As a good father, seeing his children succeeding in something worthy of praise, rejoices, so the Savior rejoiced that the Apostles were vouchsafed such blessings. Therefore, He thanks the Father that such sacraments are hidden "from the wise," that is, the Pharisees and scribes who interpreted the Law, and from the "prudent," that is, the disciples of these same scribes. For he who teaches is wise, but he who learns and understands lessons is wise; for example, Gamaliel is wise, and Paul is wise, for the former is a teacher, and the latter understands what the former instructs. - The Lord calls His disciples "babes" because they were not skilled in the Law, but were chosen for the most part from the common class of the people and from the fishermen. However, they could also be called infants because of their kindness. And those (the Pharisees and scribes) were not real wise and intelligent, but only seemed. Thus these mysteries are hidden from the wise and prudent, who seemed to be so, but in reality were not. For if they had been so, the sacraments would have been revealed to them. "Yes, Father," I thank Thee, "for such was Thy good pleasure," that is, that such was Thy favor and will, and so it pleased Thee.

     And turning to the disciples, he said, "All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and who the Son is, no one knows but the Father, and who the Father is, no one knows except the Son, and to whom the Son wants to reveal. And turning to the disciples, he said to them especially, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see!" For I say to you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear. 

The Father gives everything to the Son, because everything has to submit to the Son. God reigns over everyone in two ways: first, over those who do not desire His Kingdom, and, second, over those who will. For example, I will say: God is my Lord, even if I do not want to, because He is my Creator; and again, God is my Lord, when I, as a discreet servant, do His will by keeping the commandments. Human nature had been in slavery and in the hands of God before, although it did not want it, although it also served Satan. But when Christ endured the struggle for us, and, having freed us from the power of the devil, made us His servants and doers of the commandments, from that time we became discreet slaves, both by nature and by will; for the first slavery was only by nature, and the second, moreover, by our will. Thus, the Lord now says: "All things have been delivered to Me by My Father," that is, all things have to submit to Me and fall under My dominion. This is similar to another saying: "All power in heaven and on earth has been given to Me" (Matt. 28:18). And thus He says because He has reconciled all things (Col. 1:20) that are in heaven and on earth, and in other words: the Father commends all things to the Son, all the works of the economy of our salvation. Therefore, for our sake neither the Father nor the Spirit was incarnate, or suffered, or rose again, but the Son did all this, and He became the leader of our salvation; therefore He says that all things are given to Him. He said, as it were: My Father has entrusted everything to Me: to be incarnate, to suffer, to be resurrected, to save the rejected nature. - "And who the Son is, no one knows except the Father, and who the Father is, no one knows except the Son." Since He said that everything is committed to Me, now He seems to resolve some perplexity. So that someone does not think: why did He give everything to You, and not to another, even to an Angel or an Archangel? - He says: He betrayed Me because I am of the same Nature and Essence with Him. And just as no one knows Him, so no one knows Me except the Father alone. Therefore He justly committed all things to Me, as One in Essence with Him and surpassing all knowledge, just as He also is above all knowledge. For the Father, he says, is known only by the Son, and by him to whom the Son wishes to reveal. See: the Son does not know the Father by revelation, but creatures by revelation, for they receive knowledge by grace; therefore the Son is not created. - Turning to the disciples, the Lord blesses them and in general all who look with faith to Him, Who walks in the flesh and works miracles. For the ancient prophets and kings, although they greatly desired to see the Lord in the flesh and to hear Him, were not worthy of this. And in other words: since He said above that He knows the Father, to whom the Son will reveal, He now blesses the disciples, as having already received this revelation. For He revealed the Father to them by Himself, inasmuch as he who sees Him has seen the Father (John 14:9). And this good was not attained by any of those saints who lived before the appearance and action of the Son of God in the flesh. Since they did not see the Lord in the flesh, through whom the Father was known, it follows that they did not see the Father as the apostles did.

     And behold, a certain lawyer arose, and tempted him, and said, Teacher! What must I do to inherit eternal life? And he said to him, What is written in the law? How do you read? And he answered and said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself. Do so, and you will live.

This lawyer was a boastful man, very arrogant, as it turns out from the following, and moreover treacherous. So he approaches the Lord, tempting Him, probably thinking that he would catch the Lord in His answers. But the Lord points him to the very Law with which he was very arrogant. - See with what precision the Law commands us to love the Lord. Man is the most perfect of all creatures. Though it has something in common with all of them, it also has something advantageous. For example, a person has something in common with a stone, because he has hair, nails, which are as insensible as a stone. It has something in common with a plant, because it grows and feeds, and gives birth to something similar to itself, just like a plant. He has something in common with dumb animals, because he has feelings, he is angry and lustful. But what exalts man above all other animals, he also has in common with God, namely, the rational soul. That is why the Law, wishing to show that man must completely surrender himself to God in everything and captivate all the powers of the soul into the love of God, with the words "with all his heart" he pointed to a coarser power peculiar to plants, with the words "with all his soul" - to a power more subtle and befitting creatures endowed with feelings, with the words "with all understanding" he designated the distinguishing power of man - the rational soul. The words "with all the might" we must apply to all this. For we must submit to the love of Christ the vegetative power of the soul. But how? - strongly, not weakly: both sensual and strong; finally, both rational and its "whole strength," so that we must completely surrender ourselves to God and subordinate to God's love our nourishing, feeling, and rational power. - "And thy neighbor as thyself." The law, which because of the infancy of the hearers, was not yet able to teach the most perfect teaching, commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves. But Christ taught us to love our neighbor more than ourselves. For He says: "No man can show greater love than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13). - So he says to the lawyer, 'You answered rightly.' Inasmuch as you, he says, are still subject to the Law, you answer rightly; for according to the Law you reason rightly.

     But he, wishing to justify himself, said to Jesus, "Who is my neighbor?" And Jesus said, "A certain man was going from Jerusalem to Jericho, and was caught by robbers, who stripped him of his clothes, wounded him, and departed, leaving him scarcely alive. By chance, a certain priest was walking along that road, and seeing him, he passed by. And the Levite, being in that place, came and looked, and passed by. And a certain Samaritan, passing by, came upon him, and when he saw him, he was moved with compassion, and came and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine; and having put him on his donkey, he brought him to the inn and took care of him; and the next day, as he was leaving, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, "Take care of him; and if you spend any more, when I return, I will give it to you. Which of these three, do you think, was the neighbor of the robbers who fell into his hands? He said, "He who showed him mercy." Then Jesus said to him, "Go, and you do likewise." 

The lawyer, having received praise from the Savior, showed arrogance. He said, "And who is my neighbor?" He thought that he was righteous and had no one like himself and close in virtue; for he believed that the neighbor of the righteous is only the righteous. And so, wishing to justify himself and exalt himself before all men, he proudly says: "And who is my neighbor? But the Saviour, since He is the Creator and sees one creature in all, defines His neighbor not by deeds, not by virtues, but by nature. Do not think, he says, that because you are righteous, there is no one like you. For all who have one and the same nature are thy neighbors. Therefore, you yourself be their neighbor, not according to their place, but according to your disposition towards them and your care for them. For this reason I give you the example of the Samaritan, in order to show you that although he differed in life, nevertheless he became a neighbor to him who was in need of mercy. In the same way, show yourself to your neighbor through compassion and hasten to help according to your own confession. Thus, in this parable we learn to be ready for mercy and to strive to be neighbors to those who need our help. We also come to know the goodness of God in relation to man. Human nature came from Jerusalem, that is, from a serene and peaceful life, for Jerusalem means "the vision of the world." Where was she going? To Jericho, empty, low, and suffocating from the heat, that is, to a life full of passions. See: He did not say, "He descended," but "went." For human nature has always inclined towards earthly things, not once, but constantly being carried away by a passionate life. "And he fell into the hands of robbers," that is, he fell into the hands of demons. Whoever does not descend from the height of the mind will not fall into the hands of demons. They, having exposed man and stripped him of the garments of virtue, inflicted sinful wounds on him. For they first expose us from every good thought and protection of God, and then they inflict wounds with sins. They left human nature "scarcely alive," either because the soul is immortal and the body is mortal, and thus half of man is subject to death, or because human nature was not entirely rejected, but hoped to receive salvation in Christ, and thus was not completely dead. But just as through the transgression of Adam death entered into the world, so through justification in Christ death was to be abolished (Romans 5:16-17). By priest and Levite, perhaps, you mean the Law and the prophets. For they wanted to justify man, but they could not. "It is impossible," says the Apostle Paul, "that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins" (Heb. 10:4). They took pity on the man and pondered how to heal him, but, overcome by the force of the wounds, they again withdrew back. For this means (to pass by). The law came and stood still over the one who was lying, but then, not having the power to heal, it retreated. This means "passed by". - Look: the word "on occasion" has some meaning. For the Law, indeed, was given not for any special reason, but because of human weakness (Gal. 3:19), which at first could not receive the sacraments of Christ. That is why it is said that the priest, that is, the Law, did not come to heal a person on purpose, but "on occasion," which we usually call chance. But our Lord and God, Who became a curse for us (Gal. 3:13) and was called the Samaritan (John 8:48), came to us, making a journey, that is, setting the same thing as a pretext for the path and as a goal, in order to heal us, and not only by passing, and visited us not by chance (by the way), but lived with us and did not converse with us in a ghostly way. - Immediately he bandaged the wounds, not allowing the disease to worsen, but binding it. - He poured out oil and wine: oil is the word of teaching, which prepares for virtue by the promise of blessings, and wine is the word of teaching, which leads to virtue by fear. Thus, when you hear the word of the Lord: "Come unto me, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28), it is oil, for it shows mercy and comfort. Such are the words: "Come, inherit the kingdom prepared for you" (Matt. 25:34). But when the Lord says: "Go ye into darkness" (Matt. 25:41), this is wine, a strict teaching. You can understand it differently. Oil means life according to humanity, and wine means life according to the Divine. For the Lord did some things as a man, and others as God. For example, to eat, to drink, to lead a life not without pleasures, and not to show severity in everything, as John did, is oil; and the wondrous fasting, walking on the sea, and other manifestations of God's power are wine. Guilt can be likened to the Divinity in the sense that no one could endure the Divinity in Himself (without union) if there were not this oil, that is, life according to humanity. Since the Lord saved us through both, that is, the Divinity and humanity, it is therefore said that He poured out oil and wine. And every day those who are baptized are healed of their spiritual wounds, being anointed with myrrh, immediately communing with the Church and partaking of the Divine Blood. The Lord has planted our wounded nature on His foal, that is, on His Body. For He made us His members and partakers of His Body: He raised us, who are in the valley, to such a dignity that we are one Body with Him! - The hotel is the Church, which receives everyone. The law did not accept everyone. For it is said: "An Ammonite and a Moabite cannot enter into the congregation of the Lord" (Deuteronomy 23:3). But in every nation he who fears Him is acceptable to Him (Acts 10:35), if he wishes to believe and become a member of the Church. For it accepts everyone: both sinners and tax collectors. Notice the exact manner in which it is said that I brought him to the inn and took care of him. Before he brought him to it, he only bandaged the wounds. What does that mean? That when the Church was formed and the inn was opened, that is, when faith grew among almost all nations, then the gifts of the Holy Spirit were revealed, and the grace of God spread. You will learn this from the Acts of the Apostles. The image of the innkeeper is carried by every apostle, teacher, and pastor, to whom the Lord gave two denarii, that is, two Testaments: the Old and the New. For both Testaments, as utterances of one and the same God, bear the image of one King. It was these denarii that the Lord, ascending to heaven, left to the Apostles and to the bishops and teachers of later times. - He said: if you spend anything of your own, I will give it to you. The Apostles, indeed, spent their own, laboring much and scattering the teaching everywhere. And the teachers of later times, in explaining the Old and New Testaments, spent much of their own. For this, they will receive a reward when the Lord returns, that is, at His second coming. Then each of them will say to Him, "Lord! You have given me two denarii, and I have gained the other two. And He will say to such a person: Well done, good servant!