To this Bede responds that these "are not the wishes of those desiring, but predictions of future events"; or they were not angered against nature, but against vice. For as Augustine says: "Men are to be loved in such a way that nevertheless their errors are not loved." Thus he gives the commandment of perfect benevolence, which consists not only in the heart, but also in deed and speech. Whence Gregory: "Concerning the love of the Creator, let tongue, mind, and hand be required."
Concerning this commandment of benevolence, it should be noted in summary that as regards affection it binds all universally; as regards the sign it binds the perfect; as regards the effect, in the moment of necessity it binds all, but short of necessity it does not bind the imperfect, except insofar as the obligation of some precept requires. The perfect however by the state of prelacy it binds insofar as the obligation of the office assumed requires; the perfect by the state of perfection, insofar as the obligation of good example requires; the perfect however by the perfection of virtue, insofar as the intensity of charity requires.
68. (Vers. 29.). Second, he gives the commandment concerning perfect patience, when he adds: And whoever strikes you on one cheek, that is, inflicting injury upon the person: and he puts cheek for the nobler part of the body, which when struck, the greatest injury is inflicted: whence Job 16: "They have opened their mouths against me; reproaching, they struck my cheek." For such and so great an injury, vengeance is not to be exacted, but patience is to be shown: whence he adds: Offer also the other, namely the cheek, that is, be prepared to endure another blow, by the example of the Master, of whom Lamentations 3 says: "He will give his cheek to the one who strikes him; he will be filled with reproaches"; he will give indeed, not by inviting the blow, but by not putting up a defense, according to that in Romans 12: "Do not defend yourselves, beloved, but give place to wrath."
69. Hence in this commandment what is prohibited is lustful defensiveness, not charitable correction, since it is said in Matthew eighteen: "If your brother sins against you, go and correct him," etc. And the example of this is in Christ, in John eighteen: "One of the officers standing by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand"; and it is added: "Jesus answered him: If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if well, why do you strike me"? Hence Augustine in a certain sermon on the Words of the Lord: "If you suffer an injury and remain silent and do not correct your neighbor, you sin more by your negligence than he does by his affliction."
By this commandment also, lay persons are not barred from the defense of themselves or of others: hence Paul, in Acts twenty-three, requested soldiers so that he might be kept unharmed. Hence Augustine in the first book of the City of God, expounding that precept of Exodus twenty: Thou shalt not kill, says that "those who waged wars by the authority of God and punished criminals according to the laws did not act against this precept." Hence the canon: "The fortitude which protects the fatherland from barbarians, or defends the weak at home, or companions from robbers, is full justice." Hence Augustine to Marcellinus: "These precepts of patience are to be retained in the preparation of the heart: for that very benevolence, that evil not be rendered for evil, must always be fulfilled in the will of the heart. Yet many things must be done even with those unwilling, who are to be chastised with a certain kind severity, whose welfare rather than whose will must be consulted." Thus therefore the commandment concerning showing patience to the one who injures one's own person is to be understood.
70. Patience must also be shown to the one who injures in regard to a possessed thing, on account of which he adds: And from him who takes away your garment, namely the outer garment, through injury, like those of whom Job twenty-four says: "They send men away naked, taking away their garments"; and Micah two: "You have taken away the cloak from over the tunic." To such a one injuring thus, patience must be shown: hence he adds: Do not withhold even the tunic, namely by quarreling or contradicting, following the example of the Savior, of whom it is said in the Psalm: "They divided my garments among them," etc., that is, without resistance and contradiction. In this commandment likewise it is to be understood that contention or the desire for revenge is prohibited. Hence Augustine to Marcellinus: "One must beware lest through the desire for revenge patience itself be lost, which must be valued more highly than everything which an enemy can take away against one's will."
In sum, what must be held here concerning the precept of patience is that the correction of one's neighbor is not prohibited here, nor the impediment or prohibition of evil, nor the punishment of a crime perpetrated by one who can and ought to do so, such as the minister of the law: but what is prohibited and restrained here is the desire for revenge, both with respect to the hand and with respect to outward sign and with respect to the mind. And in this the Evangelist adds above the Law, which he perfects and consummates according to its spiritual understanding.
71. (Vers. 30.). Third, he gives a commandment concerning perfect beneficence, when he adds: But give to everyone who asks of you. This is a general commandment with respect to every person and every gift, whether of service, or of loan, or of another present. And to one's neighbor must be given the gift of outward relief, according to that passage of Deuteronomy 15: "I command you to open your hand to your needy and poor brother"; and Exodus 23: "If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under a burden, you shall not pass by, but shall lift it up with him." And of inward compassion: Isaiah 58: "When you pour out your soul to the hungry" etc.; and Colossians 3: "Put on, as the elect of God, bowels of mercy, bearing with one another and forgiving one another" etc. And also the gift of sweet speech: Ecclesiasticus 18: "Will not the dew cool the heat? So also a word is better than a gift."
72. To the two following all are obligated; but to the first are obligated especially the rich, or those who have the means to relieve another's need: 1 Timothy, the last chapter: "Command the rich of this world not to be high-minded, but to do good, to be rich in good works, to give readily, to share, to lay up for themselves a good foundation for the future, that they may lay hold on true life."
73. It also obliges with respect to every person, considering nature and necessity, but not weighing vice; whence it does not contradict what is said in Ecclesiasticus 12: "Give to the good, and do not receive the sinner; do good to the humble, and do not give to the ungodly"; it says this: because he is a sinner or ungodly. Whence one should not give to actors by reason of their profession, because, as Jerome says, "to give to mimes and actors is nothing other than to sacrifice to demons." If, however, they are placed in necessity, one must give to them, because they are created in the image of God and because they are our brothers; whence 1 John 3: "He who sees his brother having need, and shuts his bowels from him, how does the love of God abide in him?"
74. And because this commandment of beneficence extends to all without exception, he therefore specifies even concerning those who do injury, when he adds: And from him who takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. The Gloss: "With litigation or contention," which comes from cupidity. Isaiah fifty-eight: "Behold, in the day of your fast your own will is found, and you demand payment from all your debtors. Behold, you fast unto strife and contention." Ecclesiasticus thirty-one: "Do not speak words of reproach to your neighbor, and do not press him in demanding repayment." This however occurs when one brings a case before a foreign or unbelieving judge; on account of which, First Corinthians six: "Brother contends against brother in judgment, and this before unbelievers? Why do you not rather suffer fraud?" He does not say this, however, because it is in no case permitted to demand back, but to show that we ought to love our neighbor and his salvation more than a temporal thing. Whence Gregory: "When peace of heart with one's neighbor is broken for the sake of an earthly thing, it is apparent that the thing is loved more than the neighbor."
75. Whence note that demanding back happens in three ways, namely from cupidity, from zeal for justice, and from fear of ruin. The first belongs to the wicked, not to the just who possess charity, according to that saying of First Corinthians thirteen: "Charity does not seek the things that are its own"; the Gloss: "It does not demand back what has been taken away," namely from a love of cupidity for the thing.
There is again demanding back from zeal for justice: and in this way it is permitted to the perfect who hold property in common, in the name of the community; but to the perfect who have property neither in common nor individually, it is not permitted to them to demand back, but only to those who have ownership of those things of which they themselves have the use. He demands back from zeal for justice who intends to look after the salvation of the one who seizes, and the restraint of another's cupidity, and the peace of the universal Church. Whence Gregory: "There ought to be concern not only lest they take away what is ours, but lest those seizing what is not theirs destroy themselves." He also demands back from zeal for justice who intends to defend his own right, or that of a person, or of the Church, or of some associated community, especially when he is bound by reason to defend it.
Third, there is demanding back from fear of ruin, namely lest on account of poverty and want they fall into sin; and thus this pertains to the weak. Whence the Wise Man prayed in the person of such people, Proverbs thirty: "Give me neither riches nor poverty; grant only what is necessary for my sustenance, lest perhaps being sated I be enticed to deny and say: Who is the Lord? or being driven by want I steal and perjure the name of my God."
He wishes therefore in this commandment to say that a man should be prepared to do good to all, not only to his benefactors, but even to those who plunder him.
76. (Vers. 31.) For the perfection of benevolence it is also required that a person do good in all things: whence it is added: And as you wish that people would do to you, do also to them likewise. And note that he does not say: as they do, but: as you wish, because everyone wishes, when he is in need, to have good done to him and to be relieved in every necessity: Proverbs twenty-four: "Do not say: As he has done to me, so will I do to him, and I will render to each one according to his work." In this commandment is the fulfillment of the natural law, whose one negative part is set forth in Tobit four and is implied here: "What you would hate to have done to you by another, see that you never do to another." He wills therefore that we always do good, when we can, to everyone, just as we are ready to wish to receive, according to that passage in Galatians, the last chapter: "Let us not grow weary in doing good," etc. — And note that he does not say: do as people wish, but: as you wish; both because our own will is better known to us; and also because consideration of ourselves moves us more; and also because he speaks to those who have a rightly ordered will, and according to that will one must act.
In summary, it must be held concerning the precept of beneficence in general that it binds only insofar as it is made explicit through the specific obligations of precepts; and therefore above the law of nature the written law was added, so that through it a person might know to what he was bound by justice.
77. And if you love those etc. After he promulgated the evangelical laws under fitting perfection, here secondly he proves from a deficient condition, where he shows that he had to command according to the aforementioned manner: otherwise there is no merit before God. Whence he shows here three things, namely that it does not suffice for merit to be benevolent toward those who love us, nor beneficent only toward those who repay, nor generous toward those who recompense. And in this he shows that perfect benevolence and beneficence ought to extend not only to friends, but also to adversaries according to the form promulgated above.
