1 And entering he walked through Jericho.
v.1–2
VERS. 1, 2.-- *And entering in,* etc. Behold, the camel, having laid down the burden of its hump, passes through the eye of the needle, while, despising the revenue got by frauds, it climbs up to the narrow gate which leads to life. And because by the devotion of faith he supplies, by the climbing of a tree, what he had too little of by nature for seeing the Saviour, justly he receives what he did not dare to ask, the blessing of the Lord's welcome which he had desired. Mystically, Zacchaeus, who is interpreted *justified,* signifies those believing from among the Gentiles, who had been pressed down by the business of temporal things, and were least, but were sanctified by the Lord. *And he was rich.* Who should despair of himself, when this man came to God whose revenue was from fraud? By him it appears that not every rich man is covetous.
2 And behold, there was a man named Zacheus, who was the chief of the publicans: and he was rich.
3 And he sought to see Jesus who he was: and he could not for the crowd, because he was low of stature.
v.3
VERS. 3.-- *Because of the crowd.* What crowd, but the confusion of an unskilled multitude, which cannot see the summit of wisdom? Zacchaeus therefore, not in the crowd, but having passed beyond the common people, beholds the Messiah whom he desires.
4 And running before, he climbed up into a sycamore tree, that he might see him: for he was to pass that way.
v.4
VERS. 4.-- *A sycomore.* The sycomore is a tree, like the mulberry in its leaves, but surpassing it in height, and it is interpreted *the foolish fig,* that is, the cross. Which, as a fig, feeds believers; as foolish, is mocked by unbelievers. The little man climbs it when anyone humble and conscious of his own weakness glories in the virtue of the cross, and through this praiseworthy foolishness discerns the Lord passing near; because if not yet so solidly as he now is, yet hastily, and as it were in passing, he strains toward the light of heavenly wisdom. *Because he was to pass that way.* In that part where the sycomore was, or where he was to believe, etc., *as far as* he stood out as in the fruitful height of a work.
5 And when Jesus was come to the place, looking up, he saw him and said to him: Zacheus, make haste and come down: for this day I must abide in thy house.
v.5
VERS. 5.-- *And when he was come.* Through the heralds of his word sent before, in whom Jesus was and was speaking, he came to the people of the nations, which, already lifted on high by faith in his passion, burns to acknowledge his divinity also; looking up he sees, for he chose him who through faith had been raised from earthly things and who was choosing him, and loves him who loves him. *Come down.* That he is bidden to come down from the sycomore, and so to make ready a lodging in his house, this is what the Apostle says: *Although we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him not. For if he died of weakness, yet now he lives by the power of God*. *To abide.* The Lord once abode in the house of the chief of the Pharisees, that is, he was teaching in the synagogue of the Jews.
6 And he made haste and came down and received him with joy.
7 And when all saw it, they murmured, saying, that he was gone to be a guest with a man that was a sinner.
v.7
VERS. 7.-- *They murmured.* It is manifest that the Jews always hated, or did not understand, the salvation of the Gentiles. Whence also it is said against Peter: *Why didst thou go in to the Gentiles that have uncircumcision*?
8 But Zacheus standing, said to the Lord: Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have wronged any man of any thing, I restore him fourfold.
v.8
VERS. 8.-- *But standing,* etc. While others were calumniating him as a sinful man, Zacchaeus himself also standing, that is, persisting in that truth of faith which he had begun, proves that he was not only converted from a sinner, but had even lived among the innocent, since he lived innocently even before his conversion, and he who before his conversion could give the half, after his conversion can give the whole also. *If I have taken anything,* etc. The first thing is to restore according to the law, then to give out to the poor what remains. This fruit of life the publican gathers from the sycomore through wise folly, in that he restores what he has seized, leaves what is near, despises things visible, and longs to follow the footsteps of him whom he does not yet see.
9 Jesus said to him: This day is salvation come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham.
v.9
VERS. 9.-- *He is a son.* Not by flesh, but by faith, because as Abraham at God's command forsook his country for the hope of a future inheritance, so also this man, who acquires by hope a treasure in the heavens.
10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
v.10
VERS. 10.-- *He came,* etc. Even to those murmuring he does not disdain to expound his mysteries: that he himself came upon earth chiefly for the sake of the repentance of sinners, which is to be looked upon, where also he calls himself the Son of man, that he may intimate to us the dispensation of his mercy.
11 As they were hearing 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 be manifested.
v.11
VERS. 11.-- *These things to them,* etc. The repentance of the rich publican having been received and commended, he teaches by a parable that the repentance of sinners pleases him more than the righteousness of the proud, and that he will reign more widely among the Gentiles, who are humble concerning their ignorance of the law, than among the Jews, who are proud concerning the righteousness of the law. *Because that.* Not only those who persevere as just, but also those who are converted from injustice, belong to the children of the promise.
