Commentarii in matthaeum (in catenis) 1 mt 1, 2 abraham was justified through faith and to him, having believed, god said: i will multiply your seed

 Having believed in god, he shone forth those, therefore, who believe in god, even if they come from obscure and lowly origins, are raised up by god a

 Despising the son of a carpenter, they clearly also considered his commandments to be cheap and despised, but for their insolence and contempt toward

 He made them so that they become imitators of him who both rains upon the just and sinners and makes the sun rise on all alike. 22 mt 6, 3 4 let not,

 Being bodiless it neither eats nor drinks, but do not be anxious for the soul about what you might eat or what you might drink for the soul puts fort

 Wanting it ready at hand. for lest someone should say, i have come to judge not wishing to reproach or grieve my brother, but taking thought to clean

 As we understand the gate and the way that leads to eternal life to be called narrow, not even my yoke is easy and my burden is light will contradic

 To them the sins, for which was the sacrifice, they both promised and seemed to accomplish, but a paralyzed man they were in no way strong enough to h

 Of grace, but they fasted according to the old custom. it was therefore unfitting and inappropriate for those appointed as lawgivers and heralds of th

 But they pursue the royal houses. since, therefore, you have supposed no such thing about the man, but you knew him to be a prophet in deeds and words

 To those who have despised wealth and renown and parents as well as children and death itself. but before the teaching of christ and the coming of joh

 You have received, or rather through which you have abundantly enjoyed the benefaction, through those things it was necessary, if you are ungrateful,

 His own creation, being led by good works to the knowledge of both himself and of his own father and of the consubstantial and co-powerful spirit. the

 Made man, and to hear the voice of god united to flesh hypostatically. 61 mt 13, 24 52 the kingdom of the heavens and the kingdom of god is said to be

 Knowledge and comprehension as he says: for this reason every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven, and so forth for through knowled

 For the children considered nothing of their own labors and resources to be their own, but they brought everything to their fathers, fearing lest they

 He awaited an opinion and testimony about him for if he had said: whom do men say that i, the son of god, am, the disciples' response would have been

 The narrative of higher and more wondrous things. but the lord does not offer to the scribes a solution appropriate to the seeming difficulty, showing

 They escaped the civil disturbances. and elijah dwelt on carmel, but john tarried in the desert, and in other respects the similarity between them was

 From there by a mist they were able to perceive none of the things being done, but later, having been freed from that confusion and having come to the

 Of evils) not only does he subtly and wisely exclude wealth from the appellation of 'good,' but also all other things, by his declaration concerning a

 They will convict the disobedient jews, but they themselves will be shining in honor and glory, while the others are in utmost disgrace and dejection.

 Unbearable, but what appeared heavy and unbearable by the judgment of those priests themselves for what they themselves do not move even with a finge

 Seek the rank of deacons and of those who are last, that is, practice humility for through this it is possible to obtain true primacy and inexpressib

 To kill the righteous. therefore you bear witness to your forefathers as impious, desiring to become like them. and you, he says, fill up the measu

 Always having the inflamed passion of avarice, he is indignant everywhere when deprived of profit. therefore the master, looking to their thought and

 Will be preached, not depriving the one reward of the other for each of the sins has found forgiveness and through the deed is preached throughout th

 He says, that before the entire first cockcrowing is completed, you will deny me three times. but when mark says, “before the cock crows twice, you wi

 This has been permitted for security, that we may always be sober, that even if we seem to do any good work, we may always consider it a gift from abo

 For them who are being saved, their commonwealth is on earth, but in heaven is their reward and inheritance. but since, he says, i have received autho

to them the sins, for which was the sacrifice, they both promised and seemed to accomplish, but a paralyzed man they were in no way strong enough to heal. Therefore it was easier for them to say, "Your sins are forgiven you," than "take up your bed and walk." Or it is also possible to speak and to explain otherwise, that each is of the same strength; for both are of divine and superhuman power; but since the one has the proof at hand, that is, the healing of the body, while the other has an unseen demonstration of the promise, it was reasonably said that the healing of the soul is easier than that of the body. And it is possible to speak in another way; that now the Jewish race did not accuse Christ for forgiving sins, but for saying "your sins are forgiven"; from which it is also necessary to place a comma after "easier," but not after "to say," so that what was said by the Lord is in a question of this sort: which is easier, to say, "your sins are forgiven." 37 Mt 9, 13 He said, "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners," to show that "I came not to call you who justify yourselves, but those who confess they are sinners and obey my commands." 38 Mt 9, 14-17 The "no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth" is consequently to be understood as being said not concerning the disciples, but concerning those very ones who had brought the question, as if he were saying: you did not use the question soundly; for even if you were not able to imagine anything higher, yet you ought to have remembered the voice of your teacher proclaiming me the bridegroom, and not to demand fasting from those living with the bridegroom. But if you had your mind prepared by grace, I would have told you the most precise reason why these men do not need to fast, that those with whom God as man is continually present, associating with them and ordering their ways and sanctifying their minds, these have no need of fasting. And besides, the time has not yet called them to strip for the contests and prizes on my behalf; but when the master is taken from them and is not with them physically, and the time for the prizes arrives, then they will give themselves over to fasts and other hardships for the sake of the proclamation; and these things I would have said to you, if you were able to hear more perfect things, but I do not say these things, because you are still sitting under the shadows and the old laws and are not yet able to comprehend the newness of grace and the mystery of my presence. Therefore we do not for the time being put upon you the new and recent, unordered and unshrunk and unworked words; for we will not help, but rather what faith you have will be torn for you, and you will be harmed. And he mentions wineskins and wine, since just as wine in the wineskin, so also the things of grace were contained and hidden in the oldness of the law, having become drinkable for those who believed, but having burst for those who remained in the legalistic oldness. For he says, the Jews were saying, "How long will you keep us in suspense?" and other such things. Thus, if one were to take these things to have been said about those who asked; for it does not seem to me that the master condemns the weakness of the disciples toward fasting and is conscious of gluttony in them, who on account of great neglect even of necessary food were plucking heads of grain and then by the roadside were consoling the great want of nature; for even if they were still imperfect, with the all-holy Spirit not yet having been distributed to them in fiery tongues nor having been illumined in them by the master's inbreathing, yet it is clear that they were more perfect than the disciples of John and much more than the Pharisees. Thus if one were to take "no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth" and what follows as being about those who asked, but if about the disciples, I would not say that these things were said as if they were unable to fast, but that it was not fitting for the disciples, being disciples of the new grace, to perform the fasts of the disciples of John and of the Pharisees; for it is clear that these, when fasting, not according to the ordinance of the

αὐτοῖς τὰ ἁμαρτήματα, ὑπὲρ ὧν ἡ θυσία, ἐπηγγέλοντό τε καὶ ἐδόκουν καταπράττεσθαι, ἄνθρωπον δὲ παραλελυμένον οὐδενὶ τρόπῳ κατίσχυον ἐξιάσασθαι. διὸ εὐκοπώτερον ἦν αὐτοῖς λέγειν ἀφέωνταί σοι αἱ ἁμαρτίαι σου ἢ ἆρον τὸν κράββατόν σου καὶ περιπάτει. ἢ καὶ ἄλλως ἔστιν εἰπεῖν καὶ ἐπιλύσασθαι, ὡς ἑκάτερον μὲν τῆς αὐτῆς ἐστιν ἰσχύος· ἄμφω γὰρ τῆς θείας ἐστὶ καὶ ὑπὲρ ἀνθρώπους δυνάμεως· πλὴν ἐπειδὴ τὸ μὲν παρὰ πόδας ἔχει τὸν ἔλεγχον ἤτοι ἡ θεραπεία τοῦ σώματος, τὸ δὲ ἄδηλον ἔχει τῆς ἐπαγγελίας τὴν ἀπόδειξιν, εἰκότως εὐκοπώτερον ἐρρήθη ἡ τῆς ψυχῆς ἢ ἡ τοῦ σώματος ἴασις. ἔστιν δὲ καὶ ἑτέρως εἰπεῖν· ὅτι νῦν τὸ Ἰουδαίων φῦλον οὐκ ἐνεκάλεσε τῷ Χριστῷ ὡς ἀφιέντι ἁμαρτίας, ἀλλ' εἰπόντι ἀφέωνταί σου αἱ ἁμαρτίαι· ἔνθεν καὶ δεῖ ὑποστίζειν εἰς τὸ εὐκοπώτερον, ἀλλ' οὐχὶ εἰς τὸ εἰπεῖν, ἵν' ᾖ τὸ παρὰ τοῦ δεσπότου εἰρημένον ἐν ἐρωτήσει τοιοῦτον, ποῖον δέ ἐστιν εὐκοπώτερον, τὸ εἰπεῖν· ἀφέωνταί σου αἱ ἁμαρτίαι. 37 Mt 9, 13 Τὸ οὐκ ἦλθον καλέσαι δικαίους, ἀλλὰ ἁμαρτωλοὺς εἶπεν, ἵνα δείξῃ, ὅτι οὐκ ἦλθον καλέσαι ὑμᾶς τοὺς δικαιοῦντας ἑαυτούς, ἀλλὰ τοὺς ὁμολογοῦντας ἁμαρτωλοὺς εἶναι καὶ πειθομένους τοῖς ἐμοῖς προστάγμασιν. 38 Mt 9, 14 17 Τὸ οὐδεὶς ἐπιβάλλει ἐπίβλημα ῥάκους ἀγνάφου ἀκόλουθόν ἐστιν ἐννοεῖν οὐ περὶ τῶν μαθητῶν εἰρημένον, ἀλλὰ περὶ αὐτῶν ἐκείνων τῶν τὴν ἐρώτησιν προσαγηοχότων, ὡσανεὶ ἔλεγεν· οὐχ ὑγιῶς τῇ ἐρωτήσει ἐχρήσασθε· εἰ γὰρ καὶ μηδὲν ὑψηλότερον φαντασθῆναι ἐδυνήθητε, ἀλλ' οὖν ἐχρῆν ὑμᾶς τῆς τοῦ διδασκάλου ὑμῶν μεμνῆσθαι φωνῆς νυμφίον με κηρυττούσης καὶ μὴ ἀπαιτεῖν νηστείας τοὺς ἅμα τῷ νυμφίῳ διαιτωμένους. εἰ δὲ τὴν διάνοιαν κατηρτισμένην εἴχετε τῇ χάριτι, εἶπον ἂν ὑμῖν τὴν ἀκριβεστάτην αἰτίαν τοῦ μὴ δεῖσθαι τούτους νηστείας, ὅτι παρ' οἷς ὁ θεὸς ὡς ἄνθρωπος συνεχῶς ὑπάρχει συνὼν καὶ συναναστρεφόμενος καὶ ῥυθμίζων τὰ ἤθη καὶ ἁγιάζων τὰς διανοίας, οὗτοι νηστείας οὐ δέονται. ἄλλως τε δὲ οὐδὲ πρὸς τοὺς ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ ἀγῶνας καὶ τὰ ἆθλα οὐδέπω καλεῖ ὁ καιρὸς ἐναποδύεσθαι· ἐὰν δὲ ἀρθῇ ἀπ' αὐτῶν καὶ οὐκ ἔστι σὺν αὐτοῖς σωματικῶς ὁ δεσπότης, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἄθλων ὁ καιρὸς ἐπιστῇ, τότε καὶ νηστείαις καὶ ταῖς ἄλλαις ταλαιπωρίαις ὑπὲρ τοῦ κηρύγματος ἑαυτοὺς ἐπιδώσουσιν· καὶ ταῦτα ἂν εἶπον ὑμῖν, εἰ τελειοτέρων ἀκούειν ἐδύνασθε, ἀλλ' οὐ λέγω ταῦτα, ὅτι ἔτι ταῖς σκιαῖς καὶ ταῖς παλαιαῖς νομοθεσίαις ὑποκάθησθε καὶ οὔπω δύνασθε συνιέναι τῆς χάριτος τὴν καινότητα καὶ τῆς ἐμῆς παρουσίας τὸ μυστήριον. διὸ οὐδὲ ἐπιβάλλομεν τέως ὑμῖν τοὺς νέους καὶ καινοὺς ἀνοικονομήτους καὶ ἀγνάφους καὶ ἀκατεργάστους λόγους· οὐ γὰρ ὠφελήσομεν, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον ῥαγήσεται ὑμῖν καὶ τὰ προσόντα πιστὰ καὶ βλαβήσεσθε. ἀσκῶν δὲ καὶ οἴνου μέμνηται, ἐπειδήπερ ὥσπερ ὁ οἶνος τῷ ἀσκῷ, οὕτω καὶ τὰ τῆς χάριτος ἐν τῇ τοῦ νόμου παλαιότητι περιείχετο καὶ κατεκρύπτετο πότιμα μὲν γεγονότα τοῖς πιστεύσασι, διαρρήξαντα δὲ τοὺς ἐν τῇ νομικῇ παλαιότητι διαμείναντας. ἔλεγον γάρ φησιν, οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι ἕως πότε αἴρεις τὴν ψυχὴν ἡμῶν καὶ ἄλλα τοιαῦτα. οὕτως μὲν εἴ τις ἐκλάβοι περὶ τῶν ἐρωτησάντων ταῦτα εἰρῆσθαι· οὐ γάρ μοι δοκεῖ τῶν μαθητῶν ἀσθένειαν πρὸς νηστείαν καταγινώσκειν τὸν δεσπότην καὶ γαστριμαργίᾳ συνειδέναι ἐκείνων, οἵ γε διὰ πολλὴν ἀμέλειαν καὶ τῆς ἀναγκαίας τροφῆς στάχυας τίλλοντες καὶ τότε παρὰ τὴν ὁδὸν τὴν πολλὴν ἔνδειαν παρεμυθοῦντο τῆς φύσεως· εἰ γὰρ καὶ ἀτελεῖς ἐτύγχανον ἔτι οὔπω τοῦ πανα γίου πνεύματος αὐτοῖς ἐν πυρίναις γλώσσαις διανεμηθέντος οὐδὲ διὰ τῆς δεσποτικῆς ἐμπνεύσεως αὐτοῖς ἐναυγασθέντος, ἀλλ' οὖν τῶν μαθητῶν Ἰωάννου καὶ πολλῷ μᾶλλον τῶν Φαρισαίων δῆλον ὅτι τελειότεροι ἐχρημάτιζον. οὕτως μὲν εἰ περὶ τῶν ἐρωτησάντων τις ἐκλάβοι τὸ οὐδεὶς ἐπιβάλλει ἐπίβλημα ῥάκους ἀγνάφου καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς, εἰ δὲ περὶ τῶν μαθητῶν, οὐκ ἂν φαίην ὡς μὴ δυναμένων νηστεύειν αὐτῶν εἰρῆσθαι ταῦτα, ἀλλ' ὡς μὴ προσῆκον τοὺς μαθητὰς τῆς νέας χάριτος ὄντας μαθητὰς τὰς νηστείας τῶν μαθητῶν Ἰωάννου καὶ τῶν Φαρισαίων ἐπιτελεῖν· δῆλον γὰρ ὡς οὗτοι νηστεύοντες οὐ κατὰ τὸ θέσπισμα τῆς