Book Four

Verses 41-45828: And when the Pharisees were assembled, Jesus asked them, What do you think of Christ? Whose son is He? And they said to him, David. He said to them, "How then does David, by inspiration, call Him Lord, when he says, "The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, until I make Thy enemies Thy footstool?" - Those who gathered to tempt Jesus and tried to find out the truth through a falsely posed question gave cause for themselves to be confused. They are presented with a question about Christ: whose son is He? The question of Jesus is useful for us at the present time in the struggle against the Jews, because they, too, confessing that Christ must come,829 assert that He is a simple man and a holy man of the line of David. Thus we, who have been taught by the Lord, ask them, "If he be a mere man, and only a filius of David, how is it that David calls him his Lord, not by error, not by his own will, but by the Holy Spirit?" And the testimony He gave is taken from the One Hundred and Ninth Psalm. Therefore the Lord is called David, not because He was born of it, but because He is born of the Father from eternity (always semper), being before the Father himself according to His flesh. To resolve this question, the Jews invent many empty things, asserting that Abraham had a servant who had a son Eliezer of Damascus; that the psalm was written in his name, and that after the slaughter of the five kings, the Lord God said to his lord Abraham, "Sit at my right hand until I make thy enemies thy footstool."830 But in such a case, how did God say to Abraham the following: In the day of Thy power, Thy people are ready in the splendor of holiness; From the womb before Lucifer Thy birth is like dew. And: The Lord has sworn, and will not repent: Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.831 On the other hand, they are forced to answer: How was Abraham born before Lucifer and was a priest after the order of Melchizedek, when Melchizedek sacrificed bread and wine for him, and when he received from him a tenth of the spoils?

Verse 46: And no one could answer Him a word, and from that day no one dared to ask. - The Pharisees and Sadducees, seeking a pretext for backbiting and some word that would give them an opportunity to plot against Him, no longer ask, because they were confused, but, seizing Him, openly hand Him over to the Roman authorities. From this we conclude that the poison of envy can indeed be conquered, but it hardly calms down.

Chapter XXIII. - Verses 1-3: Then Jesus began to speak to the people and to his disciples, and said, "On the seat of Moses sat the scribes and the Pharisees; therefore whatsoever they command you to observe, observe and do; but do not do according to their works, for they speak and do not. "What can be more meek and merciful on the part of the Lord?" He is tempted by the Pharisees; their wiles are broken, and according to the words of the Psalmist: "The arrows of babes were plagues to them" (Psalm 63:8832 [to 70]), and yet, because of the priesthood and dignity associated with the office,833 he persuades the people to submit to them, paying attention not to their deeds, but to the words of their teaching. And His words: "On the seat of Moses sat the scribes and Pharisees," under the word834 the seat indicate the teaching of the law. Therefore we must understand what is said in the Psalm: "On the seat of destruction he did not sit"835 and: "He overthrew the seats of the sellers of doves"836 in the sense of teaching.

Verse 4: They bind heavy and unbearable burdens, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves do not want to move them with a finger. - This is against all teachers in general, who command [to perform] difficult actions, and do not make easier ones (minora). But at the same time, it should be noted that the shoulders, the fingers, the weight, and the ligaments that bind the weight must be understood in a spiritual sense.

Verse 5: Yet all do their works that men may see them. "Therefore, he who does any work so that only people can see it is a scribe and a Pharisee.

Verse [end of 5th], 6, [7]: They enlarge their storehouses (phylacteria - ??????????) and enlarge the wings of their garments, and they also love to preside at banquets, and to preside over synagogues, and to salute them in the assemblies of the people, and that the people should call them, Teacher! teacher! - Woe to us unfortunates, to whom the vices of the Pharisees have been transferred. When the Lord gave the commandments of the law through Moses, He added: "You will bind them in your hand, and they will be immovable before your eyes."837 And the meaning of this passage is this: My commandments are in your hand, that they may be kept in practice; let them be before your eyes, that you may meditate on them day and night. Misunderstanding this passage, the Pharisees wrote the Ten Commandments (Decalogum - Decalogue) of Moses, that is, the ten words of the law, on parchment, folding them and tying them on the forehead, and making a kind of crown on the head, so that they would always move before their eyes; this is still done by the Hindus, Persians, and Babylonians, and he who does this is considered by the people as if he were especially pious (religiosus). Moses also commanded something else,838 namely, that on the four corners of the cloaks they should fasten a fringe of hyacinth color, in order to distinguish the people of Israel, so that, having given circumcision to the bodies as a sign of the tribe of Judah, he decreed that the clothing of the Jews should also have some difference. Superstitious teachers, seeking the glory of the people and taking care to gain the good will of women, sewed on a large fringe and tied very sharp needles to it, so that both while walking and while sitting, through incessant, they might arouse in themselves the memory and be impelled to the service of God and to the fulfillment of His work. And so, when He said, "All their works are done in order that men may see them,"839 He sent a general accusation against them, and now He divides it, applying it piece by piece. This little tablet containing the ten commandments of the law was called a storehouse, because whoever possessed it840 was considered to have a kind of guard, or stronghold (monumentum), since the Pharisees did not understand that the commandments should be worn not on the body, but in the heart. On the contrary, they had boxes and chests of books and had no knowledge of God. This is often done by women among us to this day, carrying with them small Gospels (parvulis Evangelii) [or: parables, Gospel - in parabolis Evangelii] or an ancient cross and similar things (they have the zeal of God, it is true,841 but not according to reason,841 straining a mosquito and devouring a camel. sentibus] of the Pharisees, but was healed by touching Him. As they have excessively enlarged the storehouses, and sewed on a great fringe, in order to glorify the people, they are also reproached for the rest, because they seek the first places to recline at banquets, and the first places to sit in the synagogues, and pursue glory in society and sweet food, and also to be called by the people, "Teacher" (magister), as the Latin word Rabbi is signified. Then follow the words:

Verses 8-12:8 But do not be called teachers, for you have one Teacher, Christ, and you are all brethren; and call no one on earth your father, for you have one Father, who is in heaven; and do not be called teachers, for you have one Teacher, Christ. Let the greatest of you be your servant (minister = ????????): for he who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted. - Neither teacher nor father should be called anyone other than God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Father, because all things are from Him; but He is a Teacher, because all things are through Him, or because through the economy of His flesh we are all reconciled to God.843 The question now arises, why does the Apostle, contrary to this command, call himself a teacher of tongues844; or how in the common language, especially in Palestine and Egypt in the monasteries, one is mutually called fathers? This question is settled thus: it is one thing to be a father by nature, as well as a teacher, and another by grace (indulgentia). If we call a person father, we show reverence for his age, and not that he is the culprit of our life. Likewise, the teacher is called by this name because of his participation in the work of the true Teacher. But in order not to extend the objection to infinity, just as by nature one Father and one Son do not prevent others from being called gods and sons by adoption, so the one Father and Teacher does not prevent others from being called by the names of fathers and teachers that are not peculiar to them (abusive appelentur patres et magistri).

Verses 13-14: Woe to you, scribes and hypocrite Pharisees, for you close the kingdom of God to men. For you also do not enter, neither do you suffer those who enter in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you devour the houses of widows by praying at length, so that you will suffer greater condemnation.845 - The scribes and Pharisees, having a knowledge of the law and the prophets, know that Christ is the Son of God; but they do not know that He was born of a Virgin; but when they seek prey for themselves from the people subject to them, they themselves do not enter the Kingdom of Heaven and do not allow them to enter as they could. This is what the prophet Hosea rebukes: The priests hid the way and killed them in Sikim,846 and again: The priests did not say where the Lord was,847 or it could be that every teacher who by evil deeds offended his disciples closed the kingdom of heaven to them.

Verse 15: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you go about the sea and the land, that you may convert even one; and when this happens, make him a son of hell, twice as bad as you. - We do not preserve what we find with the same care as we seek. The scribes and Pharisees, going about the whole world for the sake of trade or for the acquisition of wealth, both from the disciples and from outward holiness, were very anxious to acquire proselytes, that is, strangers, and to unite them to the circumcised people of God. But he who before, while he was a pagan, simply erred and was a son of hell once, seeing the vices of his teachers and realizing that by their deeds they overthrow what they taught in words, turns again to his uncleanness (vomitum suum, cf. 2 Pet 2:22), and, having become a pagan, as a traitor will be worthy of a greater punishment. He is called the son of Gehenna by the likeness of the expressions: "son of perdition" and "son of this world." Everyone who does the work of someone is called his son.

Verses 16-22: Woe to you, blind leaders, who say, If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is guilty. Mad and blind! Which is greater: gold, or the temple that sanctifies gold? Likewise, if anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on it, he is guilty. Mad and blind! Which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift? Therefore he who swears by the altar swears by it and by all that is on it; and he who swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it; and he who swears by heaven swears by the Throne of God and by Him who sits on it. — Above, as it seems to us, we have explained the meaning of the tradition of the Pharisees, who said: Whatever gift may be from me, it will be useful to you.848 Now the double tradition of the Pharisees is condemned, but it gives occasion for the same avarice, so that they are convicted of doing everything for the sake of profit, and not out of the fear of God. Indeed, just as in enlarged storehouses and enlarged plating of clothing, the idea of their holiness created glory for them, and as a result of glory attracted wealth

(lucra), so the fabricated falsehood of tradition exposed them as teachers of impiety. If anyone in a dispute, or in any quarrel, or in a doubtful case, swore by the temple, and then was found to be a lie, he was not guilty of perjury. On the contrary, if anyone swore by the gold and money which were presented to the priests in the temple, he would immediately be compelled to make up for the amount by which he had sworn. On the other hand, if anyone swore by the altar, no one would consider him guilty of perjury; on the contrary, if he had sworn by gifts or offerings, that is, by animals and other sacrifices and the like, and everything else that is offered to God on the altar, they demanded all these things with great care. Thus the Lord convicts them of both foolishness (stultitiae) and deceit, in the sense that the temple is much greater than the gold which it consecrates, and the altar is much greater than the sacrifices which are consecrated by the altar. And they did all this not out of fear of God, but out of greed for riches.

Verse 23: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you tithe mint, anise, and cumin, and have forsaken the most important things of the law: judgment, mercy, and faith; this was to be done, and not to be forsaken. - There are many commandments in the law that represent images of the future. But some of them are clear, as the Psalmist says: The commandment of the Lord is bright, enlightening the eyes849; they require direct execution in practice. For example: Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not pronounce false testimony, etc. And the Pharisees, since the Lord had commanded (we will leave the mysterious meaning for the present) that tithes of all things should be brought into the temple for the maintenance of the priests and Levites, for the Lord was their portion, had the chief concern that all that was prescribed should be offered, and whether any one observed the rest, which was more important, or not, they considered insignificant. And so, in this passage also,850 He rebukes the Pharisees and lawyers of avarice, because they carefully demanded tithes of even insignificant vegetables and ignored just judgment in the adjudication of cases, mercy to the poor, orphans, and widows, and faith in God, which is of very great importance.

Verse 24: The leaders are blind, straining the gnat, and devouring the camel. "I think that the camel, according to the meaning of the present place, is just judgment, and mercy, and faith, and the mosquito is tithes of mint, anise, and cumin, and the rest