12 He said therefore: a certain nobleman went into a far country, to receive for himself a kingdom and to return.
v.12
VERS. 12.-- *A nobleman went away.* This is the nobleman to whom the blind man cried: *Have mercy on me, son of David,* and to whom the trumpets cried: *Hosanna to the son of David: blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord, the king of Israel,* who was appointed king by the Father, to whom the Gentiles were given for an inheritance. *A far country.* Leaving the blinded Jews, he passes over to enlighten the Gentiles, who cry to the Lord from afar (because from the ends of the earth), or because *salvation is far from sinners*: God, who is everywhere present, is far from those who worship idols; but they too have been made near in the blood.
13 And calling his ten servants, he gave them ten pounds and said to them: Trade till I come.
v.13
VERS. 13.-- *And having called ten.* He calls ten servants, when he chose disciples steeped in the letter of the Decalogue. He gives ten pounds, when after the resurrection he rises and opens their understanding, that it may spiritually understand the sayings of the law The mna weighs ten drachmas. And every word of Scripture, because it suggests the perfection of the heavenly life, shines as with the weight of the hundredfold number. *Trade ye.* Offer to the peoples the words of the law sifted by mystical interpretation, and receive from them the confession of faith and uprightness of manners.
14 But his citizens hated him and they sent an embassage after him, saying: We will not have this man to reign over us.
15 And it came to pass that he returned, having received the kingdom: and he commanded his servants to be called, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading,
v.15
VERS. 15.-- *And it came to pass.* Daily Christ, having received the kingdom from the Father, returns, because he always beholds the state of the Church journeying on earth. To this servant he lends money for trading; in another he examines the measure of the work accomplished. This one, labouring prudently, he endows with ampler grace; that one, following after wanton things, he deprives even of what he had given. But in the judgment many who seemed fit for teaching will, for their own negligence, be reckoned among the unlearned. Certain men, a devotion of simpler observance, will receive the highest rewards among the apostolic. *For he that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive the reward of a prophet*.
16 And the first came saying: Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds.
v.16
VERS. 16.-- *And the first came.* The first servant is the order of teachers sent into the circumcision, who received one pound to trade with, because he was sent to preach one God, one faith, one baptism. But he gains ten while by teaching he joins to himself the people set under the law.
17 And he said to him: Well done, thou good servant, because thou hast been faithful in a little, thou shalt have power over ten cities.
v.17
VERS. 17.-- *Thou hast been faithful in a little.* Little is whatever of gifts we receive in the present, in comparison with those to come. *For we know in part, and we prophesy in part*. *Ten cities.* The ten cities are souls coming through the words of the law to the grace of the Gospel, over whom he is then set to be glorified who shall have worthily commended to God the money of the word for them; whence the Apostle: *What is our hope, or joy, or crown of glory? Are not you before the Lord Jesus*?
18 And the second came, saying: Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds.
v.18
VERS. 18.-- *And another,* etc. A good order: being about to call the Gentiles, and about to send the Jews to be slain, who would not have Christ reign over them, he set this comparison first, lest it should be said: He had given nothing to the people of the Jews whereby they might be made better, so that what should be exacted from him who receives nothing? Out of one pound he makes five, who has moral things on account of the five senses.
19 And he said to him: Be thou also over five cities.
20 And another came, saying: Lord, behold here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin.
v.20
VERS. 20.-- *And another,* etc. He who was sent to the uncircumcision, to whom the Lord entrusted one pound, and the same faith which was committed to the circumcision, to be preached. Which makes five pounds, because it converts to the grace of the evangelical faith the Gentiles that were enslaved to the five senses of the body. *In a napkin,* etc. He lays up the money in a napkin who, being fit for preaching, either refuses to undertake the office of preaching, or, having undertaken it, does not discharge it well, but hides with himself the gifts he has received under the idleness of the time, saying: It is enough for me that I render an account of myself; why should I preach to others, or be compelled to render an account of others? since even with God those are inexcusable to whom the law was not given, nor did they sleep when the Gospel had been heard, because through the creature they were able to know the Creator.
21 For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up what thou didst not lay down: and thou reapest that which thou didst not sow.
v.21
VERS. 21.-- *Thou reapest what.* For God reaps where he did not sow, that is, he holds guilty of impiety even those to whom he has not ministered the word of the law or of the Gospel. Fearing therefore the peril of the judgment, I will rest from the administration of the word.
22 He saith to him: Out of thy own mouth I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up what I laid not down and reaping that which I did not sow.
v.22
VERS. 22.-- *Thou knewest,* etc. What he had thought to have said for an excuse is turned into a fault. If thou hadst known me so hard and cruel, why did that thought not strike fear into thee, that thou shouldst know I would seek my own the more diligently?
