As it follows, "The tares are the children of the evil one," by whom He would have us understand all the wicked and impious.
Aug., Quaest. Ev., i, 10: For all weeds among corn are called tares.
Augustine: It follows, "The enemy who sowed this is the Devil."
Chrysostom: For this is part of the wiles of the Devil, to be ever mixing up truth with error. "The harvest is the end of the world."
In another place He says, speaking of the Samaritans, "Lift up your eyes, and consider the fields that they are already white for the harvest;" [[Joh 4:35]] and again, "The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few," [[Luk 10:2]] in which words He speaks of the harvest as being already present.
How then does He here speak of it as something yet to come? Because He has used the figure of the harvest in two significations;, as He says there that it is one that soweth, and another that reapeth; but here it is the same who both sows and reaps; indeed there He brings forward the Prophets, not to distinguish them from Himself, but from the Apostles, for Christ Himself by His Prophets sowed among the Jews and Samaritans.
The figure of harvest is thus applied to two different things. Speaking of first conviction and turning to the faith, He calls that the harvest, as that in which the whole is accomplished; but when He enquires into the fruits ensuing upon the hearing the word of God, then He calls the end of the world the harvest, as here.
Remigius: By the harvest is denoted the day of judgment, in which the good are to be separated from the evil; which will be done by the ministry of Angels, as it is said below, that the Son of Man shall come to judgment with His Angels.
"As then the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his Angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all offences, and them which do iniquity."
Aug., City of God, book xx, ch. 9: Out of that kingdom in which are no offences? The kingdom then is His kingdom which is here, namely, the Church.
Aug., Quaest. Ev., i, 10: That the tares are first separated, signifies that by tribulation the wicked shall be separated from the righteous; and this is understood to be performed by good Angels, because the good can discharge duties of punishment with a good spirit, as a judge, or as the Law, but the wicked cannot fulfil offices of mercy.
Chrysostom: Or we may understand it of the kingdom of the heavenly Church; and then there will be held out here a two-fold punishment; first that they fall from glory as that is said, "And they shall gather out of his kingdom all offences," to the end, that no offences should be seen in His kingdom; and then that they are burned. "And they shall cast them into a furnace of fire."
Jerome: The offences are to be referred to the tares.
Gloss., non occ.: "The offences", and, "them that do iniquity," are to be distinguished as heretics and schismatics; the "offences" referring to heretics; while by "them that do iniquity" are to be understood schismatics.
Otherwise; By "offences" may be understood those that give their neighbour an occasion of falling, by "those that do iniquity" all other sinners.Rabanus: Observe, He says, "Those that do iniquity," not, those who have done; because not they who have turned to penitence, but they only that abide in their sins are to be delivered to eternal torments.
Chrysostom: Behold the unspeakable love of God towards men! He is ready to shew mercy, slow to punish; when He sows, He sows Himself; when He punishes, He punishes by others, sending His Angels to that.It follows, "There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Remigius: In these words is shewn the reality of the resurrection of the body; and further, the twofold pains of hell, extreme heat, and extreme cold. And as the offences are referred to the tares, so the righteous are reckoned among the children of the kingdom; concerning whom it follows, "Then the righteous shall shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." For in the present world the light of the saints shines before men, but after the consummation of all things, the righteous themselves shall shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
Chrysostom: Not that they shall not shine with higher brightness, but because we know no degree of brightness that surpasses that of the sun, therefore He uses an example adapted to our understanding.
Remigius: That He says, "Then shall they shine," implies that they now shine for an example to others, but they shall then shine as the sun to the praise of God. "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear."
Rabanus: That is, Let him understand who has understanding, because all these things are to be understood mystically, and not literally.
Ver. 44. "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field."
Chrysostom: The foregoing parables of the leaven, and the grain of mustard-seed, are referred to the power of the Gospel preaching, which has subdued the whole world; in order to shew its value and splendour, He now puts forth parables concerning a pearl and a treasure, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field."
For the Gospel preaching is hidden in this world; and if, you do not sell your all you will not purchase it; and this you ought to do with joy.
Wherefore it follows, "which when a man hath found, he hideth it."
Hilary: This treasure is indeed found without cost; for the Gospel preaching is open to all, but to use and possess the treasure with its field we may not without price, for heavenly riches are not obtained without the loss of this world.
Jerome: That he hides it, does not proceed of envy towards others, but as one that treasures up what he would not lose, he hides in his heart that which he prizes above his former possessions.
Greg., Hom. in Ev., xi, 1: Otherwise; The treasure hidden in the field is the desire of heaven; the field in which the treasure is hidden is the discipline of heavenly learning; this, when a man finds, he hides, in order that he may preserve it; for zeal and affections heavenward it is not enough that we protect from evil spirits, if we do not protect from, human praises. For in this present life we are in the way which leads to our country, and evil spirits as robbers beset us in our journey.
Those therefore who carry their treasure openly, they seek to plunder in the way. When I say this, I do not mean that our neighbours should not see our works, but that in what we do, we should not seek praise from without. The kingdom of heaven is therefore compared to things of earth, that the mind may rise from things familiar to things unknown, and may learn to love the unknown by that which it knows is loved when known.
