jansenius Gandavensis.) TEXT. 20. ITien hegan he to vplraid the cities, wherein were done the most of his miracles^ for that they had not done penance. 21. Wo to thee, Corozain, wo to thee, Bethsaida: for if in Tyre and Sidon had been wrought the miracles that have heen wrought in you, they had long ago done penance in sack- cloth and ashes. 22. But I say unto you, it shall he more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment, than for you. 23. And thou Capharnaum, shalt thou be exalted up to heaven? thou shalt go down even unto hell. For if in Sodom had been wrought the miracles that ha/ve been wrought in thee, perhaps it had remained unto this day. 24. But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee. COMMENTAKT. 20. After reproaching the Jewish people, in general, with their perverse obstinacy and resistance to the Gospel, our Eedeemer now specially upbraids those cities that were specially favoured with His frequent visits, His preachings, and many miracles. " Then." According to St. Luke (x. 13, &c.), our Redeemer upbraided the cities on the occasion of sending the seventy-two disciples to preach. And the words (verse 25), according to St. Luke (x. 21), were used by Him after the disciples returned and were glorying in their success ; hence, some commentators say, that St. Luke describes the order in which things occurred, and that St. Matthew, as is his wont, gives in a consecutive narrative, the words spoken by our Eedeemer on difierent occasions, so that he gives here, after the message from John, what was spoken on the occasion of the mission of the seventy-two disciples, and these explain, " then," to mean, at that time, or, during the course of our Blessed Eedeemer's mission and preaching 212 COMMENTAEY ON Oihers say, the words were spoken twice by our Eedeemer, on the occasion of the message from John (Luke vii.), and on the occasion of the mission of the seventy-two disciples. ^'■Then,^'' when sending His disciples to preach in more distant places, owing to the incredulity and impenitence of the neighbouring cities, to which He Himself had preached with little, or, no fruit, "/or, that they had not done penance.''^ This is the subject for which He reproached them. In many instances, most likely, they were incredulous ; but, the cause of reproach is not precisely that ; but, because they did not reform their lives and " do penance" for the past, in accordance with the teachings of that faith, which many of them, probably, embraced — for, not unlikely, many of those whose actions are here censxu'ed, believed Christ to be the Messiah ; but, did not, however, change their lives. 21. " Corozain and Bethsaida" both cities of Galilee, near the Lake of Genesareth, and frequently favoured with our Redeemer's visits and miracles. '■^ If in Tyre and Sidon.^' He mentions these, because, they were Gentile cities in their neighbourhood remarkable for wealth and its concomitant vices, for which they were denounced by the Prophets Isaias (xxiii. 1), and Ezechiel (xxvi. 2 ; xxvii. 3; xxviii. 2, 12). " Lony ayo," i.e., at once, without so long resisting God's graces and invitations, as you have done ; without waiting for so many exhortations and miracles, such as you were favoured with. '^ Had done penance" aided by the internal graces which God would not fail to bestow upon them. *' In sackcloth and ashes." In allusion to the custom in the Old Law, followed by remarkable penitents, of wearing sackcloth, and of sitting in ashes ; so that the Tyrians, &c., would not only have done prompt penance, but also, remarkable penance. This shows, what the accompaniments of a truly penitential spirit were, the penitential works in which it should be manifested. These our Redeemer approves of here. Hence, an argument in favour of the Catholic practices of penitential works, in the same way as He must approve of the practice of fasting, when He lays down certain conditions for its exercise, (vi. 16, &c.) 22. " More tolerable" &c. Although the Tyrians and Sidonians shall be condemned on the Day of Judgment, for their manifold crimes against the natural law, to observe which they had sufficient grace, favoured, however, with less graces than were lavished on Corozain, &c. ; still, as they had fewer opportunities and lights, and resisted less graces than the Corozainites, &c., their guilt was less, and their damnation and punishment shall be less intolerable. 23. " Capharnatim." He apostrophizes Capharnaum, because He had chosen it as His usual place of abode ; therefore, more favoured (ix. 1), or, because it was more corrupt than the other cities, owing to its wealth, popidation, and maritime position. " Shalt thou be exalted ? " &c. In St. Luke, it is read affirmatively (c. x. 15) ; but, the meaning of both readings is the same. Thou art now " exalted," by My presence, miracles, preaching, more than by thy wealth and extensive commerce ; shalt thou be always thus exalted and honoured ? Thou shalt be lowered down to the lowest hell or, ^' Thou art now exalted unto heaven" (Luke x. 15), by thy pride in resisting My miracles and preaching; but thou shalt be laid low and reduced to the lowest state of ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. XI. 2iy humiliation. Thou shalt be visited with heavier punishments, in proportion as thou hast resisted greater graces and blessings. ** For, if in Sodom,^^ &c. The comparison with abominable Sodom, of execrable memory, whose excessive sinfulness and consequent dreadful punishment are so well known, heightens the guilt of the Capharnaites. Similar is the comparison instituted by Ezechiel between Jerusalem and Samaria, (xvi. 46-51, &c.) " Perhaps " (av) is not expressive of doubt. It is rather strongly affirmative (as in verse 21, av fieravorjo-av, where it is left untranslated by the Vulgate). It means, it might assuredly have remained, or, it could have remained, to the present day, so far as the signal punishment inflicted by God, is concerned, because it would have done penance, it would have escaped the fire and brimstone from heaven, and so it might have remained to the present day, unless other natiiral or supernatural causes* such as the relapse of future Sodomites, into the sins of which their fathers repented, had interfered. " Perhwps" shows the uncertainty of the event ; it might, or might not, have remained ; but, so far as its signal destruction, for its grievous crimes at the time, was concerned, it certainly would have remained. *^ Perhaps, ^^ according to some, also shows the full liberty with which the Sodomites would have yielded to the impulses of Divine grace. " Nostro loquitur affectu," says St. Jerome, "ut hominis servetur arbitrium," or rather, it denotes that the preservation of Sodom would not be owing to physical or necessary causes, but to the free will of men, doing penance for sin. The Latin interpreter rarely renders av, forte. Hence, he generally passes it over, expressing the thing absolutely, as inverse 21, " dim pcenitentiam egissent." The different questions raised on this passage touching God's media scientia, or His knowledge of future conditional matters, that never happened, need not be treated here, and are very properly relegated to treatises on Metaphysics. 