Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
First, Christ delivers the Lord's Prayer and the manner of praying. Second, in verse 14, He casts out a demon and proves that He does this not by Beelzebub, as the Scribes calumniated, but by the finger of God. Third, in verse 27, a woman from the crowd cries out to Him: "Blessed is the womb that bore Thee"; but He answers: "Blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it." Fourth, in verse 29, to the Jews asking a sign, He gives the sign of Jonah, and adds that the Jews will be condemned in the day of judgment by the Queen of Sheba and by the Ninevites. Fifth, in verse 33, He teaches that the lamp of the body is the eye; therefore it must be kept pure and clear. Sixth, in verse 38, being invited by a Pharisee and reproached for coming to the table unwashed, He sharply chastises the vices of the Pharisees and pronounces woes against them.
We have heard the first part at Matthew 6:9 and Matthew 7:7 and 9; the second at Matthew 12:24; the fourth at Matthew 12:39; the fifth at Matthew 6:22; the sixth at Matthew 23; there remains therefore the third part, and a small portion of the first, to be explained here.
Vulgate Text: Luke 11:1-54
1. And it came to pass that, as He was in a certain place praying, when He ceased, one of His disciples said to Him: Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. 2. And He said to them: When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. 3. Give us this day our daily bread. 4. And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation. 5. And He said to them: Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight, and shall say to him: Friend, lend me three loaves, 6. because a friend of mine is come off his journey to me, and I have not what to set before him; 7. and he from within should answer and say: Trouble me not, the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. 8. And if he shall continue knocking, I say to you, although he will not rise and give him because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise, and give him as many as he needs. 9. And I say to you: Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. 10. For every one that asks, receives; and he that seeks, finds; and to him that knocks, it shall be opened. 11. And which of you, if he ask his father for bread, will he give him a stone? Or a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? 12. Or if he shall ask for an egg, will he reach him a scorpion? 13. If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father from heaven give the good Spirit to them that ask Him? 14. And He was casting out a devil, and the same was dumb. And when He had cast out the devil, the dumb spoke, and the multitudes marveled. 15. But some of them said: He casts out devils by Beelzebub, the prince of devils. 16. And others, tempting, asked of Him a sign from heaven. 17. But He, seeing their thoughts, said to them: Every kingdom divided against itself shall be brought to desolation, and house upon house shall fall. 18. And if Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because you say that through Beelzebub I cast out devils. 19. Now if I cast out devils by Beelzebub, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. 20. But if I by the finger of God cast out devils, doubtless the kingdom of God is come upon you. 21. When a strong man armed keeps his court, those things are in peace which he possesses. 22. But if a stronger than he come upon him, and overcome him, he will take away all his armor wherein he trusted, and will distribute his spoils. 23. He that is not with Me, is against Me; and he that gathers not with Me, scatters. 24. When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walks through places without water, seeking rest; and not finding, he says: I will return into my house whence I came out. 25. And when he comes, he finds it swept and garnished. 26. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and entering in they dwell there. And the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. 27. And it came to pass, as He spoke these things, a certain woman from the crowd, lifting up her voice, said to Him: Blessed is the womb that bore Thee, and the paps that gave Thee suck. 28. But He said: Yea rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God, and keep it. 29. And as the multitudes were running together, He began to say: This generation is a wicked generation; it asks a sign, and a sign shall not be given it, but the sign of Jonah the prophet. 30. For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so shall the Son of Man also be to this generation. 31. The Queen of the South shall rise in the judgment with the men of this generation, and shall condemn them; because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold more than Solomon here. 32. The men of Nineveh shall rise in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it; because they did penance at the preaching of Jonah, and behold more than Jonah here. 33. No man lights a candle, and puts it in a hidden place, nor under a bushel: but upon a candlestick, that they who come in may see the light. 34. The lamp of thy body is thy eye. If thy eye be single, thy whole body will be lightsome; but if it be evil, thy body also will be darksome. 35. Take heed therefore, that the light which is in thee be not darkness. 36. If then thy whole body be lightsome, having no part of darkness, it shall be wholly lightsome, and as a bright lamp shall enlighten thee. 37. And as He was speaking, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him. And He went in, and sat down to eat. 38. And the Pharisee began to say, thinking within himself, why He was not washed before dinner. 39. And the Lord said to him: Now you Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter; but your inside is full of rapine and iniquity. 40. Fools, did not he that made that which is without, make also that which is within? 41. But yet that which remains, give alms; and behold, all things are clean unto you. 42. But woe to you, Pharisees, because you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and pass over judgment and the charity of God: these things you ought to have done, and not to leave the others undone. 43. Woe to you, Pharisees, because you love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and salutations in the marketplace. 44. Woe to you, because you are as sepulchres that appear not, and men walking over them are not aware. 45. And one of the lawyers answering, said to Him: Master, in saying these things, you reproach us also. 46. But He said: Woe to you lawyers also! because you load men with burdens which they cannot bear, and you yourselves touch not the packs with one of your fingers. 47. Woe to you, who build the monuments of the prophets! and your fathers killed them. 48. Truly you bear witness that you consent to the doings of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and you build their sepulchres. 49. For this cause also the wisdom of God said: I will send to them prophets and apostles; and some of them they will kill and persecute; 50. that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, 51. from the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zachariah, who was slain between the altar and the temple. Yea, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation. 52. Woe to you lawyers, because you have taken away the key of knowledge; you yourselves have not entered in, and those who were entering you have hindered. 53. And as He was saying these things to them, the Pharisees and lawyers began vehemently to urge Him, and to oppress His mouth about many things, 54. lying in wait for Him, and seeking to catch something from His mouth that they might accuse Him.
