Pope Saint John Paul II

Now then it is no more I that do it: To will good is present with me. These expressions all shew that he speaks of temptations that affect the sense only, the imagination, or the members of the body, but to which the mind and the will give no consent, but retain an aversion to them; and so long they never can be truly and properly sins, which must be with full deliberation and consent. (Witham) --- The apostle here means to say, that he knew by experience that evil and not good dwelt within him, according to the flesh. He does not contradict this passage when he says elsewhere, that our members are the temples of the Holy Ghost: (1 Corinthians iii. 6. &c.) for good cannot be found in our flesh, inasmuch as it is corrupted by sin;; whence our Saviour says, "What is born of flesh, is flesh." (John iii.) But good is in our body, when our members under the influence of the soul, renewed by the Holy Ghost residing in it, are employed in good works. The meaning of this passage is, that although now healed and renewed by grace, he could have a perfect desire of doing good; yet still on account of the evil of concupiscence dwelling in his flesh, he found not himself able to perform all the good he wished, because concupiscence was always urging him on to evil against his will. (Estius)

I am delighted with the law of God according to the inward man. As long as the inward man, or man's interior, is right, all is right. --- (I perceive another law in my members, fighting, and different from the law of my mind: this is true in any man just striving against and resisting temptations, but not of the sinner, whose mind also and will consent to them. A man can never lose God's favour and grace, unless his mind and interior consent. --- These hold me as it were captive in the law of sin, or sinful inclinations, but which are in the members only. I cry out, who shall deliver me from the body of this death, from this mortal body with its sinful lusts, which if consented to would bring death to the soul? Nothing but the grace of Jesus Christ can secure me from such temptations, and by freeing me from this body, can make me perfectly happy; which cannot be hoped for in this life. But I have still this greatest of consolations, that I myself, with my mind and will, still serve God, and remain firm in obedience to his laws; but with the flesh, or in the flesh, I am subject to the law of sin, i.e. of sinful inclinations. --- We must avoid here two heretical errors; that of those late pretended reformers, who denying man's free will, hold the commandments of God impossible, even to a just man. See also the first heretical proposition of Jansenius. Next we must detest the late abominable error of those called Quietists, who blushed not to say that a man might yield and abandon himself to the most shameful disorders of the flesh, pretending that it was not they themselves, but sin and the devil that caused the abominations in their flesh. St. Augustine foresaw this frivolous excuse: (lib. i. de. nup. and Concup. chap. xxviii.) "That man (saith he) is in a grievous mistake, who, consenting to the concupiscence of the flesh, and to do what the flesh prompts him to, thinks he can still say: it is not I that do that," &c. (Witham)

7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. 8 But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. 9 For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. 10 And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. 11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. 12 Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. 13 Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. 14a For we know that the law is spiritual:—

To what he had said in the former paragraph, the apostle here raises an objection, which he answers very fully: What shall we say then? Is the law sin? When he had been speaking of the dominion of sin, he had said so much of the influence of the law as a covenant upon that dominion that it might easily be misinterpreted as a reflection upon the law, to prevent which he shows from his own experience the great excellency and usefulness of the law, not as a covenant, but as a guide; and further discovers how sin took occasion by the commandment. Observe in particular,

I. The great excellency of the law in itself. Far be it from Paul to reflect upon the law; no, he speaks honourably of it. 1. It is holy, just, and good, v. 12 . The law in general is so, and every particular commandment is so. Laws are as the law-makers are. God, the great lawgiver, is holy, just, and good, therefore his law must needs be so. The matter of it is holy: it commands holiness, encourages holiness; it is holy, for it is agreeable to the holy will of God, the original of holiness. It is just, for it is consonant to the rules of equity and right reason: the ways of the Lord are right. It is good in the design of it; it was given for the good of mankind, for the conservation of peace and order in the world. It makes the observers of it good; the intention of it was to better and reform mankind. Wherever there is true grace there is an assent to this—that the law is holy, just, and good. 2. The law is spiritual ( v. 14 ), not only in regard to the effect of it, as it is a means of making us spiritual, but in regard to the extent of it; it reaches our spirits, it lays a restraint upon, and gives a direction to, the motions of the inward man; it is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, Heb. iv. 12 . It forbids spiritual wickedness, heart-murder, and heart-adultery. It commands spiritual service, requires the heart, obliges us to worship God in the spirit. It is a spiritual law, for it is given by God, who is a Spirit and the Father of spirits; it is given to man, whose principal part is spiritual; the soul is the best part, and the leading part of the man, and therefore the law to the man must needs be a law to the soul. Herein the law of God is above all other laws, that it is a spiritual law. Other laws may forbid compassing and imagining, &c., which are treason in the heart, but cannot take cognizance thereof, unless there be some overt act; but the law of God takes notice of the iniquity regarded in the heart, though it go no further. Wash thy heart from wickedness, Jer. iv. 14 . We know this: Wherever there is true grace there is an experimental knowledge of the spirituality of the law of God.

II. The great advantage that he had found by the law. 1. It was discovering: I had not known sin but by the law, v. 7 . As that which is straight discovers that which is crooked, as the looking-glass shows us our natural face with all its spots and deformities, so there is no way of coming to that knowledge of sin which is necessary to repentance, and consequently to peace and pardon, but by comparing our hearts and lives with the law. Particularly he came to the knowledge of the sinfulness of lust by the law of the tenth commandment. By lust he means sin dwelling in us, sin in its first motions and workings, the corrupt principle. This he came to know when the law said, Thou shalt not covet. The law spoke in other language than the scribes and Pharisees made it to speak in; it spoke in the spiritual sense and meaning of it. By this he knew that lust was sin and a very sinful sin, that those motions and desires of the heart towards sin which never came into act were sinful, exceedingly sinful. Paul had a very quick and piercing judgment, all the advantages and improvements of education, and yet never attained the right knowledge of indwelling sin till the Spirit by the law made it known to him. There is nothing about which the natural man is more blind than about original corruption, concerning which the understanding is altogether in the dark till the Spirit by the law reveal it, and make it known. Thus the law is a schoolmaster, to bring us to Christ, opens and searches the wound, and so prepares it for healing. Thus sin by the commandment does appear sin ( v. 13 ); it appears in its own colours, appears to be what it is, and you cannot call it by a worse name than its own. Thus by the commandment it becomes exceedingly sinful; that is, it appears to be so. We never see the desperate venom or malignity there is in sin, till we come to compare it with the law, and the spiritual nature of the law, and then we see it to be an evil and a bitter thing. 2. It was humbling ( v. 9 ): I was alive. He thought himself in a very good condition; he was alive in his own opinion and apprehension, very secure and confident of the goodness of his state. Thus he was once, pote — in times past, when he was a Pharisee; for it was the common temper of that generation of men that they had a very good conceit of themselves; and Paul was then like the rest of them, and the reason was he was then without the law. Though brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, though himself a great student in the law, a strict observer of it, and a zealous stickler for it, yet without the law. He had the letter of the law, but he had not the spiritual meaning of it—the shell, but not the kernel. He had the law in his hand and in his head, but he had it not in his heart; the notion of it, but not the power of it. There are a great many who are spiritually dead in sin, that yet are alive in their own opinion of themselves, and it is their strangeness to the law that is the cause of the mistake. But when the commandment came, came in the power of it (not to his eyes only, but to his heart), sin revived, as the dust in a room rises (that is, appears) when the sun-shine is let into it. Paul then saw that in sin which he had never seen before; he then saw sin in its causes, the bitter root, the corrupt bias, the bent to backslide,—sin in its colours, deforming, defiling, breaking a righteous law, affronting an awful Majesty, profaning a sovereign crown by casting it to the ground,—sin in its consequences, sin with death at the heels of it, sin and the curse entailed upon it. "Thus sin revived, and then I died; I lost that good opinion which I had had of myself, and came to be of another mind. Sin revived, and I died; that is, the Spirit, but the commandment, convinced me that I was in a state of sin, and in a state of death because of sin." Of this excellent use is the law; it is a lamp and a light; it converts the soul, opens the eyes, prepares the way of the Lord in the desert, rends the rocks, levels the mountains, makes ready a people prepared for the Lord.

18. For, &c.-- better, "For I know that there dwelleth not in me, that is in my flesh, any good."

for to will-- "desire."

is present with me; but how to perform that which is good-- the supplement "how," in our version, weakens the statement.

I find not-- Here, again, we have the double self of the renewed man; "In me dwelleth no good; but this corrupt self is not my true self; it is but sin dwelling in my real self, as a renewed man."

19-21. For, &c.-- The conflict here graphically described between a self that "desires" to do good and a self that in spite of this does evil, cannot be the struggles between conscience and passion in the unregenerate, because the description given of this "desire to do good" in Ro 7:22 is such as cannot be ascribed, with the least show of truth, to any but the renewed.

22. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man-- "from the bottom of my heart." The word here rendered "delight" is indeed stronger than "consent" in Ro 7:16 ; but both express a state of mind and heart to which the unregenerate man is a stranger.

23. But I see another-- it should be "a different"

law in my members-- (See on Ro 7:5 ).

warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members-- In this important verse, observe, first, that the word "law" means an inward principle of action, good or evil, operating with the fixedness and regularity of a law. The apostle found two such laws within him; the one "the law of sin in his members," called (in Ga 5:17 , 24 ) "the flesh which lusteth against the spirit," "the flesh with the affections and lusts," that is, the sinful principle in the regenerate; the other, "the law of the mind," or the holy principle of the renewed nature. Second, when the apostle says he "sees" the one of these principles "warring against" the other, and "bringing him into captivity" to itself, he is not referring to any actual rebellion going on within him while he was writing, or to any captivity to his own lusts then existing. He is simply describing the two conflicting principles, and pointing out what it was the inherent property of each to aim at bringing about. Third, when the apostle describes himself as "brought into captivity" by the triumph of the sinful principle of his nature, he clearly speaks in the person of a renewed man. Men do not feel themselves to be in captivity in the territories of their own sovereign and associated with their own friends, breathing a congenial atmosphere, and acting quite spontaneously. But here the apostle describes himself, when drawn under the power of his sinful nature, as forcibly seized and reluctantly dragged to his enemy's camp, from which he would gladly make his escape. This ought to settle the question, whether he is here speaking as a regenerate man or the reverse.

24. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?-- The apostle speaks of the "body" here with reference to "the law of sin" which he had said was "in his members," but merely as the instrument by which the sin of the heart finds vent in action, and as itself the seat of the lower appetites (see on Ro 6:6 , and Ro 7:5 ); and he calls it "the body of this death," as feeling, at the moment when he wrote, the horrors of that death ( Ro 6:21 , and Ro 7:5 ) into which it dragged him down. But the language is not that of a sinner newly awakened to the sight of his lost state; it is the cry of a living but agonized believer, weighed down under a burden which is not himself, but which he longs to shake off from his renewed self. Nor does the question imply ignorance of the way of relief at the time referred to. It was designed only to prepare the way for that outburst of thankfulness for the divinely provided remedy which immediately follows.

25. I thank God-- the Source.

through Jesus Christ-- the Channel of deliverance.

So then-- to sum up the whole matter.

with the mind-- the mind indeed.

I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin-- "Such then is the unchanging character of these two principles within me. God's holy law is dear to my renewed mind, and has the willing service of my new man; although that corrupt nature which still remains in me listens to the dictates of sin."

(ver. 66). He prayeth these things may be increased and perfected. For they who said, "Lord, increase our faith," had faith. And as long as we live in this world, these are the words of those who are making progress. But he addeth, "understanding," or, as most copies read, "discipline." Now the word discipline, for which the Greeks use paideia, is employed in Scripture, where instruction through tribulation is to be understood: according to the words, "Whom the Lord loveth He disciplineth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth." In the literature of the Church this is usually called discipline. For this word, paideia, is used in the Greek in the Epistle to the Hebrews, where the Latin translator saith, "No discipline for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous," etc. He therefore toward whom the Lord dealeth in sweetness, that is, he in whom He mercifully inspires delight in that which is good, ought to pray instantly, that this gift may be so increased unto him, that he may not only despise all other delights in comparison with it, but also that he may endure any amount of sufferings for its sake. Thus is discipline healthfully added to sweetness. This discipline ought not to be desired, and prayed for, for a small measure of grace and goodness, that is, holy love; but for so great, as may not be extinguished by the weight of the chastening:...so much in fact as to enable him to endure with the utmost patience the discipline. In the third place is mentioned knowledge; since, if knowledge in its greatness outstrips the increase of love, it doth not edify, but "puffeth up." ...

64. But in that he saith, not, Give unto me; but, "O learn me;" how is the sweetness taught, if it be not given? Since many know what doth not delight them, and find no sweetness in things of which they have knowledge. For sweetness cannot be learnt, unless it please. Also discipline, which signifieth the tribulation which chasteneth, is learnt by receiving; that is, not by hearing, or reading, or thinking, but by feeling....

65. He addeth, "for I have believed Thy commandments," and herein we may justly enquire, why he said not, I obeyed, rather than, I believed. For commandments are one thing, promises another. We undertake to obey commandments, that we may deserve to receive promises. We therefore believe promises, obey commandments....Teach me therefore sweetness by inspiring charity, teach me discipline by giving patience, teach me knowledge by enlightening my understanding: "for I have believed Thy commandments." I have believed that Thou who art God, and who givest unto man whence Thou mayest cause him to do what Thou commandest, hast commanded these things.

66. "Before I was humbled, I went wrong; wherefore I have kept Thy word"

(ver. 68). Some also, "Sweet art Thou," or, "Good art Thou:" as we have before treated of this word: "and in Thy sweetness teach me Thy statutes." He truly desireth to do the righteousnesses of God, since he desireth to learn them in His sweetness from Him unto whom he hath said, "Sweet art Thou, O Lord."

68. Next he saith, "The iniquity of the proud hath been multiplied upon me"

(ver. 75). "O let Thy merciful kindness be my comfort, according to Thy word unto Thy servant" (ver. 76). Mercy and truth are so spoken of in the Divine Word, that, while they are found in many passages, especially in the Psalms, it is also so read in one place, "All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth." And here indeed he hath placed truth first, whereby we are humbled unto death, by the judgment of Him whose judgments are righteousness: next mercy, whereby we are renewed unto life, by the promise of Him whose blessing is His grace. For this reason he saith, "according to Thy Word unto Thy servant:" that is, according to that which Thou hast promised unto Thy servant. Whether therefore it be regeneration whereby we are here adopted among the sons of God, or faith and hope and charity, which three are built up in us, although they come from the mercy of God; nevertheless, in this stormy and troublesome life they are the consolations of the miserable, not the joys of the blessed.

77. But since those things are destined to happen after and through these, he next saith, "O let Thy loving mercies come upon me, and I shall live"

(ver. 77). For then indeed I shall truly live, when I shall not be able to fear lest I die. This is styled life absolutely and without any addition; nor is any life save that which is everlasting and blessed understood, as though it alone were to be called life, compared with which that which we now lead ought rather to be called death than life: according to those words in the Gospel, "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." ...

78. He then goeth on as follows: "Let the proud be confounded, for they have unrighteously practised iniquity against me: but I will be occupied in Thy commandments"

(ver. 93). Behold how it was that he did not perish in his humiliation. For, save God quickeneth, what is man, Who can indeed kill, but cannot quicken himself?

94. He next addeth: "I am Thine: O save me, for I have sought Thy righteousnesses"

(ver. 94). We must not understand lightly the words, "I am Thine." For what is not His? Why then is it that the Psalmist hath commended himself unto God somewhat in a more familiar sense, in these words, "I am Thine: O save me;" save because he wished it to be understood that he had desired to be his own only to his harm, which is the first and the greatest evil of disobedience? and as if he should say, I wished to be my own, and I lost myself: "I am Thine," he saith, "O save me, for I have sought Thy righteousnesses;" not my own inclinations, whereby I was my own, but "Thy righteousnesses," that I might now be Thine.

95. "The ungodly," he saith, "have awaited me that they might destroy me; but I have understood Thy testimonies"

Goodness to others (Menochius) in want. (Worthington) --- Discipline, or patience under chastisement. (St. Augustine) (Theodoret) --- Hebrew, "wisdom," or discernment how to act, and knowledge of what regards thy law and revealed truths. (Berthier)

Goodness, or sweetness, denoting the unction of grace. (St. Augustine)

Mercy. Jesus Christ, according to St. Jerome.

65 Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O Lord , according unto thy word. 66 Teach me good judgment and knowledge: for I have believed thy commandments.

68 Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes.

76 Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort, according to thy word unto thy servant. 77 Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live: for thy law is my delight.

93 I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me.

94 I am thine, save me; for I have sought thy precepts.

65-67. The reliance on promises ( Psa 119:49 ) is strengthened by experience of past dealings according with promises, and a prayer for guidance, encouraged by sanctified affliction.

68. Compare as to the Lord Jesus ( Ac 10:38 ).

75-78. in faithfulness-- that is, without in the least violating Thy faithfulness; because my sins deserved and needed fatherly chastisement. Enduring chastisement with a filial temper ( He 12:6-11 ), God's promises of mercy ( Ro 8:28 ) will be fulfilled, and He will give comfort in sorrow ( La 3:22 ; 2Co 1:3 , 4 ).

92-94. Hence the pious are encouraged and inclined to seek a knowledge of it, and persevere amidst the efforts of those planning and waiting to destroy them.

my delights-- plural, not merely delight, but equal to all other delights.

CHAPTER 12

Ver. 1.In the mean time when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people. The Greek has "the myriads of the multitude." A myriad contains exactly ten thousand, and is consequently taken for an innumerable multitude, as here.

Ver. 2.Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees. Beware, says Bede, that you do not imitate the hypocrites, for the time will certainly come when both your virtue and their hypocrisy will be revealed to all. I have explained the remainder on Mat_10:26.

Ver. 13.And one of the multitude said unto Him. My brother is injuring me, for he wishes to seize the whole of our father's property, and he will give me no share of it. Command him therefore to do me justice, for Thou by Thy authority canst do this with a word, which I cannot effect by many suits and much litigation. For it is Thy office to defend the right and assist the oppressed, for Thou art the Lord of justice.

Ver. 14.But He said unto him, Man, who made Me a judge or a divider over you? The word "man" is a Hebraism for an unknown person, as in Luke  22:58, Peter said, "Man, I am not," and Luk_22:60, "Man, I know not what thou sayest." The meaning is, This is a matter of the courts which dispose of secular questions: it has no part in Me, who teach and dispense a heavenly heritage. Christ does not here deny that He has judicial power, for He was the King of kings and the Lord of lords; but He wished to use His power over a covetous man to cure him of his greed, and to teach him to prefer heavenly to earthly things, and to give way willingly to them, according to His own words, vi. 29, "From him that taketh away thy cloke withhold not thy coat also." "He rightly sets aside earthly things," says S. Ambrose, "who came down to us for heavenly ones. Hence this brother is rebuked not undeservedly, for he would fain have occupied the dispenser of heavenly things with those of earth." At the same time He taught that ecclesiastics and spiritual persons ought not to meddle with secular things, but to employ themselves in divine ones, as S. Paul says, 2Ti_2:4, "No soldier on service entangleth himself in the affairs of this life." So S. Ambrose, Euthymius, Bede, and de Lyra from S. Augustine (serm. 196)that is, unless the faithful have any suit; secular Bishops in former ages used to settle these, as S. Augustine says that he has done. Lib. de Opere Monachor, c. 29.

