Commentary on Luke (chapters 20–21)
Commentary on Luke
continued
Chapter 20
Luke 20:1
And it happened on one of the days, as he was teaching the people in the temple and proclaiming the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came to him, and they said to him, "Tell us by what authority you do these things." In different ways, they construct the same slander as above, when they said, "In Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he casts out demons" (Luke XI). For when they say, "By what authority do you do these things?" they doubt the authority of God, and they want it to be understood that it is by the power of the devil that he does these things. Adding also: [Luke 20:2] -- "Or who is it that gave you this authority?" They most manifestly deny the Son of God, whom they think does signs not by his own power, but by that of others.
Luke 20:3
But answering, he said to them, "I will also ask you one thing. Answer me. Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?" The Lord could have confuted the slander of the tempters with an open answer, but prudently he asks so that by their own silence or response, they might be condemned. [Luke 20:5] -- But they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?' He whom you confess had prophecy from heaven bore witness to me, and from him you heard by what authority I do these things. [Luke 20:6] -- But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone us. For they are certain that John is a prophet." Therefore, they saw that whatever they responded, they would fall into a trap, fearing stoning, but fearing the confession of the truth even more.
Luke 20:7–8
And they answered that they did not know whence he was. And Jesus said to them: Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things. I do not tell you what I know, because you do not wish to confess what you know. Rejected most justly, they certainly left confused, and what is said in the psalm by the Prophet God the Father was fulfilled: I have prepared a lamp for my Christ (Psalm CXXXI), that is, John himself: I will clothe his enemies with confusion (Ibid.). However, it should be noted that the knowledge of the truth is to be concealed from those seeking for two main reasons, namely when the one who seeks is either less capable of understanding what he seeks, or is unworthy out of hatred or contempt for the truth itself that it should be revealed to him. For the sake of the one, the Lord said: I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now (John XVI). For the other reason, however, he instructs the disciples: Do not give what is holy to dogs or cast your pearls before swine (Matthew VII).
Luke 20:9
He began to tell the people this parable: A man planted a vineyard, and let it out to tenants, and went into another country for a long time. While the Lord was teaching the people and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders gathered and questioned, testing in what authority he performed signs. Overcoming them with his wisdom, the Lord proceeded with what he had begun. Indeed, while they were listening, he addressed the people all the more, because they listened to his words more willingly. Introducing a parable, he intended to show them their impiety and to teach that the kingdom of God would be transferred to the nations. Therefore, the man who planted the vineyard is the same one who, according to another parable, hired laborers in his vineyard (Matthew 20). For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel (Isaiah 5). The tenants are the laborers who are said to be hired at the first, third, sixth, and ninth hours to cultivate the vineyard. However, he went into another country, not by changing his location. For where can God be absent from, who says: I fill heaven and earth (Jeremiah 23)? and elsewhere: I am a God who is near, and not far off, says the Lord? But he is said to go away from the vineyard to leave the tenants free will in their working. This is similar to what is said through Isaiah, when the vineyard was let out to tenants: And I looked for it to yield grapes, but it produced wild grapes (Isaiah 5).
Luke 20:10
And in due season he sent a servant to the tenants to receive from them the fruit of the vineyard. But they beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Correctly, he placed the time of fruits, not of harvests. For no fruit existed from the Jews, no yield of this vineyard was found, even though it was often and diligently sought. Therefore, the servant who was first sent is understood to be the lawgiver Moses, who for forty continuous years sought some fruit of the law he had given from the tenants; but they beat him and sent him away empty-handed. For they provoked Moses in the camp, and Aaron, the holy one of the Lord. And Moses was vexed because of them, for they embittered his spirit. And this same servant clearly declares what he thinks of the fruit of the vineyard, saying in a song: "For their vine is from the vine of Sodom, and their branch from Gomorrah. Their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter. The fury of dragons is their wine, and the cruel venom of asps" (Deut. 32).
Luke 20:11
And he added the sending of another servant. But they also beat him and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. The other servant signifies David the prophet and king. Who was sent after Moses, to urge the tenants of the vineyard, through the modulation of psalmody and the sweetness of the lyre, to the practice of good work after the legal decrees. For David himself also sought to lift the heart of the people to higher things, establishing that the praises of the Lord be sung continuously with sweet melody among the rites of carnal sacrifices. But even him they treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. For they said: "What portion have we in David? Neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse" (1 Kings 12). They changed David's kingdom with an ignoble lineage and the religion with impiety. Yet he intercedes that this vineyard, which, transplanted from Egypt, covered the mountains of Palestine with its shadow, might not be utterly destroyed. "O Lord God of hosts, turn now, look down from heaven, and see, and visit this vineyard, and protect the branch that your right hand has planted" (Ps. 80). Where he also explains who the man is who planted this vineyard, namely the Lord God of hosts.
Luke 20:12
And he sent a third, but they wounded this one also and threw him out. Understand the third servant as the group of prophets, who with continual testimonies admonished the people and foretold the evils that were to come upon this vineyard. But which of the prophets did they not persecute? They killed those who announced the coming of the just one (Acts 7). And these also spoke much about the barrenness of this vineyard, but let the lament of Jeremiah alone suffice. "I planted you as a choice vine, wholly of pure seed. How then have you turned degenerate and become a wild vine?" (Jeremiah 2). For the protection of this vineyard, namely so that in it or for it there would not arise the weak and infirm vegetable of quickly perishing sweetness, we read that Naboth the Jezreelite was not only wounded but also killed. Although we receive no prophetic utterance from him, yet his prophetic act, through his own blood, foretold that many martyrs were to come for this vineyard. Clearly, these three grades of servants can be understood to represent the figure of all teachers under the law, as the Lord elsewhere plainly shows, saying: "For it is necessary to fulfill all that is written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms" (Luke 24).