Verse 2: When You Pray, Say: Father, Hallowed Be Thy Name
WHEN YOU PRAY, SAY: FATHER, HALLOWED BE THY NAME. — Matthew 6:6 adds: "Our Father, who art in heaven." Moreover, Matthew joins this prayer to the Lord's Sermon on the Mount, which Christ delivered at the beginning of His preaching, so that in it He might set forth to His disciples a compendium and summary of His Gospel doctrine; but Luke here assigns the same prayer at a later moment. Either, then, Christ twice taught the Lord's Prayer, or rather Matthew placed it in that spot (as he did other things) by prolepsis or anticipation, so that he might at the same time propose as it were a synopsis of the whole Christian doctrine. So Jansenius.
Note: Matthew gives seven petitions to the Lord's Prayer; but Luke here gives five. He therefore omitted two, which are virtually contained in the other five, namely the third: "Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven," which is virtually contained in the first: "Hallowed be Thy name." For this comes to pass when we do God's will. And the seventh: "But deliver us from evil," which is virtually contained in the sixth: "And lead us not into temptation." Here the Pelagians, enemies of the grace of Christ, are refuted, who said that it was neither necessary to say, "Forgive us," nor was that, "Lead us not," etc., to be so understood as if we ought to beg for divine help so that, being tempted, we might not fall into sin; but they held that this was placed within our own power, and that the human will alone sufficed to fulfill it. So the Second Council of Milevis, in its letter to Pope Innocent.
Verse 5: Which of You Shall Have a Friend
AND HE SAID TO THEM (that is, to His disciples): WHICH OF YOU SHALL HAVE A FRIEND, AND SHALL GO TO HIM AT MIDNIGHT (at the most inconvenient and untimely hour) AND SHALL SAY TO HIM: FRIEND, LEND ME THREE LOAVES. — "Lend" (commoda), that is, give as a loan: for properly books, vessels, and carpets are lent (commodantur), which are returned in the same individual number; whereas loaves, grain, and foods are borrowed (mutuantur), which are consumed by use, and therefore are returned not in the same individual number, but in the same kind. Christ proposes this parable that He may teach His disciples not to lose heart or cease if they are not immediately heard in prayer, but to persevere in it and pray more insistently; for so it will come to pass that they are heard by God and obtain what they seek. So St. Chrysostom in the Catena, Titus, Euthymius, Jansenius, and others.
Verse 6: A Friend of Mine Is Come Off His Journey to Me
BECAUSE A FRIEND OF MINE IS COME OFF HIS JOURNEY TO ME, AND I HAVE NOT WHAT TO SET BEFORE HIM. — As if He said: My friend has come to me weary and hungry from his journey to be lodged, and I have nothing to set before him. So the Greek and Arabic.
Verse 7: Trouble Me Not; the Door Is Now Shut
AND HE FROM WITHIN SHOULD ANSWER AND SAY: TROUBLE ME NOT; THE DOOR IS NOW SHUT, AND MY CHILDREN ARE WITH ME IN BED; I CANNOT RISE AND GIVE THEE. — "In bed" (in cubili), that is, in the bed-chamber; the Syriac, "in bed." He therefore excuses himself from being able to rise and give loaves, "lest he should wake his children," says Euthymius, and disturb the whole household.
