Bede

The twelve loaves on the table of the tabernacle then are the twelve apostles and all those in the church who follow their teaching. Since until the end of time they do not cease to renew the people of God with the nourishment of the word, they are the twelve loaves of proposition which never depart from the table of the Lord. And those same loaves are properly ordered to be made not from just any flour but from the finest wheat, doubtless because all those who minister the word of life to others must first devote themselves to the fruits of virtue. [Thus] they may commend by their actions those things that they counsel in their preaching, being conformed to the example of him who says concerning himself, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone.” Those same loaves are also properly commanded to be set on the table in two rows of six for the sake of concord (that is to say, charity and fellowship), for the Lord is also said to have sent his disciples out to preach two by two. This suggests figuratively that the holy teachers never disagree with one another in either their defense of truth or their ardor for love.

The loaves are properly commanded to be changed before the Lord every sabbath day. For surely the loaves that were set out on the table of the Lord through the six days of work are exchanged for new loaves on the sabbath when all the teachers in the holy church, once the time of their holy labor is completed, are rewarded in heaven with eternal peace and leave others behind them in the same work, laboring in the word with the hope of the same reward. And in this way it is brought to pass that the table of the Lord is never left destitute of bread, but as soon as one loaf is taken away another is put in its place, as long as the churches never lack ministers of the word who follow one another in succession. In their words and in their deeds, they always manifest the faith of apostolic piety and the purity of apostolic action, continuing as in that most beautiful verse in which it is said in praise of that same holy church: “Instead of your fathers, sons are born to you; you will make them princes over all the earth.” In other words, that is as if it were being said to the tabernacle of the Lord: “Instead of your old loaves, new ones are prepared for you; you will designate them for the refreshment of the spiritual hearts of the faithful in all the world.”

Prologue. Since many have undertaken to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely from the beginning, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed. This most clear prologue indicates that the chief reason for writing his Gospel was to prevent false evangelists from having the opportunity to preach falsely, who, as their memorials even today testify, tried to introduce sects under the name of the apostles. Indeed, some ascribed their writings falsely to Thomas, others to Bartholomew, some to Matthias, and even some under the title of the twelve apostles. But also Basilides and Apelles, one of whom taught of 365 heavens, the other of two opposing gods among other vile doctrines, have left Gospels defiled with their errors under their own names. Among these is to be noted what is called the Gospel according to the Hebrews, which should not be counted among the apocryphal but rather ecclesiastical histories. For Jerome, the interpreter of the sacred Scriptures himself, used many testimonies from it, and he translated it into Latin and Greek. False Gospels, however, Luke refuted with his very first preface. "Since many," he says, "have undertaken to compile a narrative." He counted many, not so much by numbers but by the varied diversity of heresy, who not endowed with the gift of the Holy Spirit but rather with empty labor more so attempted to arrange a narrative than to weave the truth of history, and therefore left others to complete the work in which they wasted their efforts in vain. They, indeed, who, although there are four of them, did not publish four Gospels but one consonant with the most beautiful variety of four. They published as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered to them. By this sentence, not only Luke and Mark, who did not see the Lord present in the flesh and therefore had to learn by hearing what they wrote, but Matthew and John the apostles also are designated. For they too, in many things which they wrote, needed to hear from those who could know his infancy, childhood, and genealogy and participate in the acts. And when he says it seemed good to him also to write, he means not as if it seemed to himself by himself, but signifying it also seemed to him by the urging of the Holy Spirit. Just as the apostles in their letter say: "For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us." Whose grace indeed is that what is good may also seem good to us. He then says he followed not a few things but all things carefully. Yet, though he followed all things, it seemed good to write not everything but all those things he believed suitable for confirming the faith of the readers; for even the world itself, if all were written, could not contain them (John 21). Therefore, he intentionally omitted some things said by others, so that the diverse grace of the Gospel might shine, and each book by its own particular miracles of mysteries and deeds might stand out. Theophilus is interpreted as "lover of God" or "beloved by God." Therefore, whoever loves God or desires to be loved by God should consider the Gospel written to him, and keep it as a gift given and entrusted to himself. So that the money of the word received would not be wasted by the moth of heretical corruption or the rust of filthy greed. Not, however, of any new or unknown things does he promise to unfold the account to this same Theophilus, but to express the truth of the words in which he was instructed. Of course, so he might recognize the order in which whatever was done or said by the Lord or about the Lord. For he who wishes to be perfect ought not only to believe in Christ but also to understand the order of his eternal divinity and his temporary dispensation.

(in proœm. Lucæ.) The many who are mentioned, he reckons not so much by their number, as by the variety of their manifold heresies; men who were not endued with the gift of the Holy Spirit, but engaging in a vain work, have rather set forth in order a relation of events, than woven a true history.

Nevertheless both Matthew and John were obliged in many things that they wrote to consult those who had had means of knowing the infancy, childhood, and genealogy of our Lord, and of seeing the things which he did.

(sup.) Theophilus means, "loving God," or "being loved by God." Whoever then loves God, or desires to be loved by Him, let him think this Gospel to have been written to him, and preserve it as a gift presented to him, a pledge entrusted to his care. The promise was not to explain the meaning of certain new and strange things to Theophilus, but to set forth the truth of those words in which he had been instructed; as it is added, That thou mightest know the truth of those words in which thou hast been instructed; that is, "that thou mightest be able to know in what order each thing was said or done by the Lord."

We must note that the angel bore witness to the grace about which he had come to give the good news—not only by the power of the words which he brought forward but also by the point in time and the location of the place in which he appeared. He appeared at the time when the priest was making an offering to express the fact that he was proclaiming the coming of the true and eternal high priest, who would be the true sacrificial offering for the salvation of the world. He stood beside the altar of incense to teach that he had come as the herald of a new covenant. There were two altars in the temple, which expressed the two covenants in the church. The first, the altar of burnt offerings, which was plated with bronze and was situated in front of the doors of the temple, was for the offering up of victims and sacrifices. It signified the fleshly-minded worshipers of the old covenant. Then there was the altar of incense, which was covered with gold and set near the entrance of the Holy of Holies, and was used to burn fragrant gums. This signified the interior and more perfect grace of the new covenant and its worshipers.

In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a certain priest named Zechariah, of the course of Abijah, and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. The most sacred noble lineage of the forerunner of the Lord is celebrated not only from his parents, but also from his ancestors, so that the faith in his advent, conceived not by sudden inspiration, but rather received by ancestral propagation, might be more freely proclaimed. And since indeed the dignity of Aaron, the first high priest in the law, is known to all, we should speak briefly of Abijah. When King David and the prophet sought with great devotion to find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob, the Lord determined that this should be done by Solomon instead, and therefore David prepared all the expenses for the house for Solomon and gave him the measurements and description of the house, so that as the external state of cultivation increased, the peak of inner devotion might also grow. He also distributed the division of the priestly and Levitical orders among all the works of the house of the Lord. For there were leaders of the sanctuary and leaders of God, that is, high priests, from both the sons of Eleazar and the sons of Ithamar. Their courses, according to their ministries, for entering the house of God, were divided into twenty-four lots, in which the course of Abijah, the family from which Zechariah was descended, fell by lot to the eighth. He divided the families by lots, one house which was presided over by Eleazar, and the other house which had the rest under it, Ithamar. Read the Words of the Days and also the seventh book of Josephus' Antiquities, where it is mentioned that each generation served God according to the order of lots for eight days from Sabbath to Sabbath. There too he asserts that from the tribe of the Levites, twenty-four parts were made so that they also, by lots, served for eight days according to the custom of the priests. And it is not for nothing that the first herald of the New Testament is born in the course of the eighth lot, because just as the Old Testament is often expressed by the number seven because of the Sabbath, so the New is sometimes expressed by the number eight because of the sacrament of either the Lord's or our resurrection. Hence, because the court of the heavenly kingdom is not penetrated otherwise than by the observance of both Testaments, it is rightly said that there was a mystical ascent of fifteen steps in the temple of Solomon. And he who, calling to the Lord in tribulation, is heard, is led to the heights by the same number of psalms of steps, so that, placed at last in the courts of the house of God, he may hear: May the Lord bless you out of Zion (Psalm 133). The time of Herod, the foreign king, also attests to the coming of the Lord. For it had been foretold that a ruler would not fail from Judah, nor a leader from his loins, until he who is to be sent shall come (Genesis 49). For since the fathers came forth from Egypt, judges of their nation ruled until Samuel the prophet, and then kings until the Babylonian captivity. After the return from Babylon, the chief affairs were managed by high priests until King Hyrcanus, who was also a high priest, being vexed by many calamities out of the envy of his brother, and ultimately killed by the deceit of Herod (whose father he had raised from an ignoble foreigner, that is, from the Idumean stock, making him a citizen and exalted), the kingdom of Judea was entrusted to Herod to govern by the command of Caesar Augustus. In the thirty-first year of his reign, according to the aforementioned prophecy, he who was to be sent came.

(in Luc. Evang.) Now the time of Herod, i. e. of a foreign king, bears witness to our Lord's coming, for it had been foretold, The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come. (Gen. 49:12.) For from the time that our fathers came out of Egypt, they were governed by judges of their own nation, until the Prophet Samuel; and then by kings, until the carrying away to Babylon. But after the return from Babylon, the chief power was in the hands of priests, until the time of Hyrcanus, who was both king and high priest. He was slain by Herod, after which the government of the kingdom was delivered over by the command of Augustus Cæsar to this same Herod, a foreigner, in whose thirty-first year, according to the prophecy we have mentioned, Shiloh came.

(in Homil. in vigil. S. Joh. Bap.) For John was allotted a Priestly tribe, that he might with the more authority herald forth a change of priesthood.

There were Princes of the Sanctuary or High Priests, both of the sons of Eleazar and the sons of Thamar, whose courses according to their respective services when they entered into the House of God David divided into twenty-four lots, of which the family of Abia (from which Zacharias was descended) obtained the eighth lot. (1 Chron. 24.) But it was not without meaning that the first preacher of the new covenant was born with the rights of the eighth lot; because as the old Covenant is often expressed by the seventh number on account of the Sabbath, so frequently is the new Covenant by the eighth, because of the sacrament of our Lord's or our resurrection.

John was born of just parents, that so he might the more boldly give precepts of justice to the people, which he had not learnt as novelties, but had received by right of inheritance from his ancestors. Hence it follows, And they were both just before God.

Allegorically, through Zacharias, the priesthood of the Jews is signified; through Elizabeth, the very law can be indicated, which, exercised by the teachings of the priests as if supported by a manly strength, ought to beget spiritual sons to God, but because of the insult of sterility, it was hardly able. Not that there were not many, both before the law and under the law, of the most perfect life, but because the law brought no one to perfection, which could not unlock the kingdom of heaven unless preceded by Christ. It is well said that both were righteous before God, because just as the law is good, and the commandment holy and just and good, so also the legal priesthood for the dispensation of that time is holy, good, and just. And what follows, that both walked in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless, may be so explained, that the legal devotion flourished, as if in the adolescence or youth of its time, from the periods of Moses and afterwards: but in the oncoming of the Savior, severe old age bowed it down, when both the order of the priesthood was confused by the ambitions and contentions of the high priests, and the law itself, torn by the traditions of the Pharisees, became less able to beget sons to God.