Commentary on Luke (chapters 16–17)

Commentary on Luke

continued

Chapter 16

Luke 16:1–4

He also said to his disciples: There was a rich man who had a steward, and this one was accused before him of wasting his goods. And he called him and said to him: What is this that I hear about you? Render an account of your stewardship, for you cannot be steward any longer. Then the steward said to himself: What shall I do? For my lord is taking away the stewardship from me. I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. In this steward whom the Lord cast out from his stewardship and praised him for having looked out for himself in the future, we ought not to take everything for imitation. For we should not in any way deceive our Lord, so as to make alms from this very deception, nor should we consider those, by whom we wish to be received into the eternal tabernacles, to be debtors of God and our Lord, since it is understood in this place that the just and the holy will introduce those into the everlasting tabernacles who have shared their earthly goods with their needs. Of these also He says that whoever gives a cup of cold water to one of them in the name of a disciple, will not lose his reward (Matthew X).

But these parables are also contrary, so that we may understand if the one who committed fraud could be praised by the Lord, how much more will those who do works according to His command please the Lord God. Just as He also made a comparison with the unjust judge who was appealed to by the widow, to the Judge God, to whom in no way could the unjust judge be compared. By the term steward, we call those who have money, no longer masters of their own, but rather dispensers of another’s property. If they, following the example of this servant, foresee the time of the end of stewardship and the rendering of accounts diligently, easily stripped of all delight and love for earthly things, will take care to gather more friends for themselves in the future than riches in the present. He, anxiously pondering many things to himself, said: What shall I do? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. For once stewardship is taken away, we cannot dig, because, with this life ended, in which only we are permitted to work, we are no longer able to seek the fruit of good conversation, with the spade of devoted compunction. To beg is shameful. Namely, with that worst kind of begging, in which those foolish virgins were said to have begged, who, when the time of the weddings came, and the oil of virtues was lacking, said to the wise:

Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out (Matthew XXV). And of which Solomon says: Because of the cold, the sluggard would not plough, therefore he shall beg during the harvest, and it shall not be given to him (Proverbs XX).

Luke 16:5

Then, having called each one of his lord's debtors, he said to the first: How much do you owe my lord? And he said: A hundred measures of oil. And he said to him: Take your bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. Then he said to another: And you, how much do you owe? Who said: A hundred measures of wheat. And he said to him: Take your bill, and write eighty. A measure is a Greek amphora, containing three urns. A "corus" comprises thirty modii. Now, as to having the debtor write fifty out of a hundred measures of oil, and eighty out of a hundred measures of wheat, I think it means nothing else but that whatever a Jew did for priests and Levites should abound in righteousness in the Church of Christ beyond that of the scribes and Pharisees, so that whereas they gave tithes, these should give half, as Zacchaeus did not only from his fruits but from his very goods. Or certainly doubling the tithes, so that by giving two tithes, they exceed the expenses of the Jews. Unless perhaps someone thinks simply that every person who alleviates the indigence of any poor saint, either by half, or certainly by one-fifth, as twenty or fifty to a hundred, will be granted a sure reward of their mercy.

Luke 16:8

And the lord praised the unjust steward because he had acted prudently. For the children of this age are wiser than the children of light in their generation. Let the wise of this world hear, that they may abandon foolish wisdom and learn the wisdom of God’s foolishness, how greatly divine equity has valued their wisdom, whom He remembers not as truly wise, but wise in their generation. As it is said elsewhere: Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight (Isaiah 5). And also, by calling the lovers of eternal life children of light, He reproves those who are wise to do evil but know not how to do good as being children of darkness. The children of light and the children of this age are so called, just as the children of the kingdom and the children of perdition. For each one is named a child of that of which he performs the works.

Luke 16:9

And I say to you: Make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous mammon, so that when it fails, they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. He calls this money which we possess temporarily "unrighteous mammon" because mammon is interpreted to mean riches. And these are riches only for the unjust, who place their hope and abundance of happiness in them. But for the righteous, when they possess these, it is simply money, but they are not riches for them, except heavenly and spiritual. By fulfilling their spiritual need with these, excluding the destitution of the needy, they will be enriched with the abundance of happiness. But if those who give alms from unrighteous mammon make friends for themselves by whom they may be received into the eternal dwellings, how much more should those who distribute spiritual feasts, who give their fellow servants food at the appropriate time, be raised with the most certain hope of the highest reward?

Luke 16:10

He who is faithful in little is also faithful in much. And he who is dishonest in little is also dishonest in much. There are those who, ignorant of the bowels of compassion and works of mercy owed to their neighbors, nonetheless rightly consider themselves faithful in chastity, vigils, prolonged prayer, full faith, fasting, and other virtues which the love of God tends to produce. But, as the judge himself attests, he who is faithful in little, that is, in sharing money with the poor, is also faithful in much, namely, in that act by which he desires particularly to adhere to the Creator, and become one spirit with Him. But he who neglects to rightly dispense the temporal things he possesses, empties the glory of the eternal which he boasts of for himself. For how can he who does not love his brother whom he sees love God whom he does not see (1 John IV)? And as the same says: If anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him (1 John XIII)?

Luke 16:12

If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will entrust to you what is your own? It has been previously explained that unrighteous mammon signifies the riches of the wicked. Regarding which, the Savior elsewhere says the deceitfulness of riches chokes the word (Matthew XIII). But true riches, either the very joys of eternal life, of which it is written: What is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints (Ephesians I), or the abundance of spiritual virtues, by which one attains life. Of which Isaiah says: The riches of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. The fear of the Lord, that is his treasure (Isaiah XXXIII). [Luke 16:12] -- And if you have not been faithful in what is another's, who will give you what is your own? The resources of this world are alien to us, meaning, situated outside of our nature. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain that we cannot take anything out of it. But our possession is the kingdom of heaven. Our life is Christ. Our wealth is the fruits of spiritual works. Of which Solomon says: The redemption of a man's soul is his own wealth (Proverbs XIII). Therefore, he reproaches the Pharisees for fraud and avarice, who, since they were not faithful in their resources, preferring to have the Creator's common goods privately, did not deserve to receive Christ, whom that publican, Zacchaeus, who I mentioned a little earlier, offered half of his goods so he might acquire.

