Luke 7

And when he had finished giving these instructions, he teaches his disciples to follow the example of their teachers. For immediately the servant of a Gentile centurion is offered to the Lord to be healed, in whom the people of the nations, who were held captive by the bonds of earthly servitude and tormented by deadly passions, are expressed to be healed by the grace of the Lord. But what he said about the servant dying did not deceive the Evangelist; for he would indeed have died if he had not been healed by Christ. Therefore, he fulfilled the commandment with heavenly love, who loved his enemies in this way: that he might rescue them from death and bring them into the hope of eternal salvation.

But having finished His teaching, He rightly instructs them to follow the example of His precepts. For straightway the servant of a Gentile centurion is presented to the Lord to be healed. Now the Evangelist, when he said that the servant was about to die, did not err, because he would have died had he not been healed by Christ.

Mystically, by the centurion's servant is signified that the Gentile people who were enthralled by the chain of worldly bondage, and diseased with deadly passions, are to be healed by the mercy of the Lord.

(de Con. Ev. l. ii. c. 20.) Here we must understand that He did not enter before He had ended these sayings, but it is not mentioned what space of time intervened between the termination of His discourse, and His entering into Capernaum. For in that interval the leper was cleansed whom Matthew introduced in his proper place.

When he had completed all his words in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. Here it must be understood that, when he had indeed completed all his words in the hearing of the people, Christ entered Capernaum, meaning that he did not enter before these words had been finished, but it is not stated after what interval of time, once he had finished these discourses, he entered Capernaum. Within that interval, that leper was cleansed whom Matthew interposes in his own place, but this one anticipates beforehand.

After the Evangelist has set forth the truth of Christ's teaching, here for its commendation he manifests the sublimity of the Teacher, which he shows to be preeminent on account of three things, namely on account of the excellence of power, on account of the evidence of truth, and on account of the abundance of piety. The excellence of power is shown in working great miracles; the evidence of truth, in approving true testimonies; the abundance of piety, in pardoning sins.

First, on account of the excellence of power proven through two miracles. The first is the healing of the boy about to die; the second is the raising of the young man already dead. For in the healing of the one about to die, the Lord of life is shown, who can save a perishing life; in the raising of the dead, the Lord of death, who can overcome death. Likewise, in the healing of the body about to die, the Lord of bodies is shown, who can restore the body; in the raising of the dead, the Lord of souls, who can recall souls to bodies.

First, therefore, as to the suitability of the time, it is said: And when he had finished all his words in the hearing of the people, that is, after the time of preaching and of perfect and complete instruction, which pertains to that Teacher, according to that passage of Ecclesiasticus forty-three: "We say many things and fall short in words; the consummation of all discourse is he himself"; he, namely, abbreviated in the flesh, according to that passage of Isaiah ten: "The consummation abbreviated shall overflow with justice"; and twenty-eight: "I have heard a consummation and abbreviation from the Lord God of hosts"; this he said in the person of the people hearing Christ, to whom above in chapter four Christ said: "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing," namely of the Jews.

Second, as to the suitability of the place, it is added: He entered Capharnaum. It is said above in chapter four: "How many things we have heard you did in Capharnaum"; whence in Matthew eleven it is said: "And you, Capharnaum, shall you be exalted even to heaven?" Which he says on account of the many mighty works which he did there. — The reason for this is that this is a city of Galilee, which was on the border of the Gentiles and the Jews, so that Christ might be shown to be the cornerstone, according to that passage in Ephesians two: "That he might create the two in himself into one new man, making peace." And in this was fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah nine: "In the former time the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali were lightened, and in the latter time the way of the sea beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, was made heavy," etc.

Spiritually, here according to allegory is understood the healing of the Gentile people, which is gathered from the sick person and from the intervening person and from the order of the healing. — The person indeed who was sick was of servile condition: so too was the Gentile people before the coming of Christ, because they were serving sin — according to that passage in John eight: "He who commits sin is a slave of sin," and the reason for this is stated in Second Peter two: "By whom a man is overcome, of him he is also the slave" — and on account of the sin especially of idolatry, on account of which they were slaves of weak things: Galatians four: "When we were little ones, we were serving under the elements of the world"; and afterward: "How do you turn back again to the weak and needy elements, which you desire to serve again"? He speaks to the Galatians, who had been Gentiles.

From the intervening person, who were the elders of the Jews, by whom are understood the Apostles, according to that passage in Isaiah three: "The Lord will come to judgment with the elders of the land and the princes of the people." These are the Apostles, to whom it is said in Matthew nineteen: "You also shall sit upon twelve seats, judging the twelve tribes of Israel," etc. By their intervention the Gentile people was healed, according to that passage in the last chapter of Matthew: "Go, teach all nations"; and through this they were converted to the light of Christ, by which they were illuminated and saved, according to that passage in Isaiah forty-nine: "It is a small thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to convert the dregs of Israel: I have given you as a light to the nations."

From the order of the cure, because through the greatness of faith, which is preferred to the faith of Israel: Romans 11, "Blindness in part has happened in Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles should enter in, and so all Israel should be saved"; Acts 15: "God chose that through my mouth, says Peter, the Gentiles should hear the word of the Gospel and believe"; "and He made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith"; Romans 10: "There is no distinction between Jew and Greek"; "for everyone, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved."

Spiritually, however, according to the tropology, there is designated here the cure of the sinful man, to which three things concur, as here. The first is the recognition of one's own infirmity, because it is first required that a man recognize his offense; to which Jeremiah 2 exhorts: "See your ways in the valley, know what you have done"; otherwise you will not be able to be justified, as is added in the same place: "Behold, I will contend with you in judgment, because you have said: I have not sinned." Attending to this, the penitent soul says in Jeremiah 31: "Convert me, O Lord, and I shall be converted." "For after You converted me, I did penance; and after You showed me, I struck my thigh," etc. — The second is through the intervention of apostolic authority, because it was said to Peter in Matthew 16: "And I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever you shall bind upon earth shall be bound also in heaven," etc. And in John 20 it is said to all the Apostles: "Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them," etc. Therefore it is said in Leviticus: "The priest shall pray for him, and it shall be forgiven him"; whence Hebrews 5: "Every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in the things that pertain to God, that he may offer gifts and sacrifices for sins."

The third is through the condescension of divine mercy, approaching the house of the sick man through the infusion of grace, according to that passage in the canticle of Zechariah, above in chapter 1: "To give knowledge of salvation," etc., "through the bowels of the mercy of our God." But the grace of the Lord draws nearer to the humble, because, according to that passage in James 4, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." "For the Lord is on high and regards the lowly, and the lofty He knows from afar." Whence in the Psalm: "The Lord is near to those who are troubled in heart, and He shall save the humble of spirit"; as is said below in chapter 19 concerning Zacchaeus, who was small of stature: "Make haste and come down, for today I must abide in your house"; because He willingly condescends to the humble. Augustine: "God is on high: humble yourself, and He comes to you; exalt yourself, and He flees from you."

And note that Zacchaeus humbled himself in one way, the centurion in another: Zacchaeus by receiving, the centurion by not daring to receive; for in both ways reverence is shown to the Lord. Whence he does well who out of reverence frequently receives the Lord's body in the Sacrament; and he also does well who out of reverence abstains; for to both salvation is given, as to the centurion's servant and to Zacchaeus himself. Thus it is to be understood in the matter at hand.

In that last section, decision may seem to have been given likewise concerning military service, which is between dignity and power. But now inquiry is made about this point, whether a believer may turn himself unto military service, and whether the military may be admitted unto the faith, even the rank and file, or each inferior grade, to whom there is no necessity for taking part in sacrifices or capital punishments. There is no agreement between the divine and the human sacrament, the standard of Christ and the standard of the devil, the camp of light and the camp of darkness. One soul cannot be due to two masters—God and Caesar. And yet Moses carried a rod, and Aaron wore a buckle, and John (Baptist) is girt with leather and Joshua the son of Nun leads a line of march; and the People warred: if it pleases you to sport with the subject. But how will a Christian man war, nay, how will he serve even in peace, without a sword, which the Lord has taken away? For albeit soldiers had come unto John, and had received the formula of their rule; albeit, likewise, a centurion had believed; still the Lord afterward, in disarming Peter, unbelted every soldier. No dress is lawful among us, if assigned to any unlawful action.

Likewise, when extolling the centurion's faith, how incredible a thing it is, that He should confess that He had "found so great a faith not even in Israel," to whom Israel's faith was in no way interesting! But not from the fact (here stated by Christ) could it have been of any interest to Him to approve and compare what was hitherto crude, nay, I might say, hitherto naught. Why, however, might He not have used the example of faith in another god? Because, if He had done so, He would have said that no such faith had ever had existence in Israel; but as the case stands, He intimates that He ought to have found so great a faith in Israel, inasmuch as He had indeed come for the purpose of finding it, being in truth the God and Christ of Israel, and had now stigmatized it, only as one who would enforce and uphold it. If, indeed, He had been its antagonist, He would have preferred finding it to be such faith, having come to weaken and destroy it rather than to approve of it.

Or in another way. The centurion must be understood as one who stood foremost among many in wickedness, as long as he possesses many things in this life, i. e. is occupied with many affairs or concerns. But he has a servant, the irrational part of the soul, that is, the irascible and concupiscent part. And he speaks to Jesus, the Jews acting as mediators, that is, the thoughts and words of confession, and immediately he received his servant whole.

When He had strengthened His disciples by more perfect teaching, He goes to Capernaum to work miracles there; as it is said, When he had ended all his sayings, he entered into Capernaum.

Now a certain centurion's servant, who was sick and about to die, who was precious to him. Someone might ask, either piously to find out or impiously to criticize, on what grounds the evangelist said of a servant who was not dead but was healed that he was about to die. To which a brief response should be given that he truly was about to die if he had not been restored to life by the faith of his beseeching master and the compassion of Christ. In the same way, King Hezekiah was about to die according to a certain manner of human nature, when he heard the words of the true prophet: "Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live" (2 Kings 20); but by the hidden judgment of divine providence, which has arranged all things in measure, number, and weight, he was to obtain fifteen more years of life through tears and prayers.

As to the urgency of the illness, it is added: A certain centurion's servant, being gravely ill, was about to die: and thus he had a grave illness, according to that passage in Matthew eight: "My servant lies at home paralyzed and is grievously tormented." Now he calls him a centurion who was in charge of a hundred soldiers, which they did deliberately in battles so that they might easily know the number of warriors; whence there were tribunes, centurions, commanders of fifty, and commanders of ten, who are named from the number of those over whom they preside; a tribune, however, is said to be one who presides over a thousand. And Moses was counseled to appoint these for the governance of the people; Exodus eighteen: "Appoint from among them tribunes, centurions, commanders of fifty, and commanders of ten, who shall judge the people."

This centurion, although he had many servants, held this one dear among the others, and therefore it adds: Who was precious to him, that is, affectionately beloved, according to that passage in Sirach thirty-three: "If you have a faithful servant, let him be to you as your own soul"; because, according to that passage in Proverbs seventeen, "a wise servant shall rule over foolish sons." Whence this servant, although he was sick, was nevertheless not burdensome to his master, but dear on account of his master's piety; Proverbs twelve: "The just man knows the souls of his beasts," etc.

Although that centurion was strong in battle, and the prefect of the Roman soldiers, yet because his particular attendant lay sick at his house, considering what wonderful things the Saviour had done in healing the sick, and judging that these miracles were performed by no human power, he sends to Him, as unto God, not looking to the visible instrument by which He had intercourse with men; as it follows, And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him, &c.

In this matter we must carefully observe that, as we have learned from another evangelist's testimony, a centurion came to the Lord saying: "Lord, my servant lies paralyzed in my house and is grievously tormented." To whom Jesus immediately responds: "I will come and heal him." What does it mean that the royal official asks him to come to his son, and yet he refuses to go bodily; but to the centurion's servant he is not invited, and yet he promises to go bodily? He does not deign to be present to the royal official's son through bodily presence, yet he does not disdain to go to meet the centurion's servant. What is this, except that our pride is rebuked, we who in men venerate not the nature by which they were made in the image of God, but honors and riches?

(ubi sup.) How then will that be true which Matthew relates, A certain centurion came to him, seeing that he himself did not come? unless upon careful consideration we suppose that Matthew made use of a general mode of expression. For if the actual arrival is frequently said to be through the means of others, much more may the coming be by others. Not then without reason, (the centurion having gained access to our Lord through others,) did Matthew, wishing to speak briefly, say that this man himself came to Christ, rather than those by whom he sent his message, for the more he believed the nearer he came.

And when he heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. By divine dispensation it happened that the elders of the Jews were sent to the Lord, and while they stood by, the one who was ill was healed, so that they would be without excuse if, while a Gentile man believed, they did not believe. However, it is asked how it agrees that Luke says the Centurion sent messengers, but Matthew narrates that he himself approached the Lord. But to those seeking piously, it easily becomes clear that Matthew, for the sake of brevity, said that he himself approached, whose desire and will were truly conveyed to the Lord, even though others were carrying it, also mystically commending to us what is written: Come to him, and be enlightened (Psalm 34). For because the faith of the Centurion, by which one truly approaches Jesus, he praised so much that he said: I have not found such great faith in Israel (Matthew 8), the prudent evangelist wanted to say that he himself rather approached Christ, rather than those through whom he had sent his words. But furthermore, Luke revealed the whole event as it happened, so that from this we might be forced to understand how the other, who could not lie, said he had approached. For just as that woman who suffered from the issue of blood, although she touched the hem of his garment, yet more because she believed, touched the Lord, than those crowds by whom he was pressed, so also the centurion, the more he believed, the more he approached the Lord.

And when he had heard of Jesus, etc. After the opportunity of working a miracle, the Evangelist here adds the worthiness of obtaining a remedy, which the Evangelist gathers from three things, namely from the centurion's reverence in supplicating, from the elders' confidence in petitioning, and from the Savior's clemency in condescending. Which three things, concurring together, make the sick servant worthy of finding the remedy of health.

Therefore, as regards the centurion's reverent supplication, he sets forth: And when he had heard about Jesus, not only with the ear of the body, but also with the ear of the heart, according to that passage in Romans 10: "Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." And because faith causes one to approach with reverence, since it proclaims the admirable majesty of God, therefore he adds: He sent to him the elders of the Jews, as though he himself were not worthy to approach nor dared to do so — just as the children of Israel at the time of the giving of the Law, in Exodus 20, said to Moses: "Speak to us yourself; let not the Lord speak to us, lest perhaps we die." And he himself gives this reason below in the same chapter: "For which reason I did not consider myself worthy to come to you." And therefore he sent, not as lesser messengers, but as more worthy ones. And therefore he sent elders, because they are to be revered and heeded for their age and wisdom; Job 12: "In the ancient is wisdom, and in length of time, prudence." — Hence through them he was entreating the Lord, which is noted when he adds: Asking him to come and heal his servant, according to that passage in Ecclesiasticus 38: "In your sickness do not despise yourself, but pray to the Lord, and he will heal you"; and likewise another on your behalf, because, in the last chapter of James, "the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up."

But Matthew seems to contradict this, for he says that "the centurion himself approached the Lord." But there is no contradiction, because, as Bede says, Matthew speaks of an approach through faith, while Luke narrates the order of events as they occurred. Augustine also says that according to common usage, one who begins to go is said to approach; and one who acts through another is also said to ask. Hence there is no contradiction; but there would be if Matthew said that he had come to him bodily in his own person, which he does not say — rather, he says something that is consistent with what Luke says, and the one explains and confirms the other.

(Hom. 26. in Matt.) How again does Matthew tell us that the centurion said, I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof, while Luke says here, that he beseeches Him that He would come. Now it seems to me that Luke sets before us the flatteries of the Jews. For we may believe that when the centurion wished to depart, the Jews drew him back, enticing him, saying, We will go and bring him. Hence also their prayers are full of flattery, for it follows, But when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying that he was worthy. Although it became them to have said, He himself was willing to come and supplicate Thee, but we detained him, seeing the affliction, and the body which was lying in the house, and so to have drawn out the greatness of his faith; but they would not for envy reveal the faith of the man, lest He should seem some great one to whom the prayers were addressed. But wherein Matthew represents the centurion to be not an Israelite, while Luke says, he has built us a synagogue, there is no contradiction, for he might not have been a Jew, and yet built a synagogue.

Pray does the emperor in person set forth, or the prefect in person cudgel? One whose ministers do a thing is always said to do it. So "He will baptize you" will have to be understood as standing for, "Through Him," or" Into Him," "you will be baptized.

