1883 Haydock Douay Rheims Bible

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Luke 19:1	And entering in, he walked through Jericho.
Luke 19:2	And behold there was a man, by name Zacheus; and he was the chief of the publicans, and was rich.	What sinner can despair when he sees the Saviour of mankind seeking to save him; when he beholds even a publican and a rich man, at the same time, who, as our Saviour informs us in another place, are so seldom truly converted, brought to the light of faith, and the grace of a true conversion! (St. Ambrose) --- Zacheus (who as a farmer of the customs, not a collector, as some falsely imagine) immediately hearkened to the interior voice of the Almighty, calling him to repentance; he made no delay, and therefore deserved immediately not only to see, but to eat, drink, and converse with Jesus. (St. Cyril) --- Behold here the three steps of his conversion: 1. an ardent desire of seeing Jesus; 2. the honourable reception he gave him in his house; 3. the complete restitution of all ill-acquired property.
Luke 19:3	And he sought to see Jesus, who he was: and he could not for the crowd, because he was low of stature.
Luke 19:4	And running before, he climbed up into a sycamore-tree, that he might see him: for he was to pass that way.
Luke 19:5	And when Jesus was come to the place, looking up, he saw him, and said to him: Zacheus, make haste, and come down; for to-day I must abide in thy house.
Luke 19:6	And he made haste, and came down, and received him with joy.
Luke 19:7	And when they all saw it, they murmured, saying: That he was gone to be a guest with a man that is a sinner.
Luke 19:8	But Zacheus standing, said to the Lord: Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have wronged any man of any thing, I restore him fourfold.
Luke 19:9	Jesus said to him: This day is salvation come to this house: because he also is a son of Abraham.	Zacheus is here styled a son of Abraham; that is his spiritual son, a partaker of the promises made to Abraham concerning the Messias: not that he was actually born of his seed, but because he imitated his faith; and as Abraham at the voice of God, left the land and house of his father; so Zacheus renounced his goods and possessions, by giving them to the poor. (Ven. Bede)
Luke 19:10	*For the Son of man is come to seek, and to save that which was lost. Matthew 18:12.
Luke 19:11	As they were hearing these things, he added and spoke a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem: and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately be manifested.	That the kingdom of God should immediately be manifested. The disciples were full of the expectation of the temporal kingdom of the Messias, though he had divers times told them he was to suffer and die on a cross. (Witham) --- Notwithstanding all that Jesus had said to them about his kingdom, his death, his consummation, and resurrection, they still believed that the kingdom of God was going to be manifested, and that Jesus, in this journey, would make himself be acknowledged king by the whole nation of the Jews. They could not lay aside the ideas they had formed of the personal and temporal reign of the Messias. Every thing which they could not reconcile with this standard, was completely impenetrable to them. It was a language they could not comprehend. (Calmet)
Luke 19:12	He said, therefore: *A certain nobleman went into a far country, to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. Matthew 25:14.	This parable is an exact prophetic history of what happened to Archelaus Antipas, son of Herod the great, about thirty-six years afterwards. Judea being then tributary, he was obliged to go to Rome to receive his kingdom from the hands of the emperor Augustus. The Jews, who hated him for his cruelty, sent an embassy to the emperor, to accuse him of many crimes, and disappoint him in his hopes of gaining his crown. But Augustus confirmed it to him, and sent him back to reign in Judea, where he revenged himself on those who had opposed his pretensions. With regard to the instruction, which is meant to be conveyed by this parable; this nobleman is the Son of God, who came among the Jews to take possession of the kingdom, which was his due. But being rejected and treated unworthily, and even put to a disgraceful death on the cross, he will one day come again, armed with vengeance, and inflict the effects of his anger upon them. This was partly fulfilled at the destruction of Jerusalem, and will be completed at the general judgment. (Calmet) (Bible de Vence)
Luke 19:13	And calling his ten servants, he delivered them ten pounds, and said to them: Trade till I come.	Ten pieces of money, each of which was called a mna. To translate pounds, gives the English reader a false notion, the Roman coin called a mna not corresponding to our pound. (Witham) --- A mna was 12.5 ounces, which, at five shillings per ounce, is £3 2s. 6d.
Luke 19:14	But his citizens hated him: and they sent an embassage after him, saying: We will not have this man to reign over us.