Luke 16:13

No servant can serve two masters. Because it is not possible to love both transitory and eternal things at the same time. For if we love eternity, we possess all temporal things in use, not in affection. [Luke 16:13] -- For either he will hate the one and love the other; or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. These words must be carefully considered. For who these two masters are, he subsequently explains by saying: [Luke 16:13] -- You cannot serve God and mammon. Let the greedy hear this, let him who is called by the name Christian hear that it is not possible to serve mammon, that is, riches, and Christ simultaneously. And yet he did not say: He who has riches, but he who serves riches. For he who is a servant of riches, keeps riches as a servant. But he who has cast off the yoke of servitude, distributes them as a master. But he who serves mammon, surely serves him who is rightfully set over these earthly things due to his own perversity, called the prince of this world by the Lord. Therefore, one will either hate the one and love the other, as it should happen. He will hate, of course, the devil, and love God. Or he will hold to the one and despise the other. He will cling, of course, to the devil when he pursues his temporal rewards. However, he will despise God—not that he will hate, but as those who usually put off His threats for their own desires, who flatter themselves with impunity because of His goodness. To whom it is said through Solomon: "My son, do not add sin upon sin, and say, 'The mercy of God is great'" (Eccl. V).

Luke 6:14

But all these things were being heard by the Pharisees, who were greedy and derided him. The Lord was indeed admonishing the scribes and Pharisees, not to think highly of themselves, not to presume on their own righteousness, but to receive sinners and publicans who repent, and to redeem by alms their sins which might incidentally appear; but they derided the teacher of mercy, humility, and frugality for two main reasons. Because, forsooth, either he commanded less useful things, never to be performed as if he were giving harmful orders, or certainly useful things, but being superfluous brought forward what they had already done. [Luke 16:15] -- And he said to them: You are those who justify yourselves before men. But God knows your hearts, for what is exalted among men is an abomination before God. They justify themselves before men, who indeed despise sinners as if they were infirm and hopeless, but consider themselves as perfect in everything and without any weakness, not believing that they have need of the remedy of alms. But this height of noxious pride, how justly it is to be condemned, is seen by Him who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and manifest the counsels of hearts.

Luke 16:16

The law and the prophets were until John; since then the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces their way into it. The Pharisees, who loved money, mocked the Savior disputing against avarice, as if He commanded things contrary to the law and the prophets, where many and very rich were read to have existed and yet to have been pleasing to God. But even Moses, if he followed the law, promised the people he governed an abundance of all the good things the earth produces, while if they neglected it, he predicted they would be struck by plague, famine, poverty, and all evils. To this He responded, showing that between the law and the Gospel, just as with promises, so too with commandments, there should be no small difference; and indeed greater ones for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, but lesser ones for the sake of the kingdom of earth, are commanded by the same one God who made heaven and earth. For there it is said: If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land (Isaiah 1). But here: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5). Therefore, appropriately, when he said the kingdom of God is preached, he added: and everyone forces their way into it. For it is a great force and a significant violence for us, born of the earth, to seek the seat of heaven, to want to possess through virtue what we could not hold by nature, and not only to despise earthly things but also the tongues of those mocking us for seeking such things. This indeed he added when he was mocked by the Pharisees for speaking of despising riches.

Luke 16:17

It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the law to become void. Lest they think that in what he said, "The law and the prophets were until John," he was proclaiming the destruction of the law or the prophets, he clearly declares that the greatest elements of the world will pass more easily than the smallest words of the law. And indeed: for the figure of this world passes away (1 Cor. 7). And elsewhere: "We look for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells, according to his promise" (2 Pet. 3). Yet not even the smallest stroke of a letter, that is, not even the smallest and seemingly trivial or superstitious things, are devoid of spiritual significance, as all things are summed up in the Gospel. And yet the law and the prophets were until John, because it could not be prophesied what was already clear had come through John's proclamation.

Luke 16:18

Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery. What he foretold concerning the law that must never be violated, he confirms with one example taken from it, so that from this one example they may learn that he came not to abolish but to fulfill the decrees of the law. For a fuller exposition of this testimony, let anyone who desires to see it search not our works, but the writings of the greater authorities. For the most blessed fathers, Augustine in the first book of "On the Sermon on the Mount," Jerome, and Ambrose in their commentaries on the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, and indeed many others in their various works have more than sufficiently discussed it.

Luke 16:19

A certain man was rich and was clothed in purple and fine linen, and feasted sumptuously every day. Few doubt that purple is the color of royal attire, dyed from marine shells. For shells, when cut with iron, emit tears of purple color, with which wool is dyed. But byssus, indeed, is a type of flax, exceedingly white and very soft, which the Greeks call πάπατιν. Therefore, the Lord had advised to make friends from the mammon of unrighteousness, that when we fail from this life, they may receive us into the eternal tabernacles: the Pharisees, hearing this, mocked. But he, supporting what he proposed with examples, showed that the rich man clothed in purple was tormented irredeemably in the infernal regions because he neglected to make an ally of the poor Lazarus, who might have received him into the tabernacles of life. Some, however, think that the precepts of the Old Testament are stricter than those of the New, but these indeed are surely deceived by inconsiderate reflection. For in that one, not holding nothing but rapine is penalized, where an unjustly taken thing is punished by a quadruple restitution, here indeed this rich man is not faulted for having taken from others but for not giving his own; nor is it said that he oppressed anyone, but because he elevated himself in the possessions received.

Hence, thus, it must be gathered with great earnest what punishment one who rips from others deserves, if he is struck with damnation of hell, who does not share his own. And there are some who do not think it sinful to wear fine and precious garments; which evidently if it were not a fault, the Word of God would by no means express so vigilantly that the rich man who is tormented in the infernal regions was clothed in byssus and purple. For no one seeks fine garments unless for vain glory, evidently to seem more honorable than others. This fault we can better perceive in contrast, for if the rejection of humble clothing were not a virtue, the evangelist would not have vigilantly mentioned concerning John: He was clothed with camel's hair (Matt. III). But it should be greatly noted by us, in the mouth of Truth concerning the proud rich man and the humble poor man, how great the order of the narrative is. Behold, indeed it is said: A certain man was rich. And immediately it is added:

Luke 16:20

And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus. Certainly in the populace it is more common for the names of the rich rather than the poor to be known. Why is it then that the Lord, when making a parable about a poor man and a rich man, mentions the name of the poor man, but does not mention the name of the rich man, except that God knows the humble and approves of them, and disregards the proud? Hence, to some who pride themselves on their miraculous powers, He will say in the end: "I do not know where you are from; depart from me, all you workers of iniquity" (Luke XIII). But to Moses, it is said: "I know you by name" (Exodus XXXIII). Therefore, He says about the rich man: A certain man. About the poor man, He says: A beggar named Lazarus. As if He were clearly saying: I know the humble poor man, I do not know the proud rich man. I acknowledge him through approval, but I do not recognize the latter through the judgment of reprobation.