As regards the confident intercession of the elders, he adds: And they, when they had come to Jesus, entreated him earnestly, because they did this out of love and confidence; Romans 12: "Not slothful in solicitude, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, instant in prayer, sharing in the necessities of the saints."

And because the most powerful reason for obtaining a request is the merit of the one on whose behalf it is sought, therefore they add, saying: He is worthy that you should grant this to him; and thus you have already found what you seek, according to that passage in Wisdom 6 concerning Wisdom: "For she goes about seeking those who are worthy of her, and she shows herself to them cheerfully in the ways, and meets them with all providence."

And the elders of the Jews indeed demand favours for a small sum spent in the service of the synagogue, but the Lord not for this, but a higher reason, manifested Himself, wishing in truth to beget a belief in all men by His own power, as it follows, Then Jesus went with them.

In order to praise the centurion more, the Jews said to the Lord, "It is right that you should help him, for he is a lover of our nation, and he himself has built us a synagogue." If one who has constructed a place where Christ is always denied is visited with heavenly mercy, how much more to be visited is one who has built a tabernacle where Christ is daily preached! The Lord did not approve the work that the centurion had done but the spirit in which he accomplished it. If he eagerly built a synagogue at a time when there were as yet no Christians, it is understood that he would all the more eagerly have built a church had there been Christians. He still preaches Christ even though he builds a synagogue.

For he loves our nation, and he himself built our synagogue. Those who report the synagogue built for them by the centurion clearly show that just as we call the Church, so also they were accustomed to call the synagogue, not only the assembly of the faithful, but also the place where they gathered, as we have also taught above.

But herein they show, that as by a church, so also by a synagogue, they were wont to mean not only the assembly of the faithful, but also the place where they assembled.

And to confirm this worthiness they add: For he loves our nation, although he is a foreigner; and therefore you, who are of our nation, ought to love him, according to what you say of yourself in Proverbs 8: "I love those who love me." — Nor does he merely "love in word or tongue, but in deed and truth"; whence they also add: And he himself built us a synagogue, which indeed was a great benefaction and a sign of great love. Whence Gregory says of charity that "love works great things, if it exists; but if it refuses to work, it is not love." And since he gives great alms, he is worthy that you grant him a great favor, so that he may know that what is said in Sirach 12 is true: "Do good to the just, and you will find great recompense — and if not from him, certainly from the Lord"; as if they were saying: show yourself to be the Lord of our people, so that you may do for him as you did for the midwives in Exodus 1, who showed mercy to the Hebrews, of whom it is said: "Because the midwives feared God, he built them houses."

Which certainly He did not do, because He was unable to heal when absent, but that He might set them an example of imitating His humility. He would not go to the son of the nobleman, lest He should seem thereby to have respected his riches; He went immediately here, that He might not seem to have despised the low estate of a centurion's servant. But the centurion laying aside his military pride puts on humility, being both willing to believe and eager to honour; as it follows, And when he was not far off, he sent unto him, saying, Trouble not, thyself: for I am not worthy, &c. For by the power not of man, but of God, he supposed that health was given to man. The Jews indeed alleged his worthiness; but he confessed himself unworthy not only of the benefit, but even of receiving the Lord under his roof, For I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof.

But the centurion wished not to trouble Jesus, for Whom the Jewish people crucified, the Gentiles desire to keep inviolate from injury, and (as touching a mystery) he saw that Christ was not yet able to pierce the hearts of the Gentiles.

Do not think that it is impossible for any one to please God while engaged in active military service. Among such persons was the holy David, to whom God gave so great a testimony; among them also were many righteous men of that time; among them was also that centurion who said to the Lord: "I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof, but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed: for I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it;" and concerning whom the Lord said: "Verily, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel." Among them was that Cornelius to whom an angel said: "Cornelius, thine alms are accepted, and thy prayers are heard," when he directed him to send to the blessed Apostle Peter, and to hear from him what he ought to do, to which apostle he sent a devout soldier, requesting him to come to him. Among them were also the soldiers who, when they had come to be baptized by John,—the sacred forerunner of the Lord, and the friend of the Bridegroom, of whom the Lord says: "Among them that are born of women there hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist,"—and had inquired of him what they should do, received the answer, "Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages." Certainly he did not prohibit them to serve as soldiers when he commanded them to be content with their pay for the service.

Jesus, however, was going with them. Great is the loftiness of the Lord, who could heal by a word alone, but no less is the humility, who deigned to visit a sick servant. For as a powerful and kind one, he was going to save when asked, and in the midst of the journey, he saved by a word when requested, lest it be thought that he went bodily not due to a lack of power but as an example of humility. Elsewhere, he wished to come to heal the son of a royal official, lest he be seen honoring wealth. Here, lest it be thought he despised a servile condition, he agreed immediately to go to the centurion's servant.

And when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying: Lord, do not trouble yourself. For I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof. Conscious of his Gentile life, he thought himself burdened more by the Lord's condescension than helped, and he felt he could not host Christ, who, though endowed with faith, was not yet instructed in the sacraments. But because what our weakness does not dare to presume, divine grace knows how to give; and another centurion, who, like him, prefigures a believing people from the Gentiles, received the gift of the Holy Spirit by the merit of great faith and justice before he was baptized. And this one, though not yet catechized, earned both the praise of his faith from the Lord and the salvation of his servant. About whom it is beautifully said through allegory that Jesus was not far from the house, even if he did not dare to invite him under his roof, because salvation is near to those who fear him. And whoever uses natural law rightly, whereby he performs the good he knows, thereby comes closer to him who is truly good. But those who added crimes to the errors of paganism could be applied to what the Lord said elsewhere to the crowds flocking to him: For some of them have come from afar.

But the centurion, whose faith is preferred to Israel, represents the elect from the Gentiles, who as it were attended by their hundred soldiers, are exalted by their perfection of spiritual virtues. For the number hundred, which is transferred from the left to the righta, is frequently put to signify the celestial life. These then must pray to the Lord for those who are still oppressed with fear, in the spirit of bondage. But we of the Gentiles who believe can not ourselves come to the Lord, whom we are unable to see in the flesh, but ought to approach by faith; we must send the elders of the Jews, that is, we must by our suppliant entreaties gain as patrons the greatest men of the Church, who have gone before us to the Lord, who bearing us witness that we have a care to build up the Church, may intercede for our sins. It is well said that Jesus was not far from the house, for his salvation is nigh unto them that fear him, and he who rightly uses the law of nature, in that he does the things which he knows to be good, approaches nigh unto Him who is good.

As for the condescending clemency of the Savior, it is added: And Jesus went with them, fully satisfying their petition. Now the Lord preferred to satisfy their petition rather than the petition of the royal official in John 4, who said: "Lord, come down before my son dies," either because of the greater faith and humility of the centurion, to whom the Lord more readily condescended, according to that passage in Jeremiah 5: "Lord, your eyes look upon faith." Or to commend humility, according to what Ambrose says: "He was unwilling to go to the son of the royal official, lest he seem to have honored riches; but he goes to the servant of the centurion, lest he be thought to have despised a servile condition. Faith shines forth in works, when he heals; but humility works more in the affections, when he goes." Or he did this to exclude respect of persons, according to what is said in Wisdom 6: "He himself made the small and the great, and he has equal care for all"; whence in Acts 10: "In truth I have found that God is no respecter of persons"; and therefore in James 2: "Do not, brothers, hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory with respect of persons"; which happens when the rich are preferred to the poor, as is said in the same place.

And when he was now not far off, etc. After the opportunity for working a miracle and the worthiness for obtaining a remedy, there is added here thirdly the fittingness of hastening the benefit, which indeed consists in the merit of excellent faith, whose excellence is confirmed in three ways: first, namely, from the humility of devout confession; second, from the authority of divine testimony; and third, from the swiftness of the desired healing. As for the humility of devout confession, note that the centurion intimates the excellence of divine power by a sign, explains it by word, and proves it by argument. He indicates by a sign, when he does not dare to receive Him; he explains by word, when he says that He can do all things: he proves by argument, because all things must obey Him.

On account of which he says: And when He was now not far from the house: He was indeed near to the bodily house, but nearer to the house of the mind, because, according to that word of the Psalm: "The Lord is near to all who call upon Him"; whereas concerning the wicked, Jeremiah 12: "You are near to their mouth and far from their reins." This man was not such; whose sign was preeminent humility, which he showed first by confessing his own unworthiness, when he says: The centurion sent friends to Him, saying: Lord, do not trouble Yourself, as if to say: I am not such that You should labor on my account and be bodily wearied, because it was laborious for Him to go, according to that word of John 4: "But Jesus, wearied from the journey, sat thus upon the well." — He did not say this because he refused the bodily presence of Christ, but on account of his own unworthiness; whence he also adds: For I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof, which he says in consideration of his own uncleanness and sin, just as Peter also above in chapter 5: "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man"; 2 Kings 24, Araunah said to the king: "What is the reason that my lord the king should come to his servant?" And this unworthiness was not hidden from him through pride, but was known to him through preeminent humility.

"I am not worthy that you should enter my house. I am not capable of receiving the Sun of Righteousness in its entirety; a little radiance from it is sufficient for me to remove sickness, as it does for the darkness." When our Lord heard this, he marveled at him. God marveled at a human being. He said to those who were near him, "Truly, I say to you, not even in anyone among the house of Israel have I found this kind of faith." … The centurion had brought them, and he came so that they would be advocates on his behalf. He rebuked them because they did not possess his faith. To show that the centurion's faith was the first of the faith of the Gentiles, he said, "Do not imagine that this faith can be limited to the centurion." For he saw and believed. "Many will believe who have not seen." "Many will come from the east and from the west and will sit at table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, etc."

A centurion came to the Lord saying: "Lord, my servant lies paralyzed in my house and is grievously tormented." To whom Jesus immediately responds: "I will come and heal him." What does it mean that the royal official asks him to come to his son, and yet he refuses to go bodily; but to the centurion's servant he is not invited, and yet he promises to go bodily? He does not deign to be present to the royal official's son through bodily presence, yet he does not disdain to go to meet the centurion's servant. What is this, except that our pride is rebuked, we who in men venerate not the nature by which they were made in the image of God, but honors and riches? And when we consider what surrounds them, we certainly fail to perceive their inner worth, while we consider what is despised in bodies, we neglect to weigh what they truly are. But our Redeemer, to show that what is lofty among men should be despised, and what is despised among men should not be despised by the saints, was unwilling to go to the royal official's son, but was ready to go to the centurion's servant.

(ubi sup.) For as soon as he was freed from the annoyance of the Jews, he then sends, saying, Think not that it was from negligence I came not unto Thee, but I counted myself unworthy to receive Thee in my house.

See how the devout centurion becomes worthier to receive health as he confesses that he is unworthy. In considering his dwelling unacceptable, he has made it the more honorable and acceptable.… The Lord does not go to his house, but the Lord's healing goes. The Savior does not visit the sick man, but the Savior's health visits him.

But Luke well says, that friends were sent by the centurion to meet our Lord, lest by his own coming he might seem both to embarrass our Lord, and to have called for a requital of good offices. Hence it follows, Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee, but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed.

For which reason I also did not consider myself worthy to come to you. And we, who from the Gentiles have believed, cannot come to the Lord ourselves, whom we are now by no means able to see in the flesh, but whoever has recognized the passions of our servitude, ought now through faith to approach Him who is seated at the right hand of the Father, now to send the elders of the Jews, that is, the chief men of the Church, who have gone before us to the Lord, to earnestly beseech to acquire patrons, who, bearing witness for us, that we love the Church, and as much as it is in us, strive to edify it, interceding with the Lord for our sins and those of ours.

But say the word, and my servant will be healed. Great is the faith of the centurion, who professes the work of the word in Christ, and apt for the mysteries of our healing, who, if we knew Christ according to the flesh, but now no longer know Him (II Cor. V).

On account of which he adds: For which reason neither did I consider myself worthy to come to You. This judgment is one of humility, according to that word of Philippians 2: "In humility esteeming one another as superior to themselves." This judgment was in the Apostle through true humility, who said in 1 Corinthians 15: "I am the least of the Apostles, who am not worthy to be called an Apostle." Ambrose: "Having laid aside military honor, he takes up reverence, ready for faith, prompt for giving honor." And indeed true humility does this, because, according to that word of Ecclesiasticus 3, "great is the power of God alone, and He is honored by the humble alone."

Whence this man not only honored the Lord by confessing his own unworthiness, but also by professing the sublimity of divine power, when he adds: But say the word, and my servant shall be healed, as if to say: "no word is impossible with You," for You are that Word through whom "all things were made," John 1. You are that "word that heals all things," Wisdom 16; who "are full of power," Ecclesiastes 8; who are "living and efficacious," etc., Hebrews 4. Say therefore the word, and my servant shall be healed.

A centurion came to the Lord saying: "Lord, my servant lies paralyzed in my house and is grievously tormented." To whom Jesus immediately responds: "I will come and heal him." What does it mean that the royal official asks him to come to his son, and yet he refuses to go bodily; but to the centurion's servant he is not invited, and yet he promises to go bodily? He does not deign to be present to the royal official's son through bodily presence, yet he does not disdain to go to meet the centurion's servant. What is this, except that our pride is rebuked, we who in men venerate not the nature by which they were made in the image of God, but honors and riches? And when we consider what surrounds them, we certainly fail to perceive their inner worth, while we consider what is despised in bodies, we neglect to weigh what they truly are. But our Redeemer, to show that what is lofty among men should be despised, and what is despised among men should not be despised by the saints, was unwilling to go to the royal official's son, but was ready to go to the centurion's servant. Therefore our pride is rebuked, which does not know how to value men for the sake of men themselves. It considers only, as we said, what surrounds men; it does not look at their nature; it does not recognize the honor of God in men. Behold, the Son of God is unwilling to go to the royal official's son, and yet he is ready to come for the health of a servant. Certainly if anyone's servant asked us to go to him, immediately our pride would answer us in silent thought, saying: "Do not go, because you degrade yourself, your honor is despised, your position is cheapened." Behold, he comes from heaven who does not disdain to meet a servant on earth; and yet we, who are from the earth, scorn to be humbled on earth.

(ubi sup.) Here observe that the centurion held a right opinion concerning the Lord; he said not, pray, but, command; and in doubt lest He should from humility refuse him, he adds, For I also am a man set under authority, &c.

(contra Anom. Hom. 17.) We must here remark, that this word, Fac, signifies a command given to a servant. So God when He wished to create man, said not to the Only-begotten, "Make man," but, Let us make man, that by the form of unity in the words he might make manifest the equality of the agents. Because then the centurion considered in Christ the greatness of His dominion, therefore saith He, say in a word. For I also say to my servant. But Christ blames him not, but confirmed his wishes, as it follows, When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled.

For I too am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me. He declares himself a man and subject to authority, whether of a tribune or of a governor, yet able to command those lower, so that it is understood all the more that He, who is God, and powerful above all, has an innumerable host of angelic virtue to obey His commands.

And I say to this one: Go, and he goes, and to another: Come, and he comes, to my servant: Do this, and he does it. He wants to show that the Lord can accomplish what He wills not only through the coming of His body but through the ministry of angels. For either the infirmities of the bodies or opposing forces, to which man is often given over in weakness, must be repelled, both by the word of the Lord and by the ministries of angels. Alternatively. The soldiers and servants who obey the centurion are natural virtues. Many who come to the Lord bring with them no small abundance of these. Of which it is said in the praise of Cornelius the centurion: Because he was a just man and fearing God with all his house, doing many alms to the people, and always praying to God (Acts X).

He says that he though a man subject to the power of the tribune or governor, yet has command over his inferiors, that it might be implied that much more is He who is God, able not only by the presence of His body, but by the services of His angels, to fulfil whatever He wishes. For the weakness of the flesh or the hostile powers were to be subdued both by the word of the Lord and the ministry of the angels. And to my servant, Do this, &c.

The soldiers and servants who obey the centurion, are the natural virtues which many who come to the Lord will bring with them in great numbers.

And that this suffices, he shows from the lesser, when he adds: For I also am a man set under authority, and thus I acknowledge myself subject to others, according to that passage in Romans thirteen: "Let every soul be subject to the higher powers"; yet so subject, that I am also set over others. Therefore he says: Having soldiers under me, who indeed obey my word; whence he adds: And I say to this one: Go, and he goes; and to another: Come, and he comes without contradiction, according to that passage in Hebrews, the last chapter: "Obey your leaders and submit to them." And this he says with respect to the greater services; and with respect to the lesser he adds: And to my servant, namely I say: Do this, and he does it: below in chapter twelve: "Blessed is that servant whom his lord, when he comes, shall find so doing," namely, as he commanded. From which he argues that, since He Himself is under no authority and has innumerable subjects, He can heal by a word alone; in which he confesses Jesus as Lord, concerning whom Ecclesiasticus forty-two says: "All things in every necessity obey Him."