24. The giant sinners of Sodom shall be punished less severely than thf Capharnaites on the Day of Judgment. TEXT. 25. At that time Jesus answered and said: I confess to thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to little ones. 26. Yea, Father ; for so hath it seemed good in thy sight. 27. All things are delivered to me hy my Father. And no one Icnoweth the Son, lut the Father : neither doth any one know the Father, hut the Son, and he to whom it shall please the Son to reveal Him. 28. Come to me, all you that labour, and are burdened, and I will refresh you. 29. Take up my yoke upon you, and learn of me, because lam meek, and humble of heart : and you shall ^nd rest to your souls. 30. For my yoke is sweet and my burden light. COMMENTARY. 25. " At that time.'^ According to St. Luke (x. 21), this occurred on the return of the seventy-two disciples from their mission, and while they were boasting of the success that attended them, and of the miracles they wrought. From this, our Hedeemer takes occasion to give expression to the following, and then He " answered." 214 COMMENTAEY ON However, the word, " answer," is frequentJy used in the SS. Scriptures, when nothing in the form of a question demanding an answer, preceded ; and merely means, to enter at once on some discourse. Here, then, it may be very probably connected with the foregoing denunciation of the Capharnaites, thus : — Jesus, considering within Himself the obstinate impenitence of the Capharnaites, &c., and the just judgment of God, withholding His lights and graces in punishment of their sins, consoles Himself with the thought, that such was according to the just dispensation of His Heavenly Father ; and He exultingly bursts forth into acts of thanksgiving for His adorable dispensation. St. Luke says (x. 21), " Se rejoiced in the Soly Ghost," and thus consoles Himself with the idea that His Father willed it so. " Answering," may also have relation to the thoughts passing in our Saviour's mind regarding this wonderful economy of Grod, and the obduracy of the Capharnaites. " I confess to Thee," i.e., I praise Thee, I extol Thee, I give Thee thanks. " Father," of whom I am alone the eternal, consubstantial, well-beloved Son. " Lord of heaven and earth," having supreme dominion over all creatures, angels, and men. It is not, therefore, from infirmity or weakness that He has not subdued the rebellious wills of the Capharnaites. The words also convey, that He can do as He thinks proper, in heaven and on earth ; and that, therefore, any disposition He makes regarding His creatures, is supremely just and equitable. " Hast hid," by not imparting powerful interior graces, and in punishment of their obstinate pride, withholding those lights which would efficaciously influence them to profit by the external graces of preaching, with which they were favoured. " These things." These mysteries of grace and glory preached by our Redeemer and His Apostles. " From the wise and prudent,''^ viz., the Pharisees and others, who were endowed with human learning and abilities. These were the " wise," to whom St. Paul refers (1 Cor. i.), as rejected in the work of the Gospel ; worldly wise, " wise " in their own conceits, haughty and proud, devoid of the humble docility necessary for embracing the faith. '^ And hast revealed them to little ones," i.e., hast given Thy abundant, illuminating graces for embracing the difficult and abstruse truths of faith to the humble and the poor (the Greek for " little ones," vrjmoL^, means, infants), who, with the humble docility of children, embrace what is proposed to them. These are the foolish, the weak, and the contemptible things, which God has chosen, to confound the wise, the strong, and the things of consideration in this world. (1 Cor. i.) Humble, unlearned fishermen, has He replenished with all knowledge, and placed on a level with the princes of His people. But how could our Lord rejoice and praise his Father for having concealed these things from the proud ? As a great evil, should it not be a subject for tears and sorrow ? Eesp. Thanks are not rendered precisely for having concealed these things ; but, because, having concealed these truths from the wise, He was pleased to reveal them to the humble. Precisely, as it is said (Rom. vi. 17), ^^£ut, thanks to God, that you were the servants of sin, but have obeyed," &c., which means, thanks to God, that, having been formerly servants of sin, you have now obeyed, &c. He thanks His Father for having chosen men, like infants, and enlightened them to disseminate his faith, pass- ing over the great ones of this world. Others say, thanks and praise are rendered for both. For, when "JGTtf hides these things," Ke shows His Justice; and when '•JZe reveals them to the little ones," He displays His Mercy. The judgments of God, whether in the matter of Justice or Mercy, are ever equitable ; ever deserving of praise ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. XI. 215 26. " Yea" (in Greek, vai, naij), briefly repeats the former acts of praise, and is strongly commendatory of the workings of God's adorable providence. " / confess," is here understood, to be repeated, as if to say : Again and again, I thank Thee, Father, for this ordination of Thy adorable providence, which is to be ever praised and glorified. In all things, therefore, coming from the hands of God, we should humbly bow down and give Him thanks, and from our inmost heart, conform to His adorable will, saying always, even when things go against us, "Fiat voluntas tua sicut in coelo,"&e. "Ita, Pater, quia sic placitum fait ante te." "Fiat, laudatur et superexaUetur in teternum, j'ustis- sima, altissima et amahilissima voluntas Dei in omnibus." God wills it, no further inquiries, reasoning, or murmurings about it. 27. Lest it might be imagined, from our Lord's thanking His Father, for having revealed the mysteries of grace to the little ones, &c., that Christ Himself had not this power. He adds, " all things," all power, all dominion, all knowledge, &c., were communicated to Me " % My Father," at My Incarnation. Others say, at My eternal generation. These interpretations, however, amount to the same ; or, rather, the latter is included in the former. Since it is from His eternal generation, that the gifts bestowed on Him at His Incarnation flowed, therefore, if " Mi/ Father " be omnipo- tent and omniscient, so am I ; and I can, therefore, reprobate or save. The mysteries of grace and glory have been concealed by My Father, and also by Me, from the wise, and imparted