Luke 16:21

He who lay at his gate full of sores, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table; moreover even the dogs came and licked his sores. The beggar Lazarus, full of sores, lies at the gate of the rich man. Concerning this matter the Lord accomplished two judgments at once. For the rich man might perhaps have had some excuse if the poor and sore-covered Lazarus had not lain at his gate, if he had been removed, if his poverty had not been obtrusive to his eyes. Again, if the rich man had been far away from the eyes of the sore-covered poor man, the temptation would have been less for the poor man in spirit. But while he placed the needy and sore-covered man at the gate of the rich man who abounded in delights, in the same situation he brought about the punishment of the indifferent rich man from the sight of the poor man, and again proved the poor man tested daily from the sight of the rich man. For certainly, poverty alone might have sufficed for his punishment, even if he had been healthy. Again, sickness might have sufficed, even if succor had been present. But to test the poor man further, both poverty and sickness crippled him, and moreover, he saw the rich man proceeding, supported by a train of attendants, while he was visited by no one in his infirmity and need. For that no one was there to visit him, the dogs testify, who freely licked his wounds. Therefore from one situation, Almighty God exhibited two judgments, while He allowed Lazarus, the poor man, to lie at the gate of the rich man, so that the impious rich man might increase his punishment and the tested poor man might grow toward his reward.

Luke 16:22

And it came to pass that the poor man died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. And the rich man also died, and was buried in hell. Abraham's bosom is the rest of the blessed poor, of whom is the kingdom of heaven, to which they are received after this life. The burial of hell is the depth of the torments that devour the proud and merciless after this life.

Luke 16:23–24

But lifting up his eyes while he was in torment, he saw Abraham from afar and Lazarus in his bosom, and he cried out, saying, "Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame." Oh, how subtle are the judgments of God, oh, how strictly is the retribution of good and evil deeds carried out! Certainly, it was said earlier that in this life Lazarus was looking for the crumbs falling from the rich man's table, and no one gave them to him; now it is said of the rich man that from his punishment, he desires water to be dripped from Lazarus's fingertip into his mouth. He who was unwilling to give even the smallest from his table has reached the point of seeking the smallest in hell. But it is very noteworthy what it is that the rich man, placed in the fire, requests his tongue to be cooled. For it is the custom of holy speech sometimes to say one thing but imply another from that very saying. Moreover, previously the Lord did not describe this arrogant rich man as indulging in loquacity, but as feasting superfluously. He did not narrate this about him due to loquacity but for having sinned with pride, tenacity, and gluttony. But because loquacity usually abounds at feasts, he who is here said to have feasted badly is reported to suffer more grievously in his tongue in hell. But with great fear, it must be considered what follows.

Luke 16:25

And Abraham said to him, "Son, remember that you received good things in your lifetime, and Lazarus likewise bad things. But now he is comforted here, and you are tormented." Behold, when it is said, "You received good things in your lifetime," it is indicated that this rich man had some kind of good from which he received good things in this life. Again, when it is said about Lazarus that he received bad things, it clearly shows that Lazarus had some kind of evil that needed purification. But the poverty burned away Lazarus's evils, and the happiness of passing life rewarded the goods of the rich man.

Luke 16:26

And in all these things, a great chasm has been fixed between us and you, so that those who would pass from here to you cannot, nor from there can they cross over to us. In this context, it is very much to be asked how it is said: Those who would pass to you cannot. For it is not doubtful that those who are in hell desire to pass to the lot of the blessed. But how is it said that those who have already been received into the lot of blessedness desire to pass to those who are tormented in hell? But just as the reprobates wish to pass to the elect, that is, to migrate from the affliction of their punishments, so the just, out of mercy, wish to go in mind to the afflicted and those placed in torments and to desire to free them. But those who desire to pass from the seat of the blessed to the afflicted and those placed in torments cannot, because the souls of the just, although they have mercy by the goodness of their nature, already bound by the justice of their Creator with such righteousness that they are moved by no compassion towards the reprobates. But after hope is taken away from the burning rich man, his mind turns to the relatives he had left behind, because the punishment of the reprobates' souls sometimes trains them uselessly into charity, so that even then they spiritually love their own, who here, while they loved sins, did not even love themselves. Therefore, it now follows:

Luke 16:27

And he said, "I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house; for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment." In this matter, it is to be noted how many signs of punishment are accumulated for the burning rich man. For to his punishment, both knowledge and memory are preserved. For he recognizes Lazarus whom he despised, and remembers also his brothers whom he left behind. Indeed, perfect vengeance for him would not be, if he did not recognize him in retribution. And perfect punishment in the fire would not be, if he did not fear the same for his own. Therefore, that sinners may be punished more in torment, they both see the glory of those whom they despised and are tormented by the punishment of those whom they loved in vain. But it is to be believed that before the retribution of the final judgment, the unjust in their rest behold some of the just, so that seeing them in joy, they are tormented not only by their own suffering but also by the good fortune of the others. The just, however, always look upon the unjust in torment, so that their joy is increased by seeing the evil which they mercifully escaped, and they render greater thanks to their Deliverer, as they more clearly see in others what they themselves could have suffered if they had been neglected. For those who see the glory of their Creator, nothing is done in creation that they cannot see.

Luke 16:29

And Abraham said to him, "They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them." But he who had despised the words of God thought that his followers could not hear this. Wherefore the rich man replied: [Luke 16:30] -- "No, father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent." To whom it was immediately answered with a true sentence:

Luke 16:31

If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead. For indeed, those who despise the words of the law will, by far, more hardly accomplish the commands of the Redeemer who has risen from the dead, as much as they are more subtle. And indeed it is apparent that those who refuse to fulfill His words, undoubtedly refuse to believe in Him. Who, according to the allegory, does this rich man signify, who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and feasted sumptuously every day, if not the Jewish people, who outwardly had the worship of life, who used the delights of the law received to shine, not to be useful? And who does Lazarus, full of sores, signify if not the Gentile people figuratively expressed? Who, when converted to God, was not ashamed to confess his sins, this one had wounds on his skin. Indeed, in a wound of the skin, the poison is drawn from the inner parts and erupts outwardly. What, then, is the confession of sins, but a certain breaking of wounds? Because the poison of sin is healthily revealed in confession, which was pestilently hidden in the mind.