23 And why then didst thou not give my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have exacted it with usury?
v.23
VERS. 23.-- *The money.* That is, the evangelical preaching, and thou didst not make it known to the prepared hearts of the faithful. *Mine to the bank.* Not thine. Whence the Apostle: *If any man speak, let it be as the words of God*. *With usury.* He who buys the money of the word from a teacher by believing must needs pay it back with usury by working. Or, he pays usury on the loan of the word he has received who, from what he hears, studies to understand other things also.
24 And he said to them that stood by: Take the pound away from him and give it to him that hath ten pounds.
v.24
VERS. 24.-- *Take away,* etc. He loses the grace conferred who has neglected to share it with others by preaching. But it is increased to him who has laboured in it. As the royal chrism which Saul lost by being proud, David merited by obeying. For the Spirit of the Lord who departed from Saul was directed from that day forward into David.
25 And they said to him: Lord, he hath ten pounds.
26 But I say to you that to every one that hath shall be given, and he shall abound: and from him that hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken from him.
v.26
VERS. 26.-- *And he shall abound.* Mystically: when all Israel shall be saved, then the fulness of spiritual grace, which now we exercise sluggishly, shall be abundantly conferred upon the teachers of that time.
27 But as for those my enemies, who would not have me reign over them, bring them hither and kill them before me.
28 And having said these things, he went before, going up to Jerusalem.
v.28
VERS. 28.-- *And having said these things.* The parable finished, he goes to Jerusalem, to show that the parable had been set forth concerning the fate of that same greatest city, which not long after, being itself also about to kill him for hatred of his kingdom, was to perish by an enemy's slaughter.
29 And it came to pass, when he was come nigh to Bethphage and Bethania, unto the mount called Olivet, he sent two of his disciples,
v.29
VERS. 29.-- *To Bethphage.* Bethphage is a hamlet of priests on the Mount of Olives, and is interpreted *the house of the mouth.* Bethany is a farmstead or city on the side of the same mountain, and is called *the house of obedience.* These the Lord, being about to come to Jerusalem, exalted by his presence, because before his passion he filled many, by teaching, with the gifts of devout confession and of spiritual obedience. Which are well placed on the Mount of Olives, that is, in the Lord himself, who cherishes us with the unction of spiritual chrisms and with the light of conscience and of mercy. And because he does not wish a city set above itself to be hidden, he sends the disciples into the village which is over against them, that through them he may penetrate the fortifications of the whole world set over against him.
30 Saying: Go into the town which is over against you, at your entering into which you shall find the colt of an ass tied, on which no man ever hath sitten: loose him and bring him hither.
v.30
VERS. 30.-- *Entering in you shall find.* The preachers, entering into the world, find the people of the nations, entangled in the bonds of unbelief, free and wanton. *Upon whom no man,* etc., that is, no rational teacher has put the bridle of correction, who might either restrain its tongue from evil, or compel it to go into the narrow way of life. No man, by persuading what was useful, bestowed the garments of salvation whereby it might *be warmed.* *No man sat,* because none corrected its folly by pressing it down. *Tied.* Tied with the bonds of unbelief, in which, made over or bound fast, he was serving a lord by error; but he whom not nature but fault had made lord could not claim the mastery for himself. And therefore when the Lord is spoken of, one is acknowledged. For, although there be many gods and lords, yet in general there is one God and one Lord.
31 And if any man shall ask you: Why do you loose him? You shall say thus unto him: Because the Lord hath need of his service.
32 And they that were sent went their way and found the colt standing, as he said unto them.
33 And as they were loosing the colt, the owners thereof said to them: Why loose you the colt?
v.33
VERS. 33.-- *And as they were loosing him,* etc. Despise not this little ass, because as under the clothing of sheep there are ravening wolves, so under the spoils of the body (which is common to us with the beasts) a mind full of God is quickened. *They said.* He had many masters, who, given over not to one superstition, but at the pleasure of unclean spirits, was hurried away to various errors. *Why do you loose him.* Those who had spoken against the loosing of the colt are quiet when the name is heard, because the masters of errors, who withstand the teachers coming for the salvation of the Gentiles, defend their own darkness, until, with miracles bearing witness, the power of the true owner stands forth. But after the power of the Lord's faith appears, the complaints of the adversaries giving way, there is brought forward an assembly that may bear God in its heart.
34 But they said: Because the Lord hath need of him.
35 And they brought him to Jesus. And casting their garments on the colt, they set Jesus thereon.
v.35
VERS. 35.-- *The garments.* The garments of the apostles are the teaching of the virtues, or the discernment of the Scriptures, and grace spiritually, wherewith they cover the hearts of men, before naked and cold, that they may deserve to have Christ for their rider. *They laid them on.* While the people of the Gentiles carries Christ, the disciples strew their garments in the way, because, putting off the covering of their own body, they make ready a way for the simple by their own blood, that with unhindered step of mind they may press on to Jerusalem, whither Christ leads, that is, to the true vision of peace.
36 And as he went, they spread their clothes underneath in the way.
37 And when he was now coming near the descent of Mount Olivet, the whole multitude of his disciples began with joy to praise God with a loud voice, for all the mighty works they had seen,
v.37
VERS. 37.-- *At the descent.* As the Lord came down from the Mount of Olives, that is, as he who was in the form of God humbled himself to the weakness of our flesh, the crowds come down with him, that is, he is humbled who need his mercy, that they may be exalted by him. *Rejoicing.* Often he entered the city of Jerusalem, but was not called king, which he had always fled, save only now when he went up to suffer. Which was done for this reason, that he might the more stir up their envy against himself, because the time of the passion was now at hand. *For.* Chiefly for the raising of Lazarus, which had lately been done. For on that account also the crowd came to meet him, because they had heard that this sign had been done by him. They praise him also for the signs and the teaching which he wrought when he went up for the day of the feast of tabernacles, which John relates.
38 Saying: Blessed be the king who cometh in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory on high!
v.38
VERS. 38.-- *Blessed.* The crowd, that after a little was to crucify him, calls him king, and declares that the awaited son of David according to the flesh has come, so that a testimony against themselves is wrung from them unwilling. *Peace.* As at the Lord's birth the heavenly companies of men and of angels sang: *Glory to God in the highest. And on earth peace to men,* etc., so to the same, soon to triumph, men sing together: Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.
39 And some of the Pharisees, from amongst the multitude, said to him: Master, rebuke thy disciples.
v.39
VERS. 39.-- *Master.* Wondrous madness of the envious! Him whom they had known to teach true things, when they hear him called master, they judge that his disciples are to be reproved, as though they themselves were the better taught, those disciples whom he had instructed who by his miracles appears to be God.
40 To whom he said: I say to you that if these shall hold their peace, the stones will cry out.
v.40
VERS. 40.-- *The stones.* When the Lord was crucified and the apostles held their peace for fear, the rocks that were rent, the tombs being opened, openly cried out that he was God and the Lord of the world. Mystically: if blindness has befallen Israel, so that it falls silent from the praise of God, the people of the Gentiles, their stony heart softened, shall believe and announce their Creator.
41 And when he drew near, seeing the city, he wept over it, saying:
42 If thou also hadst known, and that in this thy day, the things that are to thy peace: but now they are hidden from thy eyes.
43 For the days shall come upon thee: and thy enemies shall cast a trench about thee and compass thee round and straiten thee on every side,
44 And beat thee flat to the ground, and thy children who are in thee. And they shall not leave in thee a stone upon a stone: because thou hast not known the time of thy visitation.
v.44
VERS. 44.-- *And they shall not leave.* For when the perverse man adds perversion, he builds as it were stone upon stone. But when the soul is hurried away to vengeance, such a building of thoughts is scattered, and this for this cause, *because thou hast not known the time.* For God visits the perverse soul, sometimes by a precept, sometimes by a miracle. But because in its pride it despises, and does not blush for its own evils, at the last it shall be delivered to its enemies, with whom in the eternal judgment it is gathered into the fellowship of damnation. *Unto peace,* etc. While thou givest the flesh to pleasures, not foreseeing the evils to come, thou hast present goods which can be for a temporal peace. And why this, he subjoins, namely, because it does not foresee the evils that are to come upon it. For if it did foresee them, it would not have rejoiced in present prosperities.
45 And entering into the temple, he began to cast out them that sold therein and them that bought.
v.45
VERS. 45.-- *And going in.* After the evils had been enumerated, going into the temple he cast out those that sold and bought, intimating by this that the ruin of the people was chiefly from the fault of the priests; for while he strikes those that sell and buy, he shows whence the root of perdition proceeded.
46 Saying to them: It is written: My house is the house of prayer. But you have made it a den of thieves.
47 And he was teaching daily in the temple. And the chief priests and the scribes and the rulers of the people sought to destroy him.
v.47
VERS. 47.-- *And he was teaching.* The house of God is the conscience of the faithful, which he makes a den of thieves who, having left the simplicity of holiness, plots to do that whereby he may be able to hurt his innocent neighbour. But on the contrary the Lord instructs the minds of the faithful to beware of evils. *They sought to destroy him.* Therefore they were not able to destroy him, because they feared the tumult of the people; or therefore they wished to destroy him, because, their own office of teaching being neglected, they saw the whole people flowing together to his doctrine.
48 And they found not what to do to him: for all the people were very attentive to hear him.