Luke 20:13
But the Lord of the vineyard said: What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. Perhaps when they see him, they will respect him. Though the Lord of the vineyard is said to speak doubtfully and not with deliberation, this does not come from ignorance. For what could the Lord of the vineyard, who is understood here to be God the Father, not know? But God is always said to waver so that free will may be reserved for man. When the tenants saw him, they discussed among themselves, saying: This is the heir, let us kill him so that the inheritance may become ours. The Lord most clearly demonstrates that the leaders of the Jews did not crucify the Son of God out of ignorance but out of envy. For they understood that he was the one to whom it was said: Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance (Psalm II). And therefore, as if consulting among themselves, they were saying: Behold, the whole world is following him, and if we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him (John XII). Therefore, the inheritance of the son is the Church given to him from all the nations, which the Father did not leave to him by dying, but he miraculously acquired by his own death, because he possessed it by rising again. But the wicked tenants were attempting to seize this, having killed him, when the Jews, crucifying him, tried to extinguish the faith which is through him, and rather to promote their own righteousness, which is from the law, and sought to implant it in the gentiles to be instructed.
Luke 20:15
And they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. The heir of the vineyard is slaughtered outside the vineyard, because Jesus suffered outside the gate to sanctify the people with his own blood. Either he was cast out of the vineyard and killed, because he was first rejected by the heart of the unbelievers, and then given over to the cross. In whose figure Moses set the altar of burnt offering, where the blood of the victims would be poured, not within the tabernacle, but at the door, mystically teaching that the altar of the Lord's cross should be placed outside the gate of Jerusalem, and that Christ himself, the true sacrifice of the Father, whom he had come to sanctify, should not be received in the innermost heart of the house of the Jews, but should be tinged with his own blood outside. But that which according to Mark is said with the order changed: And they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard (Mark 12), marks their obstinacy, who did not want to believe the apostles preaching of the crucified and risen Lord, but cast him out as if he were a vile corpse. Because, as far as it depended on them, excluding him from their boundaries, they gave him to be received by the Gentiles.
Luke 20:15
What then will the lord of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others. When they heard this, they said: God forbid. They contradicted the Lord's sentence because they recognized that it was against their own perfidy. For they understood the parable not because they were already prepared by the merit of holiness to grasp the words of the mystery, but because they were inflamed with the flames of malice to do what was being said, and therefore they were ready to recognize what they had in mind, although spoken in parables, as something long meditated upon. Therefore, to the Jews denying that it would be just for the knowledge of the divine law which they despised to be transferred to the Gentiles, observe what the Savior replies.
Luke 20:17
But he, looking at them, said: What then is this that is written: The stone which the builders rejected, this one has become the head of the corner? How, he says, will this prophecy be fulfilled, which says that the stone rejected by the builders is to be made the head of the corner, unless it be that Christ, rejected and killed by you, is to be preached to the believing nations? So that, like a cornerstone binding together two into itself, from both peoples he builds for himself one city of the faithful, one temple. For the same teachers of the Synagogue whom he had previously called husbandmen, he now calls builders, because those who were instructed to cultivate the people subject to them to bear fruits of life like a vineyard, were commanded to build and adorn this for God as a worthy dwelling, like a house. Whence also the Apostle writing to the faithful says: You are God's husbandry, God's building (I Cor. III). But those who refused the fruit of God's vineyard as bad husbandmen, the same ones as bad masons attempted to remove the precious chosen stone from the house of God, which was to be placed either in the foundations or in the corner, that is, they tried to take away the faith of Christ from their hearers. But even though they were unwilling, this same stone made the head of the corner, because from both peoples, as many as he willed, he joined together in his faith.
Luke 20:18
Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken. Upon whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder. It is one thing to stumble against Christ through evil deeds, another to deny Him through impiety. Whoever is a sinner and yet believes in Him falls indeed upon the stone and is shattered, but is not utterly crushed; for he is preserved by wisdom for salvation. Upon whomever it falls, that is, upon whom the stone itself comes down, and who utterly denies Christ, it will grind him to powder, so that not even a shard remains in which a little water may be drawn. Whether he speaks of those who fall upon Him, who now despise Him or bring Him injuries. Therefore, they do not utterly perish yet, but are nonetheless shattered so that they do not walk rightly. But upon whom it falls, it will come upon them from above in judgment with the punishment of destruction. Therefore, it is said it will grind them to powder, so that the wicked may be like dust which the wind drives away from the face of the earth (Psalm 1).
Luke 20:19
And the chief priests and scribes sought to lay hands on him at that hour, and they feared the people. For they knew that he had spoken this parable against them. The chief priests and scribes, as if accusing the Lord of lying against them, sought to kill him, but by seeking this they were teaching that what he said was true. For he is the heir, whose unjust death he said would be avenged; they are the wicked tenants, who hesitated a little due to human fear from killing the Son of God until his hour had come, but they were never able to be restrained by divine love. Indeed, in a moral sense, each of the faithful is assigned to tend the mystery of baptism which he exercises in his works, like a vineyard he cultivates. One servant after another is sent to receive the fruit, which is read in the law, the psalms, and the prophecies, following their admonition by doing good. But a sent servant is mistreated or beaten and cast out, when the word heard is either despised or, worse, even blasphemed. He kills the sent heir as much as is in his power, who tramples the Son of God and insults the Spirit of grace by whom he was sanctified. With the bad tenant destroyed, the vineyard is given to another, when each humble person is enriched with the gift of grace which the proud one scorned.
And this, too, that the chief priests and scribes, seeking to lay hands on Jesus, are restrained by the fear of the people, is enacted daily in the Church, when anyone refrains from attacking the unity of ecclesiastical faith and peace, which he does not love, either out of shame or fear of the multitude of good brothers living together. Yet, just as the Lord said about the foolish ostrich, when the time comes, will he take flight on high, because by persecuting the Church, he will rejoice in having the Lord crucified and displayed.
Luke 20:20
And observing, they sent spies, who pretended to be righteous, in order to catch him in his speech, and deliver him to the authority and power of the governor. Seeking to apprehend the Lord, the chief priests and the scribes feared the people, and therefore what they could not do themselves, they tried to accomplish through the hands of the governor, so that they might appear innocent of his death. For recently, under Caesar Augustus, Judea was subjected to the Romans, when a census was held throughout the entire world, and it had become tributary, and there was great unrest among the people, with some saying that for security and peace, with the Romans fighting for all, tributes should be paid; however, the Pharisees, who prided themselves on their righteousness, were contrary to this, arguing that the people of God, who paid tithes and offered first fruits, and other things written in the law, should not be subjected to human laws. The spark of this unrest grew so strong that after the Lord's passion, when the Romans besieged them, they preferred to lose their homeland, nation, and kingdom, the noble temple with its religion, even the light itself, rather than pay tributes.
Luke 20:21
And they questioned him, saying: Master, we know that you speak and teach rightly, and do not show partiality, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not? The flattering and deceitful question provokes the respondent to fear God more than Caesar, and to say that tributes should not be paid, so that immediately the governor's officers, who are recorded to have been present according to other evangelists, could hold him as a leader of sedition against the Romans. [Luke 20:23] -- But perceiving their craftiness, he said to them: Why do you test me? Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription does it have? Wisdom always acts wisely, so that his tempters may be refuted by their own words. Show me, he said, a denarius. This is the type of coin accounted for ten coins and bore the image of Caesar. Those who think the question of the Savior to be ignorance and not dispensation, let them learn from the present passage that Jesus certainly could know whose image was on the coin. But he asks so that he may aptly respond to their words.
Luke 20:24
They answered and said: Caesar's. And he said to them: Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's. Let us not think of Caesar as Augustus but as Tiberius, his stepson, who succeeded in the place of his stepfather, under whom the Lord also suffered. All Roman kings from the first Gaius Caesar, who had seized the empire, were called Caesars. Moreover, when he says: Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, let us understand it to mean the coin, the tribute, and the money, and unto God the things that are God's: tithes, firstfruits, offerings, and sacrifices. Just as he himself pays the tribute for himself and Peter, and renders unto God the things that are God's, fulfilling the will of the Father. Alternatively: Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's; just as Caesar demands from you the impression of his image, so too does God, so that just as the coin is given to Caesar, so too the soul should be given to God, illuminated and imprinted with his visage. Hence the Psalmist: "The light of your face has been imprinted upon us, O Lord" (Psalm 4). For this light is the whole of man, and the true good, which is perceived not by the eyes but by the mind. He said “imprinted upon us”, as a denarius is imprinted with the image of the king. For man was made in the image and likeness of God, which he corrupted by sinning. Therefore, his true and eternal good is to be imprinted anew through rebirth.
Luke 20:26
And they could not reproach his word before the people, and marveling at his answers they remained silent. They who ought to have believed because of such wisdom, wondered that their cunning in ensnaring had found no place. [Luke 20:27] -- Then some of the Sadducees, who deny that there is a resurrection, came forward. There were two heresies among the Jews, one of the Pharisees and the other of the Sadducees. The Pharisees upheld the justice of traditions and observations, which they call deuterosis. Hence they were called divided by the people. The Sadducees, however, who are interpreted as just, claimed for themselves what they were not. The former believing in the resurrection of both body and soul, and confessing angels and spirits, while the latter, according to the Acts of the Apostles, denied everything. [Luke 20:28] -- And they asked him, saying: Teacher, Moses wrote to us, if anyone’s brother dies having a wife, and he is without children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed to his brother. See the difference between the letter and the spirit. According to the letter, one is compelled to marry in life, so that the brother may raise up seed for the deceased; the spirit, however, is the measure of chastity.
Luke 20:29–32
Therefore, there were seven brothers, and the first took a wife, and died without children. And the second took her, and he too died without children. And the third took her. Similarly, all seven, and they left no seed, and died. Last of all, the woman also died. Those who did not believe in the resurrection of bodies, judging that the soul perishes with the bodies, rightly fabricate such a story, which accuses as madness those who assert the resurrection of the dead. However, it is possible that this truly happened at some time among their people. [Luke 20:33] -- In the resurrection, therefore, of which of them will she be the wife? For the seven had her as wife. They oppose with the disgrace of the story, so that they may deny the truth of the resurrection. But mystically, these seven brothers who died without children correspond to the reprobate of all kinds, who, throughout the entirety of this life's span, which revolves in seven days, are barren of good works. When these are individually swept away by miserable death, ultimately even the worldly way of life itself, which they led without vital work, will pass away like an unfruitful wife.
Luke 20:34
And Jesus said to them: The children of this age marry, and are given in marriage. When the Lord says: Do not give what is holy to dogs, nor cast your pearls before swine (Matthew 7), because He is found to have said certain things either here about the glory of the resurrection, or elsewhere about the mystery of His dispensation or even His divinity, which many who were present either by resisting or by scorning did not receive, He is not to be thought as having given what is holy to dogs, or cast pearls before swine. For He did not give to those who could not grasp it, who, due to the impurity of others, ought not to be neglected. Indeed, when the tempters were questioning Him, and He was responding to them in such a way that they had nothing to contradict, even though they would rather languish in their own venom than be satisfied with His food, yet others who were able to grasp it heard many things usefully because of them.
Luke 20:35
But those who are considered worthy of that age and the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. This is not to be understood as if only the worthy will either rise again or be without marriage, and the unworthy, that is, sinners, are either believed not to rise again or to rise for the sake of marriages; rather, it should be understood that all will both rise again and remain without marriages in that age. But the Lord and Savior, to incite souls to seek the glory of the resurrection, wished only to speak of the elect. If, however, in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, then the bodies that rise are ones that can marry and be given in marriage, that is, bodies of men and women distinguished by specific members, but bound by no pleasure or necessity of intercourse. For no one says about a stone or a tree, and these things which do not have genital members, that they do not marry nor are given in marriage, but about those who, when they can marry, do not for another reason.
Luke 20:36
For they can no longer die. Because marriages are for the sake of children. Children are for the sake of succession. Succession is for the sake of death. Therefore, where there is no death, neither are there marriages. [Luke 20:36] -- For they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. Equal to angels and sons of God, who, renewed by the glory of the resurrection, without any fear of death, without any stain of corruption, without any act of earthly state, enjoy the perpetual vision of God, to which, whoever desires to ascend to the equality of angelic dignity must now condescend to the least of the brothers. [Luke 20:37] -- But that the dead rise again, even Moses showed at the bush, as he says, "The Lord God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." To confirm the truth of the resurrection, he could have used much more obvious examples, among which is this: "The dead shall be raised, and those who are in the tombs shall arise." Therefore it is questioned why the Lord chose to bring forth this testimony, which seems ambiguous or not sufficiently relevant to the truth of the resurrection. But the Sadducees accepted only the five books of Moses, rejecting the prophecies of the prophets. Thus, it was foolish to bring forth testimonies from there whose authority they did not follow. Furthermore, to prove the immortality of souls, he used the example from Moses: "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" (Exodus III). And immediately he adds,
Luke 20:38
"God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." To prove that souls remain after death, something which they denied along with other things (for it could not be that he is the God of those who do not exist at all), the resurrection of bodies would consequently be inferred, which, with the souls, have done good or evil. [Luke 20:38] -- For all live to him. All those, indeed, whose Lord is God. They live to him, truly the life by which the just live even when they die in the body. About this elsewhere the Lord says: "He who believes in me, even if he dies, shall live" (John XI). Believe, therefore, and if you die, you shall live. But if you do not believe, even when you live, you are dead. For the widow who lives in pleasure is dead while she lives (I Timothy V).
Luke 20:39–40
But some of the scribes answering said: "Master, you have spoken well." And they dared not ask him anything further. The chief priests, Sadducees, and scribes seeking a cause for calumny, and to find a word that could be ensnared, since they were confounded in their speeches, asked no more, but openly handed him over to the Roman authority. From this, we understand that the poison of envy can indeed be overcome, but it is difficult to rest. [Luke 20:42] -- He said to them: How do they say that Christ is the son of David, and David himself says in the book of Psalms: The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool? David therefore calls him Lord, and how is he his son? The question of Jesus profits us even today against the Jews. For those who confess that Christ is to come assert that he is a simple man and a holy man of the lineage of David. Let us therefore ask them, taught by the Lord, if he is a simple man and only the son of David, how does David call him his Lord? They are not reproved because they say he is the son of David, but because they do not believe he is the Son of God. Indeed, he is both the Lord of David, continuously being God before time, and appeared as the son of David, born as a man at the end of times. And that the enemies are subjected by the Father does not signify the weakness of the Son, but the unity of nature by which one works in the other. For the Son also subjects the enemies to the Father because he glorifies the Father on earth.
Luke 20:46
When all the people were listening, he said to his disciples: Beware of the scribes who wish to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the places of honor at banquets. To walk in stoles means to proceed to the public adorned in more distinguished garments. In which among other things, the rich man who feasted sumptuously every day is described as having sinned (Luke 16). However, it should be noted that he does not forbid those whose duty these things properly belong to, to be greeted in the forum, or to sit in the first places, or to recline at banquets; but rather, he teaches that those who, whether having them or not, unjustly love these things, are to be considered as reprobate by every faithful person, rightly censuring the mind and not the rank. Nonetheless, it is not without fault if those wish to engage in lawsuits in the forum, who desire to be called teachers in the Synagogue in the seat of Moses. Truly, we are commanded to beware of those desirous of vain glory for two reasons: first, so that we are not led astray by their pretense, thinking that what they do is good, and second, that we are not inflamed by emulation, foolishly rejoicing in being praised for the good things they pretend.
Luke 20:47
Those who devour the houses of widows, while feigning long prayers, will receive greater damnation. He did not simply say they will receive damnation, but added greater, to indicate that even those who stand praying in corners to be seen by men (Matthew VI) deserve damnation; but those who do these things more lengthily, as if acting more religiously, not only seeking praises from men but also money, will be punished with lengthier damnation. For there are those who, pretending to be righteous and of great merit before God, do not hesitate to take money from any weaklings troubled by the conscience of their sins, as if they would be their advocates in judgment for them. And while normally an outstretched hand assisting a poor person is helped by prayers, these people, primarily in their prayers, watch through the night to take a coin from the poor. To them, the curse of Judah is deservedly applicable: When he is judged, let him go out condemned, and let his prayer become a sin (Psalm CVIII). For he goes out condemned when he is judged, and his prayer turns into sin, who, now esteemed great among men, is found not only unable to intervene for others in the divine examination but not even able to avail by his own merits, and indeed those prayers by which he deceived the human judgment, he suffers punishment among crimes.
