And he cleanses, he says, his life on earth (Ibid). He added well, on earth; because unless he is cleansed here, he cannot be clean there. Or certainly in this way: Let him cleanse on earth. For how can someone be clean in mud; when the earth smears him? Therefore, the hand of the Lord is necessary, who made the body out of earth; so that she may deign to cleanse herself.
(Ver. 3.) And he shall not deliver him into the hands of his enemy. Who is the enemy, if not that lion who goes about roaring, seeking whom he may devour? Others have it in Greek: And he shall not deliver him to the souls of his enemies. Souls are put for hands, because the souls of enemies lie in wait for the good things of the soul, and endeavor to overthrow the just with their devices. They are also called souls for men. All the souls seventy, which went down into Egypt (Gen. 46:27). Therefore, David chose to entrust himself to the power of God rather than the snares of his enemies, who were ignorant of sparing him of their own accord.
(Verse 4.) It follows: May the Lord bring aid to him upon the bed of his suffering: you have turned all his bed in his sickness. What is the bed of suffering, if not the flesh of infirmity? And it is well called the bed of suffering, because it is the body of death, from which the Apostle begs to be liberated (Rom. VII, 24); so that he may be able to rise up as from a certain tomb, in which the sick soul lays, and as if lying down in a bed. Symmachus called it bed of misery, Aquila called it bed of misery: the Seventy translators thought it should be called bed of suffering more explicitly. Therefore, these verses should be used among those who are held back by the infirmity of the body, so that they may have the medicine of God by which they may deserve to be healed. Therefore, the bed of the soul is weak flesh, for which our soul sympathizes with its illness. If it has the Lord as its helper, it says to him: Rise, take up your bed, and go to your house (Luke 5:24). Strengthened by the word of God, the sick person rises and takes up the bed on which they were lying, and returns to their former state of health. This is to return home, in order to live in a residence of robust health. The one who lives governs: the one who governs has the favor of virtue supporting him. But the Lord also turns every bed in the weakness of the sick person, to whom he deigns to be present. What is turned, changes its state, either from health to sickness, or from sickness to health. Therefore, the one who is ill turns himself towards the remedy of health.
Thus, therefore, the Lord Jesus, although he was wounded for our sins, yet he did not remain in that weakness; but he turned himself for the better for the salvation of all. Therefore, weakness was dissolved by passion, death by resurrection. Just as he turned himself for the redemption of peoples, and did not feel the sting of death or the weakness of wounds: so he who believes in him, even if seriously ill, in order to free from death, turns to life. Therefore he assumed the weakness of all humanity in his own weakness. For he took on the weaknesses of all in his flesh, he raised himself on the cross, and he turned the weaknesses of all in the weakness of his own body. Hence Isaiah says: By his bruising we are healed (Isaiah 53:5). Wrestlers have this skill, to submit themselves to those they engage and wrestle with, so that they may appear to be able to be overcome; and suddenly when they are considered to be conquered, they throw them down, and with a certain skill they maneuver themselves to pour out over their opponent. The one who was carried falls, and he who was carrying, is found to be superior, so that he may lay low the pressing one. Therefore, in the spiritual arena, the Lord Jesus, taking up our burdens, subjected himself in that encounter of his passion. And in the appearance of weakness, so that the adversary would judge him to be an equal to other men, whom he could easily overcome, he laid aside the weapons of divinity and assumed the cover of humanity. The tempter approached, confident in victory: he wanted to wound him with a soldier's spear in his side, considering that he could be overthrown through his side, just like Adam. But the Lord Jesus, wounded in the side, brought forth life from the wound, abolished all sin, cast down the adversary, from whom he snatched the death of the robber; and in that death, in the burial of his own body, when he was considered oppressed, he triumphed by his own power: the adversary fell, the Lord arose.
