Chapter 2

Chapter 2. — On the Paralytic. On Jesus Eating With the Publicans. On the Disciples Plucking the Ears of Grain on the Sabbath

¹ That nothing is unclean. For the Law commanded that one keep away from the leper as unclean; but the Lord, showing that nothing is unclean by nature, and that the observances of the Law must be abolished, and how these prevail over men out of love, touches the leper—and yet Elisha so feared the Law that he would not even endure Naaman, who was a leper and in need of being healed. And having sternly charged him, he straightway sent him out, saying, Tell no one anything, but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing the things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them; on every side.[1] And through these things we are taught not to seek glory whenever we show some good to anyone. For behold, he himself also charges the one cleansed not to publish him abroad. And yet he knew that the man would not be persuaded, but would publish it; for, as I said, training us to be free of boasting, he charges him notwithstanding. Yet the one who has been benefited ought to be grateful, and to persevere, even if the one who conferred the benefit has no need of it. For indeed the leper, even though the Lord charged him, nevertheless himself spread abroad the benefaction. And he sends him to the priest, because the Law commanded that, unless the priest pronounced the former leper to have become clean, it was not permitted for him to enter the city otherwise, but he was driven away; and he enjoins also that the gift be offered, which those who were cleansed were wont by custom to present, so that this might be a testimony that he is not set against the Law, but cherishes it so greatly that he himself also enjoins the very things commanded by the Law.

² And again he entered into Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that he was in a house. And straightway many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even about the door; and he spoke the word unto them. And they come unto him, bringing a paralytic, borne of four. And not being able to come near unto him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where he was, and having broken it up, they let down the bed whereon the paralytic lay. And Jesus, seeing their faith, says to the paralytic: Child, your sins are forgiven you. What is the meaning of, after some days? Instead of, when certain days had passed. And when he had entered, they, hearing that he was in a house, ran together, expecting to meet with him more easily. And great was the faith of the men, so as even to dig through the roof and let down the bed; wherefore the Lord also heals, seeing the faith of those who carried him, or even of the paralytic himself. For neither would that man have submitted to be lifted up, had he not believed that he would be healed. For often, on account of the faith of the one who brings, he heals those who are brought, though they be unbelieving; and often the contrary, on account of the faith of the one brought, though those who bring be unbelieving. And first he forgives the sins of the sick man, then also heals the disease. For indeed the more grievous of bodily ailments arise, for the most part, out of sins, even as the Lord says that the paralytic in John also was palsied out of sins. For the one in John and the one now mentioned are not one and the same, but the one and the other are different. For the one in John had no man; but the one now has four; and the one was at the sheep-pool, but the one now in a house; and the one in Capernaum, but the other in Jerusalem; and you would find yet other differences. Nevertheless know that the one in Matthew and the one now mentioned in Mark are one.

³ Now there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts: Why does this man so speak blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone? And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, said unto them: Why reason you these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, Your sins are forgiven you, or to say, Arise, and take up your bed, and walk? But that you may know that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins—he says to the paralytic: I say unto you, Arise, and take up your bed, and go unto your house. And immediately he arose, and having taken up the bed, went forth before them all, so that all were amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion. The Pharisees indeed slandered the Lord as a blasphemer, because he forgave sins; for to forgive sins belongs to God alone. But the Lord gives yet another proof of his being God—the knowing of their hearts; for God alone knows the inward things of each, as the prophet also says: You alone know the hearts. But they, although the things in their hearts had been laid bare, nevertheless remain insensible, not granting that he who knew their hearts could also heal sins. The Lord, however, gives assurance and confirmation, through the healing of the body, that he heals the soul also—confirming the unseen through the manifest, and the harder through the easier, even though to them it seemed not so. For the Pharisees thought the healing of the body to be harder, as being visible; but to say that the soul was healed [they thought] easy, because the healing was unseen. So that perhaps they reasoned even thus: Behold the deceiver, he has let go the healing of the body, the manifest thing, and heals the unseen soul, saying, Your sins are forgiven you. For surely, if he were able, he would have healed the body, and not taken refuge in the unseen. The Savior, then, showing them that he can do both, says: Which is easier, to heal body or soul? Assuredly to heal the body; but to you it seems the contrary. I therefore, through healing the body—which in truth is easy, but seems hard to you—will give assurance also of the healing of the soul, which is hard, but, because it is unseen and not open to testing, seems easy. Then, accordingly, he says to the paralytic: Arise and take up your bed, for fuller confirmation of the miracle, that it is not according to mere appearance; and at the same time that he might show that he not only healed him, but also put power into him. Thus, then, he does also in the ailments of the soul: he not only delivers us from our sins, but also puts in us power for the working of the commandments. I too, then, being palsied, am able to be healed. For even now Christ is in Capernaum, the house of comfort—that is, in the Church; for the house of the Comforter is the Church. And I am palsied, having the powers of my soul inactive and unmoved toward the good; but if I be lifted up by the four evangelists, and be brought to the Lord, then shall I hear: Child (for I become a son of God through the working of the commandments), and my sins shall be forgiven me. But how shall I be brought before Jesus? If they dig through the roof. And what is the roof? The mind, which lies above all that is in us. But this has much rubble and tiling—the earthly affairs, I mean; but if all these be cleared away, and the power of the mind in us be dug through and unburdened, then let me be let down—that is, be humbled; for one must not be lifted up because the roof of the mind has been unburdened, but after I am unburdened, I ought to be let down, that is, to be humbled. Then, accordingly, shall I be healed, and shall take up the bed—that is, the body—moving it to the working of the commandments. For one must not only rise from sin, and understand that we are sinning, but also take up the bed, that is, the body, unto the working of the good. Then, accordingly, shall we be able to attain even unto contemplation, so that all the thoughts within us say, We never saw it on this fashion—that is, we never so perceived. For he who has been cleansed of his sins, he it is that sees.

⁴ And he went forth again by the sea-side, and all the crowd came unto him, and he taught them. After the Lord had finished the miracle upon the paralytic, he goes forth by the sea, perhaps wishing to be alone; but the crowd comes together again, that you may learn that the more you flee from glory, the more it will pursue you. If, however, you pursue it, it will flee from you.

⁵ And as Jesus passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the receipt of custom, and says unto him: Follow me. And he arose and followed him. And it came to pass, as he sat at meat in his house, that many publicans and sinners sat together with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many, and they followed him. And the scribes and the Pharisees, seeing him eat with the publicans and sinners, said unto his disciples: How is it that he eats and drinks with publicans and sinners? And when Jesus heard it, he says unto them: They that are whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick; I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. As it seems, the Lord too was fleeing by the sea, and again the crowd pursued him; nevertheless even thence he fled. And as he passed by, he took Matthew alive; for the Levi now spoken of in Mark is Matthew, since he had two names. Luke, then, and Mark name him Levi, veiling the name; but that very man himself is not ashamed, but reports the things concerning himself; for, he says, Jesus beheld Matthew the publican. So let us too not be ashamed to confess our own sins. Levi was sitting at the receipt of custom, as it seems, demanding dues of certain men, or reckoning accounts, or doing some other of the things which publicans are wont to do in their own places of business. But he was so awakened that, having left all, he followed; and, as one rejoicing, he called together many to a banquet. But the Pharisees find fault, making themselves out, forsooth, to be clean. But the Lord says, I came not to call the righteous—that is, you who justify yourselves (for this he says in irony), but sinners; and to call them, not that they should remain sinners, but unto repentance. For, that you may not suppose that he has called them for this only, that they should be turned, [he adds] that it is for this: unto repentance.

⁶ And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast; and they come and say unto him: Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples fast not? And Jesus said unto them: Can the sons of the bridechamber, while the bridegroom is with them, fast? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. But days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days. And the disciples of John, being more imperfectly disposed, continued in the Jewish customs; whence certain ones come to Christ, bringing these forward as an example, and finding fault, [asking] why his disciples do not fast equally with them. And he says: Now indeed I am the Bridegroom, and they ought to be of good cheer, and not to fast; but when I shall be taken from this life, then, falling into trials, they will both fast and be afflicted. Now he names himself Bridegroom, not only as wedding to himself the virgin souls, but also because the season of his first coming is not one of mourning, nor of gloom, to those who believe in him, nor has it toils, but easily, and without the works of the Law, through baptism he gives us rest. For what toil is it to be baptized? Yet nevertheless through this easy thing we find salvation. And the sons of the bridechamber are the apostles, as being themselves also counted worthy of the joy of the Lord, and partakers of every heavenly good and of all delight. But understand it thus also, that every man, when he works virtue, is a son of the bridechamber. So long, then, as he has with himself the Bridegroom Christ, he fasts not—that is, he displays not the works of repentance. For how should he who does not stumble? But when the Bridegroom Christ is taken from him—that is, when he has clearly slipped into sin—then he fasts and repents, that he may heal the sin.

⁷ No man sews a piece of unfulled cloth on an old garment; else the new piece that fills it up takes away from the old, and a worse rent is made. And no man puts new wine into old wineskins; else the new wine bursts the wineskins, and the wine is spilled, and the wineskins perish; but new wine must be put into new wineskins. As if he should say: Just as, if a piece of unfulled—that is, new—cloth be laid upon an old garment, it tears it by its own stiffness, and new wine by its own heat bursts the old wineskins, so also my disciples are not yet become strong, so that if we weigh them down, we shall do them harm. For they are like old garments, because of the weakness of their judgment. One must not, then, lay upon them the heavy injunction of fasting. Or you may understand it thus also: The disciples of Christ, being new, cannot be in bondage to old customs and laws.

⁸ And it came to pass that he went through the cornfields on the Sabbath; and his disciples began, as they made their way, to pluck the ears of grain. And the Pharisees said unto him: Behold, why do they on the Sabbath that which is not lawful? And he said unto them: Have you never read what David did, when he had need, and was hungry, he and they that were with him? how he entered into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which it is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them that were with him? And he said unto them: The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath; so that the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath. The disciples of the Lord pluck the ears of grain, as being no longer constrained to live according to the Law; but the Pharisees, being indignant, are rebuked by Christ, who brings forward David as having, out of necessity, set aside the Law in the days of Abiathar the high priest. For the prophet David, fleeing from the face of Saul, came to this high priest, and deceived him, as having been sent by the king on some necessary military errand. And so he both ate the showbread, and took with himself the sword of Goliath, which had been dedicated to the Lord. Now twelve were the loaves set forth each day upon the table, six on the right and six on the left. But certain ones inquire how the evangelist now named the high priest Abiathar, whereas the book of Kingdoms names him Ahimelech. It is possible, then, to say that perhaps Abiathar had two names, the same being called also Ahimelech. Or also thus: the book of Kingdoms says that Ahimelech was at one time priest; but the evangelist says that Abiathar was high priest. So that these are not contrary; for Ahimelech was priest, but Abiathar high priest. And understand it also by way of anagogy: that the disciples of Christ are on the Sabbath—that is, in the rest of their souls (for “Sabbath” is interpreted “rest”). When, then, they have rest from the passions, not being warred upon by the demons, then they make a way—that is, they become guides to others also unto virtue, plucking and uprooting all the things that spring up from matter and from the lower imagination. But if one set himself in idleness, he would not make a way for others; rather, only if one first rest from the passions does he become a guide to others also unto the good.