The Demiurge, while ignorant of those things which were higher than himself, was indeed excited by the announcements made [through the prophets], but treated them with contempt, attributing them sometimes to one cause and sometimes to another; either to the prophetic spirit (which itself possesses the power of self-excitement), or to [mere unassisted] man, or that it was simply a crafty device of the lower [and baser order of men]. He remained thus ignorant until the appearing of the Lord. But they relate that when the Saviour came, the Demiurge learned all things from Him, and gladly with all, his power joined himself to Him. They maintain that he is the centurion mentioned in the Gospel, who addressed the Saviour in these words: "For I also am one having soldiers and servants under my authority; and whatsoever I command they do." They further hold that he will continue administering the affairs of the world as long as that is fitting and needful, and specially that he may exercise a care over the Church; while at the same time he is influenced by the knowledge of the reward prepared for him, namely, that he may attain to the habitation of his mother.

Is it, then, that we are of another and a superior nature, and that therefore the demons are afraid of us? Nay, we are of one and the same nature with you, but we differ in religion. But if you will also be like us, we do not grudge it, but rather we exhort you, and wish you to be assured, that when the same faith and religion and innocence of life shall be in you that is in us, you will have equal and the same power and virtue against demons, through God rewarding your faith. For as he who has soldiers under him, although he may be inferior, and they superior to him in strength, yet 'says to this one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to another, Do this, and he does it;' and this he is able to do, not by his own power, but by the fear of Cæsar; so every faithful one commands the demons, although they seem to be much stronger than men, and that not by means of his own power, but by means of the power of God, who has put them in subjection. For even that which we have just spoken of, that Cæsar is held in awe by all soldiers, and in every camp, and in his whole kingdom, though he is but one man, and perhaps feeble in respect of bodily strength, this is not effected but by the power of God, who inspires all with fear, that they may be subject to one.

But how remarkable is the humility of the divine that the Lord of heaven did not scorn to visit the servant of a centurion! Faith shines forth in works, but humanity operates more in emotions. He certainly did not do this because he could not care for him in his absence, but to give you a form to imitate in humility, by teaching you to be submissive to those who are lower and deferential to those who are higher. Finally, in another place, he says: Go, your son lives (John 4:50); so that you may know both the power of divinity and the grace of humility. He did not want to continue there, lest he appear to have bestowed his riches more on his adopted son: he himself went ahead, lest he appear to have despised the lowly status of a centurion's servant; for we are all one in Christ, slave and free.

The faith of the master is proved, and the health of the servant established, as it follows, And they that were sent returning to the house, found the servant whole that had been sick. It is possible then that the good deed of a master may advantage his servants, not only through the merit of faith, but the practice of discipline.

And when those who had been sent returned home, they found the servant, who had been sick, well. The faith of the master is proven, and the health of the servant is restored. Therefore, the merit of the Lord can also benefit the servants, not only by the merit of faith but also by the zeal of discipline. Matthew explains this more fully when the Lord said to the centurion: Go, and let it be done for you as you have believed (Matthew 8), and the boy was healed from that hour. But it is the custom of blessed Luke to abbreviate what he has seen fully explained by other evangelists, or even intentionally to pass over; what he knows to have been omitted or briefly touched upon by them, he elucidates more diligently. Mystically, as I have said, the centurion, whose faith is preferred to that of Israel, undoubtedly represents those chosen from among the Gentiles, who, as if surrounded by a centenary military contingent, are exalted in the perfection of spiritual virtues and seek nothing earthly from the Lord but only the joys of eternal salvation for themselves and their own. For the number one hundred, which is transferred from the left to the right, is customarily placed in the signification of heavenly life. Hence it is that Noah's ark is built in one hundred years, Abraham received the son of promise at one hundred years; Isaac sowed, and found a hundredfold in that year; the courtyard of the tabernacle is one hundred cubits long; in the one hundredth psalm, mercy and judgment are sung to the Lord, and other things of this kind. Therefore, men of such merit must pray to the Lord for those who are still oppressed by the spirit of servitude in fear, so that as they are gradually advanced to higher things, perfect love may cast out fear (1 John 4).

Matthew explains these things more fully, saying, that when our Lord said to the centurion, Go thy way, and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee, the servant was healed in the self-same hour. But it is the manner of the blessed Luke, to abridge or even purposely to pass by whatever he sees plainly set forth by the other Evangelists, but what he knows to be omitted by them, or briefly touched upon, to more carefully explain.

As to the swiftness of the desired healing, there is added: And those who had been sent returned, as if with hope of salvation obtained through the word of Christ, which he spoke, which Matthew expresses, although Luke is silent: "As you have believed, let it be done for you. And the boy was healed"; which Luke passes over in silence, because it can sufficiently be gathered from what was said before, because, as Bede says, "it is the custom of blessed Luke to abbreviate what has been fully set forth by others, or even deliberately to pass over it; but what has been said more briefly by others or omitted, he more carefully elucidates." And therefore he passes over in silence the word of the Lord, which the others relate, and tells of the return of the messengers, in order to express the swiftness of the miracle, which he intimates when he adds: They found the servant who had been sick, in good health. Therefore the operation of power arrived before the return of the messengers, so that what is said in the Psalm might be proven true: "His word runs swiftly." Nor is this surprising, because for him there is no difference between saying and doing, as the centurion faithfully believed and confessed with his mouth: because "with the heart one believes unto justice, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." And therefore, by believing and confessing that he could do it suddenly by his word alone, he obtained this by the merit of faith, so that the Lord's promise might be shown to be fulfilled, according to that passage in Matthew twenty-one: "Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you will receive it, and it will be done for you." And thus the Evangelist sufficiently expressed the wondrous healing of the servant.

And it happened afterward, he went to a city called Nain. Nain is a city of Galilee in the second mile of Mount Tabor towards the south near Endor, which is a large village in the fourth mile of the same mountain to the south.

And his disciples were going with him, and a great crowd. As he drew near to the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother. This deceased, who was being borne out of the gate of the city with many looking on, represents a man lulled by the lethal funeral of sins, and this same death of the soul, no longer hidden in the chamber of the heart, but made known to many by the indication of speech or action, as if disclosed through the gates of his city. He is rightly said to have been the only son of his mother, because, although composed of many individuals, the one perfect and immaculate virgin is the mother Church, and each individual among the faithful rightly acknowledges himself as a child of the universal Church. For any chosen one, when instructed in faith, is a son; when instructing others, a mother. Was he not acting with maternal affection towards the little ones who said: My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you? (Galatians 4:19). The gate of the city through which the deceased was being carried, I believe to represent some bodily sense. For he who sows discord among brothers, he who speaks iniquity in high places, is dragged out dead through the gate of his mouth. He who looks at a woman to lust after her (Matthew 5:28), produces the marks of his death through the gates of his eyes. He who willingly opens his ear to idle tales or obscene songs or slander, makes this gate of his soul a passage of death, and to those who do not guard their senses, he himself provides the way to death. I beseech you, Lord Jesus, to make all the gates of my city gates of justice, so that entering into them I may confess to your name (Psalm 118:19), and to your majesty, frequently visiting it with heavenly ministers, let not the stench of a decaying corpse meet you, but let salvation occupy its walls, and praise its gates.

Nain is a city of Galilee, within two miles of mount Tabor. But by the divine counsel there were large multitudes accompanying the Lord, that there might be many witnesses of so great a miracle. Hence it follows, And his disciples went with him, and much people.

And it came to pass, afterwards etc. After the miracle of the healing of one about to die, there is here subjoined the miracle of the raising of one dead: in which the demonstration of the excellence of the Savior is made more expressly. For the full description of this miracle, three things are introduced by the Evangelist. The first is the moving reason with respect to the miracle to be performed: the second is the efficient cause with respect to the miracle in its being performed; the third is the subsequent efficacy with respect to the miracle already accomplished. Now the reason moving the Lord to miraculously raise the dead man is shown in the text to be twofold, namely the instruction of the ignorant in the intellect and the consolation of those who mourn in the affections. And according to these, two groups are introduced in the first part, namely those accompanying him on the way, that they might be directed by his teaching, and those meeting him at the gate, that they might be consoled by his grace.

First, therefore, as regards the company of the multitude to be instructed, it is said: And it came to pass afterwards, Jesus went into a city called Nain: he went, namely to teach, according to that passage in Matthew 4: "Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues." And because those wishing to learn accompany the teacher, therefore he adds: And his disciples and a great multitude went with him. For they knew that to be true which is written in Deuteronomy 33: "They who draw near to his feet shall receive of his teaching"; and that passage of Proverbs 13: "He who walks with the wise shall become wiser." And therefore it is said in Ecclesiasticus 8: "Do not despise the discourse of wise elders, and be conversant with their proverbs: for from them you shall learn wisdom and doctrine." And therefore the crowds accompany the Lord and his disciples, according to that passage of the Psalm: "Draw near to him, and be enlightened."

According to the spiritual understanding, note that a threefold state is designated in the course of this miracle, namely the state of justice in the Lord's company; the state of injustice in the dead young man; and the state of penance in the same one raised to life.

The state of justice is designated in Christ and his company. For the state of the just is threefold, namely of contemplation, prelacy, and action. The state of prelates is designated in Christ, of whom it is said in John 10: "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep"; where he shows in himself the form of right prelacy. — The state of contemplatives is designated in the disciples, who are admitted to the mountain at the transfiguration of the Lord, according to that passage of Matthew 17: "Jesus took Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them"; and below, in chapter 10: "Turning to his disciples he said: Blessed are the eyes that see what you see"; this is said to contemplatives. The state of actives is designated in the crowd, which is tossed about in the waves of the world; below, in chapter 10: "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things"; because, as is said in John 16, "in the world you will have tribulation: but take courage, I have overcome the world." — Concerning this threefold state of justice it is said figuratively in Ezekiel 14: "If Noah, Daniel, and Job were in the midst of it, they indeed will deliver their own souls," etc. By Noah are understood prelates; by Daniel, to whom was given the understanding of visions, contemplatives; by Job, actives.

The state of fault, however, is designated in the dead youth, of which there is a threefold degree: the first in interior affection; the second, in exterior operation; the third, in habit or obstinacy. These three states are designated by the three dead persons raised by the Lord, both by reason of places and by reason of ages. For the state of those sinning in the heart is designated by the girl who died in the house, of whom we read in Mark 5. The state of those sinning in deed is designated by the youth who was found at the gate of the city, because sin has already gone forth and become manifest; of whom we read here. The state of those sinning through habit and obstinacy is designated by Lazarus, already lying in manly age, already four days dead and stinking in the tomb, in John 11. To these three correspond three dead persons raised in the Old Testament, namely the little boy raised by Elisha, the son of the Shunammite woman, in Fourth Kings 4; the youth, the son of the woman of Zarephath, raised by Elijah, in Third Kings 17; and the man, raised by the dead Elisha, in Fourth Kings 13. In these three are designated the three aforementioned states. Also in these three, the three roots of sins can be designated, because one died from the languor of illness, in which is signified the concupiscence of the flesh; another from the heat of the sun, in which is signified the cupidity of the world; the third invisibly, in which is signified the pride of life.

Now the state of penance is designated in the raised youth, of whom it is said that he sat up and began to speak and was restored to his mother. He sat up indeed through contrition, which lifts the head from the ground: in the Psalm: "Rise up after you have sat, you who eat the bread of sorrow"; and according to that passage of Jeremiah 15: "I sat alone, because you have filled me with bitterness." He began to speak, through confession: Job 10: "I will speak in the bitterness of my soul, I will say to God: Do not condemn me"; and chapter 7: "I will not spare my mouth, I will speak in the tribulation of my spirit, I will converse in the bitterness of my soul." He was restored to his mother, the Church, through satisfaction, because to make satisfaction is to render what is owed, not only to God the Father, but also to mother Church: in whose figure it is said in 4 Kings 4: "Take this child and bring him to his mother." And just as a mother gladly receives her raised son, so Christ and the Church joyfully receive the penitent sinner: below in chapter 15: "It was fitting to feast and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come back to life."

Observe how he joins miracle to miracle. In the former instance, the healing of the centurion's servant, he was present by invitation, but here he draws near without being invited. No one summoned him to restore the dead man to life, but he comes to do so of his own accord. He seems to me to have purposely made this miracle also follow upon the former.

The Lord joins one miracle upon another. In the Former instance He came indeed when called for, but in this He came self-invited; as it is said, And it came to pass the day after that he went into a city called Nain.

The Virgin's son met the widow's son. He became like a sponge for her tears and as life for the death of her son. Death turned about in its den and turned its back on the victorious one.

If, indeed, He had been its antagonist, He would have preferred finding it to be such faith, having come to weaken and destroy it rather than to approve of it. He raised also the widow's son from death. This was not a strange miracle.

For this widow surrounded by a great multitude of people seems to be more than the woman who was thought worthy by her tears to obtain the resurrection of her only son, because the Church recalls the younger people from the funeral procession to life by the contemplation of her tears, who is forbid to weep for him to whom resurrection was promised.

And this woman was a widow, and a large crowd of the city was with her. Every soul acknowledges the Church to be a widow, which remembers herself redeemed by the death of her spouse and Lord. By divine command, a great crowd followed the Lord, and a great crowd the widow, so that upon seeing such a miracle, many witnesses, many would become praisers of God.

But the dead man who was carried without the gate of the city in the sight of many, signifies a man rendered senseless by the deadening power of mortal sin, and no longer concealing his soul's death within the folds of his heart, but proclaiming it to the knowledge of the world, through the evidence of words or deeds as through the gate of the city. For the gate of the city, I suppose, is some one of the bodily senses. And he is well said to be the only son of his mother, for there is one mother composed of many individuals, the Church, but every soul that remembers that it is redeemed by the death of the Lord, knows the Church to be a widow.

As regards the encounter with the multitude to be consoled, it is added: When he drew near to the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; concerning whom there was grief and mourning, because he was dead, according to that passage of Sirach twenty-two: "Weep over the dead: for his light has failed." The mourning was even greater, because he was an only-begotten son, over whom the lamentation becomes all the more bitter as he was all the more dear; Jeremiah six: "Make for yourself the mourning of an only-begotten, a bitter lamentation"; and 2 Kings one, David mourning the dead Jonathan: "As a mother loves her only son, so I loved you." But the mourning was greatest, because the mother was utterly desolate; on account of which it says: And she was a widow, and thus already utterly desolate, lacking the consolation both of a son and of a husband. This the woman of Tekoa alleges to obtain mercy, 2 Kings fourteen: "Alas! I am a widow woman." And therefore Jeremiah lamented the widowhood of Jerusalem, Lamentations one: "How does the city sit solitary that was full of people" etc. And for this reason many had compassion on her; whence it adds: And a large crowd of the city was with her, namely to grieve together and to console, because this was the custom of the Jews, according to that passage of John eleven: "Many of the Jews had come to Mary and Martha, to console them concerning their brother." To all of whom this widow could say: "O all you who pass by the way, attend and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow"! shortly after: "He has made me desolate, consumed with grief all the day." And therefore she was in need of consolation.

The dead man was being buried, and many friends were conducting him to his tomb. Christ, the life and resurrection, meets him there. He is the Destroyer of death and of corruption. He is the One in whom we live and move and are. He is who has restored the nature of man to that which it originally was and has set free our death-fraught flesh from the bonds of death. He had mercy upon the woman, and that her tears might be stopped, he commanded saying, "Weep not." Immediately the cause of her weeping was done away.

These were sufferings to excite compassion, and which might well affect to mourning and tears, as it follows, And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, saying, Weep not.

(Tract. de Anima et Res. Post med.) Now the proof of the resurrection we learn not so much from the words as from the works of our Saviour, who, beginning His miracles with the less wonderful, reconciled our faith to far greater. First indeed in the grievous sickness of the centurion's servant, He verged upon the power of resurrection; afterwards with a higher power he led men to the belief in a resurrection, when He raised the widow's son, who was carried out to be buried; as it is said, Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother.

(de hom. Opif. c. 25.) He has told us the sum of misery in a few words. The mother was a widow, and had no further hope of having children, she had no one upon whom she might look in the place of him that was dead. To him alone she had given suck, he alone made her home cheerful. All that is sweet and precious to a mother, was he alone to her.

