Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
First, Christ teaches that the scandal of the little ones must be avoided, that pardon must be given to the one who sins, and that faith must be sharpened so that it can move mountains. Second, in verse 7, through a parable, or rather a familiar example, He teaches that even though we do good works, we should still consider ourselves unprofitable servants, because we have done what we ought to have done. Third, in verse 11, He heals ten lepers and commands them to show themselves to the priests. Fourth, in verse 20, to one asking when the kingdom of God will come, He describes His own coming to judgment, and says it will be unexpected, just as the flood was in the time of Noah and the burning of Sodom in the time of Lot. Therefore all must prepare themselves for it by living holy lives, because from the same place one will then be taken and another left behind.
We have heard the first part at Matthew 18:7 and 21, and Matthew 17:19; the fourth, at Matthew 24:25 and 19. Therefore the second and third remain to be explained here.
Vulgate Text: Luke 17:1-37
1. And He said to His disciples: It is impossible that scandals should not come; but woe to him through whom they come. 2. It would be better for him if a millstone were placed around his neck and he were cast into the sea, than that he should scandalize one of these little ones. 3. Take heed to yourselves: If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. 4. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turns back to you, saying: I repent; forgive him. 5. And the Apostles said to the Lord: Increase our faith. 6. And the Lord said: If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree: Be uprooted and transplanted into the sea, and it would obey you. 7. But which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, who when he comes in from the field, says to him: Come at once, recline at table; 8. and does not rather say to him: Prepare my supper, and gird yourself, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you shall eat and drink? 9. Does he thank that servant because he did what was commanded him? 10. I think not. So you also, when you have done all the things that are commanded you, say: We are unprofitable servants; what we were obliged to do, we have done. 11. And it came to pass, as He was going to Jerusalem, He was passing through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. 12. And as He entered a certain village, ten lepers met Him, and they stood at a distance; 13. and they lifted up their voice, saying: Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. 14. When He saw them, He said: Go, show yourselves to the priests. And it came to pass that as they went, they were cleansed. 15. And one of them, when he saw that he was cleansed, turned back, with a loud voice glorifying God, 16. and fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks; and this man was a Samaritan. 17. And Jesus answering, said: Were not ten cleansed? And where are the nine? 18. There was no one found to return and give glory to God except this foreigner. 19. And He said to him: Arise, go your way, for your faith has saved you. 20. And being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said: The kingdom of God does not come with observation; 21. nor will they say: Behold here, or behold there. For behold, the kingdom of God is within you. 22. And He said to His disciples: The days will come when you will desire to see one day of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23. And they will say to you: Behold here, and behold there. Do not go, nor follow after them. 24. For as lightning flashing from one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so will the Son of Man be in His day. 25. But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26. And as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27. They were eating and drinking; they were marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark; and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28. Likewise as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating and drinking; buying and selling; planting and building; 29. but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all; 30. according to these things it will be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. 31. In that hour, whoever is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, let him not come down to take them away; and whoever is in the field, let him likewise not turn back. 32. Remember Lot's wife. 33. Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it; and whoever loses it will give it life. 34. I say to you, in that night there will be two in one bed: one will be taken and the other left; 35. two women will be grinding together: one will be taken and the other left; two will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. 36. They answered and said to Him: Where, Lord? 37. He said to them: Wherever the body is, there also will the eagles be gathered together.
Verse 5: Increase Our Faith
5. AND THE APOSTLES SAID TO THE LORD: INCREASE OUR FAITH. — The Apostles said this after they had been unable to cast out the lunatic demon, and this was because of their small faith, as Christ says. Therefore they then sought greater faith, saying: "Increase our faith," as is clear from this passage compared with what Matthew says, 17:19; for in both places Christ gives the same answer, that the power of faith like a grain of mustard seed is so great that it can move mountains.
Verse 6: Faith Like a Grain of Mustard Seed
6. AND THE LORD SAID: IF YOU HAD FAITH LIKE A GRAIN OF MUSTARD SEED (which is small in quantity but great in power, says Chrysostom; He therefore implies that the least amount of faith can do great things; and Bede says: Perfect faith is a grain of mustard seed: in appearance it is humble, in the heart it is fervent), YOU WOULD SAY TO THIS TREE (a nearby one, which Christ was pointing to), A MULBERRY TREE: BE UPROOTED AND TRANSPLANTED INTO THE SEA, AND IT WOULD OBEY YOU. — Instead of mulberry tree, Matthew 17:19 has mountain; therefore Christ said both. Allegorically, the mulberry tree (morus) is called as if from μώρος, that is, a foolish tree, by antiphrasis, because it is the wisest of trees; for it does not put forth flowers until the cold has passed, lest they be shaken off by it. Therefore the mulberry tree signifies the Gospel of the cross of Christ, which to the Gentiles seems foolishness, but to believers is the power and wisdom of God, 1 Corinthians 1. Hence St. Augustine, book II of Questions on the Gospels, Question 39: "Let those servants therefore say through the grain of mustard seed to this mulberry tree, that is, to the Gospel itself of the Lord's cross, which through its blood-red fruit, like wounds hanging on the wood, is about to provide sustenance to the peoples: let them therefore say that it be uprooted from the perfidy of the Jews and transplanted and planted in the sea of the Gentiles; for by this domestic service they will minister to the Lord who hungers and thirsts."