But Lazarus, wounded, desired to be filled with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table, and no one gave him any, for that proud people despised admitting any Gentile to the knowledge of the law, who, inasmuch as they did not have the teaching of the law for charity but for pride, feared, as it were, losing their accepted wealth, and because words flowed down from their knowledge, as it were, crumbs fell from their table. On the other hand, the dogs licked the wounds of the lying poor man. Sometimes in the sacred word, preachers are understood by the dogs. For indeed the tongue of the dogs, while it licks the wound, heals it because the holy teachers, while they instruct us in the confession of our sins, they, as it were, touch the wound of the mind with their tongue. And because they deliver us from sins by speaking, they, as it were, bring back the wounds to health by touching them. Hence it is well that Lazarus means 'assisted' because they help him to be delivered, who heal his wounds by the correction of the tongue. It happened that both of them died: the rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen, was buried in hell, but Lazarus was carried by angels into Abraham's bosom. What does Abraham's bosom signify, if not the secret rest of the Father? about which the Truth says:

Many will come from the east and west and recline with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of this kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness (Matt. 8). For he who is said to be clad in purple is rightly called the son of the kingdom. He lifts up his eyes from afar to see Lazarus because, while they are in the depths of their punishment for their damnation, the unbelievers, they look up at the faithful in rest before the day of final judgment, whom they can never behold after their joy. What they see is far off because they do not reach it through any merit. He is shown to burn more intensely in his tongue when he says: Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame. The unbelieving people held the words of the law in their mouth, which they contemned to keep by action. Therefore, he will burn more where he showed he knew what he refused to do. He desires to be touched by the tip of the finger because he wishes, while given to eternal punishment, to partake even a little in the action of the just. To whom it is answered that he received good things in his life because he thought all his joy was in transitory happiness.

Indeed, the just may have good things here, but they do not receive these in recompense, because while they seek better, that is, eternal things, however many good things may present themselves, with holy desires they yearn for, the good things are scarcely seen. Among these, it is noteworthy that it is said to him: Remember, son. Behold, Abraham calls him son whom he does not free from torment, because the preceding faithful fathers of these unbelieving people, as they observe many swayed from their faith, do not deliver them from torments by any compassion, whom they nevertheless recognize as sons through the flesh. In torment, the rich man is said to have five brothers, for the same proud Jewish people who are already in great part condemned know those whom they left on earth, addicted to the five bodily senses. Therefore, he expresses the brothers he left by the number five because, while in hell, he laments that they do not rise to spiritual understanding. He asks for Lazarus to be sent to them, to whom it is said that they have Moses and the prophets. But he says that they do not believe unless someone rises from the dead. To this, it is immediately responded: If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone rises from the dead. Certainly, the truth says about Moses: If you believed Moses, you would believe me also. For he wrote of me (John 5).

It is thus fulfilled what is said through the response of Abraham. For the Lord rose from the dead, but the Jewish people, because they did not want to believe Moses, even disdained to believe Him who rose from the dead; and as they declined to understand the words of Moses spiritually, they did not come to Him about whom Moses spoke.

Chapter 17

Luke 17:1

And he said to his disciples: It is impossible that scandals should not come, but woe to him through whom they come. The Apostle also says: There must be heresies, that those who are approved may be made manifest among you. It is therefore impossible in this world, so full of errors and afflictions, that scandals will not come very often; but woe to him who, by his fault, causes what is inevitable to come through him. Although some false brother or Judas himself, who was preparing his mind for betrayal, may be understood here by the general sense, this passage yet looks back to the previous context, where the Lord, speaking about giving alms, is mocked by the Pharisees. For he who reproaches one speaking rightly certainly provides a scandal, that is, a stumbling block and ruin to weak listeners, especially if he, like the Pharisees, appears to possess knowledge of the law. Rebuking whom, the Apostle says: And the weak brother perishes by your knowledge, for whom Christ died (I Cor. VIII).

Luke 17:2

It is better for him that a millstone be placed around his neck and he be cast into the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to stumble. He speaks according to the custom of the province, by which this punishment was for greater crimes among the ancient Jews, that they be drowned with a stone tied to them in the depths. And indeed it is better for the innocent to end their bodily life with a punishment, however atrocious, than to deserve the eternal death of the soul by harming a brother. Rightly, however, one who can be scandalized is called little. For he who is great, whatever he sees, whatever he suffers, does not turn away from the faith. But he who is small in spirit and little, seeks opportunities to be scandalized. Therefore, it is most appropriate for us to consider those who are small in faith, that they not be offended by anything of ours, and leave the faith, and fall from salvation. It is indeed to be noted that in our good work sometimes we must avoid scandalizing our neighbor, but at other times, it must be contemptuously disregarded. Insofar as we can without sin, we must avoid scandalizing our neighbors. But if a scandal arises from the truth, it is better to permit the scandal to arise than to forsake the truth.

Luke 17:3

Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. We read something similar in Leviticus: You shall not hate your brother in your heart; you shall surely rebuke your neighbor and not bear sin because of him (Lev. 19). He therefore shows the order in which we can avoid scandals and escape eternal woe: if we take care not to offend anyone, if we rebuke the sinner with the zeal of justice, if we open the bowels of mercy and compassion to the penitent. Here it must be carefully noted that we are commanded not to forgive indiscriminately but to forgive the one who repents. And first, indeed, to rebuke the sinner with mercy, so that we may justly have someone to forgive afterwards. Therefore, whoever sees his brother sin and remains silent is no less a transgressor of the Lord's command than he who refuses to grant pardon to the penitent. For he who said, If he repents, forgive, preceded it with, If he sins, rebuke. Therefore, mercy on a brother is to be granted after rebuke, but certainly to the one who turns away from error by repenting, lest forgiveness be either too difficult or indulgence too lax.

Luke 17:4

And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turns back to you, saying: I repent, forgive him. The number seven does not set a limit for granting forgiveness, but either commands that all sins should be forgiven, or that the one repenting should always be forgiven. For often the universality of any matter or time is indicated by the number seven. Hence it is sung in the psalm: Seven times a day I have praised you (Psalm 119), which means nothing other than His praise is always in my mouth (Psalm 34). For elsewhere too, when Peter asked how many times he should forgive a brother sinning against him, and he said up to seven times, the Lord replied: I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven (Matthew 18), that is, four hundred and ninety times. So you should forgive your brother sinning that many times in a day, as he could not sin that many times. Therefore, if a brother sins against you and repents, you have the power, indeed the necessity, to forgive him, so that the Father who is in heaven may also forgive you when you repent and ask for mercy. But if he, having been reprimanded, neglects to convert and to do penance, consider what the judgment of truth decrees about this. If your brother sins against you, go and correct him, and so on, up to where he says:

If he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. And deservedly so, because under the name of the faithful he performed the works of the unfaithful. Certainly, we are commanded to give forgiveness differently to a brother who asks for it and differently to an enemy who persecutes. To the former, so that, having received forgiveness for the sin by which he harmed us innocents, he may join us in communal charity; to the latter, that while he wishes evil upon us and, if possible, does it, we may always wish and do good to him as far as we can. For David could not extend the same measure of forgiveness to his persecutors, deprived of the remedy of penance and despite compassionately mourning for them, as Joseph kindly and recognizably extended to his brothers, corrected with salutary contrition.

