Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 21

Remigius of Auxerre: The Evangelist related above that the Lord departed from Galilee and began to go up to Jerusalem. Now occupied with telling what He did along the way, he continues his purpose, saying, “And when they drew near to Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage.” Bethphage was a small village of the priests, situated on the slope of the Mount of Olives, one mile from Jerusalem. For the priests who ministered in the temple for their allotted time, when their term of service was finished, withdrew to this village to stay, as did those who were to take their place. This was because it was commanded by their Law that no one should travel on the Sabbath more than a mile.

Origen of Alexandria: For this reason, Bethphage is interpreted as “The House of the Shoulder,” for the shoulder was the priest's portion in the Law. It follows, “Then Jesus sent two of his disciples.”

Pseudo-Chrysostom: He did not say to His disciples, “Say, ‘Your Lord has need of them,’” so that they would understand that He alone is Lord, not only of the animals, but of all people; for even sinners are His by the law of nature, though by their own will they are the Devil's.

St. John Chrysostom: And do not think this was a small thing that was done, for who was it that worked on the owners of the animals so that they did not refuse, but gave them up? By this He also instructs His disciples that He could have restrained the Jews but would not. He further teaches them that they should grant whatever is asked of them, for if those who did not know Christ granted this, how much more should His disciples give to everyone. As for the statement, “and straightway he will send them,”

Pseudo-Chrysostom: it is to be understood that after He entered Jerusalem, the animal was returned by Christ to its owner.

Glossa Ordinaria: Or, the owner of the animals will immediately send them to be used for Christ's service. To this is added the testimony of the Prophet, to show that the Lord fulfilled all things that were written about Him, but that the Scribes and Pharisees, blinded by envy, would not understand the things that they read: “All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Prophet,” namely, Zechariah (Zechariah 9:9).¹

Pseudo-Chrysostom: For the Prophet, knowing the malice of the Jews and that they would speak against Christ when He went up to the Temple, gave them this sign beforehand, by which they might know their King: “Say to the daughter of Zion.”

Rabanus Maurus: Historically, “Daughter of Zion” is the name given to the city of Jerusalem, which stands on Mount Zion. But mystically, it is the Church of the faithful, belonging to the Jerusalem that is above.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: “Behold” is a word used for pointing something out. It means to look not with the physical eye, but with spiritual understanding at the works of His power. In times past He often said, “Behold,” so that He might show that the one of whom He spoke, even before He was born, was already your King. When you see Him, then, do not say, “We have no king but Caesar” (John 19:15). “He comes to you,” if you will receive Him, so that He may save you; if you will not receive Him, He comes against you. He is “Meek,” so that He is not to be feared for His power but loved for His meekness. Therefore, He does not sit on a golden chariot, resplendent in costly purple, nor is He mounted on a spirited steed that rejoices in strife and battle, but upon a she-ass that loves peace and quiet.

St. Augustine of Hippo: In this quotation from the Prophet, there is some variation in the different Gospels. Matthew quotes it as if the Prophet had expressly mentioned the she-ass, but it is not quoted this way by Johnⁱ, nor in the church copies of the translation in common use. This seems to me to be explained by the fact that Matthew wrote his Gospel in the Hebrew language. And it is clear to those who know Hebrew and have translated the same books from it that the translation called the Septuagint (LXX) has some things different from what is found in the Hebrew. If we ask the reason for this discrepancy, I consider nothing more likely than that the Septuagint was interpreted with the very same Spirit with which the original was written—a fact confirmed by the wonderful agreement among the translators of which we are told.²

By varying the expression in this way, while not departing from the meaning of God whose words they were, they convey to us the very same truth that we gather from this agreement, with its slight variations, among the Evangelists. This shows us that it is not a lie when someone relates something with such different details, as long as he does not depart from the intention of the one with whom he ought to agree. Knowing this is useful for our morals in avoiding lies, and for faith itself, so that we do not suppose that truth is secured in the sacred sounds, as though God imparted to us not only the substance but also the very words in which that substance is conveyed. Rather, the substance is conveyed in words in such a way that we should not need words at all if it were possible for the substance to be known by us without them, as God and His angels know it.

It follows, “The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the ass and the colt.” The other Evangelists say nothing of the ass. And if Matthew had not mentioned the colt, just as they do not mention the ass, the reader should not have been surprised. How much less, then, should it trouble him when one evangelist mentions the ass that the others omitted, while not forgetting the colt that they did mention. For there is no discrepancy where both events may have occurred, even if one writer related only one of them and another writer the other. How much less is there a discrepancy when one mentions both, even though another mentions only one?

It follows, “and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them.”

St. Jerome: But it seems that the Lord could not have sat upon both animals in so short a distance. Since the historical account presents either an impossibility or a triviality, we are directed to higher things—that is, to the figurative sense.

Remigius of Auxerre: Nevertheless, it was possible that the Lord could have sat on both animals.

St. John Chrysostom: It seems to me that He was mounted on the ass not only because of the mystery, but also to give us a lesson in wisdom, teaching us that one does not need to be mounted on horses, but that it is enough to use an ass and be content with what is necessary. But ask the Jews: what king has ever entered Jerusalem mounted on an ass? They can name no other, only this one.

St. Jerome: The crowds that came out of Jericho and followed the Savior threw down their garments and scattered branches from trees on the road. Therefore it follows, “A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road,” that is, beneath the feet of the ass, so that it would not stumble on a stone, step on a thorn, or fall into a ditch. “While others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road,” from the fruit trees, that is, with which the Mount of Olives was covered.

And when all that could be done was done, they also added the tribute of their voices, as it follows, “The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’”

I will now briefly examine the meaning of this word, Hosanna. In the 118th Psalm, which is clearly written about the Savior's coming, we read this among other things: “Save now, I pray, O LORD; O LORD, I pray, send now prosperity. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD” (Psalm 118:25-26). For what the Septuagint gives as Ω Κυριε, σωσον δη, “Save now, O Lord,” we read in the Hebrew as “Anna, adonai osianna,” which Symmachus renders more plainly, “I pray you, O Lord, save, I pray you.” Let no one think that it is a word made up of two words, one Greek and one Hebrew, for it is purely Hebrew.

Remigius of Auxerre: And it is composed of one complete and one incomplete word. For “Hosi” means “save,” and “anna” is an interjection used in pleading.

St. Jerome: For it signifies that the coming of Christ is the salvation of the world, from which it follows, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” The Savior confirms this same thing in the Gospel: “I have come in my Father's name” (John 5:43).

Remigius of Auxerre: This is because in all His good actions, He sought not His own glory, but His Father's.

Glossa Ordinaria: And the meaning is, “Blessed”—that is, Glorious—“is He that comes”—that is, is incarnate—“in the name of the Lord”—that is, of the Father, by glorifying Him. Again they repeat, “Hosanna,” that is, “Save, I pray,” and specify where they wish to be saved: “in the highest,” that is, in the heavenly places, not in the earthly ones.³

St. Jerome: Or by the addition of “Hosanna,” that is, Salvation, “in the highest,” it is clearly shown that the coming of Christ is not the salvation of humanity only, but of the whole world, joining earthly things to heavenly things.

Origen of Alexandria: Or when they say, “Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord,” they are setting forth the dispensation of Christ's humanity; but when they say, “Hosanna in the highest,” they are referring to His restoration to the holy places.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: “Hosanna,” some interpret as “glory,” and some as “redemption.” Glory is His due, and redemption belongs to Him who has redeemed all people.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: The words of their song of praise express His power of redemption. In calling Him the Son of David, they acknowledge His hereditary title to the kingdom.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: Never before had the Lord used the service of animals or surrounded Himself with the adornment of green boughs, until now, when He is going up to Jerusalem to suffer. He moved those who watched to do what they had previously desired to do; so it was the opportunity that was now given to them, not a change in their purpose.

St. Jerome: Mystically, the Lord draws near to Jerusalem, departing from Jericho and taking great crowds with Him. Because He is great and laden with great “wares”—that is, the salvation of believers entrusted to Him—He seeks to enter the city of peace, the place of the vision of God. And He comes to Bethphage, that is, “the house of the jawbone,” which also bore the type of confession. He stopped on the Mount of Olives, where there is the light of knowledge and rest from toils and pains. The village “opposite” the Apostles denotes this world, for the world was against the Apostles and was unwilling to receive the light of their teaching.

Remigius of Auxerre: Therefore, the Lord sent His disciples from the Mount of Olives to the village, just as He guided the preachers out from the primitive Church into the world. He sent two because there were two orders of preachers, as the Apostle shows, saying, “For he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised was also at work in me for mine to the Gentiles” (Galatians 2:8); or because there are two precepts of charity; or because there are two testaments; or because there is the letter and the spirit.

St. Jerome: Or, because there is theory and practice, that is, knowledge and works. The ass, which had been under the yoke and was broken in, is understood to be the synagogue. The ass's colt, wild and unbroken, represents the Gentile people, for the Jewish nation is, before God, the mother of the Gentiles.

Rabanus Maurus: For this reason, Matthew, who wrote his Gospel for the Jews, is the only one who mentions that the ass was brought to the Lord, to show that this same Hebrew nation, if it repents, need not despair of salvation.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: People are compared to animals because of the resemblance they bear in their failure to recognize the Son of God. This animal is unclean and, beyond all other beasts, incapable of reasoning—a stupid, helpless, ignoble drudge. Such were people before the coming of Christ: unclean with various passions; unreasoning, that is, lacking the reason of the Word; stupid in their disregard of God; weak in soul; ignoble, because in forgetting their heavenly birth they became slaves to their passions and to demons; and drudges, because they toiled under the load of error laid on them by demons or the Pharisees.

The ass was tied, that is, bound in the chain of diabolical error, so that it did not have the freedom to go where it wished. For before we commit any sin, we have the free will to follow or not follow the will of the Devil. But once we have bound ourselves to do his works by sinning, we are no longer able to escape by our own strength. Like a ship that has lost its rudder and is tossed at the mercy of the storm, so a person, having forfeited the aid of divine grace through sin, no longer acts as he wills, but as the Devil wills. And if God, by the mighty arm of His mercy, does not loose him, he will remain in the chain of his sins until death. Therefore, He says to His disciples, “Untie them,” that is, by your teaching and miracles, for all the Jews and Gentiles were set free by the Apostles, “and bring them to me,” that is, convert them to My glory.

Origen of Alexandria: For this reason also, when He ascended into heaven, He commanded His disciples that they should loose sinners, for which purpose He also gave them the Holy Spirit. But being loosed, making progress, and being nourished by the divinity of the Word, they are considered worthy to be sent back to the place from where they were taken—no longer for their former labors, but to preach the Son of God to them. This is what He signifies when He says, “and straightway he will send them.”

St. Hilary of Poitiers: Or, the ass and the colt show the twofold calling from among the Gentiles. For the Samaritans did serve in a certain manner of obedience, and they are signified by the ass; but the other Gentiles, wild and unbroken, are signified by the colt. Therefore, two are sent to loose those who are bound by the chains of error: Samaria believed through Philip, and Cornelius, as the firstfruits of the Gentiles, was brought to Christ by Peter.

Remigius of Auxerre: But just as it was then said to the Apostles, “If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’” so now it is commanded to preachers that, even if any opposition is made to them, they should not cease to preach.

St. Jerome: The Apostles' clothes, which are laid upon the animals, may be understood either as the teaching of virtues, the discernment of the Scriptures, or the truths of ecclesiastical dogmas. Unless the soul is furnished and instructed with these, it does not deserve to have the Lord take His seat there.

Remigius of Auxerre: The Lord, sitting on the ass, goes toward Jerusalem because, by presiding over the Holy Church or the faithful soul, He both guides it in this life and, after this life, leads it to the sight of the heavenly country. The Apostles and other teachers set their garments on the ass when they gave to the Gentiles the glory they had received from Christ. The crowds spread their garments on the road when those of the circumcision who believed set aside the glory they had from the Law. They cut down branches from the trees because they had heard from the Prophets of the green “Branch” as an emblem of Christ.ⁱ

Alternatively, the crowds who spread their garments on the road are the martyrs who gave their bodies—the clothing of their souls—to martyrdom for Christ. Or, they signify those who subdue their bodies by abstinence. Those who cut down the branches of the trees are those who seek out the sayings and examples of the holy fathers for their own salvation or for that of their children.

St. Jerome: When the text says, “The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed,” it shows that both peoples—those who believed in the Lord before the Gospel and those who believed after the Gospel—praise Jesus with the harmonious voice of confession.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: The former, by prophesying, spoke of Christ who was to come; the latter speak in praise of the coming of Christ, which has now been fulfilled.

St. Jerome: When Jesus entered with the multitudes, the whole city of Jerusalem was moved, wondering at the crowds but not knowing His power.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: They were moved with good reason at the sight of something so amazing. A man was praised as God, but it was God who was praised in the man. I suppose, however, that those who praised Him did not know what they were praising, but the Spirit that suddenly inspired them poured forth the words of truth.

Origen of Alexandria: Moreover, when Jesus entered the true Jerusalem, they cried out, wondering at His heavenly virtues, and said, “Who is this King of glory?” (Psalm 24:8).

St. Jerome: While others were in doubt or inquiring, the common multitude confessed Him: “But the people said, This is Jesus the Prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.” They begin with the lesser so that they may come to the greater. They hail Him as that Prophet whom Moses had said should come like himself,ⁱ which is rightly written in Greek with the testimony of the article, “From Nazareth of Galilee,” [marg. note: ο προφητης] for He had been brought up there, so that the flower of the field might be nourished with the flower of all excellencies.

Rabanus Maurus: It should be noted that His entry into Jerusalem was five days before the Passover. For John relates that six days before the Passover He came to Bethany (John 12:1), and on the next day, sitting on the donkey, entered Jerusalem. In this, observe the correspondence between the Old and New Testaments, not only in events but also in seasons. For on the tenth day of the first month, the lamb that was to be sacrificed for the Passover was to be taken into the house,ⁱ because on the same day of the same month—that is, five days before the Passover—the Lord was to enter the city in which He was to suffer.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: “And Jesus entered into the temple of God.” This was the role of a good Son: to hasten to His Father's house and do Him honor. Therefore, as an imitator of Christ, as soon as you enter any city, first run to the Church.

Furthermore, it was the role of a good physician that, having entered to heal the sick city, he should first apply himself to the source of the sickness. For just as everything good comes out of the temple, so also does every evil. When the priesthood is sound, the whole Church flourishes, but if it is corrupt, faith is impaired. Just as when you see a tree with pale-colored leaves you know that it is diseased at its root, so when you see an undisciplined people, conclude without hesitation that their priesthood is unsound.