(Verse 5.) It follows: I said: Lord, have mercy on me: heal my soul, for I have sinned against you. This can be said from the perspective of King David, who, seeing in the spirit such great victory and grace of Christ, asks that in that remission of all sins he may also have mercy on himself; for even though he is bound by human laws as a king, he knows himself to be subject to God for his sins. Therefore, he confesses his sin; so that he may receive forgiveness and find the gift of general indulgence. It can also be expressed from the perspective of the Savior, who asks for God's mercy for us and said that he had sinned because he became sin for us. At the same time, he teaches us that when we are engaged in a struggle against the enemies of God, we should implore God's help: we should confess our sins, and especially when we are pressed and wearied, when we prostrate ourselves with pain and bitterness, so that we may not be seen to be silent; so that the remedy may be quickly applied to our wounds and that we may resist the adversary when healed. How can a wounded person engage in combat? From where do we learn that we are wounded by the thorns of our sins? The wound seeks a physician, and the physician demands confession.
(Verse 6.) Here the Savior begins to reveal more and more the mystery of his passion, which is without a doubt in agreement with the Gospel. For the Jews cursed him, sought his death, plotted against him, and were unable to bear the ever-increasing glory of his works. Therefore, this prophecy announces what was fulfilled in the Gospel: 'My enemies have spoken evil against me: When will he die, and his name perish?' Those who believed that the author of life could die were foolish: but their prayers were destroyed by the Church, believing that even after death, according to the condition of the body, his name would increase; and therefore it sang to Him, saying: I will remember Your name in every generation and generation (Psalm 44:18). It repeated: Your name is poured out like ointment (Song of Songs 1:3). Those who presume that you can die will die: I will not die, for I know you to be the judge of life, the author of salvation. For we know that at the time of his passion and resurrection, the disciples were gathered together in prayer; when Mary Magdalene announced to them that the Lord had risen, and when the Lord appeared to them in his resurrected body, even though the door was locked, when Thomas saw his wounds and believed. Therefore, the Jews were insulting him as if he were dead, but the Lord revealed himself to the apostles as being alive. So when the Jews were saying, 'Look, the whole world has gone after him' (John 12:19), when they were saying that he was misleading the people with his miracles, what else were they saying except, 'When will he die, and his name will perish?' And so in his passion they cried out: Take him away, take him away from the earth: crucify him, crucify him (John 19:15). What they asked for happened, he was lifted up from the earth, he rose again, ascended into heaven, and restored his kingdom over us from the seats of paradise.
(Verse 7.) The prophecy concerning the clear traitor Judas is hidden in these verses that follow: And he went out to see, speaking in vain: his heart gathered iniquity to itself. He went out and spoke. Thus it is distinguished in Greek codices. Therefore, Judas went in seeking to betray the Savior, to see what he was doing, or what he was saying; so that he could capture Him in speech and report to the Jews. But he found nothing, for he understood nothing. Scripture says well that when someone departs from Jesus' teaching and abandons his instructions, he is not within with Jesus. He desired to enter, but he could not penetrate because his own treachery excluded him. For every unchaste person, or greedy person, or impure person (which is idolatry), does not inherit the kingdom of Christ and God. Therefore, not only was he attempting to enter and not entering, but he also desired to see and did not see. Finally, Jesus spoke in parables, but Judas did not listen. Finally, he did not see the divine mysteries; for not everyone hears the word of God, even though they appear to hear it. For if everyone heard, Jesus would not say: He who has ears to hear, let him hear (Luke VIII, 8). And because he did not listen, he could not see, and he spoke false things instead of true things, and he thought that he deceived Jesus by saying: This could have been sold, and given to the poor (Matthew XXVI, 9); when he provided for his own thefts, not for the poor, calling Jesus 'rabbi'. For how was he calling the teacher by whose instruction he was going astray; and whose heart (into which the devil had submerged himself) he was gathering to himself and increasing iniquities? For he was unrighteous to himself, unjust to himself, he was sinning against himself, who was plotting deceit within himself, who could not hide. For Jesus was not going around in circles, who was willingly being betrayed and was testifying: One of you will betray me (John 13:21). Finally, Judas confessed, saying: Am I the one, Rabbi? And the Lord said: You have said it (Matthew 26:25). And Judas did not understand it in such a way that he would be recognized. For if he had understood, he would not have betrayed.
But nevertheless, he went out and spoke. A suitable verse against those who betray someone's secret. He said beautifully: He went out; for outside are wolves, outside are thieves: inside Moses in the cloud with Jesus, outside are the Jews: inside Zacharias the priest in the temple, outside is the multitude: inside the Holy Spirit in our hearts cries out to the Father, outside our adversary prowls like a lion for plunder: outside are unbelievers, inside are believers. And so God will judge those who are outside, but Christ absolves those who are inside. Therefore, Judas went out and spoke. He went out from faith, he went out from the council and number of the apostles; he went out from the banquet of Christ to the robbery of the devil; he went out from the grace of sanctification to the snare of death, he who spoke empty words to the faithless; he went out, leaving behind the mysteries of internal life; he went out, not knowing the inner teachings of Scripture. For if he had known, he would have understood the saying: Does a sleeper not add that he may rise? He would have also understood this: But you, a man of one mind, my guide and my familiar, who always took sweet foods with me, we walked in the house of the Lord with consent (Psalm 54:14-15). Therefore, he did not understand this psalm, the 118th, nor others, nor other testimonies of the Scriptures. About whom John, the good Evangelist, says, and to the rest of the unbelievers: They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have remained with us. (1 John 2:19).
(Verse 8.) Therefore, the traitor did not remain with the apostles, who went out and whispered with the unfaithful. The divine Scripture uses this word, showing that perfidy is without authority, as it fears what it speaks and is detected. But to the faithful it is said: 'Lift up your voice with strength' (Isaiah 58:1). Behold, in this is Judas the apostle fallen, who was sent to preach the faith to the nations with a full proclamation of authority, so that he whispered to the plotters of his master, which he feared would be heard. Did he not condemn himself by his own judgment? But he was ashamed to be heard because he did not fear to do it: he was ashamed; because he was considering evils against the author of his life, sanctification, and honor: nor did he repay grace with kindness, but he attributed evil to his benefactor for his goods; which even worldly men are accustomed to condemn: he was ashamed to be found ungrateful, he was ashamed to be seen as greedy; when he sacrificed his own salvation for money: he was ashamed to be seen as treacherous. Similarly, the Jews who opposed the master of faith were suborning false witnesses, so that they would say that he had preached that the temple of God, which Solomon built, should be destroyed; when he had actually meant the temple of his own body: 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up' (John 2:19); truly, those who were excluded from the knowledge of the celestial Word were outside.
(Verse 9.) They have set forth a wicked word against me; that is, unlawful, and contrary to law and divine right, they have proposed speech, making agreements with me about human blood, which Judas most wickedly sold: the Jews also believed that it should be bought with no less wickedness, vain men; as if to one who is sleeping, he says, it does not add that he may rise (Ibid.). Let us consider what adjection is.
It is natural for all earthly living creatures, both birds of the sky and fish of the sea, to be born and to die. But to man, whom God has made more precious than the other creatures of the earth, He has bestowed this special grace, that he may revive after death. This addition, therefore, is said for the renewal of a higher life. Finally, when the Lord had commanded Hezekiah the king, after telling him that his time of life was fulfilled, and had ordered him through Isaiah to arrange his house because he was going to die, and Hezekiah had prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly, the Lord, moved by pity, commanded him: 'Behold, I will add fifteen years to your time' (Isaiah 38:5). And elsewhere, Saint David says: \"You will add days upon days to the king's years\" (Psalm 60:7). Therefore, it is found that something can be added to man, but nothing can be added to God. For it is written: \"There is no adding or subtracting, in which all things are perfect and complete\" (Sirach 28:5). Even though Christ rose from the dead, certainly in what He assumed, He rose, in which nothing could be taken away or added to the fullness of His divinity. For God is incorporeal and immortal, whose supreme nature and plenitude of virtues is signified without any addition of flesh. But the flesh is part of the dispensation in Christ, which he took on with the title of mercy and the right of piety, in order to redeem the captive, cleanse the contaminated, and resurrect the dead. And it is rightly said: Can one who sleeps not add that he may rise again? He did not say, he does not add; but, he will not add that he may rise again; because he, as the Son of God, resurrected himself; as we have said above that he said to the Jews: Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up (John 2:19). The flesh received the assumption, as if taken from man, received from the Virgin: but as if God himself worked the assumption, who rose by his own power; so that he might be the operator of his own resurrection. But in order that you may understand that both the Father and the Son, and the Son himself, have risen, acknowledge that operation to have been of divine power; because the power of the Father and Son is one, and their operation is common; since the substance of the Trinity is one and the same.
