Church Fathers Commentary Luke 11

The Venerable Bede: After the account of the sisters, who symbolized the two lives of the Church, our Lord is rightly said to have both prayed Himself and taught His disciples to pray. This is because the prayer He taught contains within itself the mystery of both lives, and the perfection of these lives is obtained not by our own strength, but by prayer. Thus, it is said, And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: Now, since He possesses every good in abundance, why does He pray? He is full and has need of nothing at all. To this we answer that it is fitting for Him, according to the manner of His incarnation, to follow human observances at the proper time. For if He eats and drinks, He also rightly prayed, so that He might teach us not to be lukewarm in this duty, but to be more diligent and earnest in our prayers.

Titus of Bostra: Having seen a new way of life, the disciples desired a new form of prayer, since several prayers could be found in the Old Testament. Thus, it follows, When he ceased, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray, so that we might not sin against God by asking for one thing instead of another, or by approaching God in prayer in a way we should not.

Origen of Alexandria: And to point out the kind of teaching, the disciple continues, as John also taught his disciples. About him, you have truly told us that among those born of women none greater had arisen. And because you have commanded us to seek things that are great and eternal, from where shall we arrive at this knowledge except from You, our God and Savior?

Gregory of Nyssa: He reveals the teaching of prayer to His disciples, who wisely desire this knowledge, directing them on how they ought to petition God to hear them.

St. Basil the Great: There are two kinds of prayer: one composed of praise with humility, the other of petitions, which is more subdued. Whenever you pray, then, do not immediately break forth into petition. Instead, if you recognize your sinful inclination, you should plead with God as if compelled by necessity. And when you begin to pray, forget all visible and invisible creatures and begin with the praise of Him who created all things. Thus, it is added, And he says to them, When you pray, say, Our Father.

Pseudo-Augustine: How gracious is this first word! You dared not raise your face to heaven, and suddenly you receive the grace of Christ. From an evil servant, you are made a good son. Do not boast, then, of your works, but of the grace of Christ, for in that is no arrogance, but faith. To proclaim what you have received is not pride, but devotion.

Therefore, raise your eyes to your Father, who begot you by Baptism and redeemed you by His Son. Say "Father" as a son, but claim no special favor for yourself. He is the special Father of Christ alone, but the common Father of us all, for He begot Christ alone, but He created us. And therefore, according to Matthew, when it says, Our Father, it adds, which art in heaven—that is, in those heavens of which it was said, The heavens declare the glory of God. Heaven is where sin has ceased and where there is no sting of death.

Theophylact of Ohrid: But He does not say, which art in heaven, as if He were confined to that place, but to raise the hearer up to heaven and draw him away from earthly things.

Gregory of Nyssa: See what great preparation you need to be able to say boldly to God, "O Father." For if you have your eyes fixed on worldly things, or court the praise of men, or are a slave to your passions, and you utter this prayer, I seem to hear God saying, "Since you, who are of a corrupt life, call the Author of all that is incorruptible your Father, you pollute an incorruptible name with your defiled lips."

For He who commanded you to call Him Father did not give you permission to speak lies. But the highest of all good things is to glorify God’s name in our lives. Thus, He adds, Hallowed be thy name. For who is so debased that, when he sees the pure life of those who believe, he does not glorify the name invoked in such a life? Therefore, he who says in his prayer, "May your name, which I call upon, be hallowed in me," is praying this: "May I, through Your helping aid, be made just, abstaining from all evil."

St. John Chrysostom: For just as when a person gazes upon the beauty of the heavens and says, "Glory to you, O God," so likewise when he beholds a person's virtuous actions, he sees that human virtue glorifies God much more than the heavens.

Pseudo-Augustine: Or, it is said, Hallowed be thy name; that is, let Your holiness be known to all the world, and let the world worthily praise You. For praise is fitting for the upright, and therefore He commands them to pray for the cleansing of the whole world.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: Since the name of God is still despised among those to whom the faith has not yet come, when the rays of truth have shone upon them, they will confess the Holy of Holies.

Titus of Bostra: And because the glory of God the Father is in the name of Jesus, the Father's name will be hallowed whenever Christ is known.