Luke 17:5

The apostles said to the Lord: Increase our faith. The Lord had said earlier: He who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much. And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? And so the apostles, who were already faithful in what is another's and in the very little, that is, in the contempt of earthly things, ask that faith be increased in what is their own and in what is greater. For no one becomes supreme suddenly, but in good conduct each one begins with little things, so that he may reach great things. For the beginnings of virtue are one thing, its progress another, its perfection yet another. Hence, earnestly seeking, they say to the Lord: Increase our faith.

Luke 17:6

The Lord said: If you had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree: Be uprooted, and be transplanted into the sea, and it would obey you. He compares perfect faith to a grain of mustard seed, which is indeed humble to the face and fervent in the heart, seen as vile to those looking upon it everywhere and appearing to have no strength, but when pressed it shows what perfection it carries inside. It should also be noted that a grain of mustard serves very beneficially for the purgation of the head. For if you thoroughly grind it and sift it with tepid fatty honey, and gargle with it fasting under the warm sun or in the bath, it purges all harmful moisture from the head even if it is quite thick, and it prevents imminent weaknesses from arising. Thus indeed, faith tested by the pestle of temptations, sifted through the sieve of discernment from all the surface of light thoughts, and sweetened with the honey of perfect love, not only exhausts all vices from the heart, which is the head of our inner man, but it also prevents them from being able to gather in the future. And the mulberry tree to be uprooted and transplanted into the sea, or simply placed, can be understood because it evidently is a sign of consummate faith commanding the elements with a word, so that what was said of one thing in particular is believed to apply generally to all.

Finally, the Lord says elsewhere when the fig tree withered by the word, and the disciples marveled: If you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what is done to the fig tree, but if you say to this mountain, be taken up and cast into the sea, it will happen (Matthew XXI). Or certainly by the mulberry tree, whose fruit and twigs redden with a bloody color and hence is called "rubus" in Latin, the Gospel of the cross is expressed, which through the faith of the apostles, having been uprooted from the Jewish people in whom it was held as in a stem of origin, was transplanted and planted into the sea of the Gentiles. The sense is also supported by the parables joined to this sentence, which deals with the ministers of the word. It is also helpful to note that mulberry leaves, when thrown on a serpent, bring death to it because the word of the cross, while bringing health to all, takes away all harmful things.

Luke 17:7

Which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep. This parable teaches that faith, the more excellent it is outwardly in virtues, should become all the more humble within in conscience. For a servant plowing or tending sheep is understood as any teacher of the Church. About whom the Lord said: No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God. And to another who testified his love for Him, He responded for the third time: Feed my sheep. [Luke 17:7] -- Who, when he returns from the field, would immediately say to him, "Come along, sit down," and would not say to him, "Prepare what I may eat"? The servant returns from the field when, after pausing from the work of preaching for a time, the teacher returns to his conscience, and, retreating from public speaking to the court of his heart, privately reviews his acts or words with himself. To whom the Lord does not immediately say, "Come along, sit down," that is, "pass from this mortal life, and be refreshed in the blessed abode of eternal life." For He will say this later, but in the meantime, after the shepherding and farming, He orders him to prepare what he may eat at home, that is, to display the labor of open speech, as well as the humility of self-reflection. For the Lord deigns to enter such a temple of conscience and desires to partake most willingly of such a meal. For behold, He says, I stand at the door and knock, if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me (Apoc. III).

Luke 17:8

And gird yourself and serve me while I eat and drink. To gird oneself is to restrict one's humble mind from all wandering thoughts by which the steps of duties are usually impeded. For whoever girds their clothes does this to avoid being entangled to the point of stumbling while walking. To serve God is to confess that one is insignificant in everything and has no strength without His grace. For a minister takes his name from a lower status, that is, subjection, just as a master takes his name from a higher status. Therefore, he serves the Creator who, considering his nature, fearing His judgements, humbles himself regarding his own virtues. [Luke 17:8] -- And after this, you will eat and drink. After, he says, I have been delighted by the work of your preaching, and refreshed by the feasts of your compunction, then finally you will pass and recline, and you will be refreshed forever with the eternal feasts of my wisdom.

Luke 17:9

Does he give thanks to that servant because he did what was commanded of him? I think not. So also you, when you have done all things that are commanded you, say: We are unprofitable servants. If a man, he says, demands not uniform but multiple service from a human servant, and yet does not give him thanks, how much more you, who can do nothing without me? You ought not to measure the merits of labors by the length of time, but by love and voluntary service, always increasing the former by new endeavors. Therefore say: We are unprofitable servants. Indeed, servants, because you were bought at a price. Truly unprofitable, because the Lord does not need your goods. If, however, he is unprofitable who has done all things, what is to be said about him who either could not accomplish what was commanded due to weakness, or, what is worse, despised it out of pride? Otherwise: We are unprofitable servants, because the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us (Romans 8). And elsewhere: Who crowns me with mercy and compassion (Psalm 103). He does not say with merits and works, because by whose mercy we are prevented, that we may humbly serve God, by his gift we are crowned, that we may reign loftily with him.

Luke 17:10

What we ought to have done, we have done. Indeed we ought to have, because he who did not come to be served, but to serve (Matt. 20), made us debtors to himself, so that, evidently not trusting in our own works, but always fearing his judgment, we may say with the prophet: What shall we render to the Lord for all that he has rendered to us? (Psalm 115). In order to show that he had faith like a mustard seed, humble and fervent, he prefaced, saying: I believed, therefore I have spoken, but I was greatly humbled (Psalm 116). To show that he did not trust in his own strength, he added, speaking in ecstasy: Every man is a liar (Psalm 116), to signify himself as an unworthy servant even after receiving the precious chalice of death, he exclaimed: O Lord, I am your servant, I am your servant, and the son of your handmaid, you have loosed my bonds (Psalm 116). He did not say, I have loosed them myself, I am sufficient to save myself, but You have loosed my bonds, I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving (Psalm 116). This then is the only perfection of faith in men, if, having fulfilled everything that has been commanded, they know themselves to be imperfect, and as long as they wander away from the Lord, always acknowledge the evils in themselves to lament, always remember the good that is missing that, with his grace aiding, they may progress.

Luke 17:12

And it came to be, etc., ten leprous men met him. Leprous men can not unreasonably be understood as those who, not having the knowledge of true faith, profess various doctrines of error. For they do not hide their ignorance, but present it as supreme expertise to the light and display the boasting of their speech. And indeed there is no false doctrine which does not mix some truths among the false things. Hence true things mixed irregularly with false ones, appearing in one argument or narration of a man, as in the color of one body, signify leprosy, diversifying and staining human bodies with places of true and false colors. These therefore are to be avoided by the Church, so that if possible, being far removed, they may invoke Christ with a loud voice. Wherefore it is aptly added: [Luke 17:13] -- Those who stood afar off, and lifted up their voice, saying: Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And well, that they may be saved, they call Jesus Master. For indeed, in his words, they show they have erred, calling him the humble teacher of salvation, and when they return to the knowledge of the teacher, they immediately recur to the form of salvation. For it follows:

Luke 17:14

When he saw them, he said: Go, show yourselves to the priests. And it happened as they went, they were cleansed. The Lord is found to have sent none of those to whom he granted these corporal benefits to the priests, except lepers, because evidently, the priesthood of the Jews was a figure of the future royal priesthood, which is in the Church, whereby all belonging to the body of Christ, the highest and true Prince of priests, are consecrated. And whoever has lacked the grace of the Lord, either by heretical depravity, gentile superstition, Jewish perfidy, or even fraternal schism, must come to the Church and show the true color of faith they have received. But other vices, like the health and as it were the senses and limbs of the soul, the Lord heals and corrects within through conscience and understanding. Indeed, Paul also, having heard the voice of the Lord: Why do you persecute me? and, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting (Acts 9), was nevertheless sent to Ananias, so that through that priesthood established in the Church, he might receive the sacrament of the doctrine of faith, and be approved in its true color. Not because the Lord cannot do all things by himself (for who else does these things even in the Church?

but so that the very society of gathered faithful, by approving and communicating the doctrine of true faith among each other, might impart in all that is said in words or signified in sacraments, as it were, one form of true color. Cornelius also, although his alms and prayers were accepted and heard by the angel, is nevertheless commanded to send for Peter, for the unity of doctrine and sacraments, as if to him and his it was said: Go, show yourselves to the priests; for as they went, they were cleansed. For Peter had already come to them, but they had not yet received the sacrament of baptism, had not yet spiritually come to the priests, and yet by the infusion of the Holy Spirit and the wonder of tongues, their cleansing was declared.

Luke 17:15

One of them, etc. This one, who returned glorifying God, signifies the devoted humility of the one Church to Christ. Who, well falling at the feet of the Lord, gave thanks. For he truly gives thanks to God, who, by repressing the thoughts of his own presumption, humbly sees how weak he is in himself, who attributes no virtue to himself, who acknowledges that the good deeds he performs come from the mercy of the Creator. Hence it is rightly added:

Luke 17:16

And he was a Samaritan. Indeed, Samaritan is interpreted as custodian. By this name, that people who, by giving thanks to Him from whom they received, attributes everything they received, is most aptly signified, in a manner singing from the Psalm: My strength I will guard for You, because You, O God, are my protector; my God, His mercy will precede me (Psalm LVIII). He falls moreover on his face, because he blushes from the evils he remembers having committed. For there man falls where he is ashamed. Hence also Paul, as if saying to some lying on their face, said: What fruit then did you have in those things of which you are now ashamed (Rom. VI)? On the other hand, concerning the rider of the horse, that is, about him who is lifted up in the glory of this world, it is said: His rider shall fall backward (Gen. XLIX). And again concerning the persecutors of the Lord it is written: They went backward and fell to the ground (John XVIII). What is this, that the chosen fall on their face and the reprobate fall backward, except that everyone who falls backward falls where he undoubtedly does not see; but he who falls forward falls where he sees? Therefore, the wicked, because they fall into things unseen, are said to fall backward, because they collapse where they cannot currently see what follows them. But the just, because they willingly cast themselves down in these visible things in order to be raised in the invisible, as if they fall on their face, because pierced by fear while seeing, they are humbled.

Luke 17:17

But Jesus answered and said: Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? If one is added to nine, a certain image of unity is completed. It results in such an embrace that the number does not advance further unless it returns again to one, so that this rule through the infinity of numbers is preserved. Therefore, the nine need one, so that they may be unified into a certain form of unity and become ten. But one does not need them to preserve unity. Therefore, as that one who gave thanks is approved and praised as a sign of the unique Church, so those nine who did not give thanks were made reprobate, excluded from the fellowship of unity. Hence, such will remain in the number of nine as imperfect. And rightly does the Savior inquire as if unknown, Where are they? For to know God is to choose; to not know is to reprobate.

Luke 17:18

There was no one found to return and give glory to God except this foreigner. According to the body, indeed, it is easy to see a man who does not have leprosy and yet is not of good spirit; but according to the significance of this miracle, it troubles the observer to consider how the world can be ungrateful. But now it is also easy to see that it may happen that anyone in the society of the Church acquires sound and true doctrine and argues everything according to the rule of the Catholic faith, distinguishes the creature from the Creator, and is thus revealed to have been free from the diversity of lies like leprosy, and yet is ungrateful to God and his purifying Lord, because, elevated by pride, he is not humbled by holy thanksgiving, and thus becomes like those of whom the Apostle says: Although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give thanks. For by saying they knew God, he shows they had been cleansed from leprosy, but nevertheless immediately accuses them of being ungrateful.

Luke 17:19

And he said to him: "Rise, go; your faith has made you well." He who devoutly fell before the Lord is commanded to rise and go, because he who, subtly recognizing his infirmity, humbly lies down, is ordered to rise through the consolation of the divine word to strong deeds, and with increasing merits daily to advance to more perfect things everywhere. But if faith made him well who bent down to give thanks to his Savior and cleanser, then disbelief destroyed those who neglected to give glory to God for received benefits. Therefore, this reading is linked with the previous one by that reason, that there it is determined through the given parable that faith ought to be increased by humility, but here it is more clearly shown by actual events, not only that faith recognized the rationale, but that the executed operation of faith is what makes the believer well and gives glory to the Father who is in heaven.

Luke 17:20

And being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them and said: "The kingdom of God does not come with observation." They ask about the time of the kingdom of God, because as below Luke revealed, they thought that the kingdom of God would immediately be manifested when the Lord came to Jerusalem. Thus even the apostles, led by this opinion, asking him after his resurrection said: "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts I); and elsewhere Cleophas said: "But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel" (Luke XXIV). However, the kingdom of God does not come with observation. [Luke 17:21] -- Nor will they say, "Look, here it is!" Because neither angels nor humans can observe when it will come, just as the time of the Lord's Incarnation, predestined by the most certain prophecies of the prophets, and declared by the proclamations of angels, so that his conception, birth, baptism, preaching, death, resurrection, and ascension to heaven were incessantly accompanied by signs from either angels or humans or certainly miracles.