So also Bede says: The mulberry tree, whose fruit and branches are red with a blood-colored hue, is the Gospel of the cross, which through the faith of the Apostles was uprooted from the Jews, where it was held as if in the root of their race, by the words of preaching, and was planted in the sea of the Gentiles. The Gloss adds: The leaves of the mulberry tree placed upon a serpent bring death to it; just as the word of the cross destroys all the poisons and venomous things of the soul. On the other hand, St. Ambrose, Chrysostom, and the Gloss understand by the mulberry tree the devil, whom the faith of Christ expels and casts down into the abyss. Hear St. Ambrose: "Its fruit (of the mulberry) first whitens in flower, then once formed it turns ruddy, and at maturity turns black. The devil too, from the whitening flower of his angelic nature and power, cast down by his glowing transgression, bristled with the foul odor of sin. Behold for you the One saying to the mulberry tree: Be uprooted and cast into the sea; when He casts the legion out of the man, He permits them to pass into the swine, which, driven by the diabolical spirit, plunged themselves into the sea."
Hear St. Chrysostom, in the Catena: As worms (silkworms, which spin silk from mulberry leaves) are nourished by the leaves of the mulberry tree, so the devil, through thoughts arising from them, nourishes in us the perpetual worm; but faith can tear this mulberry tree from souls and plunge it into the abyss.
Finally, the Arabic version translates mulberry tree as sycamine, that is, sycamore, about which see chapter 19:4. Moreover, Christ extols the power of faith in order to instill in the Apostles a greater desire of sharpening it and seeking its increase; for He wished to increase the faith of those who were asking, since He had instilled in them the mind and desire to ask. Hence afterwards He did increase their faith, especially when He sent the Holy Spirit upon them at Pentecost. And thus by the power of their excellent faith they performed so many wondrous miracles and converted the whole world.
Therefore, lest they become proud in such great works and glory in vain, Christ by the following parable teaches them humility, so that they may say: We are unprofitable servants.
Verse 7: Which of You, Having a Servant Plowing
7. BUT WHICH OF YOU, HAVING A SERVANT PLOWING OR TENDING (sheep or oxen, as St. Augustine reads, book II of Questions on the Gospels, Question 39), WHO WHEN HE COMES IN FROM THE FIELD SAYS TO HIM: COME AT ONCE (enter the dining room; the Arabic has: come up) AND RECLINE, — that is, sit down at the table, eat, restore your strength. Here Christ blunts the vainglory of the Apostles, so that when they perform exalted, wonderful, and astonishing deeds by faith, they may not glory in them, but ascribe all the glory of their works to God, to whom it properly belongs. "He uproots the desire for boasting, says Euthymius, which follows upon the performance of good works." By servant He means not a slave, as the heretics would have it, but a hired worker who, beyond the tasks agreed upon or commanded by the master, can render additional service to which he is not obligated.
Here note that the heretics abuse this passage against the merits of good works; but without reason. For this servant truly merited his daily wage, which was owed to him by contract, as is clear; but he did not merit that the master should thank him, because masters do not usually thank servants to whom they pay the wage for their labor; for thanks are given for gratuitous and freely rendered service. Indeed we give thanks for a benefit that is freely conferred on us. Therefore we too, who are servants of God, by performing the works commanded by God, merit eternal life; just as a hired servant working through the day merits his daily wage, as is clear from Mark 9:41; Matthew 10:41; Revelation 11:18, and elsewhere. For although our works, insofar as they are ours, are of little and almost no value, yet insofar as they flow from the grace of Christ, and therefore are the works of Christ our head, they are of great value and merit, and accordingly merit eternal glory; for grace is the seed of glory — especially because God, out of His immense goodness, has deigned to promise everlasting glory to our works done through the grace of Christ.
Verses 8-9: Prepare My Supper, and Gird Yourself
8. AND DOES HE NOT RATHER SAY TO HIM: PREPARE MY SUPPER, AND GIRD YOURSELF, AND SERVE ME WHILE I EAT AND DRINK, AND AFTERWARD YOU SHALL EAT AND DRINK? 9. DOES HE THANK THAT SERVANT BECAUSE HE DID WHAT WAS COMMANDED HIM? — That is, I think he does not thank the servant: "Because the servant is under the necessity of doing the master's commands," says Theophylactus. So we are under the necessity of doing all the things that God has commanded, and of always increasing our former works with new efforts, says Bede. Therefore the sense is, as if to say, as St. Ambrose puts it: "Just as you not only say to your servant: Recline, but you require another service from him and do not thank him; so neither does the Lord allow you to be content with the use of one work or labor, because as long as we live, we must always be working. Therefore acknowledge yourself to be a servant bound by very many duties. Do not exalt yourself because you are called a son of God: the grace must be acknowledged, but the nature must not be forgotten; nor should you boast if you have served well, since it was what you ought to have done. The sun serves, the moon obeys, the angels minister."
Verse 10: We Are Unprofitable Servants
10. SO YOU ALSO, WHEN YOU HAVE DONE ALL THE THINGS THAT ARE COMMANDED YOU, SAY: WE ARE UNPROFITABLE SERVANTS; WHAT WE WERE OBLIGED TO DO, WE HAVE DONE. — "For woe to us if we had not done it," says St. Bernard, sermon 4 on Psalm Qui habitat. So the Apostle, 1 Corinthians 9:16, says: "Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel," because God commanded me to preach the Gospel.
The heretics object: Christ here calls His faithful ones unprofitable servants, therefore they merit nothing by their merits; indeed they do nothing good, because they bring no profit. I respond that the antecedent is false. For Christ does not call His servants unprofitable; indeed Matthew 25:23 says: "Well done, good and faithful servant, because you have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many; enter into the joy of your Lord." But He admonishes each faithful person to call himself an unprofitable servant, in order to avoid vainglory and for a greater increase of humility as well as merit, as St. Ambrose, St. Chrysostom, Theophylactus, Bede, and generally others teach — and this in a true and sincere sense, not a feigned and simulated one; namely, that by fulfilling God's precepts only, he has done nothing special, nothing remarkable, illustrious, or extraordinary, but only what he was obliged to do by God's law and to which he was bound under pain of sin. Therefore he is and is called unprofitable because he fulfilled only the precepts but omitted the counsels and works of supererogation, as Christ Himself explains, saying: "All the things that are commanded;" and: "What we were obliged to do, we have done." And accordingly such a person attains only the common reward for observing the precepts, not the extraordinary glory, crown, and aureole of observing the Evangelical counsels, as Paul says, whose words I shall cite shortly.
Moreover, when we humbly say: "We are unprofitable servants," then Christ will say: "Well done, good and faithful servant," etc., says St. Chrysostom. Hence St. Bernard, in his treatise On Precept and Dispensation, somewhat before the end, explains thus: "We are unprofitable servants; what we were obliged to do, we have done. As if to say: If you are content with only the precepts and traditions of the imposed law, and do not also voluntarily devote yourselves to the counsels and persuasions of perfection, you are indeed free from obligation, but not glorious on account of merit; you have escaped punishment, but you have not acquired the crown."
This is what the Apostle, preaching the Gospel freely when he could have demanded sustenance from the faithful, 1 Corinthians chapter 9, verse 15, calls his glory; for he himself adds: "If I preach the Gospel, there is no glory for me, for necessity is laid upon me, etc. What then is my reward (distinguished and illustrious)? That in preaching the Gospel I may present the Gospel without charge (freely)."
Second, even Paul and the other Apostles and Religious who observe not only the precepts but also the counsels of Christ can truly say: "We are unprofitable servants; what we were obliged to do, we have done." First, because we owe God our soul, body, life, and whatever we have, which we can never repay, no matter how much good we do. For this debt is infinite, and it is manifold, but especially fourfold. The first is the debt of creation; for having been created from nothing by God, we owe everything that we are to God the Creator. Hence Plato in the Phaedo says that man is one of God's possessions. Hear St. Bernard, sermon On the Fourfold Debt: "Behold, He is at the gates, He who made heaven and earth, and He is your creator, you are the creature; you are the servant, He is the lord; He is the potter, you are the vessel. Therefore everything that you are, you owe to Him from whom you have everything, especially to that Lord who both made you and did you good, who provides for you the courses of the stars, the mildness of the air, the fertility of the earth, the abundance of fruits. To Him indeed one must serve with all one's marrow, with all one's strength, lest perhaps He look upon you with the eye of indignation and despise you and crush you forever."
The second is the debt of purchase and redemption; for Christ bought and redeemed us from death, sin, and hell at the price of His blood. We are therefore purchased servants, indeed slaves of Christ. Hence the Apostle: "You have been bought at a great price; glorify and bear God in your hearts," 1 Corinthians 6:20. Hear St. Bernard, in the sermon just cited: "First, he says, you owe your entire life to Christ Jesus, because He laid down His life for yours, and endured bitter torments so that you would not endure everlasting ones." He then adds many things to this effect, which he concludes at the end as follows: "When therefore I shall have given Him whatever I am, whatever I can do, is this not like a star compared to the sun, a drop compared to a river, a stone compared to a mountain, a grain compared to a heap?" The same Bernard, in his treatise On Loving God: "If I owe my whole self for having been made, what shall I now add for having been remade, and remade in this way? For I was not remade as easily as I was made. For He who made me once and only by speaking, in remaking me indeed both said many things and did wondrous things and endured hard things — not only hard things, but also unworthy things. In the first work He gave me to myself; in the second He gave Himself; and where He gave Himself, He gave me back to myself. Given therefore and given back, I owe myself for myself. What shall I render to God for Himself? For even if I could repay myself a thousand times over, what am I compared to God?"
The third is that in baptism, renouncing Satan, we devoted ourselves entirely to the service of Christ, and in it He Himself, regenerating us, made us new and divine men who would be the temple of God and of the Holy Spirit.
The fourth, because He Himself is our first principle and our last end, to whom we must direct all our actions. For He Himself has promised us heavenly happiness and everlasting glory, which is nothing other than the vision and enjoyment of God. See Hieronymus Platus, book I On the Good of the Religious State, chapters 2 and 4, where he lists seven titles of our servitude, on account of which we are not under our own authority but under God's and Christ's.
To these add that we are "unprofitable servants" with respect to God; for to God, who is immense, most rich, and most blessed, we can bring no profit. Hence St. Augustine, on Psalm 34: "Let Him possess you, he says, so that you may possess Him. You will be His estate, you will be His house. He possesses in order to benefit; He is possessed in order to benefit. Is it so that you may benefit Him in some way? For I have said to the Lord: You are my God, for You have no need of my goods."
Again "unprofitable," because in many things we sin, and thus many of our works are infected by negligence, or vainglory, or some other vice. Moreover, our actions, if considered precisely in themselves as they proceed from man, are useless for meriting the grace and glory of God, according to that saying of the Apostle, 2 Corinthians chapter 4: "The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the future glory that shall be revealed in us." So St. Augustine, whose words I shall cite shortly. Finally, all our actions have their dignity of value and merit from the grace and promise of God, and they are useful to us, not to God. Hence the Arabic version translates: indeed we are unprofitable servants; for we have done what was in our interest. Hence again for "unprofitable," the Greek is ἀχρεῖοι, that is, unprofitable, void, weak, exhausted, unfit, incapable, vain, of no good fruit, dull, worthless. "Since God is good, says Euthymius, He uses His servants as hired workers and repays their service with a reward, and receives what is owed as though it were an outstanding deed; and He grants a reward that even exceeds the labors." Similarly Cyril, in the Catena: "So also God indeed requires from us service by right of servitude, but because He is merciful and good, He promises honors to those who labor, and the greatness of His benevolence surpasses the sweat of His subjects. For His goodness surpasses what is just and fair." These are Cyril's words.
The Alpine monks were doing this, to whom St. Bernard thus writes, epistle 152: "You consider yourselves unprofitable, and you have been found to be profitable. To act rightly and to consider oneself unprofitable is found in few people, and therefore many admire it. This, I say, this very thing makes you more illustrious from among the illustrious, holier from among the holy, and wherever this report has spread, it has filled everything with a sweet fragrance." For, as the same Bernard says, sermon 42 on the Song of Songs: "Humility, like nard, spreads its fragrance, warm with love, vigorous with devotion, fragrant in reputation."
Moreover St. Augustine, book II of Questions on the Gospels, Question 39, explains it differently; for instead of unprofitable he translates supervacui (unoccupied), that is, those who, having completed every work, now as if unoccupied await the reward and eternal glory, which far surpasses and transcends all the value and worth of their labor and works. "We are unoccupied servants, he says; what we were obliged to do, we have done; no work remains in us. We have finished the race, we have completed the contest; the crown of justice remains for us. For all things can be said of that ineffable enjoyment of truth; and the more all things can be said, the less anything can be said worthily. For it is the light of the enlightened, and the rest of the wearied, and the homeland of the returning, and the food of the needy, and the crown of the victorious; and whatever good things the error of the unfaithful seeks in temporal passing things through the parts of creation, the piety of the children will find them truer and eternally abiding in the Creator of all things."
Hence Theophylactus infers: "If, he says, when we have fulfilled all the commandments, not even then should we think highly of ourselves, how much do we sin when we do not fulfill the greater part of the commandments, and yet we are puffed up?"
Verse 11: He Was Passing Through Samaria and Galilee
11. AND IT CAME TO PASS, AS HE WAS GOING (from the borders of Caesarea Philippi or Paneas, as is clear from Matthew 17:21) TO JERUSALEM (for the feast of Tabernacles, as is evident from John chapter 7, verse 2). HE WAS PASSING THROUGH THE MIDST OF SAMARIA AND GALILEE. — For these were on the direct route for one going from Caesarea to Jerusalem. He mentions Samaria to suggest the reason why among the ten lepers healed by Christ, as follows, one was a Samaritan: namely because Christ was passing through Samaria, and although badly received by the Samaritans, indeed excluded from lodging in one of their villages, chapter 9, verse 53, He nevertheless wished to heal the Samaritan, so that He might repay evil with good. See the Chronotaxis that I have placed at the beginning of this Commentary, number 38.
Verse 12: Ten Lepers Met Him, and Stood at a Distance
12. AND AS HE ENTERED A CERTAIN VILLAGE, TEN LEPERS MET HIM, AND THEY STOOD AT A DISTANCE. — "As He entered," that is, as He was about to enter. For the lepers, being unclean, could not enter cities, towns, and villages, lest they spread their leprosy to the townspeople, as well as the legal uncleanness (which under the old law was contracted by contact with a leper and an unclean person); as is clear from Numbers 5:2. Therefore they met Christ before the village. So Theophylactus. Similarly we see that lepers now do not live in cities, but a house is erected for them before the cities on the public road, in which they may dwell and beg alms from passersby. "Ten leprous men, whom the sharing of their disease had united," says Euthymius; for otherwise "the Jews do not associate with the Samaritans," John 4:9. These ten lepers seem to have conspired to meet Jesus together and with a common voice implore healing, and so, as if by a concerted effort, to storm the mercy of Jesus. Moreover, in Judea as in Egypt, lepers abound because of the great heat of the region, says Galen.
THEY STOOD AT A DISTANCE, — as unclean persons, and kept away from the company of the clean, banished lest they infect them with their breath.
Tropologically: leprosy is concupiscence, heresy, and any sin whatsoever, as I have shown at Leviticus 13 and 14, and Matthew 8:2.
