Chapter 11

Chapter 11. — On Those Sent by John

¹ And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished giving instructions to his twelve disciples, that he departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities. Having sent forth the disciples, he himself thereafter keeps quiet, not working wonders, but only teaching in the synagogues. For if he himself healed when present, no one would come to the disciples; so that they might have room to heal, he himself withdraws.

² Now when John had heard in prison of the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to him: Are you the one who is to come, or do we look for another? Not as though John himself were ignorant of Christ does he ask. For how could he be, when he had borne witness concerning him that, Behold the Lamb of God? But since his disciples envied Christ, in order to assure them, for this reason he sends them, so that, seeing the wonders, they might be persuaded that Christ is greater than John. For this reason he also frames himself as asking, Are you the one who is to come?—that is, the one expected in the Scriptures to come in the flesh. And some say that he asked about the descent into Hades, with John supposedly being ignorant, as if saying: Are you the one who is to come even into Hades, or do we look for another? But this is senseless. For how could John, being more than the prophets, be ignorant of the crucifixion of Christ and the descent into Hades, and that when he had named him Lamb on account of his being about to be slain for us? Whether, then, John already knew that the Lord would come even into Hades with his soul, that there too he might save, as Gregory the Theologian says, those who were going to believe, [and that] in their days he was made flesh—he does not ask as one ignorant, but as wishing to assure his disciples concerning Christ through the working of the wonders. For see what Christ too says to such a question.

³ And Jesus answered and said to them: Go and report to John the things you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear; the dead are raised, and the poor have the Gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who shall not be offended in me. He did not say, Report to John that I am the one who is to come, but, as knowing that John had sent his disciples for this purpose, that they might see the wonders, he says, Report to John the things you see, and surely that man, seizing the occasion, will bear witness more abundantly concerning me to you. And by the poor having the Gospel preached to them, you may understand either those who proclaim the Gospel, that is, the apostles—for they were poor as fishermen, and despised for their lack of learning—or those who give ear to the Gospel and hear of the eternal goods. And, showing John’s disciples that what they were reasoning did not escape him, he says, Blessed is he who shall not be offended in me; for they had much doubt concerning him.

⁴ And as these went away, Jesus began to say to the crowds concerning John: What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? Perhaps the crowds, hearing John’s question, would have been offended, [supposing] that even John doubted concerning Christ, and so easily changed his mind, although he had borne witness concerning Christ before. Removing this suspicion, then, Christ says: John is not a reed—that is, easily turned. For if he were such, why then did you go out to him into the wilderness? For surely you would not have gone out to a reed, that is, an unstable man, but you went out as to a great and steadfast man. He remains, then, such as you yourselves supposed.

⁵ But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Behold, those who wear the soft things are in the houses of kings. For lest they be able to say that, having become a slave to luxury, he afterward grew soft, he says, No. For his robe, being of hair, shows that he is an enemy of luxury. For if he had worn soft things, he would also have been in the houses of kings, and not in prison, had he wished to live in luxury. Learn, then, that the exact Christian must not wear soft things.

⁶ But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. John is more than a prophet, because the other prophets only foretold concerning Christ, but this one became also an eyewitness, which is indeed a great thing. And because the others prophesied after they were born, but this one, while still in his mother’s womb, recognized Christ and leaped for joy.

⁷ For this is he of whom it is written: Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who shall prepare your way before you. He was called a messenger both on account of his angelic and almost immaterial life, and because he announced and proclaimed Christ. And he prepared the way of Christ, as bearing witness concerning him, and as baptizing unto repentance—for after repentance comes remission of sins, which remission Christ gives. And Christ says these things after John’s disciples have departed, lest he seem to be flattering him. And the prophecy spoken is that of Malachi.

⁸ Amen I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen a greater than John the Baptist. He declares this with assurance, that there is none greater than John; and by saying of women, he excepted himself. For Christ himself was born of a virgin, not of a woman—that is, of one who had come to marriage. But he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. Since he had spoken many praises concerning John, lest they suppose that he too is greater than himself, he says here more plainly: I who am least, both in age and in your estimation, am greater than he in the kingdom of heaven—that is, in the spiritual and heavenly goods. For here I am inferior to him, both in that he was born before me, and in that he seems to you to be great; but there I am greater.

⁹ And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. This seems to be inconsequent, but it is not. Consider, then: for, having said concerning himself that he is greater than John, Christ presses them on to believe in him, showing that many seize the kingdom of heaven—that is, faith in him; and there is need of much violence. For to leave father and mother, and to despise even one’s own soul—how much violence is needed for this?

¹⁰ For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. This too belongs to the same train of thought. For he says: I am the one who is to come, for all the prophets have been fulfilled; and they would not have been fulfilled had I not come; expect nothing, then, further.

¹¹ And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come. If you are willing, he says, to receive it—that is, if you judge fairly, and not enviously—he is the one whom the prophet Malachi said would be Elijah. For both the Forerunner and Elijah have the same ministry. The one ran before the first coming, and Elijah will run before the coming that is to be. Then, showing that it is an enigma, that John is Elijah, and that there is need of understanding to grasp it, he says:

¹² He who has ears to hear, let him hear, leading them on to inquire and to learn.

