103. (Vers. 57.). First, therefore, regarding the pretense of simplicity, he says: And it came to pass, as they walked on the way, namely, the disciples walking with the Lord on the way of perfection, as is said of Noah in Genesis 6: "Noah was a just and perfect man and walked with God"; and similarly the Lord to Abraham, Genesis 17: "Walk before me, and be perfect." Concerning which way, Isaiah 30: "You shall hear the word of your teacher. This is the good way: walk in it."
And because on this way the wicked frequently wish to join themselves to the good through pretense, therefore it is added: A certain man said to Jesus: I will follow you wherever you go, in which he showed that he had the will to follow perfectly, though he had something else in his heart, just as Simon Magus, of whom it is said in Acts 8 that "when men and women were being baptized, then Simon himself also believed and was baptized," yet with a wicked and double heart, as is evident from what follows. Whence Jerome: "This man wished to follow Jesus with the same intention by which Simon Magus desired to have the power of working miracles, so that he might gain riches from the miracles." But against this, Sirach 1: "Do not approach her with a double heart, and be not a hypocrite in the sight of men." Such are those who promise great things and do little, against whom Sirach 4: "Be not hasty in your tongue, and useless and remiss in your works."
104. (Vers. 58.). Second, regarding the detection of duplicity, it is added: And Jesus said to him: The foxes have holes, in which, namely, they hide, and the birds of the air have nests, in which they lodge by night: but the Son of man has not where to lay his head. In this, remarkably, he showed his poverty, as if to say that he did not wish to have a companion who loves earthly things; whence below, chapter 14: "Whoever does not renounce all that he possesses cannot be my disciple," that is, a perfect imitator. Whence Chrysostom: "The Lord responds to his intention, as if to say: Why do you follow me for the sake of money, you who see that I have not even as much of a lodging as the birds?"
At the same time, along with this, he also marks him for outward pretense, which is understood in the fox, according to what is said below in chapter 13 concerning Herod: "Go, tell that fox." And therefore by foxes are understood heretics, because they are crooked and crafty and have fire in their tails, as is said of the foxes of Samson in Judges 15.
105. He also marks him for inward pretense in the bird, which seeks the heights; such is the proud man, as is said in Obadiah 1: "Though you be exalted as the eagle, and though you set your nest among the stars, from thence will I bring you down, says the Lord." And on account of these two things, the Lord shows that his company is to be rejected, because, First Corinthians 1, "God chose the ignoble and contemptible things of the world, and things that are not, that he might destroy the things that are, so that no flesh should glory in his sight."
And therefore as an example for imitation he became a beggar, according to that passage in Second Corinthians eight: "He became poor for us, that by his poverty we might be made rich"; whence the imitators of Christ were made rich by the poverty of Christ. For he is truly rich who has as much as the King of heaven and earth. And such is he who has nothing by ownership and possesses everything by charity, like those in Second Corinthians six, "as having nothing and yet possessing all things." Blessed is he who exchanges an earthly den for an eternal hall: "blessed are the poor in spirit," etc.
At the same time, note also that poverty is not pleasing unless it is simple against the craftiness of the fox, and humble against the pride of the bird. Whence Isaiah sixty-six: "But to whom shall I look, except to the poor and contrite in spirit, who trembles at my words?" where he joins poverty with simplicity and humility. Whence Augustine: "What profit is it to have left riches behind, when a wretched man is made prouder by despising riches than he had been by possessing them?" For a proud pauper is hateful to God and men, according to that passage in Ecclesiasticus twenty-five: "Three kinds my soul has hated"; "A proud pauper," etc.
106. (Vers. 59.). But he said to another. After the repulsion of the double-minded, here is added the calling of the simple, concerning which two things are introduced: the first is the calling of the innocent; the second is the instruction of the ignorant.
Therefore, first, as regards the calling of the innocent, it says: But he said to another: Follow me, as a son follows a father: Jeremiah three: "You shall call me Father and shall not cease to walk after me." Or as a disciple follows a master, as the Lord said to the young man seeking counsel in Matthew nineteen: "If you wish to be perfect, go, sell all that you have, and give to the poor; and come and follow me." And he called this one selectively, as he did Peter, in John last: "You, follow me."
And pointedly he says another, because he was of a different disposition: for he was simple and humble. To designate this, he adds: But he said: Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father. In this there appears purity, because he did not conceal the affection of his heart, nor did he refuse counsel. Whence Isidore says: "He did not reject being a disciple, but with the duty of his father's funeral fulfilled, he wishes to follow more freely." There appears humility, because he wished to render service to his dead father, according to Ecclesiasticus 3: "He who fears the Lord honors his parents, and as to masters he will serve those who begot him, in deed and word and all patience." Moreover, he was moved to this by obedience to the divine precept: Exodus 20, "Honor your father"; he was also moved by clemency of soul: for burying the dead is a work of mercy, for which Tobit is commended, chapter 1: "When the king was killing many of the children of Israel, Tobit buried their bodies"; he was also moved by laudable custom, according to Ecclesiasticus 38: "Over the dead bring forth tears, and as one suffering grievously, begin to weep, and according to judgment cover his body and do not despise his burial." Whence it is apparent that he did not say this out of carnality, but out of a certain piety and humility, just as Elisha said to Elijah in 3 Kings 19: "Let me kiss, I pray, my father and my mother, and so I will follow you."
107. (Verse 60.). Secondly, with respect to the instruction of the ignorant, there follows: And Jesus said to him: Let the dead bury their dead. In this he first instructs him to avoid the company of sinners: for the dead here are called sinners and unbelievers — whence Ephesians 2: "You, when you were dead in your offenses and sins, in which you once walked." The company of such persons must be abandoned by a holy man, according to Ecclesiasticus 13: "What fellowship has a holy man with a dog?" — that is, with a sinner and unbeliever. Whence however closely he may be joined to them, they must nevertheless be abandoned, especially when they impede the good. Whence Deuteronomy 33: "He who said to his father and his mother: I do not know you; and to his brothers: I know them not — these are they who kept your judgments, O Jacob, and your law, O Israel."
108. He also instructs him that lesser goods must be set aside for greater ones: whence Ambrose teaches that "lesser goods must be passed over for the benefit of greater ones. For it is greater to raise the souls of the dead by preaching than to hide the body of a dead man in the earth."
And therefore he adds: But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God: as if to say: set aside a lesser good for a greater one, according to what is said in First Timothy four: "Exercise yourself unto godliness. For bodily exercise is profitable for a little" etc. From this it is clear that works of spiritual piety, according to the judgment of both the Apostle and the Lord, are altogether to be preferred to corporal works. For although it is a great work of piety to bury the dead, and especially one's own father, nevertheless Christ wills that it be set aside for the office of preaching. On account of which the Apostles said in Acts six: "It is not fitting that we should leave the word of God and serve tables." For as much as the soul is better than the body, so much better is it to feed the soul by preaching than to minister food to the body; especially because there are more persons suited to providing burial than to giving doctrine. Whence the Apostles said in Acts six: "Look for men of good repute, whom we may appoint over this work. But we will be devoted to prayer and to the ministry of the word"; because it is said below in chapter ten: "Mary has chosen the best part"; and therefore in Daniel twelve: "Those who instruct many unto justice shall be as stars" etc. - And note that he says: Proclaim the kingdom of God, namely to those willing to repent: according to what Christ said in Matthew four: "Do penance: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Therefore, just as it is a great sin when a rich man does not give alms to one in need, so it is a greater sin when one who has knowledge does not share doctrine: whence Proverbs eleven: "He who hides grain shall be cursed among the peoples." Therefore he says: Proclaim, do not hide.
109. (Verse 61.). And another said: I will follow you etc. After the repulsion of the double-minded and the calling of the simple, he here subjoins the rebuke of the inconstant, concerning which two things are introduced: the first is the vacillation of the will, the second is the rebuke of inconstancy.
First, therefore, with regard to the vacillation of the will, he sets forth: And another said: I will follow you; behold, the will to cleave to God as to a master. For he was heeding that saying of the Lord in John eight: "He who follows me does not walk in darkness"; and Sirach twenty-three: "It is a great glory to follow the Lord."
But in this will he was not steadfast: on account of which he adds: But first permit me to go and announce it to those who are at home. From this it is clear that he was still attached to his own people, contrary to what is said in the Psalm: "Forget your people and the house of your father." He was not like Paul, who said in Galatians one: "When it pleased him who called me by his grace, immediately I did not acquiesce to flesh and blood." Carnal friends oppose spiritual counsels, and therefore they are to be set aside as adversaries.
Therefore it is said in Matthew 10: "I came not to send peace, but a sword. I came to set a man against his father"; "and a man's enemies are those of his own household." And therefore it is said in the person of the good religious in Jeremiah 12: "I have forsaken my house, I have left my heritage." This man was not such, because he had his eye on his household. Similar to him are religious who are curious about the affairs of their kinsmen: against which Bede says in the Gloss: "If a disciple about to follow the Lord is rebuked because he wishes to take leave of his household, what will become of those who with no profit often visit the homes they had left?" Such persons do not heed what was said to Abraham in Genesis 12: "Go forth from your land and from your kindred and from your father's house, and come into the land that I will show you."
110. (Verse 62). Second, with regard to the rebuke of inconstancy, he adds: Jesus said to him: No one putting his hand to the plow, etc., that is, to the exercise of divine perfection and preaching, which is rightly designated by the plow on account of its cultivation and fruit, according to that passage in Hosea 10: "Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his furrows."
No one, I say, being such, and looking back, that is, toward the world, is fit for the kingdom of God, that is, for possessing the kingdom of God: because, according to that passage in Second Timothy 2, "no one serving as a soldier for God entangles himself in worldly affairs, that he may please him to whom he has proven himself."
A figure of this preceded in the wife of Lot, who, looking back behind her, was turned into a pillar of salt; because such a man is rendered useless and barren. And therefore it is said below in chapter 17: "He who is in the field, let him not turn back. Remember the wife of Lot."
111. Such a man is not fit for the kingdom, but rather for reproach; whence Second Peter 2: "It is better not to have known the way of truth than, after having known it, to turn back from the holy commandment that had been delivered to them. For that saying of the true proverb has happened to them: The dog returned to his own vomit," etc.; which can rightly be understood of those who relapse and apostatize. And therefore, on the contrary, Ecclesiasticus 5 urges: "Be firm in the way of the Lord." Such was the Apostle, as it is said in Philippians 3: "Forgetting what is behind and stretching myself forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal, toward the prize of the heavenly calling."
And therefore he himself exhorted in Ephesians 3: "Rooted and grounded in charity, that you may be able to comprehend," etc. For he knew that it had been said by the Lord in Matthew 10: "He who perseveres to the end, he shall be saved." Scripture invites us to this most especially: whence throughout the entire Law and Prophets it forbids the children of Israel to return to Egypt, that is, lest a man turn from divine service to the world. Whence also on account of that transgression nearly all the children of Israel were slain by the Lord in the desert.