Origen of Alexandria: Or, because idolaters and those in error give the name of God to idols and created things, it has not yet been made holy in the sense of being separated from those things from which it ought to be. He teaches us, therefore, to pray that the name of God may be reserved for the only true God. To Him alone belongs what follows: Thy kingdom come. We pray this so that all the rule, authority, power, and kingdoms of the world may be put down, along with the sin that reigns in our mortal bodies.

Gregory of Nyssa: We also plead to be delivered by the Lord from corruption and to be taken out of death. Or, according to some, Thy kingdom come means, "May Your Holy Spirit come upon us to purify us."

Pseudo-Augustine: For the kingdom of God comes when we have obtained His grace. For He Himself says, The kingdom of God is within you.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: Or, those who say this seem to wish for the Savior of all to illuminate the world once again. But He has commanded us to desire that truly awesome time in our prayers, so that people might know it is necessary for them to live not in laziness and reluctance—lest that time bring fiery punishment upon them—but rather to live honorably and according to His will, so that time may weave crowns for them. Thus, it follows, according to Matthew: Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.

St. John Chrysostom: It is as if He says, "Enable us, O Lord, to follow the heavenly life, so that whatever You will, we may will also."

Gregory of Nyssa: Since He says that human life after the resurrection will be like that of the angels, it follows that our life in this world should be ordered with respect to what we hope for in the next. In this way, though living in the flesh, we may not live according to the flesh. By this, the true Physician of souls destroys the nature of the disease. Those who have been seized with the sickness by which they departed from the divine will may immediately be released from it by being joined to the divine will. For the health of the soul is the proper fulfillment of the will of God.

St. Augustine of Hippo: It seems, according to the evangelist Matthew, that the Lord’s Prayer contains seven petitions, but Luke has included it in five. In truth, the one does not disagree with the other; rather, Luke has suggested by his brevity how those seven are to be understood. For the name of God is hallowed in the spirit, but the kingdom of God is to come at the resurrection of the body. Luke, then, showing that the third petition is, in a way, a repetition of the first two, wished to make this understood by omitting it. He then added three others, beginning with daily bread, saying, Give us day by day our daily bread.

Pseudo-Augustine: In the Greek, the word for "daily" means something added to the substance. It is not the bread that goes into the body, but the bread of everlasting life, which supports the substance of our soul. The Latins, however, call this "daily" bread, which the Greeks call "for the coming day." If it is daily bread, why is it eaten a year later, as is the custom with the Greeks in the East?

Take daily what benefits you for the day; live in such a way that you may be considered worthy to receive it daily. The death of our Lord is signified by this, as is the remission of sins. Do you not daily partake of that bread of life? He who has a wound seeks to be cured. The wound is that we are under sin; the cure is the heavenly and awesome Sacrament. If you receive daily, "Today" comes to you daily. Christ is "Today" for you; Christ rises for you daily.

Titus of Bostra: Or, the bread of souls is the divine power that brings the everlasting life to come, just as the bread that comes from the earth preserves our temporal life. But by saying "daily," He signifies the divine bread which is both present and to come. We ask for this to be given to us daily, requiring a certain pledge and taste of it, since the Spirit who dwells in us has produced virtues surpassing all human virtues, such as chastity, humility, and the others.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: Now, perhaps some think it is unfitting for saints to ask God for physical goods, and for this reason, they assign a spiritual meaning to these words. But even granting that the chief concern of the saints should be to obtain spiritual gifts, it is still proper for them to seek their common bread without blame, according to our Lord’s command. For from the fact that He commands them to ask for bread—that is, daily food—it seems He implies that they should possess nothing, but rather practice an honorable poverty. For it is not the role of those who have bread to ask for it, but rather of those who are oppressed by want.

St. Basil the Great: It is as if He said: For your daily bread—that is, what serves your daily needs—do not trust in yourself, but flee to God for it, making the necessities of your nature known to Him.