And He said to them, "as well to His disciples," the Syriac says, "as to the multitude," especially to him who had spoken about his brother dividing the property, Take heed. In this contention of brothers how much ill was caused by avarice. Whilst one from avarice refused to divide the inheritance, the other, with too much cupidity and out of all season, urged the division. Strife and dissention arose among them. Not only should we guard against the lust of seizing what is another's, but also from too great cupidity to get possession of what is our own, for they who are too eager for earthly riches, neglect heavenly ones. S. Augustine, in his 28th Sermo. De diversis: "Not only is he avaricious who seizes what is another's, but he also who covetously keeps his own." The Arabic has, "See and beware of all evilfor avarice is the cause of all evil," as in 1Ti_6:10, "The love of money is the root of all evil."

For a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. That is, it is not because a man abounds in riches that his life is abundant, so as to be longer and happier on that account, for it is shortened and made unhappy from the anxiety and luxury which attend upon great wealth. The Syriac version has, "Life is not in the abundance of riches;" the Arabic, "Man has not abundance in his much wealth"that is, abundance does not prolong our lives, but rather shortens them. Theophylact says, "The measure of life is not contained in its abundance. For he who has great possessions does not live longer for them, nor does length of life attend upon the multitude of his riches;" and Euthymius, "Not because a man abounds in riches, does his life abound from such abundance. The measure of his life does not depend upon this." The meaning is, Thou, 0 man, who greedily seekest a heritage from thy brother, seekest it that thou mayest live long and comfortably. But thou errest; for the rich, from their cares and the gluttony they indulge in, often pass short and miserable lives. If thou wouldest live long and profitably, despise money, be poor in spirit, entrust thy hopes and wealth to God alone, for He is the only giver of length of life and happiness. To show this Christ adds the following parable. S. Augustine, On Abel and Cain, i. 5, at the end: "If thou seek treasures, choose the unseen and hidden, those which are to be found in the highest heavens, not sought in the veins of the earth. Be poor in spirit and thou shalt be rich by every reckoning; for the life of man consists not in the abundance of his wealth, but in virtue and faith. These riches make us rich indeed, if we be rich in God."

Ver. 16.And He spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully. The ground in the Greek (χώζα) means a large extent of land, a number of fields.

And he reasoned with himself saying, What shall I do? &c. Behold the care, behold the poverty of this rich manhe who is overflowing with wealth and receptacles has need of some place in which to store his goods. He is in doubt and perplexity, says Euthymius, as if he were really poor, though he is in truth wealthy. And S. Basil, in his homily on these words of Christ: "The earth did not return fruits but lamentations; for this unhappy man is afflicted quite as much as they who are oppressed by want, and he cries out saying, 'What shall I do?' Does not he who is in straits from his poverty utter the same words? and he who has to beg?" From all the good things that flowed in upon him he derived no gratification. They rather annoyed his mind and troubled him.

Ver. 17.My fruits. "Did he not," says S. Basil, "collect his crops and incur the reputation of avarice when he called them his own?" For how many dangers are there before the harvest is gathered in. The hail often beats it down, and the heat snatches it out of the very grasp, and rains suddenly rush down from the mountains and sweep it away.

Ver. 18.And he said, This will I do, I will pull down my barns, &c. All the harvests collected in past years. He took counsel of his cupidity, not of his charity, which would have said to him, "Spend them on the poor." "Dost thou want barns? Thou hast them in the bellies of the poor," says S. Basil; and S. Ambrose (Lib. de Naboth, cap. vii.), "Thou hast storehouses; the bosoms of the poor, the houses of widows and orphans, the mouths of infants. Let these be thy barns, and they will last thee for ever."  S. Basil again, in the homily above: "He is a despoiler who, when he receives what he ought to dispense, considers it as his own. The bread thou hast is the bread of the famishing, thy robe is the robe of the naked, thy silver that is buried in the ground is the silver of the indigent: wherefore dost thou wrong so many poor whom thou mightest support?" He adds, "And, when thou hast filled thy barns, what wilt thou do with the harvest of the following year? Wilt thou pull them down again and build new ones for ever? Thou wilt always be consuming thy substance and thy wealth in pulling down the old and building new, that the fruits which sprang from the earth may return to it again. Thou wilt not bestow them upon the poor, because thou enviest others the use of them, and thus, when earth restored them again to thee, thou deprivest all men of their benefit, nay even thyself; for as corn, falling into the ground, brings gain to the sower, so thy bread, if thou gavest it to the hungry, would bring thee much profit hereafter."

And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. This rich man again errs and commits sin. First, in promising himself very many years, when he was to die that night. He who promised himself a long life did not see the following day," says S. Gregory (22 Moral chap. 6). And S. Cyril, in the Catena, "Thou hast fruits in thy barns, 0 rich man, but whence hast thou many years?" Secondly, in giving himself up to gluttony and luxury, saying, "Eat, drink, and be merry like an Epicurean." For after death is no enjoyment.

Take thine ease. To the plague of avarice is joined that of sloth, says the Gloss. "If you had the soul of a sow," says S. Basil, "what else could you propose for yourself?you are so brutish, so ignorant of the soul's good, that you indulge it in carnal gratification." Being wholly of the flesh, you make yourself a slave to its lusts. An appellation worthy of you, was bestowed upon you, "Thou fool, this night shall thy soul be required of thee."

S. Ambrose (Lib. ii. de Interpell. in Job c. 5) says wisely, "A great incitement to fall away is an influx of prosperity. It makes us supine, puffs us up, causes forgetfulness of its author."

Ver. 20.But God said unto him. God said this, not in word but in deed, sending him a fever or some other mortal disease, and causing his conscience by this means to speak thus to him. "God said this to the rich man," says Euthymius, "through his conscience, which, as he felt death coming upon him, said this to him."

Thou fool. Because in thy plan, in which thou appearedst to thyself wise, thou now perceivest that thou wast a fool.

This night. "His soul, which would take no heed of light, and which was tending on to Gehenna, was taken in the night." Gregory, Moral., lib. xv. xi. II.

Shall be required. (Repetunt, απαιτου̃σιν, Greek). They require: that is, God and His angels, who are His instruments, not by misfortune but by the just judgment of God, as if against His will.

Thy soul. "That thou mayest give account of all thy fruits and of the riches and other property which God has given to thee." So Toletus. They seek it again, because thy soul does not die with the body, but is immortal; thy soul, too, is not thy own, but God's, who breathed it into thee and entrusted it to thee as a sacred gift. Rightly, therefore, does He now seek it of thee again by a sudden death. Hear S. Jerome on the death that is imminent on all (Ep. iii. to Heliodorus): "Xerxes, that most mighty king, who overthrew mountains, who controlled seas, when he had viewed from a lofty place an infinite multitude of men and an immense army, is said to have wept, because after a hundred years none of those whom he then saw would be surviving. Oh, if we could ascend such a tower from which we could see the whole earth under our feet! I would show you the ruins of the worldnations in strife with nationskings with kingsand, not the army of Xerxes alone, but the inhabitants of the entire globe, who are now alive, in a short space of time, passed away."

And the things which thou hast prepared, whose shall they be? "They shall not only not belong to thee," says Euthymius, "they shall not be thine; but thou dost not know whose they will bewhether thy heir's or a stranger's, a friend's or an enemy's;and this increases thy grief." S. James says, "They shall eat your flesh as fire" (v. 3); and S. Ambrose, "The things that we cannot carry with us are not our own. Virtue alone is the companion of the dead. Mercy alone follows usand mercy alone gains abodes for the departed."  S. Augustine: "The purse contains that which Christ receives not" (Hom. 48, inter. 50). Well says the wise man, "What fortune has lent let her take, what nature has changed let her seek again, what virtue has gained she will retain." See what I have collected from the Fathers on vanity and the perniciousness of riches on Isaiah v. 9.

Ver. 21.So is he that layeth up treasure for himself. Such an end and such a death did the rich covetous man meet who had not laid up treasure toward God. It will be asked, Who is rich towards God? I answerHe who has by alms and other good works many merits and safeguards hidden up as treasures before God, and who day by day hides more, as the apostle teaches at length, 1Ti_6:17 and following. See what is said thereon.

Secondly, "He is rich in God who studies to please God alone, who fixes all his hope and love on God, who rests wholly on Him, that he may be blessed by Him and made eternally happy." "He is rich," says the Gloss, "whose expectation is the Lord, and whose substance is with God." "The rich in God," says S. Augustine, "is poor in gold" (Serm. xxviii. de verb. Apostoli)that is, poor in spirit, as St. Peter was when he said to the lame man, "Silver and gold have I none; but what I have, that I give thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk," Act_3:6 On Ps. xl. he says, "When Christ was rich He became poor, that by His poverty He might make you rich. He enriches the truly poor, He brings the falsely rich to poverty. 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,'" Mat_5:3. "Let us endeavour," says Theophylact, "to be made rich in God, that is, to have trust in Him, that He may have our wealth and the granary of it, and not call our goods our own but God's, and if they are God's, let us not deprive Him of His own. This is to be rich in God, to believe that if I give Him all things and empty myself, nothing that is needful for my good shall ever fail me. God is my storehouse, which I will open and take from it all of which I have need."

Thirdly, He who is rich, that is liberal, in God, is charitable to the poor. For what is done to them God holds to be done to Himself and rewards it. "Let him," says Bede, "who wishes to be rich in God, not lay up treasure to himself, but distribute his possessions among the poor." The meaning is good, but it is not complete: for Christ is not speaking here exclusively of almsgiving, but of the true riches, which He declares to be not the fruits of the ground and the wealth of mines, but virtues and good works, for these procure us long life and blessing, as well in this world as in the world to come.

Fourthly, S. Augustine, in his 44th Discourse on the Temptation, teaches that "he is rich to God who is full of love and therefore of God." "God is love and he that abideth in love abideth in God, and God abideth in him," 1 John iv. 16. "If you have love you have God. What has the rich man if he have not love? If a poor man have love, what has he not? You think him rich perhaps whose chest is full of gold; and is he not so whose conscience is full of God? He is truly rich in whom God deigns to dwell." S. Augustine.

