Commentary on Matthew

Chapter Eleven

129 CHAPTER ELEVEN hen John heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent his disciples to him asking, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we wait for another?”1 Because he was confined in prison, John was unaware of the Lord; such a great prophet did not know his God. As the forerunner2 nonetheless, he announced the one who was to come; as the prophet, he acknowledged his [Christ’s] existence; as the confessor,3 he venerated his [Christ’s] advent. How could there occur such an error in his knowledge, which was so varied and prodigious? If, however , we follow the Lord’s testimony concerning John, we are not allowed to think this way. Clearly it is reasonable to believe that the glory of the Holy Spirit was not absent in John, who was held in prison, since it was the light of the Spirit’s power which would minister to the apostles4 when they were in prison.5 2. But a deeper understanding is revealed in these things which happened concerning John. As we perceive in John a grace expressed with the effectiveness of reality,6 he also is the prophet that prophesies according to the manner7 in which he was the embodiment of the Law.8 For the Law announced Christ and preached the remission of sins, promising the Kingdom of heaven.9 John completely fulfilled all of the works of 1. Mt 11.2–3. 2. praeitor, a neologism. 3. “Confessor” was a title given to those who were imprisoned for their confession of Christ and were regarded as possessing special insight about spiritual and doctrinal matters. See Cyprian, Ep. 39.2, 5; Tertullian, Adv. Prax. 1. 4. apostolis, in the sense of those who are heralds of the Gospel. 5. Acts 12.7. 6. cum facti efficientia gratia ... expressa. 7. That of God’s grace in him, to which he testified (Jn 1.17). 8. Cf. Mt 11.13. 9. Cf. Mt 11.12; Lk 24.44–47. 130 HILARY OF POITIERS the Law. Now that the Law has become inactive, confined, so to speak, by the sins of the masses and chained as a result of the people’s sins, John is restrained in chains and in prison so that Christ may not be understood by them. The Law,10 therefore, points to the Gospel so that unbelief may consider11 the truth of Christ’s words in his deeds. Whatever of the Law was bound through the deceit of sins is delivered when one learns the freedom of the Gospel.12 For this reason, John was not seeking insight as a remedy for his own ignorance, but for that of his disciples, since he himself had preached about the One who was to come for the remission of sins.13 So that they should know none other than the One whom John had preached, he sent his disciples to learn about his works. John knew that those works14 would confer an authority on his words and that no other Christ should be expected than the One to whom his works bore witness.15 3. When the Lord had fully revealed himself by miracles, namely, giving sight to the blind, the ability to walk to the lame, healing to the lepers, hearing to the deaf, speech to the dumb, life to the dead, preaching to the poor,16 he said: Blessed is the one who has not been scandalized by me.17 Had Christ already done something that scandalized John? Not in the least. For John continued in the same course of his teaching and works. Yet the force of the preceding statement and its specific references must be considered: what is that good that is preached to the poor? What of those who have lost their lives, of those who will have accepted and followed their cross, of those who will become humble in spirit? It is for these that the Kingdom of heaven is prepared.18 Since all these sufferings converged in 10. I.e., represented in John. 11. contempletur. 12. Cf. Rom 7.23; 8.2. 13. This is a common explanation for Hilary: John’s seeming ignorance was in fact for the benefit of his disciples. See infra, 26.4; 31.7–8. 14. I.e., the Lord’s. 15. Cf. Mt 24.4–5. 16. Mt 11.5. 17. Mt 11.6. The scandalizatus of the Latin versions is the perfect passive participle of...