to the humble. " And no one hnoweth the Son, lut the Father." This may regard comprehensive, -perfect, natural knowledge. This the Son also has, and the Holy Ghost. As the words, " and he to whom it shall please the Father to reveal Sim," although not expressed here, because they are included in verse 25, " hast revealed," &c., are still implied, if we look to the words, "and to whom it shall please the Son to reveal," it is better to understand it of the knowledge of the Father, known from revelation, as it is only of such knowledge, man is capable ; such knowledge alone can be communicated to him. "Neither doth any one know the Father, hut the Son, and he to whom it shall please the Son to reveal Sim." These latter words are not expressed above, regarding the Father ; because, revelation was before attributed to the Father (v. 25), and, moreover, it is through the Son that God the Father reveals Himself and the Godhead to the world. "Manifestavi nomen tuum hominilus," &c. (John xvii. 6.) The equality of the Son with the Father is shown here. For, He knows all regarding the Father, as the Father does regarding Him, which is put more strongly by St. Luke (x. 22), "And no one Tcnoweth who the Son is hut the Father; and who the Father is hut the Son." Again, " tJie Son reveals it to whom Se pleases. The Holy Ghost is not included, since the exceptive or exclusive words applied to one Person of the Trinity do not regard the other Divine Persons, who possess equally the Divine nature. They only regard crea- tures. No one knows the mysteries regarding the Father, nor those regarding the Son, except those to whom they may be pleased to reveal them. Hence, when the Father reveals (v. 25), the Son also reveals. St. Chrysostom observes that the words, " to whom it shall please the Son to reveal," show the Son to be equal to the Father in power and dominion. For, although Christ reveals as man, and through His human nature, still, this nature subsists in a Divine Person ; and this man, Christ is God also, and as God, equal to the Father. Others connect the words of this verse with the following verse, " come to Me," &c. As all power of saving, all dominion, all knowledge, have been communicated to Me by My Father, to be imparted by Me to whomsoever I please, I do, therefore, invite you all to " come" &c. 216 COMMENTARY ON 28. " Come to Me" approach Me, with the proper dispositions of faith, hope, devo- tion, &c., with a desire to observe all My precepts, who am equal to the Father in all things, the Sovereign Lord of heaven and earth, to whom all things were delivered by My Father, having, therefore, at My disposal the dispensation of every good gift, including the perfect liberation from all evils incident to human life ; '^ all you that labour" &c., groaning under the intolerable burden of sin, and its concomitant evils, viz., the tyranny of concupiscence and your corrupt passions, the remorse of conscience, and the dread of the fearful punishments of sin ; and who, moreover, are groaning under the yoke of the Mosaic law. " And I will refresh you." The Greek word for " refresh" (avairavcro)), means, rest, eesiation from trouble. Hence, the words signify : I will grant you respite and rest ; respite from your temporal miseries, and vexatious sufferings, which I shaU temper for you, by granting you grace to bear them patiently ; rest, from the burdensome uneasiness ever attendant on sin, and the consequent remorse, with dread of punishment, by remitting them ; rest, also, from the intolerable yoke of Mosaic ceremonies, which neither you nor your fathers, could bear (Acts xv. 10). So that all are sweetly invited, without exception: Gentiles, whose burden of temporal miseries He alleviates, whose sins, both as to guilt and eternal consequences. He remits; and Jews, whom, in addition to the foregoing benefits, He frees, from the galling yoke of the Mosaic ceremonial law. 29. " Take My yoJce upon you." ^^My yoke," in opposition to the yoke of the Mosaic law ; and the heavy yoke of sin, concupiscence, and its consequences, under which you have been hitherto groaning, placed on your shoulders by your former spiritual taskmasters. " My yoke," which you will not be left to bear alaie, which I shall help you to carry. " J/y yoke," which I bore before you, and gave you an example to carry. By " yoke," is meant the law of the Gospel in all its parts, called a " yoke," because, like every other law, it binds us to certain duties, and forbids us to transgress certain limits. It is also called a " burden," because, we are obliged to bear it, to live according to it, and to fulfil it. It consists in bringing the Intellect into the captivity oi faith, and the Will into the captivity of ohedience, so as to observe all His commandments. " And learn #/ Me, because I am Meek," &c., which some thus interpret : Among the virtues and precepts inculcated in My Gospel, there are two virtues in particular, which I am specially desirous you should learn of Me, as your Divine Master. These are, humility and meekness. These are the special virtues, which shall serve as the surest means of procuring perseverance in bearing My sweet yoke ; which alone can secure that desirable peace and rest surpassing all understanding. It is to pride and the angry desire of vengeance — vices, the opposite of humility and meekness — that all the miseries of this world are to be attributed. These are the virtues which we can imitate our Lord in cultivating, and from which no one can be dispensed. This is the interpretation of St. Augustine : " Discite a me non mundum fabricare, non cuncta visibilia et invisibilia creai'e . . , sed quoniam mitis sum et humilis corde." Our Lord tells us to copy after Himself in the practice of these virtues in pai'ticular (Serm. 69). Others, with Maldonatus, &c., say, the meaning is: Take upon you My yoke, &c.; be not afraid of approaching Me, be your unworthiness and sinfulness what it may ; rather, come with confidence, and learn, from your experience of Me, that I am not, like the Scribes and Pharisees, a haughty, morose, repulsive tyrant, to scare you ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. XI. 217 away ; but, on the contrary, a meeh and gentle master, who will receive you with the greatest kindness and benignity, with truly humble condescension and afiPability. This latter interpretation would seem to accord better with the context. For, the words of this verse would seem to be but a fuller explanation and development of the subject of the preceding verse (28). " Come^^ (v. 28), by your dispositions of heart to observe My law and obey My will and ordinances, is more fully expressed in the words of this verse, " Take up My yohe upon you.'''' " To Me," who will not repel you; "because, I am meeh and humble of heart,'" gentle, kind in My government and intercourse, and you will find Me to be such. " And I will refresh you " (v. 28), is the same as, "you will find rest to your souls." (The Greek for "refresh" and "rest," is the same, avairavcriv). This rest, this refreshment, results not from the observance of the precepts regarding meekness and humility of heart merely, although these form a portion of God's law very effectual for begetting peace and rest; but, from bearing the "yoke" of Christ in its fulness, embracing the observance of all His commandments, the love of God and our neighbour, all that regards faith and morals. This is quite clear from the words of Jeremias (vi. 16), to which our Lord here manifestly alludes, also from Ecclesiasticus (li. 34, 35). 