Let our opponents—that is, they who speak against their own salvation—inform us [as to this point]: The deceased daughter of the high priest; the widow's dead son, who was being carried out [to burial] near the gate [of the city]; and Lazarus, who had lain four days in the tomb,—in what bodies did they rise again? In those same, no doubt, in which they had also died. For if it were not in the very same, then certainly those same individuals who had died did not rise again. For [the Scripture] says, "The Lord took the hand of the dead man, and said to him, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. And the dead man sat up, and He commanded that something should be given him to eat; and He delivered him to his mother." Again, He called Lazarus "with a loud voice, saying, Lazarus, come forth; and he that was dead came forth bound with bandages, feet and hands." This was symbolical of that man who had been bound in sins. And therefore the Lord said, "Loose him, and let him depart." As, therefore, those who were healed were made whole in those members which had in times past been afflicted; and the dead rose in the identical bodies, their limbs and bodies receiving health, and that life which was granted by the Lord, who prefigures eternal things by temporal, and shows that it is He who is Himself able to extend both healing and life to His handiwork, that His words concerning its [future] resurrection may also be believed; so also at the end, when the Lord utters His voice "by the last trumpet," the dead shall be raised, as He Himself declares: "The hour shall come, in which all the dead which are in the tombs shall hear the voice of the Son of man, and shall come forth; those that have done good to the resurrection of life, and those that have done evil to the resurrection of judgment."

By the widow also you may understand a soul that has lost her husband in the divine word. Her son is the understanding, which is carried out beyond the city of the living. Its coffin is the body, which some indeed have called the tomb. But the Lord touching him raises him up, causing him to become young, and rising from sin he begins to speak and teach others. For before he would not have been believed.

But some one will say of the centurion's servant, that he was not going to die. That such an one might restrain his rash tongue, the Evangelist explains that the young man whom Christ came upon was already dead, the only son of a widow. For it follows, And she was a widow, and much people of the city was with her.

And he who was dead sat up. Here thirdly is noted the subsequent efficacy with respect to the miracle already accomplished, which indeed is twofold according to a twofold end, namely of the work and of the intention. The first efficacy is the raising of the dead man; the second, the promotion of faith.

First therefore is designated the raising of the dead man as known to the people standing by, when he says: And he who was dead sat up, and began to speak; in which it manifestly appears that he was alive, because life is recognized in two ways, namely through sense and motion. There is no doubt that he spoke words of divine praise, which indeed belongs not to the dead but to the living, according to that which is said in the Psalm: "The dead shall not praise you, O Lord, but we who live bless the Lord."

And note that the raising of the girl is proven by eating, Mark five; the raising of Lazarus by walking, John eleven; the raising of the young man by speaking, as here. And eating pertains to the act of the vegetative soul, walking to the act of the sensitive soul, speaking to the act of the rational soul, so that by this threefold proof the Lord of the soul may be shown to rule according to its every power and virtue.

Nor was it only known to the people standing by, but also pleasing to the mother who was longing for him; whence he adds: And he gave him to his mother, in which he shows that he raised him for the consolation of his mother. Whence she could say that word of Anna in first Kings one: "I prayed to the Lord for this boy, and he granted me my petition." Thus Elijah handed over the resuscitated boy to his mother, saying in third Kings seventeen: "Behold, your son lives"; but that one handed over, this one gave, because that one was the minister of the raising, but this one is the giver of life and salvation.

(non occ.) But it is worthy of remark, that seven resurrections are related before our Lord's, of which the first was that of the son of the widow of Sarepta, (1 Kings 17) the second of the Shunamite's son, (2 Kings 4) the third which was caused by the remains of Elisha, (2 Kings 13) the fourth which took place at Nain, as is here related, the fifth of the ruler of the Synagogue's daughter, (Mark 5) the sixth of Lazarus, (John 11) the seventh at Christ's passion, for many bodies of the saints arose. (Mat. 27.) The eighth is that of Christ, who being free from death remained beyond for a sign that the general resurrection which is to come in the eighth age shall not be dissolved by death, but shall abide never to pass away.

But straightway he arose to whom the command was made. For the Divine power is irresistible; there is no delay, no urgency of prayer, as it follows, And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak, and he gave him to his mother. These are the signs of a true resurrection, for the lifeless body cannot speak, nor would the mother have carried back to her house her dead and lifeless son.

And fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying: A great prophet has arisen among us. The more desperate the death of the soul that is recalled to life, the more numerous are those corrected by the same example. Consider the prophet David, consider the apostle Peter. The higher their rank, the graver their fall. However, the graver the fall, the more pleasing the piety of the one who raises them. And the greater the piety of the Lord appeared in them, the more certain the hope of salvation appeared to all the penitent, so that all who hear may rightly say:

Because God has visited his people. Not only by once incorporating his word, but also by always sending it into our hearts, so that we must rise.

But well does the Evangelist testify that the Lord is first moved with compassion for the mother, and then raises her son, that in the one case He might set before us for our imitation an example of piety, in the other He might build up our belief in His wonderful power. Hence it follows. And there came a fear upon all, and they glorified God, &c.

But God has visited His people not only by the one incarnation of His Word, but by ever sending It into our hearts.

Secondly, the promotion of faith is designated with respect to reverence for the Creator, when it is said: And fear seized all, and they magnified God: fear, namely, of magnifying reverence: Job thirty-seven: "Men shall fear him, and none shall dare to contemplate, all who seem to themselves to be wise"; and Isaiah fifty-nine: "They shall fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun." And thus fearing in heart they glorified and magnified with mouth: Ecclesiasticus forty-three: "Glorifying him as much as you can, he shall still prevail beyond." "And who shall magnify him as he is from the beginning"?

But faith is not sufficiently promoted to reverence for the Creator without understanding of the Mediator: and therefore with respect to that there is added: Saying: A great prophet has risen among us, that is, Christ the Mediator, according to that passage of Deuteronomy eighteen: "The Lord will raise up a prophet for you from your brethren like me; him you shall hear." And because God has visited his people, namely through Christ the Redeemer, according to that passage of Zechariah, above in chapter one: "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, because he has visited and wrought the redemption of his people"; and this according to that passage of Genesis, the last chapter: "After my death the Lord will visit you and lead you out of this place"; which is understood concerning the visitation through Christ the Mediator. And thus it appears from the foregoing how he was manifested with respect to the excellence of his power.

Let it be known to people everywhere that the Lord is God, and even though he appeared in a form like us, yet has he given us the indications of a godlike power and majesty on many occasions and in a multitude of ways. He drove away diseases and rebuked unclean spirits. He gave the blind their sight. Finally, he even expelled death itself from the bodies of men, death that cruelly and mercilessly had tyrannized humankind from Adam even to Moses, according to the expression of the divine Paul. That widow's son at Nain arose unexpectedly and wonderfully. The miracle did not remain unknown to everyone throughout Judea but was announced abroad as a divine sign, and admiration was upon every tongue.

This was a great thing in an insensible and ungrateful people. For in a short time afterward they would neither esteem Him as a prophet, nor allow that He did aught for the public good. But none of those that dwelt in Judæa were ignorant of this miracle, as it follows, And this rumour of him went forth throughout all Judæa.

The Creator's prophets had wrought such; then why not His Son much rather? Now, so evidently had the Lord Christ introduced no other god for the working of so momentous a miracle as this, that all who were present gave glory to the Creator, saying: "A great prophet is risen up among us, and God hath visited His people." What God? He, of course, whose people they were, and from whom had come their prophets.

However, although I do not allow this sense, I may as well ask, by way of a superfluous refutation, for the reasons of the alleged temptation, To what purpose could they have tempted Him by naming His mother and His brethren? If it was to ascertain whether He had been born or not-when was a question raised on this point, which they must resolve by tempting Him in this way? Who could doubt His having been born, when they saw Him before them a veritable man?-whom they had heard call Himself "Son of man? "-of whom they doubted whether He were God or Son of God, from seeing Him, as they did, in the perfect garb of human quality?-supposing Him rather to be a prophet, a great one indeed, but still one who had been born as man? Even if it had been necessary that He should thus be tried in the investigation of His birth, surely any other proof would have better answered the trial than that to be obtained from mentioning those relatives which it was quite possible for Him, in spite of His true nativity, not at that moment to have had.

And this word went forth etc. After the excellence of power in Christ has been sufficiently shown through the greatness of the twofold miracle, here secondly is shown the evidence of truth in the same through the certainty of truthful testimony, which was indeed the testimony of the Forerunner. Now for the certification of this testimony, one can and ought to proceed in two ways: either through the proof of the truth itself in itself, or through the approbation of virtue in the one testifying. The first regards the Forerunner's teaching, the second regards the Forerunner's life, both of which contribute to the corroboration of the testimony. Now John asks of him to whom he had borne testimony, not in order to remove doubt, but in order to confirm the testimony through an infallible argument.

Therefore, first is introduced the occasion of seeking from the proclamation of Christ's name: with respect to which it is said: And this report went out, namely concerning the raising of the dead man, into all Judea concerning him and into the entire surrounding region, so that all could say that word of Job twenty-eight: "With our ears we have heard the fame of him"; and Joshua nine: "We have heard the fame of his power," namely of your God: whence also in Matthew four it is said that "his fame went throughout all Syria." A figure of this preceded in King Uzziah: Second Chronicles twenty-six: "His name went out far abroad, because the Lord helped him and strengthened him."

And because we have already said above (in Luke, chapter 3) that John is a type of the Law, which was a precursor of Christ, it is right that the Law, which held captive the hearts of the faithless as if in eternal prisons, was physically enclosed, with its fertile entrails of punishments and doors of madness restrained, would not be able to bring about the complete fulfillment of the testimony of the Lord's dispensation without the consent of the Gospel. Indeed, the Law prophesied the grace of baptism through the cloud and the sea in Exodus; it foreshadowed spiritual food in the lamb (Exodus 12:3); it designated an everlasting fountain in the rock (Exodus 17:6); it revealed the forgiveness of sins in Leviticus (Leviticus 25:10); it announced the kingdom of heaven in the Psalms; it most clearly declared the promised land in Joshua.

But we have before said, that mystically John was the type of the Law, which was the forerunner of Christ. John then sends his disciples to Christ, that they might obtain the filling up of their knowledge, for Christ is the fulfilling of the Law. And perhaps those disciples are the two nations, of whom the one of the Jews believed, the other of the Gentiles believed because they heard. They wished then to see, because blessed are the eyes that see. But when they shall have come to the Gospel, and found that the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, then shall they say, "We have seen with our eyes," for we seem to ourselves to see Him whom we read of. Or perhaps through the instrumentality (operatrice) of a certain part of our Body a we all seem to have traced out the course of our Lord's passion; for faith comes through the few to the many. The Law then announces that Christ will come, the writings of the Gospel prove that He has come.

And his disciples reported to John concerning all these things. Not with a sincere heart, I think, but driven by envy, John's disciples reported to him the virtues and miracles of Christ. For elsewhere they are found complaining to him thus: Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness, behold, he is baptizing, and all are coming to him (John III). To which John then replied: A man cannot receive anything unless it has been given to him from heaven, etc. And he clearly declares both that he is a mere man and that Christ is the Son of God. But since envy and jealousy remained, and could not be expelled, observe what the excellent teacher still did to correct them.

Not, as it seems to me, in simpleness of heart, but provoked by envy. For in another place also they complain, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, behold the same baptizeth, and all men come unto him. (John 3:26.)

Now this proclamation of fame, although it was for many a cause of believing, was nevertheless for some an occasion of derision, as for the disciples of John, with respect to whom it is added: And his disciples reported to John concerning all these things. Bede: "Not with a simple heart, but spurred by envy, as elsewhere, namely in John three, they complain saying: Rabbi, he who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—behold, he baptizes, and all come to him." Concerning such persons, in Philippians one: "Some preach Christ out of contention, not sincerely." From this therefore was taken the occasion of inquiring whether he himself was the one whom John had foretold, both for the sake of uprooting the envy of the disciples, and for the sake of putting the contention to rest, and for the sake of removing their doubt, and also for the sake of now more clearly spreading abroad the truth itself.

Certain of His disciples relate to the holy Baptist the miracle which was known to all the inhabitants of Judæa and Galilee, as it follows, And they told John, &c.

But we are then most raised up to Him when we are fallen into straits. John therefore, being cast into prison, takes the opportunity, when his disciples were most in need of Jesus, to send them to Christ. For it follows, And John calling two of his disciples sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou he that should come, &c.

That, then, was no celestial thing which furnished no celestial (endowments): whereas the very thing which was celestial in John-the Spirit of prophecy-so completely failed, after the transfer of the whole Spirit to the Lord, that he presently sent to inquire whether He whom he had himself preached, whom he had pointed out when coming to him, were "HE." And so "the baptism of repentance" was dealt with as if it were a candidate for the remission and sanctification shortly about to follow in Christ: for in that John used to preach "baptism for the remission of sins," the declaration was made with reference to future remission; if it be true, (as it is, ) that repentance is antecedent, remission subsequent; and this is "preparing the way.

But how could it come to pass, that Him of whom he said, Behold him who taketh away the sins of the world, he should still not believe to be the Son of God? For either it is presumption to attribute to Christ a divine action ignorantly, or it is unbelief to have doubted concerning the Son of God. But some suppose of John himself that he was indeed so great a prophet as to acknowledge Christ, but still as not a doubting, but pious, prophet disbelieved that He would die, whom he believed was about to come. Not therefore in his faith but in his piety, he doubted; as Peter also, when he said, Be it far from thee, Lord; this shall not be unto thee. (Mat 16:22.)

And John summoned two of his disciples and sent them to the Lord, saying: Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another? Namely, so that at least through this occasion, by seeing the signs he was doing, they might believe in him, and, with the master asking, learn for themselves. Therefore he does not say, Are you the one who has come, but are you the one who is to come? And the meaning is: Command me, because being about to be killed by Herod, and to descend to the underworld, whether I should announce you even in the underworld, as I announced you to those above, or whether it is not fitting for the Son of God to taste death, and you will send another to these sacraments.

He says not, Art thou He that hast come, but, Art thou he that should come. The sense is, Tell me who am to be slain by Herod, and about to descend into hell, (ad inferna) whether I should announce Thee to the souls below as I have announced Thee to those above? or is this not befitting the Son of God, and Thou art going to send another for these sacraments?

There follows therefore secondly the putting forth of the question from John's office, when it is said: And John called two of his disciples and sent them to Jesus. For this pertains to his office, the sending of disciples to Christ. For it is the office of the Precursor to send to Christ equally by word and by office, that is, both by preaching and by baptizing, according to what is said in Acts nineteen: "John baptized with the baptism of penance, saying that they should believe in him who was to come." Whence the Gloss: "He sent them to Jesus, so that by this occasion they might see the signs, and being corrected might believe in him." And Ambrose: "He sent his disciples to Christ, so that they might attain the supplement of knowledge, because Christ is the fullness of the Law, and because words without deeds usually waver, so that a fuller faith might be displayed through the testimonies of deeds than through the pledges of words." Whence he was sending them to the Truth, so that they themselves might be made certain through the truth, and having been made certain might render testimony to the truth; and therefore he sent two, because, according to that passage in John eight, you say that "the testimony of two men is true." — Because, however, they still doubted, therefore he gives them the form of inquiry, when it is added: Saying: Are you he who is to come, that is, whom I foretold was to come: John one; "After me comes he who was made before me," and in the other Evangelists. Or do we look for another? As if to say: if you are he, then another is not to be expected, lest perchance, if we look for another, we receive not Christ but antichrist, concerning whom the Lord says to the unbelieving Jews in John five: "I came in the name of my Father, and you did not receive me; if another shall come in his own name, him you will receive."

And there are three departments of counsel: That which takes examples from past times; as what the Hebrews suffered when they worshipped the golden calf, and what they suffered when they committed fornication, and the like. The second, whose meaning is understood from the present times, as being apprehended by perception; as it was said to those who asked the Lord, "If He was the Christ, or shall we wait for another? Go and tell John, the blind receive their sight, the deaf hear, the lepers are cleansed, the dead are raised up; and blessed is he who shall not be offended in Me." Such was that which David said when he prophesied, "As we have heard, so have we seen." And the third department of counsel consists of what is future, by which we are bidden guard against what is to happen; as also that was said, "They that fall into sins shall be cast into outer darkness, where there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth," and the like. So that from these things it is clear that the Lord, going the round of all the methods of curative treatment, calls humanity to salvation.

