CHAPTER 13 VER. 1. _Whose blood Pilate mingled._ That is, whom while they were sacrificing in Mount Gerizim in Samaria, Pilate slew. He slew them that their blood might be mingled with the blood of their victims. Josephus relates the whole at length (_Antiq._, book xviii. chap. 7), as also does Hege... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye_, &c. They did suppose this, but wrongly, for God often corrects those who sin less heavily, to make them an example and a terror to others, and so incite them to penitence. So Bede, Titus, and others.... [ Continue Reading ]
_I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish._ "Likewise" that is, by a similar death, none excepted, says Maldonatus; and so Wisdom vi 8: "He hath made the small and great, and careth for all alike. For He cares for all without exception, though for some more and for others... [ Continue Reading ]
_Or of those eighteen upon whom the tower of Siloam fell._ There was a fountain, or rather pool, near Jerusalem of which Isaiah speaks, "This people refuses the waters of Shiloah that go softly," Isaiah 8:6. Near this fountain was a tower also called Siloë, from it, which in the time of Christ fell... [ Continue Reading ]
_I tell you, Nay; but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish._ "This shows," says S. Chrysostom, "that these eighteen were appointed as an example and terror to the others; though each was punished for his own sins. This was made wholesome matter for others, that the fool might be made wise... [ Continue Reading ]
_And He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath._ The Sabbath was a festival on which the Jews came to the synagogue to hear the Law and its interpretation, as Christians on the Lord's day come together to hear mass and the sermon. Christ chose this time and place for the following mira... [ Continue Reading ]
_And behold there was a woman._ "The spirit of infirmity, that is, an infirmity sent by the evil one," says de Lyra. Euthymius, "The devil of weakness not suffering her to live." The Arabic reads, "With whom was a spirit of infirmity for eighteen years, and she was bowed together and was not able to... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when Jesus saw her_ (the Arabic has "Jesus looked upon her;" with the eyes, that is, of both body and mind; with the eyes of grace, pity, and mercy), _He called her to Him, and said to her, Woman, thou art loosed_, &c. "Loosed," that is, thou shalt be dismissed; thou art healed; healed by Me, t... [ Continue Reading ]
_And He laid His hands on her._ The hands signify the power of Christ, His authority, rule over diseases and devils; and equally His loving-kindness and beneficence, by which He conferred the benefit of healing upon the woman, through the beneficence of His touch.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation._ With indignation, because he envied Jesus the glory of a miracle by which He had shown Himself, before the whole synagogue and people, to be greater than the ruler. This man made religion and zeal for the observation of the Sabbath the cloa... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite._ Hypocrites who feign sanctity abroad, when within they are full of envy and malice. S. Chrysostom in the _Catena_ : "Christ rightly called him a hypocrite, because he had the face of one who observed the law carefully, but the mind of cunning a... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then said He._ The word "then" is illative, as is shown by what precedes and follows. Christ saw that He had silenced His enemies, the Pharisees, by His wisdom, and that the people rejoiced and praised both Himself and His word. When He saw them thus rightly disposed, He proposed to them the parabl... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then said one unto Him, Lord, are there few that be saved?_ Christ answered in the affirmative that few should be saved, as S. Luke signifies and S. Matt. plainly states, Matthew 7:14. Isaiah speaks to the same effect, Isaiah 10:22; Isaiah 24:13. Understand "few" by a comparison of all the inhabita... [ Continue Reading ]
_Nevertheless I must walk._ "Must," says S. Bonaventure, "not from compulsion but from Divine decree." So S. Cyril, and Titus. Christ repeats this (which He had said in the preceding verse) to show that He was constant in fearing neither Herod nor the Pharisees, and in His determination to preach, a... [ Continue Reading ]