30. If we adopt the interpretation of St. Augustine, given above, then the words will mean ; by practising the virtues of meekness and humility, after His example, which are the surest means for enabling us to take up the yoke of Christ, and observe all His other precepts, we will be sure to enjoy peace of soul, because, they shall divest the yoke of Christ, or, the observance of His commandments, of bitter, galling irritation — the effect commonly produced by a "yoke." They shall render the observance of God's commandments, neither galling nor irritating; on the contrary, they shall beget in their observance, feelings of sweet benignity and contentment; and as a burden is oppressive from its weight, they shall render this "burden" "light" and easy to be carried, " and His commandments are not heavy" (1 John v. 3). In the latter interpretation, the words of this verse are a proof, that they would find rest for their souls, in approaching Christ, in experiencing His meekness and humility, and in carrying "His yoke," as explained above. The "yoke" of Christ, far from galling or irritating, is "sweet," comparatively, if contrasted with the yoke of the Mosaic law, "tvhich neither they nor their fathers could bear;" and with the "yoke" of sin, and the slavery of the devil, which, though sweet and gratifying to corrupt nature, still leaves behind it bitterness, remorse of conscience, and idtimately plunges men for ever into hell. It is "sweet" in itself, and "light," because, His law is perfectly in accordance rith the natural law, which the Gospel, with the mere addition of some positive precepts, more fully developes. Again, it is mild in regard to sinners, and has removed the rigorous punishments of the Old Law. Again, it carries with it abundant help and graces, not given in the Old Law, for self-fulfilment, and holds out promises the most consoling and abundant, of the fulfilment of which it gives us a sure earnest and foretaste here in the peace of God, which it bestows, exceeding all understanding. Finally, it proposes love and charity, as the sweet motive of our actions, and not, like the Old Law, the servile fear of punishments. "Ubi amatur, non laboratur; aut si laboratur, labor amatur" (St. Augustine). 218 COMMENTAEY ON CHAPTER XII. ANALYSIS, In this chapter, we have an account of how our Lord's disciples, passing through the ripe corn- fields, plucked a few ears, to appease hunger, which gives an occasion to the Pharisees to accuse them of violating the Sabbath (1-2). Our Lord vindicates their mode of acting, on several grounds — on the ground of necessity, as illustrated by the conduct of David (4-6) ; on the ground of their ministering to their Lord, which would justify a material departure from the law, in regard to what would be necessary for that purpose, as in the case of the priests sacrificing on the Sabbath ; on the ground of being engaged in acts of the greatest spiritual mercy, which should be preferred to any external observances (6-7) ; on the ground of being dispensed by Him, the Sovereign Lord of all things (8). He cures a man with a withered hand, and triumphantly vindicates His line of acting, against the malevolence of the Pharisees (9-13). Returning to the sea-side. He performs several cures, and charges the persons cured to say nothing of it ; thus, by His meekness and humility, fulfilling the prophecy of Isaias regarding Him (14-21). He cures a deaf and dumb demoniac, and elicits the admiration of the people, which provokes the Pharisees to blasphemy, when charging Him with communication and collusion with Satan (22-24). Our Eedeemer, knowing their thoughts on this subject, shows the utter absurdity of charging Him with collusion with Satan. This He shows on several grounds (25-30). He points out the grievous nature of the blasphemy they were guilty of (31-32), the inconsistency of their judgments, their evil dispositions (34-3<5), and the severe account they were to render one day for their sinful words (36-37). His reply to the Scribes, demanding a still greater proof of His power, and the heavy judgments of condemnation in reserve for them (38-42). He next points out the wretched spiritual condition of the Pharisees, and the misfortunes sure to overtake them. To illustrate this, He applies to them the example of the wretched man, into whom a troop of devils re-enter, after having been before banished from his heart (43-45). We have an account of a message sent Him by His Blessed Mother, and relatives who came from Nazareth to Caphamaum to see Him, and His description of the spiritual relationship, which He most prixed, of which Hie inuuaculate Mother was the most perfect type and pattern (46-60). TEXT. A T that time Jesus went through the corn on the sablath : and Ms disciples being hungry, hegan to pluck the ears, and to eat. 2. And the Pharisees seeing them, said to him : Behold thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do on the sahlath-days. 3. But lie said to them : Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and they that were with him : 4. How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the loaves of proposition, which it was not lawful for him. to eat, nor for them that were with him, hut for the priests only. 5. Or have ye not read in the law, that on the salbath-days the priests in the temple break the sabbath, and are without blame ? 6. But I tell you that there is here a greater than the temple. 7. And if you knew what this meaneth: I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: you would never have condemned the innocent. 8. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath. COMMENTAEY. 1. "At that time." This form of words is frequently found in the Gospels, to refer, in merely a general way, to the period of our Redeemer's preaching and public mission, without specifying any particular time, or marking out any connected order of events. From Mark (ii.) and Luke (vi.) it seems quite clear, that the events recorded here by St Matthew, occurred before the mission of the Apostles (x). ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. XII. 219 " Went through the corn,'* that is, tlie corn-fields, where the corn was ripe for the sickle. " On the Sabbath.