Chapter 21
Luke 21:1
But looking up, He saw the rich putting their offerings into the treasury. Because in the Greek language, φυλάσσειν means to guard, and gaza in the Persian language means riches, the treasury was called the place where riches were kept. It was a chest with a hole on top, placed near the altar to the right of those entering the house of the Lord, into which the priests who guarded the doors put all the money brought to the temple of the Lord and its upkeep. Read the words of the days. Even now, those who pray running into the house of the Lord, He too looks upon those bringing gifts, and whom He sees as worthy, He praises; whom He sees as reproachable, He condemns.
Luke 21:2–3
And he saw a poor widow casting in two small coins, and said, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them." This place morally communicates to us how acceptable to God anything we offer with a good heart is, for He undoubtedly weighs the heart and not the substance, and does not consider how much is given in His sacrifices, but from how much it is given. According to the laws of allegory, the rich who were casting gifts into the treasury represent Jews puffed up by the righteousness of the law, while the poor widow signifies the simplicity of the Church. She is rightly called poor because she has cast away either the spirit of pride or sins as if they were the riches of the world. She is called a widow, for her Husband bore death for her, and now, hidden from her eyes in the recesses of heaven, He lives as if in part of another region. She casts two small coins into the treasury because she presents into the sight of the Divine Majesty, where the offerings of our work are kept as if inscribed and recorded by a certain number, either charity towards God and neighbor, or the gifts of her faith and prayer, which are considered small due to her realization of her own fragility, but accepted due to the merit of her pious devotion, surpassing all the works of the proud Jews.
Luke 21:4
For all these out of their abundance have cast into the gifts of God; but she out of her poverty has cast in all the livelihood that she had. The Jew casts into the gifts of God out of his abundance, who, presuming on his own righteousness, prays thus with himself: "God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, etc." (Luke 18). But the Church casts her whole livelihood into the gifts of God, understanding that everything she lives by is not of her own merit, but the gift of God, saying, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner." (Luke 18). And elsewhere: "My strength I will guard for you, for you, O God, are my protector, my God, His mercy will go before me." (Psalms 58). THE SIXTH BOOK. READ HAPPILY. When Solomon, the wisest of kings, in the figure of Christ and the Church, was building a temple for the Lord, he also, among other things, foretold through fitting examples of figures, that upon the arrival and manifestation of the truth and light of those things which were then being shadowed forth, soon all that shadowy and figurative composition of types would be utterly taken away. For after the house of incomparable work made from stone, wood, and gold was completed, he sent, in the figure of the people from the Gentiles who would believe, and brought Hiram from Tyre, the son of a widow woman (III Kings VII); without doubt in reference to her who, by casting two mites into the treasury, is praised for giving more than all. From the tribe, he said, of Naphtali, with a Tyrian father, a craftsman in brass, and full of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge (Ibid.). But all the vessels which Hiram made for King Solomon in the house of the Lord were of bronze. The king cast them in the clayey ground in the plain of Jordan. For he who made all his vessels not with beaten work, but with cast work, first, no doubt, formed a mold of clay to the likeness of each vessel, necessary indeed until the work of the vessel was completed; but afterward, not only no longer useful, but clearly to be broken that the completion of the vessel might be apparent.
So then, like the form of clay, the legal ceremonies precede, so that the gifts of evangelical truth might follow like vessels of bronze. The composed, for the time, worthless earthenware should be broken, so that the permanent ornament which lay hidden can be revealed. The ashes of the heifer that sanctified the unclean are to be taken away, and the cross of Christ, which redeems the world, proclaimed. When the time comes when the bronze sea, by whose vivifying wave all who will enter the Church are baptized, when the twin pillars of the law, bearing lilies for heads, firm the door here and there for the sheep devoted to Christ, when the ten paired works of our deeds are prepared for the purifying of offerings when finally innumerable vessels of election are carried to the mount of the temple, the clayey ground that for a time covered these hidden things in the plain is dissolved. That is, with the approaching proclamation of the Lord's passion, through which the long-hidden sacraments of the Church would be uncovered from the veil of the letter, the shadow which concealed the heavenly secrets begins to wane and be destroyed. Thus rightly after the offering of the poor widow, that is, the faith of the Church praised by the Lord's mouth, the Evangelist follows on to add:
Luke 21:5–6
And to some who were speaking of the temple, that it was adorned with good stones and gifts, he said: The days will come when, looking at all these things, not one stone will be left upon another that will not be thrown down. For formerly Jerusalem was that great royal city, where the most famous temple had been built to God. But afterwards, when he who was the true temple of God came, and began to reveal the mysteries of the heavenly Jerusalem, that earthly one was destroyed where the heavenly appeared, and not one stone remained upon another in that temple. There was previously a high priest, purifying the people with the blood of bulls and goats; but since the true high priest came, who purified believers with his own blood (Hebrews 13), that former high priest is nowhere to be found, nor is any place left for him. There was an altar previously, and sacrifices were celebrated; but when the true lamb who offered himself as a sacrifice to God came (Hebrews 9), all those things, placed as if for a time, ceased. Therefore, the divine dispensation rightly ensured that the city itself, the temple, and all those things were overturned so that, lest anyone, still a child and sucking from the faith’s breast, seeing those things continue, while being astonished at the ritual of sacrifices and the order of ministries, would be taken away by the view of their various forms. But God, foreseeing our weakness and wishing to multiply His Church, caused all those things to be overthrown and utterly removed, so that without any hesitation when those things ceased, we might believe these true things, for which the types in those things preceded.
