CHAPTER 10 VER. 1. _After these things the Lord also._ Seventy-two. Vulgate. Dorotheus and others profess to give their names, but Eusebius declares that he knew of no written list of these seventy disciples, although the names of some might be gathered from the Acts of the Apostles, _e.g_., Matthia... [ Continue Reading ]
_The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few._ See S. Matthew 9:37.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves._ That by your innocent and holy lives, through the power of My grace working in you, you may change the wolf into the lamb, _i.e._, convert evil men from the error of their way. Fear not, therefore, for under My protection no harm can be... [ Continue Reading ]
_Carry neither purse_ (provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purse, S. Matt. x.) _nor scrip_. Neither purse for money, nor scrip for food; for the Shepherd will supply both if needful. He commands them to look to Him who sent them forth for the necessaries of life. Euthymius. For the... [ Continue Reading ]
_For the labourer is worthy of his hire._ By hire we must understand not money or its equivalent, but food and nourishment. For the preaching of the kingdom of heaven is above price. Hence S. Augustine says on Ps ciii.: What do they receive? They bestow spiritual gifts, they receive carnal; they giv... [ Continue Reading ]
_He that heareth you heareth Me; and he that despiseth you despiseth Me._ For you are my apostles, and ambassadors. And he who despises an envoy despises the monarch who sent him. Therefore we ought to regard the commands of our religious superiors as if they issued from the mouth of Christ Himself.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the seventy returned with joy_ (great joy, Syriac), _saying, Lord, even the devils are subject to us through Thy name_. They as much as say, We have not only healed the sick according to Thy word, ver. 9; but have even cast out devils through the power of Thy name. See, says Theophylact, their... [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold, I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions._ Power _ε̉ξουσίαν_, _i.e_. authority. We may take the words literally, for to Adam was given dominion over every living thing. Christ then gives His disciples power over the wild animals as well as over devils. "They shall take up serpent... [ Continue Reading ]
_In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit_ (Spiritu Sancto, Vulgate), because the Holy Spirit had, according to His promise, granted the disciples, though weak and unlearned men, the power of working wonders, and had thus led others to believe in Christ and to glorify God. _And hast revealed them unto... [ Continue Reading ]
_All things are delivered to Me of My Father_. As all things were created by My Father, so all things are created anew by Me, and redeemed from the curse of sin. That thus I might raise up those who had fallen away, and might sanctify them, and might renew all the other creatures which had become co... [ Continue Reading ]
_But he, willing to justify himself._ To justify himself, _i.e_. to show himself to be more just than others. "Show me any one who comes nigh me in righteousness, who is as just and upright as I am. Such an one you will scarcely find." So Titus, Euthymius, and Isidore of Pelusium, who think that the... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Jesus answering said._ Taking up or continuing His discourse. Euthymius. _I.e._ answering the lawyer and explaining fully and clearly to whom "neighbour" applied. _A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves_. A Jew, S. Augustine says; and an inhabitant of the hol... [ Continue Reading ]
_And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side_. By chance, humanly speaking, but really by the providence of God, for all things are foreordained by Him. Passed by on the other side, " _α̉ντιπαζη̃λθεν_." The priest, terrified at his app... [ Continue Reading ]
_And likewise a Levite when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side._ The Levite amongst the Jews, like the deacons in the Church, assisted the priest in his ministrations. He was therefore of one mind with the priest, for as the priest so is the Levite, as the p... [ Continue Reading ]
_But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him._ A Samaritan one of an entirely different race and religion, and therefore, as a heretic and schismatic, more hateful to the Jews than any other of the Gentiles. Yet this despised Samaritan h... [ Continue Reading ]
_And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine._ Went to him, got off the horse or the ass on which he was riding, and poured into the wounds the oil and wine which he carried with him as refreshment for the way. The order is inverted. He first, in accordance with the practice o... [ Continue Reading ]
_And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence i.e._ not two pence in the ordinary signification of the words, but sufficient to supply the wants of the wounded man until his return. S. Augustine says, "The two pence are the two precepts of love, which the apostles received for the evang... [ Continue Reading ]
_Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves_? The true meaning of the passage is this, Which of these three seems to thee to have acted as neighbour to the wounded man? and in this sense it was understood by the lawyer who answered, "He that showed me... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he said, He that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise._ Hereby we understand, says S. Augustine, "that he is our neighbour to whomsoever we must show compassion, if he need it, and would have shown it if he had needed it." Hence it follows that even he who mus... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now it came to pass, as they went, that He entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received Him into her house_. As they went preaching the Gospel, v. i. "A certain village:" probably Bethany, where Martha dwelt. The servant, says S. Augustine, by reason of His condescensi... [ Continue Reading ]
_But Martha was cumbered with much serving_, _πεζιεσπα̃το πεζί πολλὴν διακονίαν_, was drawn aside and distracted, _i.e_. was anxious that nothing should be wanting for the entertainment of such a guest. Hence the Arabic, Martha was diligently serving to the utmost of her power. _And came to Him, a... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things._ The repetition of her name, says S. Augustine, "is a sign of affection, or perhaps of a desire to arrest her attention more particularly to what He was about to say. For she was so entirely engro... [ Continue Reading ]
_But one thing is needfull_. The Greek has _ε̉νὸς δέ ε̉στιν χζεία_; and this "one thing" Christ places in opposition to the "many things" about which Martha was troubled. What then is this one thing which is needful? Luther, Bullinger, Melancthon, and other like innovators answer, Faith, _i.e_. to... [ Continue Reading ]