^' The word, " Sabbath," literally means, rest, in allusion to the rest of Q-od, after perfecting the works of creation. (Heb. iv.) It commonly denotes the seventh day, specially appointed, in the Jewish law, to be kept holy, and free from servile works of any kind (Exod. xxxv. 3), It also was intended to denote all feasts among the Jews, and was employed, too, to designate the entire week. Hence, the words, first, second, third, «&c., days of the Sabbath. Here, the word would seem to be taken in its strict signification, as denoting the seventh day of the week, which, by a perpetual Jaw, whether from creation, or, at least, from the time of Moses, was appointed to be kept " Ao/y." That it refers not to the great festivals, or the days of the week, seems very probable, from the fact, that it was allowed, on these festival days, to prepare meat, &c. ; and, hence, the Pharisees would have no ground for accusing our Redeemer's disciples, which, with all their malice, they would hardly do, if the letter of the law was not infringed upon ; and, although our Redeemer's reply does not expressly admit, that the letter of the Jewish law was violated by His disciples— He does not openly say, that pulling of ears of corn was a servile work— still, it indicates that His disciples did what was justified only by the necessity of the case. It was only on the Sabbath, strictly so called, such mode of acting was unlawful. St. Luke (vi. 1), terms it, " the second first Sabbath.*' What this '^ second first "" means is much disputed. Some understand by it, a Sabbath on which another great festival had fallen, or with which such a festival concurred. So that it was doubly solemn — doubly a day of rest. ** Secundo," i.e., bis primum (St. Chrysostom). And, as it was a time when the ears of corn were ripe, it must be either the Pasch, or its seventh day (for, the seventh day of the Pasch was a solemn festival), or Pentecost. According to some, it was at the Paschal time ; for, then the sheaf of first fruits was usually presented (Lev. xxiii. 10). And at the Eeast of Pentecost, that is, full seven weeks after the Pasch (Lev. xxiii. 15), they were to oflfer two loaves of the first fruits (Lev. xxiii. 17). Hence, it must fall on either Pasch or Pentecost ; for, with these only could the season of ripe corn correspond. The feasts of new moons were only festivals in the temple, but not of obligation among the people. Others say, that the word, " second first" (BeurepoTrpdyna — secundo-primo), means, the Sabbath that concurred with the Feast of Pentecost, or fell within the week of Pente- cost, which had no octave, like the Pasch (which had seven days), or the Feast of Tabernacles (which had eight days), and it was called ^^ second first" or first, in the second place ; because, the Sabbath that fell within the week of the Pasch, was fi/rst first, or TrptoTOTrpcDTov, or, absolutely, the first of all the great Sabbaths of the year. Hence, St. John says of it, "tY was a great Sabbath day" (John xix. 31). So that as the Pasch was the greatest of all festivals, the Sabbath that fell within the Pasch was the greatest, or first first, Sabbath ; and as Pentecost was the second greatest festival, so the Sabbath that feU within it was next in dignity to the Sabbath within the Pasch. Hence, " second first." The three great festivals were termed, wptoTo, or first. Pasch had the TrpwoTrpo/rov, the first first Sabbath, by excellence. Pentecost, SevTepovpoxrov, the second first. Tabernacles, the third, rptTOTrpcoTov. Others, by second first, understand the octave day of the festival having an octave, which, it was commanded, should be celebrated with solemnity equal to that of the feast itself (Lev. xxiii. ; Num. xxix. 35). "Sabbath." St. Mark (ii. 23), has the plural, and so has the Greek here, 220 CUMMENTAEY ON Tots a-af^ftarois, on the Sahhaths, which, by a Hebrew idiom, is used for the singular, and means, on one of the Sabbath days, "And His disciples heing hungry.^'' Yery likely, owing to the concourse of the multitude, they forgot to make any provision for their corporal wants. '■'■Began to pluck the ears,''^ &c. St. Luke says (vi. 1), *' they rubbed the ears in their hands." It was allowed the Jews to do this, when passing through their neighbour's field (Deut. xxiii. 25). This whole passage indicates the austere and mortified life led by otu' Redeemer and His disciples, who were content with the simplest fare, with what came next to hand, sometimes suffering the pangs of hunger, poor, without scrip or staff. It contains a clear refutation of the implied charge, made against our Lord and His disciples, on the subject of not fasting (ix. 14 ; Luke V. 33). Hence, the occurrence recorded here, is narrated by St. Mark (ii. 23), after the charge referred to. 2. The Pharisees do not make it a charge, or subject of accusation, against our Lord's disciples, that they plucked the ears of corn, or were guilty, in any way, of theft. Their charge is confined to the violation of the Sabbath, as if this was a servile work, included in the prohibition of the law. " Said to ITim." St. Luke, "said to them.'''' Probably, they charged both Him and them ; or, it may be said, that in reproaching our Redeemer with the act of His disciples, they charged Him, at the same time. It was not for walking on the Sabbath, they reproached them. A walk to a certain distance was allowed on the Sabbath. The law permitted " a Sabbath-day'' s journey ." 3. Our Redeemer adduces several reasons to exculpate, or justify, the conduct of His disciples ; the first is, the plea of necessity. A law of a higher order, and of more binding force, the law of Nature, which prompted them to sustain life and appease the pangs of hunger, predominated over the positive enactment regarding the abstention from servile work on the Sabbath. He quotes the conduct of David — a man according to God's own heart — which had the sanction and approval of the high priest at the time, as a case in point. " Ha've you not read," in which He reproaches them with their ignorance of the Sacred Scriptures, their knowledge of which they made a subject of boasting. " What David did." (See 1 Kings xxi. 1-6.) " And they that were with him." From the passage referred to (v. 1), it would seem David was alone. " Why art thou alone" says Achimelech, " and no one with thee ?" The answer is, that David was alone when he went to Achimelech (" and no one with thee ") ; but that he brought the holy bread to his attendants, whom " he appointed to such and such a place" (xxi. 2). 