St. Jerome: “And he cast out all them that sold and bought.” It should be known that in obedience to the Law, in the Temple of the Lord—venerated throughout the whole world and visited by Jews from every quarter—innumerable victims were sacrificed, especially on festival days: bulls, rams, and goats. The poor offered young pigeons and turtle-doves, so that they might not omit all sacrifice. But it would happen that those who came from a distance would have no victim.

The priests therefore contrived a plan for making a profit from the people, selling to those who had no victim the animals they needed for sacrifice, and then receiving them back again as soon as they were sold. But this fraudulent practice was often defeated by the poverty of the visitors, who, lacking the means, had neither victims nor the money to purchase them. They therefore appointed bankers who could lend to them under a bond. But because the Law forbade usury, and money lent without interest was profitless—and sometimes even resulted in a loss of the principal—they devised another scheme. Instead of bankers they appointed “collybistae,” a word for which Latin has no equivalent.ⁱ

They called sweetmeats and other small gifts “collyba,” such as, for example, parched pulse, raisins, and apples of various sorts. Since they could not take usury, they accepted the value in kind, taking things that are bought with money, as if this was not what Ezekiel preached, saying, “You shall not receive usury nor increase” (Ezekiel 18:17). Seeing this kind of traffic, or rather cheating, in His Father's house, the Lord was moved with spiritual zeal and cast this great multitude of men out of the Temple.

Origen of Alexandria: For because they ought neither to sell nor to buy, but to give their time to prayer while assembled in a house of prayer, it follows, “And he says to them, It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer” (Isaiah 56:7).

St. Augustine of Hippo: Let no one, therefore, do anything in the oratory except that for which it was made and from which it got its name. It follows, “But you have made it a den of thieves.”¹

St. Jerome: For he is indeed a thief, and turns the temple of God into a den of thieves, who makes a profit from his religion. Among all the miracles performed by our Lord, this seems to me the most wonderful: that one man, and He at that time so lowly that He was afterward crucified, was able, by the blows of one scourge, to cast out so great a multitude, even while the Scribes and Pharisees were exasperated against Him, seeing their profits thus cut off. Surely a flame and starry ray darted from His eyes, and the majesty of the Godhead was radiant in His countenance.

St. Augustine of Hippo: It is clear that the Lord did this not once but twice; the first time is told by John, this second occasion by the other three.²

St. John Chrysostom: This aggravates the fault of the Jews, who, after He had done the same thing twice, still persisted in their hardness.³

Origen of Alexandria: Mystically, the Temple of God is the Church of Christ, in which there are many who live not spiritually, as they should, but according to the flesh. By their actions, they make that house of prayer, which is built of living stones, into a den of thieves. But if we must describe more closely the three kinds of men cast out of the Temple, we may say this: Whoever among a Christian people spends their time in nothing else but buying and selling, continuing only a little in prayer or other right actions—these are the buyers and sellers in the Temple of God. Deacons who do not manage well the funds of their Churches, but grow rich from the poor man's portion—these are the money-changers whose tables Christ overturns.

We learn from the Acts of the Apostles that deacons preside over the tables of Church money.ⁱ Bishops who entrust churches to those they should not are the ones who sell the doves—that is, the grace of the Holy Spirit—whose seats Christ overturns.

St. Jerome: But, according to the plain sense, the doves were not in seats but in cages, unless indeed the sellers of the doves were sitting in seats. But that would be absurd, for the seat denotes the dignity of the teacher, which is brought to nothing when it is mixed with covetousness.

Also note that through the avarice of the Priests, the altars of God are called tables of money-changers. What we have said of churches, let each person apply to themselves, for the Apostle says, “You are the temple of God” (2 Corinthians 6:16). Let there not be, therefore, in the abode of your heart the spirit of bargaining or the desire for gifts, lest Jesus, entering in anger and sternness, should purify His temple not without a scourge, so that from a den of thieves He might make it a house of prayer.

Origen of Alexandria: Or, in His second coming, He will cast out and overturn those whom He finds unworthy in God's temple.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: For this reason also He overturns the tables of the money-changers: to signify that in the temple of God there should be no coin except spiritual coin, which bears the image of God, not an earthly image. He overturns the seats of those who sold doves, saying by that deed, “Why are there so many doves for sale in My temple, since that one Dove descended as a free gift upon the temple of My Body?”

What the multitude had proclaimed by their shouts, the Lord shows in deeds. From this it follows, “And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them.”

Origen of Alexandria: For in the temple of God, that is, in the Church, not all have sight, nor do all walk uprightly. Only those who understand that they need Christ and no one else to heal them, by coming to the Word of God, are healed.

Remigius of Auxerre: That they are healed in the Temple signifies that people can only be healed in the Church, to which is given the power of binding and loosing.

St. Jerome: For if He had not overthrown the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold doves, the blind and the lame would not have deserved to have their former sight and power of motion restored to them in the temple.

St. John Chrysostom: But even so, the Chief Priests were not convinced; instead, they were indignant at His miracles and the shouts of the children.

