Ten senses He applies himself after Prayer to root out of the mind anger and wrath which if it be not done Prayer is not accepted The Form of PRAYER which our Saviour made after his Baptism when the Heavens were opened as it is delivered by Dionysius Syrus according to the Testimony of St. Philoxenus and Translated by D. L. O Father according to the good pleasure of thy Will I am made Man and from the time in which I was born of a Virgin unto this day I have finished those things which are agreeing to the nature of Man and with due observance have perform'd all thy Commandments the Mysteries and Types of the Law And now I am baptized and so I have ordain'd Baptism that from thence as from the place of spiritual Eirth the Regeneration of Men may be accomplish'd and as John was the last of the Legal Priests so am I the first of the Evangelical Thou therefore O Father by the mediation of my Prayer open the Heavens and from thence send thy Holy Spirit upon this womb of Baptism that as he did untye the womb of the Virgin and thence form me so also he would loose this Baptismal womb and so sanctifie it unto men that from thence now men may be begotten who may become thy Sons and my Brethren and Heirs of thy Kingdom And what the Priests under the Law until John could not do grant unto the Priests of the New Testament whose chief I am in the oblation of this Prayer that whensoever they shall celebrate Baptism or pour forth Prayers unto thee as the Holy Spirit is seen with me in open Vision so also it may be made manifest that the same Spirit will adjoyn himself in their society a more secret way and will by them perform the ministeries of the New Testament for which I am made Man and as the High Priest I do offer these Prayers in thy sight Dionysius Syrus his Question and Answer concerning the Prayer which JOHN the Baptist taught his DISCIPLES Translated by D.L. Quest VVHat was the Prayer which John taught his Disciples Answ Some recite it thus O Lord fit us for thy Kingdom and that we may enjoy the happiness thereof with thy Son Others thus O Father shew me the day of the Baptism of thy Son But what if one should say What need was there of this Prayer after he had baptized the Son had seen the Spirit and had heard the Father Others say That he prayed thus Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand Others thus O Father let me hear thy Voyce O Son shew me thy Person O Spirit shew me thy Descent and raise up thy Power But neither is this approved the first Exposition carries with it the greater verisimilitude Gregorius the SYRIACK SCHOLIAST called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 on the Four Gospels Translated by DUDLEY LOFTUS J.U.D. MATTHEW the First The Son of David the Son of Abraham HE mentioneth David for that they hoped Christ would arise from him according to that Was not Christ to rise from the seed of David and from Bethlehem He mentions Abraham also for that it hath been said In his seed shall all Nations be blessed And Luke because that he wrote unto the Gentiles mounted up unto Adam the common Father and from him to God the Creator of all things Jacob begate Judah and his Brethren He did not mention the Brethren of Isaac and Jacob for that the Nation of the Hebrews were not to derive their Genealogy from them as from the Brethren of Judah for these were Hebrews the other were Edomites the sons of Ishmael and Esau Judah begate Pharez and Zarah of Thamar Pharez was a Type of the New Testament whose resemblance he was made in regard he first put out his hand which was afterwards withdrawn And after Zarah who was a Type of the Old Testament came out and therefore he expresses both their names and the Evangelist abstains from making mention of Zarah Rebecca and other vertuous Women but mentioneth Rahab Ruth and Beersheba to reprove the Jews who upbraided the Lineage of the Gentiles with the peculiarity of the people of God and thought that the meritorious cause of becoming the servants of God was Lineage or Wisdom whereas he shews That David the Great descended from Thamar the Ammonite who committed Fornication with her Father-in-law and from Rahab the Harlot who received the Spies in Jericho and from Ruth the Moabite though against the Moabites and Ammonites it was decreed That they should not enter into the House of the Lord for ever and King Solomon the wise was begotten of Beersheba the Hittite who at first had unlawful Communication with David Joram begate Hosiah Joram did not beget Hosiah but Ahaziah and Ahaziah begate Joash and Joash begate Amoziah and Amoziah begate Hosiah In the Catena he is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Africanus of Emaus and St. Severus say That the Evangelists omitted these three for that they descended from Attaliah the Sister of Ahab she who for her wickedness was also called the sister of Jezabel but if it were so How cometh he to make mention of Ahaziah and Manaasse who were more wicked Georgius de Gentilibus saith Concerning this the Authour of the Catena after the citation of many Opinions rests upon none but saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Id est quam voluerit sententian sequatur lector That the first Scribe failed by reason of the similitude of letters and instead of Ahaziah wrote Hosiah but neither doth this Opinion prevail with me because that if these three be brought into computation with the others they make up Seventeen Generations and