Lk. 18:27. But He said: What is impossible with men is possible with God.
He who has a human way of thinking, that is, is carried away by earthly things and attached to the terrestrial, for him, as it is said, it is impossible to be saved, but for God this is possible; that is, when someone has God as his counselor and takes the ordinances of God and the commandments concerning poverty as his teachers, and calls upon Him for help, for that person it will be possible to be saved. For it is our part to desire the good, but to accomplish it is the work of God. And in another sense: if we, having risen above every human faintheartedness regarding wealth, desire even to make friends for ourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, then we shall be saved and shall be escorted by them into eternal habitations. For it is better if we renounce everything, or if we do not renounce everything, at least make the poor our partners, and then the impossible will become possible. Although without renouncing everything one cannot be saved, yet through the lovingkindness of God it becomes possible to be saved even in the case where several portions are distributed for genuine benefit.
Lk. 18:28. Peter then said: behold, we have left everything and followed You.
Lk. 18:29. He said to them: Truly I say to you: there is no one who has left house, or parents, or brothers, or sisters, or wife, or children for the sake of the Kingdom of God,
Lk. 18:30. and would not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come life everlasting.
At this, Peter asks: "behold, we have left everything," and he asks not for himself alone, but for the consolation of all the poor. Lest only the rich have good hopes of receiving much, as those who renounced much, while the poor have no hope, as those who renounced little and therefore earned a small reward — for this reason Peter asks and hears in response that both in the present and the future age, everyone who has despised his possessions for God's sake will receive recompense, even if those possessions were small. Do not look at the fact that they are small, but consider that this small amount contained all the person's means of livelihood, and that just as you placed your hope in much and great things, so he hoped to sustain his life with this little and small amount. I say nothing of the fact that one who has little has a greater attachment to it. This is evident with fathers. Having one child, they show greater attachment to it than when they have more children. So too the poor man, having one house and one field, loves them more intensely than you love your many possessions. And even if this is not the case, and the attachment of both is equal, then the renunciation is equally worthy. Therefore, in the present age as well they receive a recompense many times greater, just as these very apostles did. For each of them, having left behind a hut, now possesses magnificent churches, fields, parishes, many women attached to them by their zeal and faith, and in general everything else besides. And in the age to come they will receive not a multitude of similar fields and bodily rewards, but eternal life.
Lk. 18:31. And taking the twelve disciples aside, He said to them: behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished,
Lk. 18:32. For He shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully treated, and spat upon,
Lk. 18:33. And they shall scourge and kill Him: and on the third day He shall rise again.
The Lord foretells His sufferings to the disciples for two purposes. First, to show that He would be crucified not against His will and not as a mere man unaware of His death, but that He knows of it beforehand and will endure it voluntarily. For if He did not wish to suffer, then as one who foresaw it, He would have avoided it. For to fall into the hands of others against one's will is characteristic of those who do not know of it in advance. Second, to persuade them to bear the coming events with ease, as things known to them beforehand and not happening to them suddenly. But if, Lord, what was long ago foretold by the prophets is to be fulfilled in You, then why do You go up to Jerusalem? For this very reason, that I may accomplish salvation. And so, He goes voluntarily.
Lk. 18:34. They understood none of these things; these words were hidden from them, and they did not comprehend what was said.
However, He spoke of this, but the disciples did not understand anything at the time. For "these words were hidden from them," especially the words about the Resurrection. They did not understand the other words either, for example, about His being delivered to the Gentiles; but the words about the resurrection they decidedly did not understand, because they were not in common use. And not all the Judaizers believed even in the general resurrection, as is evident from the Sadducees (Matt. 22:23). Perhaps you will say: if the disciples did not understand, then why did the Lord speak to them about this beforehand? What benefit was there for their consolation during the sufferings of the Cross, when they did not understand what was said? But no small benefit came later, when they afterwards recalled that what had come to pass was precisely what they had not understood when the Lord foretold it to them. This is evident from many things, especially from the words of John: "His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him" (John 12:16). And the Comforter, having reminded them of all things, instilled in them the most reliable testimony about Christ. As for how the burial was of three days, enough has been said in the commentary on the other Evangelists (see ch. 12).
Lk. 18:35. And when He drew near to Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the roadside, begging,
Lk. 18:36. And hearing a multitude passing by, he asked what this meant.
Lk. 18:37. They told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by.
Lk. 18:38. Then he cried out: Jesus, Son of David! Have mercy on me.
During the journey the Lord performs a miracle upon the blind man, so that even His passing would not be a lesson without benefit for us and for the disciples of Christ, so that we in all things, always and everywhere would bring benefit, and nothing in us would be idle. The blind man believed that He (Jesus) is the awaited Christ (for, having been raised among the Jews, he probably knew that Christ is from the seed of David), and cried out with a loud voice: "Son of David! Have mercy on me." And by the words "have mercy on me" he expressed that he had some divine conception of Him, and did not consider Him merely a man.
Lk. 18:39. Those who were walking ahead ordered him to be silent; but he cried out all the more: Son of David! Have mercy on me.
Look, if you will, at the persistence of his confession as well — how, despite the fact that many were trying to silence him, he did not fall silent but cried out all the louder; for a fervent zeal was moving him from within.
Lk. 18:40. Jesus, standing still, commanded him to be brought to Him: and, when he had come near to Him, asked him:
Lk. 18:41. What do you want from Me? He said: Lord! That I may receive my sight.
Therefore Jesus also calls him to Himself, as one truly worthy of drawing near to Him, and asks him: "What do you want from Me?" He asks not because He does not know, but so that it would not seem to those present that the man asks for one thing while He gives another: that the man, for example, asks for money, while He, wishing to display Himself, heals his blindness. For envy can slander even in such a senseless manner. Therefore the Lord asked, and when He revealed that he wished to receive his sight, He grants him his sight.
Lk. 18:42. Jesus said to him: receive your sight! Your faith has saved you.
See also the absence of pride. "Your faith," He says, "has saved you," since you believed that I am the proclaimed Son of David, the Christ, and showed such fervor that you did not fall silent despite being forbidden. From this we learn that when we ask with faith, it is not the case that we ask for one thing and the Lord gives another, but that very thing itself. If, however, we ask for one thing and receive another, it is a clear sign that we are not asking for something good or not with faith. "You ask," it is said, "and do not receive, because you ask not for what is good" (James 4:3). Note also the authority: "receive your sight." Which of the prophets healed in this way, that is, with such authority? Hence the voice that proceeded from the true Light (John 1:9) became light for the sick man.
Lk. 18:43. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Him, glorifying God; and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God.