78. (Verse 32.). He shows therefore first that it does not suffice to be benevolent only toward those who love us, because this is characteristic of sinners: on account of which he says: And if you love those who love you, that is, because they love you, what credit is there for you? that is, what merit worthy of recompense? As if to say: none. And he gives the reason: For sinners also love those who love them, who have no merit before God; for this is natural, according to that passage in Ecclesiasticus thirteen: "Every animal loves its like, so also every man his neighbor" etc.; or even carnal, as in Ecclesiasticus thirty-seven: "A companion sympathizes with a friend for the sake of his belly, and against the enemy he will take up the shield." Such love has no merit before God, because it is not bestowed on account of God. For if it were bestowed on account of God, a person would certainly love those who love him, according to that passage in Proverbs eight: "I love those who love me"; even to those less loving him he would repay with greater love, according to that passage in Second Corinthians twelve: "But I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls, even though, loving you more, I am loved less"; likewise, those in no way even loving him he would also love, according to that passage in First John four: "In this the charity of God appeared, not that we loved God, but that he first loved us"; and Romans five: "But God commends his charity toward us, because while we were still sinners, Christ died for the ungodly." — Whence when it extends only to those who love us, it is not divine nor gratuitous love, but mercenary and human, and therefore not worthy of recompense.
79. (Verse 33.). It is also not sufficient to be beneficent toward those who repay, because this is also characteristic of worldly people themselves: on account of which he adds: And if you do good to those who do good to you: the Gloss says: "That is, for the reason that they do good"; what thanks is there to you? that is, what merit? as if to say: none. And the reason is given: Since even sinners do this; for a benefit done in exchange for recompense is not gratuitous but mercenary, and therefore neither is it acceptable. Whence Ecclesiasticus 20: "The gift of a fool shall be unprofitable to you: for his eyes are sevenfold: he will give little and upbraid much." But that which is given freely and cheerfully, that is acceptable, according to 2 Corinthians 9: "Everyone as he has determined in his heart, not out of sadness or out of necessity: for God loves a cheerful giver." If therefore to do good to those who do good is merely a debt, to do good to those who do not do good appears gratuitous, then to do evil to those who do good is inhuman and most cruel: which indeed the sinner does when he offends God; according to what is said in 2 Paralipomenon 32 concerning Hezekiah, that "he did not render according to the benefits which he had received from God, because his heart was lifted up." Whence Christ can say that word of the Psalm: "They repaid me evil for good," and the sinner can say to Christ that word of 1 Kings 24: "You have rendered good to me, and I have rendered evil to you." And by that very fact, if he wishes to be reconciled to the Lord, it is necessary that he himself do good not only to one who does good, but also to an adversary: and such is the benefit of charity, according to 1 Corinthians 13: "Charity is patient, is kind."
80. (Vers. 34.). Nor is it sufficient to be generous toward those who repay, because this is the way of usurers themselves; whence he also adds: And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, namely repayment: what thanks is it to you? As if to say: none. And he shows this: For sinners also lend to sinners, that is, they lend at interest; whence he adds: That they may receive the equivalent, namely for the service, not only for the debt. And because they receive their reward, they have no merit before God: whence in the Psalm: "Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord?" and it is added: "He who has not given his money at usury nor accepted bribes against the innocent." Otherwise he does not ascend the mountain of the Lord: whence in Ezekiel eighteen, he is justified of whom it is said: "He who has not lent at usury nor taken increase"; and conversely, he who takes increase is condemned in the same place. Whence to such people can be said that word of Haggai one: "You looked for more, and behold, it became less," because in the Psalm it is said: "The men of riches found nothing in their hands." Such usurers are counted among sinners, because they are oppressors of others; whence Proverbs twenty-two: "He who borrows is the servant of the lender." And therefore it is forbidden in Exodus twenty-two: "If you lend money to a poor man, you shall not press him as an exactor nor oppress him with usury."
81. But the contrary of this seems to be said in Deuteronomy twenty-three: "You shall not lend at interest to your brother, but to a stranger."
But it should be understood that this is evil in itself: but the Law permitted this to them, just as the bill of divorce, for the avoidance of a greater evil. — Moreover, the reason for this prohibition is manifold: both because money is not diminished by being lent; and because it does not of itself bear fruit, but the entire basis of profit is on the part of the user; and because it continually consumes and devastates, and thus the advantage of the loan is converted into the disadvantage of loss; and because in a loan of money, ownership of the thing lent passes over, since one is not bound to return the same coins in number; and because all risk is transferred to him who had borrowed; and also because in such a manner of lending, money is loved more than one's neighbor, since one lends money to one's neighbor not out of love for the neighbor but out of love for the money.
82. (Vers. 35.). But love your enemies etc. Here, after the promulgation and proof, he resumes the approved commands with the motivating reason. Now there are three things that ought to move us to do the aforesaid, namely the authority of the precept, the immensity of the reward, and the sublimity of the example. The first moves the irascible, the second the concupiscible, and the third the rational.
He therefore takes up the aforesaid teachings by way of precept, when he says: But love your enemies and do good, namely so that you may not "love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth," 1 John 3. And he says this by way of command, because, as is said in John 15, "this is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you." But he himself loved not only in affection, but also in effect, without any hope of recompense.