See the physician Guilielmus Ader, in his book On the Sick of the Gospels, part III, which deals with elephantiasis, or leprosy, where he defines it by its matter and efficient cause as follows: Leprosy is a contagious disease of the whole body, but especially of the external parts, namely the muscles and skin, arising from the roasting, burning, and bad quality of the melancholic humor. He gives sixteen equivocal and general signs, which are therefore less certain. The first, he says, is hardness and fleshy tumors. The second is a dark color, which physicians call morphea. The third is the falling out and loss of hair. The fourth is the wasting and consumption of the muscles of the hand, especially of the thumb; for the whole hand rests upon the thumb. And not inappropriately, he says, those who have had their thumbs cut off, and thereby lack the spirited strength of heart, and are timid, are called poletruncos, in Italian poltroni, in French poltrons. The fifth is numbness and loss of sensation in the extremities. The sixth is scabies and skin eruptions. The seventh is hailstone-like formations and tumors under the tongue, gathered from dry heat out of thick humor, as also varicose veins there, whence the tongue swells. The eighth is burning and pricking and itching of the skin. The ninth is wrinkled skin, such as that of geese. The tenth is greasy skin that quickly repels sprinkled water. The eleventh is the absence of fever, or that they lack fever. The twelfth, if they are cunning, deceitful, mendacious, and furious. The thirteenth is sleeplessness with terrifying fear. The fourteenth is a thin, frequent, and slow pulse. The fifteenth is sandy, pale, leaden, and black blood. The sixteenth is white and livid urine, because it is crude.
He then affirms six univocal and proper, and therefore certain, signs of leprosy. The first is the roundness of the eyes and ears: for the natural pyramidal shape of the eye is corrupted, since the flesh in the tear bone, lying at the root of the nose, withers with dryness, and the muscles of the eyes waste away; by their deformity the shape of the eye is rounded into a sphere, and for the same reason the ears become round, the cartilaginous flap being consumed. The second sign is in the eyebrows, by whose depilation and tumors lepers present the face of apes. The third is in the widening of the nostrils: for the parts of the nostrils (which Rufus of Ephesus calls the wings and flaps) are enlarged and dilated externally, compressed and sunken internally. The former depends on the influx of humors, while the latter depends on decay and the putrefaction of the nasal septum. The fourth occurs in the hoarse, clanging voice, resonant like trumpets, according to that verse: "The martial trumpet blares out hoarse-sounding blasts." The fifth is the stench of the breath and an ill-smelling and fetid emanation from the whole body. The sixth is a Tyrian complexion, horrible and unpleasant to look at. By this sign, together with the deformity of the features, the thickness of the lips, and the firmness of the nose, the ancient Greek physicians judged confirmed lepers. Finally, in the leper the extremities of the limbs fall off, eaten away by rot and decay; all the beauty of the body perishes, and the human face entirely passes into a satyr-like appearance, so that one might easily say of the leper what Plutarch reports of the Satyr captured at Apollonia, who spoke nothing articulate.
He then adds that chronic and fully developed leprosy is incurable and fatal, and brings a man to death; for they die by a wasting fire and the destruction of the vital spirit, namely the innate heat. Moreover, the melancholic humor, fierce and sharp, erodes the body. But the remedies for recent and incipient leprosy, he says, are: nitre, salt, hellebore, cedar-resin, frankincense, orris root, quicksilver, and viper wine, especially recommended by Galen. Additionally, the purging of melancholy and a diet, that is, a regimen of living contrary to the humor of the disease.
All and each of these things the preacher will easily apply to mystical leprosy, that is, to concupiscence, sin, and heresy; for on both sides the analogy and similarity is great and clear.
Verse 13: Jesus, Master, Have Mercy on Us
13. AND THEY LIFTED UP (raised, crying aloud, because they stood far away and because they greatly desired to be healed of leprosy) THEIR VOICE (one and unanimous, proceeding from the mouth of all) SAYING: JESUS, MASTER, HAVE MERCY ON US, — that You may free us from so grievous and incurable a disease. "Master" here signifies not so much a teacher as a lord, who commands and orders his servants what he wills. For in Greek it is ἐπιστάτα, that is, commander, president, whose role is to govern and command; for they are asking not that Christ teach them and give them precepts of virtue, but that He command the leprosy and bid it depart. So also in Hebrew, Rabbi denotes not only a teacher but also a lord and powerful and chief man. Hence Theophylactus interprets it as lord and healer, "which is, he says, to think that He is close to being God." So Cicero, in book III On the Orator, says: "Nor were the teachers separate, but the same men were masters of living and of speaking." And in Philippic II: "You should have had this man as the author and master of all your counsels and of your entire life."
Moreover, Luke everywhere calls Christ ἐπιστάτα (epistata), as is clear from chapter 5:5; chapter 8:24 and 45; chapter 9:34 and 49. In place of which Matthew, chapter 8:25; chapter 17:4, and elsewhere has κύριε (kyrie), that is, lord. Hence it is clear that these two words mean the same thing, namely Lord. So the French, Germans, and Belgians call their lords "masters": mon maître, mein Meister.
