28. (Vers. 20.). Why do you seek to kill me? since the Law commands in the Decalogue: "You shall not kill," Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5; and this, an innocent man. Therefore he asks: Why do you seek to kill me? Why? that is, for what reason, as if to say: without cause; Exodus 23: "The innocent and the just you shall not kill."
The crowd answered. Here the second point is touched upon, namely the obstinacy of the Jews, because they do not acknowledge the crime, but hurl insults at the one reproving them. Therefore it says: The crowd answered, not one person, but the whole multitude, and said: You have a demon. They cast this at him in Matthew 12 and below in chapter 8; behold, an insult. Chrysostom: "It is a word of anger and fury and of a shameless soul." Who seeks to kill you? As if they were saying: no one. They lie, because they themselves have a demon and are sons of the devil, who "is a liar and the father thereof."
29. (Vers. 21.). Jesus answered and said to them. Here the third point is touched upon, namely the explanation of the reproof, because on account of this, that he had healed on the Sabbath, they wished to kill him; whence he says: I did one work, and you all marvel. This work was the healing of the paralytic; they marveled at what he had done and were indignant that it was on the Sabbath; above in chapter 5: "The Jews persecuted Jesus, because he did this on the Sabbath," as though he were breaking the Law. Therefore the Lord shows that he did not break the Law, through an argument from the greater, and he makes such an argument: if circumcision, which is not from the Law but from the Fathers, does not break the Sabbath, because it is a noble work, therefore, since the healing of the whole man is a nobler work, much less will it break it. On account of which he says:
30. (Vers. 22.). Therefore Moses gave you circumcision, not because it is from Moses, but from the Fathers, that is, not because it was first commanded to him, but to Abraham; Genesis 17: "Every male among you shall be circumcised." And on the Sabbath you circumcise a man, on account of that which is written in the same place: "An infant of eight days shall be circumcised"; and yet you do not believe you are breaking the Law, but keeping it. From this he argues through an argument from the greater, because it seems more likely that circumcision would break it than perfect healing.
31. (Vers. 23.). If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the Law of Moses may not be broken: are you indignant at me, because I made a whole man well on the Sabbath? As if to say: since it is lawful and does not break the Sabbath, your indignation is not just, because, according to that passage in Romans 10, "they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge."
32. (Vers. 24.). Do not judge, etc. Here the fourth point is touched upon, namely, recall from evil; on account of which he says: Do not judge according to appearance, accepting the human face. Concerning the good judge, Isaiah eleven: "He shall not judge according to the sight of the eyes, nor reprove according to the hearing of the ears." But judge a just judgment, according to merits, not according to the appearance of persons. Augustine: "He does not judge with partiality who loves equally." And because they loved unequally, because they cared more about external things, therefore they judged unjustly; whence it is said in Matthew twenty-three: You Pharisees "cleanse what is on the outside"; and they justified themselves before men: Luke sixteen: "You are they who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts."
QUESTIONS.
33. Question I. But it is asked here whether circumcision ought to be performed on the Sabbath. And that it should, the Lord seems to say here. And the reason is that it had to be done on the eighth day.
But to the contrary: The precept concerning the Sabbath was the greatest among all precepts of the Law and the most frequently repeated; therefore a lesser precept ought to yield to a greater one. Therefore they ought to have refrained from circumcising on the Sabbath.
I respond: It must be said that the precept concerning the Sabbath is great and did not oppose circumcision, because it did not prohibit a work of salvation but of servitude; whence on the Sabbath the Law was expounded, because teaching is a salvific work; and therefore it did not yield to circumcision, but both precepts ran together simultaneously.
34. Question II. Likewise it is asked concerning the Lord's argument that circumcision did not break the Sabbath, much less did the healing of the paralytic.
This argument seems to have no force:
Because circumcision was commanded and could not be deferred, but the healing could have been done on another day.
2. Furthermore, circumcision was a spiritual work insofar as it cleansed from original sin; but that healing was a corporeal work, because the illness was corporeal.
I respond: It must be said that the Law of Moses did not command circumcision but presupposed it as from a more worthy source; whence it is said in Exodus twelve: If any stranger wishes to pass over into your colony, he shall be circumcised. But the Sabbath was commanded in the Law and did not take away circumcision, which was from the Fathers; therefore much less did it take away healing from God, even though it was not commanded.
2. To the other objection it must be said that the healing of that paralytic was not only corporeal but also spiritual; whence it was said to him: Sin no more henceforth. And therefore it is said in the text: I have made a whole man well, namely interiorly and exteriorly; even granting that it was only exteriorly in the body, nevertheless it was still a work of piety, and certainly the Law regarded works of piety as spiritual. Whence on the Sabbath it was permitted to give alms. For if it was permitted to water a donkey, how much more to give alms, and especially to heal the sick.
35. Question III. But it is asked: why was circumcision given before the Law? On account of what he says: Not from Moses etc.
It must be said that one principal cause of the giving of circumcision was the distinction of the people from whom Christ was to be born from the nations; and because Abraham was first called, to whom the promise was made, therefore it began from him.
There are also other causes for the giving of circumcision, why it was given to the people of God rather than another sign, which are contained in these verses:
"It is a sign, a merit, it distinguishes, or it heals; the circumcised flesh both signifies and teaches."
It is a sign of Abraham's faith, a merit of obedience, it distinguishes the people, it heals against original sin, it signifies the eighth day of the resurrection, it teaches chastity.
36. Some therefore of Jerusalem said. He refuted the malicious; here he refutes the objectors; and he proceeds in this order. First is set forth the objection itself; second, the refutation of the objectors; third, the obstinacy of those refuted; fourth, the edification of the little ones or the lesser.
(Verse 25.) First, therefore, is set forth the objection of those who ought to have known better; and these were those who dwelt in the royal city; on account of which he says: Some therefore of Jerusalem said, who were aware of the plotting of the Pharisees: Is not this the one whom the Jews were seeking to kill ? as an evildoer; for they were of those of whom it is said in Proverbs 1: "Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood."
37. (Verse 26.) And behold, he speaks openly, and they say nothing to him, and at this they marvel, and from their marvel, when they ought to have been aroused to faith, they proceed to a lying objection: Have the rulers indeed recognized that this is the Christ? As if to say: they can suspect, but they cannot truly know; whence he adds:
38. (Verse 27.) But we know where this man is from, that is, from Nazareth; above, in chapter one: "We have found Jesus, the son of Joseph, from Nazareth." But when the Christ comes, no one knows where he is from; and so they disparaged his origin. They said this on account of what is written in Isaiah 53: "Who shall declare his generation?" as if the generation of Christ were unspeakable and thus inscrutable; or because he came in secret; Wisdom 18: "While all things were in the midst of silence," etc.