if they were not omitted by the Evangelist How did he set down Seventeen and reckon but Fourteen It is therefore known that the computation of Origen ought rather to take place and to be credited who saith That the Evangelist omitted those persons to accommodate the computation to the pleasure of the believing Hebrews who much respected the number Fourteen Josia begate Jocania and his Brethren in the Captivity of Babylon Jocania who was the Grandson of Josia he calls his son for Josia begate Jehoiachim who was Aliakim and Jehoiachim begate Jocania and the Uncles of Jocania on the Fathers side Jehu Achaz and Zedekia are called his brothers children according to the custom of Scripture as Abraham said unto Lot the son of his brother We are Brethren And because the Prophet Daniel reckoneth the seventy years of Captivity in the Transmigration from the Prophesie of Jeremiah which began the 13th of Josia Matthew saith That he begate Josiah although it was Achaziah Jocania begate Shelathiel Jeremiah the Prophet said concerning Jocaniah That his Throne shall perish without children and that no man of his seed shall sit upon the Throne of David How therefore can Christ of whom it is said The Lord will give him the Throne of his Father David derive his Genealogy from him for one of the
souzes She cast in more than all the men cast in And how did she cast in more than all whereas they cast in twice as much as she He presently explains the difficulty and saith For all they cast in of their abundance Christ here teacheth us two things First That this gift which was made out of her penury was more abundant and greater in God's esteem than that which proceeded from Redundancy Secondly That God doth not regard the greatness or smallness of a gift but the will and mind wherewith it is given and it is certain That if it be given with a chearful will it is accounted much and great with God although it be small but if otherwise it is meanly esteemed by God though much in quantity CHAP. XIII BVt of that day and hour knoweth no man no not the Angels neither the Son but the Father The Hereticks to wit the Arrians when they are desirous to vilifie the Son they produce this Argument To whom we answer For inasmuch as he is God he knew all things that are before they were made but inasmuch as he was man he saith he knows not and the very same that is God is man and no other as he is life by nature and became death for us forasmuch as he was man so though he doth know all things as being God he said that he did not know as man And as he was before Abraham in respect of his Godhead according as he said Before Abraham was I am yet he was after him as being man for if he had said I know he had been like to the Father onely and not at all like unto us but he said I know not that he might be likened unto us and that there might be no place left for mistakes or to say that he was not made man for this property of man not to know things in futurity was common to him for he communicated in our want of knowledge even as in other humane infirmities and this is manifest from hence that he did not say Neither the Son of God knoweth but neither the Son simply as he was the Son of God so was he a so the Son of man and in that respect wanted knowledge though he knew all things as God Moreover it is certain That as he was man he said he did not know forasmuch as he did not say concerning the Holy Ghost that he did not know Again we say That God the Father is greater than the day of the coming of the Son and is more hidden and concealed than that day and yet the Son saith Even as the Father knoweth the Son the Son knoweth the Father If therefore he knoweth the Father who is high and exalted above all things and is more hidden and concealed than this day how much more then doth he know this day And if any one shall object That the Father knows the Son perfectly but that the Son knoweth the Father but in part let him know That for the same reason he might conclude that the Father knoweth not the Son but in part for the same knowledge is attributed to the Father and the Son as the Father knoweth the Son c. We say further That if the Father knows this day and hour the Son must necessarily know it because there is one knowledge of the Father and of the Son and of the Spirit for they are of one and the same nature the same will the same power and operation and therefore necessarily have they one and the same knowledge Moreover for that the Son created the Worlds and Times and Years and Months and Hours and Dayes it is manifest That he knows the day and hour of his appearance but if any one shall object That he hath not yet created the day of his coming he may be convinced by the force of two reasons First From this which is written That he finished the heaven and the earth and all that was in them and God finished his works on the seventh day Secondly Let it be granted That it were so though it be not a Truth yet he knew as God before hand those Things which are not and he knows every thing before hand Again How doth he know the Prognostications and the Signs which are to be at the day of his coming and yet not know the day for he declareth how that there shall be lightning and that the Sun shall be darkned and other such like things and the Stars shall fall from Heaven and the powers of Heaven shall be shaken and the sign of the Son of man shall appear and other the like things which are to happen in that day and hour and how is it possible That one should know what things are in the House and not know the House or how doth a man know the thing that is within a City or a Ship without knowing the City or the Ship And how can he who knoweth what things are without and within a Wall say that he doth not know the Wall in the middle Moreover as he knew the hour of his Birth and the day of his first coming in Bethlehem so doth he know his second coming Furthermore Paul saith That Christ is the power and wisdom of the Father and in this that he saith the power he sheweth That there is nothing out of his Jurisdiction and Providence and by that of wisdom he declares That there is nothing out of the reach of his knowledge but that all things which are and are to come are comprehended within the compass of his knowledge for if he can err in any thing he is not perfect wisdom especially since that he is the Divine wisdom of the Father and in him is hidden all wisdom and he it is that gives wisdom to the wise as saith the Son of Syrach All wisdom is of the Lord and Christ is the Lord whence it was that the Angels said to the Shepherds there is born unto you a Saviour who is Christ the Lord. Neither the Angels In this which the Angels said unto the Shepherds viz. To you is born c. which neither the Angels knew did he forbid them to declare that day and by this That neither the Son that is to say my self he stopt their mouths from asking him for in like manner they asked him after the Resurrection Art thou at this time about to restore the Kingdom And he stopt their mouths saying It doth not belong unto you to know the times and seasons which the Father hath appointed c. But the Father Inasmuch as he spoke of the knowledg of the Father he prevented them that they might not ask him and it is like to that of the mother of the sons of Zebedee for being unwilling to answer whether he would grant the request or no he answered It is not mine to give when assuredly it was he who was to place the Sheep on his right hand and the Goats on his left and to call Come ye
Greek Doctors agree That with this saying the Divinity was united with the Soul and Body and amongst the Syrian Fathers Absanius of Mabog saith That with this saying the Word was united with the Flesh as John saith The Word was made flesh and dwelt in us and after Forty dayes when the body was formed it received the rational soul By the name of his father Zacharia Every first-born son they called by the name of his Father according to the custom which they held And they made signs unto his father This sheweth That his speech failed also with his hearing And he was in the Wilderness When he was Two years and an half old his Mother fled with him from Herod for he was born Six months before our Lord and when our Lord was Two years old the Wise men came and Herod slew the Children and because Zacharia had caused his son to flie away he sent to put him to death between the Altar and the Temple whereunto he fled and betook himself viz. to the horns of the Altar CHAP. II. THat all the people of his Empire should be taxed The Greek That all the inhabitated World should be taxed Here the Syriack sense is more to be approved than the Greek because Caesars power did not extend its self to all Nations of the World And good tydings unto men You may take notice that the word Amen is hereunto added in some Syriack Copies but not in the Greek And when eight dayes were accomplished The Armenians partly adhering to the fancy of Julianus say That he was not in Truth circumcised but that they onely drew a line over his skin And when the dayes of their purification were accomplisht She who bore a son was purified in Forty days but she who bore a daughter in Eighty dayes His name was Simeon He was the Father of Jesus the son of Asira and he was one of the Seventy and two Interpreters who Translated the Hebrew Bible into the Greek in the dayes of Ptolomy and because he doubted concerning this passage viz. a Virgin shall conceive and bring forth spoken by Esay the Prophet he was bound Two hundred and eighty years to the Oblation until he saw him who was born of a Virgin Behold he is appointed for the fall That is to say of the Scribes and Pharisees And for the rising of many in Israel That is to say of sinners who shall be justified by him And for a sign of contention That is to say There shall be divers Opinions concerning him Of the Tribe of Aser she also was aged In the Greek the words she also are not written for she was not so old as Simeon CHAP. III. VVIth your allowance That is whatsoever was given by the King for their maintenance I baptize you with water That is to say I wash you from sins The son of Heli. Matthew the Evangelist calls Joseph the son of James and not the son of Heli and Aphrichianus the Genealogist saith That Heli was the son of Matthath and that James was the son of Mathan Brethren by the Mother whose name was Estha and they were searchers of Secrets and when Heli dyed without sons James his Brother took his Wife according to the Law for constitution of sons and of her begate Joseph Hence it is that Joseph was the natural son of James as Matthew said and the legal son of Heli as Luke said The son of Matthath the son of Levi the son of Melchi Aprichianus saith That according to the Tradition they received from the Hebrew Genealogists Heli Matthath and Levi were Brethren the sons of Melchi and not as Luke said Heli the son of Matthath and Matthath the son of Levi. The son of Zerubabel Matthew saith That Zerubabel begate Abiud and Luke saith That Zerubabel begate Resa and St. Severus saith That Zerubabel had two sons Abiud and Resa and Matthew computed Abiud and Luke reckoned upon Resa and George of the Gentiles saith That they had not one Father but two who were called by the same name Zerubabel and others say That Abiud was Resa to wit that one person was called by two names The son of Shelathiel the son of Neri Matthew saith That Jechonia begate Shelathiel and Luke saith That Neri begate Shelathiel and St. Severus saith That Melchi the Father of Neri took a Wife whose name was Nahashta and of her begate Neri and when Melchi dyed Jehoiakim the King who was Eliakim took Nahashta his Wife for her beauty and of her begate Jochania and Neri and Jochania were Brethren by the Mother and Neri took a Wife and dyed without sons and Jochania his Brother took his Wife and of her begate Shelathiel Hence it was that this Shelathiel was the natural son of Jochania as Matthew said and the legal son of Neri as Luke said and George of the Gentiles doth not agree to this but saith That Shelathiel the son of Jochania was one and Shelathiel the son of Neri was another The son of Joram This Joram was not the son of Jehoshaphet as Matthew saith but the son of Mathitha The son of Nathan the son of David Matthew saith That David begate Solomon and Luke saith That David begate Nathan and this difference proceeds from this That Matthew was willing to write onely the natural Genealogy which was deduced from Solomon the son of David and Luke by reason of a contest amongst the Jewes was forced to write the natural and legal Genealogy which was deduced from Nathan the son of David for which reason many names in Luke differ from those in Matthew The son of Jesse the son of Obed the son of Boaz. Julianus King of the Gentiles objects and saith If Luke wrote the legal Generations wherefore doth he mention Obed to be the son of Boaz according to the rule of nature and not the son of Malion according to the legal deduction as it is written in the book of Ruth The Doctors answer thus That there was a controversie amongst the Jewes concerning Joseph whether he proceeded from David or no and therefore blessed Luke proves That not only naturally as Matthew writes but legally also the Genealogy of Joseph mounts up to David and Luke ascending from David to Abraham computes the natural Fathers as Matthew did The son of Abraham the son of Terah From hence Luke begins to carry on the Genealogy where Matthew left off and to raise it to Adam because he did not as St. Matthew write his Gospel to the Hebrews who boasted of Abraham but to all Nations who were deduced from Adam as well as he The son of Adam who was from God Aprichianus sets down Fifty persons from Abraham to Christ and in all the Copies of Luke which are read in the Holy Churches there are Fifty and Six and so from Adam to our Lord Seventy and six and according to the natural Genealogy of the Gospel of Matthew from Abraham to Joseph there were Forty persons and according to the Book
say In thee is blotted out the Curse by thy bearing him in whom are blessed all Nations An EXPOSITION of the LORDS PRAYER taken out of DIONYSIVS SYRVS his CATENA on the Sixth Chapter of St. Matthew And Translated by D. L. PRay thus That is to say Not as the Gentiles and Hypocrites but as I teach you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Prayer is sometimes taken for a promise of Vows which are separated or designed by us to God according to what David said I will perform my vowes to the Lord As also for whatsoever cometh from the lips And 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Prayer is an Oblation made to God after the performance of a promise therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ought first to be accomplished and then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to follow 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Prayer is taken three manner of wayes First For Words as that of Hannah who prayed with her mouth Secondly For matter of Fact as that of Phinehas who prayed by a zealous deed Thirdly For that of the mind according to that I will pray in the Spirit and I will pray with knowledge And every one of these three manner of wayes bodily mentally spiritually our Lord recommends unto us the latter Our Father who art in Heaven Our Father may be termed several wayes First Our remote Father as Adam the Father of us all Secondly Our next Father as Abraham who was the Father of Isaac Thirdly Accidental Fathers Fourthly An Instructer of Youths is called a Father Fifthly An aged man is called a Father Sixthly The High Priest is called Father Seventhly The Three hundred and eighteen Doctors are called Fathers Moreover Satan is called the Father of them who are subject unto him but in none of these kinds do we call God our Father but by reason of Baptism and forasmuch as Christ and we also are born in Baptism we are Brethren unto him and Sons to the Father as David said I will declare thy Name to my Brethren and he gave them authority to be called the Sons of God And we call the Father our Father Christ was the natural Son of his Father but we are the Sons of Grace Unto whom doth it belong to call God his Father He who is perfect in a good Conversation is he who calls God our Father but he who is of