9. (Verse 35.) And therefore the apostles also extended their own clothing to Christ, either so that they would prefer glory by preaching the gospel: for in divine Scriptures, clothing is often virtues, which also softens the hardness of the gentiles to some extent with its own virtue; so that they would offer diligent submission to the service of a blessed journey without offense. For the Lord of the world did not delight in being carried on the back of an ass in a public appearance: but in order to spread the hidden mystery within our minds, and to enter into the inner assembly of souls, as if infused with a certain body of divinity, governing the footsteps of the mind, restraining the recklessness of the flesh; so that, by the guidance of piety, he would subdue the accustomed affection of the Gentile people. Happy are those who have received such a guide in their inner heart! Truly happy are those whose mouths are not loose in endless speech, but are restrained by the reins of divine words!
10. What is this bridle, brothers? Who will teach me how to either restrain or release the mouths of men? That person showed me the bridle and said: 'Let speech be given to me to open my mouth' (Acts 9:5). Therefore, speech is a bridle, speech is a spur. And that is why it is hard for you to kick against the spur. This person taught us to open our hearts, to endure the spur, to bear the yoke. Let someone else teach us to endure the restraints of language. For the virtue of remaining silent is rarer than that of speaking. Let that one teach, who, like a mute, did not open their mouth against deceit (Psalm 37:14), prepared for scourges and not refusing beatings, in order to be a pious offering to God.
11. (Verse 36.) Learn to carry Christ from the home of God; for he carried you first, when as a shepherd he brought back the wandering sheep (Luke XV, 6): learn to earnestly lay down the burdens of your mind, learn to be under Christ, so that you can be above the world. Not everyone who easily carries Christ, but he who can say: I am greatly bowed down and humbled: I groaned because of the moaning of my heart (Psalm XXXVII, 9). And if you desire not to be moved, fix your footstep upon those garments of the saints that have been washed. Beware lest you walk with muddy feet, beware lest you leave the paths of prophetic ways with wayward steps; for in order to make the approach of future generations safer, those who went before Jesus to the temple of God paved the way with their own garments. So that you may walk without stumbling, the disciples of the Lord, stripping themselves of their own bodily habits, cleared a path for you through the obstacles of the crowd with their own martyrdom. However, if someone wishes to receive it in this way, we do not object, because that foal already walks on the garments of the Jews.
12. However, I would doubt what the scattered branches of trees (Matt. 21:8) mean, which certainly used to entangle the steps of those walking; unless the good farmer had taught me in earlier things, that now the axe has been placed at the roots of the trees, which, under the coming of the Lord of Salvation, cuts down the unfruitful ones and overthrows the empty glory of the nations, to be trampled underfoot by the feet of the faithful; so that with the spirit of a renewed mind, nations, like shoots of new trees, can sprout from the old with twigs.
13. So do not despise this donkey; for just as in the clothing of sheep there are rapacious wolves, so also within there is hidden a man of one heart under a bestial appearance; because within the outer garments of the body, which we share in common with animals, the mind, filled with God, prospers. That which pertains to the form of men was more clearly declared by the holy John, adding that they took palm branches for themselves: for the just man blooms like a palm tree. And therefore with the coming of Christ, the banners of righteousness were already being raised above the shoulders of men, and the emblems of triumph. Why does the crowd marvel at what it works? Even if it does not know what to marvel at; it marvels nonetheless because in that work wisdom sits, virtue remains, and justice adheres.
14. Also, do not despise that donkey, which once saw the angel of God (Num. 22:23), whom a man could not see. And she saw, and she reported, and she spoke; so that you may recognize that in later times, under the coming of the great angel of God, those Gentiles will speak before donkeys.
15. (Verse 37.) But we read that the crowds praised God beautifully according to Luke, as they ran to meet Him as He descended the mountain, in order to signify to themselves that the worker of the spiritual mystery had come to them from heaven. Therefore, the crowd recognizes God, calls Him king, repeats the prophecy (Psalm 117:24): Hosanna to the Son of David, that is, it declares that the long-awaited redeemer of the house of David, also according to the flesh, has come as the son of David; and the crowd said this just a short time before the crucifixion. Truly memorable is the mark of divine operation, that testimony is wrested from those who deny God with their emotions but confess Him with their words. Hence, that saying of the Lord:
(Vers. 40.)
(Verse 40.) If these remain silent, the stones will cry out.