Luke 21:7
And they asked him, saying: Teacher, when will these things be? And what sign will there be when they begin to come to pass? Because while some were praising the buildings of the temple, the Lord openly responded that all these things would be destroyed, the disciples secretly, as he sat on the Mount of Olives, asked about the time and the signs of the predicted destruction, as Matthew and Mark testify. [Luke 21:8] -- He said: See to it that you are not led astray. For many will come in my name, saying, "I am he" and "the time is near." Therefore, do not go after them. Many, at the imminent destruction of Jerusalem, rose up as leaders and claimed to be the Christs, asserting that the time of freedom was now approaching. Many in the Church, even in the times of the apostles, arose as heresiarchs who, among numerous other things contrary to the truth, preached that the day of the Lord was at hand. Whom the Apostle condemns in the letter to the Thessalonians. Many in the name of Christ came as Antichrists, the first of whom was Simon the Magician, to whom, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles, all those in Samaria listened, from the least to the greatest, saying, "This man is the power of God that is called great" (Acts 8). Because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic.
Luke 21:9
But when you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified. These things must first take place, but the end will not come immediately. Wars pertain to enemies. Insurrections pertain to citizens. Both of these have been abundant among the Jewish people since the time of the Lord's passion, who chose a seditious thief as their savior. But with these preceding, the apostles are warned not to be terrified and not to abandon Jerusalem and Judea. Because evidently the end does not come immediately, which rather is to be deferred to the fortieth year, that is, the destruction of the nation and the ultimate ruin of the city and temple follows. [Luke 21:10-11] -- Then he said to them: Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines, and pestilences. It is established that these things occurred literally before the end of the desolation of the temple, that is, in the time of the Jewish sedition. However, kingdoms against kingdoms, and the pestilence of those whose word spreads like gangrene (2 Tim. 2), and the famine of hearing the word of God (Amos 8), and the disturbance of the entire earth, and separation from true faith, can also be understood in the heretics, who, fighting against each other, bring about the victory of the Church.
Luke 21:11
And there shall be terrors in the heavens, and great signs. And these same things being fulfilled, whoever has read the history of Josephus will find out. For indeed a star similar to a sword, as he states, hung over Jerusalem for a whole year, terrifying the anxious citizens with a dreadful portent. And likewise chariots and armed horsemen were seen running through the skies, and mimicking the manner of warriors for forty days. Moreover, when a heifer was brought to sacrifices, it gave birth to a lamb in the hands of those offering it. But what merit caused these things to happen is immediately added when it is said: [Luke 21:12] -- But before all this, they will lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, dragging you before kings and governors for my name's sake. This indeed had been either the sole or the greatest cause of ruin for the Jewish nation, because after the occasion of the Lord Savior, they likewise harassed his preachers and confessors with impious cruelty.
Luke 21:13
It will happen for you as a testimony. As a testimony of whom, but of those who either bring about deaths by persecuting, or do not imitate by seeing? For the death of the just serves as assistance for the good, and as a testimony against the evil, so that the perverse may perish without excuse from where the elect take example that they might live. But, after hearing so many terrors, the hearts of the weak might be troubled, and thus consolation is added when it is immediately said: [Luke 21:14] -- Therefore, set in your hearts not to meditate beforehand what you shall answer. For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to resist or contradict. As if openly saying to his weakening members: Do not be terrified, do not fear. You go to battle, but I fight. You utter words, but I am the one who speaks.
Luke 21:16–17
But you will be betrayed by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death, and you will be hated by everyone because of my name. Lesser pain is caused by evils inflicted by strangers; indeed, the torments rage more within us that we suffer from those minds of whom we had confidence because with the loss of body, the evils torment us of lost charity. But because hard things are predicted about the affliction of death, immediately consolation is added about the joy of resurrection, when it is said:
Luke 21:18
And not a hair of your head will perish. We know that flesh cut feels pain, hair cut does not feel pain. Therefore, he says to his martyrs: Not a hair of your head will perish, evidently saying openly: Why do you fear lest what is cut and feels pain will perish, when even that in you which is cut and feels no pain cannot perish? In another sense: Not a hair of the head of the disciples of the Lord will perish, because not only the strong deeds or words of saints, of which it is said: The Lord preserves all their bones (Psalm 33), but also the volatile (so to speak) and most delicate surface of the thoughts of the faithful, which emerges from the hidden root of the heart, as hair from the brain, will be preserved with due reward by the just judge. Hence rightly the Prophet, to show how much the merits of even good thoughts are accepted by the Lord, says: And the leftovers of thoughts will feast for you (Psalm 76). Hence the Nazarenes in the law, during the time of consecration, are commanded to nurture their hair, and it is said that a razor did not come upon the head of Samuel. Conversely, the captive woman in order to marry an Israelite man, cleansed from leprosy to be worthy to communicate with the Church, is commanded to shave all the hair of her body, because evidently every thought of the wise, which is good, pleasing, and perfect, is saved forever, and its reward is with the Lord. But the thought of the foolish and wicked, as an unworthy root before the sight of God, must be cut off through repentance.
Luke 21:19
And in your patience you shall possess your souls. Therefore, the possession of the soul is placed in the virtue of patience, because patience is the root and guardian of all virtues. Through patience indeed we possess our souls, because while we learn to master ourselves, we begin to possess that very thing which we are. For we are wondrously created, so that reason possesses the soul, and the soul possesses the body. But the right of the soul is repelled from the possession of the body if the soul is not first possessed by reason. Therefore, the Lord showed that patience is the guardian of our condition, who taught us to possess ourselves in it. But true patience is to endure others' evils with equanimity, and to be moved by no pain against the one who inflicts them. For he who bears the evils of his neighbor in such a way that he remains silently sad, and seeks a time for just retribution, does not exhibit patience, but feigns it.