Luke 19:15	And it came to pass, that he returned, having received the kingdom: and he commanded his servants to be called, to whom he had given the money: that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.
Luke 19:16	And the first came, saying: Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds.
Luke 19:17	And he said to him: Well done, thou good servant, because thou hast been faithful in a little, thou shalt have power over ten cities.
Luke 19:18	And the second came, saying: Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds.
Luke 19:19	And he said to him: Be thou also over five cities.	All the disciples of Christ have not the same degree of honour in this world, nor in the next; because all do not make an equal use of the graces they receive. Some are in the first rank, as apostles; then those, to whom the gift of prophecy has been committed; then doctors, etc. each exalted according to his merit. For there are many mansions, and many degrees of glory, in the house of the heavenly Father. (Calmet) --- For there is one brightness of the sun, another of the moon, and another of the stars; for star differeth from star in brightness. (1 Corinthians 15:41.)
Luke 19:20	And another came, saying: Lord, behold here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin:
Luke 19:21	For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up what thou didst not lay down, and thou reapest what thou didst not sow.
Luke 19:22	He saith to him: Out of thy own mouth I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up what I laid not down, and reaping that which I did not sow:
Luke 19:23	And why then didst thou not give my money into the bank, that at my coming, I might have required it with usury?
Luke 19:24	And he said to them that stood by: Take the pound away from him, and give it to him that hath ten pounds.
Luke 19:25	And they said to him: Lord, he hath ten pounds.
Luke 19:26	*But I say to you, that to every one that hath shall be given, and he shall abound: and from him that hath not, even that which he hath, shall be taken from him. Matthew 13:12.; Matthew 25:29.; Mark 4:25.; Luke 8:18.
Luke 19:27	But as for those my enemies, who would not have me reign over them, bring them hither; and kill them before me.
Luke 19:28	And having said these things, he went before going up to Jerusalem.
Luke 19:29	*And it came to pass, when he was come nigh to Bethphage and Bethania, at the mountain called Olivet, he sent two of his disciples, Matthew 21:1.; Mark 11:1.
Luke 19:30	Saying: Go ye into the town, which is over against you; entering into it, you shall find the colt of an ass tied, on which no man ever sat: loose him, and bring him hither.
Luke 19:31	And if any man shall ask you: Why do you loose him? You shall say thus unto him: Because the Lord hath need of his service.
Luke 19:32	And they that were sent went their way, and found the colt standing, as he had said to them.
Luke 19:33	And as they were loosing the colt, the owners thereof said to them: Why loose you the colt?
Luke 19:34	But they said: Because the Lord hath need of him.	It may here be asked, how the owners of the colt knew who the Lord was, of whom the disciples spoke? It may be answered, that perhaps they had already heard that Jesus of Nazareth, who the Jews thought was to be their temporal king, was coming about that time to Jerusalem, and that they saw from their dress, or other external marks, that they were the disciples of Jesus. (Dionysius)
Luke 19:35	*And they brought him to Jesus. And casting their garments on the colt, they set Jesus thereon. John 12:14.
Luke 19:36	And as he went, they spread their clothes underneath in the way.
Luke 19:37	And when he was now coming near the descent of Mount Olivet, the whole multitude of his disciples began with joy to praise God with a loud voice, for all the mighty works they had seen,
Luke 19:38	Saying: Blessed is he who cometh king in the name of the Lord, peace in heaven, and glory on high.
Luke 19:39	And some of the Pharisees, from amongst the multitude, said to him: Master, rebuke thy disciples.
Luke 19:40	And he said to them: I tell you, that if these shall hold their peace, the stones will cry out.	The stones. This is a proverb, as if he had said: God has resolved to glorify me this day, in order to fulfil the prophecies. Nothing can hinder the execution of his decrees; if men were silent, he would make even the stones to speak. (Calmet) --- At the crucifixion of our Redeemer, when his friends were silent through fear, the very stones and rocks spoke in his defence. Immediately after he expired, the earth was moved, the rocks split, and the monuments of the dead opened. (Ven. Bede) --- Nor is it any wonder if, contrary to nature, the rocks bespeak the praises of the Lord, since he was even praised by a multitude, much more insensible than the rocks themselves, in crucifying him only a few days after, whom they now salute with Hosannahs of joy. (St. Ambrose)
Luke 19:41	And when he drew near, seeing the city, he wept over it, saying:	He wept. St. Epiphanius tells us, that some of the orthodox of his time, offended at these words, omitted them in their copies, as if to shed tears, were a weakness unworthy of Christ: but this true reading of the evangelist is found in all copies, and received by all the faithful; and the liberty which those who changed them took, was too dangerous ever to be approved of by the Church. Neither do these tears argue in Jesus Christ any thing unworthy of his supreme majesty or wisdom. Our Saviour possessed all the human passions, but not the defects of them. The Stoics, who condemned the passions in their sages, laboured to make statues or automata of man, not philosophers. The true philosopher moderates and governs his passions; the Stoic labours to destroy them, but cannot effect his purpose. And when he labours to overcome one passion, he is forced to have recourse to another for help. (Calmet) --- Our Saviour is said to have wept six times, during his life on earth: 1st, At his birth, according to many holy doctors; 2ndly, at his circumcision, according to St. Bernard and others; 3rdly, when he raised Lazarus to life, as is related in St. John 11.; 4thly, in his entry into Jerusalem, described in this place; 5thly, during his agony in the garden, just before his apprehension, when, as St. Luke remarks, (Chap. 22.) his sweat was as drops of blood trickling down upon the ground; and 6thly, during his passion, when he often wept, on account of his great distress of mind, occasioned principally by the knowledge he had of the grievousness of men's sins, and the bad use they would make of the redemption he was, through so many sufferings, procuring for them. (Dionysius)
Luke 19:42	If thou also hadst known, and that in this thy day, the things that are for thy peace: but now they are hidden from thy eyes.	If thou also hadst known. It is a broken sentence, as it were in a transport of grief; and we may understand, thou wouldst also weep. Didst thou know, even at this day, that peace and reconciliation which God still offers to thee. (Witham) --- What can be more tender than the apostrophe here made use of by our Saviour! Hadst thou but known, etc. that is, didst thou but know how severe a punishment is about to be inflicted upon thee, for the numberless transgressions of thy people, thou likewise wouldst weep; but, alas! hardened in iniquity, thou still rejoicest, ignorant of the punishment hanging over thy head. Just men have daily occasion to bewail, like our blessed Redeemer, the blindness of the wicked, unable to see, through their own perversity, the miserable state of their souls, and the imminent danger they are every moment exposed to, of losing themselves for ever. Of these, Solomon cries out; (Proverbs 2:13.) They leave the right way, and walk through dark ways. We ought to imitate this compassion of our blessed Redeemer; and, as he wept over the calamities of the unfortunate Jerusalem, though determined on his destruction; so we ought to bewail the sins not only of our friends, but likewise of our enemies, and daily offer up our prayers for their conversion. (Dionysius)
Luke 19:43	For the days shall come upon thee; and thy enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and straiten thee on every side,	And compass thee, etc. Christ's prophecy is a literal description of what happened to Jerusalem, under Titus. (Witham)
Luke 19:44	And beat thee flat to the ground, and thy children who are in thee: *and they shall not leave in thee a stone upon a stone: because thou hast not known the time of thy visitation. Matthew 24:2.; Mark 13:2.; Luke 21:6.
Luke 19:45	*And entering into the temple, he began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought, Matthew 21:12.; Mark 11:15.
Luke 19:46	*Saying to them: It is written: My house is the house of prayer. But you have made it a den of thieves. Isaias 56:7.; Jeremias 7:11.
Luke 19:47	And he was teaching daily in the temple. And the chief priests, and the Scribes, and the rulers of the people sought to destroy him:
Luke 19:48	And they found not what to do to him. For all the people heard him attentively.	All the people, as they heard him with so great attention. So Virgil said: ----- pendetque iterum narrantis ab ore. (Witham) --- The original Greek, exekremato autou akouon, shews how eagerly they catched the words that dropped from his sacred lips, all enraptured with the wisdom of his answers, and the commanding superiority of his doctrines. Seneca (Controv 9:1.) uses a similar turn of expression: Ex vultu discentis pendent omnium vultus. The chief priests and rulers were all apprehension lest the people, who followed Jesus with such avidity, and who had conceived such high sentiments of his character, might prevent the execution of their murderous designs.