a sordid and evil Conversation calls Satan his Father because he fulfills his Will Why doth he teach us to say Our Father generally and not peculiarly every one of us My Father who art in Heaven That he might shew that we are one Body and that our Father is one and that we might pray for the intire body of Brethren Moreover by the words Our Father he beats down Pride and exalted Opinions of our selves shewing That Kings and Beggars are equal in that glorious Pedigree if ye all have one Father ye are also of one kind in the Spirit Our Father who art in Heaven Not that he is confined to Heaven but that he might divert the mind of him who prayeth from earthly Cogitations and raise it to Heaven Again He saith in Heaven That we might be weaned from earthly Parents and to shew that his dwelling is in Heaven Hallowed by the Name That is to say That by our glorious and gracious living the Name of God may be sanctified and glorified Again That we might consecrate our lips and our mouths to his Name because he is Holy before we can call him Holy Again Hallowed That is to say Let thy Holy Name be praised or celebrated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is an Hebrew name and signifieth separation And whatsoever thing is separated from another whether it be in beauty or in riches c the Hebrew calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Holy according to that The Holy in the Land and Renowned Thy Name Thy Name is used in the place of God according to the phrase of Scripture Praise the Name of his holiness and let them know that thy Name is the Lord onely Thy Kingdom come That is to say That thou may'st deliver us from evil The word Kingdom is taken in sundry senses as we have hinted heretofore Kingdom The Beatitude of the World to come wherein we shall be made immortal Kingdom The time after the Resurrection of Christ according to that I will not drink of the fruit of the Vine until I drink it anew in the Kingdom Kingdom The Gospel Kingdom The Theory of Things of small quantity according to that The Kingdom is like unto Leaven Kingdom The Contemplation of the Trinity according to that The Kingdom cometh not by observation and the Kingdom of God is within you Here he calls the Kingdom the Grace of the Holy Spirit which we receive in Baptism Again Thy Kingdom come He teacheth us to pray for Faith in him therefore he calls Faith the Kingdom Thy Will be done He teacheth us to pray for a vertuous and chaste Conversation Moreover Be pleased that we who dwell on earth may glorifie thee As in Heaven so also in Earth That is to say As thou art well-pleased with the Angels in Heaven so also be pleased with us who dwell on Earth Give us the Bread of our Exigency By Bread is understood all things necessary for the Body Meat Drink Rayment and Lodging all which are requisite for the Body This day In that he saith the day he means the present time Remit unto us our debts as we also For remission he gives remission we as men remit unto men but he as God remits unto us our many Trespasses And as is the disproportion between a grain and a Mountain between a drop and the Sea so little is our remission in comparison of that remission he grants us Lead us not into Tentation That is to say Let us not be the occasion of their being condemned who are to bring Tribulations upon us And again It doth not befit us to presume of our own accord the exposing of our selves to Tentations for Satan himself continually raiseth them up against us and therefore let not us excite them But deliver us from Evil. That is to say It behoveth us alwayes to pray that we may be delivered from the Temptations which the evil one raiseth against us For thine is the Kingdom If the Kingdom be his then Satan is his Slave and cannot presume to attempt any thing unless he permit him as he gave him permission in the case of Job and of the Swine The Power and the Glory His is the Power for he is able to do all Things And Glory for ever For as his Kingdom is sure and his Power great so also shall his Glory without end remain for ever He comprehends the Prayer in Ten sentences according to the Mystery of the Ten Commandments and the Ten Beatitudes and Jud which signifieth Ten is the letter of Jesus and the five first sentences concern the Soul and the five latter concern the Body that we may purge the
CHAP. IV. THen Jesus was led of the Holy Spirit into the Wilderness He did not immediately after his Baptism go into the Wilderness for that Three dayes after he was baptized he wrought the miracle of converting Water into Wine in Kotna To be Tempted of the Devil 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is to say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are Accusations and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth as much as if one should repeat the crimes of another He was afterward an hungred That is to say in confirmation of his Humanity but though Moses and Elias fasted each of them Forty dayes it was not said of them that they suffered Hunger for no man doubted but that they were men And shewed him all the Kingdoms of the World and the Glory of them That is to say by the ministry of the Fancy but not really and in Truth Luke placeth the conflict of Vain-glory in the Third place and that congruously because the Two conflicts viz. of Bread and of shewing him the Kingdoms were in the Wilderness but that of Hunger was on the Temple in the City He departed into