Verse 8: Because of His Importunity He Will Rise
AND IF HE SHALL CONTINUE KNOCKING, I SAY TO YOU, ALTHOUGH HE WILL NOT RISE AND GIVE HIM BECAUSE HE IS HIS FRIEND, YET BECAUSE OF HIS IMPORTUNITY (improbitas) HE WILL RISE AND GIVE HIM AS MANY AS HE NEEDS. — "Because of his importunity"; in Greek ἀναίδειαν, that is, shamelessness, lack of modesty, importunity, as the Arabic renders it; so we say: "Importunate (improbus) labor conquers all things"; improbus, that is, assiduous, unwearied. Hear St. Augustine, Sermon On the Words of the Lord, chapter 5: "What does 'because of his importunity' mean? Because he did not cease to knock; because even when it was refused, he did not turn himself away. He who was unwilling to give what was asked, did so, because the other did not fail in asking. How much more will the good God give, who exhorts us to ask, to whom it is displeasing if we do not ask?" For God wants us to be persevering in prayer even to the point of importunity, and He delights in it, and wants us with great affection to press on, to knock, to urge, and as it were to compel God to give. "This violence is pleasing to God," says Tertullian, book On Prayer.
She Herself therefore is the litter of the true Solomon, of which it is said in Canticles III, 9: "King Solomon made himself a litter of the wood of Lebanon: he made its pillars of silver, its couch of gold, its ascent of purple, its midst paved with love for the daughters of Jerusalem." See what is said there.
Wherefore Gregory of Nicomedia, in his oration On the Presentation of the Virgin, calls Her "a glorious throne and a royal vehicle, in which the Word came, carried with the flesh." And St. Bernard, sermon 1 on the psalm Qui habitat: "The great Ignatius," he says, "in the many epistles he wrote to Her, greets Her as the Christ-bearer: an outstanding title indeed, and a commendation of immense honor; for to serve Him is to reign; to carry Him is not to be burdened, but to be adorned." The same, on that passage in Apocalypse XII, A great sign: "How familiar, he says, you have become to Him, O Lady, how near — nay, how intimate you deserved to become, how great a grace you found before God! He abides in you, and you in Him; and you clothe Him, and are clothed by Him: you clothe Him with the substance of flesh, and He clothes you with the glory of His majesty; you clothe the sun with a cloud, and with the sun itself you are clothed."
To the Blessed Virgin, therefore, you may more fittingly sing than to Judith after the slaying of Holofernes, that passage from chapter xv: "You are the glory of Jerusalem, you the joy of Israel, you the honor of our people, because you have acted manfully, etc., therefore the hand of the Lord has strengthened you, and therefore you shall be blessed forever." Hear the Fathers greeting Her with these praises — Nazianzen, in the tragedy entitled Christ Suffering:
O Queen, O Lady, the good of the human race,
Be you always a friend to mortals;
And in every place be my greatest salvation.
St. Cyril, oration Against Nestorius: "Let there be to you, O holy Mother of God, praise; for you are the precious pearl of the whole world, you the inextinguishable lamp, the crown of virginity, the scepter of orthodox faith." St. Chrysostom, sermon On the Mother of God: "Hail, O Mother, O heaven, O throne, the ornament, glory, and foundation of our Church." St. Ephrem, sermon On the Praises of the Virgin, greets Her as "the sole hope of the Fathers, the glory of the Prophets, the herald-cry of the Apostles, the honor of the Martyrs, the joy of the Saints, and the light of the most proven ones — Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — the ornament of Aaron, the splendor of Moses, the fleece of Gideon, and the assembly of the Hierarchs, and the crown of all the Saints and Virgins, on account of her immense brightness and inaccessible splendor."
Verse 9: Ask, and It Shall Be Given You
AND I SAY TO YOU: ASK, AND IT SHALL BE GIVEN YOU. — The Arabic: ask, and you shall be gifted. See what is said at Matthew VII, 7.
Verse 12: Or If He Shall Ask an Egg
Or if he shall ask an egg. — Luke adds this beyond Matthew. Moreover, children ask for eggs so that they may quickly grow and develop; for eggs are highly nourishing, and are immediately converted into blood. Hence "an egg is a liquid chick," as the saying goes; for birds from the egg hatch a chick. Hence Isidore, book XII; Origen, chapter VII: "Eggs," he says, "are so called because they are moist (uvida): hence also 'uva' (grape), because it is full of moisture within. For 'humidum' is that which has moisture on the outside, 'uvidum' that which has it within."
