返回Chapter 19
Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Lk. 19:1. Then Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through it.
Lk. 19:2. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector and a rich man,
Lk. 19:3. He sought to see Jesus, who He was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was small in stature.
Lk. 19:4. And running ahead, he climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, because He was about to pass by it.
Lk. 19:5. Jesus, when He came to that place, looking up, saw him and said to him: Zacchaeus! Come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.
The Lord snatches the strongest vessels from the devil and destroys his cities. For see how He not only made tax collectors His disciples, but also captures the chief among the tax collectors, Zacchaeus, unto salvation. And that a tax collector is a lowly creature, and the chief among the tax collectors, as one presiding over wickedness, is even more abominable — of this no one has any doubt. For tax collectors acquire their means of living in no other way than from the tears of the poor. Yet this chief among the tax collectors is not left in contempt, but shows hospitality and in return receives salvation. For when he desired to see Jesus and for this purpose climbed up into a sycamore tree, the Lord perceives him before he himself saw Him. Thus God everywhere anticipates us, as soon as He sees our readiness.
Lk. 19:6. And he made haste and came down and received Him with joy.
Lk. 19:7. And when they all saw it, they began to murmur, saying that He had gone in to be a guest with a sinful man;
Jesus, seeing him, commands him to come down quickly, as He is to be in his house. Zacchaeus did not delay, for one must not hesitate when Christ commands something, but came down and "received Him joyfully," though many murmured. Let us see, then, what fruits he bears on the occasion of Christ's visit.
Lk. 19:8. Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord: Lord! Half of my possessions I give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.
"Half of my goods, Lord," he says, "I give to the poor." Do you see the fervor? He began to sow without sparing and gave not something small, but his entire livelihood. For even what he retained, he retained in order to have the means to repay those he had wronged. By this he teaches us as well that there is no benefit if someone, possessing unrighteous wealth, shows mercy to some while leaving the wronged without attention. See how he acts in this case as well. "If I have defrauded anyone of anything," he restores it "fourfold," thereby compensating the loss caused to the wronged party. For true mercy does not simply restore the loss, but does so with addition, in accordance with the Law. For the Law required the thief to pay fourfold (Ex. 22:1). If we examine this precisely, we shall see that absolutely nothing of his possessions remained to him. For he gives half of his goods to the poor, and only half remains to him. From this remaining half he again restores fourfold to those whom he had wronged. Therefore, if the life of this chief tax collector consisted of injustices, and for everything he acquired unjustly he restores fourfold, then see how he was stripped of everything. In this respect he proves to be one who reasons above the Law, a disciple of the Gospel, since he loved his neighbor more than himself, and this not in promise only, but in actual deed. For he did not say: I will give half, I will restore fourfold, but: behold, I "give," I "restore." He knows the instruction of Solomon: "Do not say: 'Go, and come again, and tomorrow I will give'" (Prov. 3:28).
Lk. 19:9. Jesus said to him: "Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham."
Christ proclaims salvation to him. "Today," He says, "you give, today salvation is yours." For by the words "to this house," He undoubtedly points to Zacchaeus as the one receiving salvation. By "house" is meant Zacchaeus, because the Lord would not have called a soulless building a son of Abraham, but clearly called the living master of the house such. He called him a son of Abraham, perhaps because he believed and was justified by faith, or perhaps because he magnanimously despised riches and loved the poor, like that patriarch. Note: the Lord called Zacchaeus a son of Abraham now, when He saw in him a likeness in way of life. He did not say, "because this man also was a son of Abraham," but that he now is. For before, being a chief tax collector and a gatherer of tribute, and having no resemblance to the righteous man, he was not his son.
Lk. 19:10. The Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.
Since some were grumbling that the Lord went into the house of a sinful man, in order to shut their mouths, He says: "The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." Such is the literal meaning.
But one can conveniently explain this in another way as well, for the benefit of moral instruction. Anyone who surpasses many in wickedness is small in spiritual stature, for the flesh and the spirit are opposed to one another, and therefore he cannot see Jesus because of the crowd; that is, being troubled by passions and worldly affairs, he cannot see Jesus acting, moving, and walking. For such a person perceives no activity befitting a Christian. And the walking of Jesus signifies when Christ works something in us. Such a person, having never seen Jesus walking and having experienced no activity befitting Christ, often through repentance comes to his senses and climbs the sycamore tree, that is, he despises and tramples underfoot every pleasure and delight, which are signified by the fig tree, and in this way, having risen above himself and making the ascent in his heart, he is noticed by Jesus, and himself beholds Him. Then the Lord says to him: "Come down quickly," that is, through repentance you have come to a higher life, so come down through humility, lest pride deceive you. Humble yourself quickly, for if you humble yourself, then "I must be at your house." It is necessary for Me, He says, to be in the house of the humble. For "to whom shall I look: to the humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at My word" (Isa. 66:2). Such a person gives half of his possessions to the poor, that is, to the demons. Our possessions are of two kinds, that is, bodily and spiritual. Everything bodily the righteous man yields to the demons, who are truly poor and deprived of every good, but he does not give up his spiritual possessions. As is known, the Lord also says concerning Job: "only spare his soul" (Job 2:6). If such a person has wronged anyone in anything, he repays fourfold. By this it is hinted that everyone who through repentance passes to a way contrary to his former wickedness heals all his former sins by the four virtues, and thus receives salvation. He is called a son of Abraham, since, like Abraham, he went out from his land and from the kinship of his former wickedness, and settled outside the house of his father, that is, outside himself, and denied himself (for he was the house of his father the devil (John 8:44)), and thus, having stepped outside himself and become estranged, he receives salvation.
Lk. 19:11. And as they heard these things, He added and spoke a parable, because He was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the Kingdom of God should immediately appear.
It seems to me that these people, hearing about the Kingdom of God, understood it in the sense of a supposed divine favor toward the liberation of the Jewish people, and therefore assumed that Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, would receive this kingdom.
Lk. 19:12. A certain man of noble birth went to a distant country to receive for himself a kingdom and return;
But the Lord, in order to show them that they reason foolishly, for His Kingdom is not a sensible one, and at the same time to express that as God He knows their thoughts, speaks the present parable, presenting Himself in the person of a man "of noble birth." For although He became man, He did not depart from the height and nobility of the Godhead. And having accomplished the Mystery of the Dispensation in the flesh, He again departed "to a far country," that is, so that even in His humanity He might sit with His flesh "at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens" (Heb. 8:1). For as God He always sat with the Father, but as man He then sat down when He ascended, waiting until His enemies be made His footstool (Heb. 10:12–13). And this will be at the end of the world, when all, even those unwilling, will submit to Him, believing that "Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2:11).
Lk. 19:13. And having called his ten servants, he gave them ten minas and said to them: put them to use in trade until I return.
Lk. 19:14. But his citizens hated him and sent an embassy after him, saying: We do not want him to reign over us.
His "citizens" are the Jews, who hate Him. "And they have seen, He says, and hated both Me and My Father" (John 15:24). They did not want Him to reign over them. Therefore, renouncing His kingdom, they said to Pilate: "We have no king," and again, "Do not write: The King of the Jews" (John 19:15, 21). Yet Zechariah cries out: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion...: behold, your King comes to you, righteous and saving" (Zech. 9:9); and Isaiah: "Behold, a King shall reign in righteousness" (Isa. 32:1); and David: "I have set My King upon Zion" (Ps. 2:6).
The Jews hated the Lord, but He gave ten minas to His servants. His servants are those to whom ministries in the Church have been entrusted. They are said to be "ten" on account of the perfection of ecclesiastical leadership. For the order in the Church has a perfect arrangement of leaders, and there was no need for either more or fewer of them. For example, we see in the Church the following three actions: purification, illumination, and perfection, and three ranks among which these actions are divided. Deacons purify through catechism and teaching, presbyters illuminate through baptism, and bishops appoint to sacred ranks and perfect, that is, they ordain. Do you see that the ranks are proportionate to the actions, and that there are neither more nor fewer ranks of leaders? To these servants the Lord distributes "ten minas," that is, gifts, which are given to each one for benefit (1 Cor. 12:7). For everyone to whom leadership has been entrusted, even if he is unworthy, has a gift from the anointing itself, and this is truly a great Mystery of God's love for mankind and Divine Economy.
Lk. 19:15. And when he returned, having received the kingdom, he commanded these servants to be called to him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know who had gained what.
Lk. 19:16. The first came and said: Lord, your mina has produced ten minas.
Lk. 19:17. And he said to him: Well done, good servant! Because you were faithful in a very little, receive authority over ten cities.
Lk. 19:18. The second came and said: Lord! Your mina has produced five minas.
Lk. 19:19. He said to this one also: and you be over five cities.
"When he returns" — Christ, noble both in His humanity (for the Lord was of royal lineage) and in His Divinity, at His second coming, when He shall appear with the apostles as King, coming in the glory of the Father, and when every knee shall bow before Him, then He will indeed demand an accounting from the servants who received the gifts. It is revealed that one brought benefit to many and multiplied the gift tenfold; another also brought benefit, but to a lesser number; and the third was of absolutely no benefit to anyone, but spent the time of activity in idleness. Therefore, the one who multiplied what he received tenfold is set over ten cities, that is, he receives authority over ten cities, and consequently is rewarded many times over. The one who follows him receives a proportionate reward. But the one who brought no profit is condemned.
Lk. 19:20. The third came and said: Lord, here is your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief.
Let us see what he says: "Lord! here is your mina," take it; "I kept it, wrapped in a handkerchief." A cloth was placed on the head of the deceased Lord (John 20:7), and the face of Lazarus in the tomb was wrapped with a handkerchief (John 11:44). Therefore this negligent man rightly says that he wrapped the gift in a handkerchief. For having made it dead and inactive, he made no use of it and brought no profit.
Lk. 19:21. For I feared you, because you are a harsh man: you take up what you did not lay down, and reap what you did not sow.
"For I feared you," he says, "because you take up what you did not lay down." Many excuse themselves with such a pretext. Not wishing to be of benefit to anyone, they say: where God has not sown giftedness and ability, do not seek a harvest there. He did not create such-and-such a person gifted and capable of learning — so why demand from me that I be of benefit to him?
Lk. 19:22. The master said to him: Out of your own mouth I will judge you, wicked servant! You knew that I am a harsh man, taking up what I did not lay down, and reaping what I did not sow;
Lk. 19:23. Why then did you not put my money in the bank, so that when I came I might have collected it with interest?
Therefore the Lord also says: you teach and give My silver to the laborers, that is, to all people appointed to receive benefit. For every person has been established by God as a money-changer, so as to make transactions in the great workshop of this world. And "so that when I come, I may receive it back with interest," that is, demand it back with profit. We must do our part, and as for what follows, God will judge those who did not wish to make use of it.
Lk. 19:24. And he said to those standing by: Take the mina from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.
Lk. 19:25. And they said to him: Lord! He already has ten minas.
Lk. 19:26. I say to you, that to everyone who has, it shall be given, and from him who does not have, even what he has shall be taken away;
The gift is taken away and given to the good worker. Although he already has, for that very reason it is profitable for him to receive more. "To him who has, it will be given," that is, whoever through good dealings has accumulated rich means, to him even more will be given. For if he increased a small amount tenfold, then obviously, having multiplied a greater amount tenfold, he will bring the master even greater profit. But from the negligent and lazy one, who did not take care to multiply what he received, even that which he has will be taken away, so that the master's property does not lie useless when it can be given to another and increased many times over. We understand this not only of the word and teaching, but also of moral virtues. For in these too God has given us gifts — to one the gift of fasting, to another of almsgiving, to another of meekness, to another of humility. And if we are watchful, we will multiply these gifts; but if we are careless and willingly die, then afterwards we will lay the blame on God, as we commonly say: what am I to do? If such-and-such a person is holy, it is because God favors him and he is holy; but He does not favor me, and I am not holy; and that one was Peter, the other was Paul. Foolish man! The very mina given to you makes you a Peter and a Paul. Work according to your ability and bring something to the One who gave it, if not as much as Peter and Paul — for they received a mina each, and you too received a mina. And then, having not advanced at all in doing good, you accuse God! Therefore, proving ourselves unworthy of the gifts, we are deprived of them.
Lk. 19:27. But those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring here and slay before me.
Lk. 19:28. Having said these things, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
"But as for my enemies – He says – those who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them before me," that is, the Jews, whom He will deliver to destruction, sending them into eternal fire. Yes, the wretches were slain here too, that is, in this world, by the Roman armies, and they are still kept and will be kept for slaughter there.
Lk. 19:29. And when He drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mountain called Olivet, He sent two of His disciples,
Lk. 19:30. saying: Go into the village opposite; entering it, you will find a young donkey tied up, on which no one has ever sat; untie it and bring it.
Lk. 19:31. And if anyone asks you: why are you untying it? say to him thus: it is needed by the Lord.
Lk. 19:32. Those who were sent went and found it just as He had told them.
Lk. 19:33. And as they were untying the young donkey, its owners said to them: Why are you untying the colt?
Lk. 19:34. They answered: He is needed by the Lord.
Lk. 19:35. And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their garments on the colt, they set Jesus on it.
The Lord sits upon the colt for two purposes at one and the same time: first, to fulfill the prophecy which says, "Behold, your King comes," sitting upon a beast of burden (Zech. 9:9); and second, to figuratively let us know that He would subdue to Himself a new, unclean, and untamed people of the Gentiles. Judging by the distance of the journey, the Lord doubtless had no need of a beast of burden. For having traversed all of Galilee and Judea on foot, how would He have need of a colt for the passage from Bethany to Jerusalem, where the distance, as everyone knows, is insignificant? And so He does this, as I said, with a mystical meaning. The colt was tied up and had many masters, but by those who were sent, that is, the apostles, it is untied. This has the following meaning: Bethany, by interpretation, means "house of obedience," and Bethphage means "house of jaws," a place befitting priests. For the jaws were given to the priests, as prescribed in the Law (Deut. 18:3). By jaws is signified the word of teaching, which the jaws of the soul grind and refine. And so, where there is a house of the teaching word and of obedience to this word, there the disciples of the Lord are sent and loose people bound by the nets of sin and many worldly cares, and from servants of many masters and gods make them worshippers of one Lord Jesus and one God the Father. But where there is neither a house of obedience nor is the teaching word received, nothing of the sort happens, and the colt is not untied. Those sent were two. By this is signified that two orders serve to bring the Gentiles to Christ and to obedience to Him: the prophets and the apostles. They bring the colt from a certain "village," so that we may know that the Gentile people were in great simplicity and ignorance. For they had never submitted to either the teaching of Moses or the prophets, but were an untrained colt. And if, as another evangelist said (Matt. 21:15), children also cried out, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they too can signify that same new people who, believing in Jesus who appeared in the flesh from the seed of David, sent up glory to God, as it is written: "The generation to come shall praise the Lord" (Ps. 102:19).
Lk. 19:36. And as He rode, they spread their garments on the road.
The spreading of garments seems to signify that those worthy to praise Jesus, having put off the old man, lay him down and subject him to Jesus, so that by treading upon him He might sanctify him, and so that the flesh would not rise up against the spirit, so that they themselves might also say: "Submit to the Lord and hope in Him" (Ps. 36:7).
Lk. 19:37. And when He drew near, at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen,
Lk. 19:38. saying: Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!
Saying that "the whole multitude of disciples" praised God, Luke calls disciples all the followers of Jesus in general, not only the twelve and not the seventy, but all the people who, either being in need of miracles or at times being carried along by His teaching, followed Jesus. Among them naturally there were also children, as the other Evangelists relate (Matt. 21:15). Moved by God, the children confess Jesus as King, coming "in the name of the Lord," that is, as God, and say: "peace in heaven." Otherwise put: the former enmity that we had with God has ceased. For there was no King-God on earth. But now, when God comes upon the earth, there is truly peace in heaven, and therefore "glory in the highest," since the Angels also glorify that unity and reconciliation which the King and God riding on the donkey has granted us. For the very fact that the true God appears on earth and walks in our land, the land of His enemies, shows that reconciliation has been concluded between Him and us.
Lk. 19:39. And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said to Him: Teacher! rebuke Your disciples.
Lk. 19:40. But He answered and said to them: I tell you that if these should hold their peace, the stones would cry out.
The Pharisees grumbled that the people called Jesus King and praised Him as God; for (in their opinion) the solemn ascription to Him of the name of King was a sign of sedition and blasphemy against the Lord. But Jesus said: "if they keep silent,... the stones will cry out." Or: the people say this not out of flattery toward Me, but they utter this doxology because they are convinced and compelled by all those signs and mighty works which they have seen.
Lk. 19:41. And when He drew near to the city, looking upon it, He wept over it.
The Lord, as the Lover of mankind, weeps over the city, for He did not desire the destruction of its inhabitants for their audacious act against Him. Thus, by His weeping He reveals a compassionate heart. And that He pitied them and thirsted for their conversion not only before the crucifixion but also after the crucifixion is evident from the fact that He delivered them to the Romans only after so many years, for thirty-five years had passed. Without doubt, He delayed the punishment for no other reason than His intense desire for their conversion.
Lk. 19:42. and said: If only you had known, even in this your day, the things that serve your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes,
Lk. 19:43. For the days shall come upon you, when your enemies shall surround you with a rampart, and encircle you, and hem you in on every side,
Lk. 19:44. and shall destroy you, and strike down your children within you, and they shall not leave in you one stone upon another; because you did not know the time of your visitation.
So, He weeps over the insensibility of Jerusalem and says: "if you, even you, had known in this your day the things that make for your peace." That is, if only you had known even now what is to your benefit and leads to peace and tranquility, namely: that you must believe in Me and turn away from your evil design against Me! But now it is hidden from your eyes that unbearable calamities will come upon you for your rejection of Me, and that you will suffer such and such things because you did not recognize "the time of your visitation," that is, My appearing, when I came to visit you and save you. So, you should have known what makes for your well-being, that is, to believe in Me, and you would have been safe from the Romans and free from all harm. For all who believed in Christ remained free from captivity, so that if all had believed, no one would have fallen into captivity at all.
Lk. 19:45. And having entered the temple, He began to cast out those selling in it and buying,
Lk. 19:46. saying to them: It is written: My house is a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers.
Lk. 19:47. And He taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the elders of the people sought to destroy Him,
Lk. 19:48. And they could not find what they might do, for all the people hung upon Him, listening.
Lk. 19:1. Then Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through it.
Lk. 19:2. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector and a rich man,
Lk. 19:3. He sought to see Jesus, who He was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was small in stature.
Lk. 19:4. And running ahead, he climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, because He was about to pass by it.
Lk. 19:5. Jesus, when He came to that place, looking up, saw him and said to him: Zacchaeus! Come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.
The Lord snatches the strongest vessels from the devil and destroys his cities. For see how He not only made tax collectors His disciples, but also captures the chief among the tax collectors, Zacchaeus, unto salvation. And that a tax collector is a lowly creature, and the chief among the tax collectors, as one presiding over wickedness, is even more abominable — of this no one has any doubt. For tax collectors acquire their means of living in no other way than from the tears of the poor. Yet this chief among the tax collectors is not left in contempt, but shows hospitality and in return receives salvation. For when he desired to see Jesus and for this purpose climbed up into a sycamore tree, the Lord perceives him before he himself saw Him. Thus God everywhere anticipates us, as soon as He sees our readiness.
Lk. 19:6. And he made haste and came down and received Him with joy.
Lk. 19:7. And when they all saw it, they began to murmur, saying that He had gone in to be a guest with a sinful man;
Jesus, seeing him, commands him to come down quickly, as He is to be in his house. Zacchaeus did not delay, for one must not hesitate when Christ commands something, but came down and "received Him joyfully," though many murmured. Let us see, then, what fruits he bears on the occasion of Christ's visit.
Lk. 19:8. Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord: Lord! Half of my possessions I give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.
"Half of my goods, Lord," he says, "I give to the poor." Do you see the fervor? He began to sow without sparing and gave not something small, but his entire livelihood. For even what he retained, he retained in order to have the means to repay those he had wronged. By this he teaches us as well that there is no benefit if someone, possessing unrighteous wealth, shows mercy to some while leaving the wronged without attention. See how he acts in this case as well. "If I have defrauded anyone of anything," he restores it "fourfold," thereby compensating the loss caused to the wronged party. For true mercy does not simply restore the loss, but does so with addition, in accordance with the Law. For the Law required the thief to pay fourfold (Ex. 22:1). If we examine this precisely, we shall see that absolutely nothing of his possessions remained to him. For he gives half of his goods to the poor, and only half remains to him. From this remaining half he again restores fourfold to those whom he had wronged. Therefore, if the life of this chief tax collector consisted of injustices, and for everything he acquired unjustly he restores fourfold, then see how he was stripped of everything. In this respect he proves to be one who reasons above the Law, a disciple of the Gospel, since he loved his neighbor more than himself, and this not in promise only, but in actual deed. For he did not say: I will give half, I will restore fourfold, but: behold, I "give," I "restore." He knows the instruction of Solomon: "Do not say: 'Go, and come again, and tomorrow I will give'" (Prov. 3:28).
Lk. 19:9. Jesus said to him: "Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham."
Christ proclaims salvation to him. "Today," He says, "you give, today salvation is yours." For by the words "to this house," He undoubtedly points to Zacchaeus as the one receiving salvation. By "house" is meant Zacchaeus, because the Lord would not have called a soulless building a son of Abraham, but clearly called the living master of the house such. He called him a son of Abraham, perhaps because he believed and was justified by faith, or perhaps because he magnanimously despised riches and loved the poor, like that patriarch. Note: the Lord called Zacchaeus a son of Abraham now, when He saw in him a likeness in way of life. He did not say, "because this man also was a son of Abraham," but that he now is. For before, being a chief tax collector and a gatherer of tribute, and having no resemblance to the righteous man, he was not his son.
Lk. 19:10. The Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.
Since some were grumbling that the Lord went into the house of a sinful man, in order to shut their mouths, He says: "The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." Such is the literal meaning.
But one can conveniently explain this in another way as well, for the benefit of moral instruction. Anyone who surpasses many in wickedness is small in spiritual stature, for the flesh and the spirit are opposed to one another, and therefore he cannot see Jesus because of the crowd; that is, being troubled by passions and worldly affairs, he cannot see Jesus acting, moving, and walking. For such a person perceives no activity befitting a Christian. And the walking of Jesus signifies when Christ works something in us. Such a person, having never seen Jesus walking and having experienced no activity befitting Christ, often through repentance comes to his senses and climbs the sycamore tree, that is, he despises and tramples underfoot every pleasure and delight, which are signified by the fig tree, and in this way, having risen above himself and making the ascent in his heart, he is noticed by Jesus, and himself beholds Him. Then the Lord says to him: "Come down quickly," that is, through repentance you have come to a higher life, so come down through humility, lest pride deceive you. Humble yourself quickly, for if you humble yourself, then "I must be at your house." It is necessary for Me, He says, to be in the house of the humble. For "to whom shall I look: to the humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at My word" (Isa. 66:2). Such a person gives half of his possessions to the poor, that is, to the demons. Our possessions are of two kinds, that is, bodily and spiritual. Everything bodily the righteous man yields to the demons, who are truly poor and deprived of every good, but he does not give up his spiritual possessions. As is known, the Lord also says concerning Job: "only spare his soul" (Job 2:6). If such a person has wronged anyone in anything, he repays fourfold. By this it is hinted that everyone who through repentance passes to a way contrary to his former wickedness heals all his former sins by the four virtues, and thus receives salvation. He is called a son of Abraham, since, like Abraham, he went out from his land and from the kinship of his former wickedness, and settled outside the house of his father, that is, outside himself, and denied himself (for he was the house of his father the devil (John 8:44)), and thus, having stepped outside himself and become estranged, he receives salvation.
Lk. 19:11. And as they heard these things, He added and spoke a parable, because He was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the Kingdom of God should immediately appear.
It seems to me that these people, hearing about the Kingdom of God, understood it in the sense of a supposed divine favor toward the liberation of the Jewish people, and therefore assumed that Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, would receive this kingdom.
Lk. 19:12. A certain man of noble birth went to a distant country to receive for himself a kingdom and return;
But the Lord, in order to show them that they reason foolishly, for His Kingdom is not a sensible one, and at the same time to express that as God He knows their thoughts, speaks the present parable, presenting Himself in the person of a man "of noble birth." For although He became man, He did not depart from the height and nobility of the Godhead. And having accomplished the Mystery of the Dispensation in the flesh, He again departed "to a far country," that is, so that even in His humanity He might sit with His flesh "at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens" (Heb. 8:1). For as God He always sat with the Father, but as man He then sat down when He ascended, waiting until His enemies be made His footstool (Heb. 10:12–13). And this will be at the end of the world, when all, even those unwilling, will submit to Him, believing that "Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2:11).
Lk. 19:13. And having called his ten servants, he gave them ten minas and said to them: put them to use in trade until I return.
Lk. 19:14. But his citizens hated him and sent an embassy after him, saying: We do not want him to reign over us.
His "citizens" are the Jews, who hate Him. "And they have seen, He says, and hated both Me and My Father" (John 15:24). They did not want Him to reign over them. Therefore, renouncing His kingdom, they said to Pilate: "We have no king," and again, "Do not write: The King of the Jews" (John 19:15, 21). Yet Zechariah cries out: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion...: behold, your King comes to you, righteous and saving" (Zech. 9:9); and Isaiah: "Behold, a King shall reign in righteousness" (Isa. 32:1); and David: "I have set My King upon Zion" (Ps. 2:6).
The Jews hated the Lord, but He gave ten minas to His servants. His servants are those to whom ministries in the Church have been entrusted. They are said to be "ten" on account of the perfection of ecclesiastical leadership. For the order in the Church has a perfect arrangement of leaders, and there was no need for either more or fewer of them. For example, we see in the Church the following three actions: purification, illumination, and perfection, and three ranks among which these actions are divided. Deacons purify through catechism and teaching, presbyters illuminate through baptism, and bishops appoint to sacred ranks and perfect, that is, they ordain. Do you see that the ranks are proportionate to the actions, and that there are neither more nor fewer ranks of leaders? To these servants the Lord distributes "ten minas," that is, gifts, which are given to each one for benefit (1 Cor. 12:7). For everyone to whom leadership has been entrusted, even if he is unworthy, has a gift from the anointing itself, and this is truly a great Mystery of God's love for mankind and Divine Economy.
Lk. 19:15. And when he returned, having received the kingdom, he commanded these servants to be called to him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know who had gained what.
Lk. 19:16. The first came and said: Lord, your mina has produced ten minas.
Lk. 19:17. And he said to him: Well done, good servant! Because you were faithful in a very little, receive authority over ten cities.
Lk. 19:18. The second came and said: Lord! Your mina has produced five minas.
Lk. 19:19. He said to this one also: and you be over five cities.
"When he returns" — Christ, noble both in His humanity (for the Lord was of royal lineage) and in His Divinity, at His second coming, when He shall appear with the apostles as King, coming in the glory of the Father, and when every knee shall bow before Him, then He will indeed demand an accounting from the servants who received the gifts. It is revealed that one brought benefit to many and multiplied the gift tenfold; another also brought benefit, but to a lesser number; and the third was of absolutely no benefit to anyone, but spent the time of activity in idleness. Therefore, the one who multiplied what he received tenfold is set over ten cities, that is, he receives authority over ten cities, and consequently is rewarded many times over. The one who follows him receives a proportionate reward. But the one who brought no profit is condemned.
Lk. 19:20. The third came and said: Lord, here is your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief.
Let us see what he says: "Lord! here is your mina," take it; "I kept it, wrapped in a handkerchief." A cloth was placed on the head of the deceased Lord (John 20:7), and the face of Lazarus in the tomb was wrapped with a handkerchief (John 11:44). Therefore this negligent man rightly says that he wrapped the gift in a handkerchief. For having made it dead and inactive, he made no use of it and brought no profit.
Lk. 19:21. For I feared you, because you are a harsh man: you take up what you did not lay down, and reap what you did not sow.
"For I feared you," he says, "because you take up what you did not lay down." Many excuse themselves with such a pretext. Not wishing to be of benefit to anyone, they say: where God has not sown giftedness and ability, do not seek a harvest there. He did not create such-and-such a person gifted and capable of learning — so why demand from me that I be of benefit to him?
Lk. 19:22. The master said to him: Out of your own mouth I will judge you, wicked servant! You knew that I am a harsh man, taking up what I did not lay down, and reaping what I did not sow;
Lk. 19:23. Why then did you not put my money in the bank, so that when I came I might have collected it with interest?
Therefore the Lord also says: you teach and give My silver to the laborers, that is, to all people appointed to receive benefit. For every person has been established by God as a money-changer, so as to make transactions in the great workshop of this world. And "so that when I come, I may receive it back with interest," that is, demand it back with profit. We must do our part, and as for what follows, God will judge those who did not wish to make use of it.
Lk. 19:24. And he said to those standing by: Take the mina from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.
Lk. 19:25. And they said to him: Lord! He already has ten minas.
Lk. 19:26. I say to you, that to everyone who has, it shall be given, and from him who does not have, even what he has shall be taken away;
The gift is taken away and given to the good worker. Although he already has, for that very reason it is profitable for him to receive more. "To him who has, it will be given," that is, whoever through good dealings has accumulated rich means, to him even more will be given. For if he increased a small amount tenfold, then obviously, having multiplied a greater amount tenfold, he will bring the master even greater profit. But from the negligent and lazy one, who did not take care to multiply what he received, even that which he has will be taken away, so that the master's property does not lie useless when it can be given to another and increased many times over. We understand this not only of the word and teaching, but also of moral virtues. For in these too God has given us gifts — to one the gift of fasting, to another of almsgiving, to another of meekness, to another of humility. And if we are watchful, we will multiply these gifts; but if we are careless and willingly die, then afterwards we will lay the blame on God, as we commonly say: what am I to do? If such-and-such a person is holy, it is because God favors him and he is holy; but He does not favor me, and I am not holy; and that one was Peter, the other was Paul. Foolish man! The very mina given to you makes you a Peter and a Paul. Work according to your ability and bring something to the One who gave it, if not as much as Peter and Paul — for they received a mina each, and you too received a mina. And then, having not advanced at all in doing good, you accuse God! Therefore, proving ourselves unworthy of the gifts, we are deprived of them.
Lk. 19:27. But those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring here and slay before me.
Lk. 19:28. Having said these things, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
"But as for my enemies – He says – those who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them before me," that is, the Jews, whom He will deliver to destruction, sending them into eternal fire. Yes, the wretches were slain here too, that is, in this world, by the Roman armies, and they are still kept and will be kept for slaughter there.
Lk. 19:29. And when He drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mountain called Olivet, He sent two of His disciples,
Lk. 19:30. saying: Go into the village opposite; entering it, you will find a young donkey tied up, on which no one has ever sat; untie it and bring it.
Lk. 19:31. And if anyone asks you: why are you untying it? say to him thus: it is needed by the Lord.
Lk. 19:32. Those who were sent went and found it just as He had told them.
Lk. 19:33. And as they were untying the young donkey, its owners said to them: Why are you untying the colt?
Lk. 19:34. They answered: He is needed by the Lord.
Lk. 19:35. And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their garments on the colt, they set Jesus on it.
The Lord sits upon the colt for two purposes at one and the same time: first, to fulfill the prophecy which says, "Behold, your King comes," sitting upon a beast of burden (Zech. 9:9); and second, to figuratively let us know that He would subdue to Himself a new, unclean, and untamed people of the Gentiles. Judging by the distance of the journey, the Lord doubtless had no need of a beast of burden. For having traversed all of Galilee and Judea on foot, how would He have need of a colt for the passage from Bethany to Jerusalem, where the distance, as everyone knows, is insignificant? And so He does this, as I said, with a mystical meaning. The colt was tied up and had many masters, but by those who were sent, that is, the apostles, it is untied. This has the following meaning: Bethany, by interpretation, means "house of obedience," and Bethphage means "house of jaws," a place befitting priests. For the jaws were given to the priests, as prescribed in the Law (Deut. 18:3). By jaws is signified the word of teaching, which the jaws of the soul grind and refine. And so, where there is a house of the teaching word and of obedience to this word, there the disciples of the Lord are sent and loose people bound by the nets of sin and many worldly cares, and from servants of many masters and gods make them worshippers of one Lord Jesus and one God the Father. But where there is neither a house of obedience nor is the teaching word received, nothing of the sort happens, and the colt is not untied. Those sent were two. By this is signified that two orders serve to bring the Gentiles to Christ and to obedience to Him: the prophets and the apostles. They bring the colt from a certain "village," so that we may know that the Gentile people were in great simplicity and ignorance. For they had never submitted to either the teaching of Moses or the prophets, but were an untrained colt. And if, as another evangelist said (Matt. 21:15), children also cried out, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they too can signify that same new people who, believing in Jesus who appeared in the flesh from the seed of David, sent up glory to God, as it is written: "The generation to come shall praise the Lord" (Ps. 102:19).
Lk. 19:36. And as He rode, they spread their garments on the road.
The spreading of garments seems to signify that those worthy to praise Jesus, having put off the old man, lay him down and subject him to Jesus, so that by treading upon him He might sanctify him, and so that the flesh would not rise up against the spirit, so that they themselves might also say: "Submit to the Lord and hope in Him" (Ps. 36:7).
Lk. 19:37. And when He drew near, at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen,
Lk. 19:38. saying: Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!
Saying that "the whole multitude of disciples" praised God, Luke calls disciples all the followers of Jesus in general, not only the twelve and not the seventy, but all the people who, either being in need of miracles or at times being carried along by His teaching, followed Jesus. Among them naturally there were also children, as the other Evangelists relate (Matt. 21:15). Moved by God, the children confess Jesus as King, coming "in the name of the Lord," that is, as God, and say: "peace in heaven." Otherwise put: the former enmity that we had with God has ceased. For there was no King-God on earth. But now, when God comes upon the earth, there is truly peace in heaven, and therefore "glory in the highest," since the Angels also glorify that unity and reconciliation which the King and God riding on the donkey has granted us. For the very fact that the true God appears on earth and walks in our land, the land of His enemies, shows that reconciliation has been concluded between Him and us.
Lk. 19:39. And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said to Him: Teacher! rebuke Your disciples.
Lk. 19:40. But He answered and said to them: I tell you that if these should hold their peace, the stones would cry out.
The Pharisees grumbled that the people called Jesus King and praised Him as God; for (in their opinion) the solemn ascription to Him of the name of King was a sign of sedition and blasphemy against the Lord. But Jesus said: "if they keep silent,... the stones will cry out." Or: the people say this not out of flattery toward Me, but they utter this doxology because they are convinced and compelled by all those signs and mighty works which they have seen.
Lk. 19:41. And when He drew near to the city, looking upon it, He wept over it.
The Lord, as the Lover of mankind, weeps over the city, for He did not desire the destruction of its inhabitants for their audacious act against Him. Thus, by His weeping He reveals a compassionate heart. And that He pitied them and thirsted for their conversion not only before the crucifixion but also after the crucifixion is evident from the fact that He delivered them to the Romans only after so many years, for thirty-five years had passed. Without doubt, He delayed the punishment for no other reason than His intense desire for their conversion.
Lk. 19:42. and said: If only you had known, even in this your day, the things that serve your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes,
Lk. 19:43. For the days shall come upon you, when your enemies shall surround you with a rampart, and encircle you, and hem you in on every side,
Lk. 19:44. and shall destroy you, and strike down your children within you, and they shall not leave in you one stone upon another; because you did not know the time of your visitation.
So, He weeps over the insensibility of Jerusalem and says: "if you, even you, had known in this your day the things that make for your peace." That is, if only you had known even now what is to your benefit and leads to peace and tranquility, namely: that you must believe in Me and turn away from your evil design against Me! But now it is hidden from your eyes that unbearable calamities will come upon you for your rejection of Me, and that you will suffer such and such things because you did not recognize "the time of your visitation," that is, My appearing, when I came to visit you and save you. So, you should have known what makes for your well-being, that is, to believe in Me, and you would have been safe from the Romans and free from all harm. For all who believed in Christ remained free from captivity, so that if all had believed, no one would have fallen into captivity at all.
Lk. 19:45. And having entered the temple, He began to cast out those selling in it and buying,
Lk. 19:46. saying to them: It is written: My house is a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers.
Lk. 19:47. And He taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the elders of the people sought to destroy Him,
Lk. 19:48. And they could not find what they might do, for all the people hung upon Him, listening.