But we must altogether disallow such an opinion. For no where do we find the Holy Scriptures stating that John the Baptist foretold to those souls in hell the coming of our Saviour. It is also true to say, that the Baptist was not ignorant of the wonderful mystery of the incarnation of the Only-Begotten, and so also along with the other things had known this, that our Lord was about to preach the Gospel to those who were in hell, after He had tasted death for all living as well as dead. But since the word of holy Scripture indeed declared that Christ would come as the Lord and Chief, but the others were sent as servants before Him, therefore was the Lord and Saviour of all called by the prophets, He who cometh, or Who is to come; according to that, Blessed is he who cometh in the name of the Lord; (Ps. 118:26.) and, A little while, and he who is to come shall come, and will not tarry. (Hab. 2:3.) The blessed Baptist therefore, receiving as it were this name from Holy Scripture, sent certain of his disciples to seek whether it was indeed He who cometh, or, Who is to come.

John sent them to him not to interrogate him, but rather that the Lord might confirm those former things that John had proclaimed to them. John was directing the minds of his disciples toward the Lord.… He sent them out in such a way that, having seen Jesus' miracles, they might be confirmed in their faith in him.

We must inquire, dearly beloved brethren, why John—a prophet and more than a prophet, who pointed out the Lord coming to the baptism at the Jordan, saying: "Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sin of the world"; who, considering both his own humility and the power of Christ's divinity, says: "He who is of the earth speaks of the earth, but he who comes from heaven is above all"—why, when placed in prison and sending his disciples, he asks: "Are you he who is to come, or do we look for another?" As if he did not know the one he had pointed out, and did not know whether he was the one whom he had proclaimed by prophesying, baptizing, and pointing him out. But this question is quickly resolved if the time and order of events is considered. For standing at the waters of the Jordan, he declared that this was the Redeemer of the world; but sent to prison, he asks whether he himself is coming—not because he doubts that he is the Redeemer of the world, but he asks in order to know whether he who had come into the world by himself would also descend by himself to the prison of hell. For he whom John had announced to the world as his forerunner, he was now preceding to hell by dying. Therefore he says: "Are you he who is to come, or do we look for another?" As if he were openly saying: Just as you deigned to be born for mankind, indicate whether you also deign to die for mankind, so that I who have been the forerunner of your birth may also become the forerunner of your death, and may announce to hell that you are coming, whom I have already announced as having come to the world.

There is subjoined moreover thirdly the report of the question put forth through the ministry of the disciples, when it is added: And when the men had come to him. These two men were prefigured by the two spies sent beyond the Jordan, Joshua two. These are called men, because they manfully and faithfully fulfilled what had been commanded to them. Whence it is added: They said: John the Baptist sent us to you, so that we might inquire of you in his person. Which he notes, when he adds: Saying: Are you he who is to come, or do we look for another? Whence note that this question is proposed by the disciples in the person of John, to show that the disciples bear a doubting mind within themselves, but through John are directed to Christ.

Hence John did not pose the question on his own account, because he did not doubt in himself, but in his disciples. And this is what Chrysostom says: "Since he had learned by the Spirit, who had heard the voice of the Father, who had preached to the rest, who had borne witness, how could he doubt after so many miracles, through which he had become known to many? Had he perhaps become more timid on account of his imprisonment? Far be it, since the Lord says of him that he is not a reed shaken by the wind." Hence he did not doubt, but put forth the words of one doubting for the certainty of his disciples, just as it is said in John 11: "Where have you laid him?" and in John 6: "Whence shall we buy bread?" Gregory, however, holds that he doubted and inquired not about the first coming, of which he was certain, but about the descent into hell, in which he still had to precede Christ. Ambrose, for his part, holds that he doubted not from unbelief or slowness, like the disciples, "but from a certain piety," as is said in the Gloss.

Inasmuch as Christ by nature and in truth is God, the purpose of John did not escape Him, but as well knowing the cause of his disciples' coming, He especially at that particular time began accomplishing divine miracles many times more numerous than those which He had hitherto wrought. For so the wise Evangelist has told us, saying, "In that same hour He healed many of sicknessess and of scourges, and of evil spirits: and gave sight to many that were blind." Having then been made spectators and eyewitnesses of His greatness, and gathered into them a great admiration of His power and ability, they bring forward the question, and beg in John's name to be informed, whether He is He Who cometh.

(Thes. lib. 11. c. 4.) Or he asks the question by economy. For as the forerunner he knew the mystery of Christ's passion, but that his disciples might be convinced how great was the excellence of the Saviour, he sent the more understanding of them, instructing them to enquire and learn from the very words of the Saviour, whether it was He who was expected; as it is added, But when the men were come unto him, they said, John the Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou He, &c.

Why does John send his disciples to the Lord to ask him: Are you the one who is coming, or should we expect another? (Matthew 11:3 and Luke 7:20) When he had previously said about the same person: Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. (John 1:29) We have spoken more fully on this question in the Commentaries of Matthew. Therefore, it is clear that you do not have these books yourself, since you ask such questions. However, we must briefly summarize so as not to seem completely silent. John sent his disciples while he was in prison, seeking to learn from them, and about to be beheaded, to teach them to follow the one whom he acknowledged as the master of all through his questioning. For he could not be unaware of him whom he had shown to those who were unaware, and of whom he had said, "He who has a bride is the bridegroom" (John 3:29); and "I am not worthy to bear his sandals" (Matthew 3:11); and "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 1:27). And he heard the Father thundering out: This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased (Ibid. 3:30). But what he says: Art Thou He that shall come, or look we for another? (Matth. 3: 17). This utterance too may have this meaning: I know that Thou art He Who hast come to take away the sins of the world; but because I am to descend into hell, I ask this also of Thee, whether Thou too wilt descend thither, or is it impious to believe this of the Son of God, and wilt Thou send another thither? This, however, I wish to know, that I who have proclaimed Thee among men on earth, may also in hell proclaim Thee, if Thou art perchance coming. For Thou it is Who hast come to loose the captives, and to set free them that were bound. The Lord, understanding the purport of his inquiry, answered rather through works than by word, and bade John be told that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise again, and (what is greater than these) the poor have the Gospel preached to them (Matth. 11; Luc. 7). The poor, however, are distinguished either by humility or by riches so that no difference in salvation exists between the poor man and the rich man, but all are called equally. And it is inferred: "Blessed is he who is not scandalized in me" (Matthew 11:6), he who strikes not John but his disciples who had first come to him, saying: "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?" (Mark 18; and Luke 5:33). And to John: "Master, you bear witness concerning him near Jordan. Behold, his disciples baptize, and many come to him" (John 3:26). With these words, he indicates jealousy about the size of the signs which comes from biting envy why should the one who was baptized by John dare to baptize? and a much larger crowd gathers to him than had previously come to John. And lest the people, unknowingly, think that John is being blackened because of what was said, he delivers a speech in his praise and begins to speak to the surrounding crowds about John: What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out into the wilderness to see? A man clothed in soft clothing (Matthew 11:7-8; Luke 7:24-25)? and so on. The sense of this statement is as follows: Did you come out into the wilderness to see a man, like a reed shaken by the wind, being bent in various directions? Let him doubt now about whom he had previously praised, and concerning whom he had previously said, Behold the Lamb of God, let him now ask whether he is the one himself, or whether another one will come or is coming. And because every false preaching seeks profit and strives for human glory, so that gains may be born through glory: he affirms, wearing clothing made of camel's hair, that no one can yield to flattery; and he who feeds on locusts and wild honey (Matt. 3: 4), does not seek riches or other earthly pleasures, avoids the rigid and austere life of the palace, which those who are clothed with purple and fine linen and silk and soft feathers seek. And he says that he is not only a prophet who is accustomed to predicting the future, but he is more than a prophet, because the one whom they had said would come, he has shown has come, saying: Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29) : especially since he has attained the privilege of the prophetic summit of John; that he who had said, I ought to be baptized by you (Matthew 3:14), himself has baptized him: not by the presumption of being greater, but by the obedience of the disciple and the fear of the servant. And although he affirms that among those born of women, no one greater has arisen than John (Matthew 11:11), he mentions himself, who was born of a virgin, as being greater: or he precedes all men on earth before every angel in heaven, who is least. For we progress into angels; and not angels into us, just as some snoring heavily dream. Nor is this enough in the praises of John, unless he who preached the baptism of repentance, is first reported to have said: Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matthew 3:1) . From the days of his preaching, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence (Ibid. 11.12); such as that man is born. He desires to be an angel; and an earthly animal seeks a heavenly abode. For the Law and the Prophets prophesied up to John (Ibid. 13): not that John is the end of the Prophets and the Law, but he who was preached by the testimony of John. But according to the mystery which is written in Malachy (chapter 4, verse 5), John is Elijah who is coming (Matthew 11:14): not that the same soul (as the heretics suspect) was in Elijah and in John, but that he had the same grace of the Holy Spirit, girded with a belt like Elijah, living in the desert like Elijah, suffering persecution from Herodias as he endured from Jezebel: just as Elijah was the precursor of the second coming, so John welcomed the Lord Savior who was coming in the flesh, not only in the wilderness but even in his mother's womb, and announced it with the joy of his body.

With this fear, therefore, even John asks the question, "Art thou He that should come, or look we for another? " -simply inquiring whether He was come as He whom he was looking for.

An ample testimony surely by which the Prophet might recognise the Lord. For of the, Lord Himself it was prophesied, that the Lord giveth food to the hungry, raiseth up them that are bowed down, looseth the prisoners, openeth the eyes of the blind, and that he who doeth these things shall reign for ever. (Ps. 146:7-10.) Such then are not the tokens of human, but divine power. But these are found seldom or not at all before the Gospel. Tobias alone received sight, and this was the cure of an Angel, not of a man. (Tob. 11.) Elias raised the dead, but he prayed and wept, our Lord commanded. (1 Kings 17) Elisha caused the cleansing of a leper: yet then the cause was not so much in the authority of the command as in the figure of the mystery. (2 Kings 5.)

In that very hour, He cured many people of diseases, plagues, and evil spirits, and He granted sight to many who were blind. John had sent his disciples to ask: Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another? Christ demonstrated signs, not by directly answering what was asked, but to address the concerns of the messengers.

In that very hour, etc. After the question proposed, he adds the solution to the question, for the removal of the disciples' doubt and the confirmation of John's testimony. In which the Lord responds most perfectly, namely to the question and to the one asking and to every objector.

First indeed he responds to the question by performing miracles, through which it is proved that he himself is the Christ or Messiah; and on this account it is said: In that very hour, namely of the arrival of the disciples, which was indeed the hour for making truth known, according to that passage in Romans 13: "It is the hour for us now to rise from sleep," etc.; therefore in this hour, to make the truth known, he healed many. As a figure of this, it is said of Simon, the son of Onias, in Sirach 50: "He healed his nation and delivered it from destruction." And because the power of miracles is considered not only in the multitude of those healed and on the part of the persons, but also on the part of the diseases, therefore it is added that he healed from manifold illness, namely from infirmities, with regard to the prolonged nature of disease: Sirach 10: "A prolonged illness burdens the physician. A brief illness the physician cuts short," so that thus might be fulfilled that passage of Isaiah 53: "Truly he himself bore our infirmities and he himself carried our sicknesses." — From afflictions, with regard to the severity of disease, according to that passage in Jeremiah 30: "With the blow of an enemy I have struck you, with cruel chastisement." From these the Lord healed, as is petitioned in the Psalm: "Remove from me your scourges," etc. And from evil spirits, as regards the assault of external violence, which occurs through an evil spirit: 1 Kings sixteen: "An evil spirit from the Lord troubled Saul." — And to many who were blind he gave sight, in which is noted the defect of intrinsic power, so that that word of Isaiah twenty-nine might be fulfilled: "Out of darkness and gloom the eyes of the blind shall see." And through these things he manifests that he is the one who was to come: John five: "You sent to John, and he bore witness to the truth. But I have a greater testimony." "And the works that I do, they bear witness of me."

Spiritually, note here that from the cure of diseases presently exhibited is understood the perfect cure from original sin; but from the cure of diseases reported to John, the perfect cure from actual sin.

As to the cure from original sin, note that for one to be perfectly cured, it is necessary that a cure and healing be accomplished from four things which were inflicted on account of original sin, namely from concupiscence, impotence, malice, and ignorance. And these four are designated by the cure of four kinds of infirmities. For concupiscence is understood by languor, on account of its universal adherence, according to that of Isaiah 1: "Every head is languid, and every heart is sorrowful." Impotence, by the wound: Jeremiah 10: "Woe to me for my destruction! My wound is most grievous." By the evil spirit is understood wickedness; First Kings 16: "An evil spirit troubled Saul." By blindness, ignorance: Isaiah 59: "We have groped as blind men at noonday"; and Isaiah 56: "His watchmen are all blind." In the cure, therefore, of this fourfold infirmity is understood the perfect cure of original sin.

As for the perfect cure from actual sin, note that in the consummation of impiety in actual sin there are five degrees. The first is deviation in choosing, and this is designated by blindness: Lamentations 4: "The blind have wandered in the streets"; because "error and darkness were created together with sinners," according to Sirach 11. The second is disorder in pursuing, which is understood through the lame: Psalm: "Strange children have grown old and have limped from their paths"; whence 3 Kings 18: "How long do you halt between two sides?" etc. The third is contagion in associating, which is understood through leprosy: Deuteronomy 24: "Observe diligently, lest you incur the plague of leprosy"; Ezekiel 36: "Be cleansed from all your defilements." The fourth is obstinacy in persisting, which is understood through deafness, according to the Psalm: "Like the deaf asp that stops its ears." The fifth is despair in despising, because "the wicked man, when he has come into the depth of sins, despises," Proverbs 18. And this is designated by death: Isaiah 28: "We have struck a covenant with death"; and this "is the sin unto death," of which is spoken in 1 John 5.

From all these the power of Christ cures through his grace, which was designated in the pool, of which it is said in John 5, that "the Angel of the Lord descended, and the water was moved, and whoever descended first was made whole, from whatever infirmity held him." And this is "the power that went out from him and healed all," according to what is said above in chapter six.

"In that same hour he healed many of sicknesses and of scourges, and of evil spirits; and gave sight to many that were blind." He made them spectators and eyewitnesses of his greatness and gathered into them a great admiration of his power and ability.

But He knowing as God with what intention John had sent them, and the cause of their coming, was at the time performing many miracles, as it follows, And in the same hour he healed many of their infirmities, &c.

Hence also, when the Lord was asked, after enumerating the miracles of his power, he immediately responded about the humility of his death, saying: "The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise, the poor have the gospel preached to them, and blessed is he who is not scandalized in me." Seeing so many signs and such great powers, no one could be scandalized, but only marvel.

He was in doubt whether He was actually come whom all men were looking for; whom, moreover, they ought to have recognised by His predicted works, even as the Lord sent word to John, that it was by means of these very works that He was to be recognised. Now, inasmuch as these predictions evidently related to the Creator's Christ-as we have proved in the examination of each of them-it was perverse enough, if he gave himself out to be not the Christ of the Creator, and rested the proof of his statement on those very evidences whereby he was urging his claims to be received as the Creator's Christ.

Therefore, God Himself is justified through baptism, as humans justify themselves by confessing their own sins, as it is written: 'Declare your iniquities, so that you may be justified' (Isaiah 43:26). He is justified in this, because He is not refuted by stubbornness, but His gift is acknowledged through His righteousness: 'The LORD is righteous, and He loves righteousness' (Psalm 11:8). Therefore, the justification of God is seen in this, that it appears not to unworthy and guilty ones, but to innocent ones made clean through washing and that His gifts have been transferred to the righteous. Let us justify the Lord, so that we may be justified by the Lord.

God is justified by baptism, wherein men justify themselves confessing their sins. For he that sins and confesses his sin unto God, justifies God, submitting himself to Him who overcometh, and hoping for grace from Him; God therefore is justified by baptism, in which there is confession and pardon of sin.

And all the people, hearing this, and the tax collectors, justified God, baptized with the baptism of John. God himself is justified through baptism, as men justify themselves by confessing their own sins, as it is written: 'Declare your iniquities, that you may be justified.' And He is justified in that He is not refuted through obstinacy, but His gift is acknowledged by the justice of God. For the Lord is righteous, and He loves justices (Psalm X). Therefore, the justification of God is in this, that He appears to have transferred His gifts not to the unworthy and harmful, but to those made innocent and just through purification. David also says: 'Against you only have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and prevail when you are judged' (Psalm L). Therefore he who sins and confesses his sin to God justifies God, yielding to Him who prevails, and hoping for grace from Him. In baptism, therefore, God is justified, in which there is both confession and forgiveness of sins.