Galilee That is to say He Taught us that we should not stand in the way of evil For they were Fishers That is to say in the Old Testament Shepherds were chosen and called as Jacob Moses and David because they were to govern their own and peculiar people but in the New they were Fishers because they were commanded to Teach without limitation every one who was prepared as well of the Gentiles as of the Jewes CHAP. V. BLessed are they who mourn That is to say who mourn for their sins For they shall be comforted That is to say by pardon and forgiveness For they shall inherit the Earth He calls Earth the extremity of the Firmament whereunto the righteous are to ascend in the Resurrection as David said I hope to see the blessings of the Lord in the Land of the Living The Peace-makers That is to say They who work a reconciliation between the Soul and the Body insomuch that the Soul desireth nothing that may be hurtful to the Body It is good for nothing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This word is unusual and is not to be found elsewhere in the whole Contexture of the Scripture Guilty of Judgement That is to say of Murther Guilty of the Congregation That is to say To be expelled out of the Congregation Raka This word signifieth Contempt in respect of the Body and the word Fool Contempt in regard of the Soul Thou shalt not go thence until thou shalt pay The word until doth not denote a Release from Hell nor an end of Torment Hath committed Adultery in his heart He doth not condemn the natural motion but the will of him who is incited lasciviously And shall take away thy Tunick 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is to say Thy upper garment Thy Vest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is to say The nether garment which covereth the nakedness CHAP. VI. THey have received their Reward That is to say Praise from Men. Our Father which art in Heaven He Teacheth us That we should seek those Things which are above the Earth and not that God is confined to the Heavens From Evil. That is to say from Satan The light of the Body is the Eye The Eye mystically signifieth the Fathers and Teachers and the Body signifieth the People CHAP. VII JVdge not That is to say wickedly Not every one who shall say unto me Lord Lord. That is to say Faith without good Works doth not avail CHAP. VIII AS Moses commanded for a testimony unto them That is to say That they might Testifie for me that I do not destroy the Law When Jesus heard he marvelled That is to say According to his Humane Nature for the Divine Nature doth not wonder at any thing because admiration is a passion of the rational Soul not comprehending the cause of a Thing And saw his Wives mother He declares hereby That he had a Wife And it hath been said That when he was called to the Office of an Apostle he did not any more converse with her Bury my Father Either he was sick unto death or was very aged Permit us to go into the herd of Swine That is to say To the intent that when the Swine should perish the Owners of them might persecute him CHAP. IX AND passed over and came to his own City That is to say to Capernaum as Mark saith for in Bethlehem he was born in Nazareth he was bred and he dwelled in Capernaum Thy sins are forgiven thee That is to say because sins were the cause of the Palsie by the taking away the cause he also took away the effect Sitting amongst the Publicans whose name was Matthew This he writes of himself and such was his Humility that he was not ashamed of his former calling to wit of being a Customer which was reproachful CHAP. X. THE first Simon who is called Cephas He was the chief of the Apostles he was of Bethsaida of the Tribe of Naphtali He Taught one year in Antioch and built a Church there and went to Rome and preached there for the space of Twenty seven years and when Paul came unto him there was a great perturbation in Rome and Nero commanded that both of them should be slain and Peter desired to be crucified with his Head downwards that he might as it were kiss his Lords feet And John his brother That is to say The Evangelist He departed from Jerusalem together with Mary the mother of our Lord and they were banished together to the Island of Patmus and when he returned from Banishment he Preached in Asia and built a Church in Ephesus and Ignatius the fiery and Polycarp ministred unto him and he buried the Blessed Mary and no man knoweth where he laid her He lived seventy and three years and dyed after all the Apostles and was buried in Ephesus Bartholomew His name was Jesus and in honour of his Master he did not call him by his name but by the name of his Father Think not that I come to send peace on earth Some Object How doth this agree with that He shall speak peace with the Nations And that He is our peace And that My peace I give unto you We answer That those Things respect the perfection of the Gospel but this hath relation to the beginning thereof A Prophet in the name of a Prophet That is to say Although he be a Prophet in name onely and not in deed CHAP. XI A Reed shaken with the wind That is to say What think ye of him who hath a wavering mind ready to bend with every wind And of him who having formerly known me will now make shew as if he knew me not And more than a Prophet That is to say He Prophesied and gave Testimony of me as did the rest of the Prophets And he hath this superadded excellency That he saw me bodily CHAP. XII