Mateus 4

Jerome · Comentário Patrístico (catena)

Mateus 4:1

(Chapter 4 - Verse 1) Then Jesus was led into the desert by the spirit. There is no doubt that it was the Holy Spirit. It follows: In order to be tempted by the devil. However, he is led not unwillingly or captivated, but by his own will to fight. — Commentary on Matthew

Mateus 4:1-2

[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] Led, not against His will, or as a prisoner, but as by a desire for the conflict. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Mateus 4:3

Mateus 4:3-4

(Verse 3.) Say that these stones become bread. It is fittingly said to the hungry: say that these stones become bread. You are tempting him with two opposing arguments, O devil. If these stones can become bread at his command, then you are foolishly tempting someone of such great power. But if he cannot do it, then you are foolishly suspecting the Son of God. If you are the Son of God, say that these stones become bread. (Verse 4.) He answered and said: It is written: Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God. The testimony is taken from Deuteronomy (Deut. VIII, 3). The Lord responded in this way because His intention was to overcome the devil through humility, not power. It should also be noted that if the Lord had not begun to fast, the devil would not have had an opportunity to tempt Him, according to this: My son, when you come to serve God, prepare yourself for trials, and put your soul in order (Eccli. II, 1). But the very response of the Savior indicates that he was a man who was tempted. Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Therefore, if anyone does not feed on the word of God, he does not live. — Commentary on Matthew

Mateus 4:4

(Verse 4.) He answered and said: It is written: Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God. The testimony is taken from Deuteronomy (Deut. VIII, 3). The Lord responded in this way because His intention was to overcome the devil through humility, not power. It should also be noted that if the Lord had not begun to fast, the devil would not have had an opportunity to tempt Him, according to this: My son, when you come to serve God, prepare yourself for trials, and put your soul in order (Eccli. II, 1). But the very response of the Savior indicates that he was a man who was tempted. Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Therefore, if anyone does not feed on the word of God, he does not live. — Commentary on Matthew

Mateus 4:4

The testimony was taken from Deuteronomy. The Lord responded in this way, for it was his purpose to overcome the devil with humility and not with power. At the same time, it should be noted that unless the Lord had begun to fast, the devil would not have had an occasion, in accordance with the passage: "My son, as you embark upon the service of God, prepare your soul for temptation." But the Savior's very response indicates that it was as man that he was tempted: "Not by bread alone shall man live, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God." So if anyone does not feed upon God's Word, that one will not live. — COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 1.4.4

Mateus 4:5

(Verse 5.) Then the devil took him to the holy city. This assumption, which is called, does not come from the weakness of the Lord, but from the pride of the enemy, who thinks that the will of the Savior is a necessity. From this passage, however, it is understood what is meant by what is written in another place: They went into the holy city and appeared to many (Matthew 27:53). — Commentary on Matthew

Mateus 4:5

[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] Took him, not because the Lord was weak, but the enemy proud; he imputed to a necessity what the Saviour did willingly. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Mateus 4:5-6

"Throw yourself down." It is the devil's voice by which he desires that everyone should fall down. "Throw yourself," he says. He is able to persuade, but he cannot cast down. "He will give his angels charge concerning you; and upon their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone." This we read in the ninetieth psalm. Clearly the prophecy here is not about Christ but about a holy man. The devil therefore is a poor interpreter of the Scriptures. Certainly, if he really knew what was written about the Savior, he should have also said what follows in the same psalm against him: "You will tread on the lion and the adder, the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot." Concerning the help of the angels, he speaks as though to a feeble man. Concerning his being trampled underfoot, he is silent like an artful dodger.Jesus said to him, "It is written further, 'You shall not tempt the Lord your God.' " The false arrows from the devil's own scriptures he breaks with the true shield of the Scripture. And it should be noted that he cited the necessary testimony from Deuteronomy that he might show the sacraments of the second law. — COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 1.4.5-7

Mateus 4:6

(Verse 6.) And he set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, 'If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you,' and 'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.' If you are the Son of God. In all temptations, the devil does this in order to see if you are the Son of God; but the Lord responds in such a way as to leave him in doubt. Send yourself downward. For it is written: The voice of the devil, who always desires everyone to fall downward, says, Send yourself downward, it can persuade, it cannot force. He has commanded his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. We read this in the ninety-first psalm, but there it is not about Christ, but about a holy man, a prophet. Therefore, the devil misinterprets the Scriptures. Surely if he truly knew that it was written about the Savior, he should have also said what follows in the same psalm against himself: You will tread on the lion and the serpent; you will trample the young lion and the serpent. He speaks of the assistance of angels as if speaking to a weak person: he is silent about his own trampling as if a turncoat. — Commentary on Matthew

Mateus 4:6

[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] In the several temptations the single aim of the Devil is to find if He be the Son of God, but he is so answered as at last to depart in doubt; He says, Cast thyself, because the voice of the Devil, which is always calling men downwards, has power to persuade them, but may not compel them to fall. This verse we read in the ninetieth Psalm (Ps. 91:11.), but that is a prophecy not of Christ, but of some holy man, so the Devil interprets Scripture amiss. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Mateus 4:7

[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] The false Scripture darts of the Devil He brands with the true shield of Scripture. It should be noted, that the required texts are taken from the book of Deuteronomy only, that He might show the sacraments of the second Law. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Mateus 4:7

(Verse 7) Jesus said to him again: It is written: You shall not tempt the Lord your God. He breaks the false arrows of the devil's scriptures with the true shields of the scriptures. And it should be noted that he presented only the necessary testimonies from Deuteronomy, to show the sacraments of the second law. — Commentary on Matthew

Mateus 4:8

(Verse 8) Again, the devil took him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, and said to him, 'All these things I will give you if you fall down and worship me.' The glory of the world, which is passing away with the world, is shown on the mountain and on the pinnacle. But the Lord descends to humble and lowly places in order to overcome the devil through humility. Furthermore, the devil hastens to lead him to the mountains, so that through the same mountains by which he himself fell, others may fall as well, according to the saying of the Apostle: 'Lest he be lifted up with pride and fall into the judgment of the devil' (1 Timothy 3:6). — Commentary on Matthew

Mateus 4:9

[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] An arrogant and vain vaunt; for he hath not the power to bestow all kingdoms, since many of the saints have, we know, been made kings by God. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Mateus 4:9

(Verse 9) I will give you all these things if you fall down and worship me. Even in this boasting, the arrogant and proud one speaks: not because he has power over the whole world or can give all the kingdoms, since we know that many holy men have been made kings by God. If you fall down, he says, and worship me. Therefore, whoever is going to worship the devil, falls before him. — Commentary on Matthew

Mateus 4:10

(Verse 10.) Then Jesus said to him: Go, Satan: for it is written. Not as many think, Satan and the apostle Peter are condemned with the same sentence. For to Peter it is said: Get behind me, Satan (Matt. XVI, 23), that is, follow me, who are contrary to my will: but here he hears, go, Satan: and it is not said to him, behind me, so that it may be understood, go into the eternal fire, which is prepared for you, and your angels. You shall worship the Lord your God and serve only Him. The devil said to the Savior: if you fall down and worship me, on the contrary, He hears that He should rather worship the Lord, His God. — Commentary on Matthew

Mateus 4:10

"Then Jesus said to him, 'Begone, Satan! For it is written: the Lord your God shall you worship, and him only shall you serve.' " Satan and the apostle Peter are not condemned by the same judgment, as many may think. For to Peter it was said, "Get behind me, Satan," that is, follow me, you who are contrary to my will. But the devil heard the words "Begone, Satan"; And it was not said to him "Get behind me," as if it were a matter of simple subjection. Rather it is an instruction: "You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve." This is the opposite of the devil's earlier words to the Savior: "If you will fall down and worship me." Now he hears that it is he who should worship his Lord and God. Otherwise, "Go into the everlasting fire that has been prepared for you and your angels." — COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 1.4.10-11

Mateus 4:10

[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] It should be noted, that the required texts are taken from the book of Deuteronomy only, that He might show the sacraments of the second Law. The Devil and Peter are not, as many suppose, condemned to the same sentence. To Peter it is said, Get thee behind me, Satan; i. e. follow thou behind Me who art contrary to My will. But here it is, Go, Satan, and is not added 'behind Me,' that we may understand into the fire prepared for thee and thy angels. When the Devil says to the Saviour, If thou wilt fall down and worship me, he is answered by the contrary declaration, that it more becomes him to worship Jesus as his Lord and God. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Mateus 4:11

(Verse 11.) Then the devil left him: and behold, angels came and ministered to him. Temptation precedes victory. Angels minister, to demonstrate the dignity of the victor. — Commentary on Matthew

Mateus 4:13-16

[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] (in Esai. c. 9. 1.) They are said at the first time to be lightened from the burden of sin, because in the country of these two tribes, the Saviour first preached the Gospel; at the last time their faith was increased, most of the Jews remaining in error. By the sea here is meant the Lake of Gennesaret, a lake formed by the waters of the Jordan, on its shores are the towns of Capernaum, Tiberias, Bethsaida, and Corozaim, in which district principally Christ preached. Or, according to the interpretation of those Hebrews who believe in Christ, the two tribes Zabulon and Naphtali were taken captive by the Assyrians, and Galilee was left desert; and the prophet therefore says that it was lightened, because it had before suffered the sins of the people; but afterwards the remaining tribes who dwelt beyond Jordan and in Samaria were led into captivity; and Scripture here means that the region which had been the first to suffer captivity, now was the first to see the light of Christ's preaching. The Nazarenes again interpret that this was the first part of the country that, on the coming of Christ, was freed from the errors of the Pharisees, and after by the Gospel of the Apostle Paul, the preaching was increased or multiplied throughout all the countries of the Gentiles. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Mateus 4:15-16

[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] (ubi sup.) Or we must read, beyond Jordan, of Galilee of the Gentiles; so, I mean, that the people who either sat, or walked in darkness, have seen light and that not a faint light, as the light of the Prophets, but a great light, as of Him who in the Gospel speaks thus, I am the light, of the world. Between death and the shadow of death I suppose this difference; death is said of such as have gone down to the grave with the works of death; the shadow of such as live in sin, and have not yet departed from this world; these may, if they will, yet turn to repentance. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Mateus 4:15-16

(Verse 15, 16.) The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light, Those who dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined. These were the first to hear the Lord preaching, that where the first captivity had occurred by the Assyrians, there the proclamation of the Redeemer would be born. — Commentary on Matthew

Mateus 4:17

[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] Shewing also thereby that He was Son of that same God whose prophet John was; and therefore He says, Repent ye. Mystically interpreted, Christ begins to preach as soon as John was delivered to prison, because when the Law ceased, the Gospel commenced. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Mateus 4:17-18

(Verse 17, 18.) Then Jesus began to preach and say, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.' And as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And he said to them. When John was handed over, he begins to preach rightly: as the Law ends, the Gospel arises accordingly. But if the Savior preaches the same things that John the Baptist had foretold before, he shows himself to be the Son of the same God, whose prophet John was. — Commentary on Matthew

Mateus 4:19-20

(Ver. 19, 20.) Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men. And immediately they left their nets and followed him. These first ones were called to follow the Lord: fishermen and unlettered men are sent to preach, lest the faith of believers be thought to come about not by the power of God, but by eloquence and teaching. — Commentary on Matthew

Mateus 4:24

[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] Not really smitten by the moon, but who were believed to be so through the subtlety of the dæmons, who by observing the seasons of the moon, sought to bring an evil report against the creature, that it might redound to the blasphemy of the Creator. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Mateus 4:24

(Verse 24) And he healed the lunatics and the paralytics. And many crowds followed him from Galilee and Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and from beyond the Jordan. Not truly lunatics, but those who were thought to be lunatics due to the deceit of demons, who, by observing the phases of the moon, desired to defame creation so as to overflow with blasphemies against the Creator. — Commentary on Matthew