Haymo of Halberstadt — Commentary on Scripture

John 3:2

(Hom. in Oct. Pent.) Or, well may it be said that he came in the night, enveloped, as he was, in the darkness of ignorance, and not yet come to the light, i. e. the belief that our Lord was very God. Night in the language of Holy Writ is put for ignorance. And said unto him, Rabbi, we know that Thou art a teacher come from God. The Hebrew Rabbi, has the meaning of Magister in Latin. He calls him, we see, a Master, but not God: he does not hint at that; he believes Him to be sent from God, but does not see that He is God.

(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274) Catena Aurea by Aquinas

John 3:6

(Hom. in Oct. Pent.) But Nicodemus being unable to take in so great and deep mysteries, our Lord helps him by the analogy of our carnal birth, saying, That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. For as flesh generates flesh, so also doth spirit spirit.

(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274) Catena Aurea by Aquinas

John 3:8

(Hom. in Oct. Pent.) Or, Thou canst not tell whence it cometh; i. e. thou knowest not how He brings believers to the faith; or whither it goeth, i. e. how He directs the faithful to their hope. And so is every one that is born of the Spirit; as if He said, The Holy Spirit is an invisible Spirit; and in like manner, every one who is born of the Spirit is born invisibly.

(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274) Catena Aurea by Aquinas

John 3:9

Nicodemus cannot take in the mysteries of the Divine Majesty, which our Lord reveals, and therefore asks how it is, not denying the fact, not meaning any censure, but wishing to be informed: Nicodemus answered and said unto Him, How can these things be?

(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274) Catena Aurea by Aquinas

John 3:11

(Hom. in Oct. Pent.) Why, it is asked, does He speak in the plural number, We speak that we do know? Because the speaker being the Only-Begotten Son of God, He would show that the Father was in the Son, and the Son in the Father, and the Holy Ghost from both, proceeding indivisibly.

(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274) Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Matthew 8:1-4

Otherwise; By the mount on which the Lord sate is figured the Heaven, as it is written, Heaven is my throne. (Is. 66:1.) But when the Lord sits on the mount, only the disciples come to Him; because before He took on Him the frailty of our human nature, God was known only in Judæa; (Ps. 76:1.) but when He came down from the height of his Divinity, and took upon Him the frailty of our human nature, a great multitude of the nations followed Him. Herein it is shown to them that teach that their speech should be so regulated, that as they see each man is able to receive, they should so speak the word of God. For the doctors ascend the mountain, when they show the more excellent precepts to the perfect; they come down from the mount, in showing the lesser precepts to the weak.

(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274) Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Matthew 8:5-9

For Capharnaum, which is interpreted, The town of fatness, or, The field of consolation, signifies the Church, which was gathered out of the Gentiles, which is replenished with spiritual fatness, according to that, That my soul may be filled with marrow and fatness, (Ps. 63:5.) and under the troubles of the world is comforted concerning heavenly things, according to that, Thy consolations hare rejoiced my soul. (Ps. 94:19.) Hence it is said, When he had entered into Capharnaum the centurion came to him.

Or, we may understand by those that are set under the centurion, the natural virtues in which many of the Gentiles were mighty, or even thoughts good and bad. Let us say to the bad, Depart, and they will depart; let us call the good, and they shall come; and our servant, that is, our body, let us bid that it submit itself to the Divine will.

(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274) Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Matthew 8:11

Or; From the east shall come they, who pass into the kingdom as soon as they are enlightened; from the west they who have suffered persecution for the faith even unto death. Or, he comes from the east, who has served God from a child; he from the west who in decrepit age has turned to God.

(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274) Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Matthew 8:12

What they should suffer there, He shows when He adds, There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Thus in metaphor He describes the sufferings of the tormented limbs; the eyes shed tears when filled with smoke, and the teeth chatter together from cold. This shows that the wicked in hell shall endure both extreme cold and extreme heat: according to that in Job, They shall pass from rivers of snow to the scorching heat. (Job 24:19.)

(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274) Catena Aurea by Aquinas