Verse 14: Go, Show Yourselves to the Priests
14. WHEN HE SAW THEM (and heard them invoking Him; hence Theophylactus says: In place indeed they stand far off, but in prayer they draw near; "for the Lord is near to all who call upon Him in truth," Psalm 144), HE SAID: GO, SHOW YOURSELVES TO THE PRIESTS (as if to say: If you go to them and obey Me, you will certainly be healed of leprosy by My power and providence). AND IT CAME TO PASS THAT AS THEY WENT, THEY WERE CLEANSED. — Christ commanded the lepers to go to the priests, not so that they might be healed by them, for this was impossible, but first, out of honor and reverence for the priestly order. Second, because the law commanded lepers, if they were healed, to show themselves to the priests, so that through them they might be restored to the city and the temple and to the society of men, Leviticus chapter 14. Moreover, the priests had their own signs by which they could determine whether leprosy was present or not, such as I reviewed a little earlier. Third, to test the faith and obedience of the lepers; for they themselves knew that they were lepers and that they could not be healed by the priests, but only that the leprosy could be declared. Yet they go to the priests at Christ's command, firmly persuading themselves that by this very means they needed to be healed by Christ before they came to the priests. For if they had not been persuaded of this, they certainly would not have gone to the priests; for they were going in order to be declared by them to be cleansed of leprosy. Fourth, so that Christ would make the priests witnesses of the miracle of healing performed by Him, so that they themselves might recognize from it that He was the Christ.
Allegorically: Christ wished to signify that mystical lepers, that is, sinners in the new law, must go to priests, so that in the sacrament of Penance they may be healed and absolved from the leprosy of sin. For the role of priests of the new law is not to examine leprosy, as it was in the old law, but to purge and expiate what has been proven, says St. Chrysostom, Book III On the Priesthood.
AND AS THEY WENT, — with firm faith and blind obedience, not questioning the command, says Euthymius; in Greek, while going. It is likely that as soon as they began to go, they were healed, so that they might know they had been healed by Jesus: hence the Samaritan too, seeing that he was healed, immediately turned back and gave thanks to Jesus. Thus God is accustomed to reward prompt faith and obedience immediately.
THEY WERE CLEANSED, — from leprosy, which among the Jews was the greatest impurity, both natural and legal; especially because leprosy is contagious and made neighbors leprous and unclean.
Verse 15: With a Loud Voice Glorifying God
15. And one of them, when he saw that he was cleansed (in Greek ἰάθη, that is, he was healed), turned back (from the middle of the road, redirecting his journey to Jesus, the author of his health), with a loud voice (exultant and jubilant) MAGNIFYING GOD, — who had healed him through Jesus.
Verse 16: He Fell on His Face — and He Was a Samaritan
16. AND HE FELL ON HIS FACE AT HIS FEET (so that by profoundly humbling himself he might show Him the highest reverence) GIVING THANKS (to Him, as the Greek and the Syriac have it); AND HE WAS A SAMARITAN, — and therefore a foreigner and one abhorrent to the Jews, and a schismatic, so that it was astonishing that he alone gave such fervent thanks to Jesus, a Jew; while the other lepers, Jews by nation and religion, neglected Jesus the Jew, by whom they had been healed, and did not give Him thanks for so great a benefit.
Verse 17: Were Not Ten Made Clean? Where Are the Nine?
17. AND JESUS ANSWERING, SAID: WERE NOT TEN MADE CLEAN? AND WHERE ARE THE NINE? — Why do the nine, equally with the tenth, the Samaritan, not return to Me, nor acknowledge the benefit, nor give thanks to Me their benefactor? Surely these nine, delighted with their health, were proceeding to the priests to be declared clean by them, and thus be restored to the company of men, wholly concerned about themselves and little concerned about the glory of Jesus. So also today in the courts of princes, many seek offices and favors, and constantly frequent those courts, humble themselves, press on, and beseech until they obtain what they seek; but once they have obtained it, they fly off to their own affairs as if with prey, and appear no more. For this reason Alfonso, King of Aragon, called them court vultures, as Panormitanus attests in his Life.
Verse 18: None Found to Return Except This Stranger
18. THERE WAS NONE FOUND TO RETURN AND GIVE GLORY TO GOD (by confessing and proclaiming that he had been healed of leprosy by God through Jesus, which was an immense glory of God), EXCEPT THIS STRANGER, — that is, except this Samaritan, who was foreign to the Jewish nation and religion. For the Samaritans were by nation Babylonians, Assyrians, Medes, etc., transplanted into Samaria by Shalmaneser, 4 Kings 17:24. The Syriac reads: why did they separate themselves and not return to give glory to God, except this one who is from a foreign people? He represents the Gentiles who would believe in Christ and give Him thanks, while the unbelieving Jews would despise Him. Thus we see that foreigners are often more grateful than natives, because foreigners admire foreign benefactors more and therefore honor them more than do natives, who, being familiar with and fellow citizens of their benefactor, think that the benefit is owed to them by right of citizenship. Moreover, they are ashamed to humble themselves before their own countryman and to acknowledge their misery from which he freed them.
Rightly, therefore, does Christ here censure their ingratitude, and He could rightly have taken away from them the benefit of health that He had bestowed, so that they would relapse into their leprosy; but He refused to do so, because His beneficence is so great that it extends even to the ungrateful. St. Bernard sharply rebukes the malice of ingratitude in Sermon 51 on the Song of Songs: "Ingratitude," he says, "is the enemy of the soul, the emptying of merits, the scattering of virtues, the loss of benefits. Ingratitude is a scorching wind, drying up for itself the fountain of piety, the dew of mercy, the streams of grace." The same author, in his Sermon on the Seven Mercies: "Ingratitude is a deadly thing," he says, "an enemy of grace, a foe of salvation. I tell you, to my understanding nothing so displeases God, especially in the children of grace, in persons of conversion, as ingratitude. For it blocks the ways of grace, and where ingratitude is found, grace no longer finds access nor has any place."
Verse 19: Your Faith Has Made You Well
19. AND HE SAID TO HIM: ARISE, GO YOUR WAY: YOUR FAITH HAS MADE YOU WELL. — "Faith" — by which you believed that I could heal you, indeed that I would actually heal you, if by obeying Me you went to the priests. For this faith cooperated with your healing: although I am the primary author of your healing, nevertheless I willed that your faith should also contribute to it, as a fitting disposition; for if you had not believed, you would not have been healed by Me.
HAS MADE YOU WELL, — from leprosy, both of body and of soul, that is, from sins. Therefore it is likely that this leper, stirred by God, elicited an act of contrition for his sins and through it was justified; moreover, that he abandoned the schism and sect of the Samaritans and adhered to the true religion of the Jews; finally, that he became a disciple of Jesus, received His baptism, and having become a Christian, preached everywhere the power and miracle of Christ, and converted many to Him. For gratitude, which is here celebrated by Christ, would have urged him to this.
Verse 20: The Kingdom of God Does Not Come With Observation
20. And being asked by the Pharisees: When DOES THE KINGDOM OF GOD COME? (the kingdom of Israel having already collapsed, but to be raised up by the Messiah) He answered them and SAID: THE KINGDOM OF GOD DOES NOT COME WITH OBSERVATION, — "Comes," that is, will come, or ought to come. This is a Hebraism, because the present is used for the future. Note: because Christ was preaching, saying: "Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," therefore a Pharisee here, whether eager to learn, or rather for the purpose of mocking, asks, as if to say: You, O Jesus, preach Your kingdom of heaven, but when will it come? When will we see You reigning in it? When will we see Israel, subjugated by the Romans, breathing freely through You and restored to liberty, living a happy life under You as king? They ask Him when He would reign, says Euthymius, mocking Him, because He appeared lowly. Yet Christ answered this question gently: first, briefly in this verse and the next; second, at length from verse 22 to the end of the chapter, concerning the kingdom of glory in heaven, to which the kingdom of grace on earth is subordinated; for through grace we go to glory. He says therefore:
The kingdom of God does not come with observation. — That is to say: The kingdom of God and of the Messiah does not come with a preliminary display, nor with an external pomp of soldiers, horses, and chariots, so that from it you could observe it and know for certain beforehand, just as you know for certain that a king is present when you see his preceding retinue — the kind of pomp with which you think the kingdom of the Messiah will come, and which you already observe as if it were near. It cannot be observed, says the Gloss, because it is not corporeal, as you think, but spiritual, which has already begun. Therefore Christ came without pomp, poor and humble, to show that His kingdom is spiritual and divine, not corporeal and worldly.
Verse 21: The Kingdom of God Is Within You
21. NOR WILL THEY SAY: BEHOLD HERE, OR BEHOLD THERE. For behold, the kingdom of God is within you. — That is to say: They will not say: Behold in Jerusalem is the royal throne of Christ, behold there He reigns in magnificence, like another Solomon; because Christ does not reign on a corporeal throne, but in the spiritual soul, as He governs it through His grace and bends it toward every good, and thus directs it toward the heavenly kingdom. "For the kingdom of God is not food and drink, but justice and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit," Romans 14:17. For I prefer to take all these things as referring to the same thing, namely the first coming of Christ, in which He reigns as King in the souls of the faithful through His grace; for thus everything coheres better, although some take it as referring to the kingdom of glory, which will be at the second coming, which is true in this sense, because the kingdom of Christ's grace is directed, tends, and leads to the kingdom of glory, which will also adorn the bodies of the just with its splendor and other gifts, so that it can be noted and observed by all.
Second, this "kingdom of God is within you" means it is in your power; that is, if you are willing to embrace the faith and grace of Christ and cooperate with it, because, as Titus says, "it is placed in the free choice of the will to receive the kingdom of God."
Third, "the kingdom of God is within you," because Christ, God and King, preaching and bestowing this kingdom, dwells among you. So Theophylactus, whom hear: "The kingdom of God is entirely a matter of living in the manner of angels, when nothing worldly dwells in our souls; for neither a long time nor a long journey is needed, but faith is near us, and after faith a divine life. The Apostle himself also said the same thing: The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that is, the word of faith, Romans 10:8. For to believe, and to walk according to faith, as is worthy of the calling, is within us. And so the Pharisees were mocking the Lord; but He turned them into laughter, showing that they were ignorant of a thing that was within them, and which is very easy, if they were willing to grasp it. For now, since I am in your midst, you can fully grasp the kingdom of God, if you believe in Me and are willing to live according to My commandments."
