23. Thus divine justice humbles the proud, and on the contrary exalts the humble: therefore he adds: And he who humbles himself, through voluntary self-abasement: the Psalm: "The Lord is the keeper of little ones; I was humbled, and he delivered me"; and 2 Kings 6: "I will play and become even more vile than I have been, and I will be humble in my own eyes"; shall be exalted, through divine glorification. The example is in the Lord the Savior: Philippians 2: "He humbled himself," etc.; and afterward: "For which reason God also exalted him," etc. And therefore it is said in 1 Peter 5: "Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in the time of visitation." And concerning these two in the Psalm: "All the horns of sinners I will break, and the horns of the just shall be exalted"; and Ezekiel 17: "All the trees of the country shall know that I the Lord have humbled the lofty tree and exalted the lowly tree."
24. Now the reason for this justice and equity is that, the more one exalts himself, the less he honors God and the less he magnifies God, and through this the more he is turned away from God, and thus consequently the less he is: Ezekiel 28: "You have been brought to nothing and you shall not be forever."
Again, the more one exalts himself, the more he raises himself above himself, and thereby the more he vanishes; and the more he vanishes, the more he recedes from truth and the less he is; therefore the more anyone is exalted by himself, the more he is cast down: Job 30, "You lifted me up, and placing me as it were upon the wind, you dashed me violently." Finally, the more anyone exalts himself, the more he loves the glory of men, and the more he embraces it, the more he is subject to human praises, and on this account the more he is a servant of men and the more he is cast down: Psalm: "Indeed on account of deceits you set things for them; you cast them down while they were being lifted up."
25. But on the contrary, the more anyone humbles himself, the more he honors God; Sirach 3: "Great is the power of God alone, and he is honored by the humble"; and the more he honors God, the more he draws near to him, and thereby the more he is elevated to higher things. Furthermore, the more he humbles himself, the more he returns to interior things, and the more he is gathered inwardly, the greater his power becomes; therefore the more anyone is humbled, the greater he becomes according to truth; whence 2 Corinthians 12: "Power is made perfect in weakness." — Finally, the more he is humbled, the less he esteems earthly glory, and the less he esteems it, the more he tramples upon it and the more he is set above all inferior things, and thus the greater he becomes: Isaiah 60: "I will make you the pride of ages." Therefore everyone who exalts himself, the more he exalts himself, the more he distances himself from things above, and the more he distances himself from things above, the more he recedes from things within, and thereby the more he subjects himself to things below. Therefore the more anyone is puffed up, the more he is in truth cast down and according to divine judgment is to be cast down; and on the contrary, everyone who humbles himself, the more he humbles himself, the more he draws near to things above and the more he returns to things within and the more he tramples upon things below; therefore the more he humbles himself under God, the more he is exalted by divine judgment.
26. (Verse 12). He was saying moreover, etc. After he instructed the guests invited to the wedding banquet, here secondly he instructs those who invite others to a familiar banquet; in which instruction he first draws back those who invite from worldly courtesy, secondly he attracts them to divine charity, there: But when you make a feast.
Drawing back therefore from worldly courtesy, he introduces three things for this kind of withdrawal, namely the occasioning inducement, the instructing exhortation, and the persuading reason.
First therefore, as regards the inducing occasion, he says: He said also to him who had invited him. He said this to him because that man's invitation gave occasion to speak about the manner of inviting, according to that passage of Ecclesiasticus twenty-seven: "In the midst of the senseless, reserve your word for the proper time." Or he said this to him so that to one providing bodily sustenance he might repay spiritual instruction, that he might thus show in turn that divine gifts are to be shared, according to that passage of First Peter four: "Each one, as he has received grace, ministering it to one another." - Whence a pattern is given to the spiritual man receiving bodily food, that he should dispense spiritual food to his host, as is intimated above in chapter ten, that "Martha received Christ into her house, and her sister Mary, sitting at the feet of the Lord, heard his word." In designation of which, the Wise Man says concerning Wisdom, that is Christ, in Wisdom eight: "I purposed to take her to myself for companionship, knowing that she will share with me of her goods, and will be a comfort in my cares and weariness." In this also a pattern is given, that at the banquets of spiritual men spiritual words are to be intermingled; therefore it is the custom that in bodily refreshment spiritual reading is interspersed, on account of that word of the Lord in Deuteronomy eight and Matthew four: "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord."
27. Second, as regards the instructing exhortation, he adds: When you make a dinner or a supper: a dinner in the morning and a supper in the evening.