Verse 27: Blessed Is the Womb That Bore Thee
AND IT CAME TO PASS, AS HE SPOKE THESE THINGS, A CERTAIN WOMAN FROM THE CROWD, LIFTING UP (out of love and admiration for Christ's teaching and virtue) HER VOICE, SAID TO HIM: BLESSED IS THE WOMB THAT BORE THEE, AND THE BREASTS THAT THOU HAST SUCKED. — As if to say: So great, divine, and blessed are You, O Jesus, that on Your account blessed also is the mother who bore You and nourished You with her milk. Hence she calls the mother blessed, not the father, because favoring her own sex, she wishes herself to become the mother of a similar son. Add that she was stirred up by the Holy Spirit, so that she might burst forth into these words, which signify that Christ was conceived and born of a virgin mother without a father, even though she herself neither knew nor understood this.
Some suspect that this woman was St. Martha, or rather St. Marcella, the handmaid of St. Martha, who accompanied St. Martha to Marseilles and wrote her life; for shortly before, at the end of the preceding chapter, Christ was at Bethany in the house of Martha. For if it had been Martha, Luke would certainly have named her, as he so often named her in the preceding chapter. But Marcella, burning with love for Christ, on account of this free praise of Christ incurred the anger of the Scribes; so that shortly after Christ's death, she was placed along with Martha, Magdalene, and Lazarus on a ship without sails or oars, destined for certain destruction, but with God as its pilot directing it, she arrived safely with all of them at Marseilles. I said they "suspect," because on this matter no certain scripture or tradition exists.
BLESSED IS THE WOMB THAT BORE THEE. — For this womb was the temple, the bridal chamber, the heaven, the throne of glory of the Son of God. Consider, then, with how many gifts of grace it was adorned, that it might be made worthy of God. Again, how holy this womb must have been, which the Divinity Himself, by dwelling in it for nine months, and not only dwelling in it but taking flesh and nourishment from it, sanctified and consecrated to Himself. Wherefore, alluding to this, the Church frequently sings to the Blessed Virgin: "Blessed are the womb of the Virgin Mary, which bore the Son of the eternal Father; and blessed the breasts which nursed Christ the Lord." Hence Methodius, oration on the Hypapante (Presentation): "You," he says, "are the comprehension of Him who contains and comprehends all things. You are the bearer of Him who by His word carries the universe."
Verse 28: Yea Rather, Blessed Are They Who Hear the Word of God
BUT HE SAID: YEA RATHER, BLESSED ARE THEY WHO HEAR THE WORD OF GOD, AND KEEP IT. — "Yea rather" (Quinimo), in Greek μενοῦνγε, that is, nay rather; St. Augustine, book On Virginity, chapter III, and tract 10 on John, renders it immo (nay); Euthymius, vere (truly); Jansenius, certe (certainly). Christ therefore does not deny that His mother is blessed, as Calvin would have it; but He only says that those are more blessed who hear the word of God and keep it, that is, fulfill it in deed; because, as Euthymius says, the keeping of the word of God is its fulfillment — assiduous, continuous, persevering.
The reason, a priori, is that being the Mother of God is precisely a gratuitous grace (gratia gratis data), and merely external, not one that makes one pleasing (to God); but hearing and keeping the word of God is an internal grace that makes one pleasing. Again, being the Mother of God does not of itself make the mother blessed, so as to enjoy the vision of God and eternal glory; but keeping the word of God perseveringly unto the end of life leads one to the vision of God and eternal glory. Moreover, because being the Mother of God is the singular privilege of one Virgin alone; but hearing and keeping the word of God is common to all the faithful and saints. For Christ wishes to console the woman who had said: "Blessed is the womb that bore Thee" — as if to say: You call My mother blessed because she bore such a son as Me, and you tacitly desire a similar blessedness and perhaps grieve that such a son has not fallen to your lot; but I offer you a more solid and better blessedness, which belongs to all who desire it: namely, I assure you that you will be blessed, nay more blessed, if you hear and keep the Word of God. For even My mother was more blessed in that she conceived Me in her mind than in that she conceived Me in her womb; and so, had she not conceived Me in her mind, she would have been miserable and devoid of grace and glory — nay, had she not first conceived Me in her mind, she would have been unworthy to conceive Me in her womb; for it was fitting that she who was to be the Mother of God should be most pure and most holy. Hear St. Augustine, in the passages already cited: "The maternal relationship would have profited Mary nothing, had she not more happily borne Christ in her heart than in her flesh. Mary was therefore more blessed in receiving the faith of Christ, than in conceiving the flesh of Christ." See what is said at Matthew XII, 50.