Lastly, The rich man toward God is one who abounds in every virtue. So S. Ambrose explains at length (lib. iv. epis. 27), to Simplicianus, whose words I have cited on 1 Peter iii. 4, "That which is not corruptible, the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price."

In allegory. The rich toward God are the blessed who enjoy God and all His works. S. Augustine (Serm. 74 de Temp.) teaches that the blessed alone are happy, both because they possess God, and want nothing. "He," he says, "is truly rich who wants nothing, but the blessed alone want nothingthe blessed alone are truly happy." He says in the preface of Psalm xli., "Christ was rich to the Father, and poor to usrich in heaven, poor on earthrich as God, poor as man."

S. Ambrose in his Epistle to Demetrias, wisely says, "By what price can the repose of this world be more fitly purchased than by the restoration to the world itself of all riches, all dignities, and all desires; and the purchase of Christian liberty by a holy and happy community by which the sons of God, from having been poor will be made rich, from patient will become brave, from humility be exalted?"

Ver. 29.Neither be ye of doubtful mind. (The Greek and the Vulgate say, "Be ye not lifted up on high.") Cornelius comments on this reading, this passage is explained in many different ways.  S. Clement of Alexandria (Pæd. lib. ii. 10) says, "Be not led away from the truth to wish for a higher wisdom than faith teaches."

Secondly, S. Augustine (Lib. ii. Quæst. 29, Evang. Quæst.): "Be not puffed up with pride because you have much food and clothing. For to be proud of having abundance of provision, is like a wounded man boasting that he has many plasters at hand, when it would have been well for him not to have needed any."

Euthymius: "Be not dragged down from lofty and heavenly concerns to earthly ones, so as to study and pursue not the former but the latter." Theophylact: "Be not unstable, always imagining what is above you, as they do who are not content with the present but are always looking on to something greater."

Fifthly and best: Be not anxious about the heavenly bodies over your headthe constellations of the stars and their coursesthe shifting of the cloudsthe breath of the winds, so as to judge from them of the future abundance or deficiency of your crops; as in Jer. x. 2, "Be not dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the heathen are dismayed at them;" and Ecc_11:4, "He that observeth the wind shall not sow, and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap." So Toletus, Vatablus, &c. Vatablus says, "Be not uneasy, as one who turns his face askance to the heavens from anxiety." Be not wavering in your minds as a pendulum in the air, looking to human assistance in different directions, and not anchoring on the providence of God." The Arabic version says, "Be ye not anxious." For all things point in this direction, that Christ will remove from us too great anxiety as to our support and clothing, and will impress on us a sure confidence in God by which to look with certainty to His Fatherly providence for all these things. The Greek word μετέωζος conveys the idea of one whose mind is in doubt and suspense and is unfixed, who will judge by the result, and is, as Gaza calls it, "wavering" (pensilis). Others render it, "Do not look out from afar off," or as we commonly say, Do not make a long discursus, as though you would have no room for a Divine Providence, or as if you doubted of it. And F. Lucas: Be not over-anxious, as looking out with anxiety for what may happen in the far distant future, and taking thought long before for your future bodily needs, and looking forward in the distant times to come with solicitude about your food and clothing, as S. Matthew clearly explains it, 'Be not therefore anxious for the morrow,'" Mat_6:34. All these words tend to the same point, forbidding us to show too great anxiety for the future, and directing us to resign it into the hands of Providence; to trust in it and securely rest upon it. Following this precept of Christ,  S. Thomas wished and ordered all his brotherhood to live for the day and reserve nothing for the morrow, but to give what was over and above their day's need to the poor; as being confident that God would provide for the morrow, as He did to Elijah and Paul the first hermit, sending them food daily by a raven; and as the children of Israel, who were certainly three millions, were fed daily in the desert with manna sufficient for their support, which was rained down upon them from heaven for forty years, while their clothes remained undamaged and perfect and even grew with the growing children.

Ver.32.Fear not, little flock. Fear not lest your food and raiment fail you, and lest, if you lay aside all anxiety and sell your goods and give to the poor, these things should not be added to you; if you seek firstly the kingdom of God. "Little flock,"little, because, firstly, the faithful were so few and these poor either in position and property, or in election and feeling, or in spirit; for they despised the riches of the world that they might strive after those of heaven, and therefore, they were little in the eyes of the world, they were of no account, and were despised. But now that the faith of Christ has so spread throughout the whole world, that kings and princes are subdued to it, it is no longer a little flock but a most ample and powerful church. Secondly, the flock of faithful men is little if compared with the angels who are without number, says Euthymius, according to the words, Dan_7:10, "Thousand thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him."

Thirdly, The flock is little if compared with the immense multitude of unbelievers and wicked. Bede adds, "It is called a little flock either on account of its humility or in comparison with the greater number of the reprobate. Then all the faithful, from the example of Christ, will willingly reduce themselves to Christian humility and poverty, especially the apostles and disciples of Christ. Hence Christ says, 'Sell that thou hast.'" It appears that "flock" (pusillus) is here put in the nominative instead of the vocative as is done in other passages. This nominative is more forcible and significant than the vocative would be. Wherefore, although we might explain it by adding something, e.g., Fear not, you who are a little flock, that the nominative might remain, yet the nominative is more tersely and strongly put for the vocative by adding nothing. Fear not then, 0 ye faithful, for although you are a little flock, God estimates you highly, and has a great and peculiar care of you, and Christ the Lord is your shepherd, who will feed you abundantly, according to the words, "I am the good Shepherd" (S. Joh_10:2), and the others (Psa_23:1-2), "The Lord is my shepherd, therefore can I lack nothing!"He shall feed me in a green pasture, and lead me forth beside the waters of comfort."  S. Peter Chrysologus (serm. xxii.). "A small flock to the world is a large one to God;" and (xxiii.) "Humility has gained what pride lost, and the little flock has subdued entire and various savagenesses (nations) by its meekness; for the little flock conquered and destroyed as many kinds of beasts as it subdued nations to the yoke of Christ. It did this not by bearing but by suffering, not by fighting but by dying for Christ."

It is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. To you who are not slow, not idle, not presuming on the mere mercy of God, but who hear My words and truly obey them; who therefore bear your cross after Me, mortify your passions, and are continually zealous in good works. "To give," not absolutely, but upon conditionsnamely, that you persevere in My faith and love and in obedience even to deathfor to Judas, who afterwards apostatised from Christ, the kingdom was not given. Christ gives the reason why the disciples, though a little flock and poor, should not fear lest needful things should be withheld from them, for He says, "Since God so loved you as to destine you for heavenly riches and the kingdom of God, He will assuredly not refuse you these worthless earthly riches, as far as they are necessary for your journey towards the kingdom of heaven, and that you may adorn it by your life and conversation." So S. Cyril, in the Catena, "He who has given you gifts of such great price, how will He be not merciful to you but suffer you to perish of hunger?"

Ver. 33.Sell what ye have, and give alms. This is a counsel, not a precept, as Pelagius would have it, who said that all Christians ought to be poor, from the precept of Christ. This is shewn by the words of Christ (Mat_19:21), "If thou wouldst be perfect, go sell that thou hast and give to the poor." That you may study evangelical perfection, sell what you possess and give the price to the poor, that you may follow Me who am poor in spirit in a like poverty, and with me despise earthly riches, that so you may obtain heavenly ones. Do this with the end that you may show yourselves not anxious for food and raiment, but that you depend solely on God, and look to Him for all those needs of life which He Himself has promised to all who seek His kingdom. For this reason the first Christians, following the counsel of Christ, sold all that they had and laid the price at the feet of the apostles, that they might distribute them among the poor believers (Acts ii 3, 4). So Bede: "Fear not that you will lack the needful things of life, but rather sell what you possess for alms. This is done worthily when he who lives by the labour of his hands, despises all things, and gives alms."

Provide yourselves bags which wax not old. Wax not old, and from which, therefore, the coin of spiritual alms cannot drop out and be lost, as the money of the world often falls from the old and worn-out purses of the rich. The purses that wax not old are the bosoms of the poor, and more especially the mind and memory of God, in which He keeps as in a purse your alms and good works, that He may return you the most ample rewards for them in the day of judgment. This He Himself explains, adding, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief draweth near, neither moth destroyeth. From this Chrysologus rightly concludes, "What have they to do with the earth who possess heavenwhat with human affairs who have gained divine onesunless, perhaps, they find pleasure in lamentations, choose labours, delight in dangers, love the most cruel deaths, and find the evil things that are brought upon them more pleasing than the good ones?"

Ver. 34.For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. This is a conclusion from the former, showing why our Lord said, "Sell that ye have," namely, that you may show that your heart is not in your money but in heaven. If, therefore, you place your treasure gained by alms-giving in heaven, you will show that your heart is fixed in heaven, not on earthin God, not in gold. For a man's treasure is that which he lovesholds dearvalues at a great price, on which he rests his hopes. See Mat_6:20.

Verses 35, 36.Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord when he will return from the wedding. The Syriac says, "Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning." So the Arabic, Egyptian, Æthiopic and Persian. Christ had said that it pleased the Father to give them the kingdom. Sell therefore what you possess, and give alms, that you may, by this means, purchase this kingdom. He now urges them diligently to prepare for it as being at hand, and girding their loins, and casting aside every care, to enter upon and take possession of it. That is, Be you prepared and furnished with all graces, and good works, and merits, especially almsgiving and contempt of riches, that when Christ our Lord from heaven, and His heavenly marriage and joys, returns to you in death to judge your souls, you may meet Him and be found worthy by Him of heaven, and be brought thither by Him. He alludes to the Eastern custom as among the Hebrews and Syrians, of wearing long robes, which they used to tuck up when travelling or at work, that they might not be in their way. (1Ki_18:46; Tobit 5:5.)

Mystically. We gird our loins when we restrain the luxury of the flesh by abstinence (continentiam), says S, Gregory (Hom. xiii.), and S. Augustine (Serm. xxxix. de Verb. Dom.), S. Basil on Isa xv., Bede, and others. Chrysologus (serm. xxiv.) says, "He commands us to gird our loins by the belt of purity, and to bind our whole body in the zone of virtue, that we may go forth quickly and expeditiously to meet our Lord at His coming."

