Indeed, in this type of event, reason, harmony and example are served. For after six days the appearance of the Lord’s glory is revealed. No doubt, with the cycles of six thousand years having unfolded, the glory of the heavenly kingdom is prefigured. And the three were taken up in analogy to the descent of the three, Shem, Ham and Japheth. By this the coming election to divine favor of the people is shown.

Now it is asked how after six days he took them and led them separately onto a high mountain, whereas the Evangelist Luke established the number at eight. The answer is easy because in Matthew the days in the middle are counted, but in Luke the first and last are added.^[1] For Luke does not say after eight days Jesus took Peter and James and John but now about eight days after.^[2]

Why does he take only these three with him? Because each one of these three was elevated above the rest. Peter showed his preeminence by exceedingly loving him; John by being exceedingly loved by him. James showed his superiority by his ready response to his brother: we are able to drink the cup^[1] and by his works and by doing what he said. For so earnest was James, and grievous to the Jews, that Herod himself imagined that he had bestowed a great favor on the Jews by killing him.^[2]

But some may ask, when he was transfigured before those who were led up by him into the lofty mountain, did he appear to them in the form of God or in the preincarnate form that he earlier had? Did he appear to those left below in the form of a servant, but to those who had followed him after the six days to the lofty mountain, did he have not the form of a servant but the form of God? Listen carefully, if you can, and at the same time be attentive spiritually. It is not simply said that he was transfigured, but with a certain necessary addition. Both Matthew and Mark have recorded this: he was transfigured before them. Is it therefore possible for Jesus to be transfigured before some but not before others?^[1]

Do you wish to see the transfiguration of Jesus? Behold with me the Jesus of the Gospels. Let him be simply apprehended. There he is beheld both according to the flesh and at the same time in his true divinity. He is beheld in the form of God according to our capacity for knowledge. This is how he was beheld by those who went up upon the lofty mountain to be apart with him. Meanwhile those who do not go up the mountain can still behold his works and hear his words, which are uplifting. It is before those who go up that Jesus is transfigured, and not to those below. When he is transfigured, his face shines as the sun, that he may be manifested to the children of light, who have put off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.^[2] They are no longer the children of darkness or night but have become the children of day. They walk honestly as in the day. Being manifested, he will shine to them not simply as the sun but as he is demonstrated to be, the sun of righteousness.

Certainly the Lord was transformed into that glory with which he would afterwards come in his own kingdom. The change accentuated in splendor. It did not diminish his outward appearance. Let it be that his body had become spiritual. Even his garments were changed, which were white to such a high degree that as another Evangelist would say, And his clothes became dazzling white, as no fuller on earth could bleach them.^[1] What the mortal bleacher on earth is able to make is material and subject to touch, not supernatural and heavenly, which mocks the eyes and is only seen in a vision.

Indeed, Jesus himself shone as the sun, indicating that he is the light which illuminates every one who comes into this world.^[1] And this is the sun to the eyes of the flesh, that is the sun to the eyes of the heart. His garments are a type of his church. For garments, unless held up by the one having donned them, fall. Paul was like the lowest hem of these garments. For he himself says, For I am the least of the apostles,^[2] and in another passage, I am the last of the apostles. On a garment, the hem is the last thing and the least. Just as that woman who touched the Lord’s hem was made well, so the church which came out of the Gentiles was saved by means of Paul’s preaching.

He is transfigured to manifest the glory of the cross, to console Peter and the others in their dread of the Passion and to bring their minds to elevated understanding. Those who went up with him did not hold their peace but were destined to speak of the glory which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem—of his Passion and the glory of the cross.

And not only did Jesus elevate their understanding, but also he brought their virtues to a higher level, so that they could meet the requirements expected of them. He had just said, If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.^[1] He then set before them Moses and Elijah, who were ready to die ten thousand times for God’s decrees and for the people entrusted to them. Each of them, having lost his life, found it. For each of them both spoke boldly to tyrants, the one to the Egyptian, the other to Ahab. They spoke on behalf of heartless and disobedient people. They were brought into extreme danger by the very persons who were saved by them. Both desired to lead people away from idolatry. These were not eloquent men. Moses was slow of tongue and dull of speech.^[2] Elijah had the crudest sort of appearance.^[3] Both were strict observers of voluntary poverty. Moses did not work for worldly gain. Elijah did not possess anything more than his sheepskin.

While the scribes and Pharisees were testing him, he was unwilling to give signs from heaven to those demanding them; however, he silenced their perverse demand with a prudent response. Here, indeed, so that he might increase the faith of the apostles, he gave a sign from heaven. Thereupon Elijah descended from the place to which he had ascended. Moses rose from the lower regions.

You go astray, Peter, just as the other Evangelist attests: you do not know what you are saying. Do not seek three tabernacles. Seek only the tabernacle of the gospel in which the law and the prophets are to be recapitulated.^[1] By seeking three tabernacles you appear to be comparing incommensurably the two servants with the one Lord. Seek only the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, for in these there is one God, who is to be worshiped in the tabernacle of your heart.

Peter didn’t know what he was saying, for before the Savior’s Passion, resurrection and victory over death and corruption, it was impossible for Peter to be with Christ and to be permitted into the tents which are in heaven. These things would happen only after the Savior’s resurrection and ascent into heaven.

Excited therefore by these revelations of secret realities, the apostle Peter, spurning the mundane and loathing earthly things, was seized by a certain excess of passion toward a yearning for eternal things. Filled up with the joy of the whole vision, he wished to dwell there with Jesus where he was delighting in Christ’s manifested glory. Thus Peter said, Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three booths here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah. But the Lord did not reply to this suggestion, for it was not wicked but inappropriate, since the world could not be saved except by Christ’s death. And in the Lord’s warning the faith of those who believe is called to account. Among the temptations of this life we should understand that we are to ask for endurance before glory. Good fortune in ruling cannot come before a time of enduring.

I think that God, wishing to dissuade Peter from making three tabernacles, under which so far as it depended on his choice he was going to dwell, shows him a better tabernacle, so to speak, and far superior: the cloud. It is the function of a tabernacle to give shade to one who is in it and to shelter him, and the bright cloud overshadowed them. So God made, as it were, a more divine tabernacle, inasmuch as it was bright, that it might be to them a pattern of the resurrection to come. For the shining cloud gives shade to the righteous and at the same time protects them, gives them light and illuminates them. What would the shining cloud that gives shade to the righteous be? Is it perhaps the Father’s power, from which comes the Father’s voice saying that this is his Son in whom he is well pleased, urging those that are shaded by it to listen to him and to no one else? He speaks—just as of old so also for all times—through those whom he wishes. Perhaps the shining cloud is the Holy Spirit, giving shade to the righteous and announcing the words of God at work within it and saying, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. I would even venture to say that the shining cloud is our Savior.

Because Peter had asked imprudently, he does not merit the Lord’s answer. But the Father answered for the Son so that the word of the Lord might be fulfilled: I do not bear witness for myself, but the Father who sent me, he bears witness for me.^[1] The cloud appears bright and shades them, so that those who were looking for a material booth made from boughs or tents might be protected with the shade of a shining cloud. The voice of the Father speaking from heaven is also heard. It provides testimony and teaches Peter the truth with error removed, and in fact through Peter teaches all the apostles: This is my beloved Son. It is for him that you must build the tabernacle, him you must obey. My Son is distinguished from his servants, Moses and Elijah. They, along with you, are to prepare a tabernacle for the Lord in the inner sanctum of their heart.

The Father is evidently revealing the Son when the ringing voice from heaven bursts forth so loudly. Through it he reveals to everyone the testimony coming from above. One must not think that the voice of God is audible. Nor can one perceive a bodiless being. Just as no one has ever seen God,^[1] so no one has ever heard God. The words listen to him have the power of making a necessary distinction. For he says listen to him, rather than to Moses or the prophet who had been introduced, because it was now time to go forward and advance from the introduction to the fulfillment, from the prefiguration to the true reality.^[2]

A voice from the cloud said, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him. I am manifested through his preaching. I am glorified through his humility. So listen to him without hesitation. He is the truth and the life.^[1] He is my strength and wisdom. Listen to him whom the mysteries of the law foreshadowed, of whom the mouths of the prophets sang. Listen to him who by his blood redeemed the world, who binds the devil^[2] and seizes his vessels, who breaks the debt of sin and the bondage of iniquity. Listen to him who opens the way to heaven and by the pain of the cross prepares for you the steps of ascent into his kingdom.

Why was it that when they heard these words they were dismayed? For previously a similar voice had spoken in Jordan and a crowd was present, but no one felt anything like this; and afterwards, again, when they said that it thundered, they did not feel anything like this.^[1] Why then did they fall on their faces on the mountain? Because there was solitude, and the height of the mountain, and great quietness, and a transfiguration full of awe, and a pure light and a cloud stretched out; all of these threw them into great alarm. Amazement arose on every side, and they fell on their faces in both fear and adoration at the same time.

Through their speaking together it shows that the old prophets also spoke the same things as Jesus, even if enigmatically. In great awe the disciples fell on their faces, and the Savior raised them up. This shows that if Jesus had not been incarnate and had not been Mediator between God and humanity and strengthened his own nature, he would not have endured to hear the voice of God.

For three possible reasons they were petrified with fear: either because they knew they had sinned or because the bright cloud covered them or because they had heard the voice of God the Father speaking. Human weakness is not strong enough to bear the sight of such great glory but trembles with its whole heart and body and falls to earth. . . . And Jesus came up and touched them. Because they were lying down and could not rise, he mercifully came up and touched them so that through his touch he might put to flight their fear and strengthen their weakened limbs. And he said to them, ‘Rise, and don’t be afraid.’ Those whom he had healed with his hand, he heals with his command, Have no fear. First fear is expelled so that afterwards doctrine may be imparted.

Consider the details of this passage. See if you can also say this: The disciples understood that the Son of God had been speaking with Moses. It was Moses who had said of God, No one shall see my face and live.^[1] The disciples understood the testimony of Moses about God. They were not able to endure the radiance of the Word. They humbled themselves under the mighty hand of God.

But after the touch of the Word, they lifted up their eyes. They saw Jesus only and no other. Moses, the law and Elijah the prophet had become one with the gospel of Jesus. They did not abide as they formerly were as three, but they became one. Think of these things in a spiritual sense.

For the greater the things said about him, the harder it was for the many at that time to accept them. And the offense of the cross increased all the more thereby. Therefore he told them to be silent about the transfiguration. He again reminded them of the Passion, and he almost mentioned the reason why he told them to be silent. For he did not command them never to tell anyone but [to wait] until he is raised from the dead. Saying nothing about the painful part, he told them only of the good. What then? Were they not going to be offended after this? Not at all. For the silence that was being demanded was only for the time before the crucifixion. After this they were thought better prepared to receive the Spirit. They had the voice of the miracles advocating for them, and everything that they said from then on was easier to receive. For the course of events announced his power more clearly than a trumpet, and no stumbling block interrupted these events.

The preview of the future kingdom and the glory of his triumph had been shown on the mountain. So he does not want this to be told to the people in case it should be deemed incredible because of its greatness and also so that after such great glory the event of the cross that follows should not cause untaught minds to stumble.

Unless we know the reasons why the disciples asked about the name of Elijah, their questioning seems foolish and extraordinary. For what does asking about Elijah’s arrival have to do with what was written above? The Pharisees’ tradition, following the prophet Malachi of the twelve minor prophets, is that Elijah comes before the end.^[1] He turns the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers and restores everything to its ancient state. So the disciples think that the transfiguration of glory is the one that they have seen on the mountain and say, If you now have come in glory, why does your precursor not appear? especially since they had seen Elijah disappear. But when they say, The scribes say that Elijah must first come, by the word first they are saying that unless Elijah comes, it is not the advent of the Savior according to the Scriptures.

Therefore there will be a forerunner of his second coming about the time of the consummation. Also this time he is to restore all to true knowledge, restoring everyone who obeys him. The scribes deceived the people when they said that Elijah comes before the advent of the Christ. And this word was reported also among the ignorant crowd; that is what the disciples now ask. How then does he resolve it?

The disciples who went up with Jesus remembered the traditions of the scribes concerning Elijah, that before the advent of Christ, Elijah would come and prepare for him the souls of those who would receive him. But the vision on the mountain, in which Elijah appeared, did not seem to be harmonized with what had been said, since Elijah seemed to them to have come with him rather than before him. So they say this thinking that the scribes were wrong. To this the Savior replies, not denying what was handed down about Elijah but saying that there was another coming of Elijah before that of Christ unknown to the scribes. In [this coming] they did not know him but did to him whatever they pleased, as though they too were accomplices in his imprisonment by Herod and execution by him. Then he says that he too will suffer what they did to Elijah. The disciples asked these questions as though about Elijah and the Savior replied. But hearing the Savior’s words, Elijah has already come, and what followed, they took it as a reference to John the Baptist.

They did not know this from the Scriptures, but the scribes used to tell them, and this saying was reported among the ignorant crowd, as also about Christ. Therefore the Samaritan woman also said, The Messiah is coming; when he comes, he will show us all things.^[1] And they themselves asked John, Are you Elijah or the prophet?^[2] For this opinion was strong, as I said, both the one about Christ and the one about Elijah, but they did not interpret it as it should have been. For the Scriptures speak of two comings of Christ, both this one that has taken place and the future one. Paul spoke of these when he said, For the grace of God has appeared for the salvation of men, training us to renounce irreligion and worldly passions, and to live sober, upright and godly lives in this world.^[3] Behold the first advent, and listen to how he declares the coming advent: Awaiting our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.^[4] The prophets also mention both advents; of the one that is second they say that Elijah will be the forerunner; John was forerunner of the first, John whom Christ also called by the name Elijah, not because he was Elijah but because he was fulfilling Elijah’s ministry. For just as Elijah will be the forerunner of the second advent, so John was of the first. But the scribes, confusing these things and perverting the people, mentioned that coming alone, the second one, to the people, and said, If this is the Christ, Elijah ought to have come first. That is why the disciples also say, Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?

If every disease and weakness which our Savior cured at that time among the people represents different symptoms in the soul, it stands to reason that by the paralytics are symbolized the palsied in soul, who keep it lying paralyzed in the body. By those who are blind are symbolized those who are blind in respect of things seen by the soul alone,^[1] and these are really blind. And by the deaf are symbolized those who are deaf in regard to the reception of the word of salvation. On the same principle it will be necessary that the matters regarding the epileptic should be investigated. This disease attacks those who suffer from it at considerable intervals, during which time he who suffers from it seems in no way to differ from the man in good health, at the season when the epilepsy is not working on him. You will find some souls that are often considered to be healthy suffering from symptoms like these in their chastity and the other virtues. But there comes a time when they are attacked by a kind of epilepsy, and then they seem to fall from their solid foundation and are seized by the deceits and other desires of this world.

The Scripture shows that this man is very weak in faith. This is evident from many things: from Christ’s saying, All things are possible to him who believes,^[1] and from the fact that the man himself as he approached said, Help my unbelief.^[2] And it is evident from Christ’s ordering the demon never to enter him again^[3] and from the man’s saying again to Christ, If you can.^[4] But you will say, If his unbelief was the reason why the demon had not gone out of the boy, why does he blame the disciples? To show that they can often cure the sick, even though no one brings them in with faith. For just as the faith of the one bringing in the sick was often sufficient for receiving a cure even from lesser ministers, so the virtue of the minister was also sufficient to achieve a miracle even without the faith of those bringing them in. Both of these are demonstrated in the Scriptures; for those around Cornelius drew to them the power of the Spirit by their faith. And in the time of Elisha, when no one believed, a dead man was raised.^[5]

When the Savior says, O faithless and perverse generation, he shows that wickedness has entered us through perversity, that it is contrary to nature and makes us perverse. And I think that he was irked at the whole human race on earth for its wickedness. So he said, How long am I to bear with you?

Note this man’s lack of sense in another instance: in full view of the crowd he pleads to Jesus against his disciples, saying, I brought him to your disciples, and they could not cure him. But Jesus dismissed these complaints before the people and blamed him the more, saying, O faithless and perverse generation, how long am I to be with you? He is not addressing this person alone, so as not to upset him, but he is addressing all the Jews. For it is likely that many had been offended and thought ill of the disciples.

But when he says, How long am I to be with you? he shows how welcome death is to him and his desire of passing on from here. He longs for his departure. It is being with them, and not so much the crucifixion, that is grievous.

He did not put up with their complaints, but what does he say? Bring him here to me. And he himself further asks him, How long has this been this way? He is thereby both defending the disciples and leading the man to a better hope, that he should believe that there will be an end to his troubles. And Jesus lets him be convulsed, not for display (for when the crowd gathered he rebuked the demon) but for the father’s sake, that when he saw the demon being put to flight at Christ’s mere call, so at least, if in no other way, he might be led to believe the coming miracle.

Note that it was not the suffering victim but the demon who had to be directly rebuked. It may be that he indirectly rebuked the boy and the demon went out of him because it was owing to his sins that the demon had oppressed him.

The disciples are surprised that they could not throw out the demon. All power, not only of besting demons but even of raising the dead, had been given them.^[1] Furthermore, because the law was soon to be transcended, Jesus says, O faithless and perverse generation, how long am I to be with you? He does not seem to be saying this to those whom he had set apart. Those who did not have faith were going to lose the very law that they had. If they had had this faith within them, they would have been like the grain of mustard seed. By the power of the Word they would have thrown out this burden of sins and the heavy mass of their unbelief. They would have transferred it, like a mountain into the sea, to the activity of the pagans and secular people.

In this chapter the Lord urged us to pray when he said, Because of your little faith you could not cast out this demon. For urging us to prayer he thus concluded, This kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.^[1] If a man prays so that he may throw out someone else’s demon, how much more so that he may cast out his own avarice? How much more so that he may cast out his own drunkenness? How much more so that he may cast out his own dissipation? How much more so that he may cast out his own impurity? How great are the sins in human beings! If they persevere in them, they do not allow them to enter the kingdom of heaven!

The mountains here spoken of, in my opinion, are the hostile powers that have their being in a flood of great wickedness, such as are settled down, so to speak, in some souls of various people. But when someone has total faith, such that he no longer disbelieves in anything found in holy Scripture and has faith like that of Abraham, who so believed in God to such a degree that his faith was reckoned to him as righteousness,^[1] then he has all faith like a grain of mustard seed. Then such a man will say to this mountain—I mean in this case the deaf and dumb spirit in him who is said to be epileptic—Move from here to another place. It will move. This means it will move from the suffering person to the abyss. The apostle, taking this as his starting point, said with apostolic authority, If I have all faith, so as to remove mountains.^[2] For he who has all faith—which is like a grain of mustard seed—moves not just one mountain but also more just like it. And nothing will be impossible for the person who has so much faith.

Let us examine also this statement: This kind is not cast out except through prayer and fasting.^[3] If at any time it is necessary that we should be engaged in the healing of one suffering from such a disorder, we are not to adjure nor put questions nor speak to the impure spirit as if it heard. But [by] devoting ourselves to prayer and fasting, we may be successful as we pray for the sufferer, and by our own fasting we may thrust out the unclean spirit from him.

The disciples seem to me to be in anxiety and fear that they had lost the grace with which they had been entrusted. For they had received power over unclean demons. So they approached him in private and asked him the question, not out of shame (for if the matter had got out and they were criticized, it would have been superfluous for the future to have been ashamed of admitting it in their words) but because what they were going to ask him was secret and of great moment.

What, then, does Christ say? Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. But if you say Where did they move a mountain? I will say that they did things much greater than that in raising up innumerable dead. For moving a mountain and moving death from a body are not at all comparable. After them other saints, far inferior to the disciples, are said to have moved mountains when necessity demanded. It is clear that the disciples also would have done so had necessity demanded. But if there was never need at that time, do not find fault with them.

In case they say Why do we delay here so long? again he tells them about his Passion. Hearing of it, they did not even want to see Jerusalem. . . . Peter had been rebuked, those around Moses and Elijah had spoken with him and had called the thing glory, and . . . the Father had spoken from above; after so many miracles had taken place and the resurrection was close by (for he said that he would not long remain in death but would rise on the third day)—not even thus could they endure it. But they were distressed, and not simply distressed but greatly distressed. This happened because they did not yet recognize the power of what he said. But Mark and Luke imply it; the former saying that they did not understand the saying and they were afraid to ask;^[1] the latter saying that it was concealed from them that they should not perceive it, and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.^[2] Yet if they did not know it, why were they distressed? Because they were not totally ignorant.

