Commentary on Luke (Greek fragments) 20.2–21.29

“By what authority do you do these things?” (20:2). “The law given through Moses,” they say, “ordered only those of the blood of Levi to handle the sacred tasks; to them has been given the initiating into mysteries and the authority over the sacred precincts; they direct what is done in the divine temple. But how do you, being of another tribe—for you are from Judah—snatch the honours assigned to us? Who gave you this authority?” But if you had known the divinely inspired Scriptures, foolish Pharisee, you would have remembered the blessed prophet David saying to Christ the Saviour of all: “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: You are a priest for ever according to the order of Melchizedek.” Tell me, then, which of the scribes or Pharisees has ministered to God according to the order of Melchizedek, who both blessed Abraham and received tithes from him? As the all-wise Paul writes: “Beyond all dispute, the lesser is blessed by the greater.” So the root and first fruits of the descent of those of Israel, that is, the forefather Abraham, was blessed by the priesthood of Melchizedek. And Melchizedek and his priesthood were a type of Christ the Saviour of all, who has become our high priest and apostle, bringing to God the Father those who have believed in him, perfecting them for sanctification through a worship beyond the law. Why, then, are you vexed, Pharisee, when what was useful for the sacrifices of the law is sent out of the sacred precincts, while he calls you to the life beyond types and to true justification—clearly that through faith in Christ—and sets before you the way of the gospel life? Tell me, do you charge the lawgiver with the abolition of the law, and with not following his own commandments? But God is altogether beyond the law; for he who laid down the laws not for himself but for us changes what he has ordained at the proper times to whatever he wishes, raising it to what is better. It was time, then, for the things in types to cease and the better things to be revealed. Indeed God said somewhere through the voice of Isaiah: “And the ordinances of my people will vanish.” For the law ceased when the new commandment, which the Son spoke to us in his own person, was revealed.

Accordingly, to these too, when they asked, “By what authority do you do these things?” the Saviour put in return the question of John’s baptism. But they flee the truth, and in their impiety they do not shudder. For God the Father sent ahead the blessed Baptist, crying aloud: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God.” Of him the most wise evangelist too says: “He came for testimony, to bear witness about the light.” And he bore witness, saying: “This is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit,” and, “He is the Son of God.” The blessed Baptist, being great, was a worthy witness concerning Christ. But since it was the Jews’ custom to slander the prophets as not sent by God, Christ asked what opinion they held about the Baptist. They feared to tell the truth, lest they should hear, “Why did you not believe him?” But they avoid accusing the Forerunner, fearing not God but the crowds. And since they pretended not to know where John’s baptism came from, and acted with malice, he fittingly gives them no answer.

“A man planted a vineyard,” and so on (20:9). One will find here the history of the sons of Israel, gathered together as in brief. For the vineyard is Israel, as the Psalmist says: “You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it.” And Isaiah: “The beloved had a vineyard.” Having planted this vineyard in the land of promise, God the Father—whom he now calls a man because of his love for humankind and the custom of parable—went away for a long time. Yet he fills all things and is absent from none of the things that exist; how, then, did he go away? After being seen coming down in the form of fire on Mount Sinai and showing them his ineffable form plainly, he no longer gave them his presence visible to the eyes; but, as in the pattern of human affairs, what happened is somehow like a long journey abroad. Yet he is seen to have cared for the estate and kept it in mind; for there was no intervening time in which prophets and righteous men were not sent by God to admonish; but, as Jeremiah says: “Behold, the word of the Lord has become a reproach to them; they will not wish to hear it.” They became disobedient, and having dishonoured those who were sent, they sent them away empty. The master of the vineyard deliberates with himself, saying: “What shall I do?” He says “What shall I do?” not as one at a loss for other servants—for ministers of his holy will would not have failed him—but as when every method of healing has been tried and the patient has not been helped at all. Then he says next: “I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.” But they strive further in their defilements, always hiding the former by the latter; which he himself showed when he said: “Fill up the measure of your fathers.” For from of old the prophets charged them with these things, saying: “Your hands are full of blood”; and, “They mingle blood with blood”; and, “Building Zion with blood.” But they were not brought to their senses, though they had received this as the first commandment, “You shall not murder,” and were led in many and various ways to keep this commandment. Yet they did not put off that wicked habit, but after the prophets they killed the Son by nature too.

The leaders of the Jews, then, have been cast out, as having opposed the Master’s will and having made the vineyard entrusted to them fruitless; and the estate has been given to the sacred ministers of the new covenant. When the scribes and Pharisees heard it, they said: “May it not be!” From this one can see that, understanding the depth of the riddles, they shake off the suffering and fear what will happen; but they did not escape it, because of their unrestrained disobedience and their refusal to believe in Christ. “The stone that the builders rejected,” and so on (20:17).

He calls the teachers of the Jews builders too. And Ezekiel says: “Building the wall and plastering it without temper.” The Saviour, though he was a chosen stone, was rejected by those who ought to have helped with every help—clearly, the synagogue of the Jews; but he came to be for the unity of soul and faith of the two peoples, I mean of Israel and of the people from the nations; for the Saviour created the two peoples into one new man, making peace and reconciling both in one body to the Father. The thing, then, is like a corner joining two walls. The blessed David marvelled at this corner, that is, the coming together of the two peoples into identity, saying: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the head of the corner; this was from the Lord”—the corner, clearly—“and it is marvellous in our eyes.” So the stone is saving for the corner made by it, but crushing and ruin for those who have remained outside this spiritual and intelligible coming together; for the crowds of the Jews, stumbling at Christ and striking against him, were broken. For they did not wish to hear the voice of Isaiah, saying: “Sanctify the Lord himself, and he will be your fear; and you will not meet him as a stone of stumbling, nor as a rock of falling.” Christ, then, is a stone of stumbling to the unbelieving gentiles and a rock of offence to the Jews, but to us believers the foundation stone, holding together the whole base of the church; and a rock because of the firmness and steadfastness of the confession, against which the surging waves of the heresies dash and dissolve into foam. Matthew, however, having also said the rest of the prophecy, “This was from the Lord,” and what follows, and then saying, “Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation producing its fruits,” then added, “And he who falls on this stone will be broken,” and what follows. Matthew’s account, then, is exactness of report, and Luke’s is conciseness; and we find such an arrangement in all the evangelists, each reporting sometimes exactly and sometimes concisely. “The chief priests and the scribes sought to lay hands on him” (20:19).

The workshop of the Pharisees was again inflamed to unbridled anger; they wish to kill him who became man for the abolition of death; but fear of the people cut short their unholy attempt. For they had no thought of piety toward God, nor was the commandment through Moses a bridle to them, which says: “You shall not kill the innocent and righteous”; they prefer human fear to reverence for God. And what is the cause and occasion of their madness? “They perceived,” it says, “that he had told this parable against them.” Yet how should they not rather, having learned what would happen, have kept clear of the evil, and honoured by faith him who justifies the ungodly and saves, with a grace that bears no grudge, those held fast by their sins? But taking none of these things into account, they gather occasions for false accusation against him.

“And they watched him and sent spies, who pretended to be righteous,” and so on (20:20). … having an appearance of reasonableness, but wicked in character; forgetting God, who said: “Who is this who hides counsel from me, keeping words in his heart, and thinks to hide them from me?”—approaching Christ the Saviour of all as a common man. But it would have been better to consider that God the Word came to be in likeness to us, yet from his divine signs beyond reason and from his glory befitting God he was shown to be not man only but also God. And what do they say?