Luke 21:20
But when you shall see Jerusalem surrounded by an army, then know that her desolation is near. Thus far these things which were to be for forty years, with the end not yet coming; here the very end of the desolation, which was made by the Roman army, is explained by the Lord's words. [Luke 21:21] -- Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. The ecclesiastical history narrates that all the Christians who were in Judea, warned by the Lord at the imminent destruction of Jerusalem, left the place, and until the desolation of Judea was fulfilled, lived in a certain city named Pella across the Jordan. [Luke 21:21] -- And those who are in the midst of it, let them depart. And those who are in the regions, let them not enter into it. For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. It indeed seems to pertain to appropriate admonition, that those who are outside should not enter into it, but how will those who are in the midst depart from a city already surrounded by an army? Unless perhaps what was stated before, that is, then those who are in Judea should flee, does not pertain to the exact time of the siege, but to the time before the siege, when the Roman soldiers first began to spread through the boundaries of Galilee or Samaria, so that then everyone would hasten to flee while there was still time for flight. But these are the days of vengeance, namely seeking vengeance for the blood of the Lord.
Luke 21:23
Woe to those who are pregnant and those nursing in those days. Woe, in the presence of captivity, to those who are pregnant and those nursing, or suckling, as some interpret. For their wombs or hands burdened with the load of their children significantly hinder the necessity of flight. Read even the history of the Kings, where the wife of Jonathan, avoiding the evil of captivity with a hasty flight, received her son, who slipped from her bosom, permanently lame. [Luke 21:23] -- For there will be great distress upon the earth, and wrath upon this people. This distress and wrath have adhered as an inseparable companion to that people scattered among all nations up to this day, yet it is not believed to adhere perpetually. For after the Lord showed the order of the same distress or wrath, saying: [Luke 21:24] -- And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled by the Gentiles. Immediately following the prophecy which sings: In wrath remember mercy, he appended and said:
Luke 21:24
Until the times of the nations are fulfilled. For those times of the nations are indeed those which the Apostle mentions, saying: Because blindness in part has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved (Rom. XI). When they have obtained the promised salvation, and they shall return to their fatherland and rejoice in the possession and inhabitation of their former metropolis, perhaps it is not hoped in vain, because it is said that they shall not be oppressed forever, but until the times of the nations are fulfilled. What, however, follows after the times of the nations are fulfilled, and so all Israel is saved, the Lord manifestly explains in order. For according to Matthew, the disciples asked this, not only inquiring about the time of the destruction of the temple, but also the sign of his coming and the end of the age.
Luke 21:25
And there will be signs in the sun, and moon, and stars, and on the earth distress of nations, in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves. For as the Lord indicates in the following, when the universal judgment appears, heaven and earth will pass away, and as we read in the Apocalypse of John, the sea will be no more, rightly therefore, with the same judgment impending, the roaring of the sea and waves is confused, the inhabitants of the earth pressing upon each other are afflicted, the great lights of the sky having their rays struck with new horror hide their troubled face. And just as trees thrust to fall are accustomed to emit signs of their crash and movement, so the elements, as if anxious with the approach of their end, tremble and waver. Therefore, what Matthew says: The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky (Matt. 24), signifies the very presence of judgment, when with the appearance of the true glory of light, all the lights of the world are compared to darkness and shadows. However, what Luke says: There will be signs in the sun, and moon, and stars, he indicates as precursors, as heralds of the coming judgment. Among these is that of the Prophet: The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and manifest day of the Lord comes (Joel 2). Also what Luke says:
And on the earth distress of nations, I believe this to be what Matthew describes when speaking of the times of the Antichrist: For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will be (Matt. 24). But what Luke adds, in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, is a foretelling of what John saw among the other changes of the age concerning the sea.
Luke 21:26
Men will wither away from fear and expectation of what is coming upon the entire world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. I believe this sentence signifies the very advent of the judge, when, according to another parable, all, that is, both wise and foolish virgins, roused by an unusual cry, trim their lamps, that is, they count their works with them, for which, with great fear, they are now expecting the imminent event of eternal judgment. For until then, nearly the entire world will act without any fear of the judge, as testified by the apostle who says: For when they say, 'Peace and safety,' then sudden destruction will come upon them (I Thess. V). Then therefore, with fear and expectation of the strict examination coming upon the whole world, many who seemed to flourish in this world will wither when they see themselves fruitless. Then faith, which flourished without works, will wither, as proven by the righteous Judge. Nor is it surprising that men, that is either by nature or by earthly sense, are disturbed at His judgment, whose presence even the powers of the heavens, that is, the angelic hosts, tremble at, as testified by the blessed Job who says: The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at His rebuke. What, then, will the planks do when the columns tremble? What will the twig of the desert endure when the cedar of paradise is shaken?
Luke 21:27
And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with great power and majesty. In power and majesty, they will see Him whom, when He was in humility, they did not wish to hear, so that they will then feel His power all the more severely, as they now do not bow the neck of their hearts to His patience. But since these words are spoken against the reprobate, they are soon turned to the consolation of the elect, for it is added: [Luke 21:28] -- When these things begin to take place, look up and lift your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. When the plagues, he says, of the world increase, when the terror of judgment is shown by the shaking of the powers, lift up your heads, that is, cheer up your hearts. Because as the world, to which you are not friends, is ending, the redemption you seek is near. In the holy Scripture, indeed, the head is often put for the mind. For just as the limbs are governed by the head, so thoughts are arranged by the mind. To lift up the head, therefore, is to raise our minds to the joys of the heavenly homeland. But that the world should be trampled upon and despised, the Lord shows by a prudent comparison. For it follows:
Luke 21:30
And He told them a parable: Look at the fig tree and all the trees, as soon as they put forth their fruit, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. He therefore clearly teaches that just as the coming summer is known by the fruit of the trees, so also the kingdom of God is known to be near by the ruin of the world. By these words it is certainly shown that the fruit of the world is ruin. For it grows to fall. It sprouts so that whatever it has sprouted consumes in disasters. But rightly is the kingdom of God compared to summer, because then the clouds of our sorrow pass away, and the days of life shine with the brightness of the eternal sun.