And all the people hearing etc. Here fourthly, so that nothing may be lacking to the commendation of John, he is commended by the Lord with respect to the proclamation of his fame. And since the fame of the good is salutary to the elect and pernicious to the reprobate, according to that passage of Second Corinthians two: "We are the good odor of Christ unto God, in those who are saved and in those who perish: to some indeed the odor of death unto death, to others the odor of life unto life"; therefore he commends in a twofold manner the proclamation of fame in John: first by showing it salutary to believers, second deadly to despisers. For to the first John appeared praiseworthy, but to the second contemptible: the first were humble and the second proud.

First therefore he introduces the commendation of John from the humble who assented, when he says: And all the people hearing, namely John preaching, justified God, that is, declared Him to be just, showing themselves to be unjust, confessing their sins, according to that passage of the Psalm: "That you may be justified in your words and may overcome when you are judged." For the sinner, when he confesses his sin, declares God just and justifies himself, according to that passage of Isaiah forty-three: "Tell, if you have anything, that you may be justified"; another translation: "Declare you first your iniquities, that you may be justified." And in this manner the publicans and sinners did, hearing John, according to that passage of Matthew three: "All Jerusalem went out to him, and all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan, to be baptized by him, confessing their sins." For these two things are required for the justification of sinners, namely penance and baptism. — And therefore he adds: Having been baptized with the baptism of John: above in chapter three: "And the publicans also came to be baptized," seeking from him what they should do: whence by sign and word they approved John as an angel of God and held his name in glory. Whence when the Lord asked of the Pharisees in Matthew twenty-one: "The baptism of John, whence was it, from heaven or from men?" they said among themselves: "If we say: From heaven, he will say to us: Why then did you not believe him? But if we say: From men, we fear the crowd: for all held John as a Prophet." And therefore it is added: "The publicans and harlots shall go before you into the kingdom of heaven."

There was perchance a sort of game among the Jewish children, something of this kind. A troop of youths was divided into two parts: who, making sport of the confusion in the world, and the uneven course of its affairs, and the painful and rapid change from one extreme to the other, played some of them on instruments of music: while the rest wailed. But neither did the mourners share the merriment of those who were playing music and rejoicing: nor again did those with the instruments of music join in the sorrow of those who were weeping: and finally, they reproached one another with their want of sympathy, so to speak, and absence of affection. For the one party would say, "We have played unto you, and ye have not danced:" to which the others would rejoin, "We have wailed unto you, and ye have not wept." Christ declares, therefore, that both the Jewish populace, and their rulers, were in some such state of feeling as this; "For John came, He says, neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and they say, that he hath a devil: the Son of man came eating and drinking; and they say, Behold! a man gluttonous, and a wine drinker, a friend of publicans and sinners." By what then wilt thou be won unto the faith, O foolish Pharisee, when thou thus blamest all things indifferently, nor countest anything worthy of thy praise?

Because also they believed, they justified God, for He appeared just to them in all that He did.

(Hom. 37. in Matt.) Having declared the praises of John, he next exposes the great fault of the Pharisees and lawyers, who would not after the publicans receive the baptism of John. Hence it is said, And all the people that heard him, and the Publicans, justified God.

Let us not then despise (as the Pharisees did) the counsel of God, which is in the baptism of John, that is, the counsel which the Angel of great counsel searches out. (Is. 9:6. LXX.) No one despises the counsel of man. Who then shall reject the counsel of God?

But the Pharisees and the experts in the law rejected the counsel of God for themselves, not being baptized by him. What it says "for themselves" or "against themselves," signifies that he who rejects the grace of God acts against himself, or the counsel of God sent by themselves is rebuked by the foolish and ungrateful for refusing to accept it. Therefore, the counsel of God is that through the passion and death of the Lord Jesus, He decreed to save the world. But the Pharisees and the experts in the law rejected this, spurning the secret and saving mystery, the beginnings of which had gone before in the preaching and baptism of John, but nevertheless unknowingly and unwillingly serving that same counsel, as the apostle Peter, speaking of the Lord, says to them: "This one, delivered up according to the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, by the hands of lawless men, you nailed to a cross and put to death" (Acts 2).

These words were spoken either in the person of the Evangelist, or, as some think, of the Saviour; but when he says, against themselves, he means that he who rejects the grace of God, does it against himself. Or, they are blamed as foolish and ungrateful for being unwilling to receive the counsel of God, sent to themselves. The counsel then is of God, because He ordained salvation by the passion and death of Christ, which the Pharisees and lawyers despised.

The evil counselor is he who converts great things into nothing, as those who say that the counsels of God are evil and worthless. Such counselors were the Pharisees and Lawyers, of whom it is said: 'The Pharisees and the Lawyers rejected the counsel of God.' Would that there were none such now!

Second, he adds the contempt of John by the proud Pharisees, when he says: But the Pharisees, in whom was the pride of sanctity, and the experts of the law, in whom was the arrogance of knowledge of the truth, despised the counsel of God against themselves, not having been baptized by him, because, according to that passage below in chapter ten, "he who despises you despises me." Whence those who despised John, who was God's messenger, despised the divine counsel. Such were the Pharisees, so that the Wisdom of God could reproach them: "You have despised all our counsel"; and that passage of Isaiah chapter one was verified in them: "I have nourished and brought up children, but they have despised me." And therefore the Apostle counseled in First Thessalonians, last chapter: "Do not quench the Spirit, do not despise prophecies." — But in this they despised the divine counsel, because they refused baptism, through which divine wisdom counseled for human salvation. A figure of this preceded in the ark of Noah constructed during the flood, Genesis chapter six. On account of which it is said in First Peter chapter three: "Which also now saves you in a similar form, namely baptism."

And note that the Pharisees despised the counsel of God against themselves for six reasons. First, because they preferred human statutes to divine ones: Matthew chapter fifteen: "Why do you transgress the Law of God for the sake of your tradition?" — Second, because they preferred the justice of the Law to the justice of faith: Romans chapter ten: "Being ignorant of God's justice and seeking to establish their own," etc. Third, because they preferred appearance to truth: Matthew chapter twenty-three: "Woe to you! who cleanse what is on the outside." — Fourth, because they preferred affluence to poverty: below in chapter sixteen: "The Pharisees, who were avaricious, heard all these things and derided him," etc. — Fifth, because they preferred vain glory to humility: John chapter twelve: "They loved the glory of men more than the glory of God." Sixth, because they preferred advantage to uprightness: Matthew chapter twenty-three: "Woe to you! who say: Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obligated. Fools and blind," etc.

But the disobedient conduct of the Pharisees in not receiving John, accorded not with the words of the prophet, That thou mightest be justified when thou speakest. (Ps. 51:4.) Hence it follows, But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God, &c.

(Verse 38.) Therefore, Saint Matthew introduces this woman pouring ointment on Christ's head (Matthew 26:7): and perhaps he did not want to say she was a sinner, as the sinner according to Luke poured ointment on Christ's feet. Therefore, it is possible that they are not the same, so that the evangelists do not seem to contradict each other. It is also possible that the question is resolved by the difference in merit and time, so that the former is still a sinner, while the latter is more perfect. For although the Church or the soul does not change its person, it does change its progress. Therefore, if you determine that the soul approaches God faithfully, not with shameful and obscene sins, but serving God's Word devoutly, having the confidence of immaculate chastity, you notice that it ascends to the head of Christ (and the head of Christ is God (I Cor. XI, 3)) and spreads the fragrance of its merits: for we are the good fragrance of Christ to God (II Cor. II, 15). For indeed, the good honours God, like a fragrant odor, the life of the righteous.

If you understand these things, you will see that this woman is very blessed, wherever this Gospel is proclaimed, her name is mentioned, and her memory will never fade away (Matthew 26:13); for she poured perfume on the head of Christ, the sweet fragrance of good morals and righteous deeds. Whoever approaches the head cannot be elevated; just as the one who is empty and swollen with the mind of carnal desires, and does not hold the head. But whoever does not hold the head of Christ should hold the feet; because the one body, joined and supplied, grows for the increase of God (Colossians 2:19).

Or, the leper, is the prince of this world; the house of Simon the leper, is the earth. The Lord therefore descended from the higher parts to this earth; for this woman could not have been healed, who bears the figure of a soul or the Church, had not Christ come upon earth. But rightly does she receive the figure of a sinner, for Christ also took the form of a sinner. If then thou makest thy soul approach in faith to God, it not with foul and shameful sins, but piously obeying the word of God, and in the confidence of unspotted purity, ascends to the very head of Christ. But the head of Christ is God. (1 Cor. 11:3.) But let him who holds not the head of Christ, hold the feet, the sinner at the feet, the just at the head; nevertheless she also who sinned, has ointment.

He asked him, he said, one of the Pharisees, to eat with him. And he entered the house of the Pharisee, and sat down. And behold, a woman who was in the city, a sinner, knew that he was lying down in the Pharisee's house; she brought an alabaster jar of ointment. Alabaster is a type of white marble, marked with various colors, which they usually hollow out for ointment vessels, because it is said to preserve them best incorrupt. It is found around Thebes in Egypt and Damascus of Syria, whiter than others, the best being from India. Some say that this woman was not the same one who, at the approaching Lord's passion, anointed his head and feet with ointment, because this one washed with tears and wiped with her hair, and is clearly called a sinner; about that other one, nothing similar is written, nor could a prostitute immediately be deemed worthy at the Lord's head. However, those who investigate more diligently find this same woman, namely Mary Magdalene, the sister of Lazarus, as John narrates, having been engaged in the same act of service twice. Once indeed in this place, when first approaching with humility and tears, she merits the forgiveness of sins. For John, although he did not narrate how, as Luke did, points out this very Mary, commending her where he begins to speak about her brother raised from the dead. "There was a certain man," he said, "Lazarus, sick from Bethany, from the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (Mary, however, was the one who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair [John XI])." Secondly, in Bethany (for it happened first in Galilee), she is found not as a sinner now, but as a chaste, holy, and devoted woman to Christ, no longer anointing just his feet but also his head. This also agrees beautifully with the rules of allegory. Because each faithful soul, first humbled at the Lord's feet and freed from sins, bends; then, as merits grow over time, with the joy of fervent faith, it perfumes, as it were, the Lord's head with the scent of spices. And the universal Church itself, in the present indeed, by celebrating the mysteries of his incarnation, which is designated by the name of feet, renders devoted service to its Redeemer. But in the future, perceiving both the glory of his humanity and the eternity of his divinity, because the head of Christ is God, simultaneously with the perpetual praises of confessions, it glorifies him as with genuine nard. Therefore, he said, she brought an alabaster jar of ointment.

And He entered, it says, the house of the Pharisee and reclined at the table. The house of the Pharisee is the guardianship of the law and the prophets, in which the Jewish people gloried as their continual abode of conversation. The Lord entered it because, appearing in the flesh temporally, He came not to destroy the law or the prophets, but to fulfill them. He reclined because the one who could not be comprehended in the height of His majesty assumed the humility of the form of a servant, by which He could be seen.

Having said just before, And the people that heard him justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John, the same Evangelist builds up in deed what he had proposed in word, namely, wisdom justified by the righteous and the penitent, saying, And one of the Pharisees desired him, &c.

Now a certain Pharisee asked him. Above the Evangelist showed the sublimity of the Lord and Savior with regard to the excellence of power and with regard to the evidence of truth; here thirdly he shows with regard to the abundance of piety. Now this abundance of piety is shown in the Lord Jesus as great in the reception of the sinful woman, greater in his approbation, but greatest in his absolution. For he received her as she approached, commended her as she loved, and absolved her as she repented. As to the first, it should be noted that the reception of the sinful woman approaching the Lord is shown to be of great piety and mercy, both on account of the solemnity of the banquet in which he received her; and on account of the familiarity of the service to which he admitted her; and on account of the rashness of another's judgment, on account of which he did not dismiss her.

First, therefore, as to the solemnity of the banquet in which the sinful woman was piously received by the Lord, it is said: And a certain Pharisee asked him to eat with him: there is no doubt that he asked the Lord Jesus; and rightly so, according to the counsel and purpose of the Wise Man, Wisdom 8: "I proposed to bring her," that is, wisdom, Christ, "to live with me, knowing that she will share with me of her good things." But this Pharisee was no longer divided from the Lord, but rather united to him, and therefore he confidently asked the Lord and invited him to the banquet, according to that passage in Job 22: "If you return to the Almighty, you shall be built up"; and it follows: "You shall pray to him, and he will hear you."

Which this man also obtained; whence it is added: And entering the house of the Pharisee, he reclined at table. He sat down to eat and thus fulfilled visibly what he spiritually promises in Apocalypse 3: "If anyone opens to me, I will enter to him and will sup with him, and he with me." Nor is this a wonder, because, as he himself says in Proverbs 8, "my delights are to be with the children of men." He says this with regard to the excess of charity, on account of which he was made man and willingly took upon himself and endured human needs among men, according to that passage in Baruch 3: "Afterwards he was seen upon earth and conversed with men." These things, therefore, were introduced on account of the solemnity of the banquet.

(Hom. de Mul. Peccat.) This account is full of precious instruction. For there are very many who justify themselves, being puffed up with the dreamings of an idle fancy, who before the time of judgment comes, separate themselves as lambs from the herds, not willing even to join in eating with the many, and hardly with those who go not to extremes, but keep the middle path in life. St. Luke, the physician of souls rather than of bodies, represents therefore our Lord and Saviour most mercifully visiting others, as it follows, And he went into the Pharisees' house, and sat down to meat. Not that He should share any of his faults, but might impart somewhat of His own righteousness.

You perceive that Christ came to the Pharisee's table not to be filled with food for the body but to carry on the business of heaven while he was in the flesh.

The behaviour of "the woman which was a sinner," when she covered the Lord's feet with her kisses, bathed them with her tears, wiped them with the hairs of her head, anointed them with ointment, produced an evidence that what she handled was not an empty phantom, but a really solid body, and that her repentance as a sinner deserved forgiveness according to the mind of the Creator, who is accustomed to prefer mercy to sacrifice.

(Vers. 46.) Blessed is he who can and desires to anoint the feet of Christ: for Simon had not yet anointed them. But more blessed is she who anointed them with ointment; for she spreads the various sweet fragrances of many flowers collected into one. And perhaps no one else can bear this ointment except the Church alone, which has countless flowers of different scents: which rightly receives the appearance of a sinner, since Christ also assumed the form of a sinner.

Now in this place many seem to be perplexed with the question, whether the Evangelists do not appear to have differed concerning the faith.

Matthew has introduced this woman as pouring ointment upon the head of Christ, and was therefore unwilling to call her a sinner, for the sinner, according to Luke, poured ointment upon the feet of Christ. She cannot then be the same, lest the Evangelists should seem to be at variance with one another. The difficulty may be also solved by the difference of merit and of time, so that the former woman may have been yet a sinner, the latter now more perfect.

Bring thou also repentance after sin. Wherever thou hearest the name of Christ, speed thither; into whatever house thou knowest that Jesus has entered, thither hasten; when thou findest wisdom, when thou findest justice sitting in any inner chamber, run to its feet, that is, seek even the lowest part of wisdom; confess thy sins with tears. Perhaps Christ washed not His own feet, that we might wash them with our tears. Blessed tears, which can not only wash away our own sin, but also water the footsteps of the heavenly Word, that His goings may abound in us. Blessed tears, in which there is not only the redemption of sinners, but the refreshing of the righteous.

Throw about thy hair, scatter before Him all the graces of thy body. The hair is not to be despised which can wash the feet of Christ.

(Severus Antiochenus.) For since the four Evangelists relate that Christ was anointed with ointment by a woman, I think that there were three women, differing according to the quality of each, their mode of action, and the difference of times. John, for example, relates that Mary, the sister of Lazarus, six days before the Passover, anointed the feet of Jesus in her own house; but Matthew, after that the Lord had said, You know that after two days will be the Passover, adds, that in Bethany, at the house of Simon the leper, a woman poured ointment upon the head of our Lord, but did not anoint His feet as Mary. Mark also says the same as Matthew; but Luke gives the account not near the time of the Passover, but in the middle of the Gospel. Chrysostom explains it that there were two different women, one indeed who is described in John, another who is mentioned by the three.