“And they asked him, saying: Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly,” and so on (20:21). For God wished Israel to be free of human domination; but since they trampled on the divine laws, they came under the hand of the Romans, who also imposed tribute on them. They sought, then, to hand him over to the authority of the governor; for they expected that they would by all means hear him say, “It is not lawful to pay tribute to Caesar.” What, then, does he who knows the hearts of men say to them? Perceiving their craftiness, “Show me a denarius,” he said. When it was shown, he asked again: “Whose image and inscription does it have?” And they say, “Caesar’s.” And what does Christ say to this? “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” For those who have been allotted rule over their subjects impose on them tributes of money; but God does not demand a denarius from us, but faith and love and the fragrance of good works. So they marvelled at the answer, and that before all the people, before whom they also asked, so that their sin became greater. And forgetting even these things, they brought Jesus to Pilate, saying: “We found this man perverting the people and forbidding the payment of tribute to Caesar.” Yet, marvelling at the answer, they went away put to shame. “Some of the Sadducees came to him,” and so on (20:27).

What the heresy of the Sadducees is, he made clear in the Acts, writing thus: “For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit; but the Pharisees acknowledge both.” They come, then, to Christ the Saviour of us all, who is the life and the resurrection, and try to do away with the resurrection; and being insolent and unbelieving, they invent a story full of ignorance. Let us see what Christ said in refuting them, as they tried to mock the resurrection with the fiction of the seven brothers who died married to one wife. “The sons of this age,” he says—that is, those who live the worldly and bodily life—marry for the sake of begetting children; but those who have achieved a glorious life full of good things and then are counted worthy to attain the honourable resurrection will surely be somewhere above the life in this world; for they will live as befits saints, and have already come near to God; for they are equal to angels and sons of God, performing the worship fitting holy spirits. And just as the angelic multitude is great, yet not increased by birth but existing by creation, so too those who rise; and there is no longer need of marriage. For here too, after Adam lost the grace of immortality through sin, succession is preserved for the race through the begetting of children—a help laid down already from the beginning by God, who foreknew all things. For in making man, he made them male and female. We shall, then, be better than ourselves, having put off corruption and having a spiritual body, that is, one looking only to the things of the spirit; and there will then be no mind dragging us down to baseness, since the Creator will hold us fast to his will through the Holy Spirit, just as he does the holy angels. “But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed,” and so on (20:37).

For he brought forward to them Moses too, who knew well the resurrection of the dead; for at the bush, he says, he introduced God saying: “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” Of whom is he God, if they will not live as those do? But he is the God of the living; so they will by all means come back to life, the all-powerful right hand bringing all those on earth to this.

“For they no longer dared to ask him anything” (20:40). Faith is the beginning of understanding: “For if you do not believe, neither will you understand.” And inquiry into necessary things is saving. Emmanuel is admittedly both son and Lord of David; but in what way one ought to understand this very thing—if someone chooses to learn it—he will surely arrive at an exact contemplation of the mystery concerning him, which was kept silent from the foundation of the world but has been manifested in the last times of the age. The Pharisees, then, were silent when Christ questioned them; but they did this perversely, or rather against themselves, so that, if the question were examined, the saving word might not shine forth in them; for they did not wish to know the truth. And we too shall put such a question to the new Pharisees, who say that the one born of the holy Virgin is neither true Son of God the Father nor God, but divide the one Son into two sons: In what way is the son of David his Lord, and that not with human but rather with divine lordship? For his sitting at the right hand of the Father at all bears witness to his glory on high; for things that share a throne and an equal honour are also understood to be in natural identity; and sitting, in the case of God, would signify nothing else than kingship and authority over all. And he sits at the right hand of God the Father altogether—according to the unerring word of the Saviour—because the Word, being God, sprung from the very essence of God the Father, and existing in his form and in equality with him, became flesh, that is, a perfect man, not departing from the divine dignities, but rather remaining in what he always was, and existing as God, even though he became flesh in likeness to us. He is, then, Lord of David as befits the divine nature, glory and authority, but his son according to the flesh. The leaders of the Jews, though they raised their brows high over their possession of the divine laws, ought not to have been ignorant of the voices of the holy prophets. For Isaiah says: “Behold, the virgin will conceive in the womb and bear a son, and they will call his name Emmanuel, which is translated, God with us.” And the Word, being God, came to be with us, having entered into likeness to us, to save the world under heaven. But the leaders of the Jews, as I said, had no regard for the truth; and if anyone chooses to learn what their pretext was, he will hear from us: that they would not depart from their native love of glory, nor from their accursed love of gain.

“Beware of the scribes, who like to walk about in long robes,” and so on (20:46). The ailments of the scribes were love of display and love of gain. So that the choir of the holy disciples might be somewhere outside such shameful charges, he usefully exhorts them, saying: “Do not allow yourselves to be caught in the same evils, nor become sharers in their lack of love for God.” For what was their custom? To walk in the market-places well wrapped up, with lofty eyebrows drawn down; to seek praise from those who see them; to have a feigned character; to babble in their prayers.

“He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury” (21:1). The Saviour said somewhere: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” He watches these offering their gifts into the treasury; and since they came from great wealth, what each brought was probably much, yet little again and unworthy of the hand that brought it. Then after them a poor woman, weighed down by grievous poverty, came in, who with difficulty and with sweat gathers from alms the cheapest food sufficient for a day; and she brought two obols, as if giving away her life. O marvellous wonder! She who constantly seeks mercy from another herself lends to God, making her very poverty fruitful for him. So she surpasses the others and is crowned by God with a just sentence. “And as some were saying about the temple, that it was adorned with beautiful stones and offerings,” and so on (21:5).

Some showed Christ the great works in the temple and the adornment of the offerings; for they thought he would marvel at what was seen along with them, though he is God and has heaven as his throne. But he leaves aside talk about these and foretells that it will fall from its foundations at the appointed time, the Roman army bringing it down to this, and the whole of Jerusalem exacting from Israel the penalties for the killing of the Lord; for after the Saviour’s cross they suffered these things. The disciples did not understand the force of what was said, but, thinking it had been said about the consummation of the age, they asked when these things would be, and what the sign would be when they were about to happen. What, then, does Christ do? He follows the aim of those who put the question, and for the time leaves aside the words about the capture of Jerusalem; he weaves those about the consummation of the present age, and says that before his descent from heaven certain false christs and false prophets will run ahead, putting on his person for themselves, whom one must not believe. For the only-begotten Word of God was willing, to save the world under heaven, to undergo even birth according to the flesh from a woman; but this was for him an emptying and humbling; so, having lowered himself into emptying, he thought fit to remain hidden; and indeed he charged the apostles before the precious cross not to make him manifest; for the manner of the economy in the flesh needed concealment, so that, having endured the precious cross for us as man, he might abolish death and drive Satan from his tyranny over all. But the second descent, from heaven, will not be hidden as the one before, but conspicuous and full of fear; for he will come down with the holy angels escorting him, and in the glory of God the Father, to judge the world in righteousness. So when certain false christs and false prophets arise, do not go after them.

Or does he mean the common end too, and the consummation of the whole world? He gives clear and plain signs of the consummation of the world. For there will be wars, he says, and tumults, and famines and terrors from heaven. For, as another of the evangelists says, all the stars will fall, the heaven will be rolled up like a scroll, the powers of the heavens will be shaken. In between, however, the Saviour places the things about the capture of Jerusalem, and mixes the discourse, saying:

“But before all these things they will lay their hands on you and persecute you,” and so on (21:12). For before the times of the consummation the land of the Jews was captured, the Roman army overrunning it; the temple was burned, their royal palace was shaken down, and the force of the worship according to the law ceased. But before these things happened, the blessed disciples were persecuted by them; they became prisoners, were led before rulers, were sent to kings; Paul, indeed, was sent to Rome to Caesar, and stood before Festus and Agrippa; but what was brought on them became for them a testimony, that is, the glory of martyrdom. “Settle it, then, in your hearts not to meditate beforehand how to answer.” He exhorts: Do not prepare beforehand when you are going to make your defence. “For you will receive,” he says, “from me wisdom and a tongue that none of your adversaries can withstand or contradict.” Cutting away also the occasions of human faint-heartedness, he says they will be handed over by those closest to them, but that they will by all means be saved by him; at any rate he adds: “You will be handed over even by parents and brothers and friends and kinsmen.” But they will by all means be saved by him: “For not a hair of your head will perish,” he says. Making the prediction of the capture clearer, he adds: “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near.” Then he transfers the discourse again to the time of the consummation. It is written in the Acts that after the resurrection there was a great famine under Claudius Caesar, and many earthquakes happened. What you have seen happening in my case, expect in yours too.

“On the earth distress of nations” (21:25). For as creation begins, as it were, to be changed, there will be a terrible distress and a fainting unto death; for the unbearable fear that comes on will be enough to destroy many. “Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud” (21:27).

How will he come? How will he arrive? As he himself showed elsewhere too, saying: “And then they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds with power and great glory.” For he will come no longer in lowliness nor in our meanness, but in the glory and power of the Godhead. You will take “great” with both: for he will make his second divine appearing with great power and great glory, since he made the first with weakness and dishonour, as far as appeared to the many. And why in a cloud? Because God always appears so: “For cloud and darkness are round about him”; and, “The Lord sits on a swift cloud”; and again, “He who makes the clouds his chariot”; and, “A cloud took him from their eyes”; and, “As a son of man coming on the clouds.” So Daniel too sees him; so he will come then, not secretly, but as God and Lord in glory befitting God, and he will change all things for the better; for the dead will come back to life, and this body from the earth, easily caught by passions, will put off corruption and put on incorruption, Christ granting it and making those who believe in him conformed to the body of his glory. Therefore he himself calls the event our redemption, saying: “When these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

For just as, if someone should say of a man that he received from his father his being rational, it signifies that he too was born rational from a rational being, so too the only-begotten came forth as God from God, and as judge from him who judges all the earth. And because the Father has given all judgement to the Son, he has not himself been stripped of his lordship; for the Only-begotten is inseparable from God, as light from the sun; for he is in him naturally; and all that the Father has is the Son’s, and the reverse.

“Look at the fig tree and all the trees” (21:29). Having spoken the parable of the fig tree, he at once adds: “Know that the kingdom of God is near.” This teaches that when these things happen, matters have not yet come to the last end, but are already travelling toward the end, just as the fig tree travels toward its fruit when its branches grow tender and put forth leaves. For so too the coming of the Lord, abolishing every rule and authority, prepares for the kingdom of God. Then he says: “Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things take place.” By “generation” he means not the people of that time, but those like them in character. And in saying that it is impossible for his words to pass away, he already foretells the consummation of the elements too. “It is impossible,” he says, “for my words to pass away, even though the elements pass away; for I speak truly that the day will come and these things will happen, and what I say cannot fail to happen.” “But take heed,” he says, “lest the eyes of your understanding be weighed down”; for the cares of life and dissipation and drunkenness banish understanding and darken faith and fear toward God. There is need, then, of such watchfulness and attention, lest that day come upon you suddenly like a snare, having gained nothing from having heard beforehand. “And every day he was teaching in the temple” (21:37). And what was it that he taught, if not surely things beyond the worship of the law? For the time had come for the shadow to be reshaped into truth; and the crowd heard him most gladly; for they very often marvelled at him, because his word was with authority; for, being himself the one who of old spoke through Moses and the prophets, and Lord of all, he transferred with authority to spiritual worship what had been prophesied in types. He lodged on the Mount of Olives, avoiding the tumults in the city, so that in this too he might become a pattern for us; and the crowd that rose early to come to him could fittingly say David’s words: “O God, my God, I rise early to you; my soul has thirsted for you.” The things about the feast of Unleavened Bread drawing near, about the chief priests seeking to kill him, about Satan entering into Judas, about his agreeing to betray him and seeking an opportunity for it, down to “And the twelve apostles with him,” have been written before in the commentary on Matthew.