16. For it is not surprising if the rocks, against their nature, respond with praise to the Lord, whom the unyielding cliffs proclaim to be omnipotent. Or perhaps because the Jews, who were mute after the Lord's passion, were living according to Peter, they will cry out as stones (1 Peter 2:5). Therefore, even though their affections conflict within them, the crowd still leads God to their temple with praise.
17. But God does not want His temple to be a marketplace, but a dwelling place of holiness: not informed by the business of selling religion, but by the free service of the priestly ministry. Therefore, consider what the Sunday events prescribe to you as an example of living.
18. And he cast out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves (Matthew 21:12). Therefore, he taught above all that secular contracts should be kept away from the temple of God; specifically, he expelled the money changers. Who are the money changers, if not those who seek profit from the money of the Lord and do not distinguish between good and evil? For the money of the Lord is divine scripture; for he distributed denarii to his servants before departing, and he divided talents (Matthew 25:14), and for the healing of a wounded man he left two coins with the innkeeper (Luke 10:35); for our wounds are healed by the two Testaments. But you, like a good money-changer, store up the pure words of the Lord, words that have been tested by fire, purified by the sevenfold Spirit (Psalm 12:6). Do not accept the adulterated image of the king (for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light) through impious interchange. Do not mix the diminished likeness of your prince with the deceitful fraud of Arius in your treasure. Do not tempt the ears of the faithful with the sound of money, so that the ringing of bronze excludes the hearing of the religious Scriptures or the desire to possess affects religious emotions. So not all moneylenders should be excluded; for there are also good ones. Finally, 'You should have given my money to the moneylenders,' he says, 'and when I came back, I would have received it with interest.' (Matthew 25:27) Now if money is of the Scriptures, so is interest of the Scriptures.
But why the money-changers overturned the chairs of those selling doves, I do not understand according to the literal sense; for the bird-traders, who could not claim for themselves the honor of a booth at the markets, could not have the dignity of a throne. What prerogative of dignity is there in doves? However, the form of baptism of Dominic reminds us, when the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove (Luke 3:22), of the expulsion of such merchants from the temple, that those who traffic in the grace of the Holy Spirit cannot have a share in the Church of God. Freely you have received, freely give (Matthew 10:8). Finally, when Simon thought that the power of conferring the gift of sanctification could be bought, Peter responded: Your money perish with you, because you think that the gift of God can be obtained with money. You have neither part nor share in this matter of faith (Acts 8:20-21).
Also, I think those who profit from the labor of others or from simplicity, repulsive merchants, seize certain markets: either because sheep and cattle are expelled, or because doves are commanded to be taken away, it seems that the Jewish people are excluded; for just as a dove, because their Lord and successors hates their toils.
21. And this he did not do by some concise hand or by means of wealth, but he struck down the crowds with a whip made of cords, and no one dared to resist. And now he uses a rod, now a whip (for the rod is the straight scepter of your kingdom): the rod, to correct; the whip, to persuade. There, it is direct; here, it is a moral precept as if bent, with which the conscience of the sinner is lashed like a slow whip; for there are some terrifying prophecies, and there are some apostolic exhortations: yet in both, there is discipline of one word. And therefore He made a whip out of ropes, because 'the cords have fallen to me in pleasant places' (Psalm XVI, 6); for my inheritance is glorious to me; for the cords are said to be the ones with which surveyors measure the boundaries of divided fields. And therefore, like a good surveyor, He distinguished the boundaries of the Synagogue and the Church, and He ordered the sacrilegious ones to leave the temple. For a new surveyor of fertile souls had come, who would measure the kinds of fields, not the spaces.
However, a mode of possession is not enclosed by beautifully stretched ropes, nor are the boundaries of a defined thing limited by the limits of faith, but the boundaries of the Church extend freely in all directions like a whip: the Jews are eliminated, not by any prescribed exile, but without end; so that no place for a synagogue remains anywhere in the world.
(Chap. XX. — Vers. 9.)
A man planted a vineyard.
23. Most derive various meanings from the name 'vineyard': but clearly Isaiah referred to the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts, the house of Israel (Isaiah 5:7). Who else but God established this vineyard? He is the one who planted it and then went on a journey: not because the Lord, who is always everywhere, has journeyed from place to place, but because he is more present to those who are diligent and absent from those who are negligent. He has been absent at many times; not because he was slow in collecting the harvest. The more indulgent the generosity, the more inexcusable the stubbornness.