We may either unite the two verses 35 and 36 into one, with Maldonatus, making them contain one and the same parable, or we may disjoin them like Jansenius so as to make them contain twoone, the lamps burning; the other, the servants expecting their lord from the wedding.

Hence this sentence is differently explained by different persons, for those who gird themselves are diversworkmen, ministers, travellers, messengers, soldiers, porters, eremites, and their girdles are divers. Workmen are girt with the girdle of labourministers, of their ministrytravellers and messengers, of the roadsoldiers, of warfare, whose is the girdle of hardnessporters, of constancy and patienceeremites, of abstinence, mortification, and penance.

Firstly, Of labourers girding their loins to their work, Theophylact speaks thus: "Be your loins girded;" that is, be ye ready in all ways for the work of your Lord, "and your lamps burning in your hands;"that is, labour not in the dark and without judgment, but take the light of the word, which will show you what is and what is not to be donefor this world is night." So Euthymius and Titus, meaning, "Be you ready to every good work."

Secondly, Of those who minister to Christ and those who are poor through almsgiving (to which the words immediately preceding apply) some explain it as followsGird up your loins, that you may be swift and nimble to minister to Christ and His poor. On this subject there is related a notable vision in the life of John the almsgiver, who was always very ready to give to any one who asked aims of him (chap. xxix.), when a certain noble was slower than usual in giving a loan, he was taught by a vision of a hundred-fold remuneration to be quicker.

Thirdly, Of travellers girding up their loins for a journey. Some explain it thus: Gird up your loins, that you may be expeditious on your journey to heaven, from which the Word has gone before, for a grand way to it remains for you. S. Peter, Epist. 1, chap. I, 13-15, alludes to the exodus (hence called Pasch) of the Israelites. from Egypt into the promised land, which was a figure of the saints passing from earth into heaven. For God thus commanded and directed the Hebrews in the eating of the paschal lamb which was to be sacrificed for their happy journey. "Thus shall ye eat it, with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet and your staff in your hand" (as if girded to begin a journey), "and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord's passover." The same has to be done by Christians in mystery. See what I have said thereon.

Fourthly, Messengers and legates gird their loins that they may be the swifter in performing their office. The angels who are the messengers of God, are therefore painted with their loins girded to show that they are swift and nimble to perform the commandments of God; according to the words, "Who maketh His angels winds, and His ministers a flame of fire." Heb_1:7. Christ therefore says, "0 ye apostles and disciples, gird ye your loins, that you may be my messengers throughout the whole worldproclaiming the faith of the Gospel to Greeks, Romans, Italians, Gauls, Spaniards, Indians, Brazilians, Japanese, Chinese, &c. Behold I send you: Go ye therefore, eagerly, swiftly, and ardently like angels," as Isaiah, "Go ye swift messengers to a nation scattered and peeled " Isa_18:2, and Isa_52:7, which S. Paul cites to the Rom_10:15, "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace."

Fifthly, Soldiers and athletes gird their loins that they may fight with more strength and courage. So do you also, 0 Christians, gird your loins with the girdle of strength and fortitude, that as ministers of Christ you may fight boldly against the devil, the flesh, and the world, and conquer and triumph, as S. Paul to the Ephesians, "Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness." On which I have commented at length. David also: "Thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle," Ps. xviii 39 and Job, "Gird up now thy loins like a man" xxxviii. 3; and Ex. xii. II, "Your loins girded," for they went armed as to take possession of the promised land. Hence Origen (Hom. ix. in lib. Judic.) thinks that allusion is here made to the army of Gideon who went up girded against the Midianites (Judg. vii.).

Sixthly, The porters, that they may be strong to carry heavy burthens, gird their loins. So, 0 ye faithful, do ye gird your loins with the girdle of patience that you may bear all adverse accidents with nobleness. So Cyril, in the Catena, "Be ye prompt to bear misfortunes."

Seventhly, The continent, that they may overcome the flesh and resist with success all the wicked incitements of lust, gird themselves with the girdle of continence, that is of self-abnegation and mortification, by which they reject all the wicked desires that are continually arising from concupiscenceand refuse them, and mortify them, and cut them off. So Simeon the Stylite. He tortured himself to such a degree by a knotted cord that the head (præfectus) of his monastery undid it, and dismissed him from the monastery, lest the weaker brethren should endeavour to follow his example, and from their failure become a disgrace. We have this from his disciple S. Antony, and from Theodoret, in their lives of him.

And your lamps burning. Christ, commanded us to be ready, with loins girt, for good works, and for our passage to heaven. He now fitly requires our lamps to be burning, for these are needed by night whether for work or for taking a journey. For this, our life is a mystical night, and is full of ignorance, errors, and the darkness of concupiscence; so that we have need of light and lighted lamps, that we travel on in that night and perform our work. He alludes especially to the marriage feast, which was celebrated at night with torches. That is, as in the night-time the servants await their lord on his return from his marriage with lighted torches, and go before him, so do ye watch and await me as I return to you from heaven by death, and go before me with spiritual torches, for you know not the day and hour of your death and the coming of Christ to judgment. If you know this you will be prepared and expect Him every hour, for so the virgins with their lamps lighted await the bridegroom. Mat_25:1 This parable of Luke is mostly the same as that of Matthew.

If it be asked what the lighted lamps signify, Theophylact answers, "Firstly, they signify that we ought to have the light of reason and discretion to distinguish what we ought to do and how we ought to do it; and secondly, we should have faith, burning with love and fervour of spirit, for this will show us what to do and what to avoid, will urge us to lofty acts of virtue and incite us to teach others the way of faith and salvation, and inspire them with the love of God, and not suffer any to live in the darkness of ignorance and sin." So S. Augustine (serm. xxxix.) on the words of the Lord; and so S. Jerome, or whoever is the author, on Jeremiah i., who says, "that to hold a lamp in the hand is the same as to preach the Gospel."

Mystically. "These things" says Cœlestine, "have their own mysteries. For in the girding of the loins is shown purity: in the staff, pastoral rule; in the lighted lamps, the brightness of good works" (Epist. ii ad Episc. Gall.) S. Gregory also, in his 13th homily, understands by the shining lamps, good examples. We hold lighted lamps in our hands, he says, when by our good works we show examples of light to our neighbours. Two things are commanded us, to have our loins girded and our lamps lighted, as are innocence and purity of body, and the light of truth in our actions, for purity is of little value without a good life, or a good act without chastity.

S. Augustine again (Lib. ii. Quæst. Evan.): "Girt loins means abstinence from secular affairs, lighted lamps, the doing of the same thing with a true object and right intention." "The lighted lamps," says S. Maximus, "are prayer, contemplation, and spiritual love." Lastly, Origen (Hom. 9 on Judges) thinks that allusion is here made to the torches of the army of Gideon, and that as their sudden discovery terrified the Midianites, so the apostles and martyrs, when their bodies had been shattered and broken by martyrdom, began to shine forth by their miracles, by which the persecutors were put to flight, and thus their doctrine and holiness shone throughout the world. As is clearly explained by Bede in his questions on the book of Judges, and Gregory at length, 30 Moral. chap. xxxii, and following; see Judges vii.

In your hands. These words are not found in the Greek, Syriac, and Arabic; nor in the Greek Fathers, Origen, Clement, Cyril, Chrysostom, S. Basil, Titus; nor in the Latins,  S. Ambrose, Cyprian, Hilary, and Augustine (Serm. xxxix.) But S. Gregory has them in his 13th Homily, Irenæus (lib. iv. cap. 72), and S. Jerome, on Eph. xvi. and Jer. i., as also the codices of the Holy Scriptures, corrected at Rome. "In your hands," therefore, means in your possession, that they may shed light on your works. Again, it means, that with their lamps in their hands they should go as His servants to meet Christ their Lord. From these words of Christ has arisen the custom of placing in the hands of the faithful, when in their last agony, lighted and blessed candles of wax, to show that they are going to meet Christ with faith and burning love and to excite them to it. So Amalarius, Rabanus and others who have written on Ecclesiastical Offices.

S. Cyril adds, in his fourth book on Worshipping in Spirit and in Truth, "Having your feet shod;" but no other has it, and therefore  S. Cyril seems to have inadvertently copied it from S. Paul, Eph_6:15.

Ver. 36.And be ye yourselves like unto men looking for their lord. This is the third precept of Christ, or rather the third part of the same precept. The first was to have their loins girt, the second to have their lights shining, the third to look for their lord. The first two are referred to this. The meaning is, Be you so prepared and ready as servants who expect their lord by night, that is, watchful, with loins girt and lamps burning. Hence Maldonatus thinks that this parable is one and identical, but consisting of three parts. Jansenius thinks that it is diverse; but it comes to the same thing, for, as I have said, this is another and the third part of the parable to which the other two tend and are directed. "They await their lord" says Toletus, "as those who, thinking themselves strangers, burn with the desire for Christ, and frequently, nay, continually think of Himhave their minds fixed on Him; for His love and hope bear adversity and all kinds of calamities with patience; fear to offend Him as having Him at length come to them, before their eyes; despise without difficulty whatever does not make for His coming; delight in whatever they know to be pleasing to Him; hold temporal things of small account because of their hope of eternal ones."

Symbolically, The above words, "Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning, and be ye yourselves like unto men looking for their lord," teach us (1.) That here we are as strangers journeying on to the heavenly kingdom. (2.) That we ought to outshine all others in virtue. (3.) That we should fix our hopes on the heavens, according to the words of 1 S. Peter ii. 11, 12, and 1 i. 13.