St. John Chrysostom: We must, then, ask God for the necessities of life. This does not mean varieties of meats, spiced wines, and other things that please the palate while burdening your stomach and disturbing your mind. Rather, we should ask for bread that is able to support the body's substance—that is, what is sufficient only for the day, so that we may take no thought for tomorrow. But we make only one petition about physical things, so that the present life may not trouble us.

Gregory of Nyssa: Having taught us to take confidence through good works, He next teaches us to plead for the forgiveness of our offenses, for it follows, And forgive us our sins.

Titus of Bostra: This was also necessarily added, for no one is found without sin, so that we would not be hindered from holy participation on account of human guilt. For since we are bound to render every kind of holiness to Christ, who makes His Spirit dwell in us, we are to be blamed if we do not keep our temples clean for Him. But this defect is supplied by the goodness of God, who forgives the severe punishment of sin for the sake of human frailty. And this act is done justly by the just God when we forgive our debtors, so to speak—that is, those who have injured us and have not restored what was due. Thus, it follows, For we also forgive every one that is indebted to us.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: For He wishes, if I may say so, to make God the imitator of the patience that people practice. He intends that the kindness they have shown to their fellow servants, they should in like manner seek to receive in equal measure from God, who repays each person justly and knows how to have mercy on all people.

St. John Chrysostom: Considering these things, then, we ought to show mercy to our debtors. For if we are wise, they are the cause of our own greatest pardon; and though we accomplish only a few things, we shall receive many. For we owe many great debts to the Lord, and if even the smallest part were exacted from us, we would soon perish.

Pseudo-Augustine: But what is the debt, if not sin? If you had not received anything, you would not owe money to another. And therefore, sin is imputed to you. For you had the "money" with which you were born rich, having been made in the likeness and image of God, but you have lost what you once had. Just as when you put on pride you lose the gold of humility, you have signed for the devil’s debt, which was not necessary. The enemy held the bond, but the Lord crucified it and canceled it with His blood.

But the Lord, who has taken away our sins and forgiven our debts, is able to guard us against the snares of the devil, who is accustomed to produce sin in us. Thus, it follows, And lead us not into temptation—that is, into temptation we are not able to bear. Like a wrestler, we wish only for such temptation as the human condition can sustain.

Titus of Bostra: For it is impossible not to be tempted by the devil, but we make this prayer so that we may not be abandoned to our temptations. Now, that which happens by divine permission, God is sometimes said in Scripture to do. And in this way, by not preventing an increase of temptation that is beyond our strength, He "leads us into temptation."

MAXIMUS: Or, the Lord commands us to pray, Lead us not into temptation, meaning, "let us not experience lustful and self-induced temptations." But James teaches those who contend only for the truth not to be unnerved by involuntary and troublesome temptations, saying, My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations.

St. Basil the Great: It is not, however, fitting for us to seek bodily afflictions in our prayers. For Christ has universally commanded people everywhere to pray that they do not enter into temptation. But when one has already entered into it, it is fitting to ask the Lord for the power to endure, so that those words may be fulfilled in us: He that endures to the end shall be saved.

St. Augustine of Hippo: But what Matthew placed at the end, But deliver us from evil, Luke has not mentioned, so that we might understand that it belongs to the previous petition, which spoke of temptation. He therefore says, "But deliver us," not "And deliver us," clearly proving this to be one petition: "Do not do this, but do this." But let everyone know that he is delivered from evil in this way: when he is not brought into temptation.

Pseudo-Augustine: For each person seeks to be delivered from evil—that is, from his enemies and from sin. But he who gives himself up to God does not fear the devil, for if God is for us, who can be against us?

St. Cyril of Alexandria: The Savior had previously taught, in answer to the request of His apostles, how people ought to pray. But it might happen that those who received this wholesome teaching would indeed offer their prayers according to the form given to them, but do so carelessly and without conviction.

Then, when they were not heard after the first or second prayer, they stopped praying. So that this would not happen to us, He shows by means of a parable that timidity in our prayers is harmful, but that it is of great advantage to have patience in them. Therefore, He says to them, Which of you shall have a friend.

Theophylact of Ohrid: God is that friend, who loves all people and wills that all should be saved.