4. " How he entered into the house of God." This was at Nobe. It does not mean the temple which was not then built, but the place, or hall, contiguous to the Tabernacle, which was kept at Nobe, a sacerdotal city (1 Kings xxii. 19). The ark was not there ; it was kept at Silo. St. Mark (ii. 26) says, this occurred " wider Abiathar the high priest." In the first Book of Kings (xxi. 1), Achimelech is said to be the high priest in question. Some expositors, with St. Chrysostom (Hom. 40, in Mattheum), Theophylact, Jansenius, &c., undertake to reconcile both accounts by saying, that Achimelech, the father, and Abiathar, his son, had each the two names. So that each was called Achimelech and Abiathar. For (2 Kings viii. 17), it is said, that when David mounted the throne, Achimelech, the son of Abiathar, was high priest ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. XU. 221 with Sadoc, the son of Achitob. Now, by Abiathar here, is meant he who is called Achimelech (1 Kings xxi. 1). For, Achimelech, the father, was slain by Saul (1 Kings xxii. 18); and his son, Abiathar, was high priest during the whole of David's reign, and during a part of Solomon's. Hence, by Achimelech, is meant Abiathar ; and so, both had the two names in common. Others, with Venerable Bede, Cajetan, &c., say, Abiathar was present and sanc- tioned the act ; and, so made it his own. Likely, he was associated with his father in the priestly functions, which old age prevented him from fully exercising. Others say, the words, " under Abiathar,''^ should be rendered, " in the chapter called Abiathar ; " because, the Jews divided the SS. Scriptures into parts, and called the parts from the principal person spoken of in them. Thus, " in Elias'" (Rom, xi. 2), means, the part called " Elias^ ^'And did eat the loaves of proposition,''^ called in Hebrew, " hread of the face ^'' because, placed in the Soly, in the Tabernacle, six on each side, before the face or throne of God, which was in Soly of Holies. These breads, corresponding in number with the twelve tribes of Israel, served as a constant memorial, and perpetual recognition, on the part of the Jewish people, that they were continually fed and sujjported by the Lord. " Nor for them that were with him." David, although a king and a prophet — and as such entitled to extraordinary privileges — had no privilege whatever, any more than his attendants had, to partake of this holy bread. The privilege ot partaking of it was exclusively reserved for the priests. The argument from David's case is very strong. First, not only did David himself partake of these breads, but so did also his followers ; and the high priest had no scruple in giving them, under the circumstances of necessity. Secondly, there seems to be greater deordination for laics in partaking of holy bread, which priests alone were allowed to eat, than in working on the Sabbath ; and if necessity justified, or excused, the former, how much more the latter. 5. He adduces another, and still clearer, example, to show that His disciples did not act unlawfully, as was alleged. ^^Read in the law," of Moses. (The fact of David might be referred to the Prophets.) *' That on the Sabbath-days, the priests," &c. This is not expressly said in the law; but, it is substantially contained in several parts of it, v.y., Numbers (xxviii.) and else- where, where the rite of sacrificing, which necessarily involves great servile labour, in slaying, burning, ofi'ering the victims, is sanctioned. ''Mow that on the Sabbath-days the priests," &c. Every word is expressive — the time, ''Sabbath-days;" the place, " in the temple ;" the persons, of all others, who should be most observant, " the priests." "Break," a stronger phrase than, observe not. They did so materially; but, still, they acted, according to the precepts of the law. " And are without blame." The law itself allowed, in this case, this apparent departure from its general enactments. The act of sacrificing, &c., was, per se, a servile act. But it was allowed by the law ; otherwise, it would be against the general provisions of the law of Moses. 6. They might object, and say : You are no priest; nor is the work done for the service of the temple. He replies, and shows how the alleged example of Sabbath breaking in the temple applies in the present case. If the sanctity of the temple excused those who laboured in its service, how much more will ministering to, and waiting upon, the Lord of the temple, excuse those who are employed in this 222 COMMENTARY ON meritorious office. If the service of the temple justified the priests in violating the letter of the law, how much more can I, who am still greater than the temple, nay, the Lord of the temple, to serve whom is still more meritorious, dispense My disciples from the Sabbatical law, while attending on Me. In this unavoidable attendance on Him, His disciples were excused as much, by so doing, as were the priests of the Old Law, in sacrificing, owing to their unavoidable attendance at the temple, on the Sabbath. This is an argumentum a minori ad majus. The law relating to the observ- ance of the Sabbath, admits of the interpretation, or rather limitation, that it does not extend to the labours of the temple. Por, the priests in the temple perform works which, in se, and looking to the mere letter of the law, would seem to be a violation of the Sabbath. And, still, they are excused ; because, they perform works prescribed by the Legislator Himself on the Sabbath. How much more ought My disciples be blameless, when, merely plucking a few ears of corn, to appease hunger, while ministering to Me, who am Lord of the temple. 7. Another reason to excuse His disciples. If the Pharisees properly understood the words of God, quoted by the Prophet Ozee (vi. 6), I prefer mercy, i.e., the exercise of humanity, and benevolence, and charity towards the poor, to sacrifice, and all other external observances, they would not have condemned the disciples, when in the exercise of mercy to the souls of their brethren, whom they wished to rescue from eternal perdition, they did what seemed to be a mere material violation of the letter of the law. Or, " mercy, ^^ might contain an allusion to the conduct of the Pharisees, who, devoid of all feelings of humanity and benevolence, were accusing the disciples, out of excessive zeal for the law. They were preferring sacrifice to mercy, which they failed to exercise. If the disciples, while suffering from hunger, were prevented from plucking a few ears of corn to appease hunger, this would be against charity and mercy ; and if they gave over the sacred ministry, in obedience to ceremonial precepts, they would be preferring sacrifice to mercy. Had the Pharisees attended to this, they ^^ would never lia/oe condemned the innocent " disciples. 8. " For the Son of man," &c. This is the final reason adduced to justify the disciples. They were dispensed by Himself, who, as Man God, " was Lord even of the Sabhath" and could dispense with its observance ; or, could command it to be observed in what way soever He pleased. ^^Even of the Sahhath," that is, of the Sabbath, as well as of everything else. "Men," is rejected by several MSS. The particle, "for," shows this to be an additional reason to prove the innocence of the disciples ; because, they were dispensed by legitimate authority — viz., by Himself, " the Son of man," His peculiar designa- tion in the New Testament. St. Mark (ii. 27), adduces an additional reason : " The Sahbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." The Sabbath rest was instituted for man's benefit and advantage, in order that he would be free, and obtain a respite from bodily labour, and might thus be at leisure to attend to God's worship, and meditate on His heavenly law and benefits, " and not man for the Sabbath." So that if man's corporal or spiritual necessity or utility required it, man would be free to dispense with the Sabbath observances and obligations. In a word, man's benefit, his life, his salva- tion, and whatever serves to forward both, being the end for which the Sabbatical rest was instituted, are, therefore, superior to it. Hence, whenever the end or object of the Sabbatical ordinances becomes incompatible with the observance of the Sabbath, or Sabbatical observances become injurious to man's corporal or spiritual ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. XII. 223 interests, these latter, as being more important, are to be consulted for in preference. St. Mark seems to make this (v. 8) an inference from the foregoing, " Therefore, the Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath.'' St. Luke (vi. 5), records them, as does St. Matthew here without making them an inference : ** And he said to them : The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath." Our Redeemer having, in four ways, excused His disciples, assigns four causes for transgressing a law. 1. Its opposition to the law of nature. 2. Its opposition to another particular and superior law. 3. Its opposition to humanity and love of our neighbour. 4. A dispensation from it by legitimate authority. (Jansenius Gandav.) TEXT. 9. And ivhen he had passed from thence, he came into their synagogue, 10. And behold there was a man who had a withered hand, and they ashed him, saying : Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath-days ? that they might accuse him. 11. But he said to them : What man shall there be among you, that hath one sheep : and if the same fall into a pit on the sabbath-day, will he not take hold on it and lift it up ? 12. Sow much better is a man than a sheep ? Therefore it is lawful to do a good deed on the sabbath-days. 13. Then he saith to the man : Stretch forth' thy hand, and he stretched it forth, and it was restored to health even as the other. COMMENTAEY. 9. Luke (vi. 6) says, this occurred on " another Sabbath." St. Matthew does not contradict this. The Jews were wont, on Sabbath-days, to assemble in their synagogues ; our Redeemer entered their synagogue to teach, and He avails Himself of the occasion supplied by the Sabbath-day, to perform the miracle here recorded, for the purpose of confuting the error of the Pharisees, touching the observance of the Sabbath. 10. " Withered hand," which St. Luke (vi. 6) says, was, '^ his right hand." " They asked Him." St. Mark (iii. 4), and St. Luke (vi. 9), say, it was. He asked them. However, there is no contradiction. The questions are not the same. They ask Him, first, "^/^Y was lawful to heal on the Sabbath-days? " and He, in reply, puts the question in a different form, to which they could not give an answer in the negative, viz., " if it was lawful to do good or do evil; to save life, or to destroy, on the Sabbath- days f" In this question of our Redeemer, it is conveyed, that to omit saving our brethren, when in great danger, is the same as destroying them ; that such omission was doing evil. Unable to answer Him — for, it could not be denied that it was lawful to do good, also that it was lawful, " to save life" — " they (therefore) held their peace" (Mark iii. 4). They put this question, not with a view of gaining information, but, " that they might accuse Him," either of a violation of the law of Moses, in case He answered in the affirmative, or of inhumanity and cruelty towards a brother in distress, had He replied in the negative. 11. This is an argiiment, a fortiori. According to the admission and practice of the Pharisees themselves, it is lawful to rescue a sheep from drowning on the Sabbath-day; a fortiori, it must be lawful to rescue a man from death, or save him from suffering, especially when this latter operation involved no servile external work. For, the stretching forth of his hand by a sick man, was, surely, no servile 224 COMMENTAEY ON work, any more than the use of language, the utterance of a few words by our Eedeemer. If it be said, that there is no parity in both cases, as the life of the man, like that of the sheep, was not endangered ; it can be said, in reply, that it was not so much saving the life, as preventing the loss of the sheep, the Pharisees looked to. Now, the illness of a human being, for even one day, was a greater evil than the loss of a sheep. Moreover, there was no servile work in the curing of the man's hand. It was a mere act of Q-od's will, combined with the mere stretching out or extending of the man's hand. 12. As a man is far more valuable, far more excellent, than a sheep, it is, there- fore, more allowable to cure him from bodily distemper, and rid him of pain, on the-Sabbath day, and, thus, " do pood " — which comes to the same in reference to the present case — than to rescue a sheep from drowning or suffocation. 13. St. Mark (iii. 3), and St. Luke (vi. 8), inform us, that, before performing this miracle, our Eedeemer instructed the infirm man to '■^ stand up in the midst," and that the afflicted man, showing his confidence in our Redeemers power, at once complied. This he did, probably, with a view of calling attention to the miracle He was about to perform ; and of disarming the Pharisees, and of inspiring them with feelings of mercy, on beholding the misery of the infirm man, and of causing them to change the rash judgment that they had been forming in their minds regarding this miracle. St. Mark (ibidem) also informs us, that, before performing the miracle, our Eedeemer looked round about on them, with anger, doubtless, for the purpose of inspiring them with feelings of shame and repentance, '* being grieved for the blindness (or, as the Greek word ^rwpaxris, means, hardness) of their hearts.^' He then told the infirm man to stretch forth his hand, after which our Eedeemer, by the sole operation of His almighty power, cures him, without even touching him ; thus silencing all the cavils of His enemies, and not affording them the shadow of accusation against Him. TEXT. 14. And the Pharisees going out, made a consultation against him, how they might destroy him. 15. But Jems knowing it, retired from thence : and many followed him, and he healed them all. 16. And he changed them that they should not make him known. 