Again, S. Augustine (serm. 39 de Verbis Domini), asserts that these are the three subjects on which S. Paul exhorted Felix (Acts xxiv.) "Paul," he says, "taught continence, justice, and eternal life, for in these is contained the sum of the evangelical life." Secondly, in them are shown the three duties of the apostolic life: Firstly; the loins girded show that the Apostles were sent by Christ to preach the gospel through the whole world, and also to contend against all evil spirits, tyrannical rulers, unbelievers, and vices, according to the words of S. Luke, "I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy." Secondly, The burning lamps shew those who ought to illuminate the world by their doctrine and preaching, according to the words, "Ye are the light of the world," Matt. v. 14. Thirdly, "Be like unto men looking for their lord." This signifies those who ought to despise and tread under foot this present world and all things belonging to it, and to lead a heavenly and divine life, that their minds and hearts may be fixed on heaven, as in Phi_3:20, "Our citizenship is in heaven." S. Paul adds the result, the fruit, and the reward: "From whence also we wait for a Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of His glory." That is, We despise earthly things, we seek for heavenly ones, because we look with a certain hope for Christ, who shall beautify and make us glorious for ever. So Toletus.

These three things the early Christians always kept rooted in their minds, who as strangers upon earth and citizens of heaven willingly poured out their wealth, their honours, their pleasures, their very present life itself for Christ, because they surely looked for the coming of the Lord Christ after this short life, and for a happy and eternal one to be given to them by Him, which indeed is true wisdom and prudence. We may see this in the Pontiffs, Virgins, Roman Martyrs for three hundred years, from S. Peter to Silvester, all of whom rejoiced in ceaseless persecutions, rejoiced to be spoiled of their goods, to be imprisoned, scourged, slain, burnt, that they might enjoy (possess) Christ in heaven. Eminent amongst others was S. Cecilia, who, when flourishing in youth, beauty, wealth, nobility, of her own will most gladly gave up all things for Christ and even her life itself, in the midst of wondering, pitying, and lamenting friends, and went joyfully and exultingly to the place of martyrdom, saying, "This is not to lose my youth but to change it; this is to give clay and receive in return gold; to give a vile and miserable hovel and receive a palace most spacious, lofty, and magnificent, built of precious stones and gold; to give a perishable thing and receive one that knows no end and is subject to no death:" and soon after, "Our Lord Jesus Christ does not give pound for pound, but what He gives as a simple sum He returns a hundredfold, and adds besides eternal life." Thus is it in her Acts.

The life of a Christian then should be nothing but one looking for the coming of Christ, that He may deliver him from this life, which is so vile and miserable and subject to so many fears and perils, and bring him to His own kingdom in the heavens and to eternal life. And hence the prophets and Paul teach everywhere that the faithful ought to live in such holiness and contempt of the things of this world, as to look eagerly and with avidity to the coming of Christ. So the patriarch Jacob when dying and longing for the coming of Christ, "I have waited for Thy salvation, 0 Lord," Gen_49:18; and Job. "All the days of my appointed time I will wait till my change come," Job_14:14; and the Psalms, "I have waited patiently for the Lord," Psa_40:1, and "Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart, wait, I say, on the Lord," Psa_47:14 (Bib. version). Isa_8:17, "I will wait upon the Lord;" and Isa_25:9, "We have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the Lord, we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation." Jeremiah, Lam_3:24, "The Lord is my portion, therefore will I wait for Him;" Mic_8:7, "I will look unto the Lord, I will wait for the God of my salvation." So Joseph of Arimathæa, despising all fear of the Jews, buried Christ because he was looking, for the kingdom of God," Luk_23:51. S. Paul to the Romans, "The earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the revealing of the sons of God," Rom_8:19; and Rom_8:23, "Ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for our redemption, to wit, the redemption of our body;" Gal_5:5, "We wait for the hope of righteousness;" Phi_3:20, "We wait for a Saviour;" Tit_2:12-13, "We should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world, looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God;" 2Peter 3:11, "Seeing that these things are thus all to be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be, in all holy living and godliness, looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God? " and 2Peter 3:13-14, "But according to His promise we look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for these things, give diligence that ye may be found in peace without spot and blameless in His sight." Climacus (de gradu) says, "He is righteous who fears not death; he is holy and perfect who daily expects it." So S. Francis expected the Lord when he recited, as he was dying, the words of the Psalm, "The righteous shall compass me about, for Thou shalt deal righteously with me" (Psa_142:7), and so died. And S. Bernard rejoiced

Desidero te millies,

Mi jesu quando venies,

Me lætum quando facies?

Me de te quando saties?A thousand fold I long for Thee,

When, Jesu, wilt Thou come to me?

When shall I be, 0 Lord, set free?

And with Thyself full sated be?

Memorable and dreadful is the description of S. Bridget in her Fourth Book of Revelations, chap. vii.: "In Purgatory there is a third and higher place where is no other punishment than the desire of coming to God and of His beatific vision. They are there tormented who, in this life, had not a perfect desire of coming to the presence of God and of enjoying the vision of Him." Bede mentions a like place in Purgatory (Hist. v. 13), and S. Gregory (Dialogues iv. 36), and Dionysius the Carthusian in his (Dialogue de Judicio partic. artic. xxxi.), and Bellarmine (De Purg. ii. 6). For there is a sort of unworthy idea and undervaluing of the great vision and glory of God because it is not desired by the faithful and the saints with ardour. This is a sign that they did not sufficiently consider His riches and joys and weigh and ponder them as is to be expected.

Live then, 0 Christian, to thy Christ, not to the world; live to the Spirit, not to the fleshlive not to time but to eternity.

When He shall return from the marriage feast. This appears to be an addition to the parable, and not to be applied of necessity to what is signified by it. It may be applied thus. Christ in His Incarnation celebrated His espousals with the Church and all the faithful. When He went up into heaven He there consummated His marriage with the same Church, because by the glory of the beatific vision He is intimately and indivisibly united to all the Blessed through all eternity. When, then, He returns from the heavens to judgment, He appears to return from His heavenly marriage that He may introduce His new bride to it. His marriage then is the highest union and the highest joy that Christ has with the beatified in heaven. So S. Gregory, Bede, Theophylact, Euthymius, Toletus, and others.

That when He cometh and knocketh the they may straightway open unto Him. Christ here shows us that we ought to make our virtues ready in this life, that adorned by them in our death, we may go out with joy and rejoicing to meet Him, for there will be no time then for working, scarcely even for repentance; for the senses will be dulled and the mind oppressed by disease and scarcely able to think of its sins and its salvation. They, then, act with the utmost recklessness who, in this life, indulge in pleasures and say that they will repent on their deathbedsfor their repentance will then be forced and too late, and therefore will seldom be true, sincere, and earnest. "The Lord cometh," says S. Gregory (Hom, xiii.) "when He hastens to judgment; but He knocks (at the door) when by the ills of disease He designs death to be near, and we open to Him at once if we receive Him with love. Whoever dreads his departure from the body is unwilling to open to the judge, and fears to see Him as his judge whom he knows that he has despised. But he who is secure as to his hope and works, immediately opens, for he receives the judge with joy, and when his death is at hand he grows glad in the glory of his reward."

Ver. 37.Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when He cometh shall find watching. That is, with their loins girt and their lamps in their hands and expecting Him as He goes before, for He will give them their due reward, eternal blessedness, that they may enjoy the vision of God and all glory and joy for ever and ever. Hence the following explanation.

Verily, I say unto you, that He shall gird Himself, and make them sit down to meat, and shall come and serve them. Christ renders like for liketo those of His who are girt in heaven, He will gird Himself in heavenHe will serve His own servants. Those who have laboured in His service He will make to rest, and be at ease, and sup, and to those who minister to Him, He Himself, the King of kings and Lord of lords, will minister with wonderful condescension.

Shall come. The attendants and sponsi used to go round the tables to see if any one needed anything, that he might be supplied. The above words, it is plain, are to be taken as parables not in the letter. For in heaven there are no girdles, nor persons girded, nor tables, nor sittings at meat, nor any who come or minister: Christ only intends to say, Firstly, that he who is pre-eminent before all other good masters, and immeasurably greater, will show honour to His faithful servants in heaven, so as to make them, from slaves, become as lords with whom He may share His marriage feast, that is, the happiness and glory of heaven. Secondly, That He will do it with an endless number of dishes, that is, pleasure and delights both of soul and body. Thirdly, He will see that no one wants anything: not necessaries merely, but even luxuries, and whatever he wants and wishes for. Everything wished for, nay, that can possibly be wished for, shall be supplied in superabundance according to the words "I shall be satisfied when I wake up with Thy likeness," Psa_17:15; and "They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of Thy house," Ps. xxxvi 8. Fourthly, That He will give to each according to his merits this delicacy and that, for the words "He shall come" signify that there shall be a supper varied and most abundant according to the merits of each; and (those) "shall serve" (show) that it shall be most honourable, and the words "shall make them sit down," says Toletus, "shows that it shall be eternal."

He shall gird Himself. "God is girded," says Theophylact, "not as giving us the outpouring of all good things, for He moderates them. For who is able to contain all that God is?" This is seen from the seraphim who cover their eyes because of the brightness of the Divine light.

And make them sit down to meat. S. Dionysius the Areopagite, Epistle 9 to Titus, says, "The sitting at meat we consider to be rest from many labours, a life of safety and a divine kind of existence in the light and country of the living, full of all kinds of holy pleasure, with an abundant supply of all kinds of good things by which we are supplied, with Jesus rejoicing over them and placing them at His table and ministering to them and giving them eternal life, fully bestowing upon them and pouring into them all things good."

Symbolically, S. Gregory (Hom. 13) says, "He will gird Himself, that is, He will prepare for the recompense and make them sit downor, be refreshed by everlasting rest. For to sit down is to rest in the kingdom. The Lord again says, "They shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." The Lord will come and minister, for He satiates us with the brightness of His light. "Come" is said of Him when He returns to His kingdom for the Judgment; for the Lord has certainly returned to us since the judgment, because from the form of His Humanity He has raised us to the contemplation of His Divinity, and He comes to lead us to the contemplation of His brightness, when Him whom we see in the judgment in His Humanity, we shall behold, after the judgment, in His Divinity.

