Mateus 2

Remigius of Rheims

Mateus 2:1-2

[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] In the beginning of this passage of the Gospel he puts three several things; the person, When Jesus was born, the place, in Bethlehem of Judæa, and the time, in the days of Herod the king. These three circumstances verify his words. It should be known, that opinions vary respecting the Magi. Some say they were Chaldæans, who are known to have worshipped a star as God; thus their fictitious Deity showed them the way to the true God. Others think that they were Persians; others again, that they came from the utmost ends of the earth. Another and more probable opinion is, that they were descendants of Balaam, who having his prophecy, There shall rise a Star out of Jacob, (Numb. 24:17.) as soon as they saw the star, would know that a King was born. Some used to answer, 'No marvel if that boy who was then born could draw them so speedily, though it were from the ends of the earth.' Or, if they were the descendants of Balaam, their kings are not far distant from the land of promise, and might easily come to Jerusalem in that so short time. But why does he write from the East? Because surely they came from a country eastward of Judæa. But there is also great beauty in this, They came out of the East, seeing all who come to the Lord, come from Him and through Him; as it is said in Zechariah, Behold the Man whose name is the East. (Zech. 6:12.) Yet was not the Lord born there; thus they knew the time but not the place of His birth. Jerusalem being the royal city, they believed that such a child could not be born in any other. Or it was to fulfil that Scripture, The Law shall go out of Sion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. (Isa. 2:3.) And there Christ was first preached. Or it was to condemn the backwardness of the Jews. Some affirm this star to have been the Holy Spirit; He who descended on the baptized Lord as a dove, appearing to the Magi as a star. Others say it was an Angel, the same who appeared to the shepherds. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Mateus 2:4

[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] They are called Scribes, not from the employment of writing, but from the interpretation of the Scriptures, for they were doctors of the law. Observe, he does not enquire where Christ is born, but where He should be born; the subtle purpose of this was to see if they would show pleasure at the birth of their King. He calls Him Christ, because he knew that the King of the Jews was anointed. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Mateus 2:6

[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] Though little among cities that have dominion, yet art thou not the least, for out of thee shall come the Ruler, who shall rule My people Israel; this Ruler is Christ, who rules and guides His faithful people. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Mateus 2:7

[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] Diligently enquired; craftily, for he feared they would not return to him, and then he should know how he should do to put the young Child to death. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Mateus 2:8

Mateus 2:9

[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] The Magi obeyed the King so far as to seek the Lord, but not to return to Herod. Like in this to good hearers; the good they hear from wicked preachers, that they do; but do not imitate their evil lives. Or, the star figures the grace of God, and Herod the Devil. He, who by sin puts himself in the Devil's power, loses that grace; but if he return by repentance, he soon finds that grace again which leaves him not till it have brought him to the young Child's house, i. e. the Church. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Mateus 2:10-11

[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] And it was not enough to say, They rejoiced, but they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. He adds greatly, showing that men rejoice more over what they have lost than over what they possess. And it is to be known that each did not offer a different gift, but each one the three things, each one thus proclaiming the King, the God, and the man. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Mateus 2:13

[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] By this that the Angel appears always to Joseph in sleep, is mystically signified that they who rest from mundane cares and secular pursuits, deserve angelic visitations. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Mateus 2:13-15

[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] In Joseph is figured the order of preachers, in Mary Holy Scripture; by the Child the knowledge of the Saviour; by the cruelty of Herod the persecution which the Church suffered in Jerusalem; by Joseph's flight into Egypt the passing of the preachers to the unbelieving Gentiles, (for Egypt signifies darkness;) by the time that he abode in Egypt the space of time between the ascension of the Lord and the coming of Anti Christ; by Herod's death the extinction of jealousy in the hearts of the Jews. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Mateus 2:15

[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] Isaiah had foretold this flight into Egypt. Lo! the Lord shall ascend on a light cloud, and shall come into Egypt, and shall scatter the idols of Egypt. (Is. 19:1.) It is the practice of this Evangelist to confirm all he says; and that because he is writing to the Jews, therefore he adds, that it might be fulfilled, &c. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Mateus 2:16

Mateus 2:17-18

[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] The sacred Evangelist adds, to show the greatness of the mourning, that even the dead Rachel was roused to mourn her sons, and would not be comforted because they were not. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Mateus 2:19-20

[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] But if they were many who sought his destruction, how came they all to have died in so short a time? As we have related above, all the great men among the Jews were slain at Herod's death. Or the Evangelist uses a figure of speech, by which the plural is used for the singular. These words, the Child's life, (or soul, i. e. the Apollinarians.) overthrow those heretics who taught that Christ did not take a soul, but had His Divinity in place of a soul. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas