86. According to the moral sense, the healing of the man from the demon signifies the healing from spiritual sins, according to what is said in 1 Kings 16: "An evil spirit from the Lord troubled Saul"; and below in the eleventh chapter: "When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he walks about" etc. - The healing of the woman from the fever is the healing of the soul from carnal sins; Ecclesiasticus 23: "A heated soul like a burning fire will not be quenched until it devours something." Whence Bede: " The man from the demon is freed when the mind is purged from unclean thought: the woman from the fevers, when the flesh is restrained from the heat of concupiscence." And therefore the man is healed in the midst of the synagogue, because he who is detained by spiritual sins needs to be humbled in the sight of men: the Psalm: "The Lord guards the little ones"; but she, with the Lord standing over her in the house, because together with divine grace the guardianship of discipline is necessary: Ecclesiasticus 26: "Over a daughter who does not turn herself away, set a firm guard, lest, having found an occasion, she abuse herself"; and therefore 1 Corinthians 9: "I chastise my body and bring it into subjection" etc.
87. (Verse 40.). Now when the sun had set etc. Here after the healing of the male and the female sex is subjoined the universal healing with respect to every sex, age, and infirmity. In which the admirable power of Christ is manifested from four things, namely, from the variety of diseases, from the ease of the healings, from the confession of the demons, from the restraining of the unclean spirits.
First, therefore, the variety of diseases is introduced in what is said: Now when the sun had set, those who had people sick with various diseases brought them to him, that he might heal them: and rightly so, because, Isaiah 53, "truly he himself bore our diseases" etc.; and Acts 10: "He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil"; and without distinction, because he had power equally over all things: whence Wisdom 16: "Neither herb nor poultice healed them, but your word, O Lord, which heals all things"; whence also in Matthew 4 it is said that "he healed every disease and every infirmity."
88. And note that they brought them after the setting of the sun, to show that Christ was not only by day but also by night solicitous and powerful concerning the salvation of the human race. This was prefigured in Genesis 31 in Jacob: "By day and by night I was scorched by heat and frost, and sleep fled from my eyes"; and in the last chapter of Wisdom: "In all things you magnified your people, O Lord, and exalted them, at all times and in every place standing by them."
Or therefore after the setting of the sun, to show that the glory of men is to be avoided: whence he rebukes the Pharisees in Matthew twenty-three, because "they do all their works so that they may be seen by men." — Or therefore after the setting of the sun, to signify that through the passion the universal remedy was to be obtained. For Christ is the sun, according to that passage in Malachi four: "The sun of justice shall arise for you who fear my name"; this sun set in the passion: whence Amos eight: "The sun shall set for them at midday"; and then more were healed, which was prefigured in Judges sixteen in the death of Samson, who is interpreted as their sun. Whence Bede: "The setting of the sun is the passion of Christ, through which more demoniacs and sick are healed than before."
89. Second, the ease of the healings is added, when it is added: But he, laying hands on each one, healed them all. He healed easily, because he healed without interruption, but by the laying on of hands alone. Nor is this surprising, because, as is said in Isaiah fifty-nine, "the hand of the Lord is not shortened, so that he cannot save." And he could not only do this by himself, but also communicate it to others, according to that passage in the last chapter of Mark: "They shall lay hands upon the sick, and they shall recover." — And note that he is said to have laid hands on each one without exclusion, as is said in Acts ten: "God is no respecter of persons"; and therefore in the Psalm: "You open your hand and fill every living thing with blessing." And this is what is said in Wisdom six: "He himself made both the small and the great, and he has equal care for all." And therefore it is said: He healed all, namely those coming to him, because it is said in John six: "Everyone who comes to me, I will not cast out." Nor is this surprising, because "the same Lord of all is rich unto all who call upon him," Romans ten.
90. (Verse 41.) Third, the confession of the demons is added, when it is added: And demons went out from many, crying out, namely from pain and fear and astonishment, Isaiah sixty-five: "You shall cry out from pain of heart and howl from anguish of spirit." But their crying was in vain: Psalm: "They cried out, and there was none to save them."