Luke 21:32
Amen, I say to you, that this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Indeed, the Lord greatly emphasizes what He thus pronounces. In a way, if it is permitted to say, it is His oath: Amen, I say to you. For Amen is interpreted as true, and yet it is not interpreted, since it could have been said "I tell you the truth," neither the Greek interpreter dared to do this, nor the Latin. Thus it remained, it is not interpreted, so that it might have the honor of a secret veil, not that it is denied, but lest it should be cheapened if exposed. Therefore "I tell you the truth" is said by the Truth, which indeed even if it did not say so, it could not lie altogether. Nevertheless, He emphasizes, He insists, He somehow awakens those who are asleep, He makes them attentive, He does not wish to be disregarded: "Amen," He says, "I say to you, that this generation will not pass away until all these things take place." Now He either means every human generation, or specifically the generation of the Jews.
Luke 21:33
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. We must understand that the heaven which will pass away is not the ethereal or sidereal, but the airy heaven, from which both the birds of heaven and the clouds of heaven are named. This is attested by Peter, who states that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth formed out of water and through water by the word of God, by means of which the world then existed perished. But the heavens that now exist and the earth are stored up by the same word for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and the destruction of ungodly men (2 Peter 3). He clearly teaches that not another heaven will perish by fire than the one destroyed by water, that is, these empty and cloudy spaces of the windy air. For the water of the flood, which surpassed the mountain peaks by only fifteen cubits, is not to be believed to have reached beyond the boundaries of air and ether. But wherever it could reach, evidently, according to the aforementioned statement of the blessed Peter, the fire of judgment will also reach. If, however, heaven and earth will pass away, it can be questioned how Ecclesiastes says: A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever (Eccles. 1). But by clear reason, heaven and earth pass away through the image they now have; nevertheless, they subsist without end through their essence.
For the form of this world is passing away (1 Cor. 7). And to John, the angel says: There will be (he says) a new heaven and a new earth (Apoc. 21). These indeed are not other things to be created, but these same are renewed. Therefore, heaven and earth will both pass away and will be, because they are purged by fire from the form they now have, and yet they will always be preserved in their own nature. Hence it is said by the Psalmist: You will change them, and they will be changed (Psalm 102). Indeed, their ultimate transformation is now announced to us by the very vicissitudes we observe, by which they incessantly alternate for our uses. For the earth fails from its species, in winter dryness, and greens in vernal moisture. The heaven is shrouded daily by the darkness of night, and is renewed by the brightness of day. Hence, therefore, hence let every faithful person deduce both that these things perish and yet are renewed through innovation, which now evidently are continually repaired as if from defect.
Luke 21:34
But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day come upon you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. O foolish presumption of the human heart, which foresees the lamentable end of greed, drunkenness, and carousing, not even with the judge himself testifying, but, like the edict of the eternal King, after having learned it, despises it like a wicked servant. And certainly, if any skilled and wise doctor were to instruct us: Take heed, saying to you, lest one (for example) too eagerly takes of the juice of this or that herb; for if he does this, sudden destruction will come upon him, how diligently would every man keep the commands of the forewarning doctor, so that by refraining from the forbidden, he might not perish? But now the Saviour and Lord of both souls and bodies commands the herb of drunkenness and carousing to be avoided, as well as the cares of the world, as if they were deadly juices, yet how many of us fear not only to be wounded by these but also to be consumed? I believe there is no other cause, but that they despise to give the same credence to the words of the Lord as they do to those of a doctor. For if they had believed, surely by believing they would fear, and by fearing they would beware of impending danger. But they, on the contrary, by remaining sluggish, prove how justly it is said: When the Son of Man comes, do you think he will find faith on earth (Luke XVIII)?
Luke 21:36
Therefore, watch at all times, praying that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man. He who desires to stand before the Son of Man, and to serve Him day and night in His temple according to the Revelation of John, and not to be cursed and cast into eternal fire away from His sight, should not only be restrained from worldly allurements but also pray and fast, and this not on certain days but at all times, just as the psalm says: I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall continually be in my mouth (Psalm XXXIII). For in this manner, he will be worthy to dwell in the house of the Lord, to praise Him forever and ever.
Luke 21:37
But he was teaching in the temple by day, and by night going out he stayed on the mount called Olivet. And all the people would come early in the morning to him in the temple, to hear him. What the Lord commands in words, he confirms by his deeds. For he who exhorts us to watch and pray, neglecting the pleasures and concerns of this life before the sudden advent of universal judgment, before the uncertain end of each of us, himself, at the time of his impending passion, perseveres in the vigils of his teaching and in prayers, equally indicating by example that it is worthy of God to be vigilant, to show the way of truth to others by word or deed, and either by word calling to faith those for whom he was to suffer, or by prayer commending them to the Father. And we also, when we conduct ourselves soberly, justly, and piously in prosperity, and in adversity do not despair from the height of divine mercy, indeed teach in the temple all days, because we provide a model of good work to the faithful. By night, however, we remain on the Mount of Olives, for in the darkness of distress we breathe through the consolation of spiritual joy. According to him who said: "But I am like a fruitful olive tree in the house of God; I have trusted in the mercy of my God" (Psalm LI). That is, just as the one who bestowed the fruit of mercy on those whom he could, I do not doubt that I am to be shown mercy by the Lord. And to hear us, all the people flock together, when, either having cast off the works of darkness or conquered them by the grace of God, walking honestly as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, they imitate us as children of light (Rom. XIII).