St. Ambrose of Milan: Who is a greater friend to us than He who gave up His body for us? Now we have another kind of command given to us here: that prayers should be offered at all times, not only during the day but also at night. For it follows, And shall go to him at midnight. As David did when he said, At midnight I will rise and give thanks to you.

For he had no fear of waking them from sleep, since he knew they were always watching. If David, who was also occupied with the necessary affairs of a kingdom, was so holy that he gave praise to God seven times a day, what should we do? We ought to pray all the more, since we sin more frequently through the weakness of our mind and body.

But if you love the Lord your God, you will be able to gain favor not only for yourself but for others as well. For it follows, And say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves...

St. Augustine of Hippo: But what are these three loaves, if not the food of the heavenly mystery? It may be that someone has a friend who asks for something he cannot supply, and then he finds that he does not have what he is compelled to give. A friend comes to you on his journey—that is, in this present life, where we are all traveling as strangers. No one remains a permanent possessor; instead, everyone is told, "Pass on, O stranger, and make way for the one who is coming."

Or perhaps a friend of yours comes from a bad road (that is, an evil life), weary and unable to find the truth, by which he might hear and receive happiness. He comes to you as a Christian and says, "Give me a reason," perhaps asking something that you, in the simplicity of your faith, do not know. Not having the means to satisfy his hunger, you are compelled to seek it in the Lord’s books.

For perhaps what he asked is contained in the book, but it is obscure. You are not permitted to ask Paul himself, or Peter, or any prophet, for that whole family is now resting with their Lord. The ignorance of the world is very great—that is, it is midnight. Your friend, urgent from hunger, presses you for an answer, not content with a simple faith. Must he then be abandoned?

Therefore, go to the Lord Himself, with whom that family is resting. Knock, and pray. Of Him it is added, And he from within will answer and say, "Trouble me not." He delays giving, wishing that you should desire more earnestly what is delayed, so that it does not become commonplace by being given at once.

St. Basil the Great: For perhaps He delays on purpose to increase your earnestness in coming to Him, so that you may know what the gift of God is and may anxiously guard what is given. For whatever a person acquires with great pains, he strives to keep safe, lest with its loss he should lose his labor as well.

Glossa Ordinaria: He does not, then, take away the freedom of asking, but is all the more eager to kindle the desire to pray by showing the difficulty of obtaining what we ask for. For it follows, The door is now shut.

St. Ambrose of Milan: This is the door that Paul also requests may be opened for him, pleading to be assisted not only by his own prayers but also by those of the people, that a door of utterance may be opened to him to speak the mystery of Christ. And perhaps that is the door that John saw open, when it was said to him, Come up here, and I will show you things which must be hereafter.

St. Augustine of Hippo: The time referred to, then, is that of the famine of the word, when understanding is shut up. Those who distributed the wisdom of the Gospel like bread and preached throughout the world are now in their secret rest with the Lord. And this is what is added, And my children are with me in bed.

Gregory of Nyssa: He rightly calls them "children"—those who, by the arms of righteousness, have claimed for themselves freedom from passion. This shows that the good we have acquired by practice was laid up in our nature from the beginning. For when anyone, by renouncing the flesh and living a virtuous life, has overcome passion, he then becomes like a child and is insensible to the passions. But by "the bed," we understand the rest of Christ.

Glossa Ordinaria: And because of what has come before, he adds, I cannot rise and give you, which must refer to the difficulty of obtaining.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Alternatively, the friend who is visited at midnight for the loan of the three loaves is evidently an allegory. It is like a person in the midst of trouble asking God to give him an understanding of the Trinity, by which he may find comfort in the troubles of this present life. For his distress is the "midnight" in which he is compelled to be so urgent in his request for the three loaves. The three loaves signify that the Trinity is of one substance.

The friend coming from his journey is understood to be human desire. This desire ought to obey reason but was instead obedient to the custom of the world, which he calls "the way" because all things pass along it. Now when a person is converted to God, that desire is also reclaimed from custom.

But if he is not consoled by the inward joy that arises from the spiritual doctrine declaring the Trinity of the Creator, he is in great distress. He is pressed down by earthly sorrows, seeing that he is commanded to abstain from all outward delights, and within there is no refreshment from the delight of spiritual doctrine. And yet, it is accomplished by prayer that the one who desires should receive understanding from God, even if there is no one by whom wisdom might be preached.