Or crying out, on account of the public proclamation of the truth. And therefore the true confession is added: And saying: You are the Son of God. But they said this not from certainty, but from conjecture on account of the greatness of his power. And therefore the demon first said: "I know that you are the Holy One of God "; now, that he is the Son of God, because through greater proofs he had advanced in knowledge. But what they conjectured, they confessed not by saying it from the heart; concerning which First Corinthians twelve says: "No one can say: Lord Jesus, except in the Holy Spirit"; to which to say corresponds the word which is "knowledge with love"; they did not confess with heart and deed: concerning which First John four says: "Everyone who confesses that Christ Jesus has come in the flesh is from God"; but they spoke only with the mouth and hated in heart and denied in deed: Titus one: "They profess to know God, but in their deeds they deny him." Nor is this surprising, because, according to what is said in the Psalm, "in hell who shall confess to you?" No one, namely with meritorious confession, but all with forced and compelled confession: Wisdom five: "Saying within themselves, repenting" etc.
91. Lastly is added the restraining of the unclean spirits, when it is added: And rebuking them, he did not allow them to speak, so that the words of the Psalm might be fulfilled: "At your rebuke they shall flee, at the voice of your thunder they shall be afraid." He did not allow etc., because frequently the Lord sets an obstacle against the wicked: whence Second Maccabees six: "Not to allow sinners to act according to their will is a sign of great beneficence."
Or he did not permit them because he did not wish to be made known through demons: whence it is also added: Because they knew that he was the Christ, that is, they conjectured with probability. "For he was not made known to the demons, as Augustine says, as splendor and light, but through a certain efficacy of his power." But the Lord did not wish the knowledge of his name to be spread abroad through demons, both because they were unworthy, and because they were hateful, and also because they were deceitful, and therefore such a confession neither befitted God nor was fitting for a demon nor was profitable to man. Bede: "The wicked teacher mixes false things with true, so that under the appearance of truth he may conceal the testimony of fraud." From which it is given us to understand that those who in preaching Christ mix false things with true are entirely to be restrained, as heretics: First Corinthians 5: "A little leaven corrupts the whole lump." But if some preach true things, yet not with right intention, they are to be tolerated: and of such it is said in Philippians 1: "Whether by occasion or by truth Christ is announced, in this I rejoice, and indeed I shall rejoice." But if they preach true and good things, and yet do not practice them, they are nonetheless to be heard: Matthew 23: "The scribes and Pharisees have sat upon the chair of Moses." And such were designated by that one of whom it is said below in chapter nine, that he was preaching Christ without following him; whom the Lord did not wish to be forbidden. From the foregoing it is clear that the power of the Savior has been manifested in every way.
92. (Verse 42.). And when it was day etc. After the communication of Christ's teaching and its authentication through the working of a miracle, there is here added thirdly the acceptance of the same by the multitude of the people. But in order that any teaching be duly accepted by its hearers, it is necessary that it be free from ostentation, from ambition, from flattery, and from respect of persons. For by these four ways the acceptance of teaching is customarily corrupted.
First, therefore, ostentation is excluded from the acceptance of Christ's teaching, when it is said: And when it was day, he went out and proceeded to a desert place, wishing rather to hide himself humbly than to display himself shamelessly, according to that word of the Psalm: "I went far off fleeing and remained in solitude." A figure of this preceded in Elijah, of whom it is said in Third Kings 19 that, leaving behind his servant, he went alone into the desert, after he had worked the miracle of the fire consuming the holocaust. A figure of this also preceded in David, who said to Jonathan in First Kings 20: "Let me go, that I may hide in the field until the evening of the third day," that is, until the resurrection. For which reason also he said to the disciples in Matthew 17: "Tell the vision to no one, until the Son of Man rises from the dead"; and John 12: "Jesus spoke these things and went away and hid himself."
93. Now that journey into the desert and departure from the city signifies the departure from secular life and the entrance into religious life. For the desert is a place of poverty, austerity, and lowliness, against the three things that are in the world, according to that passage of First John 2: "All that is in the world is either the concupiscence of the eyes, or the concupiscence of the flesh, or the pride of life." Against these the Lord established the desert of religious life, in which is noted a threefold good opposed to them, namely continence, poverty, and obedience; therefore it is rightly called the desert. In this desert John dwelt; hence Matthew 11: "What did you go out into the desert to see? A man clothed in soft garments?" in which the austerity of poverty is evident; "a reed shaken by the wind?" in which is designated humility, which takes no delight in the wind of praises nor is cast down by the reproach of detraction and insults. In this desert was Christ, whose figure preceded in First Kings 23: "David dwelt in the desert, in the most fortified places, on the mountain of the wilderness of Ziph," because Christ held to the highest religious life. Hence Augustine in *On True Religion*: "Every sin arises either because we desire what Christ despised or because we flee what he endured. For the satellites of the devil desired riches, but Christ willed to be poor; they gaped after honors, but he refused to be made king; they craved pleasures, but he willed to be crucified."
