13. (Vers. 7.). Nevertheless, Jewish perfidy was to be confuted on account of the observance of malice, by reason of which he says: But the scribes and Pharisees were watching whether he would heal on the Sabbath. Whence was fulfilled in them that word of the Psalm: "All their thoughts are unto evil; they shall dwell and hide themselves: they themselves shall watch my heel."
This observation was insidious, which pertains to a malicious mind, according to that word of Jeremiah 9: "In his mouth he speaks peace with his friend, and secretly he lays snares for him." And therefore it is added: That they might find something of which to accuse him . Whence these men were saying that word of the Babylonians, Daniel 6: "We shall not find any occasion against this man unless perhaps in the law of his God." On this day therefore they were especially watching, as Bede says, "so that, if he did not heal, they might charge him with cruelty or weakness; but if he did heal, with transgression." But certainly they find neither, because when he heals, he shows himself merciful; and when he does not heal, just; whence John 9: "Unless this man were from God, he could do nothing." And therefore Jeremiah 2: "What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they have gone far from me?" as if to say: nothing, because he is the one of whom Isaiah 53 says: "He committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth." Therefore he himself said, John 8: "Which of you shall convict me of sin? If I speak the truth to you, why do you not believe me?"
14. (Vers. 8.). But he himself knew their thoughts. After the opportunity of the miraculous work, there is added here the sublimity of the wondrous worker with respect to three things, namely with respect to the wisdom of discerning in the heart, the prudence of questioning in speech, and the efficacy of healing in deed.
First therefore, through wisdom in the heart he apprehended their thoughts, which he notes when he says: But he himself knew their thoughts: and truly so, because the Lord is most wise; whence in the Psalm: "The Lord knows the thoughts of men, that they are vain." And therefore their thoughts were open to the eyes of God; on account of which Isaiah 1 says: "Take away the evil of your thoughts from before my eyes"; whence also John 16: "The disciples said to him: Now we know that you know all things, and there is no need for anyone to question you." Nor is this surprising, because he is the one of whom Jeremiah 17 says: "I the Lord, searching hearts and reins, who give to each one according to his way."
15. As testimony of this, to show himself the knower of hearts, he commands this man who is to be healed to rise into the midst, when he adds: And he said to the man who had the withered hand; on whose account they were thinking proud thoughts, so that there could be said to them that word of Ecclesiasticus 37: "O most wicked presumption! Whence were you created, to cover the dry land with malice?" Rise and stand in the midst, that is, in a conspicuous place, so that all might know that their thoughts had been detected, according to that word of Ecclesiasticus 1: "Do not approach him with a double heart"; "lest God reveal your hidden things and cast you down in the midst of the synagogue"; because, according to what is said in Proverbs 26, "he who covers hatred fraudulently, his malice shall be manifested in the assembly."
And rising up, he stood, not fearing the indignation of the Pharisees. For he was saying within himself that word of Job 17: "Deliver me, O Lord, and set me beside you, and let the hand of anyone fight against me"; and again that word of the Psalm: "If armies should stand against me, my heart shall not fear"; whence, strengthened by the Lord's command, he stood secure. Nor is this strange, because to him can rightly be said that word of Job 4: "Behold, you have taught many and have strengthened weary hands"; whence he could say that word of Daniel 10: "And when he spoke to me, I recovered strength and said: Speak, my Lord, for you have strengthened me."
16. (Verse 9). Secondly, by prudence in speech he was turning aside their machinations; on account of which is added: And Jesus said to them: I ask you.
But the contrary of this seems to be said in Matthew 12, where it is said that they were asking the Lord: "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"
To which Augustine responds, in On the Harmony of the Evangelists, that first they asked, and the Lord replied to them. Or it can be that the form of questioning follows the interior thought. Matthew understands that in the ears of God to think is to speak, and to doubt is to question.
And he poses a careful question: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good, or to do evil: to save a life, or to destroy it? He asks this not as something doubtful, but as something indubitably true, so that one part of the disjunction must be granted. For it is established that on the Sabbath it is lawful either to do good or not to do good; to save a life, or not to save, because between contradictory opposites there is no middle ground. But not to do good, when there is occasion and opportunity, is to neglect the good, and this is to do evil. Therefore this is a certain and true disjunction, of which it is necessary to grant one part; but they cannot grant this part: that it is lawful to do evil, or to destroy a life. It remains, therefore, that by this question they are refuted, namely that it is lawful on the Sabbath to do good and to heal a life; and thus they could not respond. Whence was fulfilled that word of Job 9: "If he should suddenly question, who will answer him? Or who can say to him: Why do you act thus?" And therefore Romans 9: "O man! Who are you to answer back to God?" Whence it is said in Job 9 that "he cannot answer him one thing out of a thousand." In Matthew 12, however, this disjunction is not proposed in this way, but the other part is sought and proved from the lesser through the freeing of a sheep from a pit; much more, therefore, must a man be freed, of whom it is said in the Psalm: "You have subjected all things under his feet," etc.
17. (Verse 10). Third, however, through efficacy in deed he overthrew their presumptions; on account of which it is added: And looking around at all of them, as though already confounded, so that he could now say that word of Job 17: "Therefore turn and come, and I shall not find among you any wise man." — And because no one could contradict, for the confirmation of the truth it is added: He said to the man: Stretch out your hand. — And since "his word is full of power," as is said in Ecclesiastes 8, therefore it is added: And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored to health: in which the Lord showed that he is Lord of the Law and of the Sabbath. For he it was who healed the hand of Moses, in Exodus 4, by his command alone; he it was also who withered and again healed the hand of Jeroboam, the idolatrous king of Israel, as is told in 3 Kings 13; he, I say, is the one of whom it is said that "he wounds and he heals, he strikes, and his hands shall heal"; of whom it is said in the Psalm: "Who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your infirmities"; and this by his word alone, so that it may be made manifest that he is the one of whom Wisdom 16 says: "Your word, O Lord, healed them, who heals all things." For just as the Father made all things through the uncreated Word, so through the incarnate Word, as Augustine says, he remade all things.
18. (Verse 11). But they were filled with madness. Here, third, the pitiable perversity of the people is touched upon, who were thereby obstinate in evil whence they ought to have been raised to good. This perversity, moreover, is shown in three things, namely in the blindness of the heart, the conspiracy of the mouth, and the persecution of deed.
As for the blinding of the heart, it is said: But they were filled with foolishness, that is, with the blindness of malice: Wisdom 2: "They thought these things and erred, for their malice blinded them." For with this they were indeed filled and were made foolish by the just judgment of God, according to that passage in Romans 1: "God delivered them over to a reprobate sense"; "filled with all iniquity, malice, avarice, wickedness: full of envy, murder, deceit, malignity." For with this envy they were blinded, because "wise is he to whom things are savored as they are"; but the envious person is tormented by another's happiness. Such were these men; whence that passage from Baruch 3 was fitting for them: "Because they did not have wisdom, they perished on account of their foolishness." But this fullness of foolishness is true emptiness, because " the riches of salvation are wisdom and knowledge "; therefore, by contraries, foolishness is poverty: therefore it is said in Proverbs 19: "Better is the poor man walking in his simplicity than the rich man who twists his lips and is foolish."
19. As for the conspiracy of the mouth, it is added: And they spoke with one another, provoking one another to evil by mutual speech. Thus they did in John 11: "The chief priests and Pharisees gathered a council and said: What do we do?" etc. This counsel was figurally preceded in the brothers of Joseph: Genesis 37: "They spoke to one another, saying: Behold, the dreamer comes; come, let us kill him." This counsel was impious; therefore Genesis 49: "Let not my soul come into their counsel"; Jeremiah 18: "You know all their counsel against me unto death; do not be propitious to their iniquities."
20. As for the persecution of deed, it is added: What they might do to Jesus, that is, how they might hand him over to death—which they also did, although not immediately, according to that passage in John 7: "No one laid hands on him, because his hour had not yet come." But nevertheless they did so afterward, as is said in Acts 3: "You killed the Author of life and asked that a murderer be granted to you." Whence the Savior himself could say that passage from Jeremiah 11: "But you, O Lord, have shown me, and I knew their counsels. And I was like a meek lamb that is carried to the slaughter, and I did not know that they devised counsels, saying: Let us cast wood into his bread," etc.
21. Spiritually it is to be understood that dryness in the soul is a defect of vigor on account of the absence of grace, according to that passage in John 15: "If anyone does not abide in me, he shall be cast out like the branch and shall wither." But this dryness is introduced from seven causes according to the seven capital sins. Whence note that there is a dryness of pride, or arising from pride: Ecclesiasticus 10: "The Lord dried up the roots of proud nations."
And of envy: James 1: "The sun rose with its burning heat and dried up the grass"; and in the Psalm: "Let them become like the grass of the housetops."
And of wrath, concerning which Mark chapter nine says of the demoniac who "foams and gnashes his teeth and withers away." — And of sloth: Proverbs chapter seventeen: "A sorrowful spirit dries up the bones"; Numbers chapter eleven: "Our soul is dried up," "it is nauseated by this most light food." — And of avarice: Sirach chapter fourteen: "The eye of the covetous man is insatiable in the portion of iniquity; he shall not be satisfied until he consumes, withering his own soul." — And of gluttony: Nahum chapter one: "The banquet of those drinking together shall be consumed like stubble full of dryness." — And of lust: The Psalm: "My bones are burned as a hearth; I am struck like grass, and my heart has withered," etc.; "All flesh is grass," Isaiah chapter forty; and Job chapter thirty: "My skin is blackened upon me, and my bones are dried up."
22. Thus therefore from seven causes spiritual dryness is understood, which is also sevenfold: namely, dryness of the heart for thinking well: Isaiah chapter twenty-one: "My heart has withered; darkness has stupefied me."
And dryness of the mouth for desiring: Judith chapter seven: "Our end will be brief by the mouth of the sword, which becomes longer in the dryness of thirst." — And of the word for teaching: Hosea chapter nine: "Give them, O Lord, a womb without children and dry breasts."
And dryness of the arm for working: Zechariah chapter eleven: "His arm shall be dried up with dryness."
And dryness of the hand for giving generously: Job chapter fifteen: "Before his days are fulfilled, he shall perish, and his hand shall wither."
And of the skin for conducting oneself: Job chapter seven: "My skin is dried up and shrunken."
There is lastly dryness of strength for enduring; the Psalm: "My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue has cleaved to my jaws."
23. Now this sick man having a withered hand signifies the dryness of avarice, which is healed when by divine command the hand is extended to give alms generously, according to that passage in the last chapter of Proverbs: "She opened her hand to the needy and extended her palms to the poor." And that extension obtains the vigor of grace, according to that passage in Sirach chapter seventeen: "The alms of a man is as a purse with him, and it shall preserve the grace of a man as the apple of the eye."