Thomas Aquinas

Above, the Lord refuted those who disparaged his miracles and his teaching; here he takes to task those who were testing him. And here he does two things. First is set down the tempting question; second, the reproof, where it says he answering said to them. It says, then, then they answered — that is, after they had seen many miracles and had heard many words of wisdom, so that what is said in Ecclesiasticus 22:9 was fulfilled in him: he who tells a fool wisdom speaks to one who sleeps. Master, we would see a sign from thee. They say Master while tempting him; Psalm 27:3: they speak peace with their neighbor, but evils are in their hearts. We would see a sign from thee. Had they not seen many signs? Yes; but another Evangelist explains it thus, saying, Luke 11:16: we would see a sign from heaven, just as it is read in 1 Kings 12:18 that Samuel made thunder, and Elijah who made fire come down, 2 Kings 1:10. For it is proper to the Jews to seek a sign, as is had in 1 Corinthians 1:22: the Jews seek signs. But when he had given earthly signs, they did not believe; even if he were to give heavenly ones, they would not believe; John 3:12: if I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? Who answering said to them, and so on. Accordingly he repels them, and he does two things. First he denies the petition; second he shows their unworthiness, where it says the men of Nineveh, and so on. First he indicates what they were seeking; second he denies it. It says, then, who answering said to them: an evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign. He calls them evil because they were plotters. One is called evil because he harms his neighbor. It is, then, an evil generation, and wicked children. The generation is called adulterous, Isaiah 57:3: but draw near hither, you sons of the sorceress, seed of the adulterer and of the harlot. So then this generation, subject to iniquity, seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it but the sign of Jonah the prophet. Isaiah 7:11: ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God, either unto the depth of hell, or unto the height above, and so on. It was asking, then, for a sign from the heavens, but they were not worthy to see it. For this he gave to his apostles, who saw him ascending, who saw the glory of God on the mountain. But to these no sign will be given except the sign in hell, as regards the soul, and from the earth, as regards the body. Hence no sign will be given it but the sign of Jonah the prophet. Whereby the death of Christ is signified, and the charity of God is shown, as the Apostle says to the Romans 5:8: when as yet we were sinners, according to the time, Christ died for us, and so on. Likewise the power of the one raising him up is shown, as is had in 1 Corinthians 15:20 and following. And these are the signs of those things which ought to be in us. By the death of Christ it is signified to us that we ought to die to sin; but by the resurrection, that we ought to rise again from sin. And as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights — namely, in truth — so the Son of man will be in the heart of the earth. And in this the error of Mani is confounded, who said that he did not die in truth. And he says in the heart of the earth, because just as the heart of man is in the depths, so Christ was in the depths of the earth. Or in the heart of the earth, that is, in the heart of earthly and worldly persons, and of the disciples, who were despairing of him, as is had in Luke, last chapter, 21: but we were hoping that it was he that should have redeemed Israel. Three days and three nights. But here there is a literal question. This seems to be false, because he expired at the ninth hour, and was buried in the evening, but rose in the morning of the third day. Augustine says that some wish to say that the hour in which he was placed on the cross must be counted. Hence they call the first night that darkness which appeared; the second was the night of Friday; the third, of the sabbath day. But according to Augustine this does not hold; it could, however, suffice for us if he had been in the tomb the whole of the Lord's day. Therefore it must be said otherwise: that a natural day, taken for day and night together, is taken for a space of twenty-four hours. But, as Augustine says, in Scripture sometimes a part is taken for the whole. So, then, it must be said that Christ was, by synecdoche, three days and three nights in the tomb, because Friday is taken for the whole day and also for the preceding night; concerning the second day there is no doubt; the third night is taken for the night and the following day. Yet if we look at it according to the truth, it was two nights and one whole day, to signify that his single measure destroyed our double measure. In us there was penalty and fault; in him, penalty alone; and so on. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation. Here he sets down their unworthiness. Here there is a literal question. Did he not work many miracles? Did he not raise Lazarus, and many others? What, then, does it mean that no sign will be given it but the sign of Jonah the prophet? I answer: no such sign as they were asking for will be given; or no sign will be given for their benefit, for he knew that they would not be converted, because they had been hardened. But he worked signs for the sake of the faithful and the elect, of whom there were many afterward. The men of Nineveh, and so on. This is the unworthiness. And first the gentiles are preferred; second the reason is given, where it says but when the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, and so on. Consider: someone is good either because he does not sin, or because he repents. First, then, he prefers those who repented, namely the gentiles; second, those who did not commit sin, where it says the queen of the south, and so on. The Lord had compared his own resurrection to Jonah's; so they might believe that what happened to the Ninevites, who were freed, would happen to these; but these were not only not freed, but were even scattered. Hence the men of Nineveh shall rise. In these words one error of the Jews is excluded — that the resurrection will be before the judgment, and that in the meantime Jerusalem will be rebuilt. And they bring forward on their own behalf what is said in Isaiah 25:6: the Lord shall make unto all people in this mountain a feast of fat things. Others said that the just and the martyrs will rise before the others by a thousand years, and they bring forward on their behalf what is said in Revelation 20:1: I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand; and it follows, and he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil, and bound him, that he should no more seduce the nations, till the thousand years should be finished. Both are excluded when he says shall rise with this generation — the good and the not-good together. And they shall condemn — by comparison, not by authority, because they will rise among those to be condemned; Ezekiel 5:5: this is Jerusalem, I have set her in the midst of the nations, and the countries round about her: she hath despised my judgments, so as to be more wicked than the gentiles, and my commandments more than the countries that are round about her. And in what will they condemn? Because they did penance; but these were unwilling to do penance. The Lord began his preaching from penance; John likewise, and they did not listen; Jeremiah 8:6: there is none that doth penance for his sin. Likewise, those did penance at one preaching of Jonah; but Jesus had made many preachings to these, and yet they were not converted; John 15:24: if I had not done among them the works that no other man hath done, they would not have sin. Likewise, those were converted at the preaching of one prophet; but these had not only a prophet, but the Son of God. Hence it is had in Hebrews 1:1: God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, last of all, in these days, hath spoken to us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the world, and so on. And there follows and behold a greater than Jonah here, as it is had in Hebrews 3:3: for this man was counted worthy of greater glory than Moses. Therefore the Ninevites are preferred, because they did penance. The queen of the south shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it — namely, in wisdom, which these were unwilling to receive. Concerning her it is had in 3 Kings 10:24, that she came to hear the wisdom of Solomon. By her is signified the Church gathered from the faithful; Psalm 44:10: the queen stood on thy right hand, in gilded clothing, surrounded with variety, and so on. She is called queen, because she ought to rule herself; Proverbs 20:8: the king that sitteth on the throne of judgment, scattereth away all evil with his look. And she is called of the south by reason of the Holy Spirit; Song of Songs 4:16: arise, O north wind, and come, O south wind, blow through my garden. This queen shall rise in judgment with this generation. Note that it is not said that she did not sin, but that she was not rebellious. Why? Because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, as is had in 3 Kings 10:24: and it was not necessary that you should come from the ends of the earth, because he is here. Hence: and behold a greater than Solomon here, because that one was a temporal king and a sinner, but this one is innocent and eternal; Daniel 7:14: his power is an everlasting power that shall not be taken away, and his kingdom that shall not be destroyed. But when the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, and so on. Having shown above that the gentiles are more worthy than the Jews, here he wishes to confirm this by an example; and first he sets down the example; second he applies it, where it says so shall it be also unto this most wicked generation. He sets down the example of the unclean spirit. You should note that sometimes an example is set down from a thing done, sometimes from a parable. And when it is set down from a thing done, it is fitting that each element be expounded separately, so that each requires its own explanation, as here the example of Jonah is set down. Sometimes an example is set down from a parable, as when it is said, the kingdom of heaven is like, and so on; here it is not fitting to set down what is in the kingdom of heaven. We can say, then, according to Jerome, that this is a similitude and a parable, and thus there is one sense. Or, according to Augustine, from a thing done, and thus there is a twofold sense. An unclean spirit goes out from a man in two ways, because it torments a man sometimes bodily, sometimes spiritually. Hence it must be seen how a man is filled with an unclean spirit — how bodily and how spiritually; third, how this pertains to the matter at hand. Four things, then, are said. First, the liberation from the unclean spirit; second, the renewed vexation; third, its gravity; fourth, the occasion of the second vexation. It says, then, if the unclean spirit is gone out of a man. Everything that is mixed with a viler thing is called unclean; with a purer thing, purer — as if silver is joined to lead, it becomes viler: so a created spirit, if it cleaves to something lower than itself, is called an unclean spirit. And this spirit goes out sometimes from a man whom it torments bodily, sometimes from one whom it torments spiritually, as in Baptism. Accordingly the renewed vexation is set down, and its occasion. And first on the part of the demon; second on the part of those who are vexed. On the part of the demon, first as regards those others, second as regards these: for this is the demon's custom, that it cannot rest unless it does harm, because from the beginning it loved sin. Hence when it is expelled by someone, it seeks where it may vex. Hence it says he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Hence sometimes it finds no rest. But in what places it may find it, it is said in Job 40:16: he sleepeth under the shadow, in the covert of the reed, and in moist places. Moist places are hearts given over to pleasures; dry places are those who despise pleasures, who turn away from prosperity. And concerning this, Ezekiel 37:11: our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost. It says he walketh, and it explores whatever man it may deceive. Hence, for what is said, he walketh, it shows solicitude; 1 Peter 5:8: be sober and watch, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour. Seeking rest, and findeth none, except in moist places. So it was with the Jews, that going out from the Jews it went to the gentiles, who are dry from the moisture of divine grace; but it found no rest, because it was cast out, because they received the word of God. Then it says: I will return into my house from whence I came out. From this word you can gather that if the devil is sometimes expelled from someone because he does penance, it nevertheless does not wholly abandon him: just as it is read of Christ, Luke 4:13, that it departed from him for a time. This, then, must be understood, so that men may always be watchful lest it return. And this is what it says, I will return, and so on. And coming, he findeth it empty. Here is set down the occasion on the part of him who is afflicted a second time. If we wish to apply this to the Jews, it is plain that when it was expelled by the gentiles, it returned to the Jews. Hence a threefold occasion is set down. Namely, idleness; hence it says empty; Ecclesiasticus 33:29: idleness hath taught much evil. Therefore Jerome says: always do some good, so that the devil may find you occupied. Hence empty, that is, idle; Lamentations 1:7: the enemies have seen her, and have mocked at her sabbaths. Swept, because what is cleaned with a broom is not cleaned except in that it lightly clings; hence sweeping is the same as lightly cleaning, and so sweeping is an imperfect cleansing. Likewise adorned, and this is a superficial adornment. Perfect cleansing must be done with fire, as is had in the Law, that vessels had to be cleansed by fire. Likewise, that which is adorned has one beauty of its own, another from adornment alone, of which in Psalm 143:12: their daughters are decked out, adorned round about after the similitude of a temple, and so on. But those who wish to be secure ought to have interior beauty; Psalm 44:14: all the glory of the king's daughter is within, in golden borders, clothed round about with varieties. But when the adornment is only in outward things, one is not abandoned by the demons. So it is with the Jews, because they kept the sabbaths, in which they were more free from good things than from evil ones. Likewise, they placed their whole care in the smallest matters of the Law. Then it goeth, and taketh with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself. Here is set down the second, more grievous vexation, and it is shown to be more grievous first as to number; second as to duration; third as to effect. As to number, because it taketh seven. According to Chrysostom this is expounded literally, because when someone falls and does not take heed, then something worse happens to him; John 5:14: behold, thou art made whole; sin no more, lest some worse thing happen to thee. According to Augustine it takes seven, and this in two ways. For sometimes the penitent does penance, but conducts himself negligently, and then he becomes more prone to falling; Romans 1:28: for which cause God delivered them up to a reprobate sense. And by this, that it says seven, the totality of vices is signified. Otherwise, according to blessed Augustine: some sin with some sin, and in the state of penance add pretense. And just as there are seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, so there are seven pretenses. Hence at first there were simple vices, then pretenses of vices are added, which are worse; and they are called seven, either on account of the totality of vices, or on account of the sabbath. And those who sin in this way become more persevering in evil; hence it says and entering in, they dwell there, because they are unwilling to depart thence; Jeremiah 8:5: this people in Jerusalem is turned away with a stubborn revolting: they have laid hold on lying, and have refused to return. If this is expounded of the Jews, it is plain that it dwells in them and is unwilling to depart from them. And the last state of that man is made worse than the first. Here is set down the aggravation as to effect. Literally, he who is more punished is more burdened. Hence 2 Peter 2:21: it had been better for them not to have known the way of justice, than, after they have known it, to turn back. Likewise as to the Jews, because they acted worse in blaspheming Christ than in worshipping idols. Therefore there follows so shall it be also unto this most wicked generation, because it will be worse for them than it ever was for them in Egypt.