(Verse 10.) But why do I accuse others (says the Lord Jesus)? What is so surprising if the people did not recognize me and condemned me to the cross, when my apostle demanded the reward for betraying me, when my companion sold my death? Indeed, the man of my peace, in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has greatly exceeded me in treachery. Some think that Judas should be excused because he returned the money he received as payment for betraying me, but behold, beyond the condemnation of the Jews' unfaithfulness; for to whom more is given, more is required of him. What, he says, should I complain about others? The man of my peace, to whom I had given my peace, wanted to leave my peace, when he had handed me over to my persecutors and deceived me, in whom I had hoped. Did he not know that a traitor would arise, about whom he had previously said: 'One of you will betray me' (John 13:21)? (He said this about Judas, as it is written in the Gospel.) Of course he knew; but he said that he had hoped for a greater condemnation of him because of his faith. The eagle, relying on me, said: Symmachus placed; I trusted. For we weigh more heavily on the one in whom we say we have placed the most hope or trust; if afterwards he disappoints our hope and opinion.
At the same time, it shows the extent of divine sanctification, which excludes evil and corrects corrupted nature, if a better plan is implemented. How many conversions do we know of? Zacchaeus, the tax collector, was transformed and turned away from his greedy pursuits. Afterward, he repaid his past errors fourfold, condemned his own greed, renounced his former profits, and compensated the poor if the tax collector was lacking. The thief himself changed his wickedness for a better purpose, he recognized Christ on the cross, confessed him as the Son of God, and proclaimed him king with his own voice. At that time, many of the righteous were wavering, and the apostles certainly hid themselves; even the executioner, the centurion, did not deny. What about the time of the Gospel? Rahab was a prostitute, who sustained herself through treachery and indulgence; yet when she saw the spies that Jesus had sent, she embraced faith; and in the face of impending danger, she preserved righteousness; she did not betray those received, but protected them with faithful kindness. Therefore, he says that he hoped as if he had presumed by right that, if the apostle had set aside higher things, he would pursue better things. And he, who had received the task of sanctifying others, should himself keep the grace of sanctity, and adhere to the duties of sincerity. 'Well,' he says, 'I have hoped, because God has given man the power of choice to follow what he wishes. I have placed before you good and evil. If you choose evil, it is not nature that is at fault, but the inclination of the one who chooses.' If everyone is condemned who has chosen evil, what shall we say about Judas, who betrayed the one with whom he was enjoying a delightful meal?
He who ate, he said, has enlarged supplantation above me. What is it that he added, my breads? He could have said: He who ate with me; unless you understand that which is special to Christ, that is, the heavenly food of the Word; for man does not live by bread alone, but by every word of God (Matthew 4:4). In another place he says: You always took sweet food with me (Psalm 54:15). We use these verses well against those who believe they must be killed, with whom they seem to have feasted. The Gentiles are said to guard this, usually their enemies, even thieves; so that they spare those with whom they remember having shared a meal: even wild animals themselves become tame through the companionship of fodder. Therefore, because of this kind of affection of conviviality, if we consider the words, he did not speak of sweet food in vain. For how can sweet foods be sweet if they quickly spoil? But see that he did not speak the words of life as sweet foods. For no bitterness corrupts these foods, no taint of death contaminates them. And so he always said. For no one could always eat. However, we can always abide by the word of God, both by night and by day, if we meditate on the law of God day and night.
