Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 15:29-31

"And Jesus departed thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and he went up into the mountain, and sat there. And there came unto him great multitudes, having with them the lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and they cast them down at this feet; and he healed them: insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb speaking, the maimed whole, and lame walking, and the blind seeing: and they glorified the God of Israel." — Matthew 15:29-31 (ASV)

St. Jerome: Having healed the daughter of the Canaanite woman, the Lord returns to Judea, as it follows, And Jesus departed from there, and came near the sea of Galilee.

Remigius of Auxerre: This sea is called by various names: the sea of Galilee, because of its proximity to Galilee, and the sea of Tiberias, from the town of Tiberias.

And going up into a mountain, he sat down there.

St. John Chrysostom: It should be noted that sometimes the Lord goes about healing the sick, and sometimes He sits and waits for them to come. Accordingly, it is added here, And great multitudes came to him, having with them those who were dumb, lame, blind, maimed, and many others.

St. Jerome: What the Latin translator calls "debiles" (maimed) is in the Greek κυλλους, which is not a general term for a maimed person, but a specific type. Just as one who is lame in one foot is called "claudus," so one who is crippled in one hand is called κυλλος.

St. John Chrysostom: These people showed their faith in two ways especially: they went up the mountain, and they believed that they needed nothing more than to cast themselves at Jesus' feet. For they do not now touch even the hem of His garment, but have attained a loftier faith: And cast them down at Jesus' feet.

He healed the woman's daughter with great deliberation, so that He might show her virtue. To these others, however, He administers healing immediately.

This was not because they were better than that woman, but so that He might stop the mouths of the unbelieving Jews, as it follows: and he healed them all.

The sheer number of those who were healed, and the ease with which it was done, astonished the crowd. So much so that the multitude wondered when they saw the dumb to speak.

St. Jerome: He said nothing concerning the maimed, because there was no single word that was the opposite of this.ⁱ

Rabanus Maurus: Mystically, having prefigured the salvation of the Gentiles in the daughter of the Canaanite woman, He came into Judea. This is because, when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, then all Israel will be saved (Romans 11:25).

Glossa Ordinaria: The sea that Jesus came near signifies the turbulent swellings of this world; it becomes the sea of Galilee when people pass from virtue to vice.¹

St. Jerome: He goes up into the mountain so that, like a bird, He might entice the tender nestlings to fly.

Rabanus Maurus: He does this to raise His hearers to meditate on heavenly things. He sat down there to show that rest is to be sought only in what is heavenly.

As He sits on the mountain—that is, in the heavenly height—multitudes of the faithful come to Him, drawing near with a devoted mind. They bring to Him the dumb, the blind, and so on, and cast them down at Jesus' feet, because those who confess their sins are brought to be healed by Him alone.

He heals them in such a way that the multitudes marvel and magnify the God of Israel. This is because when the faithful see those who have been spiritually sick become richly endowed with all kinds of virtuous works, they sing praise to God.

Glossa Ordinaria: The dumb are those who do not praise God; the blind are those who do not understand the paths of life; the deaf are those who do not obey; the lame are those who do not walk firmly through the difficult ways of good works; and the maimed are those who are crippled in their good works.²

1. ap Anselm
2. ord.