For it follows, And if that man shall continue... etc. The argument is drawn from the lesser to the greater. For if a friend gets up from his bed and gives, not because of friendship but because of weariness, how much more will God give? He gives most abundantly whatever we ask, and without weariness.

But when you have obtained the three loaves—that is, the food and knowledge of the Trinity—you will have both the source of life and of food. Do not fear. Do not cease. For that bread will not run out, but it will put an end to your need. Learn and teach. Live and eat.

Theophylact of Ohrid: Alternatively, the "midnight" is the end of life, at which time many come to God. The "friend" is the angel who receives the soul. Or, the "midnight" is the depth of temptations, in which the one who has fallen seeks from God three loaves: relief for the needs of his body, soul, and spirit. Through these, we run into no danger during our temptations.

The "friend" who comes from his journey is God Himself, who tests by temptation the one who has nothing to set before another who is weakened by it. But when He says, And the door is shut, we must understand that we ought to be prepared before temptations. After we have fallen into them, the gate of preparation is shut, and being found unprepared, we are in danger unless God keeps us.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Having set aside the metaphor, our Lord added an exhortation, explicitly urging us to ask, seek, and knock until we receive what we are seeking. Therefore, He says, And I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: The words, I say to you, have the force of an oath. For God does not lie, but whenever He reveals anything to His hearers with an oath, He shows the inexcusable smallness of our faith.

St. John Chrysostom: Now by "asking," He means prayer, but by "seeking," He means zeal and anxiety, as He adds, Seek, and you will find. For the things we seek require great care, and this is particularly the case with God, for many things block our senses.

Just as we search for lost gold, so let us anxiously seek after God. He also shows that even though He does not immediately open the gates, we must still wait. Therefore, He adds, Knock, and it will be opened to you. If you continue seeking, you will surely receive. For this reason, just as a shut door makes you knock, He did not grant your request at once, so that you would be moved to entreat Him.

Greek Expositors: Or by the word "knock," He perhaps means seeking effectively, for one knocks with the hand, and the hand is a sign of good work. Or these three may be distinguished in another way: The beginning of virtue is to ask to know the way of truth. The second step is to seek how we must travel that way. The third step, when a person has attained this virtue, is to knock at the door, so that they may enter the wide field of knowledge.

A person acquires all these things through prayer. Alternatively, to "ask" is to pray, to "seek" is to perform good works that are fitting for our prayers, and to "knock" is to continue in prayer without ceasing.

St. Augustine of Hippo: But He would not encourage us to ask if He were not willing to give. Let human laziness be ashamed; He is more willing to give than we are to receive.

St. Ambrose of Milan: Now, one who promises anything ought to convey a hope for the thing promised, so that obedience may follow commands, and faith may follow promises. And therefore He adds, For everyone who asks receives.

Origen of Alexandria: But someone may ask how it is that those who pray are not heard. To this we must answer that whoever begins seeking in the right way, omitting none of the things that help in obtaining our requests, will truly receive what he has prayed to be given to him.

But if a person turns away from the object of a proper petition and does not ask as he should, he is not truly asking. That is why, when he does not receive what is promised here, there is no falsehood in the promise. For example, when a teacher says, "Whoever will come to me will receive the gift of instruction," we understand this to mean a person going to a teacher in true earnest, so that he may zealously and diligently devote himself to his teaching.

Hence, James also says, you ask and receive not, because you ask amiss, namely, for the sake of vain pleasures. But someone will say, "But when people ask to obtain divine knowledge and to recover their virtue, they do not receive it?" To this we must answer that they did not seek to receive these good things for themselves, but so that they might gain praise from others.

St. Basil the Great: If anyone, out of laziness, surrenders to his desires and betrays himself into the hands of his enemies, God neither assists him nor hears him, because by sin he has alienated himself from God. It is proper, then, for a person to offer whatever belongs to him but to cry out to God to assist him.