But the woman brought an alabaster jar of ointment. What is expressed by the ointment but the aroma of good reputation? Thus Paul says: "We are the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing" (2 Corinthians 2). If we do good works, by which we sprinkle the Church with the aroma of good reputation, what do we pour on the Lord's body except ointment? But the woman stood behind His feet. We stood against the feet of the Lord, when bound in sins, we were held captive by worldly ways. But if after sins we turn to true repentance, we are now standing behind His feet, for we follow the footsteps of Him whom we once opposed. The woman washed His feet with her tears, a true act indeed if we also incline towards the lowest members of the Lord with the affection of compassion, if we share in the sufferings of His saints in tribulation, if we consider their sorrow as our own.

The woman who was a sinner in the city recognized that He was reclining in the house of the Pharisee, for the gentiles, previously bound by unclean deeds in worldly ways, learnt through the preaching of the apostles that God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law (Galatians 4). And in the house of the Pharisee, it is not the Pharisee but she who is justified, as the Jewish people adhered only to the letter of the law while we follow both the law and the grace of the Spirit. The Pharisee considers Jesus not a prophet because He receives sinners, while we acknowledge this one as even the true God who can justify sinners.

Alabaster is a kind of white marble tinged with various colours, which is generally used for vessels holding ointment, because it is said to be the best sort for preserving the ointment sweet.

As for the familiarity of service, to which she was admitted, it is added: And behold, a woman who was in the city, a sinner, whose infamy was known to the whole city, such that what is said in Jeremiah 3 could be said to her: "You have had the forehead of a harlot, you refused to blush." This is that woman of whom it is said in Ecclesiastes 7: "I have found more bitter than death the woman who is a snare of hunters, and whose heart is a net"; and this, because she was a manifest fornicatress, as the Ravennan says that "her infamy had injured the whole city," such that what the Lord threatens through Amos to Amaziah the priest was fulfilled in her, Amos 7: "Your wife shall play the harlot in the city." And therefore she is rightly called a sinner both by reason of infamy and by reason of frequency, according to that saying in Sirach 3: "A wicked heart shall be laden with sorrows, and the sinner shall add sin to sin"; and Revelation, last chapter: "He who is filthy, let him be filthy still." Not only had she repeated her fault, but she had also sinned in diverse ways: whence upon that which is said in Mark, last chapter, that "Christ had cast seven demons out of Mary," Gregory says: "By the number seven, universality is rightly designated. Mary therefore had seven demons, because she was full of all vices."

Since therefore she was thus a sinner and unclean, she rightly ought to have been repelled, especially from the place of the banquet: and yet on account of the piety of the Lord, which she recognized, she was drawn: whence it is added: When she learned that Jesus had reclined at table in the house of the Pharisee, she brought an alabaster jar of ointment, that is, a box or vessel of alabaster, which "is of a certain kind of marble in which ointments are preserved uncorrupted." This the sinful woman brought to the house of the Pharisee, in which she knew Christ to be and by whom she was received, according to that saying of the Psalm: "God shall be known in her houses, when he shall receive her." She brought, I say, the ointment of humility, where Christ reclined, so that what is said in Song of Songs 1 might be fulfilled: "While the king was at his repose, my spikenard gave forth its fragrance." Moreover, these spices or ointments which Magdalene brought to Christ were prefigured in 2 Chronicles 9: "There were no spices such as these which the queen of Sheba gave to Solomon." Or Magdalene brought ointments to the Savior in order to render familiar service, to which she was admitted, namely to render to Christ out of devotion what she had rendered to herself out of lust, that is, to wash, to wipe, to kiss, and to anoint the most sacred and most pure flesh of Christ, to which she was admitted on account of the affection of penitence and benevolence.

That woman had not yet entered communion with the Word, because she was still a sinner. She paid the Master honor with what she considered the most precious thing she had, her perfume. She wiped off the remainder of the perfume with the garland of her head, her hair. She poured out upon the Lord her tears of repentance. Therefore her sins were forgiven her.This is a symbol of the Lord's teachings and of his sufferings. The anointing of his feet with sweet-smelling myrrh suggests the divine teaching whose good smell and fame has spread to the ends of the earth. "Their sound has gone forth to the ends of the earth." Moreover, those anointed feet of the Lord (not to be too subtle) are the apostles. The sweet odor of the myrrh prefigures their reception of the Holy Spirit. I mean that the figure of the Lord's feet is to be understood of the apostles, who journeyed about the whole world preaching the gospel.

A woman of corrupt life, but testifying her faithful affection, comes to Christ, as having power to release her from every fault, and to grant her pardon for the crimes she had committed. For it follows, And behold a woman in the city, which was a sinner, brought an alabaster box of ointment.

As I think about Mary's repentance, I would rather weep than say anything. For whose heart, even if made of stone, would those tears of this sinful woman not soften toward the example of repentance? For she considered what she had done, and she refused to restrain what she would do. She entered upon those dining, she came unbidden, amid the feast she offered tears. Learn with what sorrow she burns, who is not ashamed to weep even amid a feast. This woman whom Luke calls a sinful woman, John names Mary, and we believe her to be that Mary from whom Mark testifies seven demons were cast out. And what is signified by seven demons, except all vices? For since all time is comprised in seven days, rightly by the number seven is universality represented. Therefore Mary had seven demons, because she was full of all vices. But behold, because she perceived the stains of her own shame, she ran to the fountain of mercy to be washed, she was not ashamed before those dining. For because she was gravely ashamed of herself within, she believed there was nothing to be ashamed of outwardly. What then do we marvel at, brothers, Mary coming, or the Lord receiving her? Shall I say receiving, or drawing? I shall say better, drawing and receiving, because surely he himself drew her inwardly through mercy, who received her outwardly through gentleness.

(in Hom. 33. in Ev.) For this woman, beholding the spots of her shame, ran to wash them at the fountain of mercy, and blushed not at seeing the guests, for since she was courageously ashamed of herself within, she thought there was nothing which could shame her from without. Observe with what sorrow she is wrung who is not ashamed to weep even in the midst of a feast!

(Hom. 6. in Matt.) Thus the harlot became then more honourable than the virgins. For no sooner was she inflamed with penitence, than she burst forth in love for Christ. And these things indeed which have been spoken of were done outwardly, but those which her mind pondered within itself, were much more fervent. God alone beheld them.

"And behold," it says, "a woman in the town who was a sinner." Who is this woman? Beyond any doubt, she is the church.…She heard that Christ had come to the house of the Pharisee, that is, to the synagogue. She heard that there, that is, at the Jewish Passover, he had instituted the mysteries of his passion, disclosed the sacrament of his body and blood, and revealed the secret of our redemption. She ignored the scribes like contemptible doorkeepers. "Woe to you lawyers! You who have taken away the key of knowledge." She broke open the doors of quarrels and despised the very superiority of the Pharisaical group. Ardent, panting and perspiring, she made her way to the large inner chamber of the banquet of the law. There she learned that Christ was betrayed amid sweet cups and a banquet of love.

With her hands of good works, she holds the feet of those who preach his kingdom. She washes them with tears of charity, kisses them with praising lips, and pours out the whole ointment of mercy, until he will turn her. This means that he will come back to her and say to Simon, to the Pharisees, to those who deny, to the nation of the Jews, "I came into your house. You gave me no water for my feet."When will he speak these words? He will speak them when he will come in the majesty of his Father and separate the righteous from the unrighteous like a shepherd who separates the sheep from the goats. He will say, "I was hungry, and you did not give me to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink. I was a stranger, and you did not take me in." This is equivalent to saying, "But this woman, while she was bathing my feet, anointing them and kissing them, did to the servants what you did not do for the Master." She did for the feet what you refused to the Head. She expended upon the lowliest members what you refused to your Creator. Then he will say to the church, "Your sins, many as they are, are forgiven you because you have loved much."

Under no circumstances would any reasonable person imagine that the Lord's feet were anointed with precious ointment by the woman for the same reason that was customary for sensual, dissolute men whose banquets were such that we loathe them. In that case the good odor is the good reputation that each one will possess by the works of good life, as long as one follows the footsteps of Christ, and as it were, anoints his feet with very precious ointment. Hence what is frequently sinful in other persons is a symbol of some sublime truth in the person of God or a prophet.

(de Cons. Ev. lib. ii. c. 79.) For I think we must understand that the same Mary did this twice, once indeed as Luke has related, when at first coming with humility and weeping, she was thought worthy to receive forgiveness of sins. Hence John, when he began to speak of the resurrection of Lazarus, before he came to Bethany, says, But it was Mary who anointed our Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. (John 11:2.) Mary therefore had already done this; but what she again did in Bethany is another occurrence, which belongs not to the relation of Luke, but is equally told by the other three.

And standing behind him at his feet, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head. And she kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. It is clear to everyone that the woman, previously engaged in illicit acts, had used the ointment for the scent of her own flesh. So what she had previously exhibited shamefully for herself, she was now offering praiseworthily to God. She had coveted earthly things with her eyes, but now, through penitence, she was weeping. She had used her hair for the composition of her face, but now she was wiping her tears with her hair. She had spoken arrogantly with her mouth, but kissing the feet of the Lord, she was now fixing this in the footsteps of her Redeemer. Therefore, as many pleasures as she had in herself, so many holocausts she found of herself. She converted the number of her crimes into a number of virtues, so that everything she had served in guilt against God, she now served in penitence for God.

The woman wiped the feet she had washed with her hair. Hair naturally abounds on the body. And what is the superfluous earthly wealth but resembles hair? It can be cut off without pain. We wipe the feet of the Lord with our hair when we extend that which is superfluous to us to His saints out of charity, so that our compassion inwardly feels pain, while our generosity outwardly shows it. The woman kissed the feet she had wiped. We also fully accomplish this if we diligently love those we support with our generosity, so that the need of our neighbor does not burden us heavily, nor does their sustained indigence become burdensome, so that when the hand gives what is necessary, the spirit does not grow slack in love.

The very mystery of his incarnation can also be understood by the feet, by which divinity touched the earth, because it assumed flesh. For the Word was made flesh, and dwelt in us (John 1). We therefore kiss the feet of the Redeemer when we love the mystery of his incarnation with all our heart. We anoint the feet with ointment when we praise the very power of his humanity with the good opinion of sacred eloquence. But the Pharisee sees this and envies. For when the Jewish people see that the gentiles preach God, their malice within melts away. But our Redeemer recounts to him the deeds of the woman, as if listing the good of the gentiles, so that he may recognize in what evil he lies. I entered into your house, you did not give water for my feet. But she has washed my feet with tears. Indeed, water is outside us, the moisture of tears is within us. For that unfaithful people never offered for the Lord even those things which were outside themselves; but the converted gentiles not only poured out the substance of things for Him, but also their blood. You did not give me a kiss. But since she entered, she has not ceased kissing my feet. For a kiss is the sign of love. And that unfaithful people did not give a kiss to God, because they did not want to love God out of charity, to whom they served out of fear. But the called gentiles do not cease to kiss the footsteps of their Redeemer, because they constantly sigh in his love. You did not anoint my head with oil. If we understand the feet of the Lord to signify the mystery of the incarnation, appropriately through his head divinity itself is designated. Hence it is said through the Apostle: the head of Christ is God (1 Cor. 11). For the Jewish people professed to believe in God and not in themselves as in a man. But it is said to the Pharisee, you did not anoint my head with oil, because he neglected to praise with due glory the very power of divinity in which the Jewish people professed to believe. But she has anointed my feet with ointment. For while the gentiles believed in his mystery of incarnation, they praised with great glory even his lowest parts. Also, the two debtors, about whom the parable of Simon is put forth, designate both peoples, namely the Jews and the gentiles, who, to one lender, that is, to their Creator, owed not material money, but the coin of their own salvation. For our Creator, whom He created to His image and likeness, elevated them almost with a loaned coin to be preserved. For the coin is usually formed with the image and name of the king. But from everyone to whom much is given, much will be required; and from him to whom they much committed, they will ask the more. And indeed, the debt of both peoples is multiplied through the number five.

As regards the affect of penance it is said: And standing behind at his feet, she began to wash his feet with tears, through sorrow. For in the penitent soul there ought to be shame, fear and sorrow. Shame was present, because she stood behind; fear, because at his feet; sorrow, because she washed with tears, as in that publican below in the eighteenth chapter: "But the publican, standing afar off, would not so much as lift up his eyes toward heaven, but struck his breast, saying: God, be merciful to me a sinner"; Jeremiah thirty-one: "Convert me, O Lord, and I shall be converted, for you are my God. After you converted me, I did penance, and after you showed me, I struck my thigh. I was confounded and I blushed," etc.: where the three aforementioned things are touched upon. — But as regards the affect of benevolence it is added: And she wiped them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with ointment, where the love of benevolence is shown to be pure, affectionate and devout. For charity ought to proceed "from a pure heart." Moreover, she cared more for the lowest part of his body than for the highest part of her own. For she no longer sought to please the world, but Christ alone, so that she could say that word from Song of Songs eight: "Who will give you to me as my brother, that I may find you alone outside and kiss you, and now no one may despise me"?

And in these two things consists perfect conversion to Christ. For just as in sin there is conversion through concupiscence and aversion through pride, so in the remedy there is aversion from sin through penance and conversion to God through benevolence. And truly this woman was perfectly converted and returned, because, as Gregory says, "as many delights as she had in herself, so many holocausts did she find from herself." For sinful women are accustomed to offend most greatly in these four things, namely, in the wanton glances of the eyes; Isaiah three: "They went with wanton glances of the eyes"; the excesses of the hair: First Peter three: "Let there not be outward adornment of hair"; in the pleasures of kisses: Proverbs seven: "And having seized the young man, she kisses him"; the sweetness of ointments, as it is said in Esther two, that the king's maidens "were anointed with oil of myrrh," etc. And therefore the perfect penitent employed her eyes for weeping, so that Christ could say to her that word from Fourth Kings twenty: "I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tear"; her hair for wiping, so that it could be said to her from Song of Songs four: "You have wounded my heart with one hair of your neck"; her mouth for kissing, so that Christ could say to her from Song of Songs four: "Your lips are a dripping honeycomb"; her ointments she employed for anointing, so that it could be said to her: "We shall run after the fragrance of your ointments."

And here it is to be noted morally that in these six things which are said of this penitent sinful woman, namely that she stood behind and lay at his feet, bathed with tears, wiped with her hair, and kissed and anointed: those things are understood which ought to be in a true penitent, namely the shame of blushing, which is noted when it says standing behind: below in the eighteenth chapter: "The publican standing afar off." The fear of reverence, which is noted there: At his feet: Psalm: "Adore his footstool, for it is holy." — The sorrow of penitence: She began to bathe his feet with tears; Lamentations 2: "Pour down tears like a torrent." The brightness of purity: She wiped with her hair: Isaiah 1: "Wash yourselves, be clean, put away evil." The ardor of benevolence: She kissed his feet; and here: "You gave me no kiss," etc., up to: "Because she loved much." The sweetness of interior devotion: And she anointed with ointment; Song of Songs 1: "Your breasts are better than wine, fragrant with the finest ointments." Good is the ointment of compunction, better that of compassion, but best that of devotion: first the feet, second the body, but third the head is anointed. And therefore the Magdalene is read to have come three times to anoint the Lord: here, and in John 12, and in Matthew 26, and in Mark 16.

(ubi sup.) But to mark her own unworthiness, she stands behind with downcast eyes, and with her hair thrown about embraces His feet, and washing them with her tears, betokened a mind distressed at her state, and imploring pardon. For it follows, And standing behind, she began to wash his feet with her tears.

She brought an alabaster jar of ointment, and standing behind at Jesus's feet, she began to wet his feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with ointment. It is clear, brothers, that this woman, previously devoted to illicit acts, had applied ointment to herself for the fragrance of her flesh. What she had shamefully used for herself, she was now offering to God in a praiseworthy manner. With her eyes she had lusted after earthly things, but now crushing them through penitence, she wept. She had used her hair for adorning her face, but now with her hair she wiped away tears. With her mouth she had spoken proud words, but kissing the Lord's feet, she pressed this same mouth to the footprints of her Redeemer. Therefore, as many pleasures as she had in herself, so many burnt offerings did she find from herself. She converted the number of her sins into virtues, so that everything which had despised God through her fault might serve God entirely in penitence.