17. l^at it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaias the prophet, saying : 18. " Behold my servant whom I have chosen, iny beloved in whom my soul hath been well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he shall show judgment to the gentiles. 19. He shall not contend, nor cry out, neither shall any man hear his voice in the itreets. 20. 27ie bruised reed he shall not break, and smoking flax he shall not extinguish: till he <irit that descended on Him in the Jordan (iii. 16). " And, He shall show judgment,''^ that is, what is just and equitable, and in accord- ance with the counsels and will of Grod ; in other words, He shall make known the counsel and Gospel of God. " To the Gentiles,''^ to the entire world ; unlike Moses and the Prophets, whose ministry was confined to the Jewish people only. 19. " He shall not contend.'''' The Prophet now shows, how, ''He shall show judgment to the Gentiles,''' not by vociferously contending with His adversaries, nor by boastfully raising His voice abroad in public, like the haught}' ones of the earth. This is the part of the prophetic quotation, which is specially referred to, as directly bearing on the subject in hand, viz., the great meekness and clemency of our Divine Redeemer. St. Jerome (Isaias xlii.), for, "not contend,^' has, " nan clamahit" — "not cry out;" and the word corresponding with "not cry out," in the text, he renders, "shall not have respect for persons" — neque accipiet personam. The Hebrew words [lo issa), simj^lymean, either, "neque accipiet" — " nor shall he receive, or accept, which St. Jerome applies to exception of persons, or, non toilet {he shall not raise "), understood of raising his voice, in which sense the words are here taken by St. Matthew, and by the Chaldaic Paraphrast, a sense, too, of which, St. Jerome in his Commentary tells us, the words are susceptible. "In the streets," which is rendered by St. Jerome, " abroad," " foris." 20, " The hruised reed — the smoking flax," &c. Most likely, this is a two-fold proverbial form of expression, conveying to us an idea of the great meekness and goodness of our Redeemer, who, far from crushing, or scornfully rebuking or oppressing those who are weak in virtue and Christian faith, would, on the contrary, meekly sustain, strengthen and encourage them, by His lenity and patience, and inflame them with Divine love. All this directly tends to point out the meekness of Christ, the object for which the entire prophetic quotation was adduced, here by St. Matthew. Others understand the force of the application of the proverbial expressions to have reference to the enemies of our Redeemer, who are as impotent, and as easily crushed as " the hruised reed," &c., but whom He still mercifully spares, giving them full time for repentance. The proverbs of " the hruised reed," and of " the smoking fax," are very expressive; the former, conveying that it is only an object fit for trampling upon and throwing away; the latter, that, there is question of an object, which from its offensive smell, is only fit to be extinguished. Both convey very expressive images of great weakness and worthlessness. " Till He send forth judgment," &c., is understood by some (St. Chrysostom, Theophylact, &,g.), thus : He shall meekly tolerate the Jews, until He victoriously demonstrates, that His judgment, exercised in their repulse and rejection was justly merited and provoked by their own sins and madness, in refusing to receive Him. St. Jerome understands it, of His enduring sinners during the term of this life, inviting them to penance, until He shall come in triumph to judge the world, when His past treatment of His friends and enemies shall be triumphantly justified, before the assembled nations of the earth. ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. XII. 227 Others, more probably, understand it thus, ^^ until ; " or, so that, by this manner of acting, by thus patiently treating His adversaries, His ^^ judgment,''^ which He came to announce to the G-entiles, shall be victoriously propagated and received all over the earth. Hence, it is added next, " and in Mis name the Gentiles,^'' (S:e. The particle, " until, ^ denotes, not so much limitation of time, as the event, the consequence. In Isaias (xlii. 4) it is, ^^ until Se set judgment in the earth,''^ which is, in sense, the same as the reading of the Evangelist. The Evangelist quoted the passage, partly from the Hebrew, partly from the Septuagint, omitting some parts from each, and quoting the sense of others, as suited his purpose. 21. '^ And in Sis name the Gentiles,^' &c. This is quoted literally from the Septuagint. In the Hebrew, it is different: ^' For His laio the Islands shall wait.'* The sense, however, is the same in both; because, by '' the Islands,'' are meant, not the Jews, but the Gentiles, living beyond the sea, far from Judea. St. Matthew and the Septuagint convey the sense. Some commentators say that, ovofiari, " name," is read instead of, vofjiw, law. But the meaning is not affected. For, those who wait for the law of Christ, place their trust in Mis name. TEXT. 22. Then was offered to him one possessed icith a devil, blind and dumb : and he healed him, so that he spoke and saw. 23. And all the multitudes were amazed, and said: Is not this the son of David ^ 24. But the Pharisees hcr'ring it, said : This man casteth not out devils but by Beehebub the prince of the devils. 25. And Jesus hnowing their thoughts, said to them: Every kingdom divided against itself shall be made desolate : and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand. 26. And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself: how then shall his kingdom stand ? 27. And if I by Beehebub cast out devils, by tohom do your children cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. 28. But if I by the Spirit of God cast out devils, then is the kingdom of God come upon you. 29. Or how can any one enter into the home of the strong, and rifle his goods, unless he first bind the strong ? and then he will rifle his house. 30. He that is not with me, is against me: and he that gathereth not with mo, scatter eth. 31. Therefore I say to you : Every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men, but th^ blasphemy of the Spirit shall not be forgiven. 39. And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but he that shall speak against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in the world to come. 33. Either malce the tree good and its fruit good : or make the tree evil, and its fruit evil. For by the fruit the tree is knoivn. 34. generation of vipers, how can you speak good things, whereas you are evil? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. 35. A good man out of a good treasure bring eth forth good things : and an evil man out of an evil treasure bring eth forth evil things. C6. But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall render