Tertia Pars
Lecture 100: Christ's Teaching: To Jews First, Then Gentiles

Transcript
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Last infirmity of men, I mean of Greek names. Third, he brings a temptation to that which is not of spiritual men, but of what? To wit, wealth and the glory of the world they desire, going so far as to contempt of God. And therefore, in the first two temptations, he says, if you are the son of God, not, however, in the third, which cannot be or belong to spiritual men, who are by adoption sons of God, just as the two first. In these temptations, Christ resists by the testimonies of the law, not by the power of his what? So that by this very same, he might honor man more, right? And punish the adversary more, right? When the enemy of the human race, not as it were by God, as it were by man, is what? Conquered. As says Leo Papa. So that's what's said by Leo Papa, huh? Part of the redemption of man, right? That you're overcome by man, right? Oh, man, yeah. Yeah. Now what about, you know, is this a sin, I mean, that he's tempting him to, right? Because he multiplied the lows and so on, right? Why couldn't he multiply the stones into lows? To the first, therefore, it should be said, to use necessary things to sustaining the body, I guess, is not the sin of what? What's the name? But that from the desire of this, what, sustaining, man do something inordinate, right, huh? Pertains to the vice of what? That's the name, right? Is over disordered that someone, where he is able to have recourse to human, what, subsidia, right? That for the body alone, for sustaining the body alone, he wishes to miraculously, what, acquire food for himself, right? Whence the Lord to the sons of Israel miraculously gave manna in the desert, right? Where else, otherwise, or in other way, they were not able to have food, right? And likewise, Christ in the desert fed the crowds miraculously, whence, otherwise, they could not, what, have food, huh? But Christ, to his famine, huh, his hunger, could otherwise have provided then by miracles, by doing miracles, right? Right, just as John the Baptist is read in Matthew, he ate what, honey? Yeah, or even to, what, hastening to the proximate places, right, huh? And therefore, the devil regarded that Christ would sin if to, what? To alleviate his hunger. To alleviate his hunger, yeah. Yeah, he attempted to do miracles, right, huh? If he was a pure man, right, huh? So it would just be unnecessary, what, yeah. Yeah. He couldn't speak to these things. He didn't have to confess about it miraculously. Yes, uh, lady. You feel like he's cooking, and he's like, well, but I don't want the brothers to honor his own. Okay, now what about throwing himself down from the temple, right, huh? To the second, it should be said, huh, that through a exterior, what, humbling, right, huh? Frequently, someone seeks, what, glory, right, huh? Yeah. In which he is exalted about, what, spiritual goods, right, huh? That's a thing by C.S. Lewis there, you know, I haven't read it a long time ago, but, about the devil's tempting, right, the man? Oh, the screw tape. The screw tape, that is, yeah, yeah. You go through all these kind of things, right? Once Augustine says in the book on the Sermon of our Lord on the Mountain, right, huh? It should be noted, right, that not only in the, what, brightness of, what, bodily things, right, and the pomp of them, right, but also in those, what, dirty? Yeah. There can be boasting, right, huh? Yeah, Tansian, right, huh? I got the most ragged habit in the house. And, to signifying this, the devil persuades Christ, right, or, that, in order to seek, what, spiritual glory, he should bodily send himself, what, down, right? Yeah. Now, the next objection talks about the persuading in two sins at the same time, right? One would be the avarice, I guess, or the other would be idolatry, huh? To the third, it should be said that wealth and honors of the world to desire these things is a sin when things of this sort are desired in a disordered way, right, huh? Because then it's not reasonable, right? Because reason looks before and after, huh? That's what order means. But this is especially made known from this that for obtaining such things, right, man does something dishonorable, right? And therefore, the devil is not contented with persuading a desire for, what, wealth and honors, but he induces him that on account of, what, getting these sort of things, Christ would do something inhonest, right, would adore him, right? Which is a maximum skeleton, bad deed, and contra deum, right, huh? For he not only says, if you adore me, but adds, if, what, falling, right, huh? Which is kind of the old meaning, right? You come down to the knees, but also that you're falling into sin, right? Because, as Ambrose says, huh, ambition has a, what, peril, yeah, that one might dominate others, right, huh, when, before, what, serves, huh? Yeah. And one bows, which inflicts, in service, that he might be, what? Be of honor. Mm-hmm. Be of honor. And then, when he wishes to be more sublime, he becomes, what, more remiss, huh? And likewise, in the preceding temptations, from the desire of one sin, he leads us into another sin, or he attempted to do this, right? Mm-hmm. Just as from the desire of food, he attempted to lead him into vanity, to the vanity of making a, what, miracle without cause, huh? And from the desire of, what, glory, he attempted to lead him into tempting God. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Okay, so it tempts you into one sin, into another sin, right? Yeah. Now what about the seven capital vices, right, that seems to have? Left house? Yeah. To the fourth it should be said that as Ambrose says upon Luke, Scripture would not have said that consummata, omni tentatione, right? Every temptation in the sense being what? Yeah. The devil receded from him unless in those three things for sin, right, there was the matter of all what? Sins. Because the cause of temptation are the what? Cupidities, right? The flesh, the hope of glory, and the desire for what? Power. Power, yeah. Don't these things tie it up in the text of John there about everything in the world is the lust of the flesh or the lust of the eyes or the pride of life, right? But here instead of saying lust of the eyes, they say avidity, potency, right? You see all these things, I'm like, what the, you know? It's glory, yeah. There's a mountain in Spain called Tibidabo, named after the saint says to the Lord, Tibidabo, I will give you all this stuff. Yeah. So they named, they said that's the mountain after he took it. It's a real high mountain in Spain. That's what they call it, Tibidabo, well. So it's the viditas potency. It could be the desire for power or the desire for wealth. They're both included in there because wealth is power. It says in scripture, all things obey money. We say, what would we say? Time is money, is that what we say in English? In Arabic, they just, they have, it's not the same expression, they say time is gold. Yeah. Now the fifth one now touches upon the difference in the order, right? To the fifth, it should be said that as Augustine says in the book on the, on the consents of the Gospels, in Chartum X, it's uncertain which was done, what, before, whether the kingdoms of the earth were first, what, shown to him and afterwards he was located on the pinnacle of the temple, right? Or this before and that afterwards, right? But it makes no difference to the thing, right? When all were, what, manifestly done, right? But it seems, there must be some reason why the evangelists do this right and Thomas touches upon this. The evangelists seem to, what, hold a diverse order, right? Because sometimes from empty glory one comes to, what, cupidity and sometimes inverse. It's got a, kind of a subtle thing to say, huh? It's interesting to see the mentality. He, he is, he's, especially in Dallas and the brothers and see, you know, a great mystery revealed in the moderns. You're like, see, that just completely disproves. the third of the gospels was out the window because they don't say it in the same order. I just tried to figure out this order, I think about it again, but in terms of what's characteristic of Matthew emphasizing the kingship of Christ, right? And Luke, the priesthood, you know? Because what do you see? Matthew has last, the temptation of the mountain, right? Which is kind of being king of all these things, right? Yeah. And why, why Luke has the, right? So, down the temple, which is the place to be, right? Yeah. They say Luke begins in the temple and ends in the temple, right? Because he's emphasizing the priesthood of Christ and you have more reference to the temple, right? He ends up with the temptation of the priest, so to speak, right? In the temple, right? Throw himself down, right? Up in that, up in the, give your sermon, right? Throw himself down, you know? I mean, figuratively speaking, right? But Thomas gives another reason here in terms of simply, it doesn't make a difference who did, which order, but simply that, in terms of the vices, right? Well, sometimes one goes from one to the other, sometimes reverse. Marvelous Thomas. It's right, though, see, the way these guys enlighten us, and therefore, in so doing so, they, they, they, they, they're going to send likeness to God, who is the one of them, that means everybody comes into this world. That's what, that's what, I'm just reading that book on St. Gertrude, our Lord, it's something about, he bestowed a certain grace on his work, to enlighten others, to read from them, and so forth, through the writings, it's not so obvious, it's something, yeah, yeah, yeah. Maybe men like Thomas, or men like Augustine, they're just so superior to everybody else, it's hard to, you know, I think I mentioned to you the encyclical on Augustine, the one that, yeah, yeah, you just, you know, you see it all lined up there, you know, it's, it goes like on Thomas too, you know, that the, one of the other 13, the other ones after that, you know, you see them all lined up, you realize what marvelous guys these are. Even you look at the, at the, at the catechism of the Catholic Churches about the, most up to date, recent thing, you know, you might say, right, you know, all the quotes that they have from Augustine, and Thomas, you know, I mean, after scripture, obviously, but, but you have just, you know, just, more of Augustine, and Thomas, but it's just, but it's just, you know, just, nobody else that even comes near these two guys, right, it's just incredible. It's like these melodies of Mozart, just one after another, they're all so good, you know, Mozart says, you can't define a melody, you can only hum it. You can't define a melody, you know, you can only hum it, yeah, yeah, it's just one melody after another, you know, you know, this one, one conductor says, you know, you know, listening to Mozart much more convinces you about God than going to church, he says, how could this, how could this guy, you know, you know, yeah, that's just, I believe that's a musical. Yeah, yeah, yeah, what he's conducted, yeah, yeah, but, he's a gift in all these and what such, beautiful things. what about this being imperious, right, with him? To the sixth, it should be said that Christ, when he had, what, undergone the injury of temptation, right, huh, and saying, when the devil said to him, right, huh, if you are the son of God, throw yourself down, right, huh, he was not disturbed, nor did he, what, correct the devil, right, huh, but when the devil usurped for himself the honor of God, right, saying, all these things I'll give you are falling down and you adore me, exasperated, right, that's, you know, that's the word, and he repulses him, saying, go away, Satan, be gone, Satan, that we would learn from, by this example, to magnanimously, right, like I was saying, that's that virtue I was talking about in Mozart, that we might magnanimously sustain injuries to ourselves, right, but injuries to God. they would not separate them even to be, what, heard. Yeah, that's a strong, huh? And it was good attitude to them, so very, right? To the seventh, it should be said that as Christendom says, huh? This is an objection that, what? Why wasn't he seen up there? How could he be a mountain that tall? To the seventh, it should be said that Christendom says that the devil, well, thus Christ took, right, to the Pentacle Temple, that he might be, what, seen by all, right? But he, the devil, not knowing this, right, thus acted that he would be seen by, what, knowing? So it's in the power of Christ to be seen and not seen, right? Yeah, yeah. That he goes to the crowds. And repeats that many, many times. Actually, I don't know if I'm going to say anything about it, but it's Sunday, but he's kept in his direction and they're going fishing, and he's on the shore, and they didn't recognize it. Christendom points it out there, points it out with Emmaus, Mary Magdalene, and even in the Garden of Gethsemane. He went forward and said, whom do you see? They didn't recognize it. And he gave that as a sign, that it's in my power. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that's what, so he, and Christendom says that many, many times. Yeah, yeah. That's good, yeah. But when he says, I will show you all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, it is not to be understood that he saw the kingdoms themselves or the cities or the peoples, right? Or the gold or the silver, right? But parts in which each, what, kingdom or city is placed, right? Situated. The devil showed to Christ by his finger, right? And the honors of each kingdom, right? Also, he, what, expounded by words, right? Or according to origin, he showed to him in what way he, through diverse vices, rules in the world. He showed him all this in just a moment, twinkling of an eye. And they, they made the father's comment, well, that's because that's all he was capable of doing. He doesn't have the power to show him anything spectacular for anything like a thing. He can only affect small things. Just a flash or something, that's all he's capable of doing. Yeah, yeah. Well, next time we'll get to the teaching of Christ, right? Well, next time we'll get to the teaching of Christ, right? Well, next time we'll get to the teaching of Christ, right? Well, next time we'll get to the teaching of Christ, right? Well, next time we'll get to the teaching of Christ, right? In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Thank you, our God. Thank you, Guardian Angels. Thank you, Thomas Aquinas, deo gratias. God, our Enlightenment, Guardian Angels, to meet the lights of our minds, order in whom our images, and arouse us to consider more correctly. St. Thomas Aquinas, Angelic Doctor. Praise God. And help us to understand how it's your written. God, Son, of the Holy Spirit, Amen. So you've probably heard this definition of theology that comes from St. Anselm, or from Augustine, I guess, originally. It's fides qua rins intellectum, belief seeking what? Understanding, huh? Well, what we were looking at last week is a good example of that, isn't it? Because you read the Gospel of Matthew or the Gospel of Luke, and you learn that Christ was tempted by the devil, right? But out there by the Spirit, right? To be tempted by the devil. And so you believe that, but in theology, which is belief seeking understanding, right? The theologian asks, why did Christ want to be what? Tempted. Yeah. And then Thomas, you know, with the help of the Church Fathers, brings out, what, about four reasons there why he wanted to be, what, tempted, right? And I kind of think of what that saw mate that I was talking about earlier, where you're overcoming, you know, those three kinds of, what, temptations, right? Lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life, right? Represented by the three animals, as Thomas says in the commentary. The beasts, the birds, and the fish. The fish, yeah. But in the order of Matthew, right? So now we're up to the doctrina Christi, right? And about this he says, four things are asked. First, whether Christ ought to teach only to the Jews, or preach only to the Jews, right? Or also to the, what? Gentiles, right? Again, since it's what, beliefs seeking understanding. Why should he have kind of limited himself to preaching to the, what, Jews, huh? Secondly, whether in his teaching he ought to have, what, avoided, is it? Yeah. The disturbances of the Jews, huh? Yeah. Third, would he have to have preached publicly, or occultly, huh? Like the veroist, Thomas says, huh? They talk to boys in quarters, huh? Thomas accuses the veroist, the Latin veroist, of talking to boys in corners. Come out here and face me, saying, you know. And answer to my arguments here. Fourth, would he have to teach only by the, what, spoken word, or also by the, what, written word? And he says, he's not going to ask here now about the time which he began to teach. Because that was tweeted above when he spoke of, what, baptism, huh? So you go to the age where man is mature, right? Even though Christ could have taught before then. To the first, then, one goes forward thus. It seems that Christ, not only to the Jews, but also to the Gentiles, he ought to have, what, preached, huh? For it is said in Isaiah chapter 49, it is little to me that I, what, that my servant, right, is sent to, what, arouse the tribes of Israel and to convert the things of Jacob. I've given you as a light to the Gentiles, right, that you might be my salvation to the, what, into the earth, right? But the light and salvation of Christ, Christ gave light and salvation through his, what, teaching, huh? Therefore, it seems little, if only to the Jews and not to the Gentiles did he preach, right? Of course, Tom's going to reply to this in terms of sending the apostles, but why did he leave it to them? Why did he, anyway. Moreover, as is said in Matthew chapter 7, he was teaching them as having, what, power, huh? But more the power of teaching is shown in the instruction of those who have heard nothing, as are the Gentiles, right, huh? Whence the apostle says in Romans 15, Thus I have preached the gospel, not where, what, Christ's name, lest I should build upon a, what, clean foundation, huh? He's going to do raw material, right? He's going to speak to them. But therefore, much more should Christ, ought Christ to have preached to the Gentiles than to the, what, Jews, huh? I answered it, so he could preach to Paul and to the more power. Moreover, more useful is instruction of many than of just one. But Christ did instruct some of the Gentiles as the Samaritan woman and the, what? Therefore, it seems that much more strongly Christ ought to have preached to the multitude of the, what, Gentiles, huh? But against all this is what the Lord says in Matthew 15. I am not sent except to the sheep which were perishing of the house of Israel. But in Romans 10, it's said, In what way can they teach unless they be sent? Therefore, Christ ought not to, what, preach to the Gentiles. He's only sent to preach to the Jews, huh? So you could see all these probably modern scriptural scholars saying, Paul, we need to change things, you know. It's really his religion. I answer it should be said that it was suitable that the preaching of Christ both by himself and by the apostles to be shown in the beginning to the Jews, what? Alone, huh? First, he says, that one might show through his coming has been fulfilled the promises made of old to the Jews but not to the, what? Gentiles, huh? Whence the apostle says Romans 15, I say that Christ was the minister of circumcision. That is, he was the apostle and preacher of the Jews, right, who were circumcised. on account of the truth of God to confirming the promises made to the fathers, huh? Secondly, that his coming might be shown to be from, what? God. And again, this stated quote of Thomas, the things that are from God are, what? Order. Order, huh? So I am a, what? Philosopher, right? A lover of, what? Of wisdom, yeah. But kind of the crowning description of the wiseman that Aristotle gives is that he orders things, right? Well, God is wisdom itself, right? So, philosophically trained theologian is very taken up with this. Quia Deus orinata sota. But this suitable order requires that to the Jews who were, what? Near God to faith, there's a faith, and to the worship of the one God, huh? That before the teaching of Christ should be proposed, right? And then be transmitted through them to the, what? Gentiles. Just as in, he makes a little comparison, I'm not sure, sometimes talking about teachers, right? Just as in the celestial hierarchy, through the higher angels, illuminations and enlightenment come down to the lower ones, huh? The divine illuminations, huh? So, the ones that are in front of God or nearest to him are enlightened directly from God and then they play to the ones below them and the ones below them and so all the way down. It's like that. Thomas enlightens us and maybe the economy from once he's done help us to understand Thomas, you know, and finally comes down to us, you know? Whence upon that of Matthew I am not sent except to the sheep which to the sheep who is to the sheep to the sheep the house of Israel are perishing, right? Jerome says, right? He does not say this as if he is not sent to the Gentiles, right? But that first, that's a word of order first, but that first he is sent to what? Israel. Whence, Isaiah 66, it says, I will send from those who were what? Saved. To it from the Jews, right? To the Gentiles, and they will announce my glory to the nations, huh? We were talking last week there about how, you know, and Thomas is explaining the reason for the inequality of creatures, right? And so the creatures could be like God, not only in being perfect themselves, but in perfecting others, right? And to perfect others, you have to have, what? Inequality, right? And of course, you know, if you had to go kind of equal, not much to be said, huh? I mean, picking small talk or something, right? But if you've got, you know, a student who's beginning, and then you've got this man who's, you know, somewhat advanced in knowledge, right? Then it's a good thing, but you're imitating God, right? Insofar as you enlighten somebody else, or insofar as Thomas say enlightens us, right? There's some likeness there that he has to God who enlightens every man who comes into this world, huh? But if nobody enlighten anybody else, if we're all self-taught, then no one would be, in this respect, like God, huh? In enlightening others, huh? We can't enlighten everybody else, but we might enlighten one or two people at least, right? Okay? You know, a teacher could certainly tell you, do you want him to go out to California and teach where his brother was out there and so on, but he makes the last purpose to go through, and then he's going to go out there. That's what he said. That's beautiful, huh? That second argument, huh? Third, did he make take from the Jews the matter of what? They're criticizing him, right? Or, what's the word? Kel-ney? Mm-hmm. Kwe-ho. Yeah, but Kel-ney is kind of unjustified. Yeah. Okay. Whence upon that of Matthew 10, 5, do not, what? Go in the way of the Gentiles, right? Jerome says, huh? Jerome's coming in for quotes in this particular article, right? In the way, as he says, it's necessary first coming of Christ to announce the Jews, right? Lest there be a, what, just accusation saying that they had rejected the Lord because he was sent to the Gentiles and to, yeah, because he sent the, yeah, the apostles. Fourth, because Christ, through the victory on the cross, merited power and dominion over the, what, Gentiles. This is a very interesting reason. Whence it is said, Apocalypse 2, who conquers, to him I will give power over the Gentiles, huh? Just as I have received from my, what, father, huh? There he's talking about the vitrette, huh? With the cross. And in Philippians 2 it said that because he was made obedient all the way to the death on the cross, Christ has exalted him, right, huh? That in the name of Jesus, every knee should, what, what, bend, and every tongue should confess him, right? So it's appropriate that after his victory on the cross, he has a certain, what, authority over the conqueror, right? And therefore, before his passion, huh, he did not want to preach to the Gentiles his, what, doctrine, his teaching. But after the passion, his passion, he says to the disciples, go teach all, what, all nations, huh? An account of which, as is read in John chapter 12, when the passion being imminent, right, some Gentiles wish to, what, see Jesus, huh? And he says, unless the grain of wheat falls on the earth, falling on the earth, dies, it alone remains, right? If, however, it is dead, it will bear much, what, fruit. It's a beautiful explanation, isn't it, that text? It's kind of funny, that text, when they come there, because Christ didn't seem to give them the full welcome, you know? And this kind of casts light upon it, huh? So this, as Leo 13 says, you know, the scholastics, they help us understand Scripture, both in their commentaries on Scripture, but also in their, what, theological treatises, huh? So it's nice to go from here to the Gospels and back again, and one helps the other. And as Augustine says, huh? He speaks of himself as a grain or seed that will be, what, killed in the unfaithfulness of the Jews, but multiplied in the faith of the peoples, huh? So it's interesting, those four reasons he gives there, huh? So that's faith-seeking understanding, right? Now, the first objection was in that text of Isaiah. And he says, well, Christ was a light, right? For the salvation of the Gentiles, but through his, what? Disciples, right, huh? Whom he sent to, what? Preach to the Gentiles, huh? That's because he likes order, right? Order, I think. Well, the objection is kind of saying, you know, objection is taking the text to Isaiah and saying he's sent to, what? Instruct not just the Jews, but the Gentiles, right? It would be a little thing just to instruct the Jews. You see? That way, so he's going to instruct both. He's going to instruct some of them directly for the reasons given. That's right. I'm thinking of in terms of, well, it shows his power more to instruct the nations through the consequences. Yeah. The extent of his power, not just by himself alone, but through others' influences. Yeah. Yeah. It's not only order there, but the idea of being like God, you know, and enlightening others, right? That's what you're saying here, Father. To the second it should be said, huh? That it's not of less power, but of more, right? To make something through others, then through what? Oneself. And therefore, in this, most of all, the power, the divine power, is shown in Christ, and that what? He gave such a, what, power to his disciples in teaching, that the Gentiles, who had heard nothing of Christ, right, were converted to him, right? So the Acts of the Apostles, right? Now, the power of Christ in teaching is to be observed both as regards to the miracles, to which his teaching is confirmed, right? That's what the next three questions, I guess, is going to be about miracles, huh? And as regards the, what, the efficacy of persuading, huh? What does the Christians say there? That's what the sacred preachers do. Speak so as to, what, teach? To delectat, delight, huh? Flectat, bend, huh? And as regards the authority of the one speaking, right, huh? Because he spoke, as it were, having dominion over the law. He says, I, however, say to you, right, huh? And also as far as the virtue of rectitude, which he showed. He says, I, however, say to you, right, huh? He says, I, however, say to you, right, huh?