Luke 17:21

Behold, the kingdom of God is within you. The Kingdom of God itself says it is placed within them, that is, in their hearts, where they believed it reigns. Hence it is written: The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that is, the word of faith we preach (Rom. X). [Luke 17:22] -- And he said to the disciples: The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. This is the kingdom of God, which we hope for to see the day of Christ, and indeed one day, because in that glory of bliss, the prophet sighing said: For one day in your courts is better than a thousand (Psal. LXXXIII), there is no interruption of darkness, no memory at all of misery or pain, which have gone away, clouding the light of perpetual peace. Therefore, it is good to desire the presence of this day, but not to imagine everything to us in the greatness of desire, as if the day of the Lord were at hand. Hence also the Lord aptly added while predicting the future:

Luke 17:23

And they will say to you: Look, there. Do not go, do not hurry. Although this sentence can be understood not only for a time, but also for a person. And indeed for a time, because there arose some who, calculating the courses of ages, would say they had found the certain year, day, and hour of the end of the world, against the authority of the Lord saying: It is not for you to know the times or the moments (Acts I). As for the person, because many heretics came against the Church, and many will come, who assert themselves to be Christs, the first of whom is Simon Magus, and the last, greater than others, is the Antichrist. Therefore, if anyone says to you, Look here, look there, that is, that in this or that person, or hour, the kingdom of God is coming or is going to come, they are not to be followed, who do not fear to seek higher things and to say unspeakable things.

Luke 17:24

For as a lightning flash that lights up from under heaven shines unto everything under heaven, so will the Son of Man be in His day. This is what the psalm says: God will come manifest, our God, and will not keep silent (Psalm XLIX), because clearly the second coming of the Savior will be not in humility as before, but in glory and majesty. And it is beautifully said: Flashing from under heaven, because judgment will happen under heaven, that is, in the midst of the air, as the Apostle testifies, who says: We will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air (I Thess. IV). But if the Lord will appear in judgment like lightning, then no one will be allowed to hide in his mind, because he is penetrated by the very brightness of the judge. Therefore, neither the time nor place of His coming can be observed by mortals, as He will obviously come blazing and sudden like lightning to all. However, this response of the Lord can also not incongruously be taken regarding that coming of His, by which He comes daily in the Church. For the Kingdom of God is within us, because He who will come as the judge of all in time now even presently reigns in the hearts of the faithful.

Indeed, the heretics often so disturbed the Church, each saying in his own doctrine that the faith of Christ remains, that the faithful of those times desired the Lord to return to earth, even for one day if it were possible, and by Himself to declare the truth of faith as it stands. And he said: And you will not see, because it is not necessary to return the Lord in this bodily vision, which once the brightness of His Gospel was spread throughout the entire world He has spiritually exhibited, and against all the assaults of apocryphal writings He has established with the undivided light of His love.

Luke 17:25

But first, it is necessary for him to suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. The Lord, speaking much about the glory of His advent, also took care to insert a few words about the terror of His passion so that when they would see Him dying, whom they had heard would be glorified, the pain of the passion would be mitigated by the hope of the promised glory, and at the same time, they themselves might prepare, if they love the glory of the kingdom, not to dread the danger of death. However, the generation He refers to is not only the Jews but all the reprobate, by whom even now the Son of Man in His body, that is, in the Church, suffers many things and is rejected. For although the head of this body, which indeed is ourselves, already rises freely above all, nevertheless He still feels the wounds of the reprobate through His body, which He holds downward.

Luke 17:26

And as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. He affirms the suddenness of His coming with many examples. For what He had compared to lightning quickly traversing everything, He compares to the days of Noah or Lot, when sudden destruction came upon mortals. [Luke 17:27] -- They ate and drank, they married wives, and they were given in marriage. This does not condemn marriages or food as per the insane doctrines of Marcion, Manichaeus, and Tatian the leader of the Encratites, as in these matters lie the supports of succession, and in those of nature, but, as the Apostle says: “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful” (1 Corinthians 6), it is rather the immoderate use of permissible things that is condemned. For it is not because they gave themselves wholly to these things and despised God's judgments that they perished by water or by fire.

Luke 17:27

Until the day Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Noah builds the ark, just as the Lord constructs the Church by uniting faithful men, as if they were smoothed timbers. He enters it perfectly completed, when, in the day of judgment, He illuminates it with the presence of His eternal vision. But while the ark is being built, the wicked indulge in pleasure: when it is entered, they perish because those who here insult the struggling saints will be punished with eternal damnation when they are crowned there. [Luke 17:28] -- Similarly as it was in the days of Lot, they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. The Lord, omitting that great and abominable crime of the Sodomites, mentions only those sins which could have been considered light or none at all, so that one may understand what punishment illicit actions may receive, if lawful actions and those without which this life cannot be led, when done immoderately, are punished by fire and sulfur. Therefore, the blessed Augustine, upon seeing the allurements of a harmful habit and stirred by just sorrow, exclaims: "Woe to the sins of men, which alone we shudder at only because they are unusual; yet the usual ones, for the purging of which the blood of the Son of God was shed, although they are so great that they entirely block the kingdom of God against them, by seeing them repeatedly, we are often compelled to tolerate all, and often by tolerating, even to commit some of them. And would that, O Lord, we do not commit everything that we could not prohibit."

Luke 17:29

But on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and sulfur from heaven and destroyed them all. Hitherto Lot in Sodom, that is, the chosen people among the reprobate, dwells as a stranger, both just in sight and hearing, and according to the interpretation of the name Lot, avoiding their crimes as much as he could. But with Lot departing, Sodom will perish. Because at the end of the age, the angels will go out and separate the wicked from among the just and cast them into the fiery furnace. Here it should be noted that the fire and sulfur which he recalls rained from heaven do not signify the very flame of perpetual punishment but the sudden advent of that day. For that perpetual fire will not come and punish the impious, but rather they will be cast out from the sight of the Judge and sent into the eternal fire, although we do not doubt that sulfur is also present in that fire, as testified by John, who describes both fires, that of sudden chastisement and of eternal burning, saying: "And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them, and the devil who seduced them was cast into the lake of fire and sulfur, where both the beast and the false prophets are and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever" (Revelation 20).

