Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
First, He restores to a paralytic health both of soul and of body. Second, at verse 14, He calls Matthew from the tax-office to follow Him; to the Scribes' grumbling He replies: I have not come to call the just, but sinners. Third, to the Pharisees He gives the reason why His disciples do not fast, and excuses the same disciples for plucking ears of grain on the sabbath to relieve their hunger.
Vulgate Text: Mark 2:1-28
1. And again He entered into Capernaum after some days; 2. and it was heard that He was in the house, and many gathered together, so that there was no room even at the door, and He spoke the word to them. 3. And they came to Him, bringing a paralytic, who was carried by four men. 4. And when they could not bring him to Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was; and having made an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying. 5. And when Jesus had seen their faith, He said to the paralytic: Son, thy sins are forgiven thee. 6. Now there were certain of the Scribes sitting there, and thinking in their hearts: 7. Why does this man speak in this way? He blasphemes. Who can forgive sins, except God alone? 8. Immediately Jesus, knowing in His own spirit that they were thinking these things within themselves, said to them: Why do you think these things in your hearts? 9. Which is easier, to say to the paralytic: Thy sins are forgiven thee; or to say: Arise, take up thy pallet, and walk? 10. But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins (He said to the paralytic): 11. I say to thee: Arise, take up thy pallet, and go into thy house. 12. And he immediately arose; and, taking up the pallet, he went out before them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying: We have never seen anything like this. 13. And He went out again to the sea: and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them. 14. And as He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office, and He said to him: Follow Me. And rising up, he followed Him. 15. And it came to pass, as He sat at table in his house, that many publicans and sinners sat down together with Jesus and His disciples: for there were many who also followed Him. 16. And the Scribes and Pharisees, seeing that He ate with publicans and sinners, said to His disciples: Why does your Master eat and drink with publicans and sinners? 17. Hearing this, Jesus said to them: They that are well have no need of a physician, but they that are sick: for I did not come to call the just, but sinners. 18. And the disciples of John and the Pharisees were fasting; and they came and said to Him: Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Thy disciples do not fast? 19. And Jesus said to them: Can the children of the wedding fast, as long as the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20. But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days. 21. No one sews a piece of new cloth onto an old garment; otherwise the new patch takes away from the old, and a worse tear is made. 22. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wine will burst the skins, and the wine will be spilled, and the skins will be lost; but new wine must be put into new skins. 23. And it came to pass again, when the Lord walked through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to go forward and pluck the ears of grain. 24. And the Pharisees said to Him: Behold, why are they doing on the Sabbath what is not lawful? 25. And He said to them: Have you never read what David did, when he had need, and was hungry himself, and those who were with him? 26. how he went into the house of God under Abiathar the chief priest, and ate the loaves of the showbread, which it was not lawful to eat, except for the priests, and gave them to those who were with him? 27. And He said to them: The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. 28. Therefore the Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath.
Verse 1: And Again He Entered Capernaum After Some Days
1. AND AGAIN HE ENTERED CAPERNAUM AFTER SOME DAYS. — Hear Matthew. Some codices add: "eight;" but the "eight" is deleted by the Greek, the Roman, the Arabic, and others. "After days," therefore, that is, after some days; for he does not define the number, so that we may not know whether they were few or many.
Verse 2: And Many Came Together, So That There Was No Room Even at the Door
2. AND MANY CAME TOGETHER; SO THAT THERE WAS NO ROOM EVEN AT THE DOOR. — The Greek is clearer: ὥστε μηκέτι χωρεῖν μηδὲ τὰ πρὸς τὴν θύραν, that is, so that even the places which were at the door could not contain them, namely the vestibule of the house, or the inner rooms, perhaps even the street next to the doorway. The Arabic: "And immediately many came together, so that the place at the door could not contain them."
Verse 5: Son, Thy Sins Are Forgiven Thee
5. SON, THY SINS ARE FORGIVEN THEE. — Hear Bede: About to heal him, He first forgives his sins, that He might show that he was suffering on account of guilt. For men are afflicted with bodily troubles either for the increase of merit, as Job and the Martyrs; or for the preservation of humility, as Paul; or for the correction of sin, as Moses' sister, and this paralytic here; or for the glory of God, as the man born blind; or as the beginning of damnation, as Herod.
Bede adds that this paralytic was carried by four bearers, to signify that by four virtues a man is raised up in confidence of mind to obtain health, namely by prudence, fortitude, justice, and temperance.
Verse 11: Arise, Take Up Thy Pallet
11. ARISE, TAKE UP THY PALLET. — It is a kind of bed, about which, as with the other matters, I have spoken at Matthew 9:6.
