14. Question II. Likewise the inquiry concerns what he says, that when the devil had already put into the heart, that Judas should betray him.
1. Therefore it seems that the devil is the one who implants evil thoughts.
2. And that this is so, it seems: because he is the god of this age and rules over the sons of unbelief, Ephesians 2: therefore just as God implants good thoughts in the elect, over whom he rules, so also the devil implants evil ones.
But against this is the fact that, if the devil implants them, then whether man wills it or not, he will sin: therefore according to this he would be superior to the mind itself, which is against reason and against Augustine.
I respond: It must be said that to put into the heart or to implant is spoken of in two ways: properly and commonly: to implant properly is to form within by one's own power, and this belongs to God alone: but commonly indeed to implant is to suggest by offering an occasion. In the first way it does not befit the devil, but in the second way it does.
2. But as to the objection that the devil reigns: it must be said that he does not reign by his own power, but through the consent of a perverse will, which willingly consents to him, according to that saying of Gregory: "The enemy is weak against those who resist, strong against those who consent." Therefore he is not said to implant, but to suggest or to inflame.
15. Question III. Likewise the inquiry concerns this, that Peter alone resisted the Lord when he willed to wash their feet: how is it that all said nothing? And if all were silent, how was he willing to be singular?
If you say that the Lord came to him first, and he resisted first, and afterward the others were corrected: the text is contrary to this, because it says: He began to wash and to wipe: and afterward: He came therefore to Simon Peter.
Chrysostom responds that he believes that he first washed the feet of Judas, because Judas, as one who would presume the first place, had taken the foremost position, and afterward he came to Peter, and Peter resisted.
But it is better to say, according to the Gloss, that he came first to Peter, and that statement was made by way of anticipation.
16. After therefore he had washed the feet etc. After he set forth the example, he exhorts to imitate him, and this indeed he does in this manner: first from the consideration of the dignity of the Master: second, the greatness of the reward; third, the excellence of the merit.
(Verse 12.). He exhorts therefore from the consideration of the dignity of the Master: because the Master and Lord himself did this, therefore they too ought to do it: and therefore, when he had risen as a servant, he now begins to teach as a master. Therefore he also takes up his garments again and asks for their attention: on account of which he says: After therefore he had washed their feet, he took his garments, which, namely, he had laid aside in order to serve: and when he had reclined again, he says to them again: Do you know what I have done to you? He makes them attentive to attend, because he must teach as Master: and his teaching is that they should imitate him: for this reason he says:
17. (Vers. 13.). You call me Master and Lord, and you say well: for so I am. For he is Master; Matthew twenty-three: "One is your Master, Christ." He is also Lord, whence David called him his Lord in the Psalm: "The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand."
18. (Vers. 14.). If therefore I have washed your feet, being Lord and Master: you also ought to wash one another's feet: Philippians two: "In humility, let each esteem others better than themselves"; and after: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus," etc. And the reason for this is added: because he did this to be imitated. For he worked miracles, which we cannot imitate, because he did not perform them as an example, but as a sign of his power; he performed humble works to be imitated, as here: whence:
19. (Vers. 15.). I have given you an example, that as I have done to you, so you also should do:
Matthew eleven: "Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart." And that he is to be imitated in works of humility, he shows by this reasoning: because the servant is not greater than his lord; therefore if the lord does not disdain to be humbled, much less should the servant. And this is what he says:
20. (Vers. 16.). Amen, amen I say to you, as something true and certain: The servant is not greater than his lord, neither is the apostle greater than he who sent him; Matthew ten: "The disciple is not above the master," and below in the fifteenth chapter: "Nor is the servant greater than his lord." And therefore all servants of Christ ought to serve their fellow servants; therefore it is the custom of the Pope to write himself servant of the servants of God. Whence Chrysostom: "Where are those who despise their fellow servants? Where are those who seek honors? The Lord washed the feet of the traitor and of the sacrilegious one and of the thief at the time of the betrayal: and you think great things of yourself and exalt yourself on high?"
21. (Vers. 17.). If you know these things etc. Here secondly he exhorts to imitation by consideration of the greatness of the reward: because whoever does this shall be blessed. On account of which he says: If you know these things, you shall be blessed if you do them, not if you merely know them, but indeed also if you do them: James one: "He who is a doer of the work, this one shall be blessed in his deed"; Matthew five: "Whoever shall break one of these least commandments and shall teach men so, shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven." And after: "But whoever shall do and teach, this one shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." And because he had promised them blessedness: lest you believe he promised it to the traitor, he adds:
22. (Verse 18.). I do not speak of all of you, namely that you will be blessed, but of the elect: hence he says: I know whom I have chosen; Matthew 20: "Many are called, but few are chosen"; 2 Timothy 2: "The Lord knows who are his"; hence what I said: "You will be blessed" is to be understood of some of you, and indeed of the majority. But that the Scripture may be fulfilled: He who eats bread with me, that is, a companion at table, will lift up his heel against me in the Psalm: according to another translation: "The man of my peace, in whom I hoped, who ate my bread, has magnified supplanting against me." To lift up the heel, as Chrysostom says, is to lift up kicking, deceit and fraud and the concealment of treachery. And he speaks by way of similitude: just as a man, when he wishes to trample upon a thing, lifts his heel over it, so Judas trampled upon Christ. And he said this about Judas, not accusing him, but instructing the disciples, lest they believe he was betrayed as a mere man. Therefore he adds:
23. (Verse 19.). From now on I tell you, before it happens, so that, when it has happened, you may believe that I am, namely God, who knows all things before they happen: Sirach 23: "To the Lord God, before they were created, all things are known," etc.
24. (Verse 20.). Amen, amen, I say to you. Here, thirdly, he exhorts them to imitate him in honoring his servants by consideration of the greatness of merit. For great merit belongs to the one who honors the Lord, and the Lord himself reckons honor done to a servant as his own: and thus great merit belongs to the one who honors Christ's servant. Therefore he says: He who receives whomever I send, receives me, that is, he who honors the one sent honors me the sender; Matthew 25: "As long as you did it for one of the least of mine, you did it for me." And he who receives me receives him who sent me, that is, he who honors the Son honors the Father, who sent him; a similar saying is found in Matthew 10: "He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me." And from this it is argued that just as it is a great transgression to despise God, and a great merit to honor him, so also with regard to the servants of God.
QUESTIONS.
25. Question I. But it is asked here first: why the Lord gave his disciples an example of humility rather than of some other virtue, since there are other excellent virtues.
It must be said that the Lord above all things commended unity to his disciples; and because pride directly breaks unity, since among the proud there are always quarrels, and the disciples were contending which of them should seem to be the greater; therefore, lest through that contention the unity of the Church be broken, he gave an example of humility, so that each one might be subject to the other.
Another reason is that, just as damnation had its origin from pride, so salvation from humility.