St. Jerome: For, not daring to lay hands on Him, the Priests slandered His works and the testimony of the children who cried, “Hosanna to the Son of David, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord,” as if this could be said only to the Son of God. Let Bishops and all holy men, then, be careful about allowing these things to be said to them, if this is charged as a fault in Him who is truly Lord—to whom this was said because the faith of the believers was not yet confirmed.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: For as a pillar that is a little out of the perpendicular, if more weight is placed on it, is driven to lean still more to one side, so also the heart of man, once it has turned aside, is only stirred to even greater jealousy by seeing or hearing the deeds of a righteous man. In this way the Priests were stirred up against Christ and said, “Do you hear what these say?”

St. Jerome: But the answer of Christ was cautious. He did not say what the Scribes wanted to hear: “The children do well to bear witness to me.” Nor, on the other hand, did He say: “They are doing wrong; they are only children, and you ought to be indulgent to their tender years.” But He brings a quotation from the eighth Psalm (Psalm 8:2), so that though the Lord was silent, the testimony of Scripture might defend the words of the children, as it follows, “But Jesus said to them, ‘Yea, have you never read...’”

Pseudo-Chrysostom: It is as though He had said, “So be it; it is My fault that these cry out this way. But is it My fault that so many thousand years ago the Prophet foretold that it would be so?”

But babes and sucklings cannot know or praise anyone. Therefore they are called babes, not in age, but in guilelessness of heart; they are called sucklings because they cried out, moved by their joy at the wonderful things they saw, as if by the sweetness of milk. Miraculous works are called milk because seeing miracles is no toil, but rather excites wonder and gently invites to the faith. Bread is the doctrine of perfect righteousness, which can only be received by those who have their senses exercised in spiritual things.

St. John Chrysostom: This was at once a type of the Gentiles and a great comfort to the Apostles. So that they would not be perplexed, wondering how they, having no education for the task, should preach the Gospel, these children going before them removed that fear. For He who made these children sing His praises will give speech to the Apostles.

This miracle also shows that Christ was the Framer of nature, seeing that the children spoke things full of meaning and in agreement with the Prophets, whereas the men uttered things that were meaningless and full of frenzy.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: A wicked person is better overcome by yielding to him than by arguing with him, for wickedness is not instructed but stimulated by reproof. The Lord accordingly sought to restrain those whom His words could not by withdrawing Himself, which is why it is said, And He left them, and went out of the city into Bethany.

St. Jerome: From this it is to be understood that the Lord was in such great poverty, and so far from seeking favor from anyone, that in all that city He had found neither a host nor a place to stay. Instead, He made His home in a little village, in the house of Lazarus and his sisters, for their village was Bethany. And it follows, and He lodged there.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: Surely, He sought to lodge in the body where His spirit also rested. For this is the way with all holy people: they love to be not where there are sumptuous banquets, but where holiness flourishes.

St. Jerome: When the darkness of night had lifted and He was returning to the city, the Lord was hungry, thus showing the reality of His human body.

Glossa Ordinaria: By permitting His flesh to suffer what properly belongs to the flesh, He foreshadows His passion. Mark the earnest zeal of the active laborer, who is said to have gone early into the city to preach and to win some for His Father.¹

St. Jerome: As the Lord was about to suffer among the nations and take upon Himself the offense of the Cross, He sought to strengthen the minds of His disciples with a preceding miracle. This is why it follows, And seeing a fig-tree by the wayside, He came to it, and found nothing thereon but leaves only.

St. John Chrysostom: He came not because He was hungry, but for His disciples' sake. Because He always did good and inflicted suffering on no one, it was fitting that He should demonstrate His power to punish; and this He would not use on a person, but on a plant.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: In this we also find proof of the Lord's goodness. When He intended to show an example of the salvation secured through Him, He used His mighty power on people by healing their present sicknesses and encouraging them to hope for the future and to look for the healing of their souls. But now, when He wanted to exhibit a type of His judgment on the rebellious, He represents the future by the destruction of a tree: Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever.

St. Jerome: The phrase "for ever" (in sempiternum), or "to the end of the world" (in saeculum), for the Greek word for "age" signifies both.

St. John Chrysostom: It was only the disciples' assumption that the tree was cursed because it had no fruit, for another Gospel writer says that it was not yet the season. Why then was it cursed? For the disciples' sake, so that they might learn that He had the power to wither those who crucified Him. He worked this miracle on the most succulent of all plants, so that the greatness of the miracle might be more apparent.

When anything of this kind is done to animals or plants, do not ask whether the fig tree was justly withered, since it was not the season for its fruit. To inquire in this way would be extreme madness, for in such creatures there can be neither fault nor punishment. Instead, consider the miracle and admire the One who worked it.

Glossa Ordinaria: The Creator does no wrong to the owner; rather, His creature, at His will, is used for the benefit of others.²

St. John Chrysostom: And so that you may learn that this was done for their sake—namely, to arouse them to confidence—hear what is said next. Jesus answered and said to them, Verily I say unto you, if ye shall have faith.

St. Jerome: The Gentile dogs bark against us, claiming that the Apostles did not have faith because they were not able to remove mountains. To them we answer that many wonders were done by the Lord that are not written. We believe the Apostles also performed unwritten miracles, and these were not recorded so that unbelievers would not have more room for caviling. For let us ask them: Do they believe the miracles that are written, or not? When they look disbelieving, we can establish that those who do not believe the lesser miracles would not have believed the greater ones.

St. John Chrysostom: What the Lord speaks of here He ascribes to prayer and faith, which is why He continues, And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer believing, ye shall receive.

Origen of Alexandria: For Christ's disciples pray for nothing that they should not, and, trusting in their Master, they pray only for great and heavenly things.

Rabanus Maurus: But whenever we are not heard when we pray, it is either because we ask for something contrary to our salvation; or because the perversity of those for whom we ask prevents it from being granted to them; or because the fulfillment of our request is postponed to a future time, so that our desires may grow stronger and thus have a more perfect capacity for the joys they seek.

St. Augustine of Hippo: We must consider that Mark records the disciples' amazement at the withering of the tree, and the Lord's answer concerning faith, as happening not on the day after the tree was cursed, but on the third day. On the second day, Mark relates the casting of the merchants out of the Temple, which he had omitted on the first day. Mark then says that on the second day He went out of the city in the evening, and that as they passed by in the morning, the disciples saw that the fig tree was withered.³

Matthew, however, speaks as though all this happened on the following day. This must be understood to mean that when Matthew, after relating that the fig tree had dried up, immediately adds—omitting all the events of the second day—And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, he still meant that they were amazed on a different day. For the tree must be supposed to have withered at the moment it was cursed, not at the time they saw it. They did not see it in the process of withering, but only after it was already withered. From this, they understood that it had withered immediately upon the Lord's words.

Origen of Alexandria: Mystically, the Lord, leaving the Chief Priests and Scribes, withdrew outside the earthly Jerusalem, which therefore fell. He came to Bethany, "the house of obedience"—that is, to the Church. After He had rested there following the initial establishment of the Church, He returned to the city He had left a short while before, and upon returning, He was hungry.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: For if His hunger had been a human hunger for physical food, He would not have been hungry in the morning. The one who truly hungers in the morning is the one who hungers for the salvation of others.

St. Jerome: We understand the tree He saw by the wayside to be the synagogue. It was near the way because it had the Law, but it did not believe in the Way—that is, in Christ.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: And it is compared to a fig tree because the Apostles, being the first believers from Israel, will, like green figs, precede the rest in the glory and the time of their resurrection.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: Also, because of the multitude of seeds under one skin, the fig is like an assembly of the faithful. But He finds nothing on it but leaves only—that is, pharisaical traditions, an outward show of the Law without the fruits of truth.

Origen of Alexandria: And because this plant was figuratively a living creature with a soul, He speaks to it as though it could hear: Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. Therefore, the Jewish synagogue is barren and will continue to be so until the end of the world, when the fullness of the Gentiles comes in. The fig tree withered while Christ was still living on this earth. The disciples, seeing the mystery of this withered faith with their spiritual discernment, were amazed. Having faith and not doubting, they bring this about, and so the synagogue withers when their life-giving power passes to the Gentiles. And by each person who is brought to the faith, that mountain, Satan, is lifted up and cast into the sea—that is, into the abyss.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: Or, "into the sea" means into the world, where the waters are salty—that is, the people are wicked.

Rabanus Maurus: And he (Satan) avenges his exclusion from the elect by treating the reprobate more cruelly.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Or, this is to be said by each servant of God in his own life concerning the mountain of pride, to cast it from himself. Or, because the Gospel was preached by Jews, the Lord Himself, who is called the mountain, is cast by the Jews among the Gentiles as into a sea.⁴

Origen of Alexandria: For every person who is obedient to the word of God is Bethany, and Christ abides in them; but He leaves the wicked and the sinners. And when He has been with the righteous, He goes to other righteous people after them, accompanied by them, for it is not said that He left Bethany and went into the city. The Lord is always hungry among the righteous, desiring to eat the fruit of the Holy Spirit among them, which are love, joy, and peace. But this fig tree, which had only leaves without fruit, grew by the wayside.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: That is, near to the world; for if a person lives near to the world, they cannot preserve the fruit of righteousness within themselves.

Origen of Alexandria: But if the Lord comes seeking fruit through temptations, and a person is found having nothing of righteousness but only a profession of faith—which is leaves without fruit—they are soon withered, losing even their seeming faith. Every disciple makes this fig tree wither by revealing that it is void of Christ, as Peter said to Simon, Thy heart is not right in the sight of God (Acts 8:21).

For it is better that a deceitful fig tree, which is thought to be alive yet bears no fruit, should be withered by the word of Christ's disciples, than that it should steal away innocent hearts through deception. Also, in every unbeliever there is a mountain as great as their unbelief, which is removed by the words of Christ's disciples.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: The priests were tormented with jealousy because they had seen Christ entering the Temple in great glory. Unable to master the fire of jealousy burning in their hearts, they broke out in speech.

St. John Chrysostom: Since they could not discredit His miracles, they found reason to blame Him for forbidding the selling of goods in the Temple. It was as if they had said, "Have you assumed the seat of authority? Have you been anointed Priest, that you exert this power?"

Pseudo-Chrysostom: When they add, "Or who gave you this authority?" they show that there are many sources of power for men, whether physical or spiritual. It was as if they had said, "You have not come from a priestly family; the Senate has not conferred this power on you, nor has Caesar granted it." But if they had believed that all power is from God, they would never have asked, "Who gave you this authority?" For every man judges others by himself. The fornicator thinks that none are chaste; the chaste does not readily suspect anyone of fornication; he who is not a priest of God thinks no man's priesthood comes from God.

St. Jerome: In these words they raise the same objection as before, when they said, "He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the prince of demons" (Matthew 12:24). For when they say, "By what authority do you do these things?" they are doubting God's power and implying that the things He does are from the devil. But when they add, "Who gave you this authority?" they most clearly deny the Son of God, whom they suppose works miracles not by His own strength, but by another's.

The Lord could have refuted the slander of His tempters with a simple answer, but He asked them a question so skillfully devised that they would be condemned either by their silence or by their answer. Jesus answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one question."

Pseudo-Chrysostom: He did not ask this so that they would answer it and then hear Christ's answer to their own question, but so that, being puzzled, they would question Him no further. This was according to the precept He had given earlier, "Do not give what is holy to the dogs" (Matthew 7:6). For even if He had told them, it would have accomplished nothing, because the darkened will cannot perceive the things of the light. We ought to instruct one who inquires, but we should overthrow one who tests us with a stroke of reason, not reveal the power of the mystery to him.

The Lord thus presents them with a dilemma in His question. So that they could not evade Him, He says, "If you tell me, I in turn will tell you by what authority I do these things." His question is this: "The baptism of John—where did it come from? From heaven, or from men?"

St. Augustine of Hippo: John received his authority to baptize from Him, whom he afterwards baptized; and that baptism which was committed to him is here called the baptism of John. He alone received such a gift; no righteous man before or after him was entrusted with a baptism to be named after himself. For John came to baptize with the water of repentance to prepare the way for the Lord, not to give the inward cleansing that mere man cannot perform. ¹

St. Jerome: The malicious thoughts of the priests are shown when he adds, "But they reasoned with themselves." For if they had replied that it was from heaven, the question was inevitable: "Why then were you not baptized by John?" But if they replied that it was a human invention with nothing divine in it, they feared a riot among the people, for all the assembled crowds had received John's baptism and therefore considered him a prophet.

This godless party therefore answers, and with a false humility, they confess their ignorance to hide their treacherous intentions. They answered Jesus and said, "We do not know." In saying they did not know, they lied. It might have followed that the Lord would also say, "I do not know," but truth cannot lie, and therefore it follows, "And He said to them, 'Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.'"

This shows that they knew the answer but would not give it, and that He also knew but would not answer them, because they refused to speak what they knew.

Origen of Alexandria: But someone will object to this, saying that it was absurd to ask by what authority Jesus did these things. For He could not answer that He did them by the devil's authority, and He would not tell them the truth—that He did them by His own power. If it is said that the rulers asked this question to deter Him from His actions—just as we might say to someone handling our property in a way we dislike, "Who told you to do that?" meaning to stop him—if we take it this way, what does Christ's answer mean: "You tell me this, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things"?

Perhaps, therefore, the passage should be understood as follows. Generally, there are two opposing powers: one on the side of God and the other on the side of the devil. But there are many particular powers, for it was not one and the same power that worked in all the prophets to enable them to do miracles, but one power in some and another in others; perhaps a lesser power for lesser things, and a greater power for greater things. The chief priests had seen Jesus perform many miracles, and so they wanted to know the specific degree and character of the power that worked in Him. For others who have performed miracles did so at first with one power, and later, when more advanced, with another, greater power; but the Savior performed everything with one power: the one He received from the Father. But because they were not worthy to hear such mysteries, He gave them no answer; instead, He asked them a question.

Rabanus Maurus: There are two reasons why the knowledge of truth should be withheld from those who ask: either when the one asking is unfit to receive it, or when, because of his hatred or contempt for the truth, he is unworthy to have his question answered.

St. Jerome: With this preface, the Lord brings forward a parable to convict them of their impiety and show them that the kingdom of God would be transferred to the Gentiles.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: He appeals to those who are to be judged in this cause to be the judges themselves, so that by condemning themselves, they might be shown to be unworthy of being acquitted by any other. It shows great confidence in the justice of a cause to entrust it to an adversary's decision. But He veils the reference to them in a parable so they would not perceive that they were passing sentence on themselves: "A certain man had two sons."

