Chapter 3

Chapter 3. — On the Man Having a Withered Hand. On the Choosing of the Apostles. On [His] Mother and Brethren

¹ And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there who had a withered hand. And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, that they might accuse him. And he says to the man who had the withered hand: Arise, into the midst. And he says unto them: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good, or to do evil? to save a soul, or to kill? But they held their peace. And having looked round about on them with anger, being grieved at the hardness of their heart, he says to the man: Stretch forth your hand. And he stretched it forth; and his hand was restored whole, as the other. The disciples having been accused by the Jews, because on the Sabbath they plucked the ears of grain, the Lord indeed stopped the mouths of the accusers, and by the example of David told by what necessity he entered into the holy place; [and now] he works a wonder, showing that, So far are my disciples from sinning, that I myself also work on the day of the Sabbath, displaying a miracle; so that if to work a miracle be evil, then it is simply evil also to do the necessary things on the Sabbath; but indeed to work a miracle, for the salvation of a man, is divine; therefore he does not transgress the law who on the Sabbath works no evil thing. For this cause, then, he also asks them whether it is lawful to do good, putting them to shame as hindering him from doing good. And every man who does not the works of the right-hand portion has his right hand withered. To whom Christ says: Arise—that is, Rise up from sin; and stand into the midst—that is, into the mean of the virtues. For every virtue is a mean, inclining neither to deficiency nor to excess; then, accordingly, when he is set in the mean, his hand shall be restored whole. And mark also the word, It was restored. For there was a time when we had our hands whole—that is, the active energy—when there was not yet transgression; but from the time when our hand was stretched out unto the forbidden fruit, from then it was withered as to the working of the good. Let us, then, again stand in the midst of the virtues.

² And the Pharisees, going forth, straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him. And Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea; and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from Judea, and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and from beyond the Jordan, and they about Tyre and Sidon—a great multitude, having heard what things he did, came unto him. And he told his disciples that a little boat should wait upon him because of the crowd, lest they should throng him; for he had healed many, so that they pressed upon him to touch him, as many as had plagues. And the unclean spirits, when they beheld him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, You are the Son of God. And he charged them much that they should not make him known. Who were the Herodians? Either the soldiers of Herod, or a certain newly-arisen sect, teaching that Herod himself was the Christ, because in his time the succession of the Jewish kings had received its end. For the prophecy of Jacob declared that, when the rulers from Judah should fail, then Christ should come. Since, then, in the times of Herod there was no Jewish ruler, but he himself ruled, being of another race—for he was an Idumean—certain ones supposed him to be the Christ, and set up a sect. These, then, set their hands to destroy the Lord. But he withdraws; for it was not yet the season of the Passion. And at the same time, that he might benefit the more, for this cause he withdraws from the unfeeling ones; for indeed many followed him, and he healed them; and the men of Tyre and Sidon also, being of another race, were profited. But his kinsmen persecuted him. So there is no profit in kinship, unless the manner be good. And whereas men of another stock came to him from afar, the Jews persecuted him as he came to them. And mark also his freedom from love of glory; for, that the crowds might not trouble him, he seeks a little boat, that, having embarked in it, he might be kept undisturbed. And by “plagues” he means the diseases; for indeed in truth diseases contribute much to our chastening, God scourging us as a father his children. And understand also that the Herodians—the fleshly and the skin-clad—wish to kill Jesus. For Herod is interpreted “of skin.” But they who have gone forth from their own houses and from their own fatherlands—that is, from the relations toward the flesh—they follow him; whence also their plagues are healed, the sins, I mean, that scourge the conscience, and the unclean spirits are driven out. And take heed that Jesus charges his disciples that a little boat should wait upon him because of the crowds, that they might not throng him. For Jesus is the word within us, who charges that our little boat—that is, that it ride above the surge of the affairs of this life—lest it overwhelm us … Christ.[1]

³ And he goes up into the mountain, and calls unto him whom he himself would; and they came unto him. And he appointed twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, and to have power to heal diseases, and to cast out demons. And he gave to Simon the name Peter; and James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James, and he gave them the name Boanerges, which is, Sons of thunder; and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. He goes up into the mountain to pray. For since he had wrought miracles, after the display of the miracles he prays, teaching us all that we ought to give thanks to God whenever we have accomplished some good work, and to ascribe it to the power of God; or, since he was about to ordain the apostles, for this cause he goes up to pray, that we may learn that we also, whenever we are about to ordain certain ones, ought first to pray that the worthy one may be revealed to us, and that we may not partake in others’ sins. And he puts forward Judas also as an apostle, that we may learn that not on account of the coming wickedness of anyone does God turn away from him who is going to work the evil, but on account of the virtue which is now present in him he counts him worthy of honor, even though afterward he is going to turn out wicked. And he enumerates the names of the apostles, on account of the false apostles; he names the sons of Zebedee, as great heralds. And they come into a house, and a crowd comes together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread. And when his own people heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him; for they said, He is beside himself. And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said that He has Beelzebul, and that by the prince of the demons he casts out the demons. Having heard, he says, those who were of him—that is, his own household, perhaps those from the same fatherland, or even his brethren—went out to lay hold on him. For they said, He is beside himself—that is, He has a demon. For hearing that he cast out demons, and healed diseases, out of envy they thought that he had a demon, and was beside himself; whence they wished to lay hold on him, that they might bind him as one demon-possessed. And his own people, then, [acted] thus; and likewise also the scribes from Jerusalem said that he had a demon. For since they could not gainsay the things that were done, in another manner they slander them, [saying] that they came to pass from demons.

⁴ And having called them unto him, he said unto them in parables: How can Satan cast out Satan? And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but has an end. No man can enter into the strong man’s house and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house. From irrefutable examples he overturns the malignant Jews. For how, he says, is it possible for a demon to cast out a demon? Just as we see also in households: so long as those in them are at peace, they stand together; but when they are divided, they are dissolved. And how, he says, can one spoil the goods of the strong man, unless he first bind him? And what he says is of this kind: The strong man is the demon; and his goods are the men who contain him. If, then, one do not first bind the demon, and dissolve him, how shall he spoil his goods—the demon-possessed, I mean—out of him? So that, since I spoil his goods—that is, freeing the men from the demonic affliction—I have therefore already bound and dissolved the demons, and am their enemy. How, then, do you say that I have Beelzebul—that is, that, being a friend of demons and a sorcerer, I cast out the demons?

⁵ Truly I say to you, that all sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and the blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme. But whoever shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit has no forgiveness unto the age, but is liable to eternal judgment; because they said, He has an unclean spirit. He says here something of this kind: Whatsoever other things men sin, they may have some excuse to plead, and may obtain pardon, God condescending to the weakness of men—for instance, they called the Lord a glutton and a wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners; for this they shall be counted worthy of pardon; but when, seeing him work extraordinary miracles, they blaspheme the Spirit—that is, the wonder-workings wrought through the Holy Spirit—then how shall they obtain forgiveness, unless they repent? For when they were offended at the flesh of Christ, even if they did not repent, they might be forgiven, as men offended; but when, seeing him do divine works, they yet blasphemed, how, remaining unrepentant, shall they be forgiven? There come, then, his brethren and his mother. Standing outside, they sent unto him, calling him; and the crowd sat about him, and they said unto him: Behold, your mother and your brethren outside seek you. And he answered them, saying: Who is my mother and my brethren? And having looked round about on those who sat about him, he says: Behold my mother and my brethren; for whoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother. The brethren of the Lord, in ignorance, came to lay hold on him as one beside himself and demon-possessed. And his mother, held by the passion of love of glory, came to draw him away from his teaching, and to show the crowds that she so leads about him whom they admired, as to draw him from his teaching. The Lord, then, shows that, It will profit my mother nothing to be my mother, unless she have the other virtue also; likewise neither does kinship profit my brethren; for those alone are truly kinsmen of Christ who do the will of God. He says these things, then, not denying his mother, but showing that she will be worthy of honor not on account of having borne him only, but also on account of all her other virtue; for if she should not have that, others would be preferred before her unto the kinship.