They knew that he would die, having heard it continually. But as yet they did not know clearly what kind of death this was to be, or that there would be a speedy release from it, or that it would work innumerable blessings, or what this resurrection might be. They did not know it, and so they were distressed, for they greatly adored their Master.

Whenever the Lord speaks of future disaster, he always teaches its close relation with the happiness of redemption, so that when disasters suddenly come they do not terrify the apostles but may be borne by hearts that have premeditated them. If it saddens them because he is going to be killed, it ought to make them rejoice that it says, On the third day he will arise again. Further, their distress, in fact their great distress, does not come from lack of faith—elsewhere also they knew that Peter had been rebuked because he did not consider what belonged to God but what belonged to men—but because their love of their Master does not let them hear anything ominous or humiliating.

Therefore he brought the disciples to the mountain and showed them the glory with which he will shine on the universe in the future. Then coming down from the mountain he freed a person from a rough and evil spirit. It was altogether necessary for him to undergo his saving Passion for us and to suffer the violence of the Jews. When this happened, it was quite likely that the disciples would be alarmed and would ponder it and say among themselves: He has raised so many from the dead by divine power, he commands the seas and winds, he overwhelms Satan with his words—how has he now been taken and fallen to the noose of his murderers? Then maybe we were deceived when we thought that he was God? So that they should know the future fully and completely, therefore, he foretells to them the mystery of the Passion.

I think we have an obligation to examine this, too: that Jesus was delivered into the hands of men, not by men into the hands of men but by powers to whom the Father delivered his Son on behalf of us all. In the very act of being delivered and coming under the power of those to whom he was delivered, he destroyed him who had the power of death. For through death he destroyed him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and delivered all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage.^[1]

This tax of the half-shekel was the law, defined by Moses, who said, Each will give as redemption of his soul to the Lord, a half shekel.^[1] The Jews collected this from everyone, and the half-shekel was paid as redemption for two souls according to the law. The rich man was not demanded more, nor the poor man less. The half-shekel is sacred, intimating nothing else than the true divine-human Mediator, since everything foreshadowed this. The true redemption was the Lord who had the Father in himself, since his nature is divine.^[2] The giving of the half-shekel is a symbol of his self-giving, and the shekel is for the redeemed soul. No one is allowed to pay more than the half, not even if he is rich. Thus it is said, For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,^[3] that is, all the fullness of divinity, which is offered in his mediatorial work on the cross, abides in his dual nature as God-man. The richness of his divinity and the poverty of his humanity are fully integrated in one person. The half-shekel is interpreted here as his divinity, under question by the tax collectors.

The Lord is asked to pay a half-shekel. For this was the amount that the law had established for those serving in the temple for the redemption of soul and body. But the law, as we know, is the foreshadowing of the future (for it was not the value of the coin that God desired so that with such a small expense redemption of soul and body might be granted for sins). Therefore the offering of this half-shekel was established^[1] so that we might offer ourselves certified and professed and enrolled in the name of Christ, in Christ who is the true temple of God, and it was established as testimony of the Son of God.

After Caesar Augustus, Judea was made a tributary state and all the people were registered in the census. So Joseph and his kinswoman Mary had set off for Bethlehem. Once again, since Jesus had been brought up in Nazareth, which is a town of Galilee lying close to Capernaum, he is asked to pay taxes. Because of the magnitude of the miracles he had done, those who demanded this tax do not dare to ask him. Instead, they meet a disciple and maliciously ask whether he should pay taxes or defy Caesar’s will.

So that Peter should not think that he said it after hearing it from others, he forestalls him by showing this very thing and giving Peter, a man who up to now shrank from speaking about these things, freedom to speak about it. What he says is something like this: I am free from paying tribute. For if the kings of the earth do not take it from their sons but from their subjects, much more ought I to be free of this demand, being the Son not of an earthly king but of the king of heaven and myself a king as well. Do you see how he has distinguished the sons from them that are not sons? And if he were not a son, he brought in the example of the kings without purpose. Someone may say, Yes, he is a son but not trueborn. Then he is not a son, and if he is not a son or trueborn he does not belong to God but to someone else. But if he belongs to someone else, then the comparison does not have its proper strength. For he is speaking not of sons generally but of truly begotten sons, their very own sons, of sons who share the kingdom with their parents. And so by way of contrast he mentioned the sons of others, calling those that are born of themselves their own and those not born of themselves of others.

Our Lord was the son of a king both according to the flesh and according to the spirit, begotten either from the stock of David or from the Word of the almighty Father. Therefore as the son of a king he did not owe tax, but as one who had assumed the humility of the flesh he has to fulfill all justice. We unfortunates, who are enrolled under Christ’s name and do nothing worthy of such great majesty, for us he both underwent the cross and paid our tax. But we do not pay him tribute in return for his honor and like the sons of a king we are immune from taxes.

Is it not clear that the sons of kings are not subject to tax and those who are the heirs of a kingdom are free from service? But his words have inner meaning. A drachma was demanded of the people. Now the law moves toward that faith which was to be revealed through Christ. Therefore by the custom of the law this same drachma was demanded from Christ as though from an ordinary citizen. But to show that he was not subject to the law and to demonstrate the glory of his Father’s dignity in himself, he offered as an example of earthly privilege the fact that kings’ sons are not subject to census and tax. He is the Redeemer of our soul and body. Nothing should be demanded of him for his redemption, because it was necessary that a king’s son be distinguished from the common lot. Therefore the king’s son offers a stumbling block to the tax law in order to do away with it, he being free from the duty of the law.

He establishes himself as lord and master of the sea, of the things in it and of all the elements, as the true Son of God the Father. For this fish provides a type of the church: once [it was] held by the brine of faithlessness and superstition, submerged in the depths of the sea and swamped by the storms and distress of worldly pleasures. But now [it is] raised up by the apostles’ hook of teaching and the fishing nets of the Word to the knowledge of God, of him who calls us from darkness to his amazing light.^[1]

Elsewhere, however, he despises the offense,^[1] when he was talking about foods,^[2] teaching us to know the times when we must take account of those being offended and when to disregard them. And in the manner of giving or paying the tax, he discloses himself again. Why does he not tell Peter to give of what they have laid up? So that, as I said, in this too he might show that he is God of all and that he rules even the sea. He had already demonstrated this when he rebuked it and by his commanding Peter to walk on the waves.^[3] Now again he signifies the same thing, though in another way, yet so as to cause great amazement. For it was not a small thing to predict that the fish carrying the tribute would be the first one caught in those depths or that the net thrown into the deep would obey his command and would bring in the fish carrying the coin. Thus it is an act of divine and unutterable power.

This coin was not in Jesus’ house but happened to be in the mouth of a fish in the sea. This too, I think, was a result of God’s kindness. It was caught and came up on the hook belonging to Peter, who was the fisher of men. That which is figuratively called a fish was caught in order that the coin with the image of Caesar might be taken from it, that it might take its place among those which were caught by them who have learned to become fishers of men. Let him, then, who has the things of Caesar render them to Caesar,^[1] that afterwards he may be able to render to God the things of God. But since Jesus is the image of God the unseen and did not have the image of Caesar (for there was nothing in him that had anything to do with the prince of this world),^[2] he therefore took the image of Caesar from a suitable place in the sea, so as to pay it to the kings of the earth as the contribution of himself and his disciple. Jesus did this so that those taking the half-shekel might not suppose Jesus to be in debt either to them or to the kings of the earth. For he paid the debt, one he had never taken on or possessed or used to buy anything or made his personal possession, to prevent the image of Caesar ever being alongside the image of the invisible God.

He was also able to take the coin out of the earth, but he did not do so. [Instead he] made the miracle out of the sea, so that he might teach us the mystery rich in contemplation. For we are the fish snatched from the bitter disturbances of life. It is just as if we have been caught out of the sea on the apostles’ hooks. In their mouths the fish have Christ the royal coin, which was rendered in payment of debt for two things, for our soul and for our body. Also for two peoples, the Jews and the Gentiles. Also in the same way for the poor and the wealthy, since the old law clearly demanded the payment of the half-shekel from both rich and poor alike.

[T]he blessed Peter, the chosen, the preeminent, the first of the disciples, for whom alone and himself the Savior paid tribute [Mt 17:27], quickly seized and comprehended the saying. And what does he say? “Lo, we have left all and followed you”.