Verse 14: He Saw Levi the Son of Alphaeus
14. HE SAW LEVI THE SON OF ALPHAEUS. — That is, He saw Matthew, who by another name was called Levi before he was called by Christ — for after his calling he is always named Matthew "son of Alphaeus," as the Syriac has it. This Alphaeus here is distinct from the Alphaeus who was the husband of Mary of Cleophas, by whom he begot James the Less and Jude; Matthew at 10:3, Luke, and Mark call him "Levi" to spare his honor, because this name was known to few. But Matthew calls himself Matthew, to humble himself and to openly profess that he had been a sinner and a publican.
AND RISING UP, HE FOLLOWED HIM, — at once leaving all things. Hence Bede: "He left his own possessions," he says, "who was accustomed to seize the goods of others. He also left the unfinished and unsettled accounts of the revenues, because the Lord had so inflamed him that he immediately followed the One who called."
Verse 26: Under Abiathar
26. UNDER ABIATHAR. — You will say: In 1 Samuel 21:6, this is said to have happened under Ahimelech, who was the father of Abiathar. I answer: First, Abiathar at that time was already high priest together with his father Ahimelech, because when his father was absent, sick, or occupied, he himself fulfilled the duties of the high priest, and was about to succeed his aged father, who was soon to die, in the high priesthood. Hence what properly happened under his father Ahimelech is said to have happened under Abiathar. Hear Bede: That the Lord calls Abiathar the chief of the priests in place of Ahimelech has nothing dissonant in it: for both were there when David came and asked for and received the loaves. And after Ahimelech had been slain by Saul, Abiathar fled to David and became the companion of all his exile. Afterward, during David's reign, he received the rank of high priest, and, persevering in the pontificate through the whole time of that reign, he became of much greater excellence than his father, and was therefore worthy that the Lord should make mention of him as of the high priest even while his father still lived.
Second, and more certainly, it is clear from Scripture that both father and son were two-named, and each is sometimes called Abiathar, sometimes Ahimelech, as is evident in 2 Samuel 8:17; 1 Chronicles 18:16 and chapter 24:6. So Jansenius, Toletus, Salmeron, Franciscus Lucas and others.
Verse 27: The Sabbath Was Made for Man, and Not Man for the Sabbath
27. THE SABBATH WAS MADE FOR MAN (the Syriac has "created"), AND NOT MAN FOR THE SABBATH. — That is: The Sabbath was instituted for man's good and convenience, so that man might refresh and restore by the rest of the Sabbath his body wearied by continuous labors through six days of the week; and might apply his mind to the things that pertain to eternal salvation, namely to hearing, considering, and meditating on God's law, will, benefits, and majesty, by which he might rouse Himself to repentance, thanksgiving, and love of God, and so justify and sanctify himself. The force of the argument is this: The Sabbath was instituted for men, not man for the Sabbath. Therefore, if the rest of the Sabbath is very harmful to a man, it must be set aside, and labor must be undertaken, so that man may be provided for; and therefore rightly do I here permit My disciples the slight labor of plucking ears of grain on the Sabbath, that they may supply their hunger; for it is better that the rest of the Sabbath should perish than that man should perish.
Verse 28: Therefore the Son of Man Is Lord Also of the Sabbath
28. THEREFORE THE SON OF MAN IS LORD ALSO OF THE SABBATH. — Some take the "therefore" in its proper sense, as inferential from what was said in the preceding verse, as if to say: Because the Sabbath was made for man; but the Son of Man, that is, Christ, is Lord of all men and of all things that pertain to the salvation of men (for it was for that cause that He came into the world and into flesh); therefore He Himself is also Lord of the Sabbath, so that He can dispense concerning it.
But more plainly and simply, you may take the "therefore" not as inferential, but as a completive standing for "finally," wherefore the Arabic renders it "and," as if to say: Finally, the Son of Man, that is, I Christ, because I am the Messiah and God, am Lord of the Sabbath, who, as I first instituted it, so for the salvation of men I am able to moderate, relax, and abolish it at will.
This is a new and final reason by which Christ proves to the Scribes that it is lawful for His disciples to pluck ears of grain on the Sabbath, that they may relieve their hunger.
The other matters of this chapter I have explained in Matthew chapter 9 and chapter 12.
Mystically: Christ, healing on the Sabbath, signifies — says Theophylact — that those who find rest in sufferings are able to cure sinners who are tossed about by passions and lead them to virtue. More fully, Bede says: The disciples are the teachers; the standing grain are those instructed in the faith, whom while the teachers visit, hungering for their salvation, they draw out from earthly things, and by their hands, that is, by their examples, they strip them of the concupiscence of the flesh as from husks; they eat them, that is, they incorporate them into the members of the Church; and this is done on the Sabbath, because it is done for the hope of future rest.