Verse 34: The Lamp of Thy Body Is Thy Eye
THE LAMP OF THY BODY IS THY EYE. — "The eye," symbolically, is reason, the mind, and especially good intention; for what the eye is to the body, that reason and intention are to the soul. See what is said at Matthew VI, 21.
IF THY EYE BE SINGLE (pure, limpid, clear), THY WHOLE BODY SHALL BE LIGHTSOME — as being clearly illuminated by a clear eye.
Verse 36: If Thy Whole Body Be Lightsome
IF THEN THY WHOLE BODY BE LIGHTSOME, etc., THE WHOLE SHALL BE LIGHTSOME. — Not "the body" (for that would be a tautology and futile repetition of what was already said); but "the whole" absolutely, that is, whatever a man has in the body or about the body: that is, the whole man will be luminous, and all his faculties with the acts proceeding from them. So Maldonatus. Otherwise Toletus: If the eye — that is, the first and noblest part of the body, namely your eye, he says — shall be luminous, then through it the whole body will be illuminated and made luminous. For this sense is plain; and perhaps for σῶμα, that is, body, one should read ὄμμα, that is, eye.
Verse 37: A Pharisee Asked Him to Dine with Him
AND AS HE WAS SPEAKING, A CERTAIN PHARISEE ASKED HIM TO DINE WITH HIM, AND HE WENT IN AND SAT DOWN TO MEAT. — "As He was speaking," that is, as on a certain occasion He was teaching the people by His discourse. So St. Augustine, book II On the Harmony of the Gospels, chapter XXXIX; Bede, Jansenius, and others; although Maldonatus refers it to what immediately precedes, as if to say: While He was speaking these things that had been said shortly before, he "asked" — not with a sincere mind, but in order to observe Christ, note, and find fault with Him, as is clear from the following verses 53 and 54. "He sat down to meat" — not washing His hands with those ceremonies with which the Pharisees did this.
Verse 38: Why He Was Not Washed Before Dinner
AND THE PHARISEE BEGAN THINKING WITHIN HIMSELF TO SAY, WHY HE WAS NOT WASHED BEFORE DINNER. — "Began to say," in Greek δὲ ἰδὼν ἐθαύμασεν, that is, seeing He was astonished — namely, that Jesus did not observe the tradition of the elders in washing; so also the Syriac. "Was washed" (baptizatus esset), that is, bathed, especially as to His hands — not the hands alone, but the arms up to the elbow, according to the Pharisaic rite. See what is said at Matthew chapter XV, 1. For the Pharisees placed their holiness in these ceremonies, and especially in frequent and elaborate washings: so they washed their hands, but bore an unwashed and foul mind.
Verse 39: You Pharisees Make Clean the Outside
AND THE LORD SAID TO HIM: NOW YOU PHARISEES MAKE CLEAN THE OUTSIDE OF THE CUP AND OF THE PLATTER, BUT YOUR INSIDE IS FULL OF RAPINE AND INIQUITY. — As if to say: You wash the body, but you do not wash the conscience from crimes. The word "now" (nunc) expresses contempt and the sharpness of His reproof. See what is said at Matthew XXIII, 25.
Verse 41: That Which Remaineth, Give Alms
BUT YET THAT WHICH REMAINETH, GIVE ALMS: AND BEHOLD, ALL THINGS ARE CLEAN UNTO YOU. — The phrase "that which remaineth" (quod superest) is not read by St. Ambrose, St. Augustine (sermon 3 On the Words of the Lord), St. Cyprian (book III to Quirinus, chapter 1), Origen (homily 2 on Leviticus), and Chrysostom (homily 51 on Matthew), as though it is sufficiently contained in "give alms": for alms are given from what is left over to us, namely from the surplus. But the Roman Bible and the other Latin (editions) read it, as do Theophylactus, Euthymius, Bede here, and St. Basil in the Shorter Rules, response 271; and Cyril, book II on Leviticus; and St. Augustine, Enchiridion chapter LXXVI.
For "that which remaineth," in Greek there is τὰ ἐνόντα, that is, things existing within, or those things which are present within: which you may first explain simply and plainly, as if to say: Those things which are present and left over to you, give as alms. Hence Tertullian, book IV Against Marcion, chapter XXVII, reads: "give what you have as alms, and behold all things are clean unto you" — as if to say: Whatever surplus you have, convert it into almsgiving, and so you will be cleansed from all sins. Hence St. Basil in the passage already cited, and Euthymius explain τὰ ἐνόντα, as if to say: Those things which you have stored up and kept away; spoken by Christ; but in what sense? First, some have thought from this passage that robberies and thefts are remitted by God through almsgiving, without prior restitution. So the Greeks, if we believe Guido the Carmelite; and St. Augustine, Enchiridion chapter LXXV, asserts that some have abused this saying of Christ so as to live wickedly, supposing themselves to be pure and saved if they gave alms. But this is a manifest error; for, as St. Augustine says, "Sin is not forgiven unless what has been taken away is restored." For the restitution of what belongs to another is required by every law — natural, divine, and human.
