"And because it is not sufficient to leave one's own things, since some philosophers did this," it is added: They followed him. Whence Peter, in Matthew nineteen: "Behold, we have left all things and followed you," namely through the counsels; Job twenty-three: "My foot has followed his steps"; because "it is a great glory to follow the Lord," Sirach twenty-three: thus Elisha followed Elijah, Third Kings nineteen.
23. And note that there appears to be a contradiction between Luke, Matthew, and John regarding place, regarding time, regarding manner: because John says by the Jordan and before the coming into Galilee and individually: but these, Matthew and Luke, say they were called after the coming, in Galilee, and together. — And therefore it should be understood that these disciples were called once to simple acquaintance, and of this John one speaks: secondly to familiarity, and of this it is spoken here, because they still returned, as the Gloss says; thirdly to discipleship or apostleship, and of this is spoken in Matthew four and Mark one: and therefore there is no contradiction or diversity in places and times and other circumstances.
24. And it happened, when he was in one of the cities, etc. After the calling of the disciples, he here adds their confirmation through miracles. And this part has two sections. In the first, the miracle of the healing of the leper is introduced: in the second, the liberation of the paralytic, at: And it happened on one of the days.
Concerning the miracle of the healing of the leper, three things are introduced. The first is the working of the miracle. The second is the instruction of the leper, at: And he commanded him, etc. The third is the edification of the people, at: But the report about him spread all the more, etc.
Concerning the working of the miracle, three things are to be noted, namely the pitiable infection of the disease, the commendable devotion of the sick man, and the admirable operation of the physician.
25. (Vers. 12.). First, therefore, the miserable infection of the disease is touched upon, when it says: And it happened, when he was in one of the cities: because the disease was public and perpetual: public, because in a city, where many gather, and thus the infirmity was known to many. And it should be noted that he is said to have been in the city, because he was near the city. For in Matthew chapter eight it is said of this leper that he healed him on the descent from the mountain; whence it can be taken here, as below in chapter thirteen: "It cannot be that a prophet perish outside Jerusalem"; because, as is said in Hebrews chapter thirteen, Christ "suffered outside the gate."
The disease was also perpetual: whence he also adds: Behold, a man full of leprosy, which is an incurable infirmity, especially when it is deep-rooted. Whence that saying of Isaiah chapter one could apply to him: "From the sole of the foot to the top of the head there is no soundness in him." He was also similar to Job, of whom in chapter two: "Satan struck Job with a most grievous sore, from the sole of the foot to the top of the head, who scraped the corruption with a potsherd."
26. Second, the commendable devotion of the leper is intimated, when it says: And seeing Jesus, because by seeing he adored and praised. - He adored by sign, when it says: And falling on his face, which is the manner of those who adore, as in the Psalm: "Come, let us adore and fall down" etc.; and this the devil demanded, in Matthew chapter four: "All these things I will give you, if falling down you adore me." Whence by this sign he professed that he was the Son of God, like that blind man, of whom in John chapter nine: "Do you believe in the Son of God? Who is he, Lord?" etc.: and afterwards it follows: "I believe, Lord. And falling down he adored him."
And note that he is said to have fallen on his face, which is a good sign: as is said of Moses and Aaron in Numbers chapter twenty, that they fell on their faces before the Lord: not like Eli, in First Kings chapter four: "Eli fell from his seat backwards " etc.
27. He also praised or professed by word, which is noted when it adds: He besought him saying: Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. In this, that he beseeches, he intimates generosity: Job chapter twenty-two: "You shall beseech him, and he will hear you." In this, that he says: Lord, he intimates dignity: Esther chapter thirteen: "Lord, all things are placed in your dominion." In this, that he adds: you can make me clean, he intimates the faculty of power; Wisdom chapter twelve: "Power is at your disposal whenever you will." And this is what Job said to the Lord, in chapter fourteen: "Who can make clean one conceived of unclean seed? Is it not you, who alone are?" And therefore he could say: "You shall sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed" etc.
28. (Vers. 13.). Third, the operation of the physician is added, when it says: Extending his hand, he touched him saying etc., which indeed was admirable both by reason of clemency, and by reason of power, and by reason of efficacy.
On account of clemency he says: He touched him: for although he could have healed by word alone, he preferred to touch, in order to show his benevolence: whence Proverbs, last chapter: "She opened her hand to the needy." Whence this man could no longer murmur against Christ, as Naaman did against Elisha: Fourth Kings, chapter five: "I thought that he would come out to me and touch the place of leprosy with his hand and heal me." But certainly there is no contradiction between the Prophet and the Lord, because the Prophet was subject to the Law, and therefore did not wish to touch, lest according to the Law he become unclean: but the Savior was above the Law, and therefore according to the Law he did not contract uncleanness and was able to abolish the Law, and therefore he touched. - To intimate his power, there is added: Saying: I will, be cleansed. In this he asserts that he wills, and commands that the man be cleansed, because he is of such great power that to will is for him to be able to do: Isaiah, chapter forty-six: "My counsel shall stand, and all my will shall be done." But he willed his cleansing not so much bodily as spiritual: whence First Thessalonians, chapter four: "This is the will of God: your sanctification." - To intimate the efficacy, he adds: And immediately the leprosy departed from him, so that there was nothing between the word and the deed; "for he spoke, and they were made." By word therefore and by touch he healed, in order to show himself the Word made flesh: by word also and by touch he healed, in order to heal interiorly and exteriorly: whence John, chapter seven: "I have made a whole man sound," etc. And in testimony of this, word and element concur equally in the Sacrament.
29. (Vers. 14.). And he commanded him to tell no one. After the cure of the disease, the Evangelist here subjoins the instruction of the one cured. But Christ teaches the cured leper, and in him anyone else, three things: the first is that the proclamation of praise is not to be sought: the second, that the office of the priest is not to be despised: the third is that the commandment of the Law is not to be passed over. The first of these directs the intention: the second, the affection: and the third regulates the action.
He instructs therefore first that the proclamation of praise is not to be sought, when he says: And he commanded him to tell no one. He does not say this because he wished that the man would not speak, since the man preached this everywhere, as is said in Mark, chapter one; but he instructs by his own example to avoid praise. Whence Bede: "He gives an example so that his own, in the great things they do, may wish to be hidden; but that they may benefit others, they are revealed against their will." Ambrose also says this in the Gloss.
30. Whence note that there is a precept of execution, as in Exodus, chapter twenty: "Honor your father"; and of testing, as the precept to Abraham concerning the immolation of his son, Genesis, chapter twenty-two; and a precept of instruction, as here. Whence this man did not sin when he spread abroad his name.
Chrysostom, however, says that it was a command, but for a time, out of caution, lest, if perchance the priests heard that he had been healed by Christ, they would not receive him as clean when he presented himself to them, on account of the hatred they bore toward Christ.
The first interpretation, however, seems more correct, because He commanded this to other sick persons, who nevertheless did not observe it, according to what is said in Mark 7 concerning the deaf and mute man who was healed: "The more He commanded them, the more they proclaimed it." And rightly so, because, according to what is said in 2 Corinthians 12, "I ought to have been commended by you"; yet no one ought to praise himself unless compelled by the necessity of another. Hence the Apostle: "I have become foolish; you compelled me." Therefore he said that he had become foolish, because he seemed to have acted against the counsel of the wise man: Proverbs 27: "Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips."
31. He also teaches, secondly, that the office of the priest is not to be despised, when He adds: But go, show yourself to the priests, because their office was, according to the Law, to expel lepers and to receive those who had been cleansed, as is stated in Leviticus 13 and 14 throughout nearly the whole of those chapters. Now this office of discerning leprosy was committed to the priests, although it might seem to pertain more to physicians, because to them the wounds of mortal sins, which are signified by leprosy, are to be shown in the time of revealed truth, according to that passage in Ecclesiasticus 18: "In the time of sickness, show your manner of life," because, as is said in Proverbs 28, "he who conceals his crimes shall not prosper"; hence, although the Lord cleanses through interior contrition, He nonetheless binds one to sacramental confession. In this command, moreover, He teaches that the priestly office is to be venerated by all, and that it is necessary for the healing of sins. And this is the principal reason for this command. There are, however, also other reasons: namely, that they might be moved to good, having seen the miracle of the certain healing of the leper; and that they might be witnesses of the miracle; and lest He should seem to oppose them; and that the priestly dignity of Christ and the grace of the New Testament and priesthood might become known to them, which can not only show one who has been healed, but also heal.