Do not call your friends, by reason of assiduity: Matthew five: "If you love those who love you, what reward shall you have? Do not even the heathens do this?" Because it is said in Ecclesiasticus thirty-seven: "A companion grieves with a friend for the sake of his belly, and against the enemy he will take up the shield." Nor your kinsmen, by reason of affinity: Ecclesiasticus eighteen: "The compassion of man is toward his neighbor, but the mercy of God is upon all flesh." Nor your neighbors, by reason of familiarity: against which, the Third Canonical Epistle of John: "Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren, and this for strangers, who have borne testimony to your charity." Nor your brothers, by reason of consanguinity, because it is said: "Forget your people and your father's house"; and Deuteronomy thirty-three: "Who said to their brothers: I know them not; these keep your law," etc. Nor the rich, by reason of pomposity: because it is said below in chapter sixteen: "There was a certain rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen and feasted sumptuously every day," and afterwards it is added that "he was buried in hell."
He does not say this, however, because it is against the commandment to invite acquaintances, since it is written in First Timothy 5: "If anyone does not have care for his own and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever"; and of Joseph it is written in Genesis 43 that he made a feast for his brothers: but he says this because a man in such invitations, if he wishes to merit eternal life, ought not to have a carnal intention, but a spiritual one, not an earthly one, but a heavenly one, not a mercenary one, but a pious one.
28. On account of which, note that there is an indifferent feast, which is indeed one of human familiarity, concerning which Job 1: "His sons went and made feasts throughout their houses, each one on his day."
And there is an evil feast, and this is threefold, namely lesser, worse, and worst. The first is of gluttony, concerning which Romans 13: "Not in reveling and drunkenness," etc.; and Proverbs 23: "Do not be among the feasts of drunkards nor among the reveling of those who give flesh to eat, because those given to drink and contributing their share shall be consumed"; and James 5: "You have feasted upon the earth and nourished your hearts in luxuries."
— The second is of vainglory, concerning which Daniel 5: "King Belshazzar made a great feast for all his nobles," etc.; and Mark 6: "Herod on his birthday made a feast for the princes and tribunes and chief men of Galilee." And at the first feast the vessels of the Lord were dishonored; at the second the forerunner of Christ was slain.
The third is of malice, concerning which it is said in Second Kings 13 that Absalom invited his brother Amnon to a feast, where it follows that he slew him at the feast; and in the last chapter of First Maccabees it is said that "the son of Abobus made a great feast for Simon, and when he was drunk, he killed him and his two sons."
There is also a threefold good feast, namely good, better, and best. The first is of piety, concerning which below in the same chapter: "When you make a feast, call the poor and the infirm." The second is of charity, concerning which Song of Songs 5: "Eat, friends, and drink, and be inebriated, dearest ones," etc. The third is of felicity: Isaiah 25: "The Lord will make on this mountain a feast for all peoples, a feast of fat things, of marrow, of purified wine." The first feast is permitted, the second is prohibited, and the third is encouraged.
29. Third, as to the persuading reason, he adds: Lest perhaps they also invite you in return, and a recompense be made to you: because he who does works for an earthly reward has nothing but an earthly and temporal recompense. For the eternal reward is exchanged for a temporal one through love of glory; Matthew 6: "Take heed that you do not your justice before men, to be seen by them: otherwise you shall not have a reward with your Father, who is in heaven"; whence it is said of hypocrites in the same chapter of Matthew: "Amen I say to you, they have received their reward." Through love of earthliness, whence on that passage of Exodus 1: "The midwives feared God, and he built them houses," the Gloss says that "their eternal reward was exchanged for a temporal one." Through love of carnality: Matthew 10: "He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me." And this is because, as it is said in Matthew 6, "no one can serve two masters"; and "intention," as Ambrose says, "gives the name to your work." Therefore he who does a thing for a temporal reward is defrauded of the eternal reward, because heaven is owed to no work that is done for the sake of the world.
But on the contrary, those things which are done for the sake of God are worthy of both rewards: whence 1 Timothy 4: "Godliness is profitable for all things, having the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come"; and therefore the Lord said in Matthew 6: "Seek first the kingdom of God and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you." But to the worldly man it is said below in chapter 16: "Son, remember that you received good things in your life, and Lazarus likewise evil things: but now he is comforted, and you are tormented."
30. (Verse 13). But when you make a feast. After he drew back from worldly courtesy, here secondly he invites to divine charity. Which indeed he does in three ways, namely through the commendation of fraternal piety, through the assignment of the inductive reason, and through the approbation of the induced reason.