24. Therefore, according to Matthew, you have the following: 'And often it surrounded (Matt. XXI, 33),' that is, it was fortified by the divine protection, so that it would not easily be exposed to the attacks of spiritual beasts. 'And He dug a winepress in it (Ibid.)'. How do we understand what a winepress is, unless it is perhaps because the psalms are inscribed for winepresses (Psalm VIII, LXXX and LXXXIII); because in them the mysteries of the Lord's passion, like must fervently boiling with the Holy Spirit of the prophets, overflowed more abundantly? Finally, they were considered drunk, those on whom the Holy Spirit poured down (Acts 2:13). Therefore, here He dug a winepress, in which the reasonable fruit of the grape would flow out by a spiritual infusion. He built a tower (Matthew 21:33), raising the pinnacle of the Law: and thus He placed this vineyard fortified, equipped, and adorned for the Jews.
25. (Verse 10.) And in the time of the fruits, he sent his servants. He placed the time of the fruits well, but not the produce; for there was no fruit of the Jews, no produce of this vineyard, of which the Lord said: I expected it to bring forth grapes, but it brought forth thorns (Isaiah 5:2). Therefore, it overflowed with the blood of the prophets, not with the joy of wine or the spiritual must, but with the bloody bloodpresses. Ultimately, Jeremiah was thrown into a pit (Jeremiah 38:6); for these were now the winepresses of the Jews, not filled with wine, but with blood. And although the prophets seem to be generally described, however, the reading (3 Kings 21:13) gives us reason to believe that the one who was stoned is Naboth: for although we have not received any prophetic words from him, we have nevertheless received a prophetic action; because he prophesied many martyrs to come for this vineyard with his own blood. But who is the one who is wounded on his head? Undoubtedly it is Isaiah, whose body was more easily divided by a saw than his faith was inclined, his steadfastness was destroyed, or the strength of his mind was executed.
Therefore, it happened that when he had sent many others, whom the Jews dishonored and found useless, from whom they could do nothing, they finally also sent the only begotten Son, whom they treacherously killed by crucifixion, desiring to remove him as an heir, and cast him out by denying him.
27. Therefore, let us consider briefly how great, how numerous are these blessings. First, because it is natural goodness that often believes in the unworthy. Secondly, because Christ came as the ultimate remedy for all evils. Thirdly, because whoever denies the heir despairs of the author. But Christ is the heir, the same as the testator, because he survived his own death and, as the one who established the Testaments, receives the benefits as if they were hereditary gains in our own transactions.
28. (Verse 15.) He interrogates well, so that his own judgment condemns himself. However, he says that the Lord of the vineyard will come, either because the paternal majesty is also present in the Son, or because he aspires more strongly to human affections in the final times. Therefore, they themselves pronounce judgment upon themselves, so that the evil ones perish and the vineyard is transferred to other tenants. So, let us consider who these tenants are, and what the vineyard is.
29. Our vineyard is the type because the people of God, founded on the root of the eternal grapevine, rises above the earth and covers the lowly soil, now covered with budding flowers, now dressed in verdant green, now taking on the gentle yoke, when with its more mature branches it grows like the second shoots of the grapevine. For the all-powerful Farmer is Christ (John XV, 1 et seq.): but we are the branches, who, if we do not bear fruit in Christ, are cut off by the eternal cultivator's sickle. Therefore, the vineyard of Christ is rightly called the people, either because the sign of the cross is displayed on their forehead, or because their fruit is gathered at the last age of the year, or because in the Church of God there is an equal distribution to all orders of the vineyards, to the poor and the rich, the humble and the powerful, the servants and the masters, with no discrimination: just as the vine is joined to trees, so the body to the soul, and the soul to the body: just as the vine is lifted up when it is pruned, and it is not diminished but increased when it is cut, so the holy people, while they are bound, are set free, while they are humbled, are exalted, while they are cut off, are crowned. Moreover, just as a tender shoot, cut off from an old tree, is inserted into the fruit of another root, so too this holy Church, with its wounds healed, grows from the scars of the old shoot, nurtured in the bosom of the pious Parent on the wood of the Cross; and the Holy Spirit, descending from the heights of heaven to the depths of the earth, is poured into this earthly body like living water, cleansing whatever is foul, and elevating the state of our members to heavenly discipline.