It follows, "And for joy thereof he goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field." He it is that selleth all he hath and buyeth the field, who, renouncing fleshly delights, tramples upon all his worldly desires in his anxiety for the heavenly discipline. [[Col 2:3]]
Jerome: Or, That treasure "in which are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge," is either God the Word, who seems hid in Christ’s flesh, or the Holy Scriptures, in which are laid up the knowledge of the Saviour.
Aug., Quaest. in Ev., i, 13: Or, He speaks of the two testaments in The Church, which, when any hath attained to a partial understanding of, he perceives how great things lie hid there, and "goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that;" that is, by despising temporal things he purchases to himself peace, that he may be rich in the knowledge of God.
Ver. 45. "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:46. Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it."
Chrysostom: The Gospel preaching not only offers manifold gain as a treasure, but is precious as a pearl; wherefore after the parable concerning the treasure, He gives that concerning the pearl. And in preaching, two things are required, namely, to be detached from the business of this life, and to be watchful, which are denoted by this merchant- man.
Truth moreover is one, and not manifold, and for this reason it is one pearl that is said to be found. And as one who is possessed of a pearl, himself indeed knows of his wealth, but is not known to others, ofttimes concealing it in his hand because of its small bulk, so it is in the preaching of the Gospel; they who possess it know that they are rich, the unbelievers, not knowing of this treasure, know not of our wealth.
Jerome: By the goodly pearls may be understood the Law and the Prophets. Hear then Marcion and Manichaeus; the good pearls are the Law and the Prophets. One pearl, the most precious of all, is the knowledge of the Saviour and the sacrament of His passion and resurrection, which when the merchantman has found, like Paul the Apostle, he straightway despises all the mysteries of the Law and the Prophets and the old observances in which he had lived blameless, counting them as dung that he may win Christ. [[Phi 3:8]] Not that the finding of a new pearl is the condemnation of the old pearls, but that in comparison of that, all other pearls are worthless.
Gregory, Hom. in Ev., xi, 2: Or by the pearl of price is to be understood the sweetness of the heavenly kingdom, which, he that hath found it, selleth all and buyeth. For he that, as far as is permitted, has had perfect knowledge of the sweetness of the heavenly life, readily leaves all things that he has loved on earth; all that once pleased him among earthly possessions now appears to have lost its beauty, for the splendour of that precious pearl is alone seen in his mind.
Aug., Quaest. in Matt., q. 13: Or, A man seeking goodly pearls has found one pearl of great price; that is, he who is seeking good men with whom he may live profitably, finds one alone, Christ Jesus, without sin; or, seeking precepts of life, by aid of which he may dwell righteously among men, finds love of his neighbour, in which one rule, the Apostle says [[Rom 13:9]], are comprehended all things; or, seeking good thoughts, he finds that Word in which all things are contained, "In the beginning was the Word," [[Joh 1:1]] which is lustrous with the light of truth, stedfast with the strength of eternity, and throughout like to itself with the beauty of divinity, and when we have penetrated the shell of the flesh, will be confessed as God.
But whichever of these three it may be, or if there be any thing else that can occur to us, that can be signified under the figure of the one precious pearl, its preciousness is the possession of ourselves, who are not free to possess it unless we despise all things that can be possessed in this world. For having sold our possessions, we receive no other return greater than ourselves, (for while we were involved in such things we were not our own,) that we may again give ourselves for that pearl, not because we are of equal value to that, but because we cannot give any thing more.
Ver. 47. "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:48. Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.49. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from the just,50. And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth."
Chrysostom: In the foregoing parables He has commended the Gospel preaching; now, that we may not trust in preaching only, nor think that faith alone is sufficient for our salvation, He adds another fearful parable, saying, "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net cast into the sea."
Jerome: In fulfilment of that prophecy of Hieremias, who said, "I will send unto you many fishers," [[Jer 16:16]] when Peter and Andrew, James and John, heard the words, "Follow me, I will make you fishers of men," they put together a net for themselves formed of the Old and New Testaments, and cast it into the sea of this world, and that remains spread until this day, taking up out of the salt and bitter and whirlpools whatever falls into it, that is good men and bad; and this is that He adds, "And gathered of every kind."
Gregory, Hom. in Ev., xi. 4: Or otherwise; The Holy Church is likened to a net, because it is given into the hands of fishers, and by it each man is drawn into the heavenly kingdom out of the waves of this present world, that he should not be drowned in the depth of eternal death. This net gathers of every kind of fishes, because the wise and the foolish, the free and the slave, the rich and the poor, the strong and the weak, are called to forgiveness of sin; it is then fully filled when in the end of all things the sum of the human race is completed.
As it follows, "which, when it was filled, they drew out, and sitting down on the shore gathered the good into vessels, but the bad they cast away."
For as the sea signifies the world, so the sea shore signifies the end of the world; and as the good are gathered into vessels, but the bad cast away, so each man is received into eternal abodes, while the reprobate having lost the light of the inward kingdom are cast forth into outer darkness. But now the net of faith holds good and bad mingled together in one; but the shore shall discover what the net of the Church has brought to land.
Jerome: For when the net shall be drawn to the shore, then shall be shewn the true test for separating the fishes.