Secondly, St. Augustine, sermon 30 On the Words of the Lord, takes almsgiving to mean every good work, even of penitence, by which every sin is taken away. "For how," he says, "are you merciful to another, if you are cruel to yourself? Have mercy," he says, "on your own soul, pleasing God." Therefore, whoever repents of his sins performs an outstanding almsgiving for his own soul. And Bede: Almsgiving, he says, is whatever is done from useful compassion, as by sparing, praying, correcting, etc. Thus the sense will be: Give alms, be zealous for good works, especially those of charity and penance; for these will make you clean.
Thirdly, and genuinely, "all things are clean unto you" — as if to say: All things, namely internal and external, soul and body, which you suppose you are washing and cleansing with water, are far better and more truly cleansed and washed by almsgiving performed in the proper way — that is, from one's own resources (for these are τὰ ἐνόντα, as I said); they are washed, I say, because almsgiving remits venial sins and the punishment due to mortal sins; beyond this, it disposes one to the remission of mortal sins, for it obtains from God prevenient grace unto repentance, by which sins are abolished. Finally, in reality almsgiving remits mortal sins, if it be done out of true contrition; for this includes the love of God above all things, which excludes every sin.
The meaning therefore is: Almsgiving cleanses all things — understand this to mean: provided that the other things which Scripture elsewhere requires for the remission of sin are present, namely faith, hope, and contrition, and the restitution of things unjustly taken. Again, it cleanses all things, unless you defile yourself anew from some other source, and make yourself unclean by robbery or some other crime. Thus Christ and Paul attribute salvation to faith, yet not to faith alone, but to faith formed by penitence and charity, as I have often noted.
Note: Almsgiving removes every sin indeed, as Origen, Cyprian, and Ambrose explain, but most of all that which is opposed to it — namely robbery and iniquity (says St. Basil, in the passage cited), of which He speaks in verse 39, for to this He subjoins it, and Christ as it were opposes it as a remedy. For almsgiving and liberality heal the very root of the evil, namely the avarice of the Pharisees; for from this spring robberies, envies, and other iniquities. But the one who is generous and merciful envies no one, plunders no one's goods, does injury to no one. Wherefore "almsgiving is the daughter of deifying charity," says Theophylactus; and St. Cyril, in the Catena: Almsgiving, he says, makes all things clean; and it is more excellent than fasting: not a small poultice is almsgiving, since it is able to be applied to all wounds. See what was said on Daniel IV, 24. The other things which Luke adds here, we have heard in Matthew XXIII.
Secondly, Toletus holds that τὰ ἐνόντα, that is, things existing within, are set in opposition to the external things that are on the outside; for Christ had said, in verse 39, that the Pharisees cleansed what is outside the dish, while their inward parts were full of iniquity — as if to say: You, O Pharisees, sufficiently cleanse dishes and cups on the outside, but inside you are full of robbery; because you have stolen the food and drink which is in the dishes and cups: therefore cleanse and purge that inward part, after restitution of what was stolen, through almsgiving — for robberies must be atoned for by the opposite, namely by generous almsgiving, which is given not from what belongs to another and is stolen, but from one's own and proper goods. Hence Zacchaeus: "If," he says, "I have defrauded anyone, I restore fourfold;" then, in satisfaction for things stolen or unjustly received, he adds: "I give half of my goods to the poor," Luke xix, 8.
Thirdly, Theophylactus explains τὰ ἐνόντα as those things which are within your heart, which dwell in the heart — that is, the things to which your heart is fastened, namely wealth and riches, for the amassing of which you commit robberies: as though Christ here were striving to tear out the root of the disease, namely the excessive love of wealth.
Fourthly, and more forcefully, τὰ ἐνόντα — that is, things inexistent or existing within, which belong to the thing itself — may be taken thus: as if to say, If you want me to say what the matter is, if you wish to hear the chief and innermost truth of things. Hence the Syriac renders: "that which is," i.e. the heart and conclusion of the matter; the Arabic renders: "before all things"; our (Vulgate) renders: "what remains" — as if to say, The one remedy remains to you for such great evils, namely almsgiving; "because you are overtaken by so much wickedness, this alone remains as a remedy," says Bede; and so also Francis Lucas (of Bruges).
Finally, some translate τὰ ἐνόντα as "things lawful"; for τὸ ἐνόν is that which is permitted — as if to say: Give those things which it is lawful to give; namely your own, not another's; things free, not obligated for the maintenance of children and family, or owed to others on any other title.
AND BEHOLD, ALL THINGS ARE CLEAN UNTO YOU. — Some think that this is said ironically by Christ, as if to say: You, O Pharisees, think that you can expiate all your robberies and crimes by almsgiving, but you are mistaken. For what does it profit to give with one hand and to rob with the other? But everywhere the Fathers and interpreters affirm that this was said seriously by Christ.
Verse 45: Master, in Saying These Things, Thou Reproachest Us Also
BUT ONE OF THE LAWYERS, ANSWERING, SAITH TO HIM: MASTER, IN SAYING THESE THINGS, THOU REPROACHEST US ALSO. — In Greek ὑβρίζεις, that is, you affect us with reproach and injury, you dishonor us, rebuke us, disgrace us, you take away our honor; for you charge us with many and grievous crimes, and that not secretly, but openly and to our face: for this is properly contumely, which differs from detraction in that the latter is done secretly and in private, while the former is done openly and to one's face; whence the latter wounds or takes away the neighbor's reputation, while the former properly wounds or takes away his honor. But Christ here censured the crimes of the Scribes, not with the intent to disgrace them, but to take those crimes away and to promote them to amendment of life; or at least, if they themselves were unwilling to do so, to remove their authority, lest the people should trust them and follow their depraved life and doctrine. So Cyril in the Catena: "A rebuke," he says, "which transfers the meek toward the better, is wont to be intolerable to the proud." And Bede: "How wretched," he says, "is the conscience which, upon hearing the word of God, supposes that contumely is being done to itself!" So even now the wicked, when preachers chastise the vices of which they are themselves conscious, judge that contumely is being done to them by the preachers, and therefore persecute and pursue them.
Verses 47-48: Woe Unto You, Who Build the Monuments of the Prophets
WOE UNTO YOU, WHO BUILD THE MONUMENTS OF THE PROPHETS; AND YOUR FATHERS KILLED THEM. TRULY YOU BEAR WITNESS THAT YOU CONSENT TO THE WORKS OF YOUR FATHERS: FOR THEY INDEED KILLED THEM, AND YOU BUILD THEIR SEPULCHRES. — Christ does not here reprove the Scribes because they built splendid tombs for the Prophets, worthy of their virtue and holiness: for this is praiseworthy and pious; but because, while building these for them, at the same time they were persecuting other Prophets — namely Christ and the Apostles — and wished to slay them, as is plain from what follows here, and Matthew xxiii; as if to say: Rightly, fittingly, and appropriately you do, O Scribes, that since your fathers killed the Prophets, you, as it were the sons and little children of murderers, bury those same ones — as robbers are wont to bury the travelers they have killed, either themselves or through their sons. For although you may seem to bury them out of reverence and pious zeal, yet because you imitate your parents while plotting death for Me and Mine, and are murderers the sons of murderers, it falls out rightly and aptly that, as they slew the Prophets, you should bury them, as though filling up the measure of your fathers: for it is worse and more wicked to kill Me, which you intend, than for one who has killed a man to bury him. Since therefore you wish to kill Me, you show that you are following in the footsteps of your prophet-slaying fathers, and consequently that you build their tombs not from zeal for piety, but from vanity and hypocrisy — namely, so that with this outward show of piety you may cover and dignify the murder which you are preparing for Me. So nearly Euthymius, as is clear from Matthew xxiii, 29. See what is said there. Hence our own Suárez also explains thus: Because you imitate your ancestors in the persecution of Christ and the Apostles, you seem rather to be building sepulchres in memory of the notable deed accomplished by the killer, than out of mercy and honor for the Prophet slain by him.