94. Second, ambition is excluded in what follows: And the crowds sought him and came all the way to him. He did not thrust himself forward out of ambition; hence it is said in John 6: "When he knew that they were about to come to make him king, he fled." In this he taught that the office of honor is not to be assumed unless a man is sought out; hence Hebrews 5: "Nor does anyone take the honor upon himself."
95. In this also the devotion of the people is commended, because they sought him who wished to remain hidden, while there was time: Isaiah 55: "Seek the Lord while he can be found"; and Hosea 10: "It is time to seek the Lord, when he shall come who will teach you justice"; and the holy soul in the Psalm: "My face has sought you." And that they sought him devoutly is apparent, because they came all the way to him, according to that passage of Isaiah 21: "If you seek, seek; be converted and come"; hence Matthew 11: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened," etc. Hence because they sought devoutly, they found, according to that passage of Wisdom 1: "Seek him in simplicity of heart."
And because perfect devotion not only causes one to seek, but to hold fast to what has been found, therefore it is added: And they detained him, lest he should depart from them, according to that passage in Song of Songs 3: "I found him whom my soul loves: I held him and will not let him go," etc. Nor is this surprising, because, Proverbs 3, "she is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her, and whoever holds her fast is blessed." Whence they could say that word of the holy soul in the Psalm: "Do not forsake me, O Lord; my God, do not depart from me." In this it is shown that Christ neither sought honor before they offered it, nor even once it was offered, because he was detained as if by force. - The figure of this preceded in Genesis 32: "Let me go, for the dawn is breaking," which the Angel said to Jacob.
96. (Verse 43.). Third, flattery is excluded in that which is added: And he said to them: To other cities also I must preach the kingdom of God. He does not flatter them, but shows that he cares equally for all; whence he could say that word of 1 Thessalonians 2: "Neither were we found in words of flattery, nor seeking glory from men, neither from you nor from others." For he did not seek to please men, but God; and therefore he says: I must preach the gospel, because this is the will of the Father; whence he adds: For therefore I am sent; Isaiah 61: "He has sent me to preach the gospel to the poor." And therefore it was necessary, because in John 14 it is said: "As the Father has given me commandment, so I do." Moreover he had been sent to preach the gospel to the poor, according to what is said in the authority cited above in Isaiah. He was also sent to preach the gospel of the kingdom of God, as is said here. And therefore it is gathered that he had been sent to preach the kingdom of God to the poor. Whence Matthew 5: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven"; and truly theirs, because, in chapter 19, "it is hard for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of heaven." Because no one can possess that kingdom unless he despises the earthly one, and riches are with difficulty despised by those who possess them, therefore they acquire with difficulty what has been promised to the poor.
97. (Verse 44.). Fourth, respect of persons is excluded in that which follows: And he was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee, namely to all without distinction: Matthew 9: "Jesus went about all the cities and towns, teaching in their synagogues." This it befits a good preacher to do, according to that passage in Proverbs 5: "Let your fountains be dispersed abroad, and in the streets divide your waters"; and Isaiah 32: "Blessed are you who sow beside all waters." "The seed, however, is the word of God," below in chapter 8. Whence the good preacher, an imitator of Christ, ought to be a common person, as Paul says in Romans 1: "To Greeks and barbarians, to the wise and the foolish I am a debtor, so that, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you also who are at Rome."
This was signified in Zechariah 6 by the horses bearing the chariot, that is, the evangelical law, where it is said that these are they whom the Lord sent to "traverse the earth"; whence at the end of Matthew it is said to the preachers: "Go, teach all nations"; and at the end of Mark: "Go into the whole world, preach the Gospel to every creature."
98. From the foregoing it is gathered that a good preacher, if he is accepted by men, in order that he may be accepted by God and His Angels, ought to be free from ostentation in outward sign, from ambition in spirit, from flattery in word, from respect of persons in deed or practice. And the Apostle touches upon these four in 2 Corinthians 2: "We are not," he says, "as many, adulterating the word of God"; which is done in the four ways aforesaid: "but from sincerity," without respect of persons, "as from God," without ambition, "before God," without ostentation, "we speak in Christ," without flattery: for Christ is the truth.