What is also, ampliavit? The Greek word ἐμεγάλυνεν means, to magnify. Both were explained to us by the Lord, which could move us, saying in the Gospel: 'He who eats bread with me, has lifted up his heel against me' (John 13:18). Let us consider from where this discourse was taken. 'We were,' he says, 'unbelieving, wandering, serving desires and pleasures' (Titus 3:3). Let us admit our error, that we may be washed away. And I saw a young boy, when he had thrown down his opponent, strike him in the forehead with his heel: which was a sign because he insulted the defeated. This is what he says: He magnified the deceit against me; by this word he declared the boasting of the one insulting. Therefore, Judas also lifted his heel against Christ when he betrayed him; but he did not lift it with impunity. Yet Adam still lifts his heel, which was wounded by the serpent. And certainly Christ washed his feet. He had heard him say: The one who is bathed does not need anything except to wash his feet; but he is completely clean (John 13:10). But what grace had cleansed, treachery had defiled. Judas, therefore, lifted his heel to wound. Truly, he did not hold his head who lifted his heel upon Christ. Adam lifted himself up, this one upon Christ; and therefore the serpent wounded him more grievously than the others. He lifted his heel, who extended a deceitful kiss, with which he intended to overthrow the author; and therefore it is written in the Prophet: He has magnified a cunning device against me. Esau also said about his brother: He has tricked me twice (Gen. XXVII, 36). The one who tricks, commits deceit, in order to elude or wound his opponent. Therefore, Judas is also said to have tricked; because he inflicted a wound with his kiss, which served as a sign to the persecutors of the Savior's betrayal. He tricked, therefore, like a serpent; because a serpent injects venom with its mouth, and wounds with its fangs on the heel. And indeed, he wounded not the divinity of Christ, but the furthest part of his body, the heel. Judas also lifted up his heel like an insolent and proud wrestler, intending to strike the head of the Savior: but he could not strike the head of Christ, because the head of Christ is God. He indeed bound his own head with the twisted knot of a shameful noose, in order to deprive himself of the remedy of salvation.
See if you can fit that which the holy patriarch Jacob said in Genesis when he prophesied about his sons: 'Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel; let Dan be a serpent by the roadside, a viper along the path, that bites the horse's heels so that its rider falls backward; let Dan hope for salvation from the LORD.' (Gen. XLIX, 16 et 17). We do indeed read that Samson from the tribe of Dan was a judge in Israel (Judges XIII, 25), but another one is signified here, who will arise from that tribe and afflict the people with punishments for their sacrilegious impiety. That Antichrist, who will sit in the temple as if he were God, truly has a judgment that has an interpretation; for Dan signifies judgment. And he said well, because he will judge his people, who will be subject to eternal punishment; for he who does not believe is already judged: but he who believes will not be judged; because he believes in the Son of God as the redeemer of his soul. And therefore, as a book of judgment says: He who judges me is the Lord (1 Corinthians 4:4). Therefore, he will judge the people of impiety, not the common people; for it is those who fall into the ruin of treachery that are judged, not those who rise in the freedom of faith.
Therefore, he will sit in the road and lie in wait on the path like a serpent; to wound those who pass by, and bite at our heels; for he cannot wound the soul of the faithful. On which road will he sit, and on which path; except those whom Christ the Lord, as we read, called the people of the nations to his supper saying: Go out into the roads and along the hedges, and compel them to enter; so that my house may be filled (Luke 14:23). And since it is read that Judas also surpassed Christ in deception, it seems that in this place he himself is marked, as having bitten the heel of the horse on which Christ the Lord was riding. Hence it is said: Your horses will be swift (Hab. 3:8); that is, his flesh was going to bear the sin of the whole world, so that salvation would succeed destruction, and eternal life would succeed death. Therefore, the horse alone, which took on the sins of the whole world and carried our burdens and was not weary, was wounded. The horse was wounded, which did not know how to incline to the fury of lust. And therefore, perhaps to John the Evangelist, heaven was opened, and a white horse appeared, on which sat one with diadems on his head, and on his thigh was written a name: King of kings, and Lord of lords (Rev. 19:16). It was white because it was immaculate, having known no stains of sin. For if lust is dark, sanctity shines and sparkles brightly. Thus, this horse is wounded, but not hindered. Finally, having risen from the tomb with the very wound, he ran to heaven above all angels and archangels, faster than all the heavenly host, found above even the fiery horses on which Elijah was taken up. And rightly faster, who ascended above all heavens, and above the heaven of heavens to the seat of almighty God, and sits; as Scripture teaches us, saying: You shall see the Son of man seated at the right hand of power (Mark XIV, 62).