Luke 17:30

According to these things will be the day when the Son of Man will be revealed. Beautifully He will be revealed, because He who now unseen sees everything, then seen will judge everything. However, He will appear to judge at the very time when He will see all forgotten of His judgments, given over to this world. For although the end of the world is set to come at a predetermined time, yet with the love of many growing cold towards the end, the iniquity of the human race will increase so much that it must deservedly be destroyed along with the world it inhabits. Even now we see countless people so devoted to revelry and drunkenness, buying and selling, and other worldly matters, that it’s clear they provoked the wrath of the strict judge, but we fear that worse things are yet to come, things which no wise person can even think about without grave sorrow. For what was once said about one sinful nation to be destroyed: The sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure (Genesis 15), undoubtedly must be understood concerning the entire mass of the wicked to be condemned.

Luke 17:31

In that hour, whoever is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. So far it has been mentioned that the kingdom of God, that is Christ, will come not with observation, but unexpectedly; now it is shown by whom this same coming should be expected. Therefore, he is on the housetop who, exceeding the carnal, lives spiritually as if in free air. His goods in the house are carnal desires, which he had loved too much, but seeking heavenly things had left in this world, which he must by no means retrieve with the judgment impending. For He does not speak of that hour when the judge comes, but when He is about to come, not when the fire descended on Sodom, but when Lot is compelled to leave, or rather when he, hesitating, is seized and taken out by the angels. For no one, when the judge is already coming and appearing, would be able or willing to descend into this world to take anything from it. But this hour is happening today as we anxiously watch for the coming judge, not knowing when He will come. About this, John said: "Dear children, this is the last hour" (1 John 2).

Luke 17:31

And he who is in the field, likewise, let him not turn back. He who works in the Church, and like Paul and Apollo plants and waters, let him not look back to secular hope, to which he has renounced. [Luke 17:32] -- Remember Lot’s wife. Lot’s wife signifies those who in tribulation look back and turn away from the hope of God’s promise. Therefore, she was made into a pillar of salt, as a warning to people not to do this, as if they season their heart, so that they may not be foolish. [Luke 17:33] -- Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it. This sentence can be correctly understood in two ways, but both meanings refer to one single end, namely, to suffer adversities for Christ, indeed not to fear to endure death itself. For he who, with death threatening from a persecutor, if he does not deny Christ, prefers rather to save his life for a time by denying, undoubtedly prepares it for eternal perdition. Likewise, he who seeks the eternal salvation of his soul, does not doubt to lose it temporally into the hands of persecutors, that is, to give it into death. But to both meanings, what follows fits aptly:

Luke 17:33

And whoever loses it will save it. That is, whoever loses it here, will save it there, he who has delivered it to death for Christ, considering it all day as a sheep to be slaughtered (Romans 8), then with Christ rising and helping, will find it free for the sake of the name of Christ. [Luke 17:34] -- I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed. The Lord had said above that he who is in the field should not turn back, so that you would not think that it was said only about those who openly intend to turn back from the field, that is, to deny the Lord. He continues to show that there are some who, even though they seem to have their faces turned forward, still look back with their mind and spirit. Therefore, in that night, he said, in that tribulation so dark, that even the elect might be led astray, if it were possible (Matthew 24), there will be two in one bed, those namely who choose ease and rest, neither occupied with secular affairs, nor with ecclesiastical matters, which their rest by the name of bed signifies.

Luke 17:34

One will be taken, and the other left. It is not as if it was said about two men, but about two kinds of affections. For he who has strived for continence for the sake of God, so that living without anxiety he may consider the things of God (I Cor. VII), will be taken by God; but he who has wounded the monastic state of life with which he is imbued, either from love of human praise or by any other corruption of vices, he, as to where he is to be left, the lamentations of Jeremiah hint, who describing the fall of any idle and sinful soul under the image of Judea, says: The enemies have seen her, and have laughed at her Sabbaths (Lam. I). [Luke 17:35] -- There will be two grinding at the mill. He calls those grinding at the mill who are placed among the people and are governed by teachers, doing the things of this world, whom he also signifies by the name of women, because, as I said, it is expedient for them to be governed by the counsels of the skilled. And he said grinding, on account of the circle and cycle of temporal affairs. Yet he said in one grinding, inasmuch as they provide for the uses of the Church out of their own resources and businesses. For every action of this world is a mill, which while it gathers many cares, it turns human minds as if in a circle, and casts forth like flour, because it constantly generates minute thoughts in a restless heart.

Luke 17:35

One will be taken, and the other left. That part which has engaged in marriage only for the love of offspring and has dispensed earthly substance for acquiring heavenly things will be taken; but that which has served marriages for the allurements of the flesh, and whatever earthly things it may have offered to the Church or the poor, did so in order that, as if having made a bargain with the Lord, it might more abundantly abound with these things, will be left.

Luke 17:36

Two will be in the field; one will be taken, and the other left. Just as above, with two in one bed and two women grinding at the mill, so here it is understood to be in one field. This signifies those who labor in the ministry of the Church, as in the field of God, to whom his farmer said: "You are God's field" (1 Corinthians 3:9). The one who will be taken is the one who does not adulterate the word of God (2 Corinthians 2:17), but speaks in Christ truthfully before God. The one who preaches Christ insincerely, but out of selfish motivation, will be left behind. I do not think there are other kinds of people within the Church, except these three pairs distinguished by being taken or left behind, although within each pair many diversities of pursuits and wills can be found, converging nevertheless towards harmony and unity. Therefore, the prophet Ezekiel saw three who were saved: Noah, Daniel, and Job, in whom preachers, those who live in continence, and those who are married, are represented. For Noah ruled the ark on the waters, and thus held the figure of those who govern. Daniel, devoted to abstinence even in the royal court, thus signified the life of those who live in continence. Job, placed in marriage and taking care of his own household, pleased God, and through him the order of good spouses is worthily represented.

Luke 17:37

Answering they say to him: Where, Lord? He said to them: Where the body is, there the eagles will be gathered. Two Saviors were asked, where the good will be taken, and where the evil will be left, he said one thing, but left another to be understood. For by asserting that the saints will be with him, obviously the reprobates will be separated from his vision, and therefore they will be condemned nowhere else than with the devil, he implies. Therefore, wherever the Lord will be in body, the elect will be gathered there, who by imitating his passion and humility, are as if filled with his flesh, whose youth, like eagles, will be renewed in the resurrection (Psalm 103). It also harmonizes with the efforts of those who thirst to contemplate the glory of the supreme majesty with their whole mind, as the eagle surpasses other birds in flight and joyfully fixes its eyes on the sun's rays. It also fits that, for the protection of its nests, the eagle is accustomed to bring a resisting stone so that perhaps a serpent may not approach, or dare to touch its chicks or eggs. Because evidently every wise person, to defend his actions and thoughts from the incursion of the ancient serpent, needs to always keep in his heart that stone, cut from the mountain without hands, which laid waste to the devil's kingdom (Daniel 2), that is, the faith and love of Christ.