Denis the Carthusian's Commentary on Luke 4:16–21
Denis the Carthusian (1402–1471) wrote in the late medieval contemplative tradition; his exegesis blends literal, allegorical, tropological, and anagogical senses. Translated by Qwen.
Lk 4:16-17: Christ's Return to Nazareth and Entry into the Synagogue
"And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up." For there He was conceived, and in His childhood He dwelt until the time when He approached the baptism of John, as has been said above.
"And He entered, according to His custom, on the Sabbath day into the synagogue." Because on that festive day the Jews gathered together more especially to hear the Word of God and to supplicate the face of the Lord—just as Christians now do on the Lord's Day. Indeed, on festal times, for this reason do we cease from external occupations: that men may more quietly and devoutly attend to divine exercises, and that what they have sinned through omission or commission on ordinary days, they may correct and amend, and recover lost time. Therefore, it was Christ's custom to enter the synagogue at that time, because then He found more hearers; and because He wished to approve the good customs of others and conform Himself to them—especially since, according to Augustine, a praiseworthy custom acquires the force of law.
"And He stood up to read." That is, by rising He disposed Himself to read, and showed that He wished to read: so that from Scripture itself, as it were, He might take the theme of His sermon; likewise, that He might insinuate that a preacher and teacher ought to ground his discourse in Sacred Scripture; and again, that by the testimony of the Scriptures He might prove Himself worthy to be heard, and demonstrate that He is the Christ; finally, that He might fulfill and approve one of the minor Orders, namely, the Order and office of Lector: just as He also fulfilled the office of Exorcist by casting out demons; that of Acolyte or Ceroferarius by proclaiming, "I am the light of the world" (John 8:12); and that of Ostiarius by casting the buyers and sellers out of His temple. And thus it is evident that Christ, by four of His actions, approved the offices of the four inferior Orders. Therefore, no one, however great in life or knowledge, ought to despise receiving these Orders or executing their offices, since "the servant is not greater than his lord" (John 13:16).
"And the book of Isaiah the prophet was handed to Him" by the ministers of the synagogue, whose office it was to read; and perhaps they marveled that He wished to read, knowing that He had not learned letters. "And when He had unrolled the book, He found the place where it was written." Christ, not only through His divine and uncreated knowledge, but also through the knowledge of His soul—infused in Him from the beginning of its creation—knew most distinctly all created things, however small or great. Therefore, it is certain that He knew how many leaves, how many lines, how many words were contained in the book, and where each passage stood. Whence, at the first glance, He found the passage He wished—not by chance, but deliberately.
Lk 4:18: The Anointing of the Spirit
"The Spirit of the Lord"—that is, the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of the Father, indeed of the Father and the Son as of one principle and one fountain and spirator of the Holy Spirit—concerning whom it is written: "The Spirit of the Lord has filled the whole world" (Wisdom 1:7); and of whom the Apostle says: "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty" (2 Corinthians 3:17).
"Is upon me"—that is, He came from above into me, and dwells in me according as I am man. For the soul of Christ was full of the Holy Spirit from the beginning of the Incarnation; whence the Holy Spirit is said to have rested upon Christ the man through the inexistence of His gifts, according to that word of Isaiah: "The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him: the spirit of wisdom and of understanding" (Isaiah 11:2). Moreover, He was and rested upon Christ as mover, guide, and preceptor—or incliner—of Christ in all things according to the assumed nature.
For Christ, as man, was the most elect and most obedient instrument or organ of the whole Trinity, following the divine instinct in all things, as He testifies in John: "Because I do always the things that please Him" (John 8:29).
"Because He has anointed me." That is, because it so pleased the Holy Spirit to come and rest upon me, therefore He spiritually watered, poured out upon, and filled me, the man, with the fullness of grace and virtues: just as it is written: "God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness" (Psalm 44:8); and in the Acts: "God has anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power" (Acts 10:38).
And so, what He says, "Because" (propter quod), states the prior cause. It can also note the posterior cause, so that the sense is: "Because He has anointed me"—that is, from the fact that the Spirit of the Lord thus was and is upon me, it is evident and proved and follows that He has anointed me, just as a cause is shown through its effect.
Finally, Christ was not only full of the gifts of sanctifying grace (gratia gratum faciens), but also of the gifts of gratuitous grace (gratia gratis data); whence He is also said to have been anointed as King, as Pontiff or Priest, and as Prophet. And all this was done at the beginning of the Incarnation. But if it is read as having happened afterward, it is to be understood with respect to manifestation. Indeed, just as on the day of Parasceve He offered Himself as priest, an oblation and victim to God for an odor of sweetness by effect, so affectively He began to do this from the beginning of the creation of His soul; and from that time He began to be mediator and reconciler, intercessor and pontiff between God and men.
Moreover, He was anointed as the temple or tabernacle of the Divinity, because, as the Apostle says: "In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2:9). Christ also says to the Jews in John: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up" (John 2:19). But He spoke of the temple of His body, as the Evangelist explains. In figure of this, concerning the anointing of the tabernacle it is written in Leviticus; concerning the pontifical anointing, it is had in the same book; concerning others, in the books of Kings.
Lk 4:18 cont. : To Evangelize the Poor
"He has sent me to evangelize the poor." Which He did, saying: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:3).
According to Origen, by "the poor" are understood the Gentiles or nations, possessing nothing at all spiritually: not God, not the Law, not the Prophets, not justice, nor the other virtues. To these Christ evangelized through the Apostles, and to some—even if few—through Himself, as the Evangelists testify. Whence also Paul, speaking of Christ: "Coming, He evangelized peace to you who were afar off" (Ephesians 2:17).
Note that Luke allegates this passage according to the translation of the Seventy Interpreters (the Septuagint). Jerome, however, translated it somewhat differently, and for the word adduced said thus: "To announce to the meek He has sent me."
"To heal the contrite in heart." According to Cyril, by "the contrite in heart" are understood those who have weak, fragile minds and are not able to resist the assaults of the passions. But Basil, by "the contrite in heart," understands those who, by sinning, are oppressed by Satan and spiritually destroyed. To these, therefore, the Savior came to impart a saving remedy, by which sins may be cured and happiness obtained, according as He says: "The Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10).
For the sacrament of Baptism, as the first plank after shipwreck, and the sacrament of Penance, as the second plank after shipwreck, He instituted. Again, "the contrite in heart" can be understood as truly penitent, according to that word: "A contrite and humbled heart, O God, You will not despise" (Psalm 50:19); whom Christ came to heal through grace. For although, insofar as they are contrite, they are already healed from the wound itself of sin or guilt, nevertheless from the effects and remnants of sin—which are a proneness to evil, a weakness toward relapse—they need to be cured; which is done especially through the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, which descend from the Head, Christ, into His members. For God, as God, gives them efficiently, creatively, and authoritatively; but as man and mediator, He gives them as an instrumental cause, superabundantly meritorious.
Lk 4:19: Liberation, Sight, and the Acceptable Year
"And to preach to the captives"—that is, to those entangled in the chains of vices—"remission"—that is, indulgence, provided they truly repent. Christ did this, saying: "Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 4:17). Concerning this captivity, Solomon says in Proverbs: "His own iniquities catch the wicked, and he is fast bound with the ropes of his own sins" (Proverbs 5:22). For sin exercises a most wicked tyranny, leading to evils and confounding those who acquiesce.
There is also a good captivity, concerning which the Apostle says: "Bringing into captivity every understanding unto the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5). Theophilus understands by "captives" those detained in limbo, who, when Christ rose, were led forth by the price of His blood, having obtained remission from the guilt of original sin; just as it is said to Christ in Zechariah: "You also, by the blood of Your testament, have sent forth Your prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water" (Zechariah 9:11).
"And to preach sight to the blind"—that is, the illumination of the spiritual interior vision to the Gentiles, or to whomever is blinded by error, ignorance, or vices. Whence Christ in the Gospel testifies: "I am the light of the world; he who follows Me does not walk in darkness" (John 8:12). To whom the Father spoke through Isaiah: "I have given You for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles: that You may open the eyes of the blind, and bring forth the prisoner out of the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house" (Isaiah 42:6–7).
"To set at liberty those who are bruised"—that is, those wearied by adversities, or pressed down by the burdens of legal observances—"unto remission"—that is, unto spiritual consolation and relief. For Christ alleviated us from the observance of the ceremonial precepts of the Law through the grace of the evangelical Law, according to that word: "Why do you tempt to impose a yoke upon the necks of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we believe to be saved" (Acts 15:10–11). Whence in Matthew the Savior says: "Come to Me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you" (Matthew 11:28).
"To preach the acceptable year of the Lord"—that is, the time of grace or of the evangelical Law, in which God most benignly disposed Himself toward the human race. Concerning which the Apostle says: "Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2); and Isaiah: "In an acceptable time I have heard You" (Isaiah 49:8).
But how Christ did this is shown in Mark, where it is read: "After John was delivered up, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the Gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying: 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand'" (Mark 1:14–15). Concerning which most gracious time the Apostle writes: "But when the fullness of time was come, God sent His Son" (Galatians 4:4); and in the Acts, Peter says: "All the prophets, from Samuel and afterwards, who have spoken, have told of these days" (Acts 3:24).
Some understand by "the acceptable year" the year in which Christ preached, especially in Judea, or the year of the Lord's passion, in which God was placated toward the human race. Indeed, a time is called "acceptable" on account of the gracious and pious works which are done in it; just as days are called "evil" on account of the evils which are done in them.
"And the day of recompense"—that is, of the extreme judgment, in which each one is believed to be about to receive what he has merited, just as in the Apocalypse the Judge asserts: "Behold, I come quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to his works" (Apocalypse 22:12). Christ frequently denounced this day, as in John: "The hour comes in which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice" (John 5:28).
Some understand by "the day of recompense" the day of eternal happiness of the elect in the heavenly homeland. Nevertheless, the preceding exposition is estimated to be more literal, because Jerome translated: "The day of vengeance"; which, however, could be accepted concerning the time of devastation (on account of sins committed against Christ), concerning which Christ confesses through Isaiah: "The day of vengeance is in My heart, the year of My recompense is come" (Isaiah 63:4). For the same time was that of the most clement calling of the Gentiles, and of the most just dereliction, devastation, and desolation of the Jews.
Moreover, it is to be noted that sin brings very many evils upon men: for it wounds the soul, captivates it, blinds it, separates it from God, and deprives it of grace and glory. Therefore, Christ declares that He came against the aforesaid evils. Whence John says: "For this purpose the Son of God appeared: that He might destroy the works of the devil" (1 John 3:8).
Lk 4:20: The Reverent Handling of Scripture
"And when He had closed the book." From which it is evident that He treated the book of Sacred Scripture reverently, and left us an example of so doing. Concerning which Lyra says: The Jews observe this reverence toward the books of the Old Testament, that they in no way sit beside them, nor sit so high that they are placed above them. From which it is clear that those Christians are greatly to be reproved who not only treat the books of the Old Testament, but also of the New, and the sacred Gospels, so irreverently—and more irreverently than the books of condemned Gentiles. Some theologians also allegue the sayings of such [pagan authors] in the schools with greater weight and more certain citation than the sayings of Christ and the Apostles.
"He gave it back to the minister": perhaps to the one from whom He had received the book; "and sat down", as a master and teacher, that He might explain what He had read.
"And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him." Because He was delightful to behold, as "fair in form above the sons of men" (Psalm 44:3), in whose countenance a certain splendor of interior perfection and grace shone forth; but also by the sweetness of His eloquence He drew their hearts. They marveled also at a new thing: how He knew how to read, who had not learned it from man. Such new, great, marvelous, and unexpected things men inspect diligently and attentively. Concerning which Origen speaks: "Even now, if we will, our eyes can be fixed upon the Savior; for when you have directed the principal part of your heart to contemplate wisdom, truth, and the Only-Begotten of God, your eyes behold Jesus."
Lk 4:21: The Fulfillment of Prophecy
"And He began to say to them: 'Because today this Scripture is fulfilled in your ears.'" That is, by the fact that you have heard Me evangelizing Christ to you, illuminating your hearts, and announcing the grace of divine benignity, that which was predicted in the aforesaid prophecy has been in some measure fulfilled.
By this word Christ taught that the sayings and promises of the Prophets ought to be understood spiritually in the advent of Christ: namely, concerning spiritual liberation from the power of the devil, and liberation from the yoke of sin—not concerning exterior captivity, in which the Jews are now held, and in which they await themselves to be led forth in the advent of Christ, and to rule over all nations. For they have the understanding blinded by a most dense fog of errors.
CONTINUE
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