CHAPTER 14 VER. 1. _And it came to pass that He went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees_. "To do them service," says Titus, "Christ makes Himself their friend, and, as it were, one of their household," for "although He knew the malice of the Pharisees, yet He became their guest that He mig... [ Continue Reading ]
_And behold there was a certain man before Him which had the dropsy._ This man seems to have been a friend of the Pharisee, who perhaps had invited Jesus in order that He might heal him. Certainly, as S. Cyril and Euthymius say, the suiterer presented himself of his own accord to Jesus, silently ple... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees._ Answering their thoughts and not their inquiry, for they had asked no question, but thought in their hearts that Christ would be acting unlawfully if He healed on the Sabbath day.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And He had took him, and touched him, and ley him go_ (_ε̉πιλαβόμενος_, "when he had ouched him." apprehensum, Vulg.) He heals by His touch the dropsical man who, from fear of the Pharisees, did not ask to be healed on account of the Sabbath, but only stood up, that when Jesus beheld him He might h... [ Continue Reading ]
_And He answered them, saying, Which of you_, &c. "If," says Bede, "ye hasten on the Sabbath to pull an ox or an ass out of the pit into which he has fallen, consulting not the good of the animal, but your own avarice, how much more ought I to deliver a man who is much better than a beast?" He adds... [ Continue Reading ]
_And they could not answer Him again to these things._ Because they were convinced by the truth of His reasoning. Yet privately they murmured amongst themselves, and afterwards openly clamoured amongst the people. "This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the Sabbath day," S. John 9:16. Althou... [ Continue Reading ]
_And He put forth a parable to those which were bidden, i.e._ He taught, under the similitude of a man seeking the highest place at a feast, that we must beware of every kind of ambition. For sin continues to be sin, although the manner of sinning be changed. " _When He marked how they chose out th... [ Continue Reading ]
_When thou art bidden_... _sit not down in the highest room._ For when the master of the house takes your place from you to give it to a more honourable guest, those who sit next in order will not give way to your ambition, and you will begin with shame to go down from the highest to the lowest room... [ Continue Reading ]
_Go and sit down in the lowest room._ The master of the house usually assigned to each guest his place at the table, a duty formerly discharged by the "ruler of the feast," regard being had to each one's age and social standing. Thus Joseph's brethren "sat before him, the first-born according to his... [ Continue Reading ]
_For whosoever exalleth himself shall be abased_, &c., both by God and man, often in this life, always in the life to come. This verse explains the meaning and scope of the parable. See S. Matthew 23:12.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then said He also unto him that bade Him, i.e._ to the chief Pharisee mentioned in the first verse, whose hospitality Christ recompensed by the spiritual banquet of ghostly counsel and advice. This man, says the Gloss, seems to have invited his guests in order that he in turn might be entertained b... [ Continue Reading ]
_And thou shalt be blessed_, for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just, when, says the Interlinear, the entertainers of the poor will enter into blessedness. The neediness of the guests purifies the intention of the host, who expects no return from them, but acts solely out of l... [ Continue Reading ]
_Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God; i.e._, in the resurrection of the just, of which Christ had made mention in the preceding verse. S. Cyril in the _Catena_, says. "This man was carnal, for he thought the reward of the saints was to be bodily." He must therefore have been one... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then He said unto him, A certain man made a great supper._ This parable is very similar to that recorded by S. Matthew. See commentary on S. Matthew 22:2. But you will ask, What was this supper? 1.Some understand by it, the incarnation of the Word of God, the preaching of His Gospel, and the redem... [ Continue Reading ]
_And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground_, &c. The Scribes and Pharisees, and the chief Priests are here clearly indicated; for they, invited by Christ to the Gospel feast, made light of it, because they were so intent on their far... [ Continue Reading ]
_And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them_, &c. Another kind of avarice is here described, viz, the desire of possessing oxen, and animals for tillage, or food, or some other purpose; for the riches of the patriarchs lay in their herds. So think Theophylact and Titus... [ Continue Reading ]
_And another said, I have married a wife_, &c. What, asks S. Gregory, are we to understand by a wife but carnal gratifications? The Pharisees, like many at the present time, were ensnared by avarice and luxury. These are the thorns which choke the word of God. S. Luke 8:14. Let us all then give hee... [ Continue Reading ]
_So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things_, &c. We are here taught that Christ chose the outcasts and poor in place of the Priests and Pharisees who had made light of His gospel. According to that which is written, "The publicans and harlots go into the kingdom of God before you." S. M... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the servant said, Yet there is room._ The number of the elect is not yet complete. Heaven is not yet filled with those who are to obtain salvation. Learn to imitate the zeal of this servant who rejected no one, however blind, deformed, or maimed, but busied himself in summoning and saying more... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the high-ways and hedges_, &c. Go forth, without the city-without Jerusalem, and beyond Judæa, and call the Gentiles to Christ. _Into the highways._ "The partings of the highways" (S. Mat 22:9), _i.e_. into the roads which lead to all nations and to... [ Continue Reading ]
_For I say unto you, that none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper_, because they made light of my invitation. So the Pharisees and the rulers of the Jews, given up to earthly enjoyments, are to be excluded from the heavenly feast because, called by Christ to accept the teaching... [ Continue Reading ]
_If any man come to Me_, &c. That having left all (ver. 33) he may, with the Apostles and the seventy disciples, follow Me, the Master and Teacher of perfection. All these things are of evangelical counsel, and not of precept although they may be said in a measure to extend to all Christians, inasm... [ Continue Reading ]
_For which of you, intending to build a tower_, &c. By means of this parable Christ would teach us with what prudence we ought to test our bodily, and above all our spiritual strength, as well as such gifts of grace as we may possess, before we attempt to build the lofty tower of evangelical perfect... [ Continue Reading ]
_Or what king, going to make war against another king_, &c. By this, says Titus, we are given to understand that we have a war to wage against the hostile powers of Satan and that law which, reigning in our members, is continually the cause of inward perturbation and strife. So also S. Cyril: "The... [ Continue Reading ]
_Or else, while the other is yet a great way off_, &c. This verse gives completeness to the parable, but is not to be taken as the teaching of Christ, for we may not bargain with either the evil spirits or our vices; against these we must wage _άσπονδον πόλεμον_, an irreconcilable war. This verse m... [ Continue Reading ]
_So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath_, &c. This is the post-parable, and sums up the teaching of the parable itself. "He who refuseth to give up all, in order that he may live a life of evangelical perfection, cannot be My disciple as the Apostles were." And again... [ Continue Reading ]
_Salt is good, but if the salt have lost his savour_, &c. Salt is good as long as it retains its peculiar properties. So also ye who are my Apostles, as long as ye preserve your spiritual powers, will be useful to the world to season it with the salt of gospel faith and wisdom. But if ye lose your s... [ Continue Reading ]
_He that hath ears to hear, let him hear._ Let him hear and meditate on what I say and teach. Our Lord calls attention to the seriousness and the difficulty of the matter about which He has been teaching. See Comment. on S. Matthew 13:9-13.... [ Continue Reading ]