This is the horse that was shown in the likeness and presence of Machabees, which the leader of that celestial militia sat upon, shining with golden armor. He looted from Heliodorus, the plunderer of the widow's possessions, all the sacred treasures entrusted to his care, and he struck him down and defeated him, and afterwards, at the entreaties of Onias the priest, he restored them for vital use. Truly, in him the golden weapons gleamed, because he alone sat on this horse and conquered, in which no one innocent of wrongdoing escaped. Not Enoch, who was taken, so that wickedness might not change his heart: not Abraham, not Isaac, not Jacob, not Moses. For all were under sin, all were under death. Finally, death reigned from Adam to Moses. He alone is the one who did not sin: he alone is Christ who took away the sin of the world, who said to death: Where is your victory, death? Where is your sting? (I Cor. XV, 55)?
How then did Judas magnify his treachery, and the knight fell backwards? What he did to Judas, he did deceitfully; what he did to Christ, he willingly suffered. Often we see the stronger one wanting to strike; so that when he is provoked more sharply, he rises up more vehemently. Therefore, the serpent bit the horse's heel, and vomited the venom of its deceit: the knight willingly threw himself down, willingly fell; so that he could lift us up. But what does Scripture say: And the knight shall fall backwards (Gen. XLIX, 17) ? Why backwards, except to rule those following behind? Peter was going backwards, to whom he said: Go behind me (Mark 8:33). The apostles and other disciples were behind. Therefore, he fell backwards; because he saves those upon whom he falls. For everyone who falls upon this stone, he says, will be broken: but upon whomsoever he shall fall, he will cleanse him (Luke 20:18). Others have, he will winnow him; others, he will crush. For he who winnows the fruit, cleanses it from chaff; he who crushes something, reduces it to dust; so that the softness of the dust, either by a salutary cup or by any other use of medicine, may profit without any disturbance. Hence we conclude that caution must be exercised, so that anyone who has once been received through baptism by Christ may not separate himself from His body, that is, be expelled from the Church; for it is the ruin of eternal death. But the one who comes to believe in Christ, let him find his death, let his cross bear him, let the nail pierce him, let his blood be shed, let his burial cover him, let the grace of the resurrection raise him up, awaken him from sleep, vivify him from death: I say, let him be freed from the world, cleansed from sin, healed from wounds, softened from the hardness of impiety, melted into the meekness of piety, so that with a circumcised heart, he may receive that uncircumscribed and incomprehensible spirit, drink the cup of eternal salvation. The knight fell backward.
Receive and another thing, why did he fall backwards and not forward? After him everyone, no one before him. He fell therefore not for himself, but for everyone; so that by falling he might soften the hardness of our hearts. He fell upon Adam, whom he was seeking to find. He sought him in the past; so that the good shepherd could place him on his shoulders, and in his redemption carry him with himself to paradise.
But perhaps you will say: Even the persecutors fell backward. For it is written (John 18:6) that the chief priests, whom the traitor Judas had brought, and the others who had come to arrest the Lord Jesus, went backward and fell to the ground. This is what I also say, because He wanted to fall upon sinners, not upon the righteous; for the righteous do not need a physician, but sinners do. If the shadow of the apostles healed, how much more does the flesh of Christ, when it touches, defend from death! Finally, he touched the leper and cleansed him immediately. So that you may know, whoever is reading, that he wanted to save even his persecutors, interrogate the witness of Christ. For when Peter accused the Jews of killing the Prince of Life, he showed them the remedy: that they should repent, have their sins forgiven, and deserve mercy. Why do you doubt that he fell in order to be resurrected, when he himself said, 'I will strike and heal' (Deuteronomy 32:39)? However, pay attention to the difference in wording. In Genesis it is said: The horseman shall fall backward, awaiting salvation from the Lord (Gen. XLIX, 17); that is, he does not turn his eyes away, his action does not turn his own mind back, he claims the prerogative of his resurrection, and resurrects himself by divine power. But here it is said: They went backward and fell to the ground (John XVIII, 6). He who is earthly falls to the ground, he who is heavenly clings to heaven. And if the body falls, virtue does not fall: nor does it focus on those things that are its own, but on those things that are always aimed upward; for it always looks to the Father, so that it may fulfill His will concerning us. If only they had not turned backwards, but instead received Christ! just as Joseph received Him and buried Him in a new tomb. He who is faithful does not fall to the earth; he who is unfaithful falls and descends to the lower parts of the earth; as it is written: They shall go down into hell while still alive (Psalm 54:16). Therefore, the persecutor falls upon the earth and descends into hell: Christ is above those who will rise again, Christ is above the rock, Christ is above the Church. Listen to how he falls upon the Church. Peter was behind, and he followed him as he was led from the Jews to the house of Caiphas, the leader of the Synagogue. He is Peter to whom He said: You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church (Matthew 16:18). Where Peter is, there is the Church; where the Church is, there is no death, but eternal life. And therefore he added: And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it: and I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 16:18-19). Blessed Peter, to whom the gate of hell did not prevail, did not close himself off from the gate of heaven; but on the contrary, he destroyed the gates of hell and opened up the gates of heaven. Thus, being set on earth, he opened heaven and closed hell.