Verse 52: You Have Taken Away the Key of Knowledge
WOE TO YOU, LAWYERS, BECAUSE YOU HAVE TAKEN AWAY THE KEY OF KNOWLEDGE: YOU YOURSELVES HAVE NOT ENTERED IN, AND THOSE WHO WERE ENTERING IN, YOU HAVE HINDERED. — As if to say: You, O Scribes, have taken from the people, claimed for yourselves, and — as St. Ambrose says — usurped (for this is the Greek ἤρατε) the key of knowledge, that is, the power, authority, and office of teaching and interpreting the Law and the sacred Scriptures, and through them of pointing out the true Messiah (who is none other than I Myself) and the true way to salvation, so that no one could know it or hear of it except you yourselves opening it by your teaching. You have usurped, I say, and corrupted it, and so have turned the people away from Me, Christ, and from the salvation which I bring; and in this way you have, as it were, taken away the key of heaven, so that no one can enter it, it being shut up. Hence Matthew, explaining this, says in chapter xxiii, 13: "You shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for you yourselves do not enter in, nor do you suffer those that are entering to go in." See what is said there. So St. Ambrose, Tertullian, book IV Against Marcion, chapter xxvii. St. Cyril adds, in the Catena, who by "the key of knowledge" understands the Law, which was the sign of the justice of Christ. And he adds: Faith also is the key of knowledge, for through it comes the knowledge of the truth, according to that saying: "Unless you believe, you shall not understand." These men therefore neither interpreted the Law as leading to Christ, as they ought, nor did they permit men to believe in Christ, and thus they shut up against them the way of salvation and heaven.
Tropologically, St. Augustine, book II Questions on the Gospel: The key of knowledge, he says, is humility, which neither they themselves were willing to understand, nor to have understood by others. He alludes to that passage in Isaiah xxii, 22: "I will lay the key of the house of David upon His shoulder, and He shall open, and none shall shut; and He shall shut, and none shall open." See what is said there, as also on Revelation iii, 7, concerning the words: "Thus saith the Holy One and the True One, who hath the key of David; who openeth, and no man shutteth; shutteth, and no man openeth." This is Christ.
Verse 53: The Pharisees and Lawyers Began Vehemently to Urge Him
AND WHEN HE WAS SAYING THESE THINGS UNTO THEM, THE PHARISEES AND THE LAWYERS BEGAN VEHEMENTLY TO URGE HIM — in Greek δεινῶς συνέχειν, that is, to press upon him grievously, to urge, to bind close; our (Vulgate translator) seems to have read ἐνέχειν, that is, to insist, to press on, so that they could scarcely keep their hands from violence and blows, though the sense comes to the same thing — AND TO CATCH HIM IN HIS MOUTH ABOUT MANY THINGS. — In Greek ἀποστοματίζειν, that is, to draw out from his mouth, watching closely whether anything slipped from him which they might use to accuse him, as is explained in the following verse — which the Belgians commonly express as "to draw worms out of the nostrils." Hence others translate: "to question captiously"; Euthymius: "to demand extemporaneous responses to crafty questions"; Theophylactus: "to question frequently, and to entangle." Our Maldonatus thinks our Interpreter read ἐπιστομίζειν, that is, to stop the mouth. But the Scribes did not want to stop Christ's mouth, but to press, provoke, and constrain Him with various complaints and questions, so as to force Him to say something against the Law or against Caesar, whereby they might accuse Him. So they were saying, for example: You, O Jesus, in verse 39, laughed at our ceremonies and rites of washings; therefore you condemn the traditions of our fathers. You, in verse 42, blamed us for tithing mint, etc.; therefore you carp at the Law which enjoined tithes. You, in verse 43, reproached us for loving the chief seats; therefore you rebuke Moses, who assigned them to us. You, in verse 47, censured us for building monuments to the Prophets; therefore you forbid the Prophets to be honored and venerated. You, in verse 52, snatched from us the key of knowledge; yet the whole Synagogue attributes this to us. Do you then wish to overturn the hierarchical order of Doctors and Priests sanctioned by God and the Church? Do you wish to be wiser than Moses was? Do you wish to correct the Law and bring in a new one?
Verse 54: Lying in Wait for Him
LYING IN WAIT FOR HIM, AND SEEKING TO CATCH SOMETHING (in Greek θηρεῦσαι, that is, to hunt) FROM HIS MOUTH, THAT THEY MIGHT ACCUSE HIM — before Caiaphas the high priest, or before Pilate, the governor for Caesar. For, as Euthymius says, "they thought suddenly and unexpectedly to lead Him entirely into error; but most wisely He dissolved everything and easily answered," because He answered nothing except what was well premeditated, and because He spoke with a settled mind, without anger or any other passion: for the Scribes were stinging Him with various questions, that He might grow angry, or at least from the passion of His mind say something too freely or boldly which they could cavil at — just as many are carried, in the fervor of disputing, beyond the bounds of truth or discretion, and say things they had not previously thought of, of which they later repent, and which they are often compelled to retract or atone for. But Christ tempered the fervor of His mind with the utmost moderation, prudence, and peace, so that He spoke nothing except what was true, solid, tranquil, and holy.