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are said to have been saved.
Theophylact: Morally again, the Herodians, that is, persons who love the lusts of the flesh, wish to
slay Christ. For the meaning of Herod is, 'of skin' [ed. note: pelliceus, see Hier. de Nom. Hebr.].
But those who quit their country, that is, a carnal mode of living, follow Christ, and their plagues
are healed, that is, the sins which wound their conscience. But Jesus in us is our reason, which
commands that our vessel, that is, our body, should serve Him, lest the troubles of worldly affairs
should press upon our reason.
13. And He goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto Him whom He would: and they came unto
Him.
14. And He ordained twelve, that they should be with Him, and that He might send them forth to
preach, [p. 60]
15. And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils:
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16. And Simon He surnamed Peter;
17. And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and He surnamed them
Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder:
18. And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of
Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite,
19. And Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed Him.
Bede, in Marc., 1, 16: After having forbidden the evil spirits to preach Him, He chose holy men, to
cast out the unclean spirits, and to preach the Gospel.
Wherefore it is said, "And He went up into a mountain, &c."
Theophylact: Luke, however, says that He went up to pray, for after the shewing forth of miracles
He prays, teaching us that we should give thanks, when we obtain any thing good, and refer it to
Divine grace.
Pseudo-Chrys., Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.: He also instructs the Prelates of the Church to pass the
night in prayer before they ordain, that their office be not impeded. When therefore, according to
Luke, it was day, He called whom He would; for there were many who followed Him.
Bede: For it was not a matter of their choice and zeal, but of Divine condescension and grace,
that they should be called to the Apostleship. The mount also in which the Lord chose His
Apostles, shews the lofty righteousness in which they were to be instructed, and which they were
about to preach to men.
Pseudo-Jerome: Or spiritually, Christ is the mount, from which living waters flow, and milk is
procured for the health of infants; whence the spiritual feast of fat things is made known, and
whatsoever is believed to be most highly good is established by the grace of that Mountain.
Those therefore who are highly exalted in merits and in words are called up into a mountain, that
the place may correspond to the loftiness of their merits.
It goes on: "And they came unto Him, &c."
For the Lord loved the beauty of Jacob, [Ps 46] that they might "sit upon twelve thrones, judging
the twelve tribes of Israel," [Matt 19:28] who also [p. 61] in bands of threes and fours watch
around the tabernacle of the Lord, and carry the holy words of the Lord, bearing them forward on
their actions, as men do burdens on their shoulders.
Bede: For as a sacrament of this the children of Israel once used to encamp about the
Tabernacle, so that on each of the four sides of the square three tribes were stationed. Now three
times four are twelve, and in three bands of four the Apostles were sent to preach, that through
the four quarters of the whole world they might baptize the nations in the name of the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Ghost.
It goes on: "And He gave them power, &c."
that is, in order that the greatness of their deeds might bear witness to the greatness of their
heavenly promises, and that they, who preached unheard-of things, might do unheard-of actions.
Theophylact: Further, He gives the names of the Apostles, that the true Apostles might be known,
so that men might avoid the false.
And therefore it continues: "And Simon He surnamed Cephas."
Augustine, de Con. Evan. ii, 17: But let no one suppose that Simon now received his name and
was called Peter, for thus he would make Mark contrary to John, who relates that it had been
long before said unto him, "Thou shalt be called Cephas." [John 1:42]
But Mark gives this account by way of recapitulation; for as he wished to give the names of the
twelve Apostles, and was obliged to call him, Peter, his object was to intimate briefly, that he was
not called this originally, but that the Lord gave him that name.
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Bede: And the reason that the Lord willed that he should at first be called otherwise, was that
from the change itself of the name, a mystery might be conveyed to us. Peter then in Latin or in
Greek means the same thing as Cephas in Hebrew, and in each language the name is drawn
from, a stone.
Nor can it be doubted that is the rock of which Paul spoke, "And this rock was Christ." [1 Cor
10:4] For as Christ was the true light, and allowed also that the Apostles should be called the light
of the world, [Matt 5:14] so also to Simon, who believed on the rock Christ, He gave the name of
Rock.
Pseudo-Jerome: Thus from obedience, which Simon signifies, the ascent is made to knowledge,
which is meant by Peter.
It goes on: "And James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother."
Bede: We must connect this with what went before, "He goeth up into a mountain, and calleth."
[p. 62]
Pseudo-Jerome, Gen. 27:36 see Catena Aurea, Matt. 10:2: Namely, James who has supplanted
all the desires of the flesh, and John, who received by grace what others held by labour.
There follows: "And He surnamed them, Boanerges."
Pseudo-Chrys., Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.: He calls the sons of Zebedee by this name, because
they were to spread over the world the mighty and illustrious decrees of the Godhead.
Pseudo-Jerome; Or by this the lofty merit of the three mentioned above is shewn, who merited to
hear in the mountain the thunders of the Father, when he proclaimed in thunder through a could
concerning the Son, "This is My beloved Son;" that they also through the cloud of the flesh and
fire of the word, might as it were scatter the thunderbolts in rain on the earth, since the Lord
turned the thunderbolts into rain, so that mercy extinguishes what judgment sets on fire.
It goes on: "And Andrew," who manfully does violence to perdition, so that he had ever ready
within him his own death, to give as an answer, [1 Pet 3:15] and his soul was ever in his hands.
[Ps 119:109]
Bede: For Andrew is a Greek name, which means 'manly,' from (greek word), that is, man, for he
manfully adhered to the Lord.
There follows, "And Philip."
Pseudo-Jerome: Or, 'the mouth of a lamp,' that is, one who can throw light by his mouth upon
what he has conceived in his heart, to whom the Lord gave the opening of a mouth, which
diffused light. We know that this mode of speaking belongs to holy Scripture; for Hebrew names
are put down in order to intimate a mystery.
There follows: "And Bartholomew," which means, the son of him who suspends the waters; of
him, that is, who said, "I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it." [Isa 5:6]
But the name of son of God is obtained by peace and loving one's enemy; for, Blessed are the
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