It may also be applicable to this place that the Samaritan did not pass by the wounded man descending from Jericho, but took care of him, healing his wounds by pouring oil and wine on them, and placed him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn. Why do you hesitate about a good horse, when you read about a good animal? When you read about that one entering Jerusalem, and many and numerous horsemen with chariots and carts? Do not be moved by what you have done: some rely on chariots, others on horses; but we rely on the name of the Lord our God. They are bound and have fallen (Psal. XIX, 8 and 9). But Elijah did not fall, he entered on a chariot; where the name of God is, no one is bound, but all are set free. In the name of our God, the poor and the rich are safe; the noble and the ignoble; the weak and the powerful. Wealth does not prejudice faith; but we must know how to use our wealth.
(Verse 11.) And therefore, having the name of God within Himself, He says: But you, O Lord, have mercy on me, and resurrect me, and I will repay them. Certainly, He does not say this as if doubting the resurrection, who had the power to say: Destroy this temple, and in three days I will resurrect it (John 2:19); but He gives a form to man, that he may hope for mercy from God and resurrection from God. Furthermore, He does not ask to be resurrected Himself; rather, He asks to be resurrected in the place of Judas, so that the number of apostles may be complete. For indeed, because it was necessary that the son of perdition perish, so that Scripture would be fulfilled; it was fitting that the son of salvation be substituted in his place. Take a third instance. He demands to be resurrected, that is, his body: but the body of Christ is the Church. And because Judas was a figure of the faithless people of the Jews, who either bought or sold Christ for money (which those do who value money more than religion), he signifies the Church, which will rise again with favor after the destruction of the people in faith. And the Song of Songs says: If you have stirred up and revived love (Cant. II, 7) ; when seeking Christ in the young men, because Christ is love.
But when He says, 'I will repay them,' we understand that those who prosper in the processes of the Church will be tormented, and then they will know what the punishment of perfidy is, when they realize the splendor of faith and grace. Or it is because the Lord is good, who could say: 'They repaid me evil for good' (Psalms 34:12). And the word 'repayment' is in the middle, either in good or in evil: He says that He will repay in good because although blindness will happen to part of Israel, when the fullness of the Gentiles enters, then all Israel will be saved by the mercy of Christ.
(Verse 12.) And he subjected: In this I have known that you desired me; for my enemy will not rejoice over me. Earlier, he spoke of his passion as a man: now he reveals his majesty, that he alone, without sin, he whom the sinner could not approach, he alone whom the Father loved as his only Son. So why did the enemy not rejoice over him? Because although he endured death for us, he also rose; and he himself triumphed over the enemy, whose victory he destroyed, and he broke the sting of death. And we, although we may be sad in this world, and in our mourning and the contrition of our hearts and souls, let our enemy rejoice; yet when we rise, we destroy his joy. And thus Micah said: Do not rejoice over me, my enemy, for I have fallen; but I shall rise (Micah 7:8). Therefore, there is resurrection because all the enemy's bonds are loosed, and every triumph is abolished.