We must ask for divine assistance not half-heartedly, nor with a mind wavering back and forth, because such a person will not only fail to obtain what he seeks but will instead provoke God to anger. For if a man standing before a prince keeps his eyes fixed, both inwardly and outwardly, for fear that he might be punished, how much more ought he to stand watchful and trembling before God?

If, when awakened by sin, you are unable to pray steadfastly with all your strength, you must check yourself, so that when you stand before God you may direct your mind to Him. And God pardons you, because it is not from indifference, but from weakness, that you cannot appear in His presence as you should. If, then, you discipline yourself in this way, do not leave until you receive.

For whenever you ask and do not receive, it is because your request was made improperly: either without faith, or carelessly, or for things that are not good for you, or because you stopped praying. Some frequently raise the objection, "Why do we pray? Is God ignorant of what we need?" He undoubtedly knows, and He richly gives us all temporal things even before we ask. But we must first desire good works and the kingdom of heaven. Then, having this desire, we must ask in faith and patience, bringing into our prayers whatever is good for us, with a conscience clear of any offense.

St. Ambrose of Milan: The argument, then, for frequent prayer is the hope of obtaining what we pray for. The basis for this persuasion was first in the command; afterward, it is contained in the example He presents, adding, If a son shall ask bread of any of you, will he give him a stone? etc.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: In these words, our Savior gives us a very necessary piece of instruction. For we often rashly give way to harmful desires from the impulse of pleasure. When we ask for any such thing from God, we will not obtain it.

To show this, He provides an obvious example from the things we see in our daily experience. When your son asks you for bread, you give it to him gladly, because he is seeking wholesome food. But when, from a lack of understanding, he asks for a stone to eat, you do not give it to him, but rather prevent him from satisfying his harmful desire.

So the meaning may be: Which of you, if his son asks his father for bread (which the father gives), will then give him a stone (that is, if he were to ask for the stone)? The same argument applies to the serpent and the fish, about which He adds, Or if he asks a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? And likewise for the egg and the scorpion, He adds, Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?

Origen of Alexandria: Consider this, then: if the bread is not indeed the soul's food of knowledge, without which it cannot be saved—for example, the well-planned rule of a just life. But the fish is the love of instruction, such as knowing the constitution of the world, the effects of the elements, and whatever else wisdom discusses. Therefore, God does not offer a stone in place of bread, which the devil wanted Christ to eat, nor does He give a serpent in place of a fish, which the Ethiopians, who are unworthy to eat fish, consume. Nor, generally, does He give what is inedible and harmful in place of what is nourishing, which relates to the scorpion and the egg.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Or, the bread signifies charity, because we have a great desire for it, and it is so necessary that without it all other things are nothing, just as a table without bread is meager. Opposed to this is hardness of heart, which He compared to a stone.

The fish signifies belief in invisible things, either because it comes from the waters of baptism or because it is taken from invisible places the eye cannot reach. Because faith, though tossed about by the waves of this world, is not destroyed, it is rightly compared to a fish. In opposition to this, He placed the serpent on account of the poison of deceit, which had its first seed in the first man through evil persuasion.

Or, the egg is understood as hope. For the egg contains the young, not yet formed but hoped for through nurturing. Opposed to this, He placed the scorpion, whose poisoned sting is to be feared from behind. This is because the contrary of hope is to look back, since the hope of what is to come reaches forward to the things that are ahead.

What great things the world says to you, roaring them behind your back to make you look away! O unclean world, why do you clamor? Why do you attempt to turn him away? You would detain him while you are perishing; what would you do if you were to last forever? Whom would you not deceive with sweetness, when even in your bitterness you can offer false nourishment?

St. Cyril of Alexandria: Now, from the example just given, He concludes that if you, being evil (that is, having a mind capable of wickedness, and not uniformly and permanently settled in good, as God is), know how to give good gifts, how much more will your heavenly Father?

The Venerable Bede: Or, He calls the lovers of the world "evil," who give those things which they judge to be good according to their own senses—things which are also good in their nature and are useful for sustaining this imperfect life. Therefore, He adds, Know how to give good gifts to your children.

Even the Apostles, who by the merit of their election had exceeded the goodness of humanity in general, are called evil in comparison with divine goodness, since nothing is good in itself but God alone. But the part that is added, How much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him—for which Matthew has written, will give good things to those who ask Him—shows that the Holy Spirit is the fullness of God's gifts, since all the benefits received from the grace of God's gifts flow from that source.

St. Athanasius of Alexandria: Now, unless the Holy Spirit were of the substance of God, who alone is good, He would by no means be called good, since our Lord refused to be called good, inasmuch as He was made man.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Therefore, O covetous man, what do you seek? Or if you seek anything else, what will satisfy you, for whom the Lord is not enough?

Glossa Ordinaria: The Lord had promised that the Holy Spirit would be given to those who asked for it; He clearly shows the blessed effects of this promise in the following miracle. Thus it says, And Jesus was casting out a devil, and it was dumb.

Theophylact of Ohrid: Now, the word "dumb" commonly means one who does not speak. It is also used for one who does not hear, but more properly for one who neither hears nor speaks. A person who has not heard from birth is necessarily unable to speak, for we learn to say the things we are taught by hearing. If, however, someone loses their hearing from a disease that has come upon them, there is nothing to prevent them from speaking. But the man who was brought before the Lord was both dumb in speech and deaf in hearing.

Titus of Bostra: Now, Christ calls the devil "deaf" or "dumb" because it is the cause of this calamity, which prevents the divine word from being heard. For the devil, by taking away the sensitivity of human perception, dulls the hearing of our soul. Christ therefore comes so that He might cast out the devil and we might hear the word of truth. He healed one person to create a universal foretaste of humanity's salvation. Thus it says, And when he had cast out the devil, the dumb spoke.

The Venerable Bede: But Matthew relates that this demon-possessed man was not only dumb, but also blind. Three miracles, then, were performed at the same time on one man: the blind sees, the dumb speaks, and the one possessed by a devil is set free. The same thing is accomplished daily in the conversion of believers. First, the devil is cast out, allowing them to see the light; then, those mouths which were previously silent are loosened to speak the praises of God.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: Now when the miracle was performed, the multitude extolled Him with loud praises, giving the glory that was due to God. As it says, And the people wondered.

The Venerable Bede: But since the crowds, who were considered ignorant, always marveled at our Lord’s actions, the Scribes and Pharisees took pains to deny them or to pervert them with a clever interpretation, suggesting they were not the work of divine power, but of an unclean spirit. Thus it says, But some of them said, He casts out devils through Beelzebub the prince of the devils.

Beelzebub was the god of Ekron. "Beel" is indeed Baal himself, and "Zebub" means "a fly." He is called Beelzebub, the "lord of the flies," and the chief of the devils was so named from his most foul practices.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: But others, with similar darts of envy, sought a sign from heaven from Him, as it says, And others, tempting him, sought of him a sign from heaven.

It was as if they were saying, “Although you have cast out a devil from the man, this is not, however, proof of divine power. We have not yet seen anything like the miracles of former times. Moses led the people through the middle of the sea, and his successor Joshua stopped the sun in Gibeon. But you have shown us none of these things.” For seeking signs from heaven showed that the speaker was influenced by this kind of feeling toward Christ.

St. John Chrysostom: The Pharisees’ suspicion was so completely without reason that they did not dare reveal it for fear of the crowd, but only pondered it in their minds. Therefore it is said, But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself will be brought to desolation.

The Venerable Bede: He did not answer their words but their thoughts, so that they might at least be compelled to believe in His power, since He could see the secrets of the heart.

St. John Chrysostom: He did not answer them from the Scriptures, since they paid no attention to them and would falsely explain them away. Instead, He answered them with examples from everyday life.

For a house or a city, if it is divided, quickly comes to nothing; the same is true of a kingdom, and nothing is stronger than a kingdom. It is the harmony of the inhabitants that maintains houses and kingdoms. "If, then," He says, "I cast out demons by means of a demon, there is division among them, and their power is destroyed."

Therefore, He adds, But if Satan is divided against himself, how will he stand? For Satan does not resist himself or harm his own soldiers; rather, he strengthens his kingdom. It is, therefore, by divine power alone that I crush Satan under my feet.

St. Ambrose of Milan: In this, Christ also shows that His own kingdom is undivided and everlasting. Therefore, for those who have no hope in Christ but think He casts out demons through the chief of demons, their kingdom, He says, is not everlasting.

This also refers to the Jewish people. For how can the kingdom of the Jews be everlasting when the very people of the Law deny Jesus, who is promised by the Law? In this way, the faith of the Jewish people contradicts itself. The glory of the wicked is divided, and by that division, it is destroyed. Therefore, the kingdom of the Church will remain forever, because its faith is undivided in one body.

The Venerable Bede: The kingdom of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is also not divided, because it is sealed with eternal stability. Let the Arians, then, cease to say that the Son is inferior to the Father and the Holy Spirit inferior to the Son, since their kingdom is one, their power is also one.

St. John Chrysostom: This, then, is the first answer. The second, which relates to His disciples, He gives as follows: And if I by Beelzebub cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? He does not say, "My disciples," but "your sons," wishing to soothe their anger.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: For the disciples of Christ were Jews, descended from Jews according to the flesh. They had received power from Christ over unclean spirits and delivered those who were oppressed by them in Christ's name.

Since, then, your own sons subdue Satan in My name, is it not complete madness to say that I receive My power from Beelzebub? You are therefore condemned by the faith of your own children. For this reason, He adds, Therefore they will be your judges.

St. John Chrysostom: For since those who come from among you are obedient to Me, it is clear that they will condemn those who do the opposite.

The Venerable Bede: Alternatively, by "the sons of the Jews," He means the exorcists of that nation, who cast out demons by the invocation of God. It is as if He is saying, "If the casting out of demons by your sons is attributed to God and not to demons, why in My case does the same work not have the same cause?"

Therefore, they will be your judges—not by holding the authority to judge, but by their actions, since they attribute the casting out of demons to God, while you attribute it to Beelzebub, the chief of demons.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: Since, then, what you say bears the mark of slander, it is clear that I cast out demons by the Spirit of God. Therefore, He adds, But if I by the finger of God cast out demons, no doubt the kingdom of God has come upon you.

St. Augustine of Hippo: The fact that Luke speaks of the "finger of God" where Matthew says "the Spirit" does not create a contradiction in meaning. Instead, it teaches us a lesson, so that we may know what meaning to give to the phrase "finger of God" whenever we read it in the Scriptures.

The Holy Spirit is called the "finger of God" because of the distribution of gifts that are given through Him, with each person—whether human or angel—receiving their own specific gift. For in none of our own body parts is this kind of distribution more apparent than in our fingers.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: Alternatively, the Holy Spirit is called the "finger of God" for this reason: The Son is called the "hand" and "arm" of the Father, because the Father works all things through Him. Just as the finger is not separate from the hand but is by nature a part of it, so the Holy Spirit is consubstantially united to the Son, and the Son does all things through Him.

St. Ambrose of Milan: Nor should you think that in the joining of our limbs there is any division of power, for there can be no division in something that is undivided. Therefore, the name "finger" must be understood to refer to the form of unity, not to a distinction of power.

St. Athanasius of Alexandria: At this time, however, our Lord does not hesitate, because of His humanity, to speak of Himself as if He were inferior to the Holy Spirit. He says that He cast out demons by the Spirit, as though His human nature was not sufficient for this task without the Holy Spirit's power.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: Therefore, it is rightly said, The kingdom of God has come upon you. This means, "If I, as a man, cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then human nature is enriched through Me, and the kingdom of God has arrived."

St. John Chrysostom: The phrase "upon you" is used so that He might draw them to Himself. It is as if He said, "If this blessing is coming to you, why do you despise your own good things?"

St. Ambrose of Milan: At the same time, He shows that the Holy Spirit possesses a royal power, for in Him is the kingdom of God. He also shows that we, in whom the Spirit dwells, are a royal house.

Titus of Bostra: Alternatively, when He says, The kingdom of God has come upon you, it signifies that it "has come against you, not for you." For the second coming of Christ is dreadful to unfaithful Christians.