Verse 22: You Will Desire to See One Day of the Son of Man
22. AND HE SAID TO HIS DISCIPLES: THE DAYS WILL COME WHEN YOU WILL DESIRE (the translator reads ἐπιθυμήσετε, that is, you will desire) TO SEE ONE DAY OF THE SON OF MAN, AND YOU WILL NOT SEE IT. — That is to say: The time will come, and it is imminent, when on account of My faith and the preaching of the Gospel, you will suffer many adversities, persecutions, contradictions, and even the errors and heresies of innovators, and, pressed by distresses of body and mind, you will not know what consolation or counsel to take. Therefore then you will desire to see Me even once, to consult Me, to be taught and consoled by Me in such great afflictions — but in vain; for after I have ascended into heaven, I will no longer appear on earth. Therefore then, from the things you now hear from Me, you must teach, console, and direct yourselves, until at My second coming for judgment I return to you, that is, to your successors, and free them from heretics, persecutors, and all tribulations, and lead them into the kingdom of My glory. Christ says this, both to foretell the persecutions and difficulties that would befall them, so that they might arm themselves against them, lest they be struck down by the unexpected assault and lose heart or fall from the faith; also to teach that one reaches the kingdom of glory only through tribulations; and finally to admonish them to listen attentively and note all His words and deeds while they enjoy His presence, since very soon they would no longer have it and would desire it in vain. So Theophylactus, Euthymius, Titus, Bede, and others.
Verse 23: Do Not Go, Nor Follow After Them
23. AND THEY WILL SAY TO YOU: BEHOLD HERE, AND BEHOLD THERE (is Christ; for false prophets will come, falsely claiming to be Christs, or to be sent by Christ): DO NOT GO, NOR FOLLOW AFTER THEM, — those impostors and their rumors. The Arabic reads: do not look, nor hasten.
Verse 24: As Lightning Flashing From Under Heaven
24. FOR AS THE LIGHTNING FLASHING FROM UNDER HEAVEN SHINES UPON THOSE THINGS THAT ARE UNDER HEAVEN, SO SHALL THE SON OF MAN BE IN HIS DAY. — The Syriac reads: for as lightning flashes from heaven and illuminates all things that are under heaven. That is to say: Just as lightning suddenly, most swiftly, publicly, and manifestly descends from heaven to earth and flashes forth, so I too will suddenly and unexpectedly return for judgment in the valley of Josaphat, with great splendor and glory, so that all will see Me and hear Me judging. Therefore then there will be no need for any observation of Me, or for any sign or indication, because I will appear conspicuous and glorious to all throughout the whole world. We heard these and the following things in Matthew 24:27 and following, where I explained them.
Verse 25: First He Must Suffer Many Things
25. BUT FIRST HE MUST SUFFER MANY THINGS, AND BE REJECTED BY THIS GENERATION. — The Arabic reads: for before this He will receive much suffering, and will be rejected by this generation; namely, by this nation of wicked Jews, says Euthymius. He says this, first, lest the Apostles, seeing Him suffer and be crucified, be scandalized and doubt whether He is the Christ; second, so that when the disciples saw Him dying, says Bede, whom they had heard would be glorified, they might mitigate the sorrow of His passion with the hope of promised glorification; third, to arm them by this prediction against future adversities. As if to say, says Theophylactus: Do not be surprised if such grievous things befall you, which will bring you longing for the days when I am with you. For I Myself, who am to come like lightning, must first suffer many things and be rejected, and thus enter into that glory; and so let this be a spur for you to the virtue of patience, because glory will come to you also from your trials.
Verse 30: The Day When the Son of Man Is Revealed
30. ACCORDING TO THESE THINGS IT SHALL BE, IN THE DAY WHEN THE SON OF MAN SHALL BE REVEALED. — That is to say: My coming to judgment will be sudden and unexpected, just as was the fire of Sodom and the flood of Noah. "Beautifully," says Bede, "He says: He shall be revealed, because He who in the meantime, while not appearing, sees all things, then appearing will judge all things." Just as a teacher through a lattice sees all the deeds of the students in the classroom, and yet is not seen by them, but upon entering the classroom is seen by all and either punishes or praises the deeds of each one.
Verse 32: Remember Lot's Wife
32. Remember the wife of Lot, — who perished because she looked back, says St. Ambrose; lest, namely, just as she, looking back against the angel's command toward burning Sodom, was turned into a pillar of salt, so you too, against these warnings of Mine, return to the secular life of this world, and thus perish and burn along with it as it perishes and burns. See the comments on Genesis 19:17 and Wisdom 10:7. Hear St. Augustine, Book of Questions on the Gospels, Question 43: "What did the wife of Lot signify? Those who in tribulation look back and turn away from the hope of the divine promise; and therefore she was made a pillar of salt, so that by admonishing people not to do this, she might, as it were, season their hearts, lest they be foolish."
Verse 34: Two in One Bed — One Taken, the Other Left
34. IN THAT NIGHT THERE SHALL BE TWO IN ONE BED: THE ONE SHALL BE TAKEN, AND THE OTHER SHALL BE LEFT. — From the word "night" someone might conclude that the universal judgment will be carried out by Christ at night, for the greater terror of men. But I respond that what He called "day" in verse 31, He here calls "night." First, because the day of judgment will be for very many — namely, for all the reprobate — fatal and most calamitous; and night and darkness are symbols of calamity. Second, because just as night closes the day and the time of working, so that day will close the time of doing good and meriting, according to the saying: "The night comes in which no one can work," John 9:4. Fittingly therefore the day of judgment is called night.