In a mystical sense, what is expressed by the ointment except the fragrance of good reputation? Hence Paul also says: "We are the good fragrance of Christ to God in every place." If therefore we do right works by which we spread the fragrance of good reputation upon the Church, what do we pour upon the Lord's body but ointment? But the woman stood beside Jesus' feet. For we stood against the Lord's feet when, placed in sins, we were held back from his ways. But if we turn to true penitence after sins, we now stand behind beside his feet, because we follow the footsteps of him whom we opposed. The woman washes his feet with tears. This we also truly do if we bend down with the feeling of compassion to any of the least members of the Lord, if we suffer with his saints in tribulation, if we consider their sorrow our own. The woman wiped with her hair the feet she had washed. For hair is superfluous to the body. And what does abundant earthly substance represent except the appearance of hair? Which, when it is superfluous to necessary use, does not even feel it when cut off. Therefore we wipe the Lord's feet with our hair when we show mercy to his saints, with whom we suffer out of charity, even from those things which are superfluous to us, so that the mind may grieve through compassion, and the generous hand may also show the feeling of grief. For one washes the Redeemer's feet with tears but does not wipe them with hair, who somehow suffers with a neighbor's pain but nevertheless does not show mercy to them from what is superfluous to himself. One weeps and does not wipe who indeed offers words of sorrow but does not in the least cut off the force of pain by ministering what is lacking. The woman kisses the feet she wipes. This we also fully do if we lovingly cherish those whom we support with generosity, lest the need of our neighbor be burdensome to us, lest his very poverty which is sustained become onerous to us, and while the hand gives what is necessary, the soul grows cold in love.

The feet can also be understood as the mystery of his incarnation, by which his divinity touched the earth, because he took on flesh. For the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. Therefore we kiss the Redeemer's feet when we love the mystery of his incarnation with our whole heart. We anoint the feet with ointment when we proclaim the very power of his humanity with good report of sacred eloquence.

(in Hom. 33. in Evang.) For her eyes which once coveted after earthly things, she was now wearing out with penitential weeping. She once displayed her hair for the setting off of her face, she now wiped her tears with her hair. As it follows, And she wiped them with the hairs of her head. She once uttered proud things with her mouth, but kissing the feet of the Lord, she impressed her lips on the footsteps of her Redeemer. She once used ointment for the perfume of her body; what she had unworthily applied to herself, she now laudably offered to God. As it follows, And she anointed with ointment. As many enjoyments as she had in herself, so many offerings did she devise out of herself. She converts the number of her faults into the same number of virtues, that as much of her might wholly serve God in her penitence, as had despised God in her sin.

(ubi sup.) What else is expressed by the ointment, but the sweet savour of a good report? If then we do good works by which we may sprinkle the Church with the sweet odour of a good report, what else do we but pour ointment upon the body of our Lord? But the woman stood by His feet, for we stood over against the feet of the Lord, when yet in our sins we resisted His ways. But if we are converted from our sins to true repentance, we now again stand by His feet, for we follow His footsteps whom we before opposed.

(Hom. 33. in Evan.) For we water the feet of our Lord with tears if we are moved with compassion to any even the lowest members of our Lord. We wipe our Lord's feet with our hair, when we show pity to His saints (with whom we suffer in love) by the sacrifice of those things with which we abound.

(ubi sup.) The woman kisses the feet which she has wiped. This also we fully do when we ardently love those whom we maintain by our bounty. By the feet also may be understood the mystery itself of the Incarnation. We then kiss the feet of the Redeemer when we love with our whole heart the mystery of the Incarnation. We anoint the feet with ointment, when we proclaim the power of His humanity with the good tidings of holy eloquence.

Now, if someone does not wish, whether like the sinful woman to embrace the feet of Christ (Luke 7:38), or like the prodigal son to run back to Him with burning repentance [Luke 15:11ff], or like the woman with a hemorrhage and bowed with infirmity [Luke 8:43 and 13:11] even to approach Him, why does he then make excuses for his sins by saying, "Those whom He foreknew, them also"-and them alone!-"He called"?

One may perhaps reasonably reply to the person so disposed that "God, Who is before eternity and Who knows all things before creating them, also knew you beforehand, knew that you would not obey Him when He called, that you would not believe in His promises and in His words, yet still, even while knowing this, He "bowed the heavens and came down" [Psalm 18:19] and became man, and for your sake has come to the place where you lie prone. Indeed, visiting you many times every day, sometimes in His own Person and sometimes as well through His servants, He exhorts you to get up from the calamity in which you lie and to follow Him Who ascends to the Kingdom of Heaven and enter it together with Him. But you, you still refuse to do it. - "Second Ethical Discourse"

(Verse 39) Look at the economy: in the house of the Pharisee, the sinful woman is glorified, in the house of the Law and the Prophets, not the Pharisee, but the Church is justified; for the Pharisee did not believe, he believed these things. Finally, he said: If this man were a prophet, he would surely know who and what kind of woman is touching him. But the house of the Law is Judea, which is not written in stones, but on the tablets of the heart. In this the Church is now justified by a greater Law; for the Law of sins does not know forgiveness; the Law does not have the mystery by which hidden things are cleansed; and therefore what is lacking in the Law is completed in the Gospel.

She will not think that she has been forgiven little and so love little, and, ignorant of the justice of God and seeking to establish her own, not submit to the justice of God. Simon was ensnared in this vice, and the woman, to whom many sins were forgiven because she loved much, surpassed him. She will more safely and more truly consider that all the sins that God preserved her from committing should be accounted as though they are forgiven.

But when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself: If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what kind of woman she is who is touching him, for she is a sinner. Behold, the Pharisee was truly proud in his own mind, falsely just, reproaching the sick woman for her sickness, and the physician for his assistance, while he, too, suffered from the wound of arrogance and was unaware of it. Hence, it is always necessary that when we see any sinners, we first lament ourselves in their calamity. For perhaps we have similarly fallen, or we can fall if we have not fallen. And although the discipline of masters should always pursue vices with the power of teaching, it is nevertheless important that we carefully discern, because strictness is due to vices, compassion to nature. But now let us hear with what sentence this proud and arrogant one is convicted.

Third, regarding the rashness of another's judgment, on account of which she was not repulsed, he says: Now when the Pharisee who had invited him, namely to the banquet, saw, I say, with an eye not simple but evil, according to that saying of Ecclesiasticus thirty-one: "Remember that an evil eye is wicked. What has been created more wicked than the eye?" And truly evil, because, according to that saying of Ecclesiasticus eleven, "turning good things into evil, he lies in wait, and upon the elect he will impose a stain." And therefore the banquet of such persons is not much to be accepted, according to that saying of Proverbs twenty-three: "Do not eat with an envious man, nor desire his foods, because like a soothsayer and a diviner he estimates what he does not know. Eat and drink, he will say to you, and his mind is not with you." And such was this Pharisee; which is evident from what follows: He said within himself, namely thinking as a hypocrite, of whom Job fifteen says: "His belly prepares deceits."

Whence follows the judgment: This man, if he were a Prophet, would surely know who and what manner of woman this is who touches him. And thus he judged him not to be a Prophet, but an ignorant man, saying in his heart: "We have not seen our signs; there is no longer a Prophet, and he will know no more." But to this one can be said that word of Job twenty-two: "Do you not think that God is higher than heaven and is elevated above the summit of the stars? And you say: What indeed does God know? And as if through darkness he judges." But certainly he himself "knows the things constituted in darkness, and light is with him," as is said in Daniel two.

And note that in this way from the true he was falling into the false. For it is manifest that God and the divine man knows hidden things not only of the good but also of the evil; Proverbs fifteen: "The eyes of the Lord in every place behold the good and the evil." But in this he erred, because he believed Christ to be ignorant of this, while he allowed himself to be touched by a sinful woman. Whence he also judged badly concerning her; on account of which he adds: Because she is a sinner, as if to say: she should not be admitted but repelled. He was of those of whom Isaiah sixty-five says: "Who say: Depart from us and do not approach, because you are unclean." So also the other Pharisee said of the publican below in the eighteenth chapter: "God, I give you thanks that I am not like the rest of men, as also this publican." And he judged badly, and yet Christ on account of his evil judgment did not cease to show mercy; concerning which above in the fifth chapter he said to the Pharisees: "They who are well do not need a physician, but they who are ill. For I have not come to call the just, but sinners to repentance."

Great therefore was the mercy of Christ shown in the reception of the sinful woman approaching to touch Christ amid the feasting of the diners and the cunning of those judging. In this is simultaneously commended Christ's clemency and the sinful woman's penitence. Whence Gregory: "When I think of Mary's penitence, I would rather weep than say anything. For whose heart, even if of stone, would these tears of this sinful woman not soften to the example of repenting? She entered upon those dining, amid the feast she poured out tears: what then do we marvel at? Mary coming, or the Lord receiving her? Shall I say receiving, or drawing? But better receiving and drawing, because surely he who through gentleness received her outwardly, through mercy drew her inwardly."

Our Lord worked wonders with common things so that we would know the things those who scorn wonders are deprived of knowing. If such healing as this was snatched from his hem in secret, he was most certainly capable of the healing that his word worked in public. If impure lips became holy by kissing his feet, how much holier would pure lips become by kissing his mouth? With her kisses, the sinful woman received the favor of blessed feet that had worked to bring her the forgiveness of sins. She was graciously comforting with oil the feet of her Physician, who had graciously brought the treasury of healing to her suffering. The One who fills the hungry was not invited because of his stomach. The One who justifies sinners invited himself because of the sinful woman's repentance.

A witness of divine mercy is present: this very Mary of whom we speak, about whom the Pharisee, wishing to obstruct the fountain of piety, said: "If this man were a prophet, he would surely know who and what kind of woman this is who touches him, that she is a sinner." But she washed the stains of her heart and body with tears, and touched the feet of her Redeemer, she who had abandoned her wicked ways. She sat at the feet of Jesus and heard the word from his mouth. She had clung to him while living; she sought him when dead. She found living the one whom she had sought as dead. And she found such a place of grace with him that she herself announced him even to the apostles themselves, that is, to his messengers.

But the Pharisee, observing this, despises her, and reproves not only the sinful woman who came but also the Lord who received her, saying within himself: "This man, if he were a prophet, would surely know who and what kind of woman this is who touches him, for she is a sinner." Behold, the Pharisee, truly proud within himself and falsely righteous, reproves the sick woman for her sickness and the physician for his assistance—he who was himself also sick from the wound of pride and did not know it. Between two sick persons the physician was present; but one sick person retained sound judgment in her fever, while the other had lost both the sense of the flesh and of the mind in his fever. For she wept over what she had done; but the Pharisee, puffed up with false righteousness, was aggravating the force of his own illness. In his sickness, therefore, he had also lost his judgment, who did not even know this very thing: that he was far from salvation.

But amid these things, a groaning compels us to look at certain men of our own order who, endowed with the priestly office, if perhaps they have done anything outwardly righteous, even slightly, immediately despise those subject to them, and disdain any sinners placed among the people, and refuse to have compassion on those confessing their fault, and, as if in the manner of the Pharisee, disdain to be touched by a sinful woman. If indeed this woman had come to the feet of the Pharisee, she would certainly have departed, driven back by his kicks. For he would have believed himself defiled by another's sin. But because true righteousness did not fill him, he was sick from another's wound. Hence it is always necessary that when we observe any sinners, we first bewail ourselves in their calamity, because perhaps we have either fallen into similar sins or, if we have not fallen, we can fall. And if the censure of the teacher's office ought always to pursue vices with the force of discipline, it is nevertheless fitting that we carefully distinguish, because we owe severity to vices but compassion to nature. For if the sinner must be struck, the neighbor must be nourished. But when through repentance he himself now strikes what he has done, the sinner is now no longer our neighbor in that sense, because when he directs God's justice against himself, he punishes in himself what divine justice reproves.

In a mystical sense, the Pharisee sees this and envies it, because when the Jewish people observe the Gentiles preaching God, they waste away in their own malice.

(ubi sup.) But the Pharisee beholding these things despises them, and finds fault, not only with the woman who was a sinner, but with the Lord who received her, as it follows, Now when the Pharisee who had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is which toucheth him. We see the Pharisee really proud in himself, and hypocritically righteous, blaming the sick woman for her sickness, the physician for his aid. The woman surely if she had come to the feet of the Pharisee would have departed with the heel lifted up against her. For he would have thought that he was polluted by another's sin, not having sufficient of his own real righteousness to fill him. So also some gifted with the priests' office, if perchance they have done any just thing outwardly or slightly, forthwith despise those who are put under them, and look with disdain on sinners who are of the people. But when we behold sinners, we must first bewail ourselves for their calamity, since we perhaps have had and are certainly liable to a similar fall. But it is necessary that we should carefully distinguish, for we are bound to make distinction in vices, but to have compassion on nature. For if we must punish the sinner, we must cherish a brother. But when by penance he has himself punished his own deed, our brother is no more a sinner, for he punished in himself what Divine justice condemned. The Physician was between two sick persons, but the one preserved her faculties in the fever, the other lost his mental perception. For she wept at what she had done; but the Pharisee, elated with a false sense of righteousness, overrated the vigour of his own health.

(in Hom. 33. in Evang.) Now in a mystical sense the Pharisee, presuming upon his pretended righteousness, is the Jewish people; the woman who was a sinner, but who came and wept at our Lord's feet, represents the conversion of the Gentiles.

And therefore let our soul put on charity, and such charity as may be strong as death; for as death is the end of sins, so is charity the end also. For he that loveth the Lord, ceaseth from sin; for charity thinketh no evil, nor rejoiceth in iniquity, but beareth all things. For he that seeketh not the things that are his own, how shall he seek the things that are another's? And there is a mortal sin, which is washed away by baptism, by which all sin is buried, and the guilt is taken away. Such was the charity which that Gospel woman displayed, of whom the Lord said: Her many sins are forgiven her, because she loved much (Luke 7:47). And such is that powerful death of the holy martyrs, which wipes away previous guilt; and therefore powerful, since it is matched by a charity which equals the martyr's sufferings, so as to remove the guilt of transgressions.

And those who sat at the table with him began to say within themselves: Who is this who even forgives sins? But the heavenly physician does not regard those who are sick, for he even sees some becoming worse from the medicine. He confirms the one he had healed by the sentence of his compassion, saying:

Second, as regards the perverse judgment of human impiety, there is added: And those who were reclining at table together began to say within themselves, namely by judging wrongly and despising him: Who is this, who even forgives sins? As if they were saying: since he is lowly and a nobody, how does he attribute to himself what God alone can do? According to that passage of Isaiah forty-three: "I am, I am he who blots out your iniquities for my own sake." And thus was verified that saying of Sirach thirteen: "The poor man spoke, and they say: Who is this?" So also in their hearts those who were eating together were devising deceit, so that that word of the Psalm might be fulfilled: "If he who hated me had spoken great things against me, I would perhaps have hidden myself from him. But you, a man of one mind with me," etc. Whence these men, by judging wrongly about her healing, were themselves becoming sick, as Bede says: "The sick woman having been healed, others grow sick over her salvation." And thus was verified that saying of Hosea seven: "When I would have healed Israel, the iniquity of Ephraim was revealed and the wickedness of Samaria, because they have wrought falsehood."

He came that he might forgive the debtors much and little and show mercy upon small and great, that there might be no one whatsoever who did not participate in his goodness. As a pledge and plain example of his grace, he freed that unchaste woman from her many iniquities by saying, "Your sins are forgiven you." A declaration such as this is truly worthy of God! It is a word joined with supreme authority. Since the law condemned those that were in sin, who, I ask, was able to declare things above the law, except the One who ordained it? He immediately both set the woman free and directed the attention of that Pharisee and those who were dining with him to more excellent things. They learned that the Word being God was not like one of the prophets, but rather far beyond the measure of humanity although he became man.

Behold, she who had come sick to the physician has been healed, but others are still sick concerning her salvation. For those reclining at table together complained, saying among themselves: "Who is this who even forgives sins?" But the heavenly physician does not despise the sick, even those whom he sees becoming worse from the medicine.

(ubi sup.) Behold she who had come sick to the Physician was healed, but because of her safety others are still sick; for it follows, And they that sat at meat began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also. But the heavenly Physician regards not those sick, whom He sees to be made still worse by His remedy, but her whom He had healed He encourages by making mention of her own piety; as it follows, But he said unto the woman, Thy faith hath made thee whole; for in truth she doubted not that she would receive what she sought for.

It happens that, whatever state of life a man has reached, he sometimes can offer pure and devout prayer. Even in the lowliest place, where a man is repenting from fear of punishment and the judgment to come, his petitions can enrich him with the same fervor of spirit as the man, who attained to purity of heart, gazes upon God's blessing and is filled with an overwhelming happiness. As the Lord said, "The one who knows he has been forgiven more begins to love more."