¹³ But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplace, and calling to their companions, and saying: We piped to you, and you did not dance; we mourned to you, and you did not lament. Here he hints at the peevishness of the Jews. For being perverse, they were pleased neither with the austerity of John nor with the simplicity of Christ; but they were like children who are hard to please because of their fickleness, whom, if one weeps, it does not please, and if one pipes, neither does this.

¹⁴ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He has a demon. The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a gluttonous man and a wine-drinker, a friend of publicans and sinners. To mourning he likens the conduct of John; for John displayed much austerity, both in words and in deeds. But the conduct of Christ he likens to piping; for the Lord was most gracious, condescending to all, that he might gain them all, and proclaiming the kingdom, and having nothing gloomy, such as John had. And wisdom is justified by her children. This he says: Since, then, neither the life of John nor my own pleases you, but you spurn all the ways of salvation, I, who am wisdom, am shown to be just. For you will no longer have an excuse, but will surely be condemned. For I have fulfilled all things, but you, having disobeyed, prove me, who have left nothing undone, to be just.

¹⁵ Then he began to upbraid the cities in which most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. After he had shown that he did all that he ought, and they remained unrepentant, then at last he upbraids them.

¹⁶ Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! That you may know that those who did not believe were not wicked by nature, but by choice, he makes mention of Bethsaida, from which were Andrew and Peter and Philip and the sons of Zebedee; so that their wickedness was not by nature, but by choice. For if it were by nature, those men too would have been wicked.

¹⁷ For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say to you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. He calls the Jews worse than the Tyrians and Sidonians, in that the Tyrians transgressed the natural law, but the Jews the Mosaic law as well. And because the Tyrians did not see wonders, but these, even seeing them, did not believe. And the sackcloth is a symbol of repentance, and the sprinkling of ashes and dust upon the head we see among those who mourn.

¹⁸ And you, Capernaum, who have been exalted to heaven, shall be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say to you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you. Capernaum was exalted because it was the city of the Savior; for it was glorified as though it were his homeland; but it profited nothing, because it did not believe. On the contrary, for this very reason it is the more condemned, down to Hades, because, having such an inhabitant, it profited nothing from him. And since Capernaum is interpreted “place of comfort,” see that even if one be counted worthy to become a place of the Comforter—that is, of the Holy Spirit—and then become high-minded, and be lifted up to heaven, he thereafter falls down on account of his high-mindedness. Shudder, then, O man.

¹⁹ At that time Jesus answered and said: I confess to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them to babes. What he says is this: I confess—instead of, I give thanks—O Father, that the Jews, who seem to be wise and skilled in the Scriptures, disbelieved, but the unlearned and the babes believed and knew the mysteries. And God hid the mysteries from those who seem to be wise, not as begrudging or as being the cause of their ignorance, but because they were not worthy, by reason of their very supposing themselves to be wise; for he who thinks himself wise, and trusts in his own judgment, does not even call upon God. And thereafter God, not being called upon, neither helps him nor reveals to him. Besides, God rather, out of love for mankind, does not reveal the mysteries to the many, lest they be punished the more, as having spurned them after coming to know them.

²⁰ Yes, Father, for so it was well-pleasing before you. Here he makes plain the love of mankind of the Father, that not at another’s entreaty did he reveal to babes, but so it pleased him from the beginning. For good pleasure is the will and the satisfaction.

²¹ All things have been delivered to me by my Father. He said above to the Father, You have revealed, O Father; so then, lest you suppose that he himself does nothing, but that all things are the Father’s, he says, All things have been delivered to me, and there is one authority of mine and his. But hearing the word delivered, do not suppose that they were delivered to him as to a servant and an inferior, but as to a Son. For according as he was begotten of the Father, accordingly were they delivered to him; for if he had not been begotten and were not of the same essence as the Father, they would not have been delivered. For see what he says: All things have been delivered to me, not by a master, but, by my Father; just as, for example, if a comely child be born of a comely father, and he should say, Comeliness has been given to me by my father.

²² And no one knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and he to whom the Son wills to reveal him. He says the greater thing: It is no marvel if I am Master of all, seeing that I have something else greater, namely, to know the Father, and so to know him that I may reveal him to others as well. And consider: above he said that the Father revealed the mysteries to babes; but here, that the Son reveals the Father. Do you see, then, one power of the Father and of the Son, since both the Father reveals and the Son?

²³ Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. He calls all, not only Jews, but also Gentiles. For you may understand the Jews as laboring, as pursuing the burdensome observances of the law, and laboring in the working of the commandments of the law; and the Gentiles as heavy laden, who were pressed down by the weight of their sins. All these, then, Christ gives rest. For to believe, and to confess, and to be baptized—what labor is it? And how is it not rest? Because both here you are free of care concerning the things done before baptism, and there likewise rest awaits you.

²⁴ Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is good, and my burden is light. The yoke of Christ is humility and gentleness. He, then, who humbles himself before every man has rest, remaining undisturbed; just as the vainglorious and arrogant man is always in anxieties, not willing to be inferior to anyone, but reckoning how he may be more glorified, how he may conquer his enemies. The yoke of Christ, then—humility, I mean—is light; for it is easier for our humble nature to be humbled than to be exalted. But all the commandments of Christ also are called a yoke, which are light because of the recompense to come, even if for a time they seem heavy.