First, therefore, as regards the commendation of fraternal piety, he says: But when you make a feast, invite the poor, on account of their lack of exterior goods: Isaiah fifty-eight: "Break your bread for the hungry, and bring the needy and homeless into your house," etc. And this was commanded in the Law: Deuteronomy fifteen: "The poor shall not be lacking in the land of your habitation; therefore I command you to open your hand to your needy and poor brother who dwells with you in the land." To this poor man you ought to open your hand, and especially to the just man; whence in Sirach nine it is said: "Let just men be your guests, and let your glorying be in the fear of the Lord"; and in Tobit two it is said: "When it was a feast day, and a good meal had been prepared in the house of Tobit, he said to his son: Go, and bring some of our tribe who fear God, that they may feast with us." Whence in Sirach twelve: "Give to the good, and do not receive the sinner; do good to the humble, and do not give to the ungodly." Nevertheless, it is not excluded here that alms should also be given to other poor people, and that they too ought to be invited, as Chrysostom sufficiently indicates in his commentary on Matthew, Homily seventy-nine, saying: " Inasmuch as you did not do it to one of these least, neither did you do it to me, says the Lord, saying this not only of disciples, nor of those who have chosen the monastic life, but of every faithful person. For whoever is such, even if he be a slave, even if he be one of those who beg in the marketplace, yet believes in God, it is just that he enjoy the devotion of all. And if we despise such a man, naked or hungry, we shall hear these words," etc.
The weak, on account of their lack of strength: Sirach seven: "Let it not irk you to visit the sick; for by these things you will be strengthened in love"; and Matthew twenty-five: "I was sick, and you visited me," the Lord will say, because he who condescends to another's infirmity, what he does for that person he bestows upon Christ. The lame and the blind, on account of their lack of bodily members; below in the same chapter: "Go out into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the weak, the blind and the lame." And this indeed rightly, because mercy must be bestowed upon the wretched and assistance upon those who are in want; whence Mark eight: "I have compassion on the crowd, because behold, they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat."
31. (Vers. 14.). Second, as to the assignment of the persuasive reason, he adds: And you shall be blessed, because they have nothing to repay you: therefore it is necessary that another repay on their behalf: Proverbs 19: "He who has mercy on the poor lends to the Lord"; which is said on account of the immensity of the reward, concerning which he adds: For it shall be repaid to you in the resurrection of the just, that is, in eternal glory; concerning which resurrection, Apocalypse 20: "Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection"; and below in chapter 20: "Those who shall be accounted worthy of that age and of the resurrection shall be equal to the Angels and are sons of God, since they are sons of the resurrection." In this resurrection the wicked shall rise to death, but the just to life: John 5: "Those who have done good shall come forth to the resurrection of life, but those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment." In this, recompense shall be made to the merciful: whence Ecclesiasticus 12: "Do good to the just, and you shall find great recompense, and if not from him, certainly from God"; and especially regarding almsgiving: whence Matthew 25: "Come, blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom" etc.; and afterward: "I was hungry, and you gave me to eat" etc. And therefore Matthew 5: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." Whence to works of piety especially is the recompense of blessedness rendered: on account of which, Ecclesiasticus 17: "The alms of a man is as a purse with him, and shall preserve the grace of a man as the apple of his eye; and afterward he shall rise up and shall render them their reward, to each one upon his own head."
Now the reason for this is that no one is worthy of mercy unless he shows mercy: because, James 2, "judgment without mercy to him who does not show mercy." And no one comes to eternal blessedness except through mercy: Psalm: "Men and beasts you shall save, O Lord: how you have multiplied your mercy, O God"; and again, Titus: "Not by works of justice which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us."
32. (Vers. 15.). Third, as to the approval of the reason adduced, he adds: When one of those who sat at table with him had heard these things:
had heard, I say, not only with the ear of the body, but also with the ear of the heart, according to that of Apocalypse 2: "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches." And since he who hears in this way believes, according to that of Romans 10: "Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ," that is, he who believes by hearing renders testimony by speaking and confessing; Job 29: "The ear that heard me blessed me, and the eye that saw me bore witness to me"; therefore he adds: Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God, as if to say: the recompense that shall be in the resurrection of the dead is better than that which is in the present, because the latter is wretched, but the former is blessed; Psalm: "For better is one day in your courts than thousands." Whence Apocalypse 19: "Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb."
33. And note that that food which will be in the kingdom of God will not be carnal food, but spiritual. And this bread is the uncreated Word and the incarnate Word: which bread indeed we eat on the way sacramentally, according to that passage in 1 Corinthians 11: "But let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of the chalice"; but in the fatherland we shall eat spiritually, seeing face to face: John 6: "If anyone shall eat of this bread, he shall live forever"; because, in the seventeenth chapter: "this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." This bread is promised to us to be eaten after departure from this life: "when he shall have given sleep to his beloved, behold, the inheritance of the Lord, sons: the reward, the fruit of the womb." For just as no one comes to the sleep of rest except through the six-fold of labor, so the eating of this bread is preceded by a six-fold of breads, which are preparatory to that eternal food which we shall eat in the fatherland.