32. He instructs thirdly that the precept of the Law is not to be disregarded, when he adds: And offer for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, as in Leviticus 14, cleansed lepers are commanded to offer two living sparrows and a cake of bread and a measure of oil. These were ceremonial matters, and yet the Savior wished them to be offered, in order to show that the Law is good and divinely given, against the perfidy of the Manicheans: Romans 7: "The Law indeed is holy, and the commandment holy, just, and good"; and this, because they still remained in force, since the truth had not yet been revealed: whence the Interlinear Gloss says that "the signs ought not to be taken away unless the things signified have first come." - But those signs of the Law did not give health, but showed it and confirmed it by testimony: and therefore he adds: For a testimony to them: which can be read in two ways: offer to them for a testimony, namely of your healing; or: offer, so that this may be to them for a testimony that you have been healed, and so that they may no longer be able to harm you, since they will have received from you testimonial gifts. And note that this phrase for a testimony to them does not refer to the precept of Moses, but of the Lord. Whence Chrysostom: "Do not understand it as though Moses commanded for a testimony to them, but rather: go and offer for a testimony to them," so that he might receive from them a testimony before the people. For, as is said in 1 Timothy 3, "it is necessary for the Saints to have a good testimony from those who are outside." Whence also the wondrous work of Christ ought to be approved by the testimony of those who lay in wait, for the perfect establishment of faith and its strengthening.
33. (Verse 15.) But the word went abroad all the more, etc. After the Evangelist has described the healing of the disease and the instruction of the one healed, here thirdly he adds the magnification of the name of Christ, so that from all these things the disciples may be confirmed in faith and love of Christ. The magnification of the name of Christ is therefore described as renowned, as fruitful, as powerful.
First, therefore, the magnification of the name of Christ is described here as renowned, when it is said: But the word went abroad all the more concerning him, namely Christ, the word of his praise with respect to his knowledge and powers. Nor is it surprising if the fame of the Master was spreading, since of his disciples it is said in the Psalm: "Their sound has gone forth into all the earth." A figure of this preceded in Judas Maccabeus, of whom it is said in 1 Maccabees 3 that "he was made like a lion in his works"; and afterwards it is added that "he was renowned even to the ends of the earth."
34. Then the fruitful magnification of the name of Christ is shown, when it is added: And great multitudes came together to hear: namely for the instruction of the mind, because it is written in Sirach 6: "If you love to hear, you will be wise"; and James 1: "You know, my brothers: Let every man be swift to hear."
They were also coming together on account of the cure on the part of the body; and therefore he adds: And they were healed of their infirmities. On account of which Isaiah was proclaiming in the fifty-third chapter: "Truly he himself bore our weaknesses, and he himself carried our infirmities." And therefore they were acting rightly according to the counsel of the Wise Man, Ecclesiasticus thirty-eight: "My son, in your infirmity do not despise yourself, but pray to the Lord, and he will heal you." - This therefore was the perfect benefit on the part of the soul and body, which came from the fame of the name of Christ. For Christ himself is "the power of God and the wisdom of God"; and therefore those who come to him are illuminated through wisdom and healed through power. And therefore it is said in the Psalm: "Come to him and be enlightened, and your faces shall not be confounded"; and therefore Isaiah forty-nine: "I have given you as a light to the nations, that you may be my salvation unto the end of the earth."
35. (Verse 16.). Lastly it is shown to be virtuous, when it is added: But he himself withdrew into the desert and prayed: because he was not seeking human glory and fame, but was fleeing it, according to that passage in Matthew fourteen: "And having dismissed the crowd, he went up onto the mountain alone to pray." In this he was giving us a model of withdrawing from the world and drawing near to God: on account of which the Apostle said in Galatians one: "If I were still pleasing men, I would not be a servant of Christ." And therefore, for prayer to be pleasing to God, it ought not to be public in the marketplace, but hidden in the desert; whence Matthew six: "But you, when you pray, enter your chamber." And this is what Bernard says in the Canticles: "O holy soul, be alone, so that you may keep yourself for him alone out of all, whom you have chosen for yourself out of all. Flee the public, flee even your own household, withdraw from friends and intimates and from him who ministers to you. Do you not know that you have a modest bridegroom, one who will by no means grant you his presence while others are present? Withdraw therefore, but in mind, not in body: but in intention, but in devotion, but in spirit: although also in body you do not unprofitably separate yourself at times, especially in the time of prayer."
36. For the elucidation of the aforesaid miracle, two things are to be understood here. For first it is necessary to open up the hidden spiritual understanding, then to resolve the apparent controversy.