Who is this but God, who created all men? Though by nature Lord of all, He would rather be loved as a father than feared as a Lord. The elder son was the Gentile people and the younger was the Jews, since Gentiles had existed from the time of Noah. And he came to the first and said, "Son, go work today in my vineyard." "Today" means during this present age. He spoke to him not face to face as a man, but to his heart as God, instilling understanding through the senses. To work in the vineyard is to do what is righteous. As for cultivating the whole of it, I do not know if any one person is sufficient.

St. Jerome: He speaks to the Gentile people first, through their knowledge of the law of nature: "Go and work in my vineyard;" that is, "What you would not have done to you, do not do to others" (Tobit 4:15). He answers haughtily, "I will not."

Pseudo-Chrysostom: For the Gentiles, from the beginning, left God and his righteousness and went over to idols and sins. They seem to answer in their thoughts, "We will not do the righteousness of God."

St. Jerome: But when, at the coming of the Savior, the Gentile people repented and labored in God's vineyard, they atoned by their labor for the stubbornness of their refusal. This is what is meant by, "But afterward he repented and went." The second son is the Jewish people who answered Moses, "All that the Lord has said to us we will do" (Exodus 24:3).

Pseudo-Chrysostom: But afterward, turning their backs, they lied to God, according to the verse in the Psalms, "The sons of the strangers have lied unto me" (Psalm 18:44). This is what is said: "But he went not." The Lord accordingly asks, "Which of the two did the will of his father?" They say to him, "The first."

See how they have passed sentence on themselves, saying that the elder son, that is, the Gentile people, did the will of his father. For it is better not to promise righteousness before God and to do it, than to promise and to fail.

Origen of Alexandria: From this we may gather that in this parable the Lord spoke to those who promise little or nothing, but whose works shine forth, and against those who promise great things but do none of the things they have promised.

St. Jerome: It should be known that in the correct copies it is read not "The last," but "The first," so that they might be condemned by their own sentence. But if we prefer to read "The last," as some copies have it, the explanation is obvious: that the Jews understood the truth but concealed it, and would not say what they thought, just as, although they knew John's baptism was from heaven, they would not say so.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: The Lord abundantly confirms their decision, whence it follows, "Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you, that the tax collectors and the harlots will go into the kingdom of God before you." This is as if to say, "Not only are the Gentiles before you, but even the tax collectors and the harlots."

Rabanus Maurus: Yet the kingdom of God may be understood to refer to the Gentiles, or to the present Church, in which the Gentiles go before the Jews because they were more ready to believe.

Origen of Alexandria: Nevertheless, the Jews are not shut out from ever entering the kingdom of God; but, "when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, then all Israel will be saved."

Pseudo-Chrysostom: I suppose that the "tax collectors" here represent all sinful men, and "the harlots" all sinful women, because avarice is the most prevailing vice found among men, and fornication among women. A woman's life is passed in idleness and seclusion, which are great temptations to that sin.

A man, on the other hand, is constantly occupied in various active duties and so falls readily into the snare of covetousness, but not so commonly into fornication. The anxieties of manly cares tend to preclude thoughts of pleasure, which more often engage the young and idle.

Then follows the reason for what He had said: "For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him."

Rabanus Maurus: John came preaching the way of righteousness because he pointed to Christ, who is the fulfillment of the Law.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: Or, it is because his venerable conduct struck the hearts of sinners, as it follows, "But the tax collectors and the harlots believed him." Notice how the good life of the preacher gives force to his preaching, so that it subdues unsubdued hearts. "And you, when you saw it, did not afterward repent and believe him." This is as if to say, "They have done the greater thing by believing him, while you have not even repented, which is the lesser thing."

But in this interpretation, which we have set forth according to the thinking of many interpreters, something seems inconsistent to me. For if the two sons are to be understood as the Jews and Gentiles, then as soon as the priests had answered that the first son did his father's will, Christ should have concluded His parable with these words: "Truly I say to you, that the Gentiles will go into the kingdom of God before you." But He says, "The tax collectors and the harlots," a class belonging more to the Jews than to the Gentiles. Unless this is to be taken as was said above: "The Gentile people please God so much more than you, that even the tax collectors and harlots are more acceptable to Him than you are."

St. Jerome: For this reason, others think that the parable does not relate to Gentiles and Jews, but simply to the righteous and to sinners. The latter, by their evil deeds, had rejected God's service, but afterward received the baptism of repentance from John. Meanwhile, the Pharisees, who made a show of righteousness and boasted that they kept the law of God, despised John's baptism and did not follow his teachings.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: He brings this in because the priests had asked not to learn, but to test Him. But many of the common people had believed, and for that reason He brings forward the parable of the two sons, showing them in it that the common people, who from the beginning professed secular lives, were better than the priests, who from the beginning professed the service of God.

This is because the people at last turned to God in repentance, but the priests, being unrepentant, never stopped sinning against God. And the elder son represents the people, because the people do not exist for the sake of the priests, but the priests exist for the sake of the people.