Ver. 33.And if He shall come in the second watch, and if in the third, and find them so, blessed are those servants. The first watch begins in the evening at the beginning of night, and lasts three hours. The second then begins and lasts till midnight. Then follows the third, which also lasts for three hours; then the fourth, which lasts till the dawn and the rising of the sun. Christ shows by these watches when we ought to watch and be prepared for the coming of the Lord; for the time of our death is uncertain, nor have we one day or even hour of our life of which we can be sure. The first watch is our childhood, the second our youth, the third our grown manhood, the fourth, our old age. So Titus and S. Gregory. "Christ does not," says F. Lucas, "mention so much the fourth and first watches, because He does not often come from the marriage so early or so late. The marriages are generally concluded about the middle of the night when the bride is conducted to the marriage chamber. Meanwhile, it teaches us that we ought always to watch even in advanced age and decrepitude, and that it is not enough to watch only for a time, or in youth, or in manhood, but we must persevere as long as this life lasts, because the hour of our death is uncertain, and also the coming of our Lord, even though He be long waited for." So S. Basil in his homily of not regarding secular affairs: "We ought to be prepared daily to depart from this life and to await the unchanged nod of God, that each, when the Lord comes and knocks, may immediately open to Him. Christ, besides, speaks only of the second and third watch, because sleep in them is deeper and more heavy, to show that He would come when men least expected Him; when they were sunk in profound thoughts and cares, and, as it were, were asleep; so that wise servants should then most especially watch and be prepared, that when they seem to themselves most healthful and prosperous they may look for a sudden and treacherous death."

Toletus gives another reason. "Christ," he says, "does not make mention of the fourth watch because there are very few, who, having put off good works till old age, are then found to be doing them; and He might have made them tardy if He had spoken of the matter." From this S. Gregory concludes (Hom. 13), exhorting all men to holy lives, and saying, "Our Lord would not reveal the last hour to us, that it might always be looked for, and whilst we are not able to foresee it, that we should without cessation be prepared for it." Because then the hours fly apace, be careful, 0 most dear brethren, to be occupied with the traffic of good works. Hear what wise Solomon said: "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might, for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave whither thou goest." Because then we know not the time of our death, and cannot work after it, we ought to seize the time allowed us before its arrival. Thus, by our being always in fear of it will death itself be vanquished.

Ver. 41.And Peter said, Lord, speakest Thou this parable unto us or even unto all? To all men, especially the faithful, as well to those who are now living as to those who shall live hereafter. Peter doubted of this, because Christ was accustomed to give some doctrines to the Apostles alone, others to all the faithful, and He had here said some things which seemed fitted only to the Apostles and men of perfect lives, as verses 32-37. The rest about watching and waiting for the coming of the Lord seemed to apply to all the faithful.

Ver. 42.And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward whom his lord shall set over his household to give them their portion of food in due season? Christ replied to Peter that He spoke indeed to all the faithful, but especially to him and the Apostles. For upon them were incumbent greater watching and care, that they might save not only themselves but others of the faithful as well. And Peter was the steward whom Christ set over His household, that is, His Church, as also the other Apostles, according to the words of S. Paul, "Let a man so account of us as of ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God."

That he may give them their measure of wheat in due season. (The Vulgate has mensuram tritici, on which Cornelius comments). Our, Lord alludes to the custom of the ancients, with whom slavery was common and severe. For servants had in abundance many things that Christians have now need of. They put one of the slaves over the mancipii, to distribute, every month, a measure (hence called demensus) of provisions and corn, wheat perhaps, or barley, if they were of inferior degree, as I have shown on Hos_3:2.

Secondly, wheat (tritici) may refer to time. For it is the duty of a good steward, like Joseph, when it is the season of wheat harvest, to dispense it frugally by measure to each head of a family, that it may not be sold or expended on the poor, and so there be an insufficiency for the household. I have explained the rest on S. Mat_24:45.

Observe the words "steward" and "portion." For a just steward does not give the same measure to all, but to each his own and according to his age, rank, and desert. It is the proper task of a steward to distribute what is appropriate to each. One kind and proportion of food is proper for an infant, and another for a youth, a third, for a full grown man, a fourth, for the agedone for a man, another for a womanone for a daughter, another for a servantone for sons, another for slaves.

From this Christ moraliter, teaches, Bishops, Pastors, Confessors, Preachers, that they ought not to set forth the same food of doctrine to all the faithful, nor (in general) speak of virtues to all only in a general way, but in particular they should instil into them such as are fit and proper to their age and position.  S. Paul, by his own example, taught the praxis of this parable and sentence when he gave one kind of monition and precept to sons, another to fathers, another to servants, Eph_6:1 and following, and when he wrote to Timothy, 1Ti_5:1-4; so to Tit_2:2, and following.

S. Gregory Thaumaturgus, Bishop of New Cæsarea, followed Christ and S. Paul, as Gregory of Nyssa writes in his life: "A mourner would bear from him what would comfort him; youth were corrected and taught moderationmedicine in fitting conversation was offered to the aged, servants were taught to be well affected to their masters, masters to be kind and gentle to those under their rule; the poor were taught to hold grace the only true riches, the possession of which was in the power of every one; he who boasted himself of his wealth was aptly reminded that he was the steward and not the lord of what he had. Profitable words were given to women, suitable ones to children, and befitting ones to fathers." And S. Cyprian, as Pontius the deacon wrote in his life, used to urge maidens to a becoming rule of modesty and a manner of dress which was adapted to sanctity. He taught the lapsed penitence, heretics truth, schismatics unity, the sons of God peace and the law of evangelical prayer. He comforted Christians under the loss of their relatives with the hope of the future. He checked the bitterness of envy by the sweetness of befitting remedies. He incited martyrs by exhortation from the divine discourses. Confessors who were signed with the mark on their foreheads he animated by the incentive of the heavenly host. The same, especially, and before all others,

Ver. 54.And He said to the multitudes also, When ye see a cloud rising in the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it cometh to pass. When you see a cloud from the west you say, It will rain. In the same manner Elijah, in the time of the three years' drought, when he heard from his servant that a cloud had arisen in the west, at once foretold that rain would follow, and it did so.

1Ki_18:44. The cause of this is natural; for Judæa has the Mediterranean on the west, from which by the force of the sun many vapours are exhaled, which, when condensed into clouds by the heat of the sun, produce rain, especially when the sun is also in the west; for it is then too weak to disperse these vapours and prevent them from condensing into clouds and dissolving in rain. But the countries that have the sea equally on the west, the south and the north have, equally, from these quarters, clouds as forerunners of winds, as the English, who have the sea on all sides of them. See Mat_16:3. It is necessary to human life, says S. Basil in the Catena, to watch the heavenly bodies, so that their warnings be not examined into beyond measure. It is of consequence to look out for, and guard against storms, and for the traveller to regard the changes of temperature, for the husbandman to consider the position of the sun and moon for his sowing that he may have an abundant harvest; for God has appointed these things for signs and for seasons.

And he said also to the people, When you see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway you say, There comes a shower; and so it is.55. And when you see the south wind blow, you say here will be heat; and it comes to pass.56. You hypocrites, you can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that you do not discern this time?57. Yes, and why even of yourselves judge you not what is right?

When He spoke about preaching, and called it a sword, His hearers may have been troubled, not knowing what He meant. And therefore our Lord adds, that as men determine the state of the weather by certain signs, so ought they to know His coming. And this is what he means by saying, When you see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway you say, There comes a shower.

And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, There will be heat, etc. As if He says, Your words and works show me to be opposed to you. You may therefore suppose that I came not to give peace, but the storm and whirlwind. For I am a cloud, and I come out of the west, that is, from human nature; which has been long since clothed with the thick darkness of sin. I came also to send fire, that is, to stir up heat. For I am the strong south wind, opposed to the northern coldness.

Or, they who from the change of the elements can easily when they like predetermine the state of the weather, might if they wished also understand the time of our Lord’s coming from the words of the Prophets.

For the prophets have in many ways foretold the mystery of Christ; it became them therefore, if they were wise, to stretch their prospect beyond to the future, nor will ignorance of the time to come avail them after the present life. For there will be wind and rain, and a future punishment by fire; and this is signified when it is said, A shower comes. It became them also not to be ignorant of the time of salvation, that is, the coming of the Savior, through whom perfect piety entered into the world. And this is meant when it is said, You say that there will be heat. Whence it follows in censure of them, You hypocrites, you can discern the face of the sky and the earth, but how is it that you do not discern this time.

Now we must observe, that conjectures concerning the stars are necessary to the life of man, as long as we do not push our searches into their signs beyond due limits. For it is possible to discover some things with respect to coming rain, still more concerning heat and the force of the winds, whether partial or universal, stormy or gentle. But the great advantage that is rendered to life by these conjectures is known to every one. For it is of importance to the sailor to prognosticate the dangers of storms, to the traveler the changes of the weather, to the husbandmen the abundant supply of his fruits.

But lest any of the people should allege their ignorance of the prophetical books as a reason why they could not discern the courses of the times, He carefully adds, And why even of yourselves judge you not what is right, showing them that although unlearned they might still by their natural ability discern Him, who did works such as none other man did, to be above man, and to be God, and that therefore after the injustice of this world, the just judgment of the creation would come.

But had it not been implanted in our nature to judge what is right, our Lord would never have said this.

When you go with your adversary to the magistrate, as you are in the way, give diligence that you may be delivered from him; lest he hale you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and the officer cast you into prison.59. I tell you, you shall not depart thence, till you have paid the very last mite.

Our Lord having described a rightful difference, next teaches us a rightful reconciliation, saying, When you go with your adversary to the magistrate, as you are in the way, give diligence that you may be delivered from him, etc. As if He says, When your adversary is bringing you to judgment, give diligence, that is, try every method, to be released from him. Or give diligence, that is, although you have nothing, borrow in order that you may be released from him, lest he summon you before the judge as it follows, Lest he hale you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and the officer cast you into prison.

Where you will suffer want until you pay the last farthing; and this is what He adds, I say to you, you shall not depart hence.

It seems to me that He is speaking of the present judges, and of the way to the present judgment, and of the prison of this world. For by these things which are visible and at hand, ignorant men are wont to gain improvement. For often He gives a lesson, not only from future good and evil but from present, for the sake of His ruder hearers.

Or our adversary is the devil, who lays his baits for sin, that he may have those his partners in punishment who were his accomplices in crime; our adversary is also every vicious practice. Lastly, our adversary is an evil conscience, which affects us both in this world, and will accuse and betray us in the next. Let us then give heed, while we are in this life’s course, that we may be delivered from every bad act as from an evil enemy. Nay, while we are going with our adversary to the magistrate, as we are in the way, we should condemn our fault. But who is the magistrate, but He in whose hands is all power? But the Magistrate delivers the guilty to the Judge, that is, to Him, to whom He gives the power over the quick and dead, namely, Jesus Christ, through Whom the secrets are made manifest, and the punishment of wicked works awarded. He delivers to the officer, and the officer casts into prison, for He says, Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into outer darkness. And he shows that His officers are the angels, of whom he says, The angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire; but it is added, I tell you, you shall not depart thence till you have paid the very last mite. For as they who pay money on interest do not get rid of the debt of interest before that the amount of the whole principal is paid even up to the least sum in every kind of payment, so by the compensation of love and the other acts, or by each particular kind of satisfaction the punishment of sin is canceled.

Or else, He here introduces four characters, the adversary, the magistrate the officer, and the judge. But with Matthew the character of the magistrate is left out, and instead of the officer a servant is introduced. They differ also in that the one has written a farthing , the other a mite, but each has called it the last. Now we say that all men have present with them two angels, a bad one who encourages them to wicked deeds, a good one who persuades all that is best. Now the former, our adversary whenever we sin rejoices, knowing that he has an occasion for exaltations and boasting with the prince of the world, who sent him. But in the Greek, "the adversary" is written with the article, to signify that he is one out of many, seeing that each individual is under the ruler of his nation. Give diligence then that you may be delivered from your adversary, or from the ruler to whom the adversary drags you, by having wisdom, justice, fortitude, and temperance. But if you have given diligence, let it be in Him who says, I am the life, otherwise the adversary will hale you to the judge. Now he says, hale, to point out that they are forced unwillingly to condemnation. But I know no other judge but our Lord Jesus Christ who delivers to the officer. Each of us have our own officers; the officers exercise rule over us, if we owe any thing. If I paid every man every thing, I come to the of officers and answer with a fearless heart, "I owe them nothing." But if I am a debtor, the officer will cast me into prison, nor will he suffer me to go out from thence until I have paid every debt. For the officer has no power to let me off even a farthing. He who forgave one debtor five hundred pence and another fifty, was the Lord, but the exactor is not the master, but one appointed by the master to demand the debts. But the last mite he calls slight and small, for our sins are either heavy or slight. Happy then is he who sin not, and next in happiness he who has sinned slightly. Even among slight sins there is diversity, otherwise he would not say until he has paid the last mite. For if he owes a little, he shall not come out till he pays the last mite. But he who has been guilty of a great debt, will have endless ages for his payment.

Or else, our adversary in the way is the word of God, which opposes our carnal desires in this life; from which he is delivered who is subject to its precepts. Else he will be delivered to the judge, for of contempt of God’s word the sinner will be accounted guilty in the judgment of the judge. The judge will deliver him to the officer, that is, the evil spirit for punishment. He will then be cast into prison, that is, to hell, where because he will ever have to pay the penalty by suffering, but never by paying it obtain pardon, he will never come out from thence, but with that most terrible serpent the devil, will expiate everlasting punishment.

In these words he reproaches them, that they knew well enough how to judge of the weather by the appearance of the heavens; but were ignorant how to distinguish the times: i.e. could not discern that the time marked by the prophets, for the coming of the Messias, was accomplished. In Palestine, the Mediterranean Sea, which was to the west, was accustomed to send clouds and rain; and the south winds, which came from Arabia and Egypt, very warm countries, caused dryness and heat. (Calmet)

54 And he said also to the people, When ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it is. 55 And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it cometh to pass. 56 Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time? 57 Yea, and why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right? 58 When thou goest with thine adversary to the magistrate, as thou art in the way, give diligence that thou mayest be delivered from him; lest he hale thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and the officer cast thee into prison. 59 I tell thee, thou shalt not depart thence, till thou hast paid the very last mite.

Having given his disciples their lesson in the foregoing verses, here Christ turns to the people, and gives them theirs, v. 54 . He said also to the people: he preached ad populum—to the people, as well as ad clerum—to the clergy. In general, he would have them be as wise in the affairs of their souls as they are in their outward affairs. Two things he specifies:—

I. Let them learn to discern the way of God towards them, that they may prepare accordingly. They were weather-wise, and by observing the winds and clouds could foresee when there would be rain and when there would be hot weather ( v. 54, 55 ); and, according as they foresaw the weather would be, they either housed their hay and corn, or threw it abroad, and equipped themselves for a journey? Even in regard to changes of the weather God gives warning to us what is coming, and art has improved the notices of nature in weather-glasses. The prognostications here referred to had their origin in repeated observations upon the chain of causes: from what has been we conjecture what will be. See the benefit of experience; by taking notice we may come to give notice. Whose is wise will observe and learn. See now.

1. The particulars of the presages: " When you see a cloud arising out of the west " (the Hebrew would say, out of the sea ), "perhaps it is at first no bigger than a man's hand ( 1 Kings xviii. 44 ), but you say, There is a shower in the womb of it, and it proves so. When you observe the south wind blow, you say, There will be heat " (for the hot countries of Africa lay not far south from Judea), "and it usually comes to pass; " yet nature has not ties itself to such a track but that sometimes we are mistaken in our prognostics.

2. The inferences from them ( v. 56 ): " Ye hypocrites, who pretend to be wise, but really are not so, who pretend to expect the Messiah and his kingdom" (for so the generality of the Jews did) "and yet are no way disposed to receive and entertain it, how is it that you do not discern this time, that you do not discern that now is the time, according to the indications given in the Old-Testament prophecies, for the Messiah to appear, and that, according to the marks given of him, I am he? Why are you not aware that you have now an opportunity which you will not have long, and which you may never have again, of securing to yourselves an interest in the kingdom of God and the privileges of that kingdom?" Now is the accepted time, now or never. It is the folly and misery of man that he knows not his time, Eccl. ix. 12 . This was the ruin of the men of that generation, that they knew not the day of their visitation, ch. xix. 44 . But a wise man's heart discerns time and judgment; such was the wisdom of the men of Issachar, who had understanding of the times, 1 Chron. xii. 32 . He adds, " Yea, and why even of yourselves, though ye had not these loud alarms given you, judge ye not what is right? v. 57 . You are not only stupid and regardless in matters that are purely of divine revelation, and take not the hints which that gives you, but you are so even in the dictates of the very light and law of nature." Christianity has reason and natural conscience on its side; and, if men would allow themselves the liberty of judging what is right, they would soon find that all Christ's precepts concerning all things are right, and that there is nothing more equitable in itself, nor better becoming us, than to submit to them and be ruled by them.

II. Let them hasten to make their peace with God in time, before it be too late, v. 58, 59 . This we had upon another occasion, Matt. v. 25, 26 . 1. We reckon it our wisdom in our temporal affairs to compound with those with whom we cannot contend, to agree with our adversary upon the best terms we can, before the equity be foreclosed, and we be left to the rigour of the law: " When thou goest with thine adversary to the magistrate, to whom the appeal is made, and knowest that he has an advantage against thee, and thou art in danger of being cast, thou knowest it is the most prudent course to make the matter up between yourselves; as thou art in the way, give diligence to be delivered from him, to get a discharge, lest judgment be given, and execution awarded according to law." Wise men will not let their quarrels go to an extremity, but accommodate them in time. 2. Let us do thus in the affairs of our souls. We have by sin made God our adversary, have provoked his displeasure against us, and he has both right and might on his side; so that it is to no purpose to think of carrying on the controversy with him either at bar or in battle. Christ, to whom all judgment is committed, is the magistrate before whom we are hastening to appear: if we stand a trial before him, and insist upon our own justification, the cause will certainly go against us, the Judge will deliver us to the officer, the ministers of his justice, and we shall be cast into the prison of hell, and the debt will be exacted to the utmost; though we cannot make a full satisfaction for it, it will be continually demanded, till the last mite be paid, which will not be to all eternity. Christ's sufferings were short, yet the value of them made them fully satisfactory. In the sufferings of damned sinners what is wanting in value must be made up in an endless duration. Now, in consideration of this, let us give diligence to be delivered out of the hands of God as an adversary, into his hands as a Father, and this as we are in the way, which has the chief stress laid upon it here. While we are alive, we are in the way; and now is our time, by repentance and faith through Christ (who is the Mediator as well as the magistrate), to get the quarrel made up, while it may be done, before it be too late. Thus was God in Christ reconciling the world to himself, beseeching us to be reconciled. Let us take hold on the arm of the Lord stretched out in this gracious offer, that we may make peace, and we shall make peace ( Isa. xxvii. 4, 5 ), for we cannot walk together till we be agreed.

54. to the people-- "the multitude," a word of special warning to the thoughtless crowd, before dismissing them. (See on Mt 16:2 , 3 ).

56. how ... not discern, &c.-- unable to perceive what a critical period that was for the Jewish Church.

57. why even of yourselves, &c.-- They might say, To do this requires more knowledge of Scripture and providence than we possess; but He sends them to their own conscience, as enough to show them who He was, and win them to immediate discipleship.

58. When thou goest, &c.-- (See on Mt 5:25 , 26